by Jaclyn Lewis
“Zane,” I croaked out, happier than I could ever remember being. I would have run to him, but I couldn’t. I didn’t have the energy to get off the cot.
He smiled. “Yeah, it’s me.” His eyes were still closed, and he still looked peaceful, even though he was now awake.
“Zane,” I repeated, feeling the happiness crushing down on me even more, like it wanted to cripple me. I didn’t mind, though. How could I? He was there for me, finally.
“Amy,” he mocked jokingly, still keeping his eyes from me by keeping them closed.
I smiled. “I missed you.”
He opened his eyes, staring at me with an emotion that I couldn’t decipher. “I missed you more than you can ever know.”
I’d missed those green eyes. I was so used to seeing black now, and I liked the green so much more.
He got up and walked over to me.
As soon as he got close to me, something happened. His smile turned into something that looked just like…
He smiled that evil, trouble-filled smile that I’d only seen on Andrew.
His eyes instantly turned black. He grabbed my throat with both hands and began to squeeze.
The breath I’d taken for granted just a second before was now cut off. I couldn’t inhale or exhale.
The pain, there was so much pain. I struggled, but he wouldn’t let up. He just squeezed my throat with more force and grinned at my agonizing expression.
I was going to die, and it was coming from Zane.
The only person I really liked was trying to kill me. The only person I trusted was going to end my life, and I didn’t see any remorse in his eyes for what he was about to do.
I stared into Zane’s eyes, pleading with him with my eyes to let me live. If he’d been my friend at all, he’d let me live.
He just squeezed even harder.
I woke up gasping for breath. I looked around my prison room, seeing how it was empty.
It had only been a dream. No, it had been a nightmare. There was nothing dreamy about that.
I sucked in breath after breath, but I wasn’t calming down.
I’d never felt more alone.
Tears were streaming down my face, and I was shaking; my entire body was trembling.
That nightmare had never felt more real. Everything was so realistic-looking, and I’d seen Death coming right before I woke up.
I cried and cried and cried. I couldn’t stop crying. It felt like I would never stop crying again.
I didn’t know why my subconscious mind thought of Zane like that. I knew that it truly was Zane in the nightmare, not Andrew.
Then, after a few minutes, I had it all figured out.
Zane was the only person I really cared about at the moment. My biggest fear, unconsciously, all along had been that he would turn into Andrew.
That was why I was always so scared when he would lose control of his anger, and his eyes would change to black, making him look just like Andrew.
I didn’t want to lose my best friend, my protector, and if he let that anger consume him, the Zane that I knew would be gone forever. A clone of Andrew would be all that would be left, which would just be unbearable. I needed him to be Zane, the guy that was scary protective and nice and funny and sweet… I could go on and on.
I looked around the room, thinking about that. If he was my protector… then wouldn’t he have protected me from all of this? Wouldn’t he have kept me safe, not leave me with Andrew, the guy that was about to end my life?
The one light bulb that was hanging from the ceiling flickered suddenly, reminding me that it could have been worse. The room could have been black and cold, but it wasn’t. Yes, it was cold, but I had a blanket. Yes, it was dim, but I had the one light bulb on the ceiling.
Suddenly, I could hear voices from the other side of the door. One was Andrew and the other was familiar, but I couldn’t figure out whose name it was.
“She’s not stable,” the unknown voice whispered.
“Shh! She might be able to hear you!” Andrew replied in a panicked whisper. “You don’t know anything about her! She’s stable! She has to be!”
I heard a sigh. “She’s not. That’s why she’s so unpredictable energy-wise.”
“Just stop talking.”
That was when the door opened. I knew that this was not going to be a good thing.
Andrew came in, and as soon as he saw that I was awake, he stalked over to me. As soon as he was close enough, he slammed his fist into my bruised stomach. “Don’t run again!”
I shook my head, gasping for air. “You… can’t tell… me what… to do!” I rasped.
He grabbed my hair and yanked it for each word he said, adding emphasis. “I. Can. And. I. Will,” he bit out.
I screamed and cried, but through the agony, I shook my head. “No,” I whispered, “you can’t.”
He just punched my stomach again.
When he left, I lay there, crying and sobbing.
At that point, Zane was gone from my mind, and so was hope. I now knew that I was really going to be stuck there with Andrew for the limited time I had left.
I shook my head, refusing to let everything break me. I wouldn’t break.
I fell into a deep, restless sleep.
***
It was too early. I needed more sleep, but Andrew wouldn’t let me, especially after earlier. He dragged me to my feet and gave me five minutes to eat something before he’d be back with the handcuffs.
I didn’t have anything to eat, but I wasn’t hungry all the same.
Suddenly though, I had a lot of energy, like it just burst inside of me, and it was enough to switch into my Earth form, which was the hardest one for me usually.
I was made of dirt and twisted tree branches. I didn’t exactly have eyes, but I did have dark holes that I saw through.
My arms were made of wood, and still waiting on Andrew, I pictured them being set on fire, letting it consume me, become me. All of the bark and dirt was gone and replaced by fire.
