The Elementals

by Thorne, Annalynne

  "You believe this, Terra? You think this was caused by fire?” Marissa asked. “There's no evidence to say it's him..."

  "You don't think so," Era questioned.

  "Well... Our time is running out and this is pretty convincing. It says they weren't able to discern a cause... I just... Terra believes this?"

  They all laughed, and Terra intervened, blinking and trying to keep her hands steady on the wheel. "I do, but with good reason. We saw him today, Issa. We met fire at the library."

  "What?!" She jumped between their seats gripping their shoulders like vices. "Really?! You did?! How did you know?!"

  "He's very strong. The atmosphere was if, it was almost crackling, as if in ablaze. It was a sharp experience, there's no doubt it's him. Quite the hot head though, not that it's any surprise."

  "You know what this means, right?! The search is over! We're safe! Just wait until we tell Aunt Gwen! What's his name?!"

  "Wait," Terra said, suddenly serious. "We haven't told him yet. Just because we always knew doesn't mean he has. Maybe he has powers similar to mine. Until I was physically harmed I had no idea what I could do even if I knew who I was." She recalled the time she fell off her bike while learning to ride. She skinned the whole side of her left leg, from the top of her socks to the hem of her shorts. Red spots emerged under the raised skin but it was not long, even before the tears came to her eyes, the skin was put together, the redness and irritation gone, and when she wiped the blood away, there was nothing to be seen, as if the drops had been put there without cause. There were no normal thoughts of going crazy, but pure elation, for she learned then that she had a talent. After seeing her sister materialize into water, she was proud to have something of her own.

  She smiled lightly at the passing memory but went on with what she had been saying. "I thought the element Earth was useless. And, by the way, we don't know his name. He didn't give us anything except rudeness. He didn't even want us to have that paper. He snapped mine out of my hands.

  The point is, we don't know him. We have to find a way to get to him. Right now, he hates us."

  "Why?" Marissa questioned.

  "I don't know, but he does. He did seem to take an interest in Era."

  Era sighed, "What makes you think that?"

  "He was looking at you softer."

  "That doesn't mean anything."

  "When he's shooting daggers, then yes, it means a lot." She pulled into their driveway winking at Era slyly.

  Terra and Era half heartedly bickered their way up to their porch. One look at the door stopped them, Terra's house key poised at the lock as she read the note tacked in front of her.

  Dear New Neighbors,

  We wanted to welcome you to our town. We are so glad to have you and we hope that you enjoy it here. You weren't home so we'll come by tomorrow with some goodies we baked to make you feel right at home!

  Have a good day!

  Beneath it was a long list of names in various styles, some cursive and others printed neatly. A few were only legible to chickens.

  "It's sickening, isn't it?"

  The three of them turned to see the library boy at the bottom of their steps. The air didn't crackle like it had before, but he still did not look happy. The pie in his hands didn't soften up his appearance.

  "No, we don't have an Andy and Barney." He groaned as if it was hurting him to say. "Look, my grandmother wanted me to try and drop this off again. It's just a pie, and she's missing an earring, so don't sue me if you crack a tooth or swallow the damn thing."

  Era skipped down and placed her hands next to his under the pan. "Thank you. What's your name?"

  "Bryne Sparks."

  "Appropriate." Era joked.

  "What do you mean?"

  "Come in and we'll talk about it."

  Bryne hesitated for a moment but shook his head. "No, sorry. I can't. Have to get home." He shoved his hands into the pockets of his over sized jeans and began walking away, just as he had done in the library, but he wasn't going to get by with that as easily THIS time.

  Marissa rushed to him, her fingertips grazing his bare shoulder, but just as she did she retracted, as if he'd burnt her. At the same time he whirled around to face her, staring at her lowly. "Don't ever touch me."

  "I'm sorry... I just..."

  "Spit it out." He held up a hand. "On second thought, don't. I don't want your germs on me. What is it, kid?"

