This is a story I've been writing called elements! I'm trying to go for a different writing style with this novelette. Just so you know, it won't be scary or anything, most likely I will add a tiny bit of mild violence but it's going to be PG ^^


Prologue
Water. Fire. Earth. Air.
I stared at the words scribbled on the page that my mother had given me a month ago, along with a little black suitcase that didn’t come with a key (I gave it to Juliet, my caretaker, to use as decoration in her room). A little while after, she passed away. She had been a total mystery to me. I was thirteen when I met her and a year later she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her and my dad had been together when they were teenagers and didn’t realize what a burden it would be to take care of me and were forced to give me to an orphanage. One day I escaped the orphanage and found a lady named Juliet. She was a friend of my mother’s, and I suppose I was super lucky to have found her, of all people. I was sitting in Juliet’s house in an old, worn, blue chair in her living room. What had she meant? I read the paper over and over, as if searching for a hidden clue or a code or some meaning beyond four simple words..
“You alright there, bud? I know what it’s like losing someone,” Juliet said, her old voice soothing, although rough on the outside.
“Yeah, I guess. I’m just stumped on what she meant by this,” I answered, handing her the worn piece of paper. She sat down on a look-a-like of the chair I was sitting in and took it from me.
“Hmm, I honestly don’t have a clue what that means. Rose was always full of secrets,” she said, the expression on her face undistinguishable. I cocked my head to the side, squinting. What did she mean?
“I’ve gotta go. Adult business. Maybe you can think about that note while I’m gone.” I could hear every step Juliet took as she hobbled out of the house, leaving me alone. Creeek, creek.
^^^^^
The musty smell of old books and cobwebs engulfed me, and I went into a quick coughing fit as I reached the bottom of the rotting staircase leading to our basement. I had reasoned that if the old note was linked to any place in the world, it would be Juliet’s basement. It was filled with silly fantasy stories, about the elements and whatever those fairies are called that can “control” them-which, by the way, totally contradicted everything I had learned in science class.
Light.
That was the first thing I saw as I pushed open the door to Juliet’s library. A small, pulsing orb of light, radiating warmth that seemed to orbit the ball of light. It had to be some trick of the light. Despite my reluctance, I walked up to it and extended my finger to it, flinching as my finger grew closer and closer.
And then some sort of veil seemed to rip in to as my finger went straight through the… thing. I inhaled sharply. That wasn’t a trick of the light. In front of me was another orb. Without hesitating, I plunged my hand through this one, which revealed another. I realized, as I continued to follow the trail of light, that I was now in a section I had never seen before. Sure, Mom-it still felt weird to call her that, with her freckled covered face and arms and her rich green eyes and earthy brown hair that totally contradicted my own blond hair and dark brown eyes- had many secrets, according to Juliet, but it seemed like my current guardian had even more.
I continued to follow the trail of light, faintly aware that with each orb I touched my heart rate seemed to speed up by a millisecond. Soon I was racing around the library, my heart thundering in my head, and a feeling of warmth slowly spread up my body. Then, it was over. The warmth drained out of me, and I was just in a dusty old basement with a bunch of weird books. With the lights gone, I noticed two things: One, weird glowing light things didn’t exist. Not counting lightbulbs. But here I was. And two, it was pitch black. I couldn’t see anything.
“GABRIEL?” Juliet’s gravelly voice rang throughout the house. I grimaced, imagining her expression if she knew I was alone, in an unfamiliar part of the basement, in the dark. I was disappointed, though I would never admit it, that the lights didn’t lead to any cool fantasy world or something, but I nonetheless proceeded to find my way upstairs, squinting in the orangish light of our living room when I emerged from the dark basement. The sweet smell of Juliet’s legendary cinnamon cookies greeted me.
As my eyes adjusted to the light, I realized my pant’s pockets were slightly heavier than usual. I tried not to build up hope that maybe the lights meant something, and I wasn’t going insane and hallucinating or anything as I reached in and pulled out a small, cold piece of what felt like metal. It was a key.
^^^^^
My stomach full with a really good bowl of spaghetti Juliet had made for me, I tiptoed down the hallway, looking for Juliet’s room. As I ate, I had developed a good idea of what the key was for. As I finally reached my destination, I cursed under my breath; a slightly hunched figure was striding around the room at a pace no one would believe someone as old as Juliet would be capable of. She was muttering something about “keepers,” probably some weird old British word she had learned when she was a kid. Juliet had been raised in the UK, but then moved here when she met her husband, who had long since passed. What I didn’t know was that figure wasn’t Juliet.
I decided to use speed rather than stealth. Bracing myself for a scolding, I rushed in the room, not paying attention to anything except for the small, black suitcase on Juliet’s dresser. I grabbed it and flew out of the room, entering my own. Before I did anything else, I closed my door and locked it. As soon as I was sure the door was locked tightly, which slightly pulled me out of my paranoid state, I threw myself on my bed, which was covered with Juliet’s old blue comforters and pillows. I turned the key in the suitcase’s lock. It opened.
Inside was a book. Just a simple book. The only interesting thing about it was a weird symbol made up of triangles embossed in the leatherbound cover. Not really expecting much, I opened it and began to read.
Rose Tarrant
2016
Nari, I wish I could speak with you now. Do you remember my children, Esslya, or earth, Finley, or fire, Arabelle, or air, and Wayland, water? I had expected them to be like me, however what I didn’t expect was how much power they have. It hasn’t manifested yet, however I can sense it, building up in them. There is not enough space for all of us, even with me being what the humans call “mother earth”. I have had many children, but I have never had any like them. I believe it is all tied to my youngest child, Gabriel, who is fifteen. He is the keeper. I cannot remain in this form for too much longer,, or you know what will happen. I am returning to my original state. I will hopefully see you soon.
I stared at the page, my mind buzzing. What did Rose-I mean Mom-mean? I knew Esslya from the orphanage, and she knew someone named “Way”… It took me a full minute to unscramble my thoughts, but as soon as I did I grabbed my laptop and got to work.































