Vampiric: Chapter One, Part 2

Numerous events spanned the two years leading us to the meeting with Caroline, most from before we left the camp Drei had started. It was the second location of the camp, as the first had been compromised by decisions I had made about one particular boy. He was also the reason we were able to escape and continue protecting children like me. Children born into gifts over an element—elementals as we learned to refer to ourselves. Our protectors, and the administrators of the camp, were a group of vampires led by Drei; they believed in the good we would do for the world if we were allowed to grow in our talents and learned to hide ourselves from a government that would turn us into experiments.

Lily—a blond vampire turned in the 1920s—disappeared some months after we had settled at the new location and never returned. I asked Drei once where she had gone, and he told me not to think on it. I did, though. It was strange losing someone so integral to the camp. She was the only vampire who smiled regularly and was in a cheerful disposition more than half the time.

I had been free to do what I wanted during the day, now that the older children had taken over leading and creating new games. Sometimes I would join in, for old time's sake. But it wasn't the same, and I would soon leave, unable to feel as young as I thought I needed to believe I was.

That first Christmas there, more children I knew left. Of course, new children with earth or water elements kept appearing throughout the year, but I felt more like a stranger. Not even the occasional night Drei and I would spend talking could make it feel like home.

A week before my twentieth birthday, I went to Drei and Valetta. I had decided I wasn't needed there and it was time I returned to the reality of life, hopeful to figure out where I was heading. The longer I stayed, the more anxious I became that I was losing time. Valetta had said once I didn't have a lot of that. Time, that is. It might have been depressing if I hadn't had some mystery to keep me pushing forward.

They sat sipping something from teacups and Mitchell—a dark skinned vampire who enjoyed teasing me and answering my questions in riddles he knew I couldn't solve—was on his way out when I entered.

“Join us,” Valetta said, setting her cup before her.

I slid into a chair between them and inhaled, trying to remember the words I thought would sound best.

“I want to thank you for everything over the last couple years,” I began, aware of the curious looks I received from both ends, “but I feel it's time for me to leave.”

Drei nodded and flashed Valetta a look that seemed to say they knew this had been coming.

“We were hoping you would stay a while longer,” she said softly.

“I'll stay until the thirteenth.” My tone suggested this was long enough as I gauged both of their reactions. It hadn't bother them as much as I had imagined. In my mind, they would be furious and insist I wasn't ready. Alas, I had underestimated them.

As I waited for one of them to say something, a scent filled my nose. It was coppery and disgusting in my mouth. Nearly gag worthy, and somehow familiar.

The smell was wafting from their teacups, and I realized they were drinking blood, not tea. Why this was so shocking, I couldn't determine, but it was. It made me sick to think of whose blood it was, and how they went about retrieving it. When I tried to stop the thoughts, more came.

Drei noticed my discomfort and said, “We need to drink to survive. We do not harm people; this is from—”

I waved at him to stop, not wanting to know. Though I loved him, I didn't need to know what he was drinking; and I decided never to ask or be around when he was. It would be better that way.

“So you have decided to leave,” he restated.

“Yes. A week from yesterday.”

“Valentine's Day will not be the same without you,” Valetta said. With that, she stood and left, as though Drei had demanded her to do so.

He drained the last of his beverage as I tried to find something interesting in the room to hold my attention. The children’s rooms had more personality; Drei’s cabin hardly looked lived in. There was a distinct dearth of posters or anything to sufficiently distract my mind from his drinking. His lips were stained red when I faced him again.

“I am coming with you.” His tone was stern and direct.

“I wasn't going to tell you no.” I stood, knowing I still had to figure out what I was taking and where I wanted to go.

Drei kissed my cheek, pulling me into his embrace. “I would have followed even if you did refuse me.”

My arms wrapped around him, my face buried in his chest. It was my favorite place in the world, just being in his arms. There, it felt like nothing could reach me; I would be forever protected and safe from injury of any kind. Moments like that were so sparse, they were even better when they happened.

“When are you telling Martin?” I whispered, fully aware that Martin wanted to take control of the camp when Drei left. Martin was a stubby, albino vampire who liked to agree with Drei even when he was wrong—not that he often was.

“I am not telling him a thing. Valetta will take over in my stead; she was always my chosen successor.”

“He won't be happy.”

“His happiness does not concern me,” Drei said in a way that made the cruel words sound gentle. “He does not care about our goal or our purpose; he cares only for what power he may grab for himself.”

“I love you,” I told him, smiling. I was delighted Drei had noticed it, too. It was the one thing I was most worried about when I had made my decision. If Martin took over, I would have found a way to make Drei stay or change his mind. The camp would fall apart, and that would be on me. Enough things like that were already on me and I didn’t want more.

“I have always known Martin's kind;” Drei kissed my hair. “Just as I have always known my duty here would end.”

Our embrace seemed to last forever in my memory, but eventually the thirteenth came, Valetta was officially declared new lead vampire, and we left. Martin threw sinister glares our way until we disappeared into the foliage. Somehow I knew that wouldn't be the last of him, but it didn't stop me from feeling relieved he was gone for the moment.

We traveled for a week to a city known for its constant ebb and flow of people and faces. There we rented a small apartment and I took on a part-time job—I refused to let Drei pay for everything from his mysterious source of income. While he spent the nights doing his thing—mostly research on the city he would later share—I often kept to the apartment, content with leaving to work and occasionally buying a new outfit.

It really was a cozy space. There were two small bedrooms, a kitchenette, and a living room. Though we each had our own room, sometimes, after he had been out late, he would lie beside me until morning when I would get ready for work.

When I wasn't working, Drei had me read up on the work of great revolutionaries, from those who developed revolutionary theories, to those who led the fights, marches, protests, boycotts, and numerous other political devices. He insisted I needed to know the past if I wanted to succeed in the future. That, and I needed to see how the fire elementals led their movements in contrast to how the air elementals led theirs.

Though we were alone, we still kept our distance, except for the occasional embrace or kiss. You could never be sure how alone you were, and it was just good practice. We knew we could have thrown our caution to the wind if we really wanted to, but it was best to be reserved. Whenever—if ever—I began to lead my revolution, it would be the most valuable thing to us.

If you're careless, you will be found. And, as my lessons had proven, very few air elementals lived past their movements. Very few fire elementals lived after as well, but that was our burden. No one had said it would be easy.