  Marissa’s eyes glittered and she did something that surprised them all. "You know, for welcoming new neighbors you're awfully rude. We're here to find and help you. Don't be stupid, fire, you need us!"

  He stepped back. "What did you call me?"

  "Stupid. You are." Marissa repeated.

  "Not that!" he said.

  Her face fell, realizing what she had called him. "Oh... Fire. I called you Fire."

  “What do you know?” Bryne scoffed.

  As if choreographed, Terra and Era joined them, standing on either side of Marissa like a barrier. The start of an army. It was hardly a metaphor, for they would be an army.

  Terra inhaled deeply readying herself for what she was going to say. “We know that you're what we've been looking for.”

  Chapter Five

  Fairy Tales

  What if they couldn't write a happily ever after? Was there any such thing? After all, all of the original fairy tales were tragedies. The remakes told lies.

  On the counter in the kitchen the pie sat forgotten. Terra, Era, and Marissa gathered around the table in contemplation of what had happened out there. Terra thought maybe she got the answers to her unasked questions. Bryne was certainly nothing like them in regards to how they handled it, and he hadn't even been told yet.

  "You're all are crazy! I don't know what you're talking about," he had spat vehemently like venom before storming off away from them.

  Marissa's chin rested on her hands staring at a burnt hole, her pinky tracing the edge thoughtfully. "He didn't mean it. I felt it. He was scared because he knew that we knew what he could do. He was just being defensive is all."

  "Why would he leave," Terra inquired. "Why is he scared? He knows what we are, right?"

  "He knows, but why he left and why he won't talk with us, I don't know."

  "You'll find out?"

  "Yes."

  "Good luck with that." Terra raked her fingers through her hair, a nervous gesture. Like a movie clip running behind her eyelids, she remembered Marissa going after him. "What was that jerk motion when you went after him? And what was with you going off? I've never seen you act like that before." Terra asked.

  "Oh... I don't know... He... I feel ashamed now, but what I felt... It hurt me. It made me want to hurt him, it made me boil. That's not like me," Marissa insisted desperately, "I've never felt that way before!"

  "We know that, Issa. It's odd behavior for you."

  "I don't know what came over me..."

  "What are we going to do, Terra," Era asked, "you're the leader."

  It was no matter that Era was a year older than her, Terra had taken the natural role of leadership long ago. She guessed it was because Aunt Gwen was gone a lot and Terra had practically raised Marissa. When Era came in it was respected that that was how things were. She wasn't sure how respected it would be when Bryne came in officially, but they would have to cross that bridge when they came to it; when he stopped burning them down...

  Truth was, she didn't know what to do. Stalking him was out of the question. So was kidnapping. Persuading him was just a preposterous idea, his stubborn nature making it next to impossible, but what other choice did they have? How were they even going to convince him?

  Era stood and went to the counter taking out three clear glasses from the overhead cabinets, and apple juice from the fridge. Once poured, she brought them back, and the silence ensued, a heavy blanket over them. There was the soft thudding as they set their glasses on the wood table top along with Marissa's own nervous gesture of tapping her foot.

>   There was only one thought of how to solve their problem, and that was to get the Kin involved. It would be a group effort, almost like an intervention. Unlike the three of them, the entirety of them was experienced. They would know what to do.

  "Is there a clan near here?" Terra questioned.

  "You're thinking of an intercession," Era guessed.

  "Why not? I think it'll work, he'll have to listen. If he doesn't believe..."

  "How can he not believe? We all have powers. I can only imagine what fire would have."

  "He knows," Marissa voiced, "he has to. We all did."

  "If there's no clan here... If he was like Era..."

  Terra tugged at her tresses again. There had to be a way. "Any ideas Era?"

  "We talk to him, if he doesn't listen, we'll go back to the drawing board."

  The doorknob jangled and opened, the white noise of the rain and the fresh ions filling the room. Sloshing inside in her black knee boots and dripping hair was Aunt Gwen.

  "Hello girls. What are you doing?"

