Elementals

Rosalie walked down her street, almost home. She saw Jane’s car in the driveway, and knew she instantly had less time to think is an excuse as to why her hair and eyes were a different color. ‘We need to talk,’ might be a good way to start things, she thought. Or maybe, ‘I can explain,’ would be better. Nah, ‘Don’t tell Mom,’ is probably what I’m going to need to say.

Rosalie approached her door. She grabbed the knob and froze, fearing Jane’s reaction. Don’t be a coward, she thought. She took a deep breath and threw the door open, marching inside with faked confidence.

Jane, who was sitting on the couch stood up and froze upon sight of Rosalie. Rosalie closed the door, only to freeze on sight of Jane. Jane looked over Rosalie’s crimson hair and pink eyes. Rosalie stared in shock at Jane’s dark purple hair and golden eyes. Both were silent, but Jane soon became the first to speak, “We need to talk.”

It was the day of the tornado. Jane’s school had let out early, and she was at home, waiting for time to pick Rosalie up from middle school. She was watching the news, trying to see how bad the storm was getting. Outside, the thunder cracked and wind roared as a constant yell of the storm.

When they announced there was a tornado heading for town, Jane could no longer take the waiting and called the school. Ring… Ring… Ring… CRACK!

Lightning struck the house. Jane screamed a bit, startled, but the electronics continued working, so she assumed it didn’t do any damage. “I’m sorry, but the number you’ve attempted to call is unavailable, and…” the electronic voice on the phone droned on, but jane hung up before the recording finished. Jane sighed, running her hands through her hair.

Jane could not have wanted her little sister home and safe any more than she did then. She contemplated calling the school again, but before she could, she smelled smoke. Panic began to fill Jane, as she followed the smell to find its source. The smell led her to the attic.

Jane got a ladder and climbed to the attic entrance in the ceiling over the hallway. She pushed on the small door, but it wouldn’t open. She tried again, but nothing happened. After a few more times, the result was the same. So, she shoved it as hard as she could.

The small door flew up and out of the way. The force threw jane off balance and the ladder slipped out from under her. She grabbed onto the roof and climbed into the attic to avoid hitting the floor. That’s when she saw it - the attic was filled with flames.

The flames were hit by the sudden increase of oxygen and exploded in size, engulfing Jane. She waited for the fire to burn her, but it didn’t. She looked around, and she was completely consumed by the fire, yet it wasn’t hurting her. Don’t burn our house, Jane thought. As these words passed through her mind, the flames receded, then went out.

Later that day, when Jane was at the hospital, she had talked with a man who went by the name Samuel Carter. He explained to her how she controlled the fire. He told her many things. The most important of the information Samuel shared with Jane was the simple fact that she was…

“… an Elemental. That’s what Mr. Carter said I was. He told me you were one, too, and now I see that he was right. It was definitely the strangest time I ever had meeting my new high school principal,” Jane joked. She and Rosalie laughed. It was definitely less stressful to have Jane knowing that she was an Elemental, though she never guessed Jane would be one, too. Huh, Rosalie thought, I guess the world has a strange sense of humor.

“Also,” Samuel had said before Tyler, Rosalie, and May left training, “Tyler, when you hurt your leg, it healed rather quickly, correct?” “Yeah, it did,” Tyler nodded. “Well, that’s because Elementals have healing capabilities,” Samuel explained, “It hadn’t taken full effect, but now that your powers have fully manifested, you can heal much faster. In fact, it would be very difficult to kill any of you without pure decapitation, and that would only work on a weaker one. There did used to be a few weapons which were enchanted and could kill an Elemental easily - a dagger, a sword, and some arrows, maybe more - but most of those have been destroyed and the others have been hidden. So, you all are much safer like this than you had been before.”

Tyler was replaying the events of that day in his head as he walked home. He didn’t live very far from the park, so it was a short walk. He decided to travel a bit slowly today so he’d have more time to think of a way to explain his new hair and eye color. Mom’s gonna kill me, he thought. Dad might like it, though.

Tyler sighed, then continued down the street. Don’t be a coward. I might get grounded, but it’s not something I can help, he told himself. It’ll probably be like the time when I cut my own hair.

