by Mia Hoddell
“Don’t be a bitch Alanah, you know just as well as I do Kai isn’t like that and that if he didn’t have feelings for Rea he wouldn’t be going to such extremes to keep her safe,” she muttered something under her breath which he ignored as he turned to me.
“Don’t listen to a word she says Serena, you are none of those things she mentioned. I have known Kai all my life and I’ve never seen him like this before, even when he was with her.” He jerked his thumb at Alanah who was looking at her nails, pretending not to pay attention. Her facial expressions changed slightly giving her away as Jack continued, “I don’t know what his true feelings towards you are but I can tell you they are more real than anything he felt with this bitch over here.”
I smiled slightly as I started to warm up to Jack’s casual way of talking, although I didn’t believe everything he said. He seemed more relaxed than the rest of them and had a cheekier sense of humour. As I looked at him carefully for the first time I saw that he had the same toned, muscular body that was obvious through his shirt like Kai. He was also deeply tanned but a bit shorter and not as good looking as Kai. Don’t get me wrong, he still looked like a runway model, but his face wasn’t as defined and perfect. It was evident he was either older or out ranked Alanah as when he spoke she became quiet and submissive instantly.
As I compared the two of them mentally, Kai walked back into the room carrying two large boxes labelled with dates and letters. He placed the boxes on the floor, next to the coffee table in between the two chairs.
“So what do you think Jack?” Kai asked, leaning forward so his elbows were resting on his knees as he sat down.
“Looks like what I remember it being described as and it has the four element triangles engraved on the back but I’m still unsure what it has to do with anything, it’s just a legend Kai.” He shrugged and handed me back the necklace, which I replaced around my neck, happy when I felt the cold metal against my chest once again.
“That’s why I told you to bring these,” he said as he tapped the boxes with his foot.
“We are going to do a little research and see if we can make any sense out of the myth that may aid us.” Jack groaned as Kai mentioned research and began passing out journals from the first box. “It’s the best lead we’ve had in a while, it’s worth a shot Jack.”
The books were all covered in faded, red leather with the same design as my necklace on all the metal clasps sealing them.
“What are we looking for,” I asked as Kai passed me one.
“Anything that relates to your necklace, the originals or destroying the Elementals. These journals were written just after the originals died by one of the very first solo E.K.”
I nodded. I guessed that the originals were the first humans who colonised Mavera but I didn’t want to sound stupid in front of Jack and especially Alanah.
Kai placed a flip chart pad on the coffee table, along with some markers and small post-it notes. I didn’t know where he had got them from but once again I remained quiet, not wanting to show myself up.
“Anything you find, write it on here, no matter how small and then mark the page with a post-it ’kay?” he said gesturing to the large sheet of paper. Everyone nodded and delved into reading their assigned journal.
The first journal I went through had nothing of relevance in it. It mentioned that the guy was beginning to see weird goings on in the area surrounding him and that no one believed him when he had mentioned what he had seen. I didn’t find anything that could be used to help us stop the Elementals though. I placed it to the left of me and picked up another journal. Kai glanced at me as he reached for one of the blue markers on the table. In rushed handwriting he wrote the words aligned with death the elements can be mastered.
Everyone paused to read what he had written before going back to reading the journal they had.
After six hours of constant work we had almost completed the first box and a few out of the second but we had only found three statements that may have been of some use. I glanced down at the paper, trying to make some sense out of what was written there.
“Aligned with death the elements can be mastered.”
“An original must make the call.”
“The ruby contains the energy of one Elemental from each element. In the right place the power will suffice.”
The phrases were all taken from extracts that spoke about defeating the Elementals. The guy, who still remained nameless to me, had been researching into old myths and legends and from what we could piece together we thought that the necklace was a sort of power base. Also it qualified Kai’s logic but we were still unsure it would actually work if we ever developed a plan.
“I think we all need a break,” Kai said as he stood up to put the journal he had just finished on the side and the others did likewise. I stretched and headed for the kitchen getting a pizza out of the freezer and placing it in the oven. Kai came up behind me as I did so, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing himself against me tightly.
“Come take a walk with me while that cooks,” he whispered in my ear, lightly grazing my neck with his lips as he spoke.
He pulled on my hand slightly, leading me out the door, not even stopping to let me put a coat on. The snow outside was quickly melting in the normal summer sun but the air was still frosty. We had got about a hundred metres away from the house before Kai started talking.
“How you holding up?” he asked, pulling me onto his lap as he sat on one of the damp tree stumps that had been uncovered by the snow.
“I’m fine,” I said, turning so I could see him. Unfortunately this also meant he could see me and could tell that I was keeping something from him.
“What are you not telling me?” he asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion and I bowed my head to avoid his gaze.
“Rea?” He lifted my head, forcing me to look at him as he studied my reaction.