  "We found fire," Marissa said, smiling, all impossibilities of the situation gone at the celebratory news.

  "Really?" Aunt Gwen kicked off her high heeled boots, hung her jacket on the brass hook, and ran over to take the last seat at the table leaving wet prints and drops in her path. "That is wonderful? How? Tell me everything!"

  Just as the blanket had retreated it was back smothering them. "He doesn't want anything to do with us," Marissa choked.

  Terra laid a hand over Marissa’s as if it could have soothed the rejection she was feeling. "Era and I met him at the library. We knew immediately who he was, but the boy has an attitude. The only one he seems remotely fond of is Era." Era rolled her eyes. "We have a plan; we're going to try to talk with him again."

  "Do you have a back-up plan?"

  "No, we'll get to that if this doesn't work."

  Aunt Gwen looked apprehensive. "Look, girls. You don't have a lot of time. You four may be in the same vicinity, but that does not make you safe. Not until you are together, and as it is, you're in more danger now than you've ever been in. You're too close and that poses a threat." She pushed herself to her feet, and in turn kissed their foreheads, right under their hairline. "I love you, but there's only so much I can do for you. Move fast. I'm going to bed; I have to be up in the morning. Don't you stay up late Marissa, you have school.”

  “Yes ma'am.”

  The three sipped their juice, and Terra waited with bated breath as Era listened to their guardian climbing the steps and go into her room. As they waited, she devised another plan in her head. They wouldn't wait until morning. If they were to try only in the daylight then it would take twice as long. Aunt Gwen was right, they didn't have much time, and anyone with a shred of common sense would stop it then.

  That train of thought begged the question: Where has the danger been? They had never had their lives put at risk. It sent her stomach to the floor to think of how safe they were. Put aside the relocations, what had stopped anyone from finding them through records and destroying them? The answer was nothing.

  “She's asleep,” Era said nearly twenty minutes later.

  “Issa, you should go to bed too.”

  Marissa peered at them closely. “What are you going to do?”

  She looked to Era. “Bryne doesn't know what we're going to throw at him, but he'll be expecting something. He knows of his talent and who we are, so he knows we won't give up that easily. What he won't be expecting is us going to him at night. His guard will be down. It's perfect.”

  "I don't know, that's risky. We'll be in his territory. We don't have his address and we can't knock on every door until he answers..." Era sighed.

  Enthused Terra jumped up. On the wrap of the pie that Bryan gave them was a yellow post-it note written in shaky but large and clear writing. "Nina Brown," she read to herself. On the refrigerator was the paper that was tacked to the front door earlier. Most of them had addresses on it and right there in the same handwriting was Nina Brown's address.

  She placed it in front of Era. "You have to love small towns."

  Marissa bent halfway over the table to glimpse at the address reading it upside down. "I want to go."

  "No Marissa," Terra denied instantly. She did not like the thought of her sister going with them. They didn't know what Bryne's powers were, but he was fire and the school had to be rebuilt probably because of him. It wasn't safe, not until they assessed the situation. Marissa was young, though only a few years younger than herself, like a mother would, Terra still saw her as a young child, one to be protected.

  "Why not? This involves me too."

  "Forget it, Issa."

  "That's not fair!"

  "Shhh," Terra hushed. "Go to bed."

  "Please….”

  "No."

  Era squeezed her hand. "Go on, we'll tell you everything in the morning. We'll wake you up when we come home if you like."

  "But... I don't want to be left out."

  "You're not being left out; you have a part to play. You need your education and you need to sleep."

  She sighed, a tear spilling down her cheek the sign of her yielding. "Fine."

  As Marissa dragged herself up the staircase Terra was grabbing the keys from the hook by the jackets. She got her green hooded sweatshirt and threw Era's knitted shawl to her. Like they were racing daybreak they hurried outside and into the car, flipping their hoods over their heads.

