by Jamie Gray
"Where did you get that?" Kadence breathed out, her words sounding raspy as though she had lost her voice, and was straining to talk at a proper volume.
Lexi shrugged, peering down at the dagger in her hands, hypnotized by its blade. "I found it near the wall over there," she replied, pointing briefly to the corner where she had spotted it.
Kadence leaned in closer, bending down to get a better look at the dagger as her one eye examined it.
Adrian took a closer look at the blade too, appearing to recognize it. “Th-That's a Dark Elements dagger.” He glanced down at it for another look. “It’s actually Daymian's," he blurted bitterly.
Lexi’s head whipped up as her gaze darted to Adrian. "Daymian was here?" she asked quietly, longing desperately for an answer.
"You bet!" Adrian scoffed.
Her expression softened as her entire body felt heavy. Daymian was there, torturing them. Surely watching as Kadence lost her eye. Lexi felt both burning hatred and great sorrow at the thought of him being a part of what happened there. She had trusted him, begun to care for him, but after what he and his sister did to Kadence…. Perhaps her friends were right. Perhaps, Daymian really was bad news from the beginning. Sure he had saved her life, but what had he done otherwise. She couldn’t help but feel like she had been taken advantage of, manipulated and used for someone else's gain, and now her friends were paying for her actions. It was only now that she had noticed Kadence and Adrian's Nutos. They both had a noticeable tan line around their wrist, and that's when it hit her. Kadence and Adrian had always worn something to cover their wrist. Kadence always wore her collection of bracelets, and Adrian always wore his watch. They never even took them off to go to bed. Kadences looked to be one side of a diamond with a spiral at one of the ends, and Adrian's looked like a lightning bolt. She had assumed that their jewelry was related to an attachment thing, but now she was realizing that it was all just another way to hide the truth from her.
“Do you see now why we didn’t want you around him,” Kadence told her, her voice still raspy. “It could have easily been you sitting in this chair.”
Lexi didn’t respond.
Adrian sighed. “You should leave the dagger. You’re not-”
“No,” Lexi barked. “You may believe that I’m not capable, but I can handle myself. I was the one who stopped the fight, and I was the one who figured out you two were here.”
“Lexi-”
“No. I’m-” she swallowed, recompossing herself before she exploded. “I’m stronger than you care to believe.”
Kadence and Adrian both shook their heads, not understanding.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Adrian warily asked.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Lexi turned away. “Com’on. We’re leaving,” she grumbled, storming towards the staircase door. If Kadence and Adrian didn’t believe in her, fine. If Daymian and Mara wanted to come after her, fine. She was powerful. Unlike anything they had ever seen before. SHE was Clarissa Lovett. SHE had Daymians weapon. SHE could handle anything they threw her way. LEXI DANVERS was going to win.
Chapter 17
By the time Lexi, Lanie, Kadence, and Adrian pushed through the front double doors of the warehouse, the crescent moon had been shielded by a thick blanket of clouds, casting a giant looming shadow over the city. Lexi took notice of the moon. Although she couldn’t see its glowing rays through the clouds, she could feel it. She felt it in her core, like it was begging to be let in. Warning her that she would need help. She knew something was wrong. It was chillingly dark outside the warehouse. No other building could be seen for miles, and all that surrounded the group were dying fields and empty forests. As the group ran through the collection of tall dead grass and weeds, in their race towards the dirt road that they would follow to their car, a dark silhouette of a person emerged from the shaded grass ahead.
Lexi froze, as did the rest of them. It was Mara, it has to be, she thought. All she appeared to be was a silhouette, completely shrouded in shadow to the point that any of her features beyond body physique were invisible. She was like a living, breathing shadow. She towered over each of them, even Adrian. Her massive muscular physique reminded each of them that she could surely crush their skulls in with her bare hands if she really wanted too. Her biceps looked to be the same size as Lanie's head. Lanie was small, sure, but it was still an impressive feat. Terrifying, but impressive. She could easily kill them if she wished. Lexi could feel her sharpened eyes upon her, pressing needles into her skull.
