Inferno : Elements Series Book One

Gwen

“I’ve already told you that this isn’t a dream. I only went into your dreams to talk to you because I knew you’d try and kick my arse if came up to you out on the street. I considered coming to talk to you at the club, you looked kind of alone in that booth, but you saw me and ran for it.”

I wait for him to continue, but he just walks over to my bed and sits down. I need a lot more than that.

“Can you blame me? And just for the record, I still haven’t decided whether or not to kick your arse yet. I don’t know who you are or how you know me, but, most importantly I don’t know why you’re even here. An explanation would be great.”

“My name is Derek Wilder. I know you because it’s my job to know you. I’m a Guardian for people like us. I can sense the energies of those with our peoples’ abilities and I can find them and help them. You are particularly intriguing. I felt your energy from the other side of the world and when I looked you up I found that there is no history of any of our kind in your family tree. It’s like you were just born this way, like you skipped the whole genetics side of life and decided that this is what you were going to be.”

“One of ‘us’? Who is ‘us’?”

I’m beginning to feel like punching him again.

“We have a lot of names in the human world. I guarantee you’ve read about us in all your books. Angel, Fae, Fairy, Elf, any of this ringing a bell?”

Yes, I definitely want to punch him.

“So, let me get this straight. You stalk me, look up my family tree, invade my dreams and watch me nearly burn to death all Because you think I’m an Elf.”

“Well I don’t think you’re an Elf, I know you are. You already proved that with your fire starting rage,” he smirks. “Also, we generally go by Elemental. It’s more true to what we are; we all have some degree of control over the elements: fire, water, earth and air. Some of us can enter dreams, read minds, sense energies, talk to animals, influence plants; you get the gist of it.”

I don’t even respond. I just get up and walk to the kitchen in search of some Panadol and maybe a shot of whatever alcohol I can find. Derek follows. I’m not sure if he’s waiting for me to respond or whether he just wants to see what I’m doing. I abandon my thoughts of painkillers and alcohol and instead head to my fridge. There’s some left over carbonara from last night and I don’t waste time putting it into the microwave. Derek tries to speak but I put my hand up to silence him and thankfully he shuts up, letting me pace the kitchen until my carbonara is heated. The microwave pings and I take it out, grab a fork and sit at my kitchen table.

So I’m supposedly an elemental, elf thing. It seems ridiculous but haven’t I already controlled fire and water, and maybe even earth? Whatever the energy is that raced through my system while I was doing these things felt magical and familiar and clearly he has invaded my dreams.

“And you’re invading my mind, so we’re even.”

I jump out of my seat, dropping my fork on the table and getting carbonara all over the place. That was Derek’s voice, in my mind!

“Did you just do that?”

“Yes. Don’t speak out loud, just use your own thoughts to reach out to my mind and talk to me that way.”

“How do I do that?”

“You just did it again, so I’d say you have the hang of it.”

“Holy shit!”

“Yeah, do you believe me yet? Just so you know it isn’t exactly a common gift for Elementals to read minds. You seem to be a mix of all our abilities thrown into a blender.”

“Huh, well, this is weird. Let’s just talk normally, okay?”

“Sure thing, good to see you’re coming around though. I thought you were just going to keep fighting me forever.”

I sit in silence for a minute longer until I feel him poking at my thoughts.

“Stop it. I can feel you inside my head. If you want to know something just ask,” I say.

He looks surprised, again.

“Not many people can feel us poking around in their minds either.”

I ignore him.

“You said you were a Guardian. What does that mean?”

“Elementals have a lot of different groups. People like Healers, who are particularly skilled at healing physical injuries and illnesses with their abilities. I’m a Guardian. I can connect with peoples’ minds and sense their energies, but I’m also skilled with the Fire and Air elements and I’ve been trained to use my abilities with various combat techniques, enabling me to also be a Protector. I can also be a Warrior when I have to be. Warriors, to us, are Elementals who are incredibly powerful in one or more of the elements and have also been trained to be very skilled fighters. Guardians also have the ability to sort of, teleport, from place to place, it’s how I got here so quickly once I sensed you.”

