The Elementals

I wake up to the steady thrumming of rain on the roof. I sit there, because no one else is awake, and listen before getting up and walking outside. I stop in the hallway so I can absorb the sound of the droplets echoing off the walls, like music.

I can taste the thick dampness in the air that comes with the rain, and the downpour soaks my entire body in a matter of seconds. The droplets stream down my face and wash off all traces of dirt and blood.

I forgot how much I loved rain. I love the way the water makes my hair wet and my clothes cling to my body, how the air is heavy, how the sun barely filters through the thick layer of clouds, and how each drop on my skin sends tingles down my spine.

Suddenly filled with a random euphoria, I run forward and flip into a cartwheel. At the end, my hands slip in the mud and I fall into a puddle. Instead of getting up though, I just sit there and let the rain rewash off the grime. I tilt my head up, smiling.

“Do you have to go outside when it’s raining?”

Coal sits down next to me. It’s like a flipping sixth sense he has whenever I’m missing. Needless to say, I’m not specifically annoyed that he’s here.

“You don’t have to come out.” I say, laughing.

There’s a quiet, and I look over at him. His hair is in his eyes, and his entire position is different. More vulnerable almost. He’s soaked, obviously, but he looks more like the Coal I know is there, on the inside. He looks miserable however, so I take pity on him and create a bubble of water around us. He smiles at me half-heartedly, and that’s when I know something’s wrong.

“What’s the problem?” I ask, knowing full well what.

Coal stays silent, and I turn to him.

“Look, if Caelum hadn’t told-” I begin to defend myself.

“He betrayed you!” Coal interrupts, and we start to argue.

“Do we have to talk about this now?” I ask, trying to keep from strangling him.

“Yes.” He says stubbornly.

I breathe out irritably and we sit there, rain falling around us.

“Can’t you two just get along?” I whine.

“No.”

We lapse back into an edgy silence. My arms are crossed, and I quickly look over and see that his are too. Right now, Caelum doesn’t seem so bad. Caelum knows when to shut up and follow directions. Caelum isn’t insanely protective. Caelum doesn’t constantly argue with me.

But. . .

Coal doesn’t follow orders because he knows when I’m being stubborn and won’t admit I need help. Sometimes it’s nice to know someone cares about you enough to bother you 24/7. Coal has stopped me from doing extremely stupid things by talking me out of it.

Suddenly, I’m filled with the assurance that I don’t want Coal to be mad at me. I don’t want to be mad at Coal either. I don’t like this wall of tension and pent up emotions sitting between us. I don’t like it at all.

“Coal?” I venture quietly. He nods silently for me to go on. “I’m about to be confusing again.” I warn him gravely.

“What?”

I lean forward and wrap my arms tightly around him, and kiss him quickly on the cheek. Then I get up and half run, half walk back into the warehouse to wake everyone up.

“Morning, everybody!” I shout over the room. “Time to roll people! Get up and go!”

Coal catches up with me and I laugh at his face. It’s slightly irritated and happy and completely bewildered at the same time. The tables have been turned.

“Where are we going to go?” Stella asks.

I haven’t figured that out yet. I’m surprised the government people aren’t here swarming the place by now. Then it hits me.

“They think we’re smart.” I say out loud. I get questioning glances. “I mean – this was a really stupid place to stay, right? It’s the scene of the crime! But,” I pace down the steps. “The government thinks we’re smart enough not to stay here, but we did stay here, and they haven’t looked yet because it’s a stupid place to stay.”

They’re still confused, and staring at me like I’m nuts, but then Steel pipes up. “So…they think we’re smart, and that’s why they haven’t come here yet?”

“Exactly!” I smile.

“What does this have to do with where we’re going now?” Owen asks impatiently.

“We’re going to go to the nearest base they have.” I conclude. “Because it’s the dumbest place to go, so they’ll never see it coming.” The others seem to catch on to my absurd logic, nodding their heads in agreement.

“But – how are we going to get there?” Oh’Rian asks.

~

Two hours later, Steel stares suspiciously at the van in front of us. He’s understandably reluctant to get inside another vehicle with me, especially this slightly used one. You know, if ‘slightly used’ means scratched paint, broken mirrors, half flat tires, and doors barely hanging off their hinges of course. The man selling it was happy to shove the keys into Audrey’s hands and run away without receiving payment. I chose to look on the bright side: we had just gotten a car for free, but they others were intent on critically inspecting every inch of it.