Chapter 1 Esslya
Click. Click. Click.
I was running out of time; my curfew was 10 and I couldn’t be late, Ms. Rachel was very strict. I skimmed the shelf, trying to find the book Gabe had hidden in the public library for me. Where was it, where was it?
Tales of Mother Earth, No.
Fire and Ice, No.
The Works of Earth, Yes!
I grabbed it, the sweet, old aroma of the book refreshing. I rushed out after checking the book out hastily without thanking the librarian. The breeze brushed against my face lightly, and a feeling of life and joy surrounded me. Ever since Gabe had talked to me about Rose’s letter he had found I had wanted so badly to learn more. I double checked that the book was by Rose Tarrant. It was.
“Essie, you wate,” my adoptive sister, Edith, said as she walked down the hallway.
“No–right on time,” I said, looking down at my watch right as it ticked to 10 o’clock.
“Well, alwight,” she said turning the corner into her and Tucker’s room.
I walked into the living room and sat on the sofa. I opened the book and turned to the first page.
^^^^^^^^
“Aye, missy it’s time,” Ms. Rachel said walking out of her study. It was already 11. I got up in slow-mo, not feeling in the mood to go to bed; it was so … boring.
“Fine.” I meandered with my book to my room. My room was the loft. Everything else was on the ground level or in the basement. It had all different shades of green, my favorite of course. I mean, what else would it be, blue? Heck no!
“Good night, don’t let the bed bugs bite,” Ms. Rachel said as she closed my door and climbed down the ladder. I was so lucky to have the loft. No one even paid attention if I had actually gone to bed. I walked over to my big shelf on the left side of my room and placed the book on the middle shelf, although I wanted to read and learn more. I needed to contact Wayland, he was practically my life. I climbed up to my loft and switched on the bright green lamp, then I went to turn off the big light…
“Psst, over here,” someone said.
“Whha-” I said and snapped around; it was coming from the window. A silhouette was there, unrecognizable because of the dark sky overshadowing it. This was creepy. The only person who knew where I lived, besides Gabe, who was probably already in bed, was… Wayland! After a few seconds I quickly ran over to the window and stopped abruptly when I noticed it wasn’t him. The person was definitely frightening, partly because the light from my room illuminated his face like when a person was telling a ghost story. It was definitely a boy; he had a buzzcut and I assumed his hair was black, but that may have been because of the way the light was cast across his face. He had an oval shaped face and bright blue eyes. I suddenly gasped for air, realizing I hadn’t took a breath since I noticed it wasn’t Way.
“Who’re you?” I asked, pointing at him, pressing on the thick glass of my huge window that faced the pitch black night. Fear laced my low voice.
“Why’s you ta-know?” He asked, he had an annoyingly raspy voice.
“I’m ta-know ‘cuz you’re the one hanging outside my window at…,” I retorted, glancing back at my clock “midnight!”
“Taj,” he answered. “Finley sent me.” He placed a piece of paper on my window, and he was gone.
“Whaa-” I said, but quickly refrained from finishing realizing he had left. I quickly unlocked and opened the window before the paper blew away in the cool night air.
Although it was a little worn because of the rain I could still read it. My black hair slipped out from behind my ear and I pushed it back. The paper said:

I would have contacted you sooner, but I didn’t know how. I’m your brother Finley. I hope we can meet at The Rozell Cafe at 9 PM on Saturday.



I gaped at the letter in surprise, the words swimming in front of my eyes. I quickly realized that my eyelids were beginning to close. I really needed to get some rest.

I opened my eyes wearily as the morning sunlight peeked in through my light curtains. I glanced at the clock; it showed 5:30, right on time. I slipped out of bed and walked down to the dining room.
“Hey, good morning,” Tucker said, waving his hand in front of my face, his green eyes glancing back and forth as he tried to figure out how I felt.
“Oh, good morning. I’m just kinda out of it. I didn’t exactly get great sleep last night,” I said, my voice a low mumble. After yawning loudly, I took a seat on a seat next to Tucker on the bar that connected the kitchen and dining room. The aroma of french toast filled the room and soon Ms. Rachel came and sat two plates of it in front of each of us. “Thank you,” we said at the exact same time.
After breakfast I changed into a fresh pair of clothes and grabbed the book from my shelf. I sat down on my bed and turned to the page I had left off on.
^^^^^^^^
Knock, knock, knock.
I had just gotten dropped off from the bus and was knocking on the door to my house.
“Hewwoo!” Edith exclaimed. She was always extremely happy when Tuck and I came home. I ruffed up her hair and walked in. She exploded in laughter. I loved her despite the fact that we weren’t really sisters, but she didn’t know that.
“Let’s go play video games!” Tuck sweet talked Edith while leaning down on his knees so he was her size.
“Yaaaaaaaay!” She exclaimed running to the sofa.
“Alright, knock yourself out,” I said, climbing up my ladder.
I took a seat on my chair by the shelf and grabbed my laptop from the bottom one.