“I saw you with Alanah this morning.” I dropped my head again. “I was coming down to get something to eat when I couldn’t find you this morning and I saw her on the worktop with her arms around your neck.” I glanced at him and his cheeks were flushed, whether in embarrassment or remembrance I decided I didn’t want to know.
“Did you see what happened after that?” he asked hopefully. I just nodded.
“I can’t compete with her Kai. She’s pretty, sexy and confident. She knows what she wants and she is not going to stop until she gets it. I know you two had a thing in the past and she still thinks that’s there. I don’t like seeing her all over you and I can’t stand the bitchy comments that are directed at me,” I mumbled at my hands, not once meeting Kai’s gaze.
Kai surprised me by not saying anything for awhile, instead he just held me in a tight hug which felt warm and reassuring.
“You don’t have to compete with her Rea. I only had feelings for Alanah when I was younger and that was because she was older than me and the hottest girl in the centre. Even then my feelings didn’t really go past lust for her. It’s not like that with you okay, I really do love you and I think that is getting deeper the more time I spend with you.” He took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he said next.
“I’ve never felt like this about anyone before Rea. I want more than what I had with Alanah and you are what I want. Please don’t compare yourself to her as you are better in every way. Please don’t let what she says effect you either because she’s manipulative and will try everything. I’m sorry about what you saw this morning but I swear nothing will ever happen between me and her. I could never do that to you.”
I was still looking at my hands as he spoke.
“Rea?” He choked a bit as he tried to say my name; he sounded defeated.
I raised my gaze finally to meet his eyes. “I love you too,” I whispered, still unsure of the words as they left my mouth. As soon as I had said them and knew I couldn’t take them back though, they seemed right and I was positive I meant them. In that moment we shared a brief, tender
kiss which was interrupted by my stomach rumbling.
“Come on lets go eat before those two asses eat everything.” I laughed as we walked briskly back to the house, suddenly cold.
After we had eaten we went straight back to reading through the journals only this time I was curled up against Kai. This did nothing to help Alanah’s jealousy but I didn’t care. I had finally been able to tell Kai I loved him and I knew it was right, he had also put my mind at ease about Alanah; well sort of.
“I’ve found something that relates to the myth we have all been taught but it is too long to write down.”
Jack interrupted my thoughts.
“OK what is it?” Kai said, glancing up from the book he was reading.
“It states that he found some old documents, recorded by the originals and in them he found out about what they did. He writes that to trap the Elementals originally one of each element was needed and through death magic they were able to trap these Elementals inside a special sacrificial stone. Some of the energy was then transferred to the necklace as like a sort of key. Until someone replaced the key in the stone the Elementals would remain under control, hidden and they would not be able to think for themselves.” Everyone stared at him in shock as what was written seemed to be too good to be true.
“Good. Well that clears up how they trapped them to begin with and obviously someone way back in Rea’s family tree replaced the necklace, setting them free once more,” Kai said and was about to turn back to reading when Jack interrupted him again.
“Wait there’s more. There is also some kind of riddle as to where the location is I think. It says: when dawn alights the highest peak three triangles will align to reveal a stream. Go south of the stream and west of swamp to find the rook. Well that’s just unhelpful. Seriously why can’t old people speak in normal English and not riddles,” Jack muttered.
“Stop complaining Jack, at least it looks like we are on the right track for now. Once we have figured out the riddle we will be one step closer to destroying the Elementals for good,” Kai said, hatred filling his voice on the last sentence.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
We sat around for hours, Kai with his laptop and the rest of us with the left over journals as we tried to decipher the riddle. The night started to draw in though and I became increasingly hungry. As we were still none the clearer on what any of it meant I was quickly getting bored of trawling through the pages of text.
“Do you want to stop for food?” I whispered to Kai so the others didn’t overhear. We were sat in the kitchen at the worktop whereas Alanah and Jack were still on the sofas.
Kai had suggested we move when Alanah’s mood increased in hostility and he could see I was becoming uncomfortable under her hateful stare.
“Yeah, I’ll order take out. Does Chinese sound OK?” he said, tearing his eyes away from the screen and rubbing his face to ease the tiredness.
“Sure. What about them?” I flicked my head in the direction of the other two E.Ks.
“Hey you two, we’re having Chinese, ’you want some?” he shouted across the room, snapping them to attention. They both nodded, giving him their orders before returning to skim through the journals.
Once Kia had finished placing the order and hung up the phone he turned to me.
“Do you want to stay here or come with me?”
I looked at him like he was stupid, my eyebrows raised in question.
“Did you really have to ask that?” I said as he smiled at me, shaking his head. While I went to get an extra jumper, Kai went to get the car out of the garage after informing the others about what was going on.
I almost slipped down the steps as I made my way to the car. The snow that had melted during the day had once again frozen due to the plummeting temperatures during the night, turning it into ice. Thankfully I managed to catch hold of the rail to stop myself from landing in a heap on the ground. When I reached the car Kai was bent double laughing.
