The Elementalist

by Melissa J. Cunningham

  “I’ll just wait in your room then. I want to tell you something important.”

  “Just go home!” she yelled, counting down the seconds. Thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight…

  “I saw that guy come over here. I saw him come into your house, Claire. I have a right to know why he’s here. I know he’s not here for your mom. I saw her leave.”

  Claire gritted her teeth, refusing to be baited by his jealousy. He was watching her house now? She’d known he would be like this if they got too serious, and now she regretted their budding romance.

  “After the other night, I have the right to know if you like him. I mean—”

  “Oh my gosh, Jamie!” she screeched. “I don’t. Have. Time!” Fourteen, thirteen, twelve.

  Jamie’s fist banged against the door in frustration, and Claire jumped, startled, her heart racing from more than just the intrusion. The timer flew from her fingers and tumbled into the bathwater with Brecken. Face up, it continued to count down, even under the water. Five, four, three.

  “Is he in there with you? Oh hell, Claire. Please tell me he’s not in there with you.” The defeat in Jamie’s voice was almost her undoing. She was already two seconds over the limit.

  With shaking hands, she grabbed Brecken by his T-shirt and tried to pull him up. However, he was much heavier than she’d anticipated, due either to dead weight or the water in his clothes, maybe both, and he fell back under the water, causing waves to spill over the side of the tub and drench her shoes.

  She screamed in fright, because the spell only protected him for exactly ten minutes.

  “Claire? What’s going on? What happened? Water just came under the door!” Jamie pounded on the other side, his hammering like thunder in her ears, her complementing shrieks producing the perfect storm.

  Grabbing Brecken behind the head, she sat him up in the tub, but he was slippery and hard to hold. His head lolled forward, and water spilled from his mouth and nose. “Brecken! Wake up!” she screamed, trying to slap him to awareness, but the only thing her struggles did was make him slip out of her grasp and back under the water.

  “Jamie!” she screeched. “Help me!”

  The door burst open one second later.

  49

  ~Claimed by Death~

  Claire

  Jamie grasped Brecken under the arms and hefted him out of the tub. It almost looked effortless compared to Claire’s attempts. Brecken flopped to the floor like a lifeless fish, water streaming from his pale lips.

  “What happened?” Jamie yelled, half panicked. “Why is he in your bathtub?” He stared at her, his mouth hanging open in anguished rejection.

  “It’s not what you think! Do you know CPR?”

  Jamie nodded and pushed past Claire so he could be the one to do the breathing. He ordered her to do chest compressions.

  “Now is not the time to be jealous, you idiot!” She pushed him back and took her place by Brecken’s face. “You’re stronger. You do the compressions.”

  Jamie scowled but knelt next to Brecken’s left arm, positioned his hands over his chest. They began working with Jamie counting out loud and Claire’s mouth closing over Brecken’s every few seconds. Jamie watched her with a grimace.

  ***

  Brecken stood dead center in the path, dark souls writhing around him. The air was thick with misery as he made his way deeper into the bowels of Soul Prison. The odor of sulfur and other noxious scents filled his senses, making everything inside him scream to leave this place of suffering, but he pressed on, with only one thought in mind.

  To rescue Alisa.

  The cacophonous noise of the dead was sure to bring the guards out, and there was nowhere to hide unless he wanted to wade through the pits of tar, cementing his soul here for a long time. The thought that he could be ripped away at any moment spurred him on. He didn’t have time to waste.

  Sure enough, two demons marched toward him, holding black, pointed fire-spears, the tips serrated and most likely dipped in venom. When they were close enough to lock gazes with Brecken, they stopped. He didn’t back down but squared his shoulders, his eyes narrowed in recognition.

  “Berith,” Brecken growled. He didn’t recognize the other demon. There were so many back at the time when he lived among them that he really only knew the top echelons of demonic leadership. He was totally unfamiliar with these newer, younger ones.

  “Undoer?” Berith frowned.

  Brecken sensed that the lesser demon was unsure of how to interact with him.