Gabegamer: Hey.
Essie_not_elsa: Hey.
Finsome: Still up for the meet.
Essie_not_elsa: Sure, I guess, but you didn’t have to freak me out by asking.
Finsome: Sorry Taj is a little… dramatic.
Gabegamer: Well gtg ttyl.
Finsome: Yah ttyl.
Essie_not_elsa: Bye.

I closed the laptop feeling relieved that I had spoken with Finley about our interaction- well… his message. I decided to get the laptop back open to talk to Way.

Essie_not_elsa: Hey, wyd?
One_direction_Way: Yeah im hanging with Nats.

Nats was Natalie who was Way’s girlfriend. I couldn’t help myself, but sometimes I was jealous of her.

Essie_not_elsa: Right… cool.
One_direction_Way: Sorry i dont mean to hurt you, shes nice if u get to know her.
Essie_not_elsa: Ok.
Essie_not_elsa: Bye, gtg.

That was a total and complete lie, I had absolutely nowhere to go except out of that awkward conversation or chat room.

After finishing my awfully long homework assignments I went downstairs to the dining hall, which was empty, except for Ms. Rachel, and grabbed a poptart for a quick snack. It was cookies and cream, and it tasted metallic and weird.
“Hey, Essie, you okay?” Ms. Rachel asked. I quickly wiped away the sad look on my face like marker writings on a dry erase board.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said dryly, not really trying to sell it.
“No, no you’re not. You realize I’m not stupid, Ess,” she said, suddenly putting on her “I’m your mom I know you are hiding something” look. I starting feeling a guilty conscience coming on. Great.
“It’s just I got a bad grade on a science test,” I retorted, trying to sell my lies now. I hadn’t even taken a test for science today. I really didn’t want to tell her about my feelings for Wayland or how I was jealous of Natalie. It was so awkward; I had no idea Way was related to me in any which way, until Gabe came along. He had explained we weren’t true siblings, since we had different dads, and Rose was in different forms when she had us, so technically we had different moms, but still…
“Well, it’s okay, we all make mistakes. No one’s perfect,” she said kindly.
“Thanks,” I said, trying to seem genuinely grateful. I couldn’t help thinking about Natalie. Sure, no one’s perfect. You obviously haven’t met ‘Nats’. I walked out of the room, the tension releasing its hard grasp on me. I sat down on the couch and thought about Way. He had dirty-blonde hair that was not super short and not super long. He was just right… but, that is only for me, not Natalie. Natalie had perfectly smooth dark skin and black hair that she always had in bouncy curls. She was nice and all, but we didn’t talk. She was popular and I wasn’t. It was just how life was. I, personally, didn’t think it was right.
Tuck limped in, probably in pain from Edith’s bear hugs. She was tiny and cute and all that, but her hugs where more like attempts at strangling us.
“Hey, do you want to go to the park with Trea and I?” Tuck asked as he took a seat next to me. Trea was his crush, I was pretty sure.
“I wouldn’t want to ruin your date,” I teased, smiling so hard I started laughing.
“Shut up. Now come on,” he said, grabbing my arm and pulling me out the door.
The breeze felt so nice against my skin, making me feel fresh and alive, like a snake molting into new skin. The breeze always had that effect on me. I walked down the steps and onto the sidewalk, making my stride longer so I could catch up with Tuck.
We walked up to Trea’s house and knocked on her door. She opened the door. She was wearing a summery dress with flowers on it and her frizzy, light brown hair was up in a bun. I couldn’t help noticing that she had covered up the usual array of freckles on her tan skin with makeup. Maybe it had been a date.
“Hey guys!” She exclaimed.
“Hey!” Tuck exclaimed, his face lighting up. He took her hand and we walked to the park as the sun set in all shades of pink.
The walk was pretty silent until we got there, besides my attempts at small talk. It seemed Trea and Tuck were just too lovestruck for words. I gasped and blushed a little as I saw Wayland in the distance. It seemed like he was alone.
“Hey guys, I’ll see you later,” I said, trying not to get my hopes up. He was sitting on a bench by a weeping willow. That was our favorite kind of tree; when we were younger, and Ms. Rachel still had one, he would come over and we would play all day in it.
“Hi,” I said, taking a seat next to him.
“No,” he said, and I could tell he was trying to stay calm, despite his angry glare and narrow eyes. I had no idea what it was that was making him angry, though.
“What’s wrong?” I said, touching his arm, and he pulled it away. This must be something that really hurt him. “I understand, I’ll go.”
“No, I’m sorry. It’s just… Natalie and I broke up,” he said, and his voice cracked from pain, a sadder tone replacing his previous mad one. I was delighted, and guilty for it. If I had broken up with him I’d be heartbroken. I took a seat back down on the bench. I didn’t talk because I thought it would be better to just sit and think. Sometimes silence could say a million words. As we sat there, alone, I thought about of all the fun memories with him. He had been my friend since forever.
Off in the distance I saw Trea and Tuck dancing around, giggling, Trea’s wispy hair that had escaped from her bun flying around. Tuck fell, due to his large, clumsy feet and tendency to do everything super quickly, and Trea picked him up as they both laughed. His speaker that he got from Christmas was playing catchy songs that sounded extremely distant to me. I knew that’s how I wished Way and I would become, but I needed to take it slow. I didn’t even know if he had feelings for me. This was all too much. I needed to stop and enjoy the moment.
“You know you are a really good friend,” he said.
“Yeah, I know.” He chuckled and I rested my head on his shoulder, breathing in the cool, fresh air. “So why’d you break?” I knew it was a little harsh, but I thought it was better to talk about it than know we were all thinking about it, but weren’t brave enough to say anything.
“Well… she was saying that we should move on and that she wanted to go.”
“Well, I think that it’s time for you to move on too. Better than moping around and getting all depressed.”
He drew in a shaky breath, then smiled at me. This wasn’t a painful, fake smile. This smile warmed up the night, radiating joy. I could feel Wayland’s heartbeat against my forehead, and I smiled back at him. He stood up and we danced to the songs Tuck was playing under the willow tree, with only his rough, warm hand to guide me. Neither of us noticed as it grew dark, and there were only fireflies to give us light. Still, we danced, and we soon fell out of beat from the music, and at one moment we were tripping around, laughing, the next we were slowly circling the willow tree.
Trea and Tuck had long stopped dancing and were now sitting together on a bench, talking. I had long since tuned them out. Way and I talked, about how we used to do this and how we used to do that, and about pretty much anything we could think of. I felt comfortable, and wanted to just stay here forever. This had turned out much better than I had thought.