“Don’t worry,” I pat Steel on the back and jump into the back. “I’m not driving this time.”

This doesn’t seem to reassure him, though he follows me. Terra settles next to me, and I lean forward to buckle Sparky and Maple in. I give Audrey the thumbs up and she starts the motor. After a disconcerting cough of smoke, the van lurches forward.

“This is so exciting!” Terra says, the only one happy about being in the Death Mobile.

I grip the edge of my seat as we hit several bumps. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it.”

“Stop being so negative!” Terra scolds me. “Things are finally good. We’re all together, including you and Coal-”

“What?” I sit rigid and slam my head on the AC. I don’t think anyone heard; they’re too busy arguing over the radio station.

“Oh come on!” Terra says as I rub my now pounding head. I think she only speaks in exclamation points. “You know what I mean!”

“One,” I say firmly, whispering. “Quiet down.” She stops bouncing guiltily. “Two, there is no Coal and me.”

“Suuuuure.” Terra says, nodding knowingly at me. I grit my teeth.

“He’s fire, I’m water. I’m not fire proof, he doesn’t have gills. End of story.” I hiss, and slouch down in my seat while Terra smiles goofily at me, reading my thoughts.

~

Another tiring, talkative, extremely loooooong four hours pass by before we reach our destination. The place is in the woods, and I can see just make out a camouflaged building through the trees. As soon as the door opens, I jump out, stuck-in-a-car-with-Terra-for-hours-phobic and breathe in the fresh air.

We try to conceal the van, but in the end it looks like a metallic rock that a tree barfed on. Oh well. Owen walks up to a hidden door and quickly punches in some numbers on the keypad. The door slides open soundlessly.

“They didn’t even change the code?” I ask, slightly offended at the government’s lack of security measures, and also disappointed because I had been anticipating the prospect of a break-in.

Owen shrugs and steps into the facility. “Guess not.”

Apparently, our rogue unit was the most important thing happening right now, so the base was empty.

“This is one of the worst ones,” Audrey explains. “No one stays here if they don’t have to.”

Well, call me poor, but the place was pretty swanky to me. It was like a copy of all the other bases, but in miniature with a few extra broom closets and small rooms.

“Can we get food?” Sparky asks eagerly, and the others join in chanting pleases to Audrey.

“Maple likes chocolate ice cream.” I tell Owen, a smile tugging at my mouth and a laugh barely being held back. He glares at me, but Maple has already given him the wide-eyed, innocent starving girl look and now he has no choice. “I can stay here and watch stuff.” I offer and he sighs, but picks up the keys and heads back out the door, with a smirking Audrey and cheering orphans behind him.

I entertain myself by exploring for a while, but soon get bored and walk into a room with a wheelie chair. I debate whether to be childish or not, and eventually the child part wins and I spin across the room, pushing off the floor with my feet. The simultaneous moving forward and twirling makes me dizzy and slightly nauseous, but I keep doing it anyway.

“Hey Tide.” I lean back to see Coal as he puts his foot on the chair wheel, stopping me.

“You stayed?” I ask, smiling.

“Couldn’t let you get into trouble by yourself now, could I?”

“And what makes you think I would get into trouble?”

“Because any time I leave you alone, something interesting happens.” He says simply and I can’t really argue.

“And the only thing that interests you is trouble.” I continue, spinning in a 360.

“Of course,” Coal grins. “Trouble…and you.” My cheeks go red as I flounder for something to say. I bury my face in between my knees as he chuckles. “You’re cute when you’re upset.” He says and my jaw drops in frustration.

“I am not!” I say, spinning away so my back is to him.

“Tide?”

“What?”

“You’re really pretty, you know that?”

My eyes widen in surprise. “Stop it!” I say, curling up tighter, trying to squelch the happiness the comment has given me. Something feels kind off of about this entire conversation. Coal isn’t usually so straightforward with anything. He’s more like a puzzle that’s missing a piece, one of the really important ones that gives you a clue to what the picture actually is.

“I’m serious Tide.” He insists, trying to hold back a laugh at my discomfort, and I feel his familiar hand on my shoulder as I realize he hasn’t called me Flippers, not even once through this whole exchange.

I whip around and punch him as hard as I possibly can.