Ventus

by Jonathan Dakin

Chapter Four

  Grandpa lay frozen in the hospital bed, the machine next to him bleeping rhythmically with his heartbeat. He was pale, and his eyes were firmly shut. Grandma sat next to him holding his hand, her head lying across his chest as she slept. I sat on an uncomfortable metal chair as the horrible plastic curtain, which was pulled shut around us, cut into the back of my head. I felt terrible. I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to burst into tears, but I didn’t. The only thing I kept thinking about was what would happen if Grandpa died, and the last thing I had ever said to him was ‘shut up’. I loved my Grandpa. He had always been there for us, ever since mum left. When we were really young, he and Grandma would stay a weekend a month just to give Dad a break, and to see us, and it was always so much fun. We would go to the park and play football or he would push me on the swing, or teach me how to ride my bike without training wheels. I loved spending time with Grandpa. He made everything seem like fun: he made the world a better place, and he made me happy.

  I instantly recalled the anger I had felt. Grandpa had never made me feel angry before, just happy. My stomach grumbled as the knots underneath my diaphragm twisted tighter. What was happening to me? Why was I suddenly so furious? I wasn’t an angry person. Even the psychologist who came to check in on my Dad had said that. She said that I was the one child who had coped the best. Maybe Dad shouldn’t have told me that, but it made me feel good to know that I had dealt with my parental abandonment healthily. Unlike Aura and Sefarina.

  And what about the lightning? Where did that come from? Suddenly, the knots in my stomach surged, and I felt as if I was going to throw up. The words ‘Ignis-Ventus’ and ‘lightning’ suddenly flashed into my brain, and I knew that they had been side-by-side in the silver book. Words tumbled into my mind: a jumble of phrases and expressions swirled around, connecting together and forming bonds that I was suddenly able to decipher. It all clicked into place. The ‘trio’ of ‘Ventus’, the ‘inner energy’, ‘harnessing the element’, the ‘spirit’, the ‘ignition’ to light the ‘wind within’… it was all about a trio of siblings, or ‘triplet’ of siblings, who had power inside themselves. Each child had different skills, based on their age and gender. Only one was male, and that was the ‘Ignis-Ventus’, who had an internal ‘flame’ that was synchronised with his primary ‘elemental power’. My mind flicked through imaginary pages, until it settled on one particular sentence: ‘The fire that burns with the Ignis-Ventus, can be as destructive as a lightning storm, or as constructive as a beacon of light, that the Ventus Elementus chooses…’

  Marvin, after our falling out, described me as ‘fiery’, which I had never been before. It wasn’t until I had gone through the growth spurt, that I became unable to control my emotions. But I just thought that that was a normal part of puberty! I thought it was just my hormones going berserk or something! But seeing that lightning coming out of my fists… It sounded crazy, but I knew that I had generated it somehow. It had come from that ball of energy that had risen up from my stomach and into my throat. I had been unable to control it, and so hurt my Grandpa….

  I shook my head. That didn’t make sense! This was real life, not a story. As much as I had always fantasied about being a superhero one day, I knew that it would never happen. That kind of thing was fictitious; they didn’t happen in the real world. No one could fire lightning out of themselves. Only platypuses could do that. My mind raced, searching for rational answers that never came. I kept thinking about all of the realistic interpretations of what had happened, but my mind continued to jump back to the feelings I had felt, the images I saw, and what the book had described.

  ‘The raging water within the Aqua-Ventus can be as ferocious as a typhoon, or as nourishing as a monsoon, that the Ventus Elementus chooses… similarly, the earthly appeal of the Terra-Ventus can be both terrifying as a hurricane, and warming as a the sunshine. All three must work together to harness their Ventus energy, and maximise their full potential as Elementals.’

  A large rock tumbled into my throat. The description of the other two members of the trio sounded strangely familiar. The Aqua-Ventus, being described as raging water… well, Aura did love to swim, and she certainly could be ferocious! And the Terra-Ventus, having ‘earthly’ appeal… Sefarina was always seen as being a ‘down to earth’ person, and she did like gardening… But no, it had to be all just one big coincidence! I didn’t have any ‘inner energy’ to harness, and I most certainly did not have a literal ‘fire’ within me!

  I checked my phone. It read 23:16 pm. I must have been more tired than I thought. Maybe the book had screwed with my brain, and had caused me to go insane. Or perhaps the silver covering was poisoning me, and I was slowly succumbing to its fatal effects. Any of those explanations made more sense than thinking that my sisters and I were ‘Ventus Elementals’, whatever that meant. I mean, it must have been metaphorical… Anyone could have ‘wind’ within them… That made the most sense, so I came back to my original theory: that Grandpa was the member of a secret cult, and was trying to convert me.

  I glanced back over at his sullen face. I wish he would wake up and continue to try to convert me. Anything was better than him being in this state. I didn’t want him to die, I couldn’t lose him! I loved him so much. Our family was small enough! If one more person left… it would be incredibly upsetting, for all of us.