Elemental: Chapter Twelve, Part 2

“Now you boys sleep tight,” I said before leaving the room.

Our new camp was larger than the previous one, the cabins older but roomier. Instead of two rooms, these had four. The lake itself was also larger, extending past the horizon. Mitchell informed me that Drei had planned this location for his new camp, and had been checking on it for the last several years, ensuring it really was abandoned.

While Mitchell and the other vampires were settling into the new environment or returning the rental vans, Drei and I were left to tuck everyone in. It hadn’t yet occurred to me there might have been an intended purpose for that. Initially, I just thought it was accidental.

“What if we aren’t tired?” Mikael asked from his room, quickly followed in agreement by Danny, Derek, and Josh—a newer addition to the group who had fit in immediately.

“If you don’t sleep then I’ll have to send some cold air this way until you’re all too freezing to get out of bed,” I said with light humor.

They giggled at the mental image of them blue with icicles dangling from their noses, but stayed put and made no other complaints. Though I was joking, subconsciously, they didn’t want to risk it.

“Good night,” I whispered, leaving the cabin. They were my last group and, though it was chilly outside, I realized Drei and I were the only ones around. I wasn’t sure if the timing was ideal, but I knew I probably wouldn’t have another chance like it.

I caught sight of his silhouette disappearing toward the cabins we hadn’t yet filled—some of them probably reserved for the vampires.

“Drei,” I whispered, sending the word to his ear.

He whirled around, startled at first, but then beginning toward me when our eyes met. I met him halfway, feeling the cold settle into my bones through my coat.

“Yes?” he questioned softly, glancing around to guarantee no one else had stirred. “Is everything well?”

The words vanished from my mind and I wondered if I had misjudged the moment. It didn’t seem like forgetting the words would happen in the ideal moment, but I had to say something. He was expecting it now.

“How did your sisters die? Ashlyn and Avery?”

Drei looked away from me, the set of his jaw revealing his refusal to reply, whether because of pain or just my not needing to know. After a hard moment of silence—in which I doubted Valetta had told me the truth—Drei said, “What do you really want to ask?”

And just like that, the words came. “What are we?”

“How do you mean?” He gazed at me again. His amethyst eyes were intense, as if he knew what he wanted me to be asking, but wasn’t sure I was.

“Together;” the anticipation welled in my chest. I couldn’t bear to meet his searching gaze; whatever information they held, I didn’t want to read. I wanted him to tell me, to say it aloud.

In his logical voice, he began, “Vampire law forbids any relationship between mortals and vampires, and lately they have been less lenient in their rulings. Lily is the youngest of us, turned in the 1920s, before the Council decided we needed more order to survive.” He cast his gaze off to the half-moon wavering above; I couldn’t tell if it was for strength or for locating those elusive words. “We are especially barred from elementals, the risk of distraction too great to truly understand until the damage is done.”

“That isn’t what I asked,” I whispered, feeling the tears well in my eyes. I didn’t want to know we couldn’t be together without him getting into trouble with this council, whoever they were. All I wanted to know was if he loved me; if I had tortured myself trying to forget him for nothing.

“You are shivering,” he said gently, pulling me into his arms, wrapping his jacket around us both. I was hesitant to wrap my arms around him, despite my longing to do just that. It wouldn’t feel right or acceptable until I knew, and he was more than reluctant to let me know.

“Why are you avoiding the question?” I asked, looking up at him, struggling not to let his comforting arms or familiar scent distract me. I wasn’t sure if either was on purpose, but, if they were, I didn’t want them to succeed; all of us, it seemed, had suffered too long from this omission. “What are you afraid of?”

Drei’s pale fingers brushed a wisp of hair out of my eyes. He looked down at me with such a sadness in his amethyst gems, I was certain he wouldn’t answer me, just as he hadn’t answered about his sisters. He had a way of locking away anything painful, as though it would make life easier for others to be ignorant of injury.

“Secrets hurt, Drei,” I said, resting my head against his chest. “My whole life was a huge mystery I never knew about. Please, don’t add to the pain my parents caused me.” My throat constricted, stopping me from opening my heart further. Stopping me from giving away everything before I knew if he would replace it.

He held me tighter, a hand tangled in my hair. Before, he had always been so cold when we touched; now he seemed to radiate warmth. In this wondrous whirlwind, that was the one thing I couldn’t make fit in with something else I had allowed to make sense.

“I believe you are the one I have been waiting for,” Drei whispered into my hair.

Elemental: Chapter Eleven, Part 3

Inside my cabin, I felt overwhelmed with sorrow. The next step promised to be better—more difficult, perhaps, but better—but I would always remember this place. The memories trapped in these walls replayed before me, from the first moment I saw the desolate building and the wondrous rocking chair to Nick’s arrival, all the arguments, all the tears, everything. I soaked it up, never wanting to forget any of this, despite the drama and heartache. It seemed like my first real lesson in life: people get hurt, and all you can do most times is hope it doesn’t hurt too much.

“We can bring the chair if you would like,” Valetta suggested gently from behind me.

I turned, swiping at the tears that had appeared on my cheeks. “That’s okay.”

“Drei already approved it; all you have to do is say yes.”

“No, really. I don’t need it,” I reassured her, gazing over its carvings again, knowing I would probably never remember the full intricacy of the designs.

“You know he found that chair specifically for you. He personally refurbished it,” she said, coming closer.

“Why?”

“The carvings on the chair are for calming, relaxing, and clear thought. It was your mother’s before she was taken,” Valetta responded very matter-of-factly, sounding like a documentary. “It is an heirloom passed down in your family as nearly as we can tell. He found it at an auction, and thought you would like it when he found you.”

I shook my head, knowing something Valetta didn’t. “I needed the chair when I came, but I don’t need it anymore.”

“Very well;” only her raised eyebrows betrayed her surprise. “We need to go. Sorry to cut short your reminiscing.”

Gazing around me again—the never entered second room, the front room, my room, the chair—flashes of my life popped up before me, vivid again. “I was just finishing,” I said, watching the image of Nick and I hugging earlier that afternoon fade away. Even if it was only a temporary goodbye—as he had insisted—I was still going to miss him. But that’s life for you. It was time for someone other than myself to bow out. I had done enough of that to last me a lifetime.