"I'm impressed with you, Light Element. You have surpassed my expectations," she finally spoke. Her voice was monotone as she looked down at her like a polished skyscraper would look down on a rusted shed.
Although Lexi felt fearful, she knew she was strong and powerful. She refused to give into her intimidation. "You don't know me."
"No, but I know your kind," she replied unhesitantly. "I've seen their true face, just as I can see yours." She looked her up and down, reading Lexi as though every one of her insecurities was written along her body. "You act as though you want to know the truth, but in honesty, you fear it. You fear you will learn something you can't handle, that you don't want to believe. You prosecute others for lying and keeping facts hidden from you, when in reality, you can't even come to face or accept your own truth.”
Lexi shivered.
“You worry that there is something wrong with you, that your parents rejected you from the moment you exited your mother's womb. And that sooner or later, everyone else in your life will too.” Mara paused, as if reading deeper. “That's why you lash out, push people away at the first chance you get. And most of all, you fear to know the real reason your parents left you in the first place." she stopped again, letting her words sink in beneath Lexi’s skin. "Well, I know the truth. I could reveal it to you if you wish."
Lexi swallowed hard, finding herself unable to answer. Mara was right. She was right about everything. Down to the most minor details. She felt naked, violated. Like someone had just torn her clothes, exposing her undergarments. Or read her non-existent diary, revealing her most personal of thoughts for the world to judge.
Kadence, Adrian, and Lanie didn't speak a word. Who knew how much Mara was aware of. Each of them had secrets and insecurities, and it was obvious that none of them were in a rush to jump next in line.
Mara nodded, clasping her hands behind her back as she began to slowly step towards the group. "Perhaps I should do everyone a favour, and simply kill you now." Her calm voice sent chills vibrating Lexi’s bones. She could practically feel the sociopathic grin across Mara's face as the tower of a person stood before her.
Her heart felt as though it would surely give out at any moment. It was thumping furiously against her chest, causing her chest to painfully tighten. Without thinking, Lexi stomped to stand in front of her friends, her gaze locked on Mara’s silhouetted face as her face burned red of both anger and fear. Her blood boiled with hatred she never realized she could possess. She had never fully seen this woman, and still she hated her with more furiosity than she’s ever felt towards anyone. She had humiliated her, exposed parts of her that she didn’t fully understand, manipulated her, attacked and tortured her friends. She took Kadences eye. Sure, her and Lexi didn’t always understand each other, but Mara did that as a way to get to her. She wasn’t watching Kadences every move, or Adrian’s, or Lanies’. She was watching Lexi. And Lexi stared right back. "Why do you hate me so much?" she finally screamed, feeling the moons glowing rays pierce through the crowded clouds and press against her skin. As she threw up her hand, a messy wave of light blasted from her palm, and smashed against Mara. Lexi held her hand out, screaming with tears streaming down her face as the light continued to blow from her palm. She opened herself up. She needed to end this. She needed to stop her before she could hurt anyone else. It was impossible to see the black silhouette with the eruption of flaming lights that plowed against her. As her screams died down, so did
the light. Finally, darkness once again consumed the field, and what stood before her and her friends was Mara’s silhouette. She stood, still as a statue, her arms crossed. She looked just as unfazed as before. Lexi’s heart dropped. It didn’t work?
Mara shook her head, approaching with quacking footsteps. "Oh yes, please, get as mad as you wish. Throw everything you have at me. It will only leave you in a worse state than you’re in now.”
“Not if I beat you!”
“With the power you’ve displayed? How disappointing. I was anticipating more than a hormonal adolescent. However, I do congratulate you on thinking of the moon as a source for light. Many would assume that when surrounded by darkness, there would be no options available to them.”
“Where there is darkness, there is also light,” Lexi yelled. She could feel her entire body shake, but she couldn’t tell if it was of anger or fear.