We walked home with huge smiles on our faces, and I felt a contentedness I hadn’t felt for a long time, like everything was just how it should be. My cheeks were rosy from the cold, and I was out of breath, but I didn’t care. When we went up to Trea’s door we all knew that we didn’t want her to leave, but life is life.
“Bye, see you at school tomorrow,” Tuck said, waving at her as she closed the door of her house.
We walked down the street with a gleeful presence still surrounding us.

“Did you guys have fun?” Ms. Rachel asked us when we got home.
“Yes!” We both exclaimed at the same time. Then we all started laughing.

I looked up from my book as the doorbell rang. I knew who it was, but it still scared me, or surprised me, somehow.
I opened the door. Finley stood by our door,, looking sort of awkward. He had olive skin and short black hair that clashed with the light yellow walls. Once he was inside, his height made our large, vaulted ceiling seem claustrophobic.
“It’s nice to see you in person,” I said, “without Taj.” I started to laugh thinking of how bad Taj had scared me.
“Well, lucky for you, I have some more people I think you should meet.”


































Chapter 2 Growing
“Yeah, sorry about that,” he said, making his familiar low, raspy laugh. “Now come on, let’s go.”

I was sitting, now, at a round table and thinking about who else could be coming. We were at DQ, and I was waiting for my caramel covered cone to arrive; I was burning up, we had taken the crowded bus instead of walking. At the time it was just Finley and I at the table. There were five other empty seats.
“Don’t worry, the others will be here soon,” he said, and as if on cue a group of people arrived and took their places at the table. Then, I realized Wayland was here as he gave me a shy smile. This was so confusing. Gabe was also there, with a girl, assumably Arabelle, who I had heard about but not met. She could mess around with the air the way Wayland could mess around with water. She seemed like the youngest in the group, and looked about twelve years old. She had frizzy, shoulder length hair that was an extremely light shade of brown, olive toned skin, and bright, wide green eyes. She held an serene, wise air about her (haha… air…,) but there was also a girl and a boy I didn’t recognize. Who could they be?
The girl had smooth, brown hair with blonde highlights that covered most of her face and the boy had tan skin and longish red hair. I got a glimpse of the boy’s eyes and I noticed that they were almost completely black! I quickly jumped out of my chair and held out my hands in order to protect myself. Sometimes I really hated my quick reflexes.
“What are they? I mean, who?” I asked, realizing the girl had the same inky black eyes. I quickly regretted it and held my hand over my mouth, wishing that the words had just been inside my head, although I knew they hadn’t.
“Calm down. We can explain everything,” Gabe said soothingly. I sat back down and tried to calm myself. It may have been something else, but I was pretty sure the girl and boy had been taken over by demons. Wayland smiled at me from across the table; apparently someone had taken the time to explain to him who the two people were and what was wrong with them. It didn’t even phase me why he was here. Could he be a hybrid too?
“I’ll take it upon myself to explain… well, us,” the boy said trying not to show his eyes. It was for the best and I hoped my reflexes wouldn’t take over again. “We are the wind and disaster hybrids, but don’t worry, we won’t create one. We only do that when it is absolutely necessary.”
“Absolutely necessary! When would it ever be absolutely necessary?” I asked. This made no sense, yet so much sense at the same time. I knew I was already being extremely rude, and I genuinely felt bad for the two, but I couldn’t help asking, “Also what’s with your eyes?”
“Alright, alright, I understand you need to be explained to more efficiently,” Wayland said, smiling at me.
“Yes,” I said, annoyed. It wasn’t completely my fault I had freaked out like that; if Finley had taken the time to explain who we would be meeting, none of this would have happened.
“So you know that we’re hybrids, right?”
“Yes. Nature and human.”
“Well they are, too. Just instead of human and water,” Way pointed at himself, “they are wind and disaster. Their eyes are like that because when a child is born from two mother earth children they have dark eyes, which signify power.”
“Whoah.”
“My name is Alice and this is Mark,” the girl said pointing at, according to her, Mark. She now looked me in the eye, and though it wasn’t as bad I was still freaked out by their eyes.. Surrounding the pupils was a diluted blue with gray veins. The pupils were completely black. “Here, I can change.” The girl grabbed a double circle container that I was pretty sure held contacts. She took the contacts out and put them in each eye; when she looked up her eyes were a pretty violet. It was the color I wished to have if I was ever allowed to dye my hair, though black was fine for now.
“Wow, thanks. Sorry about being… rude,” I said feeling much more comfortable around Alice and Mark who now both had them on.
“Yeah, I sorta freaked when I first met Alice and Mark,” Gabe said, “but Finley was totally fine. Like, he said hi and didn’t even mention the eyes until I asked about them.” Finley chuckled, and I joined him. Of course he wasn’t scared; he never got scared.
“Oh, it’s fine. These contacts were created for us by Rose before she left,” Alice said to me, sadness filling her voice as she finished.
“I’m sorry,” I told the two hybrids, my eyes almost tearing up. I could tell they had known Rose much better than I had. “Also, you didn’t answer my other question,” I added. A DQ worker handed me my cone, and I thanked her briefly, fishing through my wallet for money. She handed Gabe a cone too; he already had his money ready.
“Right,” Alice said, facepalming herself. I laughed, glad she had lightened the mood a bit. “Well, we only use wind when there are many heat strokes occurring. And we use disasters to stop bad stuff from happening. By the way, Finley emailed me, asking me to come here to help you,” she pointed at Wayland and I, “to understand how to use your powers. We already explained everything to Finley.”
“Cool. But, just a question, how have you been alive for so many disasters?” Alice and Mark looked at each other awkwardly, and Mark shrugged. Alice nodded, then shook her head as Mark pointed to her. It was like they were having their own mute conversation.