Tyler was seven years old. He was being babysat by his 13-year-old brother, Evan, who left him alone with safety scissors. He went to the mirror and got a little creative. When his parents came home, his mother nearly cried and his father just laughed at his son’s goofy haircut. “What did you do?!” his mother yelled. “I wanted to look like Daddy,” he answered, smiling. This just made his bald father laugh even harder. Evan was grounded for two weeks for not watching Tyler like he was supposed to, but their father let him off after only a week.

Tyler laughed to himself a bit, remembering the fuzzy details of his childhood memories. He felt a raindrop hit his arm, and looked up at the gray sky, seeing that it was starting to rain. Tyler bolted down his street as the water began to fall at a more moderate pace. His house was just around the corner, so he sped on. He hopped onto the curb, sprinting across his yard. He slipped on wet grass, getting even more soaked - only now with some mud added in - but got up and continued, being more careful.

Running on wet grass is not my strong suit, Tyler thought, remembering the day of the tornado, as he climbed the front steps of his house. Now of his porch, where the rain couldn’t hit him, he tried to pat the wet, freshly mowed grass off his shirt. He managed to remove about half of the water and dirt, but it didn’t help all that much. They’re not even going to notice the mess once they see my face, he realized. The rain was beating down hard like a downpour. I should just go on in.

Tyler reached for the doorknob, but stopped when he saw that the door was already open a crack. Weird… He slowly opened the door, though something didn’t feel right. “Mom, Dad, I’m home,” he called. He tried the light switch, but it didn’t turn on. The house was dark.

Tyler got a sinking feeling in his stomach. He could hardly see the room. Not much light was coming in through the window. He walked into the living room, just a few steps from the doorway, and stepped in something wet. He stopped.

Tyler reached down, touching the liquid. He stood back up, trying to see it on his hand. Lightning flashed outside, illuminating the room. That’s when Tyler saw the one thing he had feared most.

Tyler’s eyes widened at the sight of the red liquid on his hand and splattered around the room. His stomach dropped. His pulse felt like it either quickened or stopped altogether. He felt like he was going to throw up. He stumbled, then fell. He wanted to scream, but couldn’t find the air.

Tyler could merely make small sounds as his eyes went from the humanoid shape on the floor on one side of the room - “Mom…” - to the other - “Dad…” - which was closer to the kitchen. Thunder cracked, and so did another sound in the house. Tyler, suddenly filled with rage, got up and bolted to the kitchen, where a smacking noise had just come from.

As he bolted into the kitchen, nearly hitting the counter, he noticed the back door was open, blowing in the wind. It had hit against the frame to make the noise. Tyler narrowed his eyes, trying to see if anyone was escaping his backyard. All he saw was a large mound of dirt and some object next to it.

Tyler ran outside in the pouring rain to see what the object was. When he got closer, he realized someone had dug a hole in the yard, and just beside it was an opened box. Tyler dropped to his knees, picking up the box and looking it over. It had strange symbols painted in it and a busted lock. Whatever had been inside was gone, and the box was empty.

Whoever did this, did it for whatever was in here, Tyler thought. This box… Mom… Dad… They’re… All the pain welling up inside him finally made itself audible. It was a gut-wrenching scream, not a natural sound. Tears began streaming down the boy’s face, mixing with rain. In that moment, Tyler learned what loss was. He had never experienced this much pain in any physical injury.

Tyler wanted to die. He wanted to join his parents. He wanted to find the murderer. He wanted to wake up and see that this was all a dream, but he knew it was real. There were things he had to do. He had to call the police. He wanted to call an ambulance, but it was far too late for that. He didn’t know how Evan would take it, seeing as he was off at college and the last time he saw then was Spring Break.

Before Tyler could do anything, though, a voice pierced through the sound of rain and crying. “Sorry, kid,” it said. The voice sounded male, and was coming from behind Tyler. He looked to see who it was, but all he saw was a shovel being swung at his head. Then, it was all black.

A black hoodie… was all that played in Tyler’s mind as he slowly lost consciousness.