“What’s happening to Nick?” I asked, suddenly needing to know. He was staying behind, but that didn’t mean nothing was happening. Something had to happen.

“Now, or after his colleagues arrive?” Valetta followed me out.

“Both.”

“We are not certain what the government will do to him. There has never before been a bounty hunter to help us,” she replied, a slight note of concern to her voice. “As for now, you should ask Drei. Just know I stopped them from hurting him too much.”

A nervous laugh escaped my lips. “What does that mean?”

“Ask Drei.”

“Everyone keeps telling me that.” I wasn’t quite ready to face him.

“Then maybe it is time you listened,” Valetta said easily as we fell into the disappearing procession of children and vampires.

Elemental: Chapter Ten, Part 5

I gazed out the misty window, tears fogging my vision. Everything was a twisted muddle of emotions and beliefs. None of it was supposed to happen; not this way. And yet there I was, facing a doomed camp filled with children who didn’t yet know they were a few days from government imprisonment.

Before tears could overtake me completely, I sauntered slowly into the fresh downpour. Though rain suffocated my powers, I hoped it would suffocate my emotions and drown my heart, killing it before the pain could.

Standing on the edge of the pier, I felt the air around me freeze, unable to attend to me, even if I had called it. The rain bled through my clothes and seemed to penetrate through to my very core. I threw back my head, openly crying now, my arms outstretched and my hair clinging desperately to my skin, as though pleading for me to go in. I heard the plants sigh, grateful for the rain after the unusually warm winter, but hoping it would soon end. The trees breathed peacefully in their bare skin, sleeping through the traumatic events crushing my imperfectly rebuilt world.

Everything seemed to speak to me, bringing its peaceful nature to my ears, until my entire body was flooded with the sensation of every living plant and creature within the surrounding area. Not even voices within the cabins were safe from my prying.

“Drei,” I heard Valetta saying as if she was next to me. “She is outside—”

“Leave me alone, Valetta.” If I hadn’t already been numbed from the noise and rain, a dagger would have pierced my heart at his words. I had expected as much, but it didn’t stop it from threatening to hurt.

I heard him walk away and Valetta plead, “She needs you. You are the one who said she was more important than anyone else.” There were tears in her voice.

A long pause ensued. At the end of it, Drei replied, “I was wrong.”

The conversation faded out and someone else’s voice found purchase in my thoughts.

“Why is Abriel so sad, Nick?” a small voice questioned. “You did something, and now she’s sad. What happened?”

“People hurt other people, Mikael,” Nick replied softly, a rough edge to his voice, as though he were hurting as much as anyone. As though he deserved to be in as much pain. He didn’t, though. Nick wasn’t losing as much as some of us; he was one of theirs. He was safe.

“Abriel doesn’t hurt anyone. She takes care of us all; she makes us all friends,” Mikael insisted, flustered.

“No,” Nick said angrily. “Everyone hurts someone, and we hurt each other, and—”

“You don’t love her like we do—else you’d know, Nick. Abriel doesn’t like to hurt people,” Mikael argued back.

“You don’t get it!” Nick yelled, storming to another part of the cabin, leaving Mikael to wonder.

Their voices faded in a cacophony of sound erupting in my body. They all said the same thing. But I wouldn’t believe them. Everything had failed, again. I would never be able to lead any kind of content life; I was broken, and ruined life for anyone I came in contact with. The amazement that filled my senses until I overloaded and passed out wasn’t real. They were imagining someone else in my place.

Broken people always fell.

Free, normal, harmonious people were the only ones who could ever dream of flying.

Elemental: Chapter Ten, Part 4

The rain had returned, gentler, but still managing to melt my anger into tears.

I debated whether to go straight to Drei or leave it until morning. The best choice, much as I hated to admit it, was telling Drei. I prayed his wrath wouldn’t be as terrible as I imagined.

Drei was holding a mug of what I guessed to be tea—mostly from the herbal scent floating around the cabin—between his hands, Valetta sitting across from him at the small table in the front room, sipping from her own cup. Both gazed up slowly.

“Yes?” Drei questioned distantly.

I couldn’t stop the tears from coming; I had never screwed up so much in my entire life. Why hadn’t I seen this coming?

Valetta came to me, hushing my tears, pushing my dank hair from my face. “Is it Nick?” she asked.

I nodded, knowing it was nowhere near what she thought it was.

“What about Nick? Did you two have a fight?” she probed softly, a hand rubbing circles in my back for comfort.

“He’s a bounty hunter,” I whispered, scared for my life, knowing it needed to be done. Not for myself, but for everyone else here. Whatever solution was found, I doubted it would be extended to me after this. I didn’t deserve it.

Drei was before me in a flash, looking as though he wanted to shake me senseless, his face flushed and eyes brilliantly amethyst. “What?”

I inhaled, trying not to fold under his harsh eyes. “Nick is a bounty hunter; he just told me”.

“Why did you not listen to me?” he thundered, shoving Valetta—my one companion in this place—away. “If you had just trusted me, this would not have happened!”

“It would have happened anyway, Drei,” I said, holding back my tears, but my voice cracking. “You wouldn’t understa—you couldn’t even see I was alone;” I ran from the room.

Just outside the door, I heard Valetta start to rip into him, so I kneeled below the window, listening.

“You had no right to yell at her in that manner,” Valetta whispered threateningly. “She did something for herself, which makes sense since she does so much for everyone else.”

“And what about our situation because of this?” Drei hissed, equally hostile.

“It was going to happen sooner or later,” she responded, reeling her anger in slightly.

“No,” Drei yelled back at her. “If I had been able to do what needed to be done, this never would have happened.”

“No, it just might have been worse,” Valetta replied, keeping calmer than Drei. “Abriel might have just run off by now and wound up in a worse mess. Then you would have been in an irrevocable moodiness.”

“That is not the issue!”

She didn’t flinch; “Drei, it does not take an elemental to know sometimes the heart sees in people what people are unable to see in themselves.” As she turned on a heel and disappeared into one of the rooms, she added softly, “Why do you think we love you?”

Elemental: Chapter Ten, Part 3

It stopped raining. I had spent the sleepless night trying to pinpoint the exact moment in time where everything began to change from so blissfully wonderful to extraordinarily turbulent.

