Air: The Elementals: Book One

by Jennifer Lush

  “Shh. Look.”

  She followed Lilah’s gaze to a squirrel that was on the rail on the side of the porch. It appeared to be watching them unafraid.

  “It’s a squirrel.”

  Lilah shot her mom a glance. “I know it’s a squirrel,” she said quietly, but the irritation in her voice came through loud and clear.

  “So why are you so fascinated by it?” her mother whispered.

  “It’s white.”

  “Yeah?” her mom walked past Lilah up the rest of the steps to make her way to the door.

  “I’ve never seen a white squirrel before, and it doesn’t seem frightened by us.”

  “It’s a squirrel,” her mom motioned for her to keep moving.

  Lilah walked up beside her mom. She balanced the boxes on top of each other and used the front of the house to support them while her mom unlocked the door. Her mom held the door wide for Lilah to walk inside. Lilah walked through the front room a few feet down the hall then turned to set the boxes on the dining room table. She looked around the room and then across the hall into the kitchen. It was nothing like she expected.

  “I know. It’s old,” her mom’s voice made Lilah jump. “Why couldn’t we move somewhere more modern?” her mom whined, mocking her.

  “It’s not that.”

  “Then what’s wrong?” her mom asked.

  “It’s clean.”

  Her mom stared at her blankly before erupting in laughter. “And that’s a problem?”

  Lilah shook her and smiled. “No, but I thought we had to prepare. I thought we were the cleaning crew that had to get the musty dank old house back in livable order.”

  “Marcus and Leena had been here for close to two months before he had other matters to tend to, and they left. They took care of all that.”

  “Then what sort of preparations are we supposed to be making?” Lilah asked out loud more to herself than to her mom.

  “I’m tired. Let’s rest and discuss it more in the morning.”

  Lilah sighed. She knew better than to pester her mom with any more questions right now. It would do no good anyway. She had been asking questions since the news of their move was announced, but there were never any direct answers. Lilah understood how people her age felt. Treated like a child even though you are an adult except in Lilah’s family, she was still very much a child. She was the youngest by hundreds of years. That wouldn’t change until long after one of her cousins had a child to take Lilah’s spot as the baby.

  They headed up the split level stairs that turned back at the landing bringing them to the rooms at the front of the house when they got upstairs. They looked down the hall at the number of bedrooms. There were five in this large house plus room in the attic. “You can pick any one you want for now, but as more of the family arrive, we’re all going to have to share rooms,” her mom walked into the first room at the top of the stairs.

  Lilah checked out the rest of the rooms. She chose the one at the far end of the hall near the back stairs. It was the smallest one which meant fewer people to crowd her. The bed was a double with a small nightstand beside it. A door in the corner opened to the tiniest closet she had ever seen.

  Lilah set her suitcase on the bed and picked up a pillow. She held the pillow to her face and breathed in the scent of lavender. Marcus and Leena really had readied everything. Lilah opened her suitcase and hung the few items of clothing she owned in the low ceilinged closet. There was no dresser, so she left what couldn’t be hung up in the suitcase on the closet floor. Besides, now there really wasn’t any room to share the tiny space with anyone else. Her one little suitcase and its belongings was enough to fill it completely.

  The last couple of moves Lilah had stopped unpacking and decorating. It seemed pointless to make a room her own when she was only going to have to leave everything behind almost as soon as she finished. She would live out of a laundry basket instead. It infuriated her parents, especially her mom, but it was her way of communicating how much she hated not having a steady home and consistency.

  This move was different. Even if no one ever clued her in as to what was going on, she knew something big was happening in the family. Family came first at all costs. Their code that had been set by Marcus for everyone to follow made it clear that everything they did had to be what was best for the protection of all. This was why they moved regularly. This was why she had to always be aware of what she said or did to not draw questions or raise suspicion from others. This was why she was not allowed social media accounts and had to try to avoid being the subject in anyone’s pictures at all costs. This was why her life was miserable.

  Being social and being young go together like air and breathing. Her heritage was extraordinarily rare and different from any of the people she had been around in her life, but some of the aspects of other cultures ere the same no matter where they lived. Teenagers and young adults want to be a part of things. She wanted to be a part of things too, but that could never be.

  Lilah looked around the bedroom again. There was one tiny window, and she struggled to open it. Once she got it unstuck, she opened it halfway. The window stayed open on its own, and she hoped she would be able to get it to close. It was rather chilly out, but she wanted some fresh air. Her parents had mostly kept to the warmer climates, so a crisp Midwest autumn evening was a new experience. This was about the coldest it got in the dead of winter where they used to live. She tried to shimmy the window shut again before it cooled her room off too much. It stuck at first then came down with a loud bang. She waited to see if her mom was coming to investigate, but she didn’t.

  ‘She’s probably reading my thoughts again and knows I’m in my room safe without having to check,’ Lilah thought while rolling her eyes. Her parents had preached to her since the day she learned about who she was that having abilities doesn’t mean you have to use them. They constantly reminded her that private thoughts are meant to be private. Granted, it was usually when she asked one of them to tell her what someone was thinking or if a boy liked her or not. Still it seemed their whole view of private thoughts went out the window when it came to their own daughter. They never stayed out of her head.