“Uh, I guess I’ll tell them?” Mark said, and Alice nodded fiercely, looking almost embarrassed. “Uh, yeah. So, we’ve been alive, like, almost forever. Since the middle ages, I think. The world has really improved. The new bathrooms and plates are great. Anyways, like Rose, we will live until we either die naturally or are killed. Hopefully that’ll never happen. But when we get old we can just get a new body, and we can change form whenever we want,” He added, and I nodded. That was so weird, but cool. I quickly shook the look of enrapturement on my face off as I saw Alice’s expression; she looked immensely embarrassed, and I could tell this was not her favorite subject to discuss.
“Oh. Well, then, let’s get started on our lessons,” I said enthusiastically, grinning. I personally couldn’t stand waiting to be able to actually use my powers. Like, for real.
“Okay! I’ll start off with myself as an example,” Finley said, somewhat mocking my genuine enthusiasm. “So I am a human and Fire hybrid, which means I can manipulate fire’s essence. Every part of nature has an essence, or a soul, and when you try to change it’s form you aren’t controlling it, you are reaching into it’s soul and bending it’s will. Sounds mean, but it’s really not; their souls are different than ours. Over the years I’ll find more powers.” I opened my mouth, trying to grasp onto his words, and it took me a moment to be able to speak.
“That’s cool and all, but how can this help anyone?” I asked.
“Well, there are many ways. Like I could put out fires, and send beacons for help by creating flames, but I can’t do that yet. It’s really hard to create nature out of nothing.”
“But, for me?”
“You can grow things and stop famines, put invasive plants in their rightful place and so much more.” I nodded.
“How exactly?” I asked. Finley grinned.
“That’s what we’re about to show you,” Gabe said.

“Okay, I think I’m getting better at it,” I said, placing my hands over the plant trying to make it grow. I closed my eyes, trying to shut out everything I could see, hear, feel, and smell. It was fruitless. All six people sitting around the table stared at me, making it hard for me to concentrate.
“Guys, stop looking at me all weird! I know I look stupid, but it’s hard to concentrate with you staring at me,” I barked, and immediately felt bad for the outburst. But they seriously weren’t helping.
“You don’t look stupid,” Gabe said, his eyes wide. Something was weird about the way he was looking at me.
“Esslya, you were…” Alice started, “Glowing,” Mark finished. I squinted.
“Trick of the light?” I asked, and Arabelle shook her head. I realized that I hadn’t noticed she was gone… I hadn’t even noticed she had left.
“Wait, Arabelle, where were you?” I said. Arabelle grinned impishly.
“Arabelle is super powerful, and quiet. She basically disappears whenever she’s bored, but she calls it ‘aligning her spirit with the wind’, whatever that means,” Gabe explained, glaring at Arabelle, who continued to say nothing. I gaped as she first started to glow, a golden aura surrounding her; then something weird happened. She didn’t fade into the air; the air faded into her.
“Okay, that was crazy. But can you just continue?” Finley asked, gesturing to the potted plant in front of us, and I nodded, shaking my head as if to clear my thoughts. Again, I tried to clear my head of all senses. As I concentrated, I felt the world drifting away, and I was in utter blankness, with nothing to see, hear, or touch. I didn’t even think I had a body. I felt around-well, with my brain…-and sensed a soul. It was a quiet essence, but a wise one, and as I reached for it, again with my brain, the darkness dissolved, and I saw my friend’s astonished faces again. A millisecond later, I felt the the plant’s senses clouding mine. It was like seeing double vision; through one eye, I saw the world normally, and through the other, I saw a strange, flat version of DQ, that was fuzzy and shaky. It was like looking at the world through a shaky television. But I had double senses too; the plant smelled car oil and pollution, while all I smelled was the summer air. In a quiet whisper, I said to the plant “Grow.”
I felt a weird pulsing feeling inside me that seemed to control all of me, it was indescribable. Then, suddenly the plant began to grow. Buds popped up and quickly grew into beautiful dahlias. What was happening to me; or the plant? I looked around and all the rest seemed as astonished as I felt. With a shake of my head, the plant’s consciousness let go of me, and I felt a bit dizzy adjusting to the normal way of thinking of things.
“Woah,” Wayland said. His mouth was wide enough to fit a couple tennis balls inside it. “Let me try.” He waved over the waitress. “Can I have a glass of water? Actually one for all of us.”
The waitress came back with a pitcher of water and set it on the table with 6 empty glasses.
“Okay, my turn,” Wayland said taking the same position as I had had with my hands. Now I could see how weird it felt to be watching it happen. For a few seconds, a pure white glow surrounded him, but as time passed it began to pulse. His eyes flew open. I looked closely as the water formed into a cylinder shape and transferred to one of the other cups from the pitcher. I couldn’t help staring, and suddenly realized how freaky this was. It wasn’t a fairy tale. It was right here, right now.
“Hey can I get some water over here,” I said. The feeling of growing the plant still lingered inside me slightly, even though I could no longer sense the Dahlia’s soul. The rush of inner pulsing mixed with a sense of meaning made me feel just… right, I guess. It finally faded away, and I felt awkward and restrained in my human body. Being nothing but consciousness was oddly freeing. I wished I could always be using my powers. After the waiter dropped off the water Wayland took another glass and watered my dahlias with another of his weird water cylinders.
“Finley, can you do it for us?” I asked, and he shrugged.
“It’s sorta hard to conceal. And fire can be too destructive in a place like this,” He said, nodding to the picnic benches. Wayland proceeded to dump a glass of water on his head.
“Alright, okay. I know it’s cool and all, but we don’t want anyone to see what we’re doing,” Finn lectured as he started standing up. “Let’s leave, come on,” he said as Arabelle materialized back in her seat.