The air of my cabin was spoiled with hopelessness, the walls closing in on my depression. Without another thought, I ran through the forest to where the brook babbled and the gray sky clearly threatened another cloudburst. My sneakers were soggy with mud and the brook looked more like a river that had outgrown its bed. My eyes caught something brightly colored further down the overflowing brook, and my feet marched toward it, uncaring of the water sloshing into my shoes or the suctioning mud.

A bright red footbridge had been set up, rather recently from the unused look of it. I wondered who had placed it here, and in the same moment thought I knew the answer. I used the sleeve of my college sweater to clean up some of the water and sat down, removing my sneakers. Dropping the damp shoes beside me, I dangled my feet in the clear rainwater; I followed the created ripples, watching them collide and spread, wondering if I might ever affect people in such a manner—without the drama and broken hearts.

“What are you thinking about?” Nick questioned; he plopped down beside me, my shoes separating us.

“I’m thinking about if any of this was worth coming, and if everything might have turned out okay if I had just stayed instead of running away. If any of this changes anything.”

I refused to look up at him, I knew what was coming, and I realized it was time he knew. If he hated me because of it, perhaps it was better that way. If he loved me all the more, would it change anything? Would I love him more and be willing to prove it the way he wanted me to? Now I didn’t know, but in a moment it would be clear.

“I’m glad you came,” he said, putting off the inevitable. “I never would have fallen in love if you had never come.”

“Stop,” I pleaded, tired of him beating around the bush. He had no problem asking before; was he afraid of what I would say as much as I was? It was the only logic I could find in his actions.

He took a long while building up his courage to ask. In the silence I regretted never telling him before. There were millions of opportunities, the only thing stopping me being the fact I didn’t want him to look at me like a diseased girl who cared more about new purses for every occasion than world hunger.

“Why are you here?” he finally asked. “How did Drei save you?”

I took a huge breath in before saying, “On my seventeenth birthday, I came into my…gifts.”

He sat, watching me as I kept my eyes locked on the new ripples in the water. I told him everything, from Drei explaining elementals and the history and future, the bounty hunter at school, my public freak out, and how Drei gave me an out. The easy out that I was too numb to pass up. I left out my conversation with my father, but included how Drei helped me begin rebuilding, and then the children, and, lastly, him and Valetta.

“I owe Drei more than I want to admit,” I finished softly, my pride hurting as I shared this truth. “He saved me from—from everyone.”

“Even yourself?”

“Yeah,” I whispered. “I wish he hadn’t have had a need to save me; I wish bounty hunters didn’t exist, the government didn’t see us as some abomination. We were just seen as people who can make things better. What makes us so different we can’t be left alone? We always have to look over our shoulders wondering when we have to uproot next. It isn’t fair,” I asserted, holding his jade eyes, searching for answers, afraid of what I might find.

“It’s not their fault,” Nick said quietly, slipping from the footbridge and standing in the water. He didn’t look at me as he said, “Bounty hunters are in a similar boat.”

“It is their fault, Nick,” I cried, not holding anything back. He couldn’t take their side; I wouldn’t allow him to. “After that hunter left, I was terrified of who was watching. It killed me inside not being able to be who I was—who I am. I didn’t know when another might show up, or if he would be so obviously a bounty hunter. You have no idea what it’s like running all the time from someone you can’t be sure is even there. It’s terrifying and nerve-wracking and a thousand other things—constantly; it’s so consummately exhausting trying to figure out who’s a step ahead and who’s still back in square one.”

“I know!” Nick shouted, turning around and grabbing my shoulders. “You don’t know what it’s like to have the government breathing down your neck all because they think you’re one smart cookie and a possible asset.”

Nick stopped suddenly, breathing heavily, but terror obvious on his face. He let go of me and turned away again, running a hand through his hair. It took a couple of cycles to comprehend exactly what he had just said. Pain and anger flooded me. I really had ruined everything. And Nick—the person I thought was on my side—had let me believe a lie.

“Why,” I began, my voice trembling, “if you love me, did you never tell me before you were a bounty hunter?”

He whipped around and reached out to me, trying to comfort me or assure himself it wasn’t as bad as I made it sound.

“Get away from me!” I shouted, leaving him and my shoes behind, afraid I might do something I would regret while the ferocity was still fresh. And to think I had been afraid of what he might think of me.

Elemental: Chapter Ten, Part 1

Chapter Ten: Wolfish Sheep

New Years came with less pizzazz than Halloween but, like all beginnings, it had a way of staying memorable.

Waking up that morning, I hadn’t realized what was coming, or even what had passed, and it hadn’t occurred to me the old year was over but not yet out. It was raining and a miserable day, but memories never let you stay down long, especially not on New Years.

My year was bittersweet at best. I loved Nick, lost Drei—in a sense—and rebuilt a life when I wasn’t sure there was anything left to start over. It seemed impossible Nick had only arrived ten months ago, or that already we were so close. Neither did it seem likely Valetta and I were best friends, confiding everything—though not always saying it aloud. My relationship with the kids blossomed, but suffered slightly due to Nick. I was like their temp mom: here to kiss the scrapes better, dry the tears, and work out disagreements. It was amusing, to Nick, anyway. I took it seriously.

Two things I couldn’t manage to keep from my thoughts long were the fact something might be wrong with Drei, and Jake’s warning. I had said everything because it had felt right; but the more I thought about it, I wasn’t ready to give up anything; not Nick, Drei, the kids, Valetta, or my life. None of it. But I sensed judgment on my promise was closing in. There was something in the air that made me anxious, even through the downpour.

Elemental: Chapter Nine, Part 5

Christmas rolled around, much the same as the past year. The main difference being I didn’t stand off on my own. I leaned against Nick, watching the children scramble for their gifts. The eldest children—one of them being Jake—and a few not yet 15, received transcripts as a present. They had decided they were ready to go home again. The good-bye party was that night. Some would be escorted back by train, but most by taxis to the nearest airport.

I was slightly upset at seeing some of them leave. But that was the reality. They grew up somewhere they could be safe and explore their elements. Then, when they were ready, they said farewell. I just never thought it would be so difficult to see them go; I had underestimated how much I had grown attached to them all.

Mitchell waved, and I knew there wasn’t a surprise present this year. I wasn’t shocked, honestly. That would be more difficult to explain to Nick than my comment on light hearts. He still asked about that.

“I have a surprise for you,” Nick said, tugging slightly on my hand. I followed him to my cabin.

