Fire Flyer: Book 1 Elemental Bonds Series, a YA paranormal romance.

by Cait Vaughn

  I wouldn’t exactly say I slept. There was always someone waking me, asking me questions, and checking my eyes and vitals. I was mostly out of it though so it was barely annoying. I had the strangest dream about my dad arguing with some guy about my safety. He said my dad failed to protect me and he was taking over now. I wanted to say hey buddy no one talks to my dad like that. It was ridiculous. My dad is the most overprotective person I know. I tell you, morphine is a riot.

  Chapter 10

  What felt like years later I woke up with a sort of clear head. The sun was shining my headache was gone. My ribs felt broken but it wasn’t as excruciating as last night. My throat was on fire though. I tried to sit up which was a mistake so laid back down and started slowly cranking my bed up and looking around. I gasped. There was a beautiful girl about my age with long blonde hair sitting next to my bed. Her eyes were so blue they were almost white and I had no clue who she was.

  “Who are you?” I asked her brilliantly. “Hiya, I’m your cousin, Serenity Holden. I’m your mom's, brother's, daughter, from California.” It startled me to hear my mom's maiden name. I remembered hearing about her. She also looked really familiar. I never met my mom's family they were estranged for some reason or another. “Why are you here and where’s my dad?” She smiled and bounced up and brought a glass of ice water to my mouth. It tasted like heaven. My mouth felt like sandpaper. “Believe me by the end of today my being here will be the least weird thing that has happened to you. Your dad left to shower and he should be back soon. It’s going to be a very big day for you Trinity and I need you to be ready. First things first we have to get you out of here. Now, I’m going to give you the crash course here.”

  She stopped talking, and cringed with a bitter look on her face, as if tasting something rotten.

  “Sorry,” she continued, “No pun intended, cuz you’ve just been in a crash. The world and people are different than you think. Some of us like me and you are special and different and can do things that others can’t.”

  I was thinking about calling for help. Not only was she one of those people who was happy and bubbly all the time, which I hated, she was talking crazy. “For instance,” she continued, “I can heal you, and I will heal you completely when we get you out of here but right now I’m just going to heal you enough to get you out of here without seeming suspicious.”

  OK I needed to get away from crazy girl. I started reaching for the controller and instantly it was suspended in the air between us. She had her hand held out as if controlling it. “See, I told you me being here wouldn’t seem so weird.” As she said this she lowered the controller to the floor without touching it. “I know what you’re thinking and I’m not worried about you talking about this to anyone right now. You have sustained a major trauma and are under heavy medication so if you run screaming to the doctors they’ll probably just put you in the psych ward. Don’t you want to get out of here? I promise I mean you no harm and I’m just getting you out of the hospital.” I started to freak out and moved myself too much which hurt so bad and I stuttered, “You’re crazy and I want you t-t-t to leave.”

  She sighed, “Well then you’ve left me no choice.” She went to the door and said, “Ri, I need you.” As if it could get any weirder, hot guy walked in and he came right up to me. “Hello Trinity, I’m Orion Abernathy, you can call me Ri. I can help you calm down.” He reached out and started gently rubbing my bare arm on the part above my elbow but below my hospital gown.

  He had the most tender look on his face and I should have been pissed but I was awed. Two incredible things happened. First I was immersed in the most amazing calm I had ever felt. It was euphoric and happy, pure bliss, but without any of the fuzzy feelings you would get from medications or alcohol. Second, all of my memories came flooding back. I remembered that she was the girl standing next to him in the parking lot at the mall. I remembered hearing their voices at the crash and how they were so weird and cryptic. When I was in the car he had touched my arm and it had calmed me enough to pass out. I just didn't register it at the time. Even though it was completely ridiculous and I should have hated them I felt connected to them and I was instantly jealous that my cousin was with the hottest guy I had ever seen.