“Hey, you wanna hang out tomorrow?” Wayland asked. Was he asking me out? He asked to walk me home and I said yes eagerly. It was super dim outside now and it made me feel safe with him beside me.
“Sure, I guess,” I said, feeling deceived for some weird reason. Was he being truthful? Hanging out with me right after a break-up?
“Here we are,” he said as we came up to my house. I noticed a tear go down his cheek.
“You alright?” I asked pulling him close to me and wiping away the tear. “Something wrong?”
“Well…” he began. More tears went down his face. “It was a dare. I… I’m hanging out with Nate tomorrow.” He quickly pushed me away and ran off. What had he meant? Suddenly, I felt like crying of confusion. Did he love me? What did he mean, “It was a dare”? Tears fell down my face. I began to sing softly. trying to understand what he had meant. I imagined us, dancing under the willow tree without a care in the world. Was that a dare too?
“You ask me out? What does that mean? Just tell me. Why do you treat me like a little kid? Took me hand and walked me home, tears ran down your face. ‘It was a dare’, you said. How can you be so stupid?” I sang, giving it a tune that was comforting and catchy. I walked in the door and ran up the ladder, hiding my blotchy and tear-stained face from my foster siblings.
Listening to my favorite songs and feeling calm, in a sad sort of way, I brought out my laptop.

Essie_not_elsa: ‘It was a dare.’ What the * does that mean? Tell me.
One_direction_Way: sorry
Essie_not_elsa: NO, tell me plz
One_direction_Way: it was a dare
Essie_not_elsa: What was?
One_direction_Way: nats and me didnt break up and i didnt ask u out on purpose

I felt glad I understood, but devastated. I felt sick to the stomach, almost like I was going to puke. I didn’t want to keep the screen up, but I wanted to see what he said.

One_direction_Way: im so sorry plz tell me if theres anything i can do to make it up to u

I was done with Wayland and his stupid friends. I slammed the laptop closed and slammed my fist down. He was so stupid. Dares are stupid. Lying to your best friend is stupid. Friends aren’t stupid. I turned the laptop back on and made a chat room with my friends.

Essie_not_elsa: guys i need ur help Way faked a break up with devil (that’s what my friends and I call Natalie) and asked to hang out with me, but then said that it was a dare
Carly_da_bom_.com: OMG OMG OMG he is such a jerk but face what were his facial expressions?
Essie_not_elsa: Well… he looked sad both times and sorry for me, like pity which just made me more mad.
Sandie_the_sandal: I can’t believe that jerk he shouldn’t mess with a girl’s feelings like that.
Girl_power_flower: I know I agree, like he seemed like a not-so-bad guy, but now he’s a jerk.
Essie_not_elsa: Flow i agree i thought he was nice and I even had a freakin crush on him, he said after that “im so sorry plz tell me if theres anything i can do to make it up to u” idk what to say
Carly_da_bom_.com: oh great do u know what ur gonna tell him?
Sandie_the_sandal: yah i agree
Essie_not_elsa: oh idk
Girl_power_flower: u should ask for a panda, no two pandas (one is for me)
Essie_not_elsa: lol right ill think about it for a little while
Carly_da_bom_.com: gtg bye
Sandie_the_sandal: Oh bye
Girl_power_flower: bye overload of sad faces especially on Essie’s
Essie_not_elsa: bye
Carly_da_bom_.com: lol bye
Essie_not_elsa: guys i think ill end it for the night bye
Sandie_the_sandal: Same bye sorry about u-know-who
Girl_power_flower: yah bye

Even when I felt like my whole world was shattered, my friends were always able to make me smile.






























