The Elementals

Oh’Rian came again after a couple of hours. She’s talking, but I’m watching the camera. Sure enough, it clicked off once Oh’Rian came in.

“Tide?”

I snap my head back to her. “Um, sorry?”

She laughs slightly, a pretty, bell-like sound. “Can you control your powers?”

“No, I just beat all your agents to a pulp by accident.”

She smiles wryly, then pauses. “What agents?”

“You’re kidding.”

“What?” She asks, genuinely confused.

“You don’t actually think I’m here because I like it, right?”

She looks puzzled, frowning. Her glasses slide down her nose and she pushes them up slowly. “Oh, well no, but...”

“They told you something else, didn’t they?” I ask, sitting down.

Oh’Rian mumbles something that sounds like “yes”. She stoops down next to me.

“Don’t tell me you’re sorry,” I say to her. She stops, and then rocks back on her heels.

“Where’d you get that bracelet?” she asks haltingly.

“My friend gave it to me.” I say curtly.

“Steel?”

I look at her. She ducks her head. “They send me to other kids too.”

“Who else?”

She glances at me like, that’s classified, but she says, “Steel, Breeze, Terra, and two others; a boy and a girl.”

“Sparky and Maple.” I correct her stiffly. She doesn’t say anything. “What,” I cough, “What about Coal?”

She giggles, slightly forced at first, but then she’s starts laughing. She’s not making a sound, just shaking with her face split into a smile.

“What do you think?” She gasps out.

It’s all so ridiculous that I smile. The thought of Coal sitting down peacefully and talking about his feelings is enough to crack me up. Then we’re both doubled over, laughing so hard my sides ache.

I liked Oh’Rian. Not what she what she was doing here and certainly not this place, but I liked her. She wasn’t a nerd. She was smart, but not a nerd. She loved all the same music and movies I did when I was at Westerville. Despite myself, I found that I looked forward to when she came.

Do not get attached to her. You are just going to escape and leave, forever.

“Hey Tide,” she whispers, though no one is around to hear us. “Look what I brought.”

She opens up her coat and I see a bottle of water.

“For me?” I ask incredulously.

She beams, “Yes! You can practice now!”

She seems almost as excited as I am. She tosses it to me and I grab it. I can’t unscrew the cap fast enough. I pour the water out and spin it in the air. Then I pause, the water hanging. I could get out. I could probably get Oh’Rian to open the door and then I’d be home free. The small cups of water stopped coming just before Oh’Rian came in, just in case I went wild or something.

Oh’Rian is busy furiously writing things down on her clipboard. She gave me this totally trusting me with it. I can’t just betray her like that. Loyalty, that’s your weakness. I remember Shylock’s smug grin.

Shut up.

Oh’Rian looks up and smiles. “Can you freeze the water?”

I throw the water up into the air and it explodes into to snow. The flakes drift down slowly. Oh’Rian is holding her hands up to touch the snow, her eyes wide. Each flake stings when it touches my skin though. You could’ve escaped. You still could.

“I’ve never seen snow before.” Oh’Rian says.

I turn, “Never?”

She shakes her head. “I come from Nevada.”

You could do it. Just pull the snow together into something threatening, and then you’re out.

I sit down on my hands. “What’s it like there?” The snow swirls around Oh’Rian’s feet and then creeps back into the bottle on the floor, melting.

Oh’Rian’s face lights up and she starts talking all about her school and her house. I feel the urge leaving me. I can do it. Practice, that’s it. I can do it. Not escape, just practice. I can do it.