  My phone vibrated in my hands, and its face lit up, illuminating the ceiling and dazzling my eyes. The loud music began to blare, so without even checking to see who was calling me, I answered the call.

  “What?” I whispered, slightly annoyed that my Grandma could have been woken up by this inconsiderate person’s inappropriately timed phone call.

  “Don’t snap at me,” Aura lashed back, an attitude in her moody voice. I rolled my eyes and sat back, huffing in despair. Only Aura would call me at this time of night.

  “How do you know I wasn’t asleep?” I asked, irritated.

  “If you were, you aren’t now.” Aura always had a reply for everything you could throw at her. She was clever: too clever for her own good.

  “What is it?” I barked, hoping that if I was rude enough, she might hang up on me.

  “I just got back from work and Dad told me what happened to Grandpa. Is he alright?”

  “I hope so. Right now the doctors haven’t told us anything. But he’s still breathing.”

  “No thanks to you!” She retorted, and I jolted up in shock.

  “What do you mean by that?!” I tried my hardest not to raise my voice, but I was failing miserably.

  “Lightning struck the house and somehow hit Grandpa?” She spat, “I don’t think so! We know that you did it, with that anger of yours. You need to learn how to control yourself.”

  I gasped, not quite knowing how to respond.

  “What the hell do you mean I did it? How could I electrocute Grandpa?”

  There was a pause, and Aura, for the first time I could remember, didn’t reply with a witty retort.

  “Has he given you the book yet?” Aura’s voice was calm and concerned. She seemed nervous. I had never known her to be nervous, so I began to feel worried.

  “How do you know about the book?”

  “That doesn’t matter!” she shrieked, “Have you read it??”

  I paused, and swallowed.

  “Yes, of course, Grandpa asked me to.”

  I heard her sigh.

  “So then stop acting like a ‘tard.”

  Aura often called me a ‘tard’ as a nickname, which was shortened down from the word retard, to put me down, and I hated it. It wasn’t a nice term, and no one should call anyone something so horrible and disrespectful.

  “Don’t call me that!” I shouted, and Grandma stirred, and a nurse shushed me. Luckily Grandma drifted back off to sleep.

  “Whatever,” she uttered dismissively, “trust you to kill Grandpa the very first time you use your powers.”

  I don’t know why, but something inside loosened and I
burst into tears. It must have been the thought of Grandpa dying, or the idea I was responsible, or perhaps it was just because I was sitting in a hospital ward with him. But I began to sob, something I never normally do. Aura could hear me, and I was tempted to hang up and hide the fact that she had beaten me down. I didn’t want her to have the pleasure of knowing she had reduced me to tears, which I was sure she would be happy about. But I didn’t hang up: I wanted her to know how cruel and mean she had been to me, and I was going to tell her how much I hated her.

  “I’m sorry!” she exclaimed, as I continued snivelling. I don’t think I had ever heard her apologise to me before, so I doubted her sincerity.

  “Shut up you stupid bitch!” I murmured, hoping Grandma wouldn’t hear me say a rude word.

  “I mean it, Niyol: I’m sorry. You’re right, I am a stupid bitch. I shouldn’t have been so horrible. I remember what it was like when I found out too. It’s hard to deal with without energy, it must be even worse with it.”

  “My… my energy?” I sniffed, wiping my nose on the sleeve of my jumper.

  “Did you not understand the book? Did Grandpa not explain what was happening?”

  “He was just about to, when…”

  “Oh crap…” Aura uttered, and that was when I was really concerned.

  “The book, it doesn’t make sense, Aura! It’s crazy! It’s going on and on about Ventus and Elementals and spirits and harnesses, and…”

  “Be quiet, Niyol, and listen to me!” I was used to doing whatever she ordered, so I stopped speaking.

  “That book, Niyol, it’s a guide… It is there to teach us what to do, how to use our energy…”

  “You’ve read it too?” I interrupted, “And you’re also part of the cult?”

  “Cult?” She barked in confusion, “There’s no cult! Well actually, there is, but Grandpa needs to take you there first…”

  “If he wakes up,” I added seriously. Aura chuckled, which seemed callous.

  “He’ll wake up.” She seemed certain. “A small electric shock won’t kill Grandpa, trust me he’s been through worse.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “I’m positive. He’ll be fine. I’m more worried about you. If you don’t get help soon, the next time you harness your powers you may very well kill someone.”

  I was beginning to feel the rage flickering inside me again, so I tried my hardest to control it.

  “Just tell me what the hell is going on!” I ordered.

  “We’re Elementals, Niyol. You, me, and Sefarina. We’re the Ventus Trio. That means we have Wind powers.”

  “Oh shut up!” I yelled, no longer anxious about getting into trouble, “this joke isn’t funny!”

  “It’s no joke,” Aura replied, her tone serious and steady, “We were all born for a very important reason. We have to work together to save the world.”