  The rain poured, sheets building into a windy slant that blurred their vision but they had no trouble seeing through it, and ducking into their car. They were soaked at that point, their feet slipping on the floorboard, and Terra's feet over the gas and brake pedals. The tires screeched out of the driveway in complaint to the wet concrete and movement of haste they moved in.

  Era released the paper from under her shirt and smoothed out the wet spots. "Why are we in such a hurry," she asked as if it was not of anything of importance.

  Terra didn't answer. She didn't have one. There was no reason they were moving like bats out of Hades. There was something in the way that Aunt Gwen warned them of this peril.

  They lived all of their lives without any of the so called danger. When Terra thought about it, it didn't seem right. When they have been separated as long as they have, why hasn't there been anything to threaten them? They were in peace, but was Bryne?

  “It doesn't seem right, for us to be safe all of our lives and be warned that it could be gone. Where has this danger been?” Terra questioned.

  “We move a lot,” Era mentioned smartly. “That's what Aunt Gwen told us, it was part of the reason. The more we moved the harder it would be to track us.”

  “Maybe it wasn't tracking us at all.”

  “Are you thinking that Bryne's been in trouble this whole time?”

  “I don't know, but I plan to find out.” Terra replied. Though they were moving too fast, the threat of them hydroplaning was very possible, she pushed on the gas a little more anyway. Time suddenly was the most vital; it worked against them and mostly against Bryne.

  She didn't know the fire spirit, she knew nothing but of his name and that he had a severe attitude problem. But he was alone, and had been alone all those years. While Terra had her sisters, he was set off to defend himself. It seemed unfair how it worked out that way.

  It was like asking who made the stars, the sun and the moon. Was it as simple as that, or was there something they weren't seeing? Was there more to the story than they were told? Who separated them and why would they be so cruel to one boy? Why?

  "Right there." Era pointed to a small house, weeds covering the overgrown grass, drowning in the storm.

  Terra pulled over on the far side of the road and shut off the engine. You could hear the pattering of the rain louder and more pure. A human wouldn't have been able to see the details of the house at their distance, the weather a band between them, but they could see. She saw the roughly shaped concrete dogs on the cr
umbling porch steps, the missing pieces of the gray roof. Compared to the neighbors of freshly mowed lawns of nicely kept houses it looked like it belonged in a poor district.

  "Are we going to wait out here all night?" Era Inquired.

  Terra shook her head. As if preparing for a war, she took a velvet band from around her wrist and tied her hair at the base of her neck. "We're going to go on in, I just wanted to…”

  "Stake the place out," Era finished with a giggle at the end of her sentence.

  "Don't make it sound like we're stalkers or the FBI. We're trying to help."

  "And help ourselves out in the process."

  "Come on. Now is better than never."

  They reemerged into the rain, it falling more softly now. Standing in front of the door they could smell cigarette smoke, as if it was ingrained in the wood. Being biased from the looks, it appeared that it wouldn't be too far of a fetch to assume that it indeed was. She didn't want to know what the scent was like on a hot summer's day, the sun warming the wood and causing the aroma to be ten times worse.

  Terra knocked once, then twice when she knew that the first could not be heard, even by the bat that flapped over their heads. For good measure she curled her hand into a fist and pounded. Era grabbed her wrist pulling lightly.

  "Sorry," Terra muttered. "Nervous."

  It was frightening working without a plan, approaching the door to a boy that hated them. They didn't know what they were in for, and they were very much alone, Terra comforted herself by silently assuring herself that anyone else would be scared as mice in a snake’s lair, but it had to be done. They had no other choice.

  "He's one of us," Era stated calmly, "this has to end well."

  Did it? The prophet didn't see how their story would end, their final chapters had not been written, the pen was flowing, the ink drying, the bottle spilled and they had to wing the rest. What if they couldn't write a happily ever after? Was there any such thing? After all, all of the original fairy tales were tragedies. The remakes told lies.

  They waited and waited, but no one answered. She leaned over the porch railing to see through the window, but it was so thick with grime that it was impossible.