On the front step lay a blanket of flowers. Initially, I was overwhelmed at his thoughtfulness. Then I realized where the flowers had come from, and I couldn’t hide my disappointment. I thought he would be more respectful towards the garden. It wasn’t his and I knew he hadn’t asked. Even if he had, I doubted Drei would have approved.

“They’re lovely, Nick,” I responded, the sorrow painfully obvious in my voice.

“Everything all right?” Though I didn’t face him, I knew he was worried about me. I could feel it and, for once, I was tired of his emotions permeating my own.

“I’m just tired,” I lied, gathering the blooms in my arms. “I think I’m going to sleep for a little bit.”

“Okay,” he replied, a hint of disbelief slipping through. He didn’t press me, though.

The flowers were arranged on the windowsill where the ice sculpture used to sit before it melted. The rocking chair helped me to feel better, but I was worse off than before and there was only so much help for that.

“Do you really love him?”

I jumped, not realizing Jake had even entered and now stood in the doorway.

“Don’t sneak up like that,” I needlessly warned, forgetting for a moment he was leaving that night.

“Do you love Nick?”

“What’s this about?” I asked, instead. I didn’t really want to think about this even though I had been for much longer than I wanted to. “Why are you asking?”

“Something isn’t right, Abriel. Not about Nick, and not about you,” he said. I had never seen him so serious, which was saying a lot since he was possibly the most serious of all the children here. “You changed when he came. Though we’re happy that you’re happier, none of us think this is going to end well.”

“Who is ‘we’?”

“All of us,” Jake responded as though this was obvious. “There’s been this really weird vibe surrounding Nick since before summer. And it’s starting to infect you;” he stepped into the room, burying his hands in his pockets. “That night we visited—you said it was you. The problem wasn’t Nick or Drei.”

“It was me,” I insisted, trying to follow where this was going, how any of this was important.

He shook his head. “It wasn’t just you. If you think about it, you’ll know it wasn’t just you.”

That memory started to revive in my mind before I shoved it aside. I didn’t want to think about it. Part of me was afraid that if I did, I would discover I had made a mistake, even though I wanted so desperately to believe I hadn’t.

“So why do you want to know if I love him?”

“Because love is worth any cost,” he responded softly. “That’s what Mom always said before I came here. She knew the truth about this camp, and she felt it was the best for me. When I asked her if she didn’t love me anymore, she told me she loved me more than ever. And that it was only temporary. She said love was worth whatever you had to give up.”

Listening to him, I wondered how many of the others had similar stories I had never asked about. It also made me question how much I was willing to give up for Nick. Over the last months, I had started to think it was love, but they say you never know what love is until it’s gone. I just couldn’t be sure about anything, it seemed.

“How much would you give up for Nick?” His eyes studied me, taking in everything but not casting judgment on whatever they saw.

“Everything,” I replied, the word heavy and light on my tongue.

Jake nodded sadly. “The Moon will hold you to that soon enough.”

“What do you mean?” Since when did the moon have anything to do with this? I felt like he was trying to go somewhere and was losing me along the way. But I didn’t want to be lost.

Jake launched into a brief explanation; “Every promise is tested, and the Lady of the Moon watches to ensure they’re upheld.”

“How, though?”

“Ask Drei sometime. He holds her to her word just as much as she binds him to his; it’s why he always watches out for her.” Jake started to leave, but turned at the last moment, adding, “If you really are willing to give up everything for him, be careful, Abriel. You’re a great person, but the price might just be your life.”

Elemental: Chapter Nine, Part 3

Drei seemed to disappear again. Every time I thought I felt his presence, it vanished in the next instant. He avoided me completely; it was horrible to think it was my own fault, despite having wanted it. I just hadn’t wanted it like this.

As the cool days of October closed in, everyone spent more time at the lake, the water elementals showing off as much as possible when Nick wasn’t around. After he caught them creating fountains, I had to tell him something. I gave him the vaguest explanation I could that ended up being more circuitous than anything else. After a while, he just stopped asking about it. The kids became stealthier and almost more untrusting of him. They started setting a watch for when he had left so they knew when to act like normal kids playing in the water again.

Around that time, I also worked out a new idea to try: manipulate the air to help me stay underwater longer. Not such a good idea. The moment I breathed in, my nose was flooded with water. Nick helped me to the shore, teasing that I should know how to swim after a summer of such activity.

I laughed and coughed, playing it off as a mistake from being momentarily distracted. It took a while to reassure him I was fine. Once I had, he went back into the lake and I strolled over to where Valetta watched, disinterested, as always.

“Why can’t I use my element in water?” I questioned, leaving no room for pretense.

Valetta smiled, as if she had expected me to figure it out sooner. To be honest, I was angry with myself for not figuring it out—or at least trying it—sooner.

“Air is less responsive in water. Because it is a liquid, the air is heavier and lazier,” she said, the teasing smile not leaving her lips. “Have you ever noticed you tend to be unhappy when it rains?”

I thought about it; when it had rained last week, I had been depressed, not in the mood to try running between the drops to spend the day with Nick. That is, until Nick came over to spend the day playing a board game he had coaxed Lily into finding for him. It felt like being a little kid again: wet, gray skies, a smiling face, and something to do.

“Well, if I have someone to spend it with, I’m not so sad.”

“When the air is heavy, so are you—emotionally, of course.”

I thought a moment on this, taking it in and comparing my experiences with this new nugget of information. “That makes sense, kind of.”

“Try not to drown yourself,” Valetta teased.

“You saw that?” I scrunched my face and vainly hoped she hadn’t.

Her eyes glinted with laughter. “I see everything.”

Elemental: Chapter Nine, Part 2

Toward the end of summer, after another afternoon of swimming races, I was half-running to my cabin, freezing in my wet swimsuit; it was remarkable how much cooler it was in the shade. At the top of the stairs, I found Drei leaning against the door. A blush crossed his cheeks before he turned away. My cheeks burned and were no doubt crimson; I felt exposed wearing only a towel and bathing suit. If my mind hadn’t gone blank just then, it may have questioned why I felt nearly naked before Drei but perfectly comfortable around Nick in the same outfit.

“We need to discuss something, Abriel.” From his tone, I knew I wouldn’t like what we had to discuss. But I wanted to talk to him just so I could listen to his voice again. Until he had said anything, I hadn’t realized how much I missed the sound of his voice. There was a mature, secure nature to it that Nick just didn’t have in his.

