by R. M. Getsee
And then I felt the power.
It was like nothing I had ever felt before.
Whoever, or whatever, was advancing on me was emitting so much power that it made my teeth vibrate, and my skin sting as if I had fell head first into a cacti patch.
I was swaying on my feet, overcome by the sheer force of what it was emitting. I almost laughed at what I had felt from the shadow-snakes, they felt like fluffy bunnies compared to this. This, I now knew, was true evil.
Pure evil.
Whoever or whatever was bound by the chains was coming closer and it filled me with a deep sense of dread. A voice spoke suddenly in the darkness. It was a cold, cruel voice, and I knew it was coming from the mysterious being in front of me.
“Oh you do not know how long I have waited,” It said in almost a whisper. “But now the time is almost upon us. Finally, after all this time, I have broken one of the chains. Soon I will break another, and another, until finally I will be free.”
I shivered uncontrollably and sucked in a breath. That was a mistake. I felt, rather than saw, when the creature’s eyes focused on me.
I heard it breathe in as if it were sniffing the air around me, and it laughed mockingly. “So the prophecy is true, the Ancients’ powers have finally awoken again.”
Drawing in a shaking breath, I found my voice, though I failed to keep the fear out of it. “What are you talking about? Where are we? What are the Ancients? What are you?”
The creature seemed to find my rambling questions rather amusing. “You don’t even know what you are. What power you hold.”
“Then tell me,” I said with a shaking voice, almost afraid of what the answer would be.
The creature let out another laugh and it chilled me to the bone. “The First really thought that you could stop me? You are but a child, you cannot hope to defeat me. The others powers are still dormant, they have not yet fought to the surface. Your powers may be growing, but without the other four they are useless against me.”
“What others?” I asked.
“You think that I will tell you? You are but a child, alive barely a blink of an eye; I have been here since the beginning. As each chain breaks my powers slowly return and I grow stronger.
“Soon I will be strong enough to get rid of you before you can unite with the other four. Enjoy your existence while you can, however pitiful it may be, as soon you will have no existence at all.”
The shadows came flying back, screaming in a whisper, directly into my mind, trying to drag me down into the pit of darkness once again.
*********
My boots touched down on my bedroom floor, and I stumbled lightly, catching myself before I could fall. I was shaking and ice cold, my shirt was soaked in sweat. I looked at the watch around my wrist and found that over twenty minutes had passed.
My head was pounding mildly and I realized that my migraines must be connected somehow to my visions and powers. I was covered in cold sweat so I grabbed a change of clothes and ran to my bathroom. Vision or no vision I had to go to school.
After a quick shower I felt a little better, the hot water clearing my head and washing away the icy cold I felt in my bones.
I threw on some clothes, as I was tugging in my boots I realized that there was something on the bottom, there was dark soil encrusted in the treads. I squeezed my eyes shut, grabbing my keys and jacket and hurried out the door, refusing to let myself think about what it meant.
The trees, illuminated by the streetlamps blurred as I sped toward the school. I had to swerve sharply as a shape ran across the road. I hit the brakes, breathing quickly, my hands shaking on the steering wheel as I slowly proceeded, parking my jeep after I passed the wrought iron gates of the entryway.
I had trouble concentrating on my classes, lost in my own head, and nearly jumped out of my skin as the bell rang, for lunch.
Emi hurried over to me and took my arm.
“Are you alright?” The girl’s bright blue eyes were dark with worry as she assessed me.
“I’m OK,” I said meekly, then my eyes filled with tears and I looked at her. “Actually I don’t think I am.”
Emi hurried me forward, ushering me into a free classroom and closed the door. As soon as it was shut, I broke down.
I told her everything that had been happening, the visions of the future that had come true, the cold dark place that I had gotten sucked into, the shadows that had attacked me, and my brush with the creature that dwelled there.
When I was finally done my tears had slowed to a light trickle and I looked at Emi, she had been quiet through the whole story and I was afraid that this would be the final straw. That I had finally freaked her out so much that she would leave, tell the whole school that I was insane and I would have no one.
Instead Emi wrapped me in a tight hug. “I wish that you had told me sooner.” She said softly. “I hate to think that you went through all of this alone.”
I gave a soft laugh. “I thought that you would think I was crazy, or making it up to get attention, and you would stop hanging out with me.”
“Never.” The Emi said it with such vehemence that I looked at her in shock. “You’re my friend, I would never abandon you.”
“So you believe me?” I asked timidly, picking at a loose thread that had frayed on the sweater I was wearing, still a little paranoid, and shell-shocked from the morning I’d had.
“It may be a little hard to take in, but it makes sense.” Emi smiled. “It does explain how you can use all the elements, and how you’re so powerful. My mother has always told me that the fifth element is real, and that it just takes an incredibly special vampire to control it. And you are definitely special Alex.”