Chapter 3 Moving On
A couple weeks past and I avoided Wayland more and more. Natalie broke up with him and moved on to this really popular guy named Taylor.

“Hey, thanks for inviting me over,” Alice said as we sat down in my living room. Her hair was done up in a crown braid and she had her purple contacts in. Slowly but surely I’d get used to her real eyes. “What do you want to do?” She asked. I shrugged awkwardly as Tuck peeked in the living room, his gaze directed at the TV, but as soon as he saw us he shut the door, and we could hear him tripping as he stumbled out of the room. We both giggled. We were both probably a little bit slap happy, since it was the second day of spring break, and on the first day of spring break the obvious thing to do is stay up until five in the morning.
“Why’s she here? Did mamma have a baby?” Edith asked after bursting into the room, her little cheeks flushed. Edith was totally naked, except for her polka dot underpants. Alice and I giggled again. The little girl was soon followed by Ms. Rachel, who was talking to someone on the phone while chasing Edith with a bath towel in her second arm. She nodded at Alice, who waved back shyly.
“No, this is Alice, my friend,” I told Edith right before she was swept over Ms. Rachel’s shoulder and carried out of the room. We could still hear her wails seconds later; Edith HATES baths with burning passion. Like, seriously, she would do anything to not have to bathe.
Alice and I both collapsed in giggles.
“But seriously, you have a busy house,” Alice said, straightening up. I nodded.
“Yeah. What’s your house like?” I asked, suddenly realizing Alice and Mark had never explained where they had come from (Mark and Gabe were also here, probably playing video games with Tuck.)
“Just average,” She said shortly, quickly changing the subject. “How is your mom so strong? She, like, swung your sister over her shoulder without a problem,” Alice said. Ms. Rachel was a middle aged woman-probably around thirty-with auburn hair that was usually in a messy bun, a narrow nose, bright eyes, and strength that came with fostering two teenage kid and a really smart and manipulative three year old.
“When Tuck was a kid, and he wasn’t so clumsy, he would make her chase him down every day to take a bath. She never had to do that with me,” I said jokingly, making a fake smug expression. Alice laughed, leaning back on our nice green couch that felt SUPER soft.
“Sure she didn’t,” she said, and I rolled my eyes.
“Okay, maybe once or twice. But now she had Edith to chase around. Also, she’s my foster mom so I just call her Ms. Rachel,” I added as an afterthought.
For the rest of the day, Alice and I talked and laughed, and though I still felt heavy inside from what happened with you-know-who, being with a friend temporarily helped me feel better. All of my friends-Carly, Flow, and Sandie-lived in Pennsylvania, where my old foster parents, who couldn’t provide for us after their sick dad moved in, lived. I moved to Ohio afterwards to live with Ms. Rachel. I had never met my dad, who apparently is now in a hospital. I don’t know why, and I never even met him, so I don’t ever feel bad about it. It was so weird to think about how my mom didn’t actually die; I had gone years thinking she had cancer, then Gabe came along. Anyways, it’s super hard to explain to people about my family. It had been hard for me to make friends in Ohio, but now I had Alice, and I felt like a missing part of me had been replaced.
“Hey, Esslya, do you wanna make a Mii for Alice? Mark is gonna make one too,” Tuck called from his room, and Alice and I shrugged at each other.
“Let’s go, I guess,” Alice said, and after I grabbed my phone from the coffee table and stuffed it in my jean pocket we hurried upstairs. As Alice began to customize her avatar, I felt a buzz in my pockets. Someone was calling me, and the ringtone was all to familiar. Way himself had picked it up. I glanced around, and thankfully everyone else was busy staring at the TV to notice me slip out of the room. I dashed to the coat closet, which was probably the most secure place, and tapped the answer button. I don’t know why I did it; Wayland was probably the person I least wanted to speak too. But I had a weird feeling, like there was something important that had to be resolved. I reluctantly put my phone up to my ear.
“Hey, Ess,” Way said, using my old nickname. I bit my lip, trying not to say something mean that would make him go away. Despite my desperate attempts to stay away from him, I really wanted to talk to Way.
“If you want to say sorry again, please don’t. And”-I started, but Wayland interrupted me.
“Look, I’m sorry! But you need to listen to me. Don’t argue. Gabe called me seconds ago; he need Alice and Mark and you to meet him immediately at Juliet’s,” he said hurriedly. I bit my lip again, not to refrain from talking but to soothe my nerves.
“What is it?” I asked him, and didn’t get an answer. Wayland had already hung up.

Alice, Mark, and I sat together on a stuffy bus, waiting as it slowly dropped off an elderly pair of ladies. Time seemed to tick by slower than usual, and when the bus reached the stop down the block from Gabe’s house, we flew off and rushed down the street. I had a weird feeling that time was running out. What was happening? Why was Way so urgent?
Knock. Knock. Knock. Mark knocked on the large, black door with the knocker, rather than his knuckle. A minute passed. Finally, the door opened, and Juliet peeked her head out.
“Hey there, Esslya. And who are your friends?” Juliet asked in her soothing, gravelly voice. I would have made small talk with her if I didn’t need to get in the house right away.
“Alice and Mark. We want to talk to Gabe,” I said, trying to sound polite and urgent at the same time. Juliet gave us a weird look, almost as if she knew exactly what was going on, and let us inside. We raced down to Gabe’s room and let ourselves in.
“What’s wrong?” Mark asked Gabe, who was talking in whispers to Wayland, Finley, and Arabelle. Gabe excused himself from the group and walked over to us.
“I got an email this morning,” He said. Gabe had a tendency to not finish his sentences, and we needed to prod him on to get the full story.
“Oh my gosh, emails are so terrifying,” Alice said, rolling her eyes. “Who sent the email, and what did it say?” Gabe looked around frantically, like someone who is cornered and knows it would act.
“I’ll show you,” he said, and we followed him to the bed, trying to get situated comfortably. Gabe pulled up a screen on the computer, and I leaned in to see the words better.