I turned back into my human form and smiled. Human form, for me anyway, didn’t use any energy. It felt as natural to me as Air form, if not more. So, with that being said, I preferred to be in human form since it was the most familiar.
I didn’t know why Andrew even bothered to stay in human form; I knew he’d be more comfortable in Water form.
I shrugged, not really caring about Andrew’s comfort levels.
That was when Andrew walked in. He put the handcuffs on as tightly as he could and forced them to cut into my wrists very painfully.
I bit my lip to keep from yelping, not wanting to give him the satisfaction.
We walked in silence.
When we got inside the training room, after Andrew had locked the door, he took me to the center of the room and told me to wait. Finally, he unlocked the handcuffs, freeing me from one pain, at least.
I rubbed my aching wrists, glaring daggers at Andrew.
That was when I noticed a glass of water about ten feet away.
“Okay,” Andrew said, sighing. “You’re going to raise the water out of the cup, but don’t break the glass.” He smirked. “It’s harder than you’d think, for a rookie. A Water like me is just too awesome to break the glass when trying to manipulate water.”
He demonstrated, losing the smirk from concentrating on the water. He made it float above the glass gracefully moving around in a weird falling motion before he had it go back into the cup without making a single drop miss. After he finished, he looked back at me with that annoying smirk on his face once again.
I knew it was my turn, so I gave it my all. I didn’t want him to hit me again if I couldn’t do it.
I thought of someone going up and taking the cup, pouring all the water out, but I imagined it going into the air and hovering instead of falling to the ground. Then I pictured that exact thing happening, just without the glass moving.
The water spewed out from the glass in a narrow line. It stopped
midair, and I could feel the energy leaving my body. To make it all work, it was like I was giving a part of myself.
I focused on making the water slowly lower back into the glass. I tried, but I missed, and the water splashed onto the floor, creating a puddle.
I sighed, frustrated, and I concentrated on getting all the water from the floor and putting it back in the glass. It worked, but just barely.
Andrew shook his head. He held up his hand and a single drop came off the floor. “You missed one.” He flung it right into my eye.
It stung, but he could have done worse.
Next Andrew took out a lighter from his pocket. He flicked it and handed it to me. “ Make the fire bigger with your mind. It’s going to take a lot of concentration, more than the little water demonstration.”
I took the lighter and watched the flame that flickered from the tip. I concentrated on making it fly through the air, like some long-distance flame-thrower.
I physically felt the energy burst from me. I didn’t know where it came from, but it hit the fire.
The rest looked like it was going in slow motion.
The fire burst out with uncontrollable speed.
It took more energy from me than I thought I even possessed, ever possessed, but I didn’t feel any more tired. Finally, my father’s endless energy was running through me!
The fire flew towards the wall, but I couldn’t stop the energy. It had a mind of its own.
When it hit the wall, there was an explosion, a big, dangerous one. It had actually burst from the energy, and the wall too, of course.
I ducked my head right as it hit, bracing myself for the impact. I tried to switch myself into Fire form as quickly as I could, but I wasn’t really fast enough with it.
My hair had flown right out when the fire got close, causing it to burst into flames. I was in Fire form before it could touch my skin.
Andrew was thrown back several feet, rolling over his head and ending up ten feet from where he'd been standing.
The blast had hit my head so hard, things were blurry and I couldn’t see anything correctly. My head hurt, even though I was in Fire form.
The ground was dipping and swaying around me, but that was only because my body was all spread out with the rest of the fire.
I switched back into my human form. I couldn’t hold the Fire one any longer; I was too weak after accidentally causing an explosion.
Andrew and I had been over thirty feet from where it had blown up, and he’d still ended up being thrown back. That was how powerful of an explosion it was.
Andrew’s face came into view then. He was screaming at me, but I didn’t know what he was saying.
I passed out before I could find out.
***
No matter what, I was still really injured from my time at the building. I would probably have scars if I ever managed to escape, but I didn’t think I ever would.
I wanted to die at that point. I just wanted to be free, forever.
I didn’t wake up.
I was still deeply asleep, and hopefully, I’d be asleep forever.
After everything, I was finally ready to die.
I was broken.
PART 2
Chapter 11
Zane
“Amy?” I called. She hadn’t been in her room, and her parents weren’t home, just like before, so I knew she should have been there.
There was no sign of her.
I searched all through the house, calling for her. I was really getting worried.
“AMY!” I shouted finally. Since I was in my natural form, it sounded like the wind roaring. It sounded similar to an echo. Even though echoes didn’t actually exist, since they were just Air Leem playing with a few silly humans.
Suddenly, she was there. She appeared, just like I would appear when coming out of Air form, but I hadn’t seen her, as I would any other Airs.
“Yes, Andrew?”
I appeared in my human form, wincing. It had always been so painful to switch to that one because I wasn’t a Water Leem, or an Earth one, for that matter.
“Amy, it’s me… Zane,” I whispered.
She looked confused. “Andrew,” she said again, this time pointing at me accusingly.
“I’m Zane,” I told her.
“Andrew!” she screamed, terror in her eyes. “Zane, help!” she continued. “Andrew, no!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. She fainted right in front of me.
