The Elementals

I wake up slowly, and an ache enters my brain. My arm hurts, where the tranquilizer dart went in. My mouth feels like it’s full of fuzz. I sit up sorely. My muscles are cramped. I see bursts of light off to my left. I look over a see Coal repeatedly blasting the walls with fire.

I’m in cell. It’s about 10 feet all around. It’s like the classic jail, with a barred door and a large lock requiring an equally huge key. The wall I share with Coal is made of this weird white-ish, clear stuff. It looks like glass, but is obviously refusing to melt against Coal’s attacks. I touch it. It feels cool, like it’s got an invisible freezing system running through it.

“Coal?” I try, seeing if he can hear me.

Coal pauses for a second, glancing at me, and keeps attacking the wall. I pound the glass or whatever it is. He ignores me and throws fireballs at the circular door.

“Coal!” I yell at him.

He still pays no attention.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry okay?”

He stops. “Well, we’re in. Are you happy?” He growls. His eyes are full of hate, for me or for this place I have no idea.

I realize I underestimated these people. The wall is fire proof and my cell has no water. I sit down. “I thought-”

“Thought what? That the walls would be made of wood? That they’d just hand you some water if you asked nicely?” he snarls, each word jabbing me in the side like a needle. “Well, guess what Tide?” I flinch when he uses my real name. ”You can’t make water!"

I stand up. I start running around the cell as fast as I can. Coal is looking at me, more confused now than angry.

“What are you doing?”

I don’t answer. I just keep running, moving as much as I can. I sprint to the back wall of the cell and jump up onto the bench. Then I sprint back and do it again.

“Are you okay?” Coal is by the shared wall now, watching me.

Sprint and jump. Sprint and jump. I keep doing it over and over again.

“Tide, what are you doing?”

“Making water!” I reply as beads of sweat run down my face. I flick them off and go to the door.

I check to see if anyone is there in the room. Nobody. They must have plenty of faith in their prison systems. I fill the key hole with water and freeze it. I hear the click as I turn the ice key and the door slides open soundlessly. I slide out and shuts it behind me.

I walk over to the door to Coal’s cell. It has a more complicated key shape so it takes me a little longer to find the right fit. The door is slightly stuck, because it’s designed to be airtight. I yank it open. Coal is still standing with his hands pressed against the wall by my cell. He looks over, mouth slightly open, like he’s surprised that I came.

“Come on!” I say to him.

He nods, as if breaking out of a daze. Coal comes over and I dash out to the exit. We walk cautiously down the corridor. Everything is either white or an ugly beige color.

“This way,” Coal whispers, pointing to another passage to the right.

I don’t question. We hurry down to the end of the hallway where a large, heavy looking door is. I test the handle. Surprisingly, it’s unlocked. I squeeze inside and then stop.

The room is huge-we must be underground for it to fit. A catwalk runs along the edge, with a hole in the middle looking down into another area. Along the catwalk are about five cells, two on each side and one on the end. I carefully peek over the balcony railing.

It’s a giant training room. A giant training room on steroids.

There are busted punching bags along the walls, spilling beads like their bleeding. Some of them have large burn marks on their sides. Something that looks like a lightning rod is positioned in the middle. An entire wall is covered in plants. Bent and mangled sheets of different metals are scattered everywhere. A few deep cracks in the cement floor assure me at least Terra is here.

The cells are all made of the same stuff Coal’s was. It’s like a completely everything proof material. I walk over to the first one on the right. Breeze is there. She looks exactly like she did in my dream. Frail, weak, and pushed to the limit.

“Breeze!” I whisper, tapping softly on the glass.

She looks up, terrified. Then her face brightens and she smiles. She rushes to the door. “Tide! I knew you’d come! The others didn’t believe me.”

As I unlock the door, Coal asks suspiciously, “What others?”

Breeze is too busy thanking me to answer. I move on to the next cell. I expect to find Terra but instead there’s a small boy. He looks remarkably like Coal, except his hair is almost white it’s so blonde and it’s sticking up all over the place like he stuck his finger in a light socket. I unlock his door and he flies at me and hugs me so hard I think he broke some ribs. He static shocks me a bunch, but it’s worth it.

I get to the third cell with the kid trailing right behind me and see a teeny tiny little girl. She’s sitting against the door lifelessly.

“Is she dead?” whispers the boy, grabbing my hand and sparking it at the same time.

