The Elementals

“Tide!” Steel shouts from my right. I run toward his voice. I’m in the woods, but it’s like the trees are made of shadows, flitting in and out of my sight. I have to get to Steel. He sounded scared, in pain.

“Help!” I skid to a stop. That sounded like Terra. It’s coming from the other direction. I look back and forth. I can’t see Terra or Steel. A red fog swirls around my feet unnaturally. It coils around my ankles like a snake.

“Run!” It’s Steel again, and I hear Sparky and Maple crying. I turn.

“No, stop!” Terra screams. I don’t know who to go to.

“Tide,” Breeze says from right next to me. “Choose.”

“Why?” I ask, desperately looking around for Breeze.

She appears in front of me. “You can’t save us all.” Breeze suddenly cries out in pain, and her form wisps away into the air. The ground gives way beneath my feet. I tumble into darkness as shrieks echo around me.

I jump awake, feeling like I’m actually falling. It’s well into the day; the sun is high above me in the sky. “Why didn’t you wake me up?” I ask Coal, who’s sitting, tossing a flaming pinecone from hand to hand.

“You needed the rest.” He says as the pinecone disintegrates in his fingers.

I stand up, hating the fact that he’s right. But I don’t feel much better. I can still hear the screams from my dream. “We need to keep going.”

Coal rises, not arguing. I don’t even pretend to know where I’m going. I just wander aimlessly around, searching for any sign of the others for hours. I check on Coal, just to make sure he’s there because he’s become strangely quiet all of a sudden. He’s trailing behind with a troubled look on his face.

“So you really don’t remember anything?” I ask, knowing that’s what he’s thinking about.

Coal glances up at me. “No.” He sounds frustrated.

Okay. If I play this right, things will go back to normal. “Well, let’s see,” I say, slowing down so we’re walking side by side. “After the bear tore you to shreds, I had to drag you to the cave, then you almost died, and now here we are.”

He nods, then suddenly stumbles and clutches his head. I hover over him, not sure what to do. Then Coal stands up, looking at me strangely. “I,” He starts, “I can see it now. I remember.”

“What?” I squeak out in horror, backing up.

He straightens, over his pain apparently. “I knew it!”

“What?” I seem to only be able to say one word. My brain is screaming mayday!

“I knew something happened! You’ve been acting weird ever since.” He spins on his heels, talking to himself.

“So,” I say haltingly, “You don’t remember anything?”

He glares at me and I know that’s the flaw in his plan. He still doesn’t know what happened. I want to kick myself for falling for such an obvious trick. “Nothing important happened,” I insist, though I know I’ve already lost.

“If it’s so unimportant,” he says, pacing impatient circles around me as we walk. “Why won’t you tell me?”

I go to protest that I did tell him everything, but it’s no use lying to him. “I can’t.” Is the best I can come up with.

“Why not?”

“Because.” I snap angrily. “Just accept it.”

“No!” He plants himself right in front of me, blocking my path. I don’t even try to push past him because I know I won’t be able to. Coal is like a rock when he’s being stubborn. We stand there, opposing each other, arms folded. I’m not going to tell him. But I can’t lie. So I just stay silent. I’m not budging.

Then a piercing whistle breaks the air. It sounds like a train. In the middle of the woods. Coal turns and I take the opportunity to rush past him, following the sound of the cars rumbling on the tracks. I come out of the trees suddenly, feeling the blast of hot air as the train roars past. I dig my heels into the earth to keep from being sucked in. Coal comes up next to me, and I can literally feel his frustration radiating off him in waves of heat. I poke him to stop, to save his energy. He doesn’t look at me, but the hotness slowly fades.

The caboose blows by and through the disturbed clouds of dirt, I see a town. One of those forgotten, wasted, dead looking places that no one wants to move to and the people that live there are stuck. I’d passed many of these towns on my way to new orphanages. I look at Coal. He nods, not meeting my gaze. Cautiously, we walk across the tracks. Suddenly, Coal lifts me up and puts me down to the side.

“Third rail.” He says simply, still not looking at me.

I nod in gratitude, glancing nervously at the metal. Coal had lifted me like I was paper. And I’m not that light to put it, um, lightly. We reach the other side successfully without being hit by a train. First victory of the day. I have a feeling that nothing really passes through here that often. I straighten my posture and walk swiftly to the nearest road. Before my foot hits the pavement, I hear a voice.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” It’s low, and growly, like the speaker hasn’t slept in a while, and lives off of coffee.

Coal tenses, moving between me and whoever spoke. Slightly offended, I push him aside and look into the shrubs. I can take care of myself. “And why is that?” I say, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning on one foot, trying to sound bored.

A boy, tall and stocky, appears out of the bushes, trailed by a smaller girl. Their clothes are shredded, especially the guy’s. He looks menacing, wearing a black shirt underneath a torn leather jacket. His hands have multiple scars.

