A Time To Kill (Elemental Rage Book 1)

by Jeanette Raleigh

  Raven grunted in disgust, “Stupid kid.”

  “What is it?” Jade asked.

  “Claire got into one of those sliding door vans with a bunch of strangers.” Raven pointed in the direction of Air’s revelation. “It happened about a quarter mile down the beach. At least they were our age, and there were lots of them.”

  “That doesn’t make me feel better,” Jade said.

  Raven kicked a piece of driftwood that was in her path, “Me neither.”

  “Could you find her using your gifts?” Jade had never spoken to Raven or Claire about their gifts. She was so hurt that her own hadn’t made an appearance that she avoided the topic. Sometimes she caught a passing word or glimpse from one of the elements, but never enough for her to say, “Yes, I belong to the Gray family. I am an Elemental.”

  Raven shrugged, “Maybe? Air isn’t great on past or future events. I’d be better off if I had a general idea of where she was and then looked for her there. Air doesn’t know where the van went.”

  “I know you and Claire have been practicing. What kind of power do you have?” Jade tried not to sound jealous when she asked the question. She pushed a strand of reddish-brown hair out of her face. The wind teased it back.

  Raven laughed. “You know Air likes you.”

  Tucking the strand behind her ear, Jade said, “She has a funny way of showing it.”

  In the distance a fog horn bellowed. Raven answered Jade’s earlier question about her power, “Air is capricious. She likes to dance. If I ask her to do anything that involves spirals or swirls, she doesn’t hesitate.” Raven used her hands a lot when she talked, especially when she was excited. Growing animated, Raven said, “I learned something new. I can see what birds see and even multiple birds at once. It’s totally weird.”

  Jade asked a few questions about Raven’s bird vision. She stared out across the water. “How many birds at a time?”

  “I have no idea. I’ve only done it a few times.” Raven walked closer to the water’s edge. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she yelled, “Claire!”

  The wind picked up her voice and sent it over the water. Jade and Raven listened, but no one answered back.

  “If she climbed into a van, she’s probably not out in the water,” Jade tried to be apologetic when she said it. If Claire left the beach, she couldn’t logically also be there.

  Raven said, “I thought maybe she took a spin around town and came back. I don’t know what to do now.”

  Jade was starting to get tired. It had been a stressful day that had definitely taken its toll. “Let’s find a seat on one of these logs, and you commune with the birds. If you don’t get anything we’ll head back to the motel. It would be our luck Claire’s already there and fast asleep.”

  Giggling Raven said, “No, she won’t be. She doesn’t have a key.”

  Jade couldn’t help but join in the laughter. It was one part laughter and three parts hysteria, but it felt good. The girls quieted and Raven got down to work.

  The gulls spun and soared above the ocean, over parking lots and buildings. Raven started with them. In her mind’s eye she made an image of Claire and the van. She painstakingly watched from bird to bird, from image to image slowly moving away from the ocean and further inland.

  The birds could only show her what they could see at the moment. Her power was worse than useless at finding Claire.

  ~~ Mindy ~~

  Mindy felt fine. Her coughing had stopped. She just wanted to go home. When they wheeled her back to the room, she waited. Earth had kept her entertained while she was being tested. They said they were testing her, but these tests didn’t ask for answers. She just had to be still.

  They tilted the bed back up for her and asked if she wanted a book. Mindy said yes, even though she didn’t know how to read. Claire called her a dummy once because of it. She said that kids two years younger than Mindy could read. That time, Mindy cried. Jade said it was okay, that Einstein didn’t even talk until he was four and look how smart he turned out to be.

  As she flipped the pages, she felt Earth poke her. Climbing down out of the bed, Mindy jumped into Earth’s embrace, the same way she did when Water had sent a flood after her.

  Not Claire’s fault.

  Earth agreed. Water liked to tease.

  Someone was coming. Someone dangerous. Earth told Mindy she needed to hide. They hid in the rocks together until the two scary men left Mindy’s room. They were bad. Earth didn’t like their feet upon her. They didn’t belong.