“Yes, but there is very minimal light for you to pull from this environment. So unless you wish to drive yourself mad, or throw yourself into a seizure with all your shaking, you’re going to have to come up with a way, besides screaming, to defeat me,” she told her plainly, gesturing around to the darkness that thrived in the space all around them. "One would think your companions would have taught you of all these restrictions." She spoke down to Lexi, glancing at her friends as if they were a collection of toddlers having a temper tantrum at her feet. "Or perhaps they didn't trust you enough to tell you the whole truth."
“Lexi, don’t listen to her. She’s just trying to make you angry again,” Lanie called from behind.
“Are you curtain?” Mara never shifted her gaze, looking only at Lexi, as she appeared to be asking her the question rather than Lanie.
Lexi didn’t budge. To be honest, she didn’t know what Mara was trying to do, but she didn’t care. She was angry, yes. She had acted purely on instinct in trying to defend her friends, and she was sad to say that the risk wasn’t worth it. Her attack was nothing more than wind to Mara, and now all she could think about was how she needed to get out. Whatever it took. She stepped back, knowing what she had to do. “Go to hell!” she shouted, swiftly grabbing Lanies wrist, her palm pressed against her Nuto as the vibration between the two of them activated and the turquoise streak in her hair returned. An instant later, she reached with her other hand, taking Kadence and Adrian's hands in hers as she further strained every one of her muscles, taking advantage of her building adrenaline as she pictured a place in her mind.
A loud pop sounded in her ears as she blinked to find her vision greeted by darkness and wind against her face. She was falling. She no longer held her friend's hands as she freely fell onto the hood of her parents' car with a bang. Lexi groaned loudly as pain exploded down her back and side. She tried to call out for help, but her chest had become tight, preventing her from projecting anything beyond indecipherable moans. Her heart dropped as her shoulder was grabbed. She couldn't look up to see who it was, but she could feel that the person's hand was small and thin. Something about knowing it couldn’t be Mara or Daymian gave her a sense of relief.
"Lexi?" It was Kadence.
She never thought she would be so happy to hear her friend's voice as she felt a wave of relief wash over her. Her entire body relaxed and sank into the dent she had created in the car's cover, as she closed her eyes with a calming sigh. Kadence must have realized that she couldn't move on her own as she looped her hands over Lexi's shoulders and dragged her off the top of the car. She could barely stand on her own, so Kadence softly placed her down to sit with her back resting against the driver's car door. She kneeled down in front of her, her single eye stern and worried as she held Lexis shoulders tightly. "Lexi, what did you do?" she asked in a raspy voice, demanding an answer as she shook her.
Lexi met her gaze, but before she could reply, a yelp sounded from behind the car, and Adrian's head popped up. His face was covered with a mixture of mud and dirt, and his hair had stained brown with his specially crafted spikes having been completely flattened of their volume. He frowned disheartenedly as he dragged his feet around to meet them at the side of the car.
"What happened?" Kadence gasped.
"I was underneath the car!" Adrian cried, pointing down at wet mud and crusty dirt that had pooled beneath the car. His entire body was shaking, but it wasn't clear if it was because he was wet and cold or if it was his fuming anger.
"Where's Lanie?" Kadence cried.
Suddenly the back door of the car burst open, revealing Lanie as she hung her head off the seat, her eyes hazy and her face pale. "We teleported."
"Teleported!" Adrian shrieked, bug eyed.
Lexi couldn’t believe it worked-more or less. She couldn’t help but smile. "I know. Isn't it awesome?" she cheered tiredly, going to chuckle but quickly hushing it to quick breaths as her soreness increased.
“How did you teleport us?” Kadence asked urgently. “Light Elements don’t have that ability?”
“She’s special,” Lanie groaned drowsily.
“You’re special?” Kadence shook her head. “I don’t understand?”
“I can control more than one Element.”
“You-you can what?”
“Yup, turns out I’m one of a kind.”
Kadence and Adrian both looked to be on the edge of hyperventilating. “But that’s not possible,” she protested. “You’re a Light Element, you have Light Element abilities.”