  The jealousy was very intense and unlike me and I then felt guilty for feeling that way. I was obviously the one in the wrong wanting someone who didn’t belong to me. Not to mention it was ridiculous for me to be thinking that in these circumstances. I couldn't help it. The calm washing through me, from his touch, made everything else feel unimportant.

  I blushed in shame and looked down, and then my dad walked in and he was livid.

  Chapter 11

  He looked at Serenity and said, “I told you guys to wait until we got her home. What did you do?” That was it. I could see my dad was in on this craziness and I knew I needed to deal with it, whatever it was. So I pulled up my big girl panties and got ready to deal.

  Ri’s hand dropped from my arm and he turned an angry look on my dad. “From where I’m standing, next to Trinity in a hospital bed, the time for waiting is over Mr. Mathis.” Serenity approached me. “OK I’m going to heal your head completely and then I’m going to heal your ribs enough that you can move around without agony but not enough that you look like a walking miracle. I promise when we get you home I’ll heal you completely ok? Remember the sooner we get out of here the sooner you get answers.” Answers I most certainly would have. I wanted them desperately.

  “Do it.” I commanded her. She put one hand on my head and another on my ribs. There was a bright light and then I was dizzy, but in a good way. My head was so clear and free. I realized she even healed me from the fuzziness of the pain medication. I think the dizziness was part relief from the fact my body was working so hard to heal itself too. I put my hand on my abdomen and took a deep breath. It was sore but there was no sharp pain like before.

  “Whoa”. Not my most brilliant moment. I’m not gonna lie but it was far out, to say the least.

  I looked at Serenity and she grinned at me, “Cool huh?” She seemed way too proud of herself but I’m sure I would be too if I could do that.

  “Knock knock,” said the nurse as she walked in. “Let’s check your vitals, how are you feeling today?” As she got to work dad, Orion, and Serenity moved to a corner and began arguing in hushed tones. “I feel great,” I said, and I did, it was amazing. She laughed, “Well, let’s check you out.” As she put me through the tests I couldn’t help but stare at Ri. He really was so beautiful. He had chiseled facial features with his chiseled body.

  He was wearing a black shirt with a red basketball hoop picture on it and dark relaxed fit blue jeans. He was so tall he leaned down a little to speak with them. He was at ease but he looked like he was always ready to spring into action. He looked like pure strength and vitality.

  He was turned halfway so I could see his front and back. I blushed when I noticed his buns which were surely made of steel. I had never reacted so strongly to anyone like I did to him. He was simply the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen. The more I tried to deny the intensity of my feelings the more it consumed me. What was wrong with me?

  He must have caught me staring because he glanced at me and then gave me this intense look. I blushed harder and looked away. “Ok I think it looks good. Let me talk to the doctor and I’ll be back.” The nurse left. Then, three sets of concerned eyes were trained on me.

  Dad came to sit by me. He heaved a big sigh and took his glasses off so he could rub the bridge of his nose. “Trinity, honey, there are all kinds of people in this world. Some people are average. Some people are special, with gifts. They’re called supernatural or supes. Also, just like humans, there are always two sides to a coin. Light supes, us, we only want to use our power to help and guide humanity but dark supes like to use people. They use them for all kinds of things like power, or enslavement, or even as food. Anyway, you me and your mother we are supes, or we were. A lot of things happened that made
us believe you were in danger. So we bound all of our powers. In the supernatural world powers act as a transmitter and without powers they shouldn’t have been able to find us. Something went wrong and they did find us and now we have to sit down and figure it all out. I never told you because I never thought anything would happen that these two worlds would collide. I am so sorry. I never lied to hurt you. Forgive me?”

  Looking at my dad I could tell he was still my dad and that whatever else he only wanted to protect me and I was grateful he was being open with me now. “Of course I forgive you dad. I don’t understand but whatever it is we’ll get through it together like we have everything else.”