  There was more. Claire was also in trouble. Earth showed Mindy Claire locked away in a strange place far from the Water she loved. When the men were gone, Earth released Mindy and she climbed back in bed. Mindy tried to remember, Claire. Danger.

  When Mom’s phone rang, Mindy got out of bed again to answer. “Hello?”

  It was Jade.

  “Hey, Cricket, why are you answering Mom’s phone?”

  “Stranger.” Mindy vaguely remembered the shadows in her room. Somehow she had to cling to the memory so that Jade would know, so that she could stay safe. Jade didn’t have Earth, not like Mindy.

  “Is there someone in the room with you?” Jade sounded alarmed.

  Mindy looked around the room. “No.”

  There was something else. Earth said, Remember.

  Something important.

  Jade said, “Okay, Sweetie, get some sleep and tell Mom I called.”

  Mindy blurted out, “No. Think.”

  That was the family code word. Sometimes Mindy needed time to get out what she was trying to say. It was frustrating when everyone talked so quickly around her and never gave her time to speak. Jade was the first person to realize that sometimes Mindy just needed a few more minutes. Jade told her if she ever needed more time to say “Think” and Jade would know she was thinking.

  Jade said, “It’s okay, Cricket. Take your time.”

  Mindy felt relieved. Time. Time. Time. She needed Time. The earth moved in a circle. It spun in a circle. Everything was a circle. What was she supposed to remember? Earth. Sister. Oh…Claire.

  Mindy said, “Earth. Claire. Danger.”

  “Earth? Mindy, can you hear Earth?” Oops. Mindy forgot. She wasn’t supposed to tell.

  It’s okay. Just tell her about me.

  “Yes,” Mindy said, and then repeated, “Earth. Claire. Danger.”

  Jade’s voice went so loud on the phone that Mindy cringed and pushed the phone away with a frown, “Mindy, do you know where Claire is? She’s missing. Mindy?”

  “Hmmmmm…” Mindy thought and thought. Claire. She didn’t have the right words to tell Jade how to get there. She said, “Earth knows.”

  “Thank Min-Min. Are you feeling better?” Jade asked.

  “Yes.” Mindy said.

  “Tell Mom I called, okay?”

  “’kay.” Mindy hit the button that Jade had taught her to hit when she was done talking. Then she turned a page in the book. There were polar bears inside and everything was light blue and pink and white, cold Earth. Very pretty.

  Mindy watched the bears for a while. Then she went to sleep. The nurse who smiled a lot came to visit again. Then Jade and Raven woke her up.

  Jade put a finger over her mouth. She said, “Shhh…we’re playing hide and seek.”

  Mindy lit up. She loved hide and seek. No one ever found her. Ever. Earth hid her too well. “I hide.”

  Raven whispered, “Mindy, we’re going to smuggle you outside, you need to be very quiet. No noise at all. Can you do that?”

  Mindy pouted and shook her head, arms crossed.

  Jade put her arms around Mindy, “It’s okay, Cricket. We’re hiding from the doctors. We have to find Claire, and you’re the only one who can talk to Earth. Where’s Mom?”

  Mindy shrugged.

  At that moment, the nice nurse walked in, “Oh, excuse me. I didn’t see you two come in. You must be Mindy’s sisters?”

  Before Jade could give the nurse her name, phone
number, social security number, address, Facebook account, and firstborn, Raven answered, “We’re looking for our Mom. She should have been here with Mindy, but she’s not answering her phone.”

  The nurse wrinkled her nose, “I haven’t seen your Mom for hours.”

  “Can you have her paged?” Jade was starting to feel desperate. As soon as Mindy said, “Claire. Danger,” Jade had a sinking feeling. She already felt guilty for Claire running away. If anything happened to Claire, Jade wouldn’t forgive herself.

  “Of course,” the nurse said, bustling out of the room.

  Amy Gray, please check into the nurses’ station at the Emergency Room. Amy Gray.