Tyler woke up in a hospital room. Everything around him was either white or a shade of gray. He moved his head and felt the tightness of bandages wrapped around it. He glanced out of what he could see of the window in the room. It was night, and the clear view of the starry sky meant that the storm outside had passed.

Tyler heard a soft, snoring sound. He looked down to see Rosalie, sitting on the floor with her head on Tyler’s bed, sound asleep, using her arms as a pillow. “R-Rosa…” Tyler mumbled. Rosalie stirred awake, slowly lifting her head and rubbing her eyes. She spotted Tyler and smiled gently. “You’re awake,” she said in a sleepy, soft voice.

“What happened?” Tyler asked, rubbing his sore head. “You were attacked. Paramedics found you unconscious in your backyard,” Rosalie answered. “I… I don’t remember. All I remember is coming home and seeing…” Tyler stopped mid-sentence, remembering. Silent tears began to fall down his face. He squinted his eyes shut, trying not to cry.

Tyler then felt arms wrap around him. Startled, he opened his eyes and saw Rosalie. “It’s okay. Cry if you want. I know it’s hard,” she said quietly. Tyler hugged her tightly, burying his face into her shoulder, and cried until he was content.

After a few minutes of silence went by, Tyler sat back up. Rosalie looked at him with concerned eyes and a calming smile. Tyler wiped his red eyes and smiled slightly. “Thanks,” he mumbled. “That’s what friends are for. I care about you, you know,” she said kindly.

Tyler yawned and stretched. “What time is it?” he asked. Rosalie pulled her phone from her pocket, checked the time, and put it back. “It’s a little after 9:30,” she answered. Tyler nodded.

There was a knock at the door. “Come in,” Tyler called. The door opened and Jane poked her head in. “Visiting hours are almost over. They end at 10 o’clock. I’m just letting you know,” she explained. “Thanks,” Rosalie replied. Jane nodded and closed the door.

“Hey, where’s May?” Tyler asked. “She left around six to go get dinner. She hasn’t come back,” Rosalie explained. “Oh, what about you? Did you eat?” Rosalie awkwardly rubbed her neck, her cheeks taking on a slight shade of pink, “Oh, umm… No, not exactly.” Tyler glared at her. He hated friends sacrificing even a meal for him. “I will eat when after I get kicked out of here!” Rosalie proclaimed.

Tyler shook his head and snickered a bit. He looked back up at Rosalie, smiling, with sad eyes. Rosalie’s smile faded. “Are you okay?” she asked. Tyler was silent for a moment. “Yeah, I’ll be alright,” he answered. It was a lie, but a lie that even he needed to believe, otherwise life from this point on would be impossible.

When visiting hours were over, Jane went back to Tyler’s room. She knocked, but there was no answer. She knocked again, but still no answer. She slowly opened the door, to see that both Tyler and Rosalie had fallen asleep, Tyler laying correctly in the bed, and Rosalie stretched out sideways with her feet hanging off the side of the bed and her head on Tyler’s chest. Jane thought this was adorable, and took a quick picture on her cell phone before waking them up. After a good bit of protesting, Jane and Tyler managed to convince Rosalie that she needed to leave.

“You can always come back tomorrow,” Jane insisted. “Actually, he’ll be realeased tomorrow morning,” came another voice, one belonging to the oh so familiar Samuel Carter, “He wasn’t diagnosed with a concussion, so they’re only keeping him here over night for observation to make sure everything is okay. He’ll be let out of here as soon as his brother arrives tomorrow morning. Mr. Even has already agreed to become Tyler’s legal guardian, so there is no issue there. You will only need to stay at a hotel for a few weeks to avoid the crime scene.”

“Legal Guardian...Crime scene…” These words hit Tyler like a truck, but he had already drained himself of tears. He didn’t even have the energy to cry anymore. So, he took the information the best he could, pretending he was fine, and bid Rosalie, Jane, and Samuel goodnight. Once they left, however, the silence of the room was suffocating, only being interupted by the various beeps and boops of the machines in the room. Alone with his thoughts, Tyler had only hatred and a want for revenge to give him a will to live.