“No one is dying on my watch.” I try to comfort him but I’m not sure myself.

I pull open the door and step inside. To my relief, the girl blinks up sadly at me with honey colored hazel eyes like pines needles and tree sap.

“Hey,” I say, crouching next to her. “We’re here to get you out.”

“Really?” She asks so hopefully, that it breaks my heart she has to be here.

“Yeah, come on.” I take her hand and walk her out.

Sparky-that’s what I had started to call my static-y shadow-follows right on my heels as I go to the fourth cell on the other side of the catwalk.

In this one is a boy about my age. I unlock the door cautiously, not sure what he’s going to do. Coal has been tense since we opened up Breeze’s cell, but I can feel his body heating up in anticipation of a fight. I nudge him with my elbow to calm down. The boy steps out, silvery eyes wide.

“Thank-”

“Yeah, yeah we saved you let’s go!” Coal hisses. I kick him.

I rush to the last cell and unlock it. Terra comes flying out, babbling thank yous and hugging me and Breeze and practically overflowing with excitement.

I look to Coal for directions. He glances at me, noting that both my arms are taken by Sparky and the little girl, and takes the lead.

We’re careful, looking around corners before turning, being as quiet as possible with six hyperactive kids and one total nut job chatterbox. But no one seems to be here. It gives me a creepy feeling. If I were trying to hold at least four kids with super natural powers (though I was suspecting Sparky, the little girl and gray eyed guy weren’t just normal kids) I would have guards everywhere. We follow Coal to a small back door that looks like it hasn’t been opened in years. I look at Coal, making certain he knows where he’s going.

“You never forget your first escape route.” He assures me.

I nod and pull it open. It leads up a small staircase. Neither Sparky nor Maple- I had subconsciously dubbed the little girl as well- would let go of my hand so I have to pick up Maple with my left arm and hold Sparky behind me to fit.

We come up in thick woods. It makes me more comfortable, to be sheltered. Still, I usher everyone out as fast as I can. I have a strange feeling of urgency along with the anxiousness that someone will catch us. I set down Maple and pry my fingers away from Sparky.

I reach Coal and whisper to him, “What do we do now?”

“Get away. Get far, far away.”

I look behind us. Terra is chattering away to the Breeze and the gray eyed kid but he’s looking at Breeze. I fall back to get the two youngest to hurry.

“Come on, Sparky.” I pause, accidentally using my nickname for him.

The kid doesn’t seem to mind. He rushes up and grabs my hand. I feel the predictable shocks through my body. Maple is holding a flower and singing to it quietly. The bud seems to shiver, then opens up a little wider than before. I’m starting to get an idea of what Maple and Sparky were in the facility for.

“Maple,” I say, giving up on not calling her that. “We need to hurry.”

She smiles and puts the flower down gently. It re-roots itself slowly.

“Okay.” She says in a soft, high-pitched voice. She skips over to me and takes my other hand. Hers are covered in tree sap.

We make pretty good progress for such a large group. I find a small river and we cross through it a couple times, in case of dogs following. I follow it, wanting to be near water. No body questions, which is fine by me.

Terra suddenly bends down on one knee. I stop watching her, curiously. Her face goes white, and the ground tremors.

“Was that you?” I ask nervously.

Terra shakes her head. A thunderous boom rocks the air, seeming to come from below the earth. Then the ground starts moving violently. It only lasts a few seconds, but all of us are thrown off our feet.

“What was that?” Breeze asks.

“The facility, it-it blew up.” says Terra, her voice trembling. “They tried to blow us up.”

Everyone’s gasping and freaking out, but I say, “Good.” I get stares. “Now they think we’re dead. But we’re not.”

Everyone nods, assured by this statement. I motion to keep walking, and they all do. I try to relax, but I still feel the need to keep moving.

After a while, the brook falls over the edge of a ridge, into a large pool. It’s almost dark, and everyone but Coal looks dead tired.

“Let’s camp here.” I say and see smiles of relief.

I carefully pick my way down the rocks. Maple rushes ahead. She seems so much more alive. It was like a light switch was flicked as soon as we went outside. Sparky, shocking me on the way, let’s go of my hand and chases after her. The pool keeps going along into another stream, disappearing into the woods.