  There was a heavy presence in the bedroom. Lilah knew it had once been a room meant to house servants, and the energy of the spirits from days past still lingered in the tiny space. Most of their souls had long since moved on, but their imprint remained. If her powers had already blossomed, she would be able to see them as clearly as when they had lived if she chose.

  Her powers… The notion distracted her again. She wished she could turn them on by merely willing it to happen, but that’s not how it worked. They would slowly increase over a long span of time. Each gift would develop in its own time and take years to reach full potential. If she could just go ahead and begin the process, it would be enough to satisfy her for now.

  Chapter Three

  “Why can’t we just hit a drive thru?” Lilah pleaded.

  “That garbage? It’ll clog your arteries.”

  “Really, mom? Really?” Lilah was irritated. The one perk she enjoyed the most after learning of her own immortality was not having to worry about living healthy. Her body would heal itself. It would cleanse itself. It would rejuvenate all damaged cells. To Lilah, this meant she could live off of chocolate shakes and french fries alone if she chose.

  Her mom pulled in to a parking space of the small town family restaurant off the highway a few miles from the farmhouse. “Get us a table. I’m going to try your dad,” she instructed Lilah.

  “Sure thing, Abby,” Lilah said with a smirk. There could be no mentioning of the word mom while they were in public together. They could almost pass as twins.

  Lilah entered the restaurant and saw the ‘Please Seat Yourself’ sign. She scanned the room and found a private booth near a television mounted on the wall. She sat down, and the waitress approached the table right away and handed her a menu.

  “Anyone joining you?” the waitres
s asked.

  “My sister is still outside.”

  The waitress plopped another menu across the table and laid out two rolls of silverware that had been tucked in her apron. “Can I get you something to drink?”

  “My sister will want a glass of ice water and coffee,” Lilah scanned the restaurant. It didn’t look too busy. “Would it be too much to ask for a chocolate shake?” Lilah leaned toward her and whispered, “I’ll tip well,” with a smile.

  “Nah sweetie. It’s no trouble,” the waitress said before heading to the kitchen.

  Lilah knew the waitress probably wasn’t happy about the shake, but she couldn’t read her thoughts. Even if she could, she would always be reminded not to do so. ‘Private thoughts are private for a reason,’ Lilah repeated her mother’s words again in her head.

  “You ordered a shake, didn’t you?”

  Lilah’s head quickly turned to face her mom who was standing by the booth scowling at her. “I wanted to hit a drive thru. This was your choice.”

  Her mom slid into the seat across from her. “One of these days, you are going to work a waitress to death.”

  “That’s not possible,” Lilah clenched her jaw.

  Her mom stared at her a moment then shook her head. “Did you order me a coffee?”

  “Yes, Abby, I did.” Lilah’s eyes twinkled with delight at using her mom’s first name as the waitress approached with coffee pot in hand. She was still young enough to find enjoyment in being able to act as though her mom were an equal when others were around.

  The waitress left again promising to return after they’d had a few minutes to look over the menu. Lilah glanced at it then put it down. “Did you talk to dad?”

  “Yeah, but only for a moment. He was busy.”

  “Where is he?”

  Her mom slowly looked up and set the menu on the table. “He’s been with your uncle working on a cover story for our cousins in Texas. They’ll join us in a few days or so.”

  The cousins were actually aunts and uncles, but their family didn’t use relation titles accurately. Everyone appeared about the same age, so it was easier to call each other cousins without raising suspicion. Marcus and Leena had twelve children, eight boys and four girls. Only the girls were able to have children of their own, and there were only five of the boys who were still alive. The first generation of Air were the only family given the title of Aunt or Uncle.

  Lilah hadn’t seen her Uncle Todd since she learned about the family history. There were only phone calls and texts. He came to help her mom and dad guide her through what it meant to be an Air descendent. Lilah never met more than a handful of family members in her life, but Uncle Todd had always been her favorite.

  The waitress strode up to the table with her order book out. “You all set?”

  Abby ordered a Julienne salad with Italian dressing on the side.

  “Why?” Lilah pleaded silently. “Why not order something that has real flavor?”

  “And you?” The waitress jarred Lilah from her thoughts. “Are you ready?”

  “I’d like a patty melt and fries.”

  “Would you like soup or salad with that?”

  “What’s the soup?”

  “We have vegetable and chicken dumpling.”

  “Chicken dumpling,” Lilah grinned. “Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to skip the drive thru.”

  Abby took a deep breath and looked at Lilah before shaking her head.

  Lilah laughed. “What?”

  “Do you ever think about anything besides food? Besides junk food to be more specific?”

  “Of course I do!”

  Her mom shot her a challenging look, “Like what?”

  A slow mischievous grin began to spread across Lilah’s face. “Boys, of course.”

  Abby threw up her hands and smiled. She added some ice to her coffee then stirred it to cool it off. Lilah turned her attention to the television and the breaking news story that had come on. She read the words scrolling across the bottom of the screen.