There was so much warmth in the girl’s eyes that it made me start crying again. “Thank you Emi, you really are the best friend in the world.”
We both stayed in that classroom through lunch, talking, laughing and crying. When lunch was over we both hurried to the nearest bathroom to clean up so no one would realize what we had been up to and we walked to our next class.
Chapter Seven
Emi and I spent the next few days trying to find out more about how it was possible that I was apparently able to see the future, or that I somehow got magically sucked into a dark, creepy place I had never been to and had no idea how I got back either.
Based on what the creature had said we had also looked for information about whom or what the Ancients were. So far we had come up empty handed and I was starting to feel a strong sense of resignation to the fact that we may never figure it out.
The threats that dark creature had made were still haunting my dreams and I had an impending sense of dread that if we didn’t find something soon we would be too late, for what I was unsure of, but I knew that I had to find something and fast.
As Emi and I walked into class I felt a physical wave of exhaustion overcome me as I slouched into my seat. The usual hum of everyone in the class talking to each other was lulled as Mr. Carlisle entered the room.
“Good afternoon everyone.” He said in an overly formal tone. “Today we’ll be discussing the origins of the Elementals.”
I sat up straighter in my seat. The Elementals were seriously scary vampire idealists who were mad for power and seriously psychotic.
“There is a myth that the first vampire in existence fathered a line of vampires by mating with humans. That line bred with mortals and created new vampires, diluting the power spreading our race throughout the world. The original vampire was said to be immortal and watched over its descendants for centuries, until one day it disappeared and was never seen again.”
Mr. Carlisle paused as a hand shot into the air.
“What has a myth got to do with the Elementals?” A girl from the front row asked in confusion.
Mr. Carlisle gave her a condescending smile before he continued. “The myth has everything to do with it. A group of radical vampires that could control more than one element believed that they wer
e somehow chosen.
“They teamed up with one another to worship the original like a god; they believed that vampires had become weak because they drank blood only occasionally, so they started massacring the humans that we had lived in secret from for hundreds of years. That was what had started up the vampire mythology all those years ago, leading to a war within the clans and with the humans, and why we now must still stay hidden from the humans. The radicals were mostly rounded up and executed for their heinous crimes, but some escaped. They became the first of the Elementals and passed their knowledge down through their bloodlines. That knowledge also contained the belief of the fifth element, the key to ultimate power”
My back protested as I leaned even closer, intent to hear the rest of the story but the rest just only followed the crimes that were committed by the Elementals throughout the years.
As he continued answering the many questions the class shot at him a memory stirred in my mind.
Some of the traits are said to be able to glimpse into future and past, mind speak and many other mental and physical traits.
It has also been said that the fifth element grants you control over all the others.
That was what had led me to Mr. Carlisle’s office that day. I knocked on the door and heard him call from inside. Slowly, I pushed open the door and entered the office.
“Ah, Miss Morgan,” He said, acknowledging me from his seat. He stood up from behind his desk in greeting. “What can I do for you today?”
I took a deep breath and asked, “Sir, what can you tell me about the fifth element?”
Mr. Carlisle raised his eyebrows, “Well it took you long enough. I was expecting you here days ago.”
I stared at him with confusion on my face.
“My dear Alex, you are not the first student who has come to me about the theory of them having an affinity for the fifth element.”
Disappointment surged within me. “So you don’t believe in its existence?” Dejected, I turned to leave. “I’m sorry to have wasted your time.”
Mr. Carlisle just smiled. “While one cannot prove the existence of the fifth element, one also cannot prove its lack of existence either.” He gestured to the seat opposite his desk.
I slowly lowered myself into the chair and looked at the vampire.
“So is it possible?”
Mr. Carlisle took the seat opposite me. “I honestly don’t know,” he said. “There has been speculation about it, but most people just dismiss the idea.”
“And what do you think?” I was almost desperate; I wanted something that I could hold on to, anything that might lead me to answers of some kind.
“Miss Morgan, how old do you think I am?”
I was slightly taken aback at the abrupt change of subject.
“I don’t know Sir, maybe sixty?”
Mr. Carlisle chuckled softly. “I’m ninety eight years old”
“Wow, that’s pretty impressive,” I said, I was starting to get extremely confused. “But I don’t see how this relates to your views on the existence of the fifth element.”
“No I don’t suppose you would.” He straightened slightly in his chair, though I thought that might have been slightly for dramatic flair as his posture was already perfect.
“My point is that I have been teaching for a long time, over sixty-seven years, and in that time many things have seemed impossible have been proven to be the opposite.”
I waited, trying to be patient, I wanted any information that he could give me but I had an impending sense of urgency in my quest to find answers, and his dramatic pauses were riding on my last nerve.
“Someone with an affinity for the fifth element has never been documented, but its mythology has been passed down by word of mouth for millennia. It is said that there was once a creature that possessed all of the gifts that a vampire could possibly have. ”
“The original?” I asked.
