Elemental

by Debbie Kump

  I pointed at the TV. “You saw it for yourself. The weather’s growing worse. They’re even predicting this has the potential to grow into a super storm!”

  “So what?”

  “It’s not normal,” I sighed in utter exasperation. “This is all happening…because of…” I took a deep breath, uncertain if I should voice my fear.

  “Because of…?” Celia prodded.

  I bit my lip, sneaking a worried glance over my shoulder before I responded, “Because of me.”

  While Micah and Sully chortled in the background, Celia studied me with concern. “Because of you? What do you have to do with the weather?”

  My eyes darted around the room, wild with fright, almost expecting Skye to blow open the front door as she did in that old Chicago barn. I dropped my voice an octave before replying, “They’re after me.”

  Micah shot Sully a confused look. “Who is?”

  “I—I can’t say.” The less they knew, the better.

  “O-kay,” Celia said, her voice filled with disbelief. “And what makes you think these people are after you?”

  “You heard him!” I jabbed my thumb at the television set. “That super storm! It’s headed right for San Francisco. They know I’m here!”

  At that moment, Micah and Sully doubled over in hysterics. Cameron laughed, too, but mostly because he enjoyed laughing.

  Celia flicked Micah across the back of his head with a stern, “Stop it, boys!” then turned to me. “This is nothing new, Jordan. It happens every spring. We get a few weeks of some crazy weather and then everything’s back to normal. Same old, same old.”

  I blinked. “But the meteorologist just said that it’s the worst storm California’s had in over a hundred years!”

  “The media thrives on over-sensationalizing everything,” she explained in a casual tone. “That’s how they improve their ratings.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “Not this time.”

  Celia raised an eyebrow as she studied me with bewilderment. Or maybe she just thought I was paranoid. “Jordan, you’re safe. Who could possibly be after you?”

  I frowned. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  “Try me.”

  I tapped my foot nervously on the floor as I pondered her proposal. Finally, I decided, Fine. Why not? What do I have to lose? Besides, maybe I’d actually feel better once I had a fresh perspective.

  A heavy sigh escaped my lips. “Okay. Here goes.” Looking straight at Micah, I began, “You know how you said you didn’t believe I had amnesia?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Well. You were right. It’s not amnesia.”

  “I knew it,” Micah said. He smiled with smug satisfaction, pumping his fist to hammer home his point.

  I glanced over at Celia, her face shrouded with hurt. I felt really bad. All this time she’d offered me shelter, clothes, food…and I’d been living a lie.

  “It’s something else,” I muttered and sank back into my chair at the table. My unsettling tone made Celia eye me with suspicion.

  Micah and Sully exchanged a quick glance, as if they’d discussed this multiple times already.

  “So what is it? You ran away from home?” Micah started.

  Sully chimed in, “Had a run-in with the law?”

  “You stole something?”

  “Got caught using drugs?”

  “You got in trouble for—”

  “Boys, please!” Celia interrupted, fuming in part from their lack of seriousness. But I’m sure her rising anger stemmed mostly from the hurt I’d caused her.

  I shook my head, swallowed hard, hoping this information wouldn’t end up harming them in the end. “You’ve heard of the Four Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, right?”

  Micah, Sully, and Celia nodded their heads slowly in confusion while Cameron piped in, “I haven’t!”

  I flashed Cam a knowing grin before uttering, “I’m one of them. An Elemental.”

  Micah choked on his cereal. Milk shot out his nose.

  But before he could think up a witty retort to my absurd claim, I continued, “I’m not really Jordan Smith.”

  Celia gasped.

  “My real name’s Pyr. It’s Greek for fire. And I’m not entirely mortal, either.”

  Micah coughed out a word that sounded awfully profane but I pressed on anyway. “I can travel through space and time, jumping from one fire to the next to escape the wrath of the other three Elementals. I don’t know how I can do it, but I can.” Meanwhile, Sully covered his mouth, yet did a poor job of confining his snicker.

  Ignoring him, I continued. “They want me to join them so they’ll have unlimited control over the planet. All humanity will bow to their awesome powers. But they can’t achieve total control without me. So time and time again, they hunt me down.”