“Shut up, that wasn’t funny.” I folded my arms across my chest as I whined.
“Yes it was. Your face looked petrified.”
I pouted at his comment and he finally managed to control his laughter.
“Okay, fine...I’m sorry, it wasn’t funny at all.” He smirked, his face still frozen in a massive grin as he forced my arms open and embraced me in a hug. How does he always know how to win me over? I thought as he pulled away.
“Come on lets go.” He opened the door to the surprisingly old 4X4 for me to get in before walking around to his side.
Kai was more careful as he drove back towards civilisation. There was a lot of black ice around and even in the 4X4 it looked as if it was a hard job to keep the car on the narrow, rocky road.
“So what’s happening tonight?” I asked when he finally broke through the tree line and guided the car onto the smooth tarmacked road.
“What do you mean?” He glanced at me before turning his attention back to the route ahead.
“With Alanah and Jack. What’s happening with them tonight?” The last thing I wanted was for Alanah to stay in the same house, even if I was now sleeping in Kai’s room.
“I don’t know. It would make more sense if they stayed as we would waste less time but I understand that you don’t want her around and to be honest I don’t either.”
I thought about what he had said and I could see the sense in them staying, even if I was against it.
“Where would they sleep though? The house only has two rooms?”
“Well seeing as you’re staying in my room from now on, one of them can have the spare room and the other can have the sofa, unless they want to share. You can move all your stuff into my room if you want as Jack will probably give Alanah the room,” he said in a matter of fact way.
“Can’t she have the sofa or the floor?” I muttered as we pulled up outside a Chinese restaurant. Kai sighed and laughed slightly.
“You’re jealous aren’t you?” He placed a hand on my thigh as he cut the engine.
“Of course not. I just don’t trust her, I mean she’s been around you not even two days and she’s already pulled at least five stunts to get you to dump me.” OK maybe I am slightly jealous but I’m not about to admit that to him, his head is big enough already.
He shrugged, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “If you say so.” His tone gave away that he didn’t believe me but before I could respond he was out of the car and heading into the building.
I opted to stay inside the warmth of the car, having not brought a coat with me. Thankfully he was only in the restaurant a few minutes as the order was already cooked. He passed the bag to me as he got into the car and immediately, I opened the packet of prawn crackers, eating the first one before Kai had even started the engine.
“There’s going to be none of those left by the time we get home is there?”
I just shrugged, not bothered if the others missed out. Kai occasionally dipped his hand into the bag and pulled out a few as we headed back but I ended up eating most of them.
It was pitch black as we returned which made navigating the ice and potholes a lot trickier, especially down the narrow country roads. Inside the car we were thrown around and I began to regret eating so much as I got knocked about. I was unsure as to where we were but Kai suddenly braked hard, almost sending the food flying out of my hands and into the windscreen.
“What the hell?” I asked, turning to face him with an angry scowl on my face but he wasn’t looking at me. His gaze was focused on something out of the window closest to me on his left. Holding a finger up to his mouth he signalled for me not to speak as he cut the headlights.
I held my hands up in a frustrated gesture, trying to ask him what was going on but all he did was point out the window and hold a finger to his lips once again, while the moon lit up inside the car. Reluctantly I swivelled slowly so I could see what had shocked him, but I think I had already guessed what was there and was just trying to vent my anger by questioning him. When my e
yes adjusted to the darkness around me I saw what I had expected. A slight green and blue light was illuminating from the trees not far from where Kai had stopped the car.
I heard rummaging behind me and turned to see Kai twisted between the seats, reaching for something in the back. As he righted himself I saw he held another gun in his hand and it worried me slightly due to how many he had hidden everywhere. He held up two fingers, telling me to give him a few minutes and silently he opened the door, dropping down into a crouch as he made his way around the back of the car.
I couldn’t see anything as he made his way into the trees, his black clothes merging him in with the night perfectly. It didn’t seem as if the Elementals had noticed anything out of the ordinary either as he approached them. Due to the fact I couldn’t see Kai, I was more transfixed by the Elementals, whose features had started to become clearer the longer I stared.
The earth Elemental’s hair flowed in a cascade around her shoulders, flecks of yellow and varying shades of green flowing together. She wore a long bodice that was made out of ivy before flowing into green tendrils of her element. It highlighted her slim build while contrasting with her pale skin. I couldn’t see what they were doing but she was facing the water Elemental who had her back turned to me. Her hair was also long and floated around her like it was weightless, with dark and pale blue strands. Their light merged together as they stood facing one another but before I could study them further a gun shot rang out.
It was quickly followed by another and within an instant the Elementals were burning up and being consumed in the blue and green haze of their element. I shielded my eyes from the intense glow with my arm and when I lifted it to look at what was left I could see nothing but varying degrees of blackness.