When I had pulled my damp hair into a bun and changed into dry clothing, I invited Drei in, settling on the rocking chair. He opted to stand, despite my offer for him to sit.

“Your relationship with Nick worries me, Abriel,” Drei started, regarding me carefully.

I shook my head gently. “I already told you, Drei—”

“Let me speak, please?” His eyes closed as if it pained him to have to ask. Then remembering how everyone else listened whenever he opened his mouth, I understood. I was the only one who ever interrupted him; I didn’t know why that was either. It wasn’t like I had an excuse.

“Okay,” I said, hoping he wouldn’t take it to mean I was open to his negativity.

“We have been researching the fire his family died in,” Drei said slowly. “The culprit is whom we believed it to be, and now we are questioning why they would target Nick. Something is not right with him; you must have noticed how the others react to him as of late. In all my years, I have yet to see them distance themselves so. He is not an elemental and we do not know what his motives may be.”

“He’s not going to hurt anyone, Drei.” I breathed slowly, trying to remain rational and calm, but feeling protective. “Nick isn’t the government; he isn’t a bounty hunter. You just don’t like the fact that we’re perfectly content spending time together. You were a better person when I was lonely all the time.”

“You do not understand, Abriel; that is not the matter—”

“Are you okay with the fact that Nick and I like each other?” I interrupted, unable to just listen anymore. Though he insisted it wasn’t the issue, I couldn’t help feeling it was a large part of it. Even more so for his objections.

Drei bit his tongue, his face stoic but his thoughts a chaotic mess surrounding him. “No,” he admitted, barely a whisper. “I detest the thought of you enjoying the wretch’s company.”

“Well I do, Drei. And I’m sorry you can’t be okay with it.” I looked down at my feet. There was nothing I wanted more than for him to be happy for us; it was only fair. I was happy for him and Valetta, as much as I wished I didn’t have to be some days.

“I wish you would consider the possibility that his intentions are not consummately noble,” Drei practically begged. I had never heard him like that before and it was weird. He had always been the one in control. The one who was calm and knew exactly what to do. It had never seemed possible he might beg for anything.

“I never ignore you, Drei,” I replied softly, still unable to face him. “I always think about what you say, even if I don’t agree with it.” My gaze focused out the window on the sparkling lake, how it seemed to mock me again.

“I realize this,” he said. Another thing I didn’t quite understand was how we could both know so much about each other and, simultaneously, so very little.

The air filled with sorrow and, when Drei left, I realized a great deal of it was my own.

Elemental: Chapter Nine, Part 1

Chapter Nine: Free Falling

I woke up hearing Mikael moving around in the next room, forgetting for a moment I had fallen asleep in Nick’s arms, and he in mine. Nothing had happened; it had surprised me—to be quite honest—he was so respectful of my wishes, considering how Richie had been.

Nick sighed in his sleep, his heart beating against my cheek.

In that moment, I knew I had chosen correctly. There was nothing I would trade for that morning. His heart pulsed steadily, an arm draped protectively about me. I didn’t regret my decision and it felt like, for the first time, I had done something right.

***

Summer passed in a flurry of new love and hopes. The children indulged in swimming and forgot their games of colder weather. Most days, they were required to do lessons—Valetta’s idea to do “summer sprint sessions” as she put it. The reasoning being they were all talented learners, and deserved more freedom during the day. During the summer, they would give up three hours after lunch to study various subjects. Two hours after dinner were reserved for studying and homework. It really was ingenious the way they had set it up, and all busywork was practically eliminated. The only reason I could grasp why they studied in the summer was to ensure the children were inside during the worst of the heat; otherwise, that part didn’t quite make sense to me.

Nick and I weren’t required to attend since we were both high school free. We spent those hours exploring or sunbathing—more I was sunbathing and he was splashing around nearby before pulling me in with him. I had never known summer to be so full of happiness. There was not one moment I was distressed or felt as though I had betrayed Drei. It was shocking, considering how I had expected to feel.

As far as I could tell, Drei didn’t care. He wasn’t around much anyway, which I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. But I guessed he could listen once in a while.

Elemental: Chapter Eight, Part 5

Nick and Drei argued daily now, sometimes twice. Most days Nick started it, especially when I wouldn’t answer the door and pretended not to hear his knock on my window in the morning. Then Drei pounded on the door a couple of times. I hid in my room, talking myself out of seeing either of them.

I avoided witnessing their arguments, and spent most of the week experimenting, hoping some clarity would be found in the ancient pastime.

Valetta stopped by after the first day, reassuring me she would keep the two from killing each other while I worked out for myself what was needed. She also left some old CDs and a disc player. Old as in music I’d listened to in middle school and had pretended I didn’t like by the time I reached high school.

Her gift became my first experiment. I knew the songs and, never having had the lungs to sing, maybe there was a way to fix that.

The first attempts were a mess of coughs and either not enough air or too much. As I found the right balance of input to match my output, the problem I had was concentrating. Often, just as I was reaching the climax, I would forget to pull more air into my lungs and my voice fizzled out, leaving a drowned moose sound hanging in the air. If anyone had been around to hear, I would have been humiliated and embarrassed.

By the third day of my break, I had mastered it. It surprised me I actually had a decent voice, but it wasn’t like I would be selling records the next week.

After the satisfaction had worn away, I was bored with singing. There was still a challenge in concentrating, but I found my peace to be temporary in that. The moment the song ended, every thought came rushing back. I was to the point that images would flash through my mind as I sang. It was no longer helping. If anything, it made me feel worse for procrastinating.

Abandoning singing, I recalled meditating when I was younger. My mother had insisted it was to aid me in balancing my life as it became busier. More than likely, she just wanted company when she was experimenting with new relaxation methods—like the time she thought it would be entertaining to try a contortionism class. That, by the way, landed her in a chiropractor’s office for two months.

Settling at the foot of my bed—legs crossed, muscles loose, eyes closed—I focused on a blank sheet of paper in my mind’s eye, just as I had been instructed to do years before. My breathing slowed, setting the backbeat for the sounds filling me.

How was I to know my element wouldn’t allow me to meditate?