  Earth nudged Mindy. Claire. Time. Stranger. Mom.

  Things were jumbling and tumbling in Mindy’s mind. Earth tried to tell her the story, but Mindy only retained pieces.

  Aloud Mindy said, “Stranger. Mom.”

  Raven gasped, “What Mindy? What did you say?”

  “Stranger. Mom.” Mindy repeated and started to cry. She didn’t know why she was sad or scared, only that the things Earth showed her were sad and scary. She didn’t want to remember. She didn’t want to hold onto Earth’s thoughts, but she had to, for her sisters, for Mom, she had to remember.

  Jade held out her arms and Mindy sought shelter in them, the way she always had when Earth told too much truth. Mindy felt the time passing. Too quickly. Too quickly. Claire. Danger. Death.

  Chapter 7

  ~~ Claire ~~

  Claire heard the slurping sounds of the vampires eating their victim. It was the only way to describe the slaughter. The air was heavy with the smell of iron and copper, the smell of darkness, the smell of death. Claire closed her eyes. These vampires weren’t intelligent. If one attacked, they all attacked, fighting over the same person until that person was utterly consumed.

  At least the screaming had stopped.

  Claire would have given anything just to stick her fingers in her ears, to be deaf for those terrible long minutes. Now the vampires were sated and they moved away, grunting and grumbling without words the way an animal would. Claire needed to find a way out of her bonds. There had to be something. There had to be.

  She reached out to Earth. Earth could hear her. The cuffs blocked her direct contact with Earth. Water was so far out of range that Claire couldn’t even talk to her. Maybe Earth couldn’t give her power to change or power to move, but maybe it could do something else.

  Claire sent her thoughts to the presence that waited in the stone, in the rock. Claire was sorry now that she hadn’t paid more attention to the gentle rumblings in the stone. Earth had always moved so slow, so quietly. Earth was boring. Claire wouldn’t tell that to the presence saving her now, but it was the truth. She never gave Earth more than a passing hello because it just couldn’t keep up the way Water did.

  Earth understood.

  It passed back the information that it had shown Mindy. If Claire had any thought toward grumbling, she caught herself in time. Until that moment, Claire had thought that she and Raven were the only Gray sisters who had caught the Elemental gene. Now she knew that Mindy had it, too. That was a surprise.

  Claire waited, hoping Earth would be able to do what she had in mind. She could feel Mindy somehow, as if a part of her were with Earth even now. The vampires moved closer, one of them sniffing the air with that hooting sound that meant another feeding frenzy. It moved closer and closer to Claire, so close that she couldn’t see anything but the dark cloak it wore. It was leaning over her, sniffing and sniffing, the smell of death overpowering. She was surprised it could even smell her over itself.

  Claire’s heart beat faster. She tried to pull her hand out of the cuff. She scraped and pulled, gritting her teeth so that she didn’t make a noise. The smallest whimper would set them off.

  Earth was slow to react. Claire felt the vampire’s teeth clamp down on the tendon that connected her throat to her shoulder. The pain was excruciating. She bit her lip. She mustn’t scream. Screaming would drive them all crazy, not that they were sane to begin with. She held her breath.

  Tears welled in her eyes as Claire begged the universe for help. Please tell me what to do. I can’t touch Water. I’m alone here.

  She heard the answer as clearly as if the universe had actually spoken, “Of course you can. You’re made of water.”

  Claire gasped. Even that slight sound caught the attention of a second vampire who grabbed her wrist. Taking a deep breath, Claire focused inwardly. Water had always been outside before, something she joined. The idea that it was also a part of her had not occurred to her before.

  Her arms were caught together above her head. As the second vampire tore into her upper arm, Claire focused inwardly, surprised when she found that she could talk to her element. The communication was different from the inside out than it was from the outside in, but she discovered an answer.

  She could still become Water even with the manacles. It would just take a bit of creativity. The water inside her arms shifted itself to avoid the manacles. The manacles were designed for witches and wizards, not Elementals. Claire found that once she looked from the inside out, she could become Water.