  For a few seconds, four sets of eyes stared at me incredulously before Micah and Sully busted into uncontrollable fits of laughter.

  “I think you nailed it, Sully,” Micah chortled. “She is on drugs.”

  “What are drugs?” Cam wondered aloud, though no one bothered to answer.

  Celia placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, trying to seem understanding, even though I could tell she thought I was crazy. I quickly stood and banged my chair into the table on accident, then grabbed my backpack off the floor. Crossing the kitchen in three long, angry strides, I headed out the door.

  “I thought I was giving you a ride,” Sully called, trying to steady his voice between peals of laughter.

  “I’ll see you at school,” I replied gruffly and slammed the door behind me.

  But I had no intention of doing such a thing. After ditching my backpack under the cedar in the front yard, I took off down the road as fast as my legs could carry me.

  I don’t care what they think, I reminded myself while I ran. I’m worried. With the massive storm headed this way, The Three would soon arrive. Only a matter of time remained before they found me.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Pompeii, Italy, August 24, 79 AD

  An unsettling stillness hung in the air. The birds and animals sensed my dread. I shuffled down the cobblestone street in my sandals and white tunic with a worn leather bag draped over one arm. Every so often, I glanced nervously over my shoulder, wondering if someone followed me.

  Beads of sweat formed across my brow, and the late summer sun burned intensely, even early in the morning. Its rays bore down upon the seaside village swarming with Roman vacationers and hillsides lined with villas and vineyards. The steep flanks of nearby Mount Vesuvius glowed a brilliant shade of peach in the breaking dawn.

  The shops had only opened a few minutes before and I had no food for my trip. The road would be long and arduous, filled with danger and hardships, but that didn’t seem out of the ordinary for me. Ever since Gaia entered my life, I’d faced similar challenges on a regular basis.

  Just yesterday, I’d overheard one of the shoppers in the marketplace mention an Oracle’s renowned prophecies in the Greek city of Delphi. I instantly knew the Oracle presented my chance to understand the fate I’d been dealt. A few days walk lay between Pompeii and the Italian port on the Aegean Sea. But with any luck, I could find passage on a boat bound for Greece, then head across the countryside to Delphi.

  Slipping around a corner, I dodged in and out of the growing throngs of people and horse-drawn carts on the busy street named Cardo Maximus and stepped into line, peering down the road for any unusual signs of activity. When it was my turn, I placed a coin stamped with a crude image of the Roman Emperor in the vendor’s palm in exchange for a flatbread.

  I scurried south down the Cardo Maximus, then turned west toward the bustling square of the Forum lined with imposing columns in the oldest part of town. Once I finished here, I would leave town and hastily make my way to Delphi.

  Suddenly, I felt a tug on the strap of my leather bag, halting my progress.

  A deep voice asked, “Are you going somewhere?”

 
My heart leapt up my throat as I spun, certain the Roman Guard had found me. My bag filled with stolen coins, I could only imagine what punishment I inevitably faced. However, fear has a funny way of skewing one’s perception of reality.

  Instead of meeting the stern face of one of Pompeii’s protectors, I found my friend, Lucius, studying me with a concerned, almost pained expression beneath his cap of short, black curly hair. His broad shoulders stiffened beneath his tunic and he clenched his chiseled jawbone. His thick black eyebrows narrowed, transforming his typically warm, dark eyes into thin slits.

  “You’re leaving, aren’t you?” His gaze shifted to my bag.

  In all the time I’d known him, he’d believed my ruse, that I vacationed here from a distant land. True, it seemed inherently dangerous to forge a relationship upon a lie, only I knew nothing else.

  Especially when the truth of my situation eluded even me.

  My eyes brimmed with sadness. I hadn’t meant to hurt Lucius. I simply thought if I left without informing him, I might spare his suffering on my account. Better he knew nothing of my sudden flight or eventual destination.