“You said you found me because my energy was strong?”

“An Elementals’ energy can be actively tracked by Guardians when their abilities are triggered. There are some Elementals who are never located because their abilities never develop. They just live a regular Human life. Like I said, I felt your aura from the other side of the world which means that whatever you can do is incredibly powerful. I was genuinely surprised when you said you hadn’t been approached by anyone else. With your energy I expected an entire army of Guardians to have descended upon your house by now.”

“When did you sense my energy? Do you know what triggered it?”

“I sensed you about three weeks ago. As to what triggered your abilities, I’d say the three armed idiots I watched you beat the crap out of after I arrived had something to do with it.”

“Hold on, you’ve been following me around and researching me for three weeks!”

He just shrugs, not in the slightest bit apologetic.

“You said my energy was really strong. Why is that?”

“I don’t know. It varies from person to person but usually their energy is representative of their Elemental strength.”

So, just to recap; I am some sort of mythical creature, I have a strong aura which probably means I’m very powerful, so far I can read minds, control water, fire and earth as well as talk to people via their mind and I have a Guardian that I want to punch every time he opens his mouth.

Fantastic.

“You don’t really want to punch me, do you?”

“Definitely.”

“Can I ask why?”

“It’s a long list, top of which would be that you won’t stay the hell out of my head.”

We sit in silence while I finish my food and by that time I’m exhausted.

“You should probably head back to wherever you’re staying. I’m exhausted, I’m going to go to bed and I’ll thank you not to rock up in a dream later.”

“I haven’t told you everything yet!”

Derek seems pissed that I’m kicking him out. Too bad, I think he’s taken up enough of my time today.

“Yeah, what a shame that is,” I say, my voice drenched in sarcasm. “I’m still going to go to bed. I cancelled lunch with a friend today because of all this crap and I’d prefer it if I wasn’t falling asleep in my plate when I meet up with her tomorrow.”

“I’ll come back tomorrow afternoon then, when you’re done being Human.”

I roll my eyes so hard that I’m afraid they might get stuck in my eye sockets.

“Derek, you are a stranger. You don’t really get a say in this and I’ve been Human for twenty-one years and it’s been working out just fine up until you interrupted.”

“If it was working out fine your powers wouldn’t have exploded and I wouldn’t be here. You were bored out of your mind and craving something exciting, fantastic and new and now that you have it, you’re going to kick it out the front door so you can go to bed?”

“You think you’re exciting, fantastic and new huh?”

“Definitely.”

“Well, Mr Exciting, Fantastic and New, the front door is that way; lock it on your way out.”

And with that I stand up, a little too quickly, hurting my ribs that are still sore thanks to being stabbed. I put my plate in the kitchen sink, walk to my room and shut the door.

I’m still not wearing any pants; I’m really going to have to break that habit if Derek is going to keep showing up

I toss and turn in my sleep all night, finally giving up on sleeping at all when the clock reads 5:00am. I get up and walk cautiously down the hallway because I never heard the door close after I went to bed last night and I was too stubborn to get up and check to make sure Derek actually did leave. To my relief, the house is empty. It’s just me and I’m finally able to relax. After eating a quick bowl of cereal and doing the small amount of dishes that are stacked up in the sink I scurry back to my favourite chair and the book I didn’t get to finish yesterday. I don’t even think about Derek, Elementals or powers until it’s time to get dressed and go get Carmen. I throw on my usual jeans, tank top, boots and jacket and head out the front door. We are heading to our favourite restaurant, a sushi train on the main street where they know us by name and order. It’s nice to sit back and be comfortable in my regular routine again, but it’s also a little bit boring.

“Hey there, what’s on your mind? I haven’t seen you think this much since you were deciding between Xbox one and Playstation 4.”