The blank page was splashed with color and brief sketches of birds, squirrels, and children laughing. Everything flooded into my open mind. It didn’t bother me; it was rather refreshing. There is nothing like being filled with something other than yourself. It didn’t give me an answer, but it revived my will to find one. Unfortunately, Mother would never realize how much those meditation classes really worked.

The second to last night of my isolation, a small troupe of the children visited bearing gifts.

“We’re sorry, Abriel,” Danny, and Derek said when I opened the door.

“We brought you a gift,” Bethanie added as Michelle held forth an ice sculpture of a young woman cradling forget-me-nots. The roots of the flowers laced through her chest, curling into a heart-shape.

“Come in,” I said, surprised at the chill outside.

After settling on the wooden floor of the front room, the sculpture resting on a windowsill, I asked, “What are you sorry for?”

“Aren’t you mad at us?” Mikael responded.

“What would give you that crazy idea?”

“Well you aren’t around anymore,” Xenia added, glancing briefly up at me.

“I’m not mad at you guys,” I insisted.

“Is it Nick?” Bethanie questioned eagerly.

“Or Drei?” Kora added, eyes wide in curiosity.

I was silent a moment. It wasn’t really their fault; it was mine. “No,” I replied. “I just needed some time off.” When Jake looked to ask another question, I added, “Have I missed anything interesting?”

Kora rolled her eyes. “Only Michelle making gaga eyes at Mitchell.”

“Am not!”

“Is that why you’re always showing off super hard when he comes by?” Mikael questioned. Michelle’s cheeks flamed.

“Anthony and Amy almost got caught playing a prank on Nick yesterday,” Derek offered quickly.

Danny added, “Yeah, they were going to make him slip from the lunch station down the hill into a mud puddle and he almost saw them setting it up.”

“Yeah,” Xenia said, “Valetta practically bore holes in them. I’m not sure Nick would have noticed though.”

“He has been really distracted lately,” Bethanie said and all of their smiles began to fade. “He’s not as much fun anymore. And he’s being a stupid jerk whenever Drei comes around.”

“Ugh, you’re telling me,” Michelle huffed. “I used to think he was kind of cute until he became little Mr. Fireball all the time.”

Derek said, “He has been rather stupid about the whole thing.”

“Both of them have been,” Danny amended.

Mikael said, “To be fair, I think taking on a vampire when you’re just a normal person is the more foolhardy.”

“Well I’ll be back in a couple of days,” I said, hoping to lighten the mood again. I hadn’t intended for them to suffer for my imprudence. “Then you can show me a new game.”

Jake, who had been quiet after I’d preempted his question, gave me a skeptical look but didn’t say anything; the others jumped excitedly, promising they’d have a really great game by then. As they walked away from my cabin, Jake turned back. It was strange how subdued he was compared to the others. For a moment, I feared he would return to my door with some other question to which I didn’t have an answer. Then he caught back up with the others, smiling and nodding as they discussed what new game they might create.

Elemental: Chapter Eight, Part 3

Nick knocked on my cabin door the next morning. I didn’t blame him; I had stayed cocooned in my blankets, avoiding breakfast and everyone else. Though I looked a mess in my old sweatpants and university tee, I found I didn’t care. Last night was wrong on so many levels. Drei shouldn’t have found out that way, Nick shouldn’t have had to face him alone, and I should have seen it coming.

“You missed breakfast,” Nick said gingerly, smiling as he offered me an apple.

“I wasn’t hungry,” I replied softly, leaning against the door jam, turning the apple over in my fingers.

“Are you okay?” His brow furrowed a little and his green eyes scanned mine, searching for clues.

Sighing, I said what I knew I had to say: “I need time to myself.”

His gaze downcast, he asked, “Is this about last night?”

“This is about me.” I realized how selfish I sounded and winced internally. “I’m taking the week to myself.” Before he protested, I pushed off from the door frame and turned away, adding, “You promised if I went with you, you’d babysit a week without me.”

“But—”

“I need to do this, Nick,” I asserted, struggling not to fall into his arms, kiss, or even face him. I knew the minute I faced those jade gems I would be lost in the moment again, and I couldn’t be careless anymore. People always seemed to be hurt when I didn’t think through my choices. “If you care about me at all, you’ll let me.”

After he left in his cloud of doubt and confusion, I went to my room and settled into the rocking chair, a knee pulled to my chest. Tears rolled down my cheeks and my throat constricted. Why did it always seem to require pain and destruction before I considered the impact of my actions?

Elemental: Chapter Eight, Part 1

Chapter Eight: Waiting for Peace

The garden was our date locale most nights. During the day, we’d sit together talking about random things or join in the games. The children accepted Nick because I did, but they were wary of him, as if his skin or breath were poisonous. I had asked why, one day, and they all pretended to know nothing about it.

Some nights we sat and shared the past, his arms curled around me to protect from the cool weather. Other nights, our chatter was dispersed between kisses and laughter over funny faces and even more amusing jokes. I didn’t know what you could call what we had. For me, I wasn’t sure if I would call it love; but it was such an extreme affection, I knew he wasn’t just a friend I regularly kissed. Nick never said what it was for him; the look in his eyes before he kissed me, the crooked curve of his lips when we were together during the day, or the way he’d hold my hand said it all.

I warred with myself whether it was fair to Nick that I didn’t know how I felt about him. When I was with him, none of it seemed to matter. Perhaps it was my power or some other force I wasn’t aware of that caused me to feel as though he was part of me, and I was part of him. That every time our lips touched or his hand slipped into mine, we were melding together.

The month passed as such—a not-so-secret relationship and a series of private meetings. When Drei happened to be around while we were playing games, I couldn’t help but notice he always glared at Nick. I had a sinking feeling that the thought of us together was more dangerous than bounty hunters. At least in the case of Drei. Perhaps that had some impact on my uncertainty.

One night, I sat in Nick’s embrace, my arms crossed loosely and resting lightly on his. My head lay on his shoulder, my eyes closed as he spoke to me. Not because I was tired, but just because his voice had a different quality that way.

“One day, Kit was running around with Kate’s doll, her favorite one,” he started, his voice excited as he launched into the tale. “Kit insisted it was hers and she should be able to play with it and the white jeep Mom had bought her for Christmas. Of course, Kate was crying when she came to me; our parents were at some company party my dad had to attend. When I yelled for Kit to bring the doll with her, she showed up sniveling and saying she was sorry. They were in preschool and I guess they hadn’t learned about sharing yet. She kept muttering apologies; Kate only plugged her ears and started yelling that she’d never forgive her again.”