“Yes Alex.” He smiled. “If you were paying as close attention to my lecture earlier as I think you were, I believe you know pretty much all that I do. The Elementals worshipped the original vampire, but decided that humans needed to be eradicated or farmed for blood. The amount they consumed drove them to become insane killers and form a sort of cult.”
“And the fifth element?” I really wanted to know more about it.
Maybe this was the less crazy form of explanation to that the hell was happening to me. “Can you tell me anything else about it?”
Mr. Carlisle shook his head no. “I’m afraid that most of what know I already spoke of in my lecture today. The Elementals may know more about it, but I told you the gist, the fifth element it supposed to have power of all the other four and have a few other traits along with it but you can read that in most books.”
I now felt my frustration once again boiled to the surface.
“I still don’t see how that helps me; the Elementals are powerful and dangerous, not to mention impossible to find, I don’t even know how they can tell who their members are from the rest of the population. And even if I could, it’s not like they would hand any information or knowledge over to me. It’s more likely that they would kill me before I got close to anything.”
Mr. Carlisle reached into his desk and pulled out an old, dusty folder. Sliding it across the table he looked into my eyes.
“Over the last hundred years a three of the Elementals have been located and caught. This is a file of old manuscripts that date back millennia that was recovered from one of the Elementals’ safe houses.
“I couldn’t translate it all but there are definitely some references to the fifth element. You may have better luck than I at reading it.”
I gave him a questioning glance as I took the file and stashed it away in my bag, it was heavier than I had expected.
“As I said, I have been expecting you for days. If you have the affinity for the fifth element you should know that shouldn’t you?” I opened my mouth to reply but stopped myself as I saw the humor twinkling in his eyes. “Now I hate to rush you but I have an appointment to get ready for”
I rose from my chair and turned to leave. Pausing at the door I turned to look at him. “Thank you sir, I really appreciate the help.”
Mr. Carlisle nodded and flashed one more smile, this time it was kind but serious.
“I hope that it helps you to find what you are looking for, but please be careful in your search. The elementals will not like you prying into their past or risking their future plans. Oh, and you can tell someone is an Elemental by a tattoo on their collarbone, a small symbol of one of the elements is branded on each member, you must have been distracted from that part of the lecture.”
I nodded my thanks once more as I walked out of his office and almost skipped down the corridor, feeling a sense of hope that I hadn’t had since my vision. I was at the corner when I heard a familiar laugh.
Pausing I poked my head back around the corner just in time to see Torah and Athena walk into the room that I had just exited from.
I thought it was strange that they would be going to see him and I had the strong urge to eavesdrop until I remembered that they were both in one of his classes too.
They were the trouble makers of the school and as Rhea, the good girl of the group, was absent I figured that they were just about to get their ass handed to them for something.
As tempted as I was to listen to my sister get ripped a new one I was on a mission to get answers and I couldn’t let myself get side-tracked as I watched Mr. Carlisle usher them inside and close the door with a heavy thud.
Chapter Eight
“Ugh, this is impossible.” I flung myself down on the bed in defeat, and the papers that surrounded me flew up in the air.
“Hey!” Emi flapped her hands at me, “I just finished organizing that pile.”
After I had finished my meeting with Mr. Carlisle, Emi had pounced on me, demanding the details of what had happened.
I had explained what had gone on and sho
wn her the thick folder. Emi, who had demanded to be included in my search for answers, had suggested that they go to my house to look through it.
It had turned out to be stuffed full of ancient sheets of parchment and tightly bound scrolls, none of which happened to be in English, or Latin, or Gaelic, or any language, dead or living, known to man.
I apologized to the flustered vamp and reached for another scroll. A knock at my door startled me, and the scroll I was holding flew out of my hand and into the corner of my open wardrobe with a crinkled whisper.
Roman poked his head around the door.
“Is it safe to come in?” He had his hand over his eyes as if he expected us to be having a pillow fight in our underwear.
“You can open your eyes tool; we’re not doing anything freaky,” I said.
He turned a light shade of pink – which was a deep blush for vamps – and choked slightly. Emi and I giggle, then we started laughing, and then we were bent over, clutching our sides as tears slid down our faces and our ribs hurt.
Roman stared at the two of us as if we were crazy, hell by now we probably were.
“Sorry.” I gasped, “Stress release. What are you doing here anyway?”
Roman gave us a serious look.
“Alex, I want to talk to you about something.”
Breathing hard I made an effort to listen to him. He produced a book I hadn’t realized he was holding when he entered from his side.
He took a deep breath. “Listen, I know this might sound crazy but I want you to hear me out okay?”
I nodded. “Sure, tell me what’s up.”
He held up the book and I read the title: A guide to elemental theory and the history of affinities for the elements.
“Alex, I don’t think you have an affinity for all of the four elements,” he said slowly. “I think you have an affinity for the fifth.”
*********