We both laugh because I ended up not getting either and just sticking with my Playstation 3. It’s a good thing too, my car broke down a week later and the money I would have spent on a new gaming console went to making it drivable again.

“Just thinking about how boring everything is these days. All I do is read, draw and play games. Don’t get me wrong, I love all those things, but, sometimes I think I should be doing a lot more. I still haven’t heard anything back from all those jobs I applied for either.”

I’ve applied for dozens, maybe even hundreds, of jobs over the last few years. Who knew trying to find a full time job could be so hard?

“I’m shocked, Gwen Faye just admitted that there might be more to life than books,” she grins. “What bought this on?”

“I’m not sure. Probably the other night at the club-“

“About that!” she interrupts. “Who is this mystery guy? Have you seen him again and on a scale of one to ten exactly how attractive is he!?”

I immediately regret mentioning the club. Now my day turns back to thoughts of Derek and the steaming pile of uncertainty he’s introduced to my life.

“On a scale of one to ten he’s a fifteen,” I admit. “But he knows he’s attractive so that takes his score down. Then there’s the personality issue. He’s arrogant, cocky and a stalker so let’s make it negative twenty.”

“Wow, that’s harsh.”

“I thought I was being quite generous actually.”

“So you’ve spoken to him, last you told me was that you’d seen him outside your house and at the club, but you hadn’t spoken to him.”

Crap. I shouldn’t have mentioned the personality issue in my more than generous rating.

“The stalker is strong in this one Carmen. He was determined to talk to me and I definitely think he was disappointed with the outcome.”

“That’s a shame. The first non-fictional guy you take any notice of and he turns out to be a creepy stalker type.”

“Creepy stalker type? Negative twenty! This is just insulting, Gwen.”

I jump out of my seat. He’s in my head and he’s hearing the conversation which means he’s nearby. I turn around and notice him on the other side of the sushi train, looking straight at me.

“If you’re trying to disprove the creepy stalker thing, I have to tell you, you’re doing a lousy job. What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to check out this friend of yours. She seemed pretty important to you. She has an interesting mind and, funnily enough, SHE thinks I’m ridiculously attractive.”

I don’t have to look at him to know he’s wearing that stupid, cocky grin of his.

“Get out of Carmen’s head. You can’t just invade her privacy like that, I’d never do it and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t either!”

“She doesn’t approve of your outfit. She’d like you to show off your curves and cleavage more, she doesn’t like you hiding your body behind baggy t-shirts. She likes the jeans though; they apparently make your arse look fantastic. I haven’t looked at your arse yet today, but I have to agree about the rest.”

I’m going to kill him. Plain and simple, the second Carmen is at a safe distance I’m going to reduce him to a pile of ash and whip up a quick hurricane to carry his ashes away.

“Okay, you’re going to have to calm down. Your fingertips are about burn a hole clean through the chair you’ve got clutched in your Kung Fu death grip.”

I quickly look down and sure enough there are small holes burned into the upholstery, they will probably pass as cigarette burns. I didn’t even know what I was doing.

“That’s better. I really do make you mad don’t I?”

“Leave. Now.”

“Only if you agree to let me come by when you’re finished with lunch. There is plenty more you need to know and it’s my job, as your Guardian, to tell you.”

“Fine! Just, please, go away.”

I hear a chair scrape and watch him walk out of the restaurant, grinning ear to ear.

“Did you see that guy who just walked out? I couldn’t take my eyes off him!”

“Really? I didn’t know he was there,” I lie.

“Seriously?! He checked you out a few times. I was tempted to go over and get his number for you.”

“Thanks , but no thanks Carmen. I already have a stalker.”

Carmen and I are finished with lunch half an hour later. I drop her off and begin to drive home slower than I’ve ever driven in my life. I’m not sure what to expect when Mr Exciting, Fantastic and New shows up, but in my current mood he may end up as Mr Black Eye and Broken Nose.

When I pull into my drive way, I see him sitting on my front steps and it takes all of my self-control not to run him over.