“Well, apparently not,” Lexi replied, shaking her head. “Lanie said that it was a part of some old legend about someone named Clarissa Lovett.”
“Legend? What legend?” Kadence questioned.
“An old legend. Pretty much no one remembers it,” Lanie sighed, still lying in the car as she looked about ready to fall asleep.
“What so, you're like-the ULTIMATE Element now?” Adrian excitedly asked, a smile tugging at his lips.
“Yup, and it’s exhilarating! It’s-”
"It's reckless!" Kadence snapped at her, her voice raspy as she got to her feet.
“Couldn’t you at least act excited for me?” Lexi whined.
"No. You have no idea what could've happened here. One of us could've teleported inside the earth," she lectured, crossing her arms as she looked down at her like she was a troublesome child.
"Oh, come on. I just saved our lives!" Lexi yelled back, trying to push herself up with her backsliding up against the car door. Sure she was exhausted, and her body ached. Sure her idea didn’t go quite as planned, but she was still able to at least activate the right ability this time. That was serious progress, to her, and it deserved to be celebrated.
Kadence shook her head, looking incredibly unamused. "And you fell from the sky. We didn't even transport together. Admit it, you had no idea what you were doing.”
"What do you know? You're not even a Universe Element!”
"I don't have to be. I know irresponsible, and dangerous behaviour when I see it."
Kadences collected tone made Lexi want to barf. "Okay, mom," she mocked, as she was finally able to push herself up onto her feet. She turned her back to them as she reached for the door handle on the driver's door. She was tired of this fighting. She would be lying if she said Kadences words didn’t hurt in one way or another. Even after she saved her life, she still went unimpressed. Even after telling her she had god-like abilities, she still didn’t believe in her.
"Hey, hey. You're not driving," Adrian interrupted, taking Lexi's arm as she winced and groaned. She wanted to rip her hand away and throw Adrian back in the mud, but she knew she was too weak to do any such thing. Daymian wasn’t lying when he said the consequences of using other Elemental abilities was physical pain, and the landing on the car certainly didn’t help.
"Relax. I'll drive," Adrian casually insisted, loosening his grip slightly, but ultimately kept his hold on her. They stared at each other like it was like a staring test, both pressuring the other to see who would falter first.
"No," Lexi barked, giving a val
iant try to yank her arm away, but Adrian wouldn't budge. She figured it was worth a try.
After another moment of staring, Adrian finally got frustrated enough with her that he pulled her back to the back door, and forced her down into the backseat. "Lexi, I'm driving, and there's nothing you can do to stop me," he told her, slamming the door shut.
Lanie slowly shifted over to make room for Lexi along the back seat. "Everyone just chill out," she sighed heavily. “We can talk about this later."
Adrian nodded in agreement as he hopped into the driver's seat, and Kadence briskly rushed around the hood of the car and stepped into the passenger seat beside him. "We'll go to our place and figure out what to do next," he exclaimed, stepping on the gas.
Chapter 18
The warehouse was eerily quiet as Daymian quietly stepped across the floor, scanning the open floor for his dagger. He had left it for Lexi to use, but he hadn't expected her to take it. He knew this wasn’t going to sit well with Mara. First she presents suspicions of him having a connection to Lexi, then he let Adrian and Kadence escape with her. Things were not looking good for him. He felt his body jolt in all directions as he heard footsteps echo behind him. He whirled around, freezing in place as he saw his sister standing before him. Her expression was unreadable. Blank of all emotion. That was never a good sign.
They both stood silent, facing each other with a concrete gaze. She was much taller than him, and far more durable. She was incredibly intimidating to stand before as she towered over most people.
His heart had begun pounding aggressively against his chest. Disrupting his breathing patterns as he tried to keep his expression as neutral as possible. He knew that he couldn't be the first out of them to talk. He needed to stand firm. Keep his focus, and level of attentiveness high, or he would never hear the end of it.