I watched her fall to the ground in horror. I couldn’t do anything at that point.
I woke up gasping for air. I shook my head, wanting to get that picture of her out of my head. She’d looked psychotic.
That hadn’t been the first dream that starred Amy. I’d dreamt of her ever since Andrew had taken her.
I felt the guilt; it was overwhelming. If only I hadn’t left her that day…
I’d had to go, though. I would have lost the job if I didn’t do another checkup with Queen Samira. I was her right-hand man with all things fighting, spying, and protecting, but I could never push her buttons; she’d just explode.
I just shook my head and tried to dream again. I wanted to dream of Amy, even if it meant having to suffer through the unpleasant nightmares. That was why I was in human form. It was my only way to see her.
I just had to. If I didn’t have her in my dreams, I wouldn’t have her at all.
I’d been around her ever since she was born. She was my mission before, but now she was also my best friend.
I got comfortable in the bed, ready to see her face again. Since I was losing energy from being in an unnatural form, I fell asleep quickly.
I’d only been asleep for what seemed like a few minutes when my cell phone began to ring, waking me up.
“This better be good,” I answered groggily.
“It is, Zane. It is,” a voice I knew all too well said. “I have some information about Amelia Saunders.”
I sat up straight. “I’m listening. Talk,” I demanded.
***
I knocked out the guards outside the building before they could see or sense me, depending on the kind of Leem they were. I didn’t want to be caught; I couldn’t get caught.
If I was caught, there would be nothing stopping Andrew from killing me. He’d stopped loving me years ago, and he would kill me on sight now. We were no longer brothers; we were bitter adversaries.
At least, to him we were bitter adversaries. I didn’t really know what we were; we just weren’t brothers, no matter who our parents were.
I couldn’t help but think of what would happen if I was caught, what I would do. I would fight Andrew, but there was always the threat of our energies crashing together…
Freeing myself from the thought of the consequences to our crashing energies, I opened the door, rushed inside, and closed it silently behind me, but not before I noticed it was airtight and, probably, indestructible. Andrew had obviously put a lot of work into this kidnapping.
I had to go down the hall, turn left at the second hallway, turn right at the next, and then turn right again. Her door was the first one on the right.
I knew because I’d gotten the information from a rebel Leem that had seen her and decided to help me. Apparently, he couldn’t handle the way they were treating her there and wanted her to actually live long enough to get through proper training. I didn’t know why Andrew was training her, but it wasn’t relevant at the moment. Getting Amy, on the other hand, was.
There was going to be one guard outside her door, facing straight ahead, unless he heard something. Then he’d look everywhere, and I’d definitely be caught. If I got caught, as I said, I would die, and Amy would never get free. She’d also die here.
I instantly rose to the ceiling and made myself into a flat, thin, long line of air. When I got close enough, I cut the air around the guard, drawing it to me. I didn’t let any other air replace it. He knocked right out. He’d be awake in exactly ten minutes.
He may
be Leem, but he was still in human form.
I smiled and unlocked the door as quickly as I could.
What I saw inside the door made me freeze. I looked at her in horror.
Amy… beautiful, quiet Amy… was now lying on an old cot with a flat pillow and an itchy-looking blanket. That wasn’t what had made me freeze, though.
She was unconscious, not sleeping, and I could tell by the way she was breathing. It was different, deeper and there was more struggling behind her heartbeat. Her hair was all burnt, so it was shorter and looked terrible, absolutely awful. She had a bruise on one cheek, which I’d already expected, and a burn on the other, in the shape of a handprint, which made me even angrier and more determined to free her. Her arms had bruises and burns all over them, and so did her legs. She also looked like she’d lost a lot of weight, fifteen pounds or more. Oh… When I caught Andrew…
I snapped out of it and switched to my human form. I held in the anger that wanted to consume me. I refused to give into it. I knew I had to hurry, and standing there controlling my anger wasn’t helping Amy.
I only had five minutes left to get her out before the guard would be awake. He’d definitely come in and get me. I already thoroughly went over what would happen if I got caught, so I’m not going to repeat it again.
I walked outside the room with Amy in my arms. I walked as quickly as possible, but I also had to be careful with her. I didn’t want to hurt her any more than she’d already been hurt.
I was going to get her out alive.
“Andrew,” a random Leem said, walking up beside me. “A guard is down in the north side.”
I almost froze, wanting to look behind my back, to see if Andrew was there, but then I remembered how much I resembled my brother. I nodded at the Leem and continued walking. “Well, then, go solve the problem.”
“Why do you have the hybrid?” he asked, gesturing to Amy. He was staring at her in disgust.
I wanted to punch him, but that would be letting my anger effect my actions.
I just shrugged instead. “That is my business. Do as I say and just go fix the guard situation. You have no authority to ask about how I’m helping Amy Saunders.”
He laughed, assuming I was joking. “But you were going to just let her die, since she was stable enough now to absorb the essence without making you too critical.”
Essence…?
That was when it hit me, but he wouldn’t…
I knew he would, though. That was the sad thing.