The girl is much more fragile. She has a small frame and black, tangled hair with streaks of white. I’m not sure if it’s bleach or not. She looks around constantly like a hunted animal.

“We don’t really welcome strangers.” The guy says, sneering.

“And I don’t feel very welcomed,” I retort walking forward to him and patting him on the back. “Good job.”

He seems surprised that I touched him. I’m surprised he didn’t bite my head off. Then his face hardens. “Who are you?”

I want to wiggle my fingers in his face and say your worst nightmare like a child, but instead I keep moving and say over my shoulder, “Nobody important.” I stride onto the street and down the block past run-down houses. Coal catches up to me. I don’t look back at the kids. I just hope the guy is still standing there in shock.

“You’re really cold when you want to be, Flippers.” Coal says.

I don’t answer. This place gives me the creeps. No one is out and the air smells of gasoline and cigarette smoke. I peer down the streets leading off the main road, but it’s either a suspicious alley way or more apartments and houses. Finally, I find some stores. I’m about to go through the door of the first grocery store I see, but Coal stops me.

“We don’t have any money, remember?”

I didn’t think of that. “Well, where can we get some?” I ask, coming back to the street. He shrugs. I pace in angry circles. I must look like a nut-job.

“Looking for something?” the guy from before walks out from some crack in between two houses.

Great. Exactly what I needed. Just fantastic. “Yes,” I say, calmly turning around to face him. “A punching bag actually. Looks like I found one.”

“I thought you didn’t want to fight,” whispers Coal.

“I changed my mind.” I tell him obnoxiously.

The guy looks at me like I’m crazy. He might be right. He’s significantly larger than me and looks like he’s been in many fights before. I don’t care. I’ve got some issues that would feel good to let out on someone’s face. And there’s a small water tower on the building above me. I can make it seem like a screw was loose if I have to. He walks closer, inspecting Coal and I. The other girl isn’t here.

“It seems like you need some cash.” He says.

I narrow my eyes. “Do you have some?”

“Maybe,” He says, “Maybe not. Depends.”

“On what?” I ask, getting ready to fight or run or both.

“You’re not from here are you?” he changes the subject.

“What makes you think that?” I ask sarcastically. Looking at Coal and myself, I realize we do actually look like we could live here. Our clothes are torn and bloodstained, and our faces are smudged with dirt. Coal’s eyes flash and I turn in time to see the guy launch himself at me.

I crouch and turn as the kid hits the ground. He’s obviously seen this move and does a neat shoulder roll, standing up. He turns, fists clenched. “Wow,” I taunt, “Can’t even punch a girl. That’s gotta hurt.”

It works. Like a bull, the kid charges. I stay on the ground. When he’s almost on me, I jump away. This doesn’t fool him. He whirls, fast, and swings. I bring my hand up, barely blocking his attack and back away. He growls, and sidekicks at me from the left. Perfect. I step back quickly, and then ram him from the left. Off balance, he topples to the pavement. He struggles to get up, but I put my foot on his chest.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” I tell him snidely.

He smiles evilly at me. A chill creeps up my spine. Whipping around, I see many more kids emerging from between the houses. They all have the same stony features, clenched jaws and hard eyes. I curse under my breath as I see that a couple of them have guns. Legitimate guns, not tranquilizers. One of them aims at Coal.

The water tower creaks ominously. A few glance up, but the barrels stays trained on Coal’s face. I don’t want to use my powers. Not in front of them. I hear more clicks and see that more kids have guns. Then the tower comes crashing down. It hits the ground and the metal splits, gushing out water. It splashes at my feet and I feel energized.

Then I hear gun shots.

I run over to where I last saw Coal. He’s in the water, holding his arm, a look of pain and shock on his face. Blood is seeping through his fingers. Outrage fills me. First he gets in a car crash, then he is almost torn to shreds by a bear, and now he’s gotten shot. All because of me.

The water around Coal blasts away so he’s in dry circle. I locate the guy who shot. I focus, feeling the water rise and then I throw my hands out forward. The water smashes down onto the entire line of kids. The few that try to get up, I hose.

“It’s you!” says the guy from behind me.

“You should’ve stayed down,” I hiss and turning, flick my hand. A bit of water comes around, freezing into a sharp boomerang shape. I hear it whistle past my face, straight at the kid.

“You’re who she was looking for!” He says then yelps as the ice stops right in front of his face.

I glare at him. “You shot my friend. Fix it." I snarl. “Then- maybe- I won’t kill you.”

He nods nervously, the ice just inches from his neck. I let it drop. All the water drains into the sewage grate in the street.

“Now,” I say edgily, anger still fizzing inside me. “I suggest you tell me who you are.”