  “Why are you here?” the demon demanded.

  Brecken folded his arms, his soul seeming much larger than his teenage body back in the bathtub at Claire’s house. “You’re not well informed. Surely, someone knew I was coming.” He couldn’t believe they would take Alisa and not plan for his arrival. They couldn’t be that stupid. No. Someone here knew and had anticipated this very event.

  Berith shook his head, looking confused. He took a step back.

  Brecken inhaled a deep breath, trying to ignore the pleading souls surrounding them. Their cries had reached a deafening level, threatening to dislodge his focus. “Under whom do you serve?”

  Berith had served under Brecken, but that was long ago when Berith was a new recruit, untested and inexperienced. He still seemed that way even though it had been a few hundred Earth years.

  “I serve under Focalor.”

  “Well, that explains it.” Brecken laughed and shook his head. “I am looking for a prisoner who is being held in Gehenna. Alisa Callahan. A Guardian.”

  Berith’s whole countenance altered, as though a light had clicked on in his teeny tiny brain. “No one gets in or out of Gehenna without permission, Undoer. Not even you. Especially not you.”

  “No old favors for the one who saved your life on numerous occasions?”

  Berith raised his spear and his partner did likewise, following his superior’s example. “I have orders to bring any suspicious souls to Bas Iblis.” He thrust his spear out, and Brecken jumped back, narrowly escaping the sharpened tip.

  “Hold on there,” Brecken said with an unassuming chuckle. “There’s no need to be hasty.” He raised his hands in surrender. “I’m not here to cause problems.”

  Berith’s eyes narrowed and he took a step closer, but it was obvious from his tightened shoulders that he was frightened. Brecken moved his hands so quickly that neither Berith nor his companion could react. Slapping the spear away, he then grabbed hold of the shaft as the base tipped toward him. He used the momentum to hit Berith between the legs, and then the other soldier across the head.

  Spinning, he stabbed the younger demon through the chest. His body exploded into an eruption of russet dust. Familiar feelings of triumph washed over Brecken as the intoxication of battle-lust seduced him. It had been a long time since he had flexed his combat-hardened muscles—spiritually speaking—and for a moment, he missed being Bretariel, the Great Undoer.

  Twisting around, he met Berith, the spear between them, but this time, it was pointed at the demon. “I could kill you now with no regret, you bottom-feeder.”

  “Go ahead and try. I’m not the same unseasoned weakling you remember.”

  “You’re still stupid.”

  Berith’s face clouded over in rage. With a roar of madness, he threw himself at Brecken, throwing aside the spear point at the last second. He grabbed Brecken around the throat, squeezing with fury. Brecken pushed him back with the spear shaft, but Berith blocked the coming stab. Berith used that moment to strike Brecken in the neck. They fell to the ground, rolling close to the tar pits. Blackened arms stretched from the pits to seize them. Brecken locked one hand around the demon’s throat, searching for the poisoned spearhead with his other hand.

  Berith managed to wrestle his way on top, trapping Brecken’s left arm beneath his knees. He reached for the spear that lay inches away from Brecken’s reaching fingers, but Brecken shoved Berith off balance, and they rolled again to the other side of the path. This ti
me, Brecken managed to be on top. He held the spear, pressing against Berith’s arms, which blocked the weapon from piercing his skin by inches.

  And that was when he felt it.

  A tug in the pit of his stomach. Like someone was trying to pull him from his enemy. For a moment, he thought the other demon had miraculously resurrected, but then it hit him.

  Claire!

  He screamed for her to stop. He was so close! If he could just…

  50

  ~Back from the Dead~

  Claire

  Never had Claire felt such relief. With a cry of happiness, she threw her arms around Brecken’s neck as he coughed and sputtered.

  “Oh my gosh, that was so scary! We’re never doing that again!”

  “What is going on?” Jamie yelled into the small confines of the bathroom. He stood with his hands fisted at his sides, his eyes wild with hysteria.