  That is exactly what she did, arms first until she was a puddle on the floor. The floor was covered in filth. Claire could sink in and out of puddles all day, but the shed had been used for murder. There was no delicate way to describe the smell or the human liquids pooled along the floor, all those things that made up a functioning human body, provided they were inside and not splattered everywhere. Claire hated the dirtiness she felt even as she rolled along the floor.

  Claire felt the world as Water, but also carried her human emotions, feeling trapped and afraid. If she became human again, they would kill her. They had already killed one of the women in the room. The others were silent out of self-preservation.

  Don’t open the curtains. Claire slowly slipped across the floor, bit by bit, inch by inch. Raven’s advice was sound. Claire was not going to be prey to these animals. She was going to stop them all and save the people who were trapped here with her.

  The shed would be tricky. It only had one door with no windows or points of light. Cheated of their prize, the vampires turned their attention to the man who stood next to Claire, his arms also caught above his head.

  Time was running out. She realized that she couldn’t wait for the sun, not if she wanted to save this guy’s life. Maneuvering as close to the shed door as she could, Claire allowed the water to coalesce into human form again. Her arm and neck throbbed where the vampire had bitten her. The sudden pain when she became human again nearly made her cry out.

  Claire pushed on the door to get out of the shed, thinking she might find something she could use against the vampires. The door was locked. She heard the crunch of a first bite. The man was smart enough not to make a noise, not even a whisper. Claire decided she would have to for him.

  “Hey, you animals. I have some sunlight for you…want it?” Claire shrieked the words.

  Apparently they did. Leaving the man alone, they shuffled toward Claire with that strange grumbling howl. Claire turned to water again. Having bought the prisoners a little more time, she slipped between the door and the floor, a liquid that slowly slid outside.

  It took longer than she would have liked, but Claire was finally outside. The sky had that tender pre-dawn glow that made the world visible in a dream-like way. Seeing a dozen other sheds just like the one she escaped, Claire felt shocked. They were in the back yard, and Claire could see not only sheds, but a barn.

  Now that she was outside, Claire could feel Water again, the whole of water. She didn’t realize how much she missed the outside contact. Claire rarely wished for another Elemental gift, but this time, it would have been nice if she connected more easily to Earth or Fire. Vampires weren’t afraid of water. With enough power, water could be terribly destructive, but they were inland. Other than a rainstorm, Claire couldn’t think of a way that Water could help he
r set free the prisoners.

  The worst moment Claire had in the back yard happened when she was walking between the sheds, trying to find something that she could use against the creatures inside. Across the field in one of the last sheds in the row, Claire heard a terrible scream. It was so full of fear and rage that she froze for a moment.

  Water, help me.

  Claire didn’t know exactly what she was asking water to do. A few streams of water went spinning in the air around the shed, but nothing happened. Claire thought of the van and remembered the shovel. She sprinted along the sheds, across the side yard and to the front. Throwing open the vanagon’s door, she grabbed the shovel.

  “Hey, what are you doing?” Someone stood on the porch. Just her luck.

  Claire ignored the voice and ran for the back. The screams she had heard from the shed had stopped. The only sound was of feeding, the sound of crunching and gulping like a pack of dogs. Claire unlocked the door. Throwing it open, she could see a five vampires on their hands and knees feeding off of something she didn’t want to think about.

  It was too late for the woman in the shed. Worse, Claire could hear the back door of the big house open and shut and the quiet murmurings of the group as they came to find her. Claire slipped into the shadows behind the shed. She didn’t want to wear herself out too early by switching back and forth from human to water.

  A voice called from the yard, “Hey, we won’t hurt you. You don’t have to steal from us. We’ll see that you’re well-fed and cared for.”

  Claire realized that the vampires didn’t know that she had actually escaped. They thought she was a prowler. Thunder rumbled in the sky above and lightening flashed. The quiet pitter patter of water droplets against the shed helped Claire hide both her scent and location from the vampires.