To my delight, there’s a cave behind the waterfall. It’s damp, but with a fire it’s perfect for our strange band of people. I grab some sticks off the ground and pile them carefully in the middle, surrounding it with little rocks. I look at Coal. He brushes off his hands, showering sparks onto my little kindling heap. The wood starts to smoke and then bursts into a tower of fire, crackling and snapping. The blaze slowly retreats to a little campfire.

“Show off.” I mutter. He grins at me.

I move out of the cave. Breeze is trying to collect Maple and Sparky. They’re racing through her hands, chasing each other in a one-on-one tag game.

“Maple, Sparky!” I call. They immediately stop.

I gather everyone under the waterfall ledge.

“So,” I start awkwardly. “Hi.” Coal is trying not to laugh. I jab him with my elbow. “My name’s Tide.”

I look deliberately at Breeze. She takes the hint and smiles.

“I’m Breeze and this is Terra.” She points to Terra, who looks up and opens her mouth.

“I’m Steel.” says the other kid, thankfully saving us from a speech from Terra.

“I’m Sparky!” says Sparky.

“But that’s what I called you.” I tell him, confused.

He nods. I look at Breeze. She mouths no names and looks at Sparky and Maple. They must have been in the facility since they could walk. I almost want to cry it’s so sad. Then I feel like punching something. The government doesn’t even have the time to name them?

“Ok,” I say, “And you’re Maple?”

“Yes, I’m five.” she says, quietly but clearly.

“I’m six!” shouts Sparky, proud of himself for being older than somebody.

Coal stays unhelpfully silent.

“Why are you named Tide?” asks Steel.

“I was found after a tsunami.” I say tersely.

Breeze, thank goodness she’s here, says, “I was found after a tornado.”

“Earthquake.” says Terra, “It was a level nine point seven on the Richter scale.”

I look at Steel. I’m getting a bad feeling about those mangled metal plates in the training room.

“Junkyard.” He says. “I was chewing on piece of steel.”

There’s a short pause where I know everyone is waiting for Coal to talk. Not surprisingly, he doesn’t.

“Right,” I say, wanting to get to the point. “I think we all know why we were in that place.”

With that I stand up and wave my hand. The waterfall freezes, silencing the background thundering noise. The ice spreads to the pool. Frost creeps up onto the rock that we’re all sitting. It makes white, spiral patterns. I let the silence last a bit, loving the way everything is in complete, frozen, focus. Then I sit down. The water starts crashing down again. The ice melts and the air loses the slight chill.

“And you call me a show off.” Coal snickers. I punch him.

Breeze and Terra are smiling, watching Steel’s face. Maple is looking at me in admiration. Sparky is still processing what just happened.

Terra places her finger down. A small crack traces its way across to me. The wind starts to pick up, creating a small tornado in the middle of our little circle. I smile at Breeze. Her face is slightly pale, though, and she stops it quickly. Sparky claps his hands together, and each time, lightning zaps between them. Maple pulls some seeds and a clump of dirt out of her pocket. She buries the seeds in the earth. Putting her hand on the dirt, she hums softly.

A sapling breaks the surface. It keeps growing, taller and taller, until the branches are bending against the roof of the overhang. Then it starts to reverse, shrinking smaller and then it’s back in the ground as a seed. All in a matter of seconds.

Geez. Scary five year old.

I glance at Steel. He shrugs.

“I need metal.”

I take off my bracelet. Its silver maybe, I don’t know, I found it on the floor of Westerville one night. It was the thick kind that you have to squeeze onto your wrist. It’s just a plain band of grey metal.

“Knock yourself out.” I tell him.

I’m about to toss it to him, but he holds his hand up. The bracelet pulls out my hand and into Steel’s.

“I’m magnetic.” He says, almost sheepishly. “Don’t use a compass near me.”

He grasps the bracelet and bends it. I had tried to form it more to the shape of my wrist but had never succeeded. He holds it in his hands and I see it sort of vibrate, and then tosses it back to me.

The band is thinner now, and covered in intricate snowflake patterns. A token is on the top of the bracelet. It looks like a coin, but the design is a wave, just breaking.

“Whoa.” I say in awe. “How’d you get it so detailed?”

“I don’t know.” Says Steel as Breeze and Terra exclaim over how pretty it is. “I just sort of thought about it, and it went into the metal.”

Huh. Metal, plants, and lightning. Sort of like sub elements.

“Hey!”

I whip my head around. Maple has grown some vines and is poking Sparky. I laugh as they leap up and start to chase each other again.