  Both Brecken and Claire turned to look at him, having totally forgotten he was still there. Brecken didn’t say anything. He just lay back down on the cold tiles, sucking in huge lungfuls of air, closing his eyes and putting an arm over his face.

  Claire tried to think of something to say. She was so relieved with Brecken’s recovery that nothing else mattered. How did she explain she was helping him enter the spirit world to save his true love? It was too unbelievable. Too ridiculous. “Um… it’s kind of complicated.”

  “Uncomplicate it,” Jamie growled, scowling, his eyes darting to Brecken every few seconds.

  “I don’t think she can,” Brecken answered, pushing himself to a sitting position. “You must be the boyfriend,” he said, sticking his hand out to Jamie.

  Claire and Jamie glanced at one another. Jamie ignored Brecken’s outstretched hand, instead waiting for her to answer.

  “Well, kind of,” she said to Brecken. “We’ve been friends our whole lives.”

  Brecken pushed himself to a standing position next to Jamie, who towered over him. “You must play football.”

  Jamie gave him an incredulous glare, and then looked back at Claire. “Who is this guy? Why is he here? And what were you two doing in here?”

  Claire grabbed his arm and steered him out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She and Brecken hadn’t thought about what they would do after a successful expedition, but the first thing he needed was dry clothes, so she shoved Jamie into her bedroom. “Stay here. I’m going to get him some of my dad’s jeans.”

  Once Brecken was dry and dressed, they all sat on her bed. Jamie’s eyes were narrowed as he glowered and leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. He was clearly unhappy.

  Brecken rested his head against the wall with his eyes closed. He seemed exhausted and kept saying he was going home to sleep, but he hadn’t left yet and didn’t act like he was capable. Claire’s gaze kept darting between them, unsure of how to explain.

  Finally, with a heavy sigh, she leaned forward, her hands clasped around her legs, which were pulled close to her chest. “Okay. So. Here it is. Brecken is Alisa’s old boyfriend—the spirit who was in my body. A demon tried to kill us, and she got kicked out. Then Alisa got kidnapped and taken to some sort of prison in the afterlife. Brecken went to save her.” She smiled like the explanation was as understandable as peanut butter.

  Jamie’s expression didn’t change, and he snorted in derision. “Nice. How long did that one take to think up?”

  Claire had little experience with Jamie being rude or sarcastic. Normally, he was all puppy love and charm. His reaction took her by surprise, and she sputtered. “It’s… not a lie.”

  “It’s not a lie,” Brecken repeated, half asleep.

  Jamie shook his head. “That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Almost as stupid as you telling me you were possessed in the first place,” he said to Claire. “I don’t believe it anymore.”

  She looked at him, confused. “When did I ever say that?”

  “At the beach.” He raised his eyebrows as though she was asking a very stupid question.

  Claire frowned. When was she ever at the beach with Jamie… lately anyway?

  “You know,” he said. “When we went with Katelyn, Wade, and Kaden.”

  “I don’t remember that,” she said primly. “If I’d said it, I’d remember it.”

  “Well, you did.”

  “Did not.”

  “You did!”

  “Shut up, you two!” Brecken said, his face falling onto Claire’s pillow. He was soon snoring, and Jamie and Claire were left semi-alone.

  They glanced reproachfully at one another. Both frowning. Both with their arms crossed over their chests.

  Jamie gave in first. “For the sake of fairness, I’ll assume you are telling the truth. At the time, you said your name was Alisa, and that you were trapped in… your body.” He gestured to all of her. “You wanted us to help you do a ceremony to get you out of your body.”

  A smile came over Claire’s face. Tricky Alisa. Trying to solve the problem on her own. Smart. “Okay,” she said, nodding. “See? I told you it wasn’t me. It was Alisa.”

  Jamie shrugged and glanced out of the window. The sun was beginning to set, and her mom would be coming home soon. She was still grounded, and if her mother found two boys in her bedroom…

  “You need to go,” she said, pushing Jamie off her bed and toward the window.