  He gave me a totally proud look and then the nurse walked back in. “Ok Ms. Mathis everything checks out. We just need to finalize some paperwork and send you on your way. If you’ll come with me sir.” The doctor led my dad out and I was alone with the strangers.

  Serenity bounced up to me in her super perky way.

  “I’m so excited. You may not know about me but I’ve always known about you and wanted to meet you. I’m don't have any other cousins. You’re 17 and I’m 18. We could be sisters! Even our names are alike, which was on purpose, from your mom and my dad, of course.” Yep, she was peppy, that’s for sure.

  I said, “Except we look nothing alike, and since you don’t look like my mom either I guess you look like your mom and I look like my dad.” She nodded, “Uh huh, and you do look like your mom and she was so beautiful. I’m so sorry we weren’t here for her passing. It just wasn’t safe you know? My dad is going to be so excited to see you too.”

  My heart clenched a little like it always did when mom was brought up.

  I needed to address the boyfriend situation. I just had to. “So,” I said glancing between Ri and Serenity, “You guys are together?” Serenity busted out giggling. “Me and Ri? Gosh no, he’s like a brother. My boyfriend is off on assignment gathering intel in Oklahoma but I think he’ll be here later tonight.” Even though it was very strange her boyfriend would leave Oklahoma to come here, I didn’t care, my heart soared that they weren’t together but I was confused.

  “So why are you here?” I asked him. Ri gave me a boyish smile. “In the supernatural community I’m what you might call a protector. Think of me as your bodyguard. Your very upset, vigilant, body guard, who will never leave your side, ever. I’m so sorry you were hurt and I assure you it will never happen again, trust me.”

  Something about the way he said “trust me” was strangely familiar but all of a sudden I saw red. I was generally an astute person, so maybe it was the shock but I had just realized what was happening. “Wait, you’re telling me this happened on purpose? Someone was after me, what about Courtney, what if they hurt her?” Serenity snorted, “Way to stick your foot in it Ri. Can we please get out of here as quietly as possible? I hate hospitals.” She walked off, presumably to check on dad and Ri approached me and started rubbing my arm again. The euphoric calm settled over me and I realized how upset I had been before he touched me. It felt so good, and right. I was covered in goosebumps but in a good way. We were just staring at each other intensely. Come to think of it he always looked intense. I wished I could calm him like he calmed me.

  “So is this one of your powers?” I asked him. He looked startled and upset. “No, actually, I don’t want to lie to you but there are things I can’t tell you, all at once. I will just say that this is something I can do because of you, and that only I can do it. I will explain everything to you as I can little by little. Is that fair? Will you trust me?”

  As long as he was sharing my space I was ecstatic and that’s all there was to it. I did trust him. “I do trust you Ri.” He gave me a smile so big it changed his whole face and my heart ached at how perfect he was. My dad walked in and frowned at Ri’s hand on my arm. There was a nurse who I realized was going to help me into a wheelchair but I was only in a hospital gown. “Um, what about my clothes?” I asked blushing. “Oh yes dear, I forgot they had to cut off your shirt. Here are your pants. I’ll see if I can get you some scrubs.” Dad took everyone outside for privacy and the nurse helped me into the scrubs and wheelchair.

  I didn’t know if I should be in lots of pain so I kind of acted weak and pained just in case. This made me feel really stupid. Part of me really understood that this was ok and even though I didn’t understand it, it felt right. It felt like this world of crazy was my life and I thought maybe I could be OK with it.