“Oh dear. What did you do?” I had a feeling I knew what he would say already. It was really similar to another story I’d heard before.

“We sat down together, Kit still crying a little because she had been found out, Kate still stubbornly pouting, the picturesque victim. I asked Kate why she wouldn’t accept the apology, and she insisted that it wasn’t sincere. So Kit started crying full out again until I stopped her and told her Kate didn’t mean it. Kate complained I was lying, but I asked if she loved Kit, and she stopped. Then she apologized for being stubborn and mean. Kit hugged Kate, telling her she was sorry.

“That night when my parents returned, they found I’d been cornered into playing dolls with them to keep the peace—which unfortunately also involved playing dress up,” he finished, a blush in his voice as I laughed. “It never happened again. Dressing up, that is.”

“It’s still funny,” I insisted, turning to look at him, less mystified by his ending.

He smiled down at me, that special curve to his lips; “Have I told you you’re beautiful?”

“Never.” I smiled and waited for what came next.

“Well you are,” he replied, leaning in to kiss me.

“What are you doing here?” a vicious voice snarled from a few feet away.

Elemental: Chapter Seven, Part 4

Nick disappeared for a couple of days. He hadn’t left the camp because he was always there for breakfast and supper; he just wasn’t around the rest of the day. When I asked one night where he was running off to, he replied it was a secret. And, of course, I was too stubborn to admit I missed his company or to provide any decent answer as to why he should cease running off. I wanted to tell him to stop going away and just talk with me, like we had been doing, or join in the game du jour. But my lips refused to emit words.

The fourth day into his disappearing act, Nick scared me half to death, sneaking up behind me and shouting, “Boo,” in my ear. He fell over laughing, his hair mussed and a grass stain on the knee of his jeans.

“Don’t do that again,” I commanded, a hand still covering my poor heart, my pulse slowly returning to normal.

Nick sat up, laughter still playing behind his eyes; “Sorry, I just couldn’t resist.”

A few of the children were watching us, expecting some kind of trouble that distracted them from the game.

“You’re back early today,” I stated, trying not to be angry with him still.

He waved a hand dismissively at Mikael, Kora, Derek, and Xenia, who had begun the climb towards us. Nick smiled as extra assurance that everything was well, and they ran to join back in the chaos of a game I didn’t know the rules for.

“I want you to come with me,” he said in response to my earlier statement. “You’ll love what I’ve found.”

“Not today,” I replied, indicating with a tilt of my head the reason before us. “I don’t abandon responsibility for just anything.”

“It isn’t just anything;” he smirked secretively. From behind his ear he pulled a small blossom of lilac. “I don’t have the fancy tricks of flying flowers or anything,” he admitted, taking one of my hands and setting the bloom in my palm, “but there’s more where that came from if you come with me.”

“Not today.” I was intrigued by the lilac, though. Part of me wanted to go, but I was still holding out against him.

Our conversation repeated in a similar fashion over the next week. Different blooms were pushed into my palm with a plea to join him, that the children were fine without me. But I declined, later to add the bloom to a bowl of water in my room, the petals floating elegantly as they slowly wilted.

The eighth day he asked, I agreed.

“I’ll go if you watch over them for a week; I might need a break.” Being in charge of watching over them wasn’t eventful, but it was like watching a TV show or something. Interesting and mind numbing in the same instant. It didn’t require much work except for the occasional accident or conflict, and even those were few and far between because the older children were handling most of it lately.

 Nick pulled me to my feet, a puppy that finally receives his walk.

He never let go of my hand, half-pulling me along a path and through trees where the way wasn’t marked. It didn’t slow him, as though he saw landmarks I failed to see. When the trees thickened he treaded more carefully, pulling branches and tall grasses out of the way for me.

“You’ll love it,” he said, and I knew then exactly what we were coming up to. The flowers had been a hint, but the scent that hit me was undeniably familiar: the same blend of essences that seemed to follow Drei everywhere.

Though I was expecting something spectacular, I was nowhere near prepared for what I saw as we cleared the trees. The colors, the disorganization, the heavenly scent and sheer mass of flowers caused me to lose my breath. It was stunning, and, strange as it was, seemed to give me a sense of peace.

“I knew you’d love it,” Nick replied to my poorly hidden gaping jaw and wide eyes.

“It’s gorgeous,” I managed in a choked whisper.

He took my hand again, leading me carefully through the flowers so I could see which I recognized—mostly the common ones: lilacs, violets, bluebells—and touch those I didn’t. There were paths laced through the field, little more than the width of my foot. In the center was a grassy area, soft and lush, where Nick and I sat for a moment.

“How?”

“I was exploring those days I wasn’t around. And I just happened across here and knew you’d love it.”

“Is the path marked?”

“To here? Of course. Subtly, though. I haven’t figured out all of the symbols, but if you pretty much go in where we did and go straight, you’ll smell the flowers when you’re close.”

“So who marked it?”

Nick shrugged. “Does it matter?”

I shook my head, feeling warm in the sunlit area. It felt like summer here with the trees trapping heat and the flowers in full bloom, staring at us, wondering what would happen.

“We have to get back for dinner,” I said suddenly, not meeting Nick’s eyes, afraid I wouldn’t have the courage to leave them.

I stood up, dusting off my pants, and Nick led me back through the woods, a satisfied smile on his lips the entire way. It wasn’t until I noticed how much I looked at him, or how easily we made each other smile, or any number of other things we shared, I knew what I wanted to do next.

“Meet me there tonight?” I inquired, knowing how it must sound to him, hoping he didn’t take it the wrong way.

He stopped mid-step and faced me. “Really?” The time I hadn’t kissed him ran through his mind, a caution I might be stringing him along again.

“We can spend time together there, and don’t have to worry about anything else.”

“Or anyone else,” he added, expressing his own thoughts. I knew he meant Drei.

Though Drei hadn’t been around much, he disliked Nick and disapproved of my spending time with him—Valetta’s words, not mine. While his fears were rational, I wasn’t too worried and I hoped he would stop worrying as much as I knew he was.

“So?” I pressed, needing a definite answer. No way was I sitting around all night for someone who wasn’t coming. Then again, I would have deserved it. At least the first time, anyway.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he replied, grinning crookedly.