  “What? And leave him here?” He pointed to Brecken, who was drooling on Claire’s pillow.

  “No. I’m sending him home too. Go!”

  Jamie had one foot on the sill when he turned back. “Claire…”

  “It’s all right,” she said patiently. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow.”

  She could tell he wanted to kiss her or do something to cement him as the winner, but she denied him even that. Pushing him toward the waiting world, she shut the window behind him. He watched her with tender eyes, and she waited there a moment, wondering what it would be like if she let him back inside… No. There wasn’t time. He waved good-bye reluctantly and climbed down the tree.

  “I should go too,” Brecken mumbled into the pillow.

  “Yes, you should.”

  She helped him up, and knowing he was in no condition to climb down a tree, she guided him down the stairs. Tucking Brecken into the front seat of her car, she strapped on the seat belt and then hurried to her side. Quickly, she shoved the keys into the ignition and sped away, driving across town to deposit the half-dead sleeping handsome at his home. She glanced at him while he slumbered, noticing the way his lashes lay softly against his cheek, the slight part of his lips, and the dark flop of hair on his forehead.

  She could totally understand why Alisa was so into him. There really was something amazing about this boy… something intriguing, compelling, and beautiful. She wanted to know him better, to understand his life, his secrets, and his dreams.

  51

  ~False Hope~

  Alisa

  I waited… and waited… for anything unusual to occur. Nothing in Soul Prison ever changed, stirred the senses, or made you feel. I would have loved someone to come along and steal my attention, even for a moment.

  No one had come to visit or torment me in ages. They must have forgotten I was here as I suffered inside these thick stone walls that constantly dripped poison on me. I experienced no rest. Sleep could not have taken away the cold oblivion I felt anyway.

  The only thought keeping me halfway sane was Brecken. He was somewhere out there living. I yearned for news of him, just to know he was safe and happy. Even if it was with Hannah, I would be okay with it.

  And then, finally… in a moment of pure tedium… something did happen. Something stirred the dust in this dismal hole. The hum of arguing echoed throughout the rock walls. I couldn’t tell what was being shouted, and I only understood the tone, but someone was very angry.

  I could only guess who. It had to be someone important like our exalted leader, Bas Iblis.

  That made m
e happy.

  But oh, to know what had caused his wrath. I would have given anything to know that. The sound of marching began to reverberate throughout the prison. Demon-soldiers ran past my door with their spears held tightly before them, and two soldiers at the end of the line carried a wounded comrade.

  I strained at my door, trying to see through the small four-by-four barred window, which didn’t give me much of a view. Something had killed a guard? Calvik walked by at a brisk pace, a rigid expression on his face. He stared straight ahead, his eyes distant, as though his thoughts were far away. He was last in line.

  “Hey! What’s going on?” I called as he passed.

  He hesitated, but he didn’t turn to look at me. Adjusting his weapons, he spoke from the corner of his mouth. “Bretariel has returned… looking for you.”

  My heart clenched in disbelief, and I gasped. He had come for me! Calvik walked away without a second glance, but I adored him for his message of hope. I would survive. Brecken had come for me!

  I stumbled back to my rock bench, my eyes closed in a prayer of gratitude. If I could have shed tears of happiness, I would have. Instead, I sat there, hugging my legs to my chest, rocking and dreaming of the moment I would see his face again. It could be any minute!

  He knew I was here. He knew they had taken me prisoner! But how? I found myself pacing, pacing, pacing. Time moved at a snail’s pace, like always. Hours seemed to pass while I waited, but how long was it really? Minutes? Hours? Days? I ignored the painful, burning drops of liquid fire that landed on my head and shoulders, for they no longer mattered. Soon, I would be free!

  I waited. And waited. And waited.

  Why didn’t he come? Had he been taken prisoner? Would anyone tell me if that were the case? It would be just like Bas Iblis to torture me with this information, but he didn’t know I knew. Around and around, the thoughts swirled in my mind, tormenting me.

  A long time passed… and Brecken never came.

  52