  “I’ll be back. Soon, I hope,” I said with feigned confidence, believing my entire future depended on the Oracle’s prophecy. She must provide an answer to the myriad questions that flooded my mind. Why did I survive while my entire family perished? How did I end up here in a foreign land, so far from home? And how did my fingertips erupt in flames of rage as a painful fire consumed my body?

  “I don’t understand. Why would you leave without telling me?” Lucius’s face registered a conflict of emotions.

  I frowned. “I, um…” I began, unsure of where my thoughts headed. The bag’s straps dug into my skin as he tugged harder, expecting an answer.

  How could I ever explain the truth to Lucius? Especially when I didn’t entirely understand the truth myself. How did I become an Elemental? And what could I do to Gaia as retribution for taking my family from me?

  Lucius would never believe any of this if I told him. No one would. I guessed it remained something I must keep to myself until the very end. It was bad enough to spend each day as a fugitive, stealing from the homes of the wealthy in order to survive. One little slip could land me in jail with the Roman guard, or worse…slavery or death.

  I couldn’t tell what fate might befall him if he discovered my identity. Pompeii proved the perfect place to conceal myself, moving from one unoccupied villa to another before the residents returned to their vacation homes. Yet with convenience came risk. The constant surveillance had made me paranoid, as if I felt watchful eyes forever bearing into the back of my skull.

  Biting my lip, I looked away. “I only meant to protect you.”

  His cold, hard eyes softened. “Protect me?” He chuckled softly. He released the strap of my leather bag. “Why would you need to protect me?”

  I shifted my bag further up my arm and rubbed my red skin, sore from the pressure of his grip. “It’s too dangerous for you to be near me. You don’t know what might happen.”

  “Near you?” he repeated with another lighthearted laugh. “So you think it would be better if I knew nothing about your trip?”

  “Something like that,” I muttered.

  The side of his lip curled up in an amusing way. “You underestimate me, my friend. I am better at keeping a secret than you think.”

  I managed a faint smile.

  Lucius slipped his hand into my free one. “Well, if you must depart today, let’s make certain you are fully supplied.”

  “But I—”

  Before I could finish my protest, he dragged me off through the crowded Forum. Stopping at one cart after another, Lucius bartered with each vendor, insisting to turn his spare change into a few more necessities tucked safely within my bag. Already I felt better prepared for the journey, thanks to Lucius.

  “Anything else?” he asked as we made our way to the end of the busy shopping square on the far edge of town.

  I shook my head. My bag dug into my arm, yet I didn’t complain. “You didn’t need to buy all these things for me.”

  His mouth opened in a wide grin that exposed all his teeth. “Think of them as something to remember me by…until you return.”

  “Until I return,” I repeated, my heart wishing those words would come true. My eyes held his gaze for a lasting moment. “Arrivederci,” I said, thanking him. Reaching out for his hand, I gave it a gracious squeeze. Before my eyes filled with tears from his unexpected generosity, I turned to leave.

  Lucius’s fingers caught mine. He spun me around to face him. “That’s it?”

  A puzzled look crossed my face. “Excuse me?”

  “That’s your good-bye?”

  “Um…yes?” I replied with hesitation. What did I say wrong this time? Searching my brain, I tried to think of another local phrase or custom that I’d forgotten. Nothing came to mind.

  A playful smile danced across his lips. “Maybe where you’re from. But here in Pompeii…”

  He never finished his sentence. Instead, he took one step closer, letting his fingers lightly brush my cheek.

  I swallowed hard. He stood so close I felt his breath sweep my cheek. My heart pattered incessantly as my eyes locked with his. For a long minute, my previous worry dissolved.

  “And you wanted to leave without saying good-bye,” he teased. Lucius’s smile lit his face. Bending down toward me, he closed his eyes.

  All these weeks, I’d been too preoccupied with my own safety to think of him as anything beyond a friend. And yet when I should worry most, I found myself strangely at ease. I couldn’t believe it’d come to this. My first kiss. Who better to share it with than kind, unsuspecting, nonjudgmental Lucius?