  Chapter 12

  They wheeled me to the front door and dad's car was waiting at the curb. Ri helped me in with a hand on my arm and I smiled at him gratefully as he shut the door. As soon as dad was in the car I was on him. “Ok spill the dirt. I want to know everything.” He gave me a deer in the headlights look, which is kind of refreshing, coming from your parent. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

  “I really don’t know where to begin. Let’s start a little with the basics. Ok, there are all kinds of creatures in this world. All myth and legend has some truth. So, all those fairy tales are part real. Now, all of these creatures keep to their own community but can be divided into two groups. Either a light group or dark group, to oversimplify think of it as good and evil. The type of creation we are is something called an elemental. We are light elementals. Our kind are born with an affinity, a connection to earth, air, fire, or water. It gives us powers and abilities, far too many to list. Creatures of light want to live with and among humans and help and guide them anyway we can because we kind of feel like we are their protectors. Then there are the dark elementals. They want to use humans, manipulate, and twist them, so they can gain enough power to eventually take over the world. There main concern is power and getting as much as they can. The basic term for all supernatural creatures is supes. At puberty a supernatural person will come into their powers. Now, the type of powers are different based on the individual and some might have one or two or even more but the powers all come from the same place. Elemental supes each have an affinity, a connection, with earth, air, fire, or water. This is the source from where our powers come. Most people have one affinity. Some special people have two, but it’s extremely rare to have more than that. People in the supernatural world are just like people in the natural world. They come from all kinds of places and peoples and it all mixes together to make an interesting soup. A supernatural can decide to be a dark or a light, it just depends on their personal belief. It’s like a religion to us. So a supe will join whichever side they most feel pulled to. Even a vampire can be a light supe if they want to.

  “Vampires?” I asked stunned, “So every monster and boogey man that parents tell their kids not to fear, are REAL!?” He laughed. “I’m not saying a vampire is anything like what you would imagine. I'm saying there are creatures who aren't exactly alive and rely on the blood of others to live. Yes, some truth in all the myths but not all. For example, we elemental supes most feel a connection to the fae myth, however we don't have any hidden dimension, magic land of faeries or anything. It’s not actually strange at all it just feels strange to you because you weren’t raised in it, but I was and believe me, humans are the strange ones. You have nothing to worry about though. Every creature believes most in keeping ourselves from humans. We all stick to our original community and rarely cross paths.” At this point he pulled into our driveway and what must have been Ri’s tricked out red jeep was already there. In a flash Ri was at my door helping me out.

  I turned towards the house and from the pain. Ri gently sat me on the couch and basically yelled at Serenity, “Heal her, now!” Serenity scoffed at him. “Down doggy, gee, don’t get your panties in a twist.” Serenity put her hands on my abdomen. There was light coming from her hands and I was dizzy again. It almost felt like something popped inside me and then I was breathing with no pain.

  “That’s amazing.” It really was incredible. “So that’s your power, healing?”

  She smiled. “I have the power to heal and I can grow any kin
d of plant you can think of. This is because I have an affinity for earth. I can also make plant hybrids and new species of plants. I mix them together as healing herbs and sell them at my mom's holistic shop. Our gifts usually help us all to be financially secure and stable.”

  I thought about grandpa ray and this made sense to me, which was refreshing because it was all very overwhelming. I had experienced proof twice but there was a part of me that wanted to reject it, bury my head in the sand, and forget it all. There were also insecure feelings because this supernatural world was making me feel more average than ever.

  “So what’s up with me? Why did you bind my powers? Do you know what my powers were?”

  Dad leaned forward in his chair and I could tell he didn’t want to talk about this. “A person’s powers don’t come until puberty. Our powers are very tied to our emotions. Puberty is filled with all the highs and lows of the human experience. It gives our bodies the boost it needs to conduct our powers. Also, learning to control our powers during the stress of puberty, although more difficult, makes for better control and an easier time later. You were three when we bound your powers. It’s a long story but hundreds of years ago a powerful seer made a prophecy about a child of light who would somehow join the darks and the lights to bring about a new age of peace and tranquility. Your grandmother Aurelia knew the prophecy well and there were many things about the constellations and timing of your birth that lined up with it. Aurelia was also a powerful seer and she foresaw that you were the child of light and that your life would be filled with pain and agony and you may even die if you were to try to fulfill your destiny. Your mom and I were convinced, so we bound your powers at three and left the Supe community and never looked back.”