  “Did you see this?” Lilah asked her mom.

  Abby craned her head around to see the screen. “I heard about it on the radio this morning before we left the house.”

  “Are we causing it?” Lilah asked, still reading the captioning that wasn’t quite keeping up with the newscasters.

  “What do you mean?”

  “They’re talking about a tornado that hit thirty miles from here during the night.”

  “And you think we did that?” Abby looked puzzled.

  “No. Not us. They’re saying it’s the twelfth tornado to hit this state in the last week.”

  “It is tornado season, Lilah. That’s what happens in the Midwest.”

  “That’s in the spring I thought.”

  Abby cocked her head to the side. “Primarily I suppose, but they occur all year long.”

  “So, it’s not because of us?”

  “You just said you didn’t think it was us causing them.”

  Lilah looked around to make sure no one had started listening in to their conversation then lowered her voice even more. “The family are coming here, right? Everyone is focused on this area. Couldn’t that cause a rash of storms like this?”

  “No. I mean there are enough of us to cause a tornado if we tried, but just thinking about a place or even being in the same place isn’t enough to cause one,” Abby explained, understanding now what was on her daughter’s mind.

  “But twelve in a week? That doesn’t sound excessive to you?”

  Abby shrugged. “Maybe a little. It’s not unheard of for so many to come through close together like this. And-“

  Abby’s mom stopped before she could finish her thought as the waitress approached with Lilah’s soup. “Here you are. Chicken dumpling,” she said as she sat the bowl in front of Lilah. “Enjoy.”

  “And what?”

  Abby looked up at her daughter confused.

  “You started to say something.”

  “Oh, it was nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

  Lilah added salt to her soup. She stirred it in then cut a dumpling with her spoon. She lifted the spoon toward her mouth, but stopped and looked at her mom. “Balance. That’s what we need to remember. Is that what you were going to say?”

  Lilah put the spoon in her mouth and savored the taste. Chicken dumpling was definitely one of her favorites. She eyed her mom carefully wondering if she would even answer.

  Finally Abby spoke. “Yes. Balance. That’s what I was going to say.”

  Lilah nodded then continued to eat her soup in silence while watching the television for more news of the storm. “One confirmed death and several are still missing,” the reporter was saying. She looked at her mom worried.

  The waitress returned. “Okay, a salad for you,” she said setting the plate in front of Abby. “And a patty melt with fries for you,” she turned toward Lilah and set it down. “Can I get you ladies anything else? More coffee?”

  “Yes, please,” Abby looked up and smiled.

  Lilah turned her attention back to the television and sat quietly trying to hear what was being said this time. “At least one tornado touched down in the Greenville area west of Fairview overnight, tearing through structures, overturning vehicles and leaving thousands without power.”

  Lilah moved her fries around on her plate not feeling as hungry as she had before. It was unlike her to ever lose her appetite.

  The news reporter continued, “Power companies have crews working to restore power. The National Weather Service said the tornado touched down around 3 am southwest of Greenville and continued on a path through the town leaving dozens of businesses and homes damaged.”

  Abby turned back to her salad and picked up a strip of bell pepper with her fingers. She took a bite of it, but she wasn’t feeling too hungry herself. “Four will be confirmed dead by noon,” she notified her daughter silently.

  Lilah studied her patty melt for a moment wondering if she would ever lea
rn what was actually going on or if she’d just be forced to piece bit by bit together herself. Finally she picked up half the sandwich and took a bite. As she did, she noticed a group of friends walk into the restaurant. They were all close to her age. One of them stood out from the rest. She was beautiful with creamy mocha skin. Her hair was pulled back tight. Lilah secretly watched her and the rest of the group take a table across the restaurant while drowning her fries in ketchup. She picked up one and right before she popped it into her mouth, she turned back to her mom, “Can they sense us as well?”

  “Not as easily. They could do spells to find us if they ever had a need to. The spells would only give them a general area. No exact identification. But no, she doesn’t know who we are.”

  Lilah ate her meal in silence after that thinking about the witch house they had past the night before on their way into town. Surely this girl was part of that group. ‘How many more witches could there be in one town after all?’ She thought to herself before shooting a look to her mom that screamed don’t answer that.

  Witches weren’t new to Lilah. She had seen them many times in passing before without them ever knowing who or what she was. She’d only ever met one witch who was a friend of her Uncle Todd’s. It unsettled her running into one today given the circumstances.

  Lilah looked back at the group who were now giving their order to the waitress. She couldn’t help but wonder if this witch knew more about the events that were to come than she did.

  After breakfast, Lilah and Abby sat in the car in the parking lot working on a game plan. They had to stock the house for about twenty adults which would not be an easy task. It would take several trips in their car no matter what, but they needed to go about it in a way where no one would question their purchases. This meant they would have to go to different stores in nearby towns. It was going to take all day.

  Abby had already made a list of what was needed hoping it would be enough for a week even though she didn’t know how long they were going to be there. The list covered everything from food and toiletries to air mattresses since there weren’t enough beds for everyone.