  I closed my eyes, shifting my weight forward slightly onto my toes to meet him. I heard nothing over my thumping heart. Eager to experience something I’d dreamed about for so long, I stood taller, closing the gap. My lips almost reached his when a sonorous rumble rocked the carts scattered across the Forum. The ground swayed unsteadily beneath my feet.

  I stumbled, falling into Lucius’s arms. For a second, I assumed a sense of euphoria had overwhelmed me. But the panicked look upon his face suggested otherwise.

  “What is it?” I asked. The ground shifted a second time beneath my feet. Screams of terrified shoppers filled the air.

  His eyes darted around the square, trying to make sense of the turmoil surrounding us. Nearby, columns cracked at their bases, tumbling down upon unsuspecting villagers below. Only the lucky ones dodged out of the way in time. Cries of pain added to the clamor when heavy marble columns crushed the limbs of several shoppers, pinning them to the ground or rolling over them entirely, silencing their screams forever.

  “Earthquake, I fear,” Lucius replied. He grabbed my hand and darted off, away from the falling columns, right into the thick of people in the center of the square.

  I lagged behind him, my overflowing leather bag weighing me down. Time slowed to a crawl. The Forum swarmed with people fleeing in every direction. A frightened vacationer bumped into my shoulder, making me trip and skin my knees on the hard-packed ground. Lucius pulled me to my feet, dodging bodies as he pushed forward. A terrified horse reared up on his hind legs with a loud whinny. His owner grappled for the reins and the cart full of produce toppled on its side. We ducked out of the way just in time. A fissure opened in the ground before our feet. Lucius paused on the side, and leapt over the crack. I followed his lead but barely made my landing. I hovered on the edge, my heels floating freely over the deep fissure. I saw nothing but an inky black void threatening to suck me in. With a tug, Lucius dragged me safely away from the crack. My stomach flipped, realizing how close I came to meeting my doom.

  Then Lucius turned toward me, displeased with my sluggish progress. His gaze met my bag that clunked against my thigh with every burdened step.

  “Leave it,” he said, helping me drop the straps from my forearm.

  “No,” I struggled back.
“I need this.” How could I possibly set off for Delphi without any supplies?

  His face hardened. He placed a firm hand against my arm to silence my struggle. “Leave it.”

  “But—”

  “Now.” The icy tone in his voice demanded no further rebuttal. Against my better judgment, I let the bag slip off my arm and spill its contents upon the rattling earth.

  Satisfied, Lucius grabbed my hand again. His eyes darted wildly across the chaotic Forum, searching for the best escape route.

  We didn’t make it far before a sudden deafening roar smothered all noise in the square. Lucius stopped in his tracks, his eyes bulging with fear. He looked toward the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. I followed his gaze and felt the color drain from my face.

  A monstrous gray cloud rocketed out of its summit, towering above the mountain as a ballooning, smoky mass suspended in space.

  “Almighty Jupiter,” Lucius mumbled, his lips quivering slightly. His hand instantly gripped mine harder, turning my fingers white, then numb.

  The massive cloud hung motionless, like a spire reaching high into the bright blue sky. Patches of black, gray, and white gases swirled violently, a visible sign of the immense force that raged inside Vesuvius. Fiery boulders shot from its peak, white trails denoting each path.

  In all my life, I’d never seen anything like this. “What do we do now?” I screamed.

  Lucius shook his head in confusion. Grabbing whatever they could carry, shoppers dashed toward the sea, away from the danger lurking on the inland slopes. Our hands locked firmly together, we joined the flow, shoving and pushing to avoid being trampled in the mass exodus from the Forum.

  Amidst all the commotion, I spotted a figure standing calmly upon the crumbling wall that surrounded the marketplace. Clad in the fine white garments of a village aristocrat, the hem of her silken tunic glinted in the sun, embroidered in glittering gold threads. Her untamed russet hair whisked against her face. Then her wicked emerald eyes met mine, and I shivered in fear.

  I knew that face. It belonged to a murderer.

  How did she get here? But before I chanced a guess, I stopped suddenly and pulled Lucius backward, away from the throngs that fought to escape the Forum. I’d deal with anything to avoid confronting Gaia again.