You are the keeper. If my plans worked, you should already know that. I am Nari, your mom’s sister. I also go by Mother Time. If you are reading this, I will assume you are safe. If you are not, then I allowed it, for reasons or another.
Anyhow, I would like you to meet me at a place where my voice used to echo, but it doesn’t anymore. Be there by 10:00 P.M. Bring the book. Everyone must come. I will bring my son, Ezra, who will help you with your abilities. Be there.
And… that was it. I checked that Alice and Mark were done reading before I gave them my theory.
“We can’t figure out where Nari wants us to meet her. We were thinking the old tunnel down at the park, but her voice still could echo there. Whaddya think?” Finley asked. I still was trying to ignore Way, but it was sort of hard with him sitting right next to me.
“Well, it can’t be a place like the tunnel that still stands. Maybe she wasn’t talking about her human voice, or something. I don’t know. I guess it was weird how she said MY voice, not other people’s voice. But I don’t know how time can talk…”
“It could be a destroyed place, where only she has been to. We can look through Rose’s notebook and try to find info,” Alice said. I nodded. It still didn’t make sense, since Nari probably wouldn’t want us looking through her sister’s diary.
“The abandoned clock shop,” Arabelle said quietly, and I marveled at her voice. It was probably why she never spoke. It was sing songy and beautiful, holding a lilting quality that made it sound like wild breeze.
“Of course! We’re idiots,” Mark muttered, laughing. It took me a moment to get it, but once I did I felt stupid. Her voice. Clocks. And there were no longer clocks in the abandoned clock shop. I turned around to congratulate Arabelle for solving the riddle, but she had already faded away into the wind.

I stood next to Alice as we waited for Nari, each second agonizingly long. There was something about the idea of mother time that was intimidating, yet so familiar, in a chilling way. Time was what caused anxiousness, what caused boredom, and what caused most sensations the world can offer. I noticed Way fidgeting nervously at the opposite end of our little group, and I quickly lowered my eyes. As I tried to look in a different direction, I noticed Arabelle staring straight at me, her bright green eyes locked onto mine intensely. I couldn’t pinpoint her expression.
We continued to stand there, waiting for some explosion or burst of magic. The silence roared in my ears, yet I didn't dare to make small talk. It felt like speaking would disturb some ancient force that lingered in the air.
“My voice echoes here once again,” A strange, metallic but ripply voice whispered. It sounded like water with a robotic voice filter. It wasn’t really a whisper-the voice rang loud and clear, resonating in our minds long after it spoke, but it was quiet enough to be counted as a whisper.
I squeezed Alice’s hand, and she squeezed mine back. It was obvious everyone else had heard the voice, from the way their eyes widened and their hands shook and they moved their arms as if to warm themselves, even though it was a perfectly warm spring day. Moments later, a loud ticking noise started to come from the clock shop, each tick annoyingly perfect and exactly in a repetitive pattern. Suddenly, it got very cold. A warm glow showed up in the clock shop, and none of us noticed that it was entirely renovated. A stout old man bustled about, and a customer brushed past them, carrying a little cuckoo clock and sporting a thick winter coat. Then it all faded away.
I turned around slowly, as the others did a moment later, and found myself facing Mother Time. It was obviously her; she had bronze toned skin, hair that looked like it does in advertisements for hair products, and a crisp silver colored suit. Her silver pupils rotated in a mesmerizing fashion, first in, then out… The floor swayed underneath me, and my eyelids grew heavy… I slapped myself back awake as I wrenched my gaze away from Nari’s hypnotic eyes.
None of us could do anything but stare at her, our mouths open. Part of the reason she appeared so intimidating was probably her size. She easily towered over the basketball players on TV, and her body was all straight angles. Gradually, we all came around, except for Mark, whose eyes were still locked onto hers.
“It would be rude for you to continue to stare,” Nari said, her expression still impenetrable. Her voice was no longer quiet; now it was loud and clear, ringing in my ears like a gong that had been struck right next to my head would. I suddenly noticed that there were millions of Naris standing in a circle around our group, some almost transparent and others bold and bright. They continued to fade away and reappear, creating a rippling effect. When Nari spoke, they all spoke, and that was probably why her voice sounded so robotic.
“What do you need?” Gabe asked, stepping to the front of the group. He seemed to be attempting to look fearless, but his gaze faltered as he approached Mother Time.
“You are Gabe Tarrant, the Keeper,” She said. It wasn’t a question, or even a confirmation. She was simply stating the facts. “I am all of your mother’s sister.

This is incredible! I would read this if it were a book! If you ever by any chance decide to publish it let me know because I would definitely read it!

I love this story so much! Please publish it one day ! Is there like a part/book 2!? Make one!

Thank you guys so much! I’m still working on it but hope to maybe publish it somehow. I’m too young to make it a book though lol

wow! that was amazing!

IThriveForMemes wrote:

wow! that was amazing!

Thanks so much!