Elemental (The Keeper of the elements) (10 page)

I could feel the tingling sensation as it lingered in the tips of my fingers. I pushed past the pain and focused. It felt like the tips of my fingers were in scalding hot water. I licked my lips and tried to push it away from me. Nothing happened. Again and again I tried and I couldn’t do it. After an hour of making myself look constipated I growled angrily. “Why can’t I do this?” I yelled loudly. Darrington stood with his arms crossed and a firm look on his face, his hand rubbing the little bit of scruff on his chin. He shrugged, “You don’t want it enough.” He said. I looked at him with disbelief, “I don’t what?” He let his hands fall to his side and shrugged indifferently, “You obviously don’t care about saving Aydan. If you did, then this would be a piece of cake to you.” I could feel my angry rising and the energy rising with it. “How dare you!” I screamed. I felt like it was getting hotter. I felt like the blood in my veins was boiling. “Well then show me dammit! Show me you want it!” He yelled angrily. I was breathing fast and my heart was beating faster. My hands ached. I closed my eyes and pictured Aydan’s face. I wanted it. I wanted enough for him. I screamed loudly as white hot pain erupted from my fingertips and towards the brick wall in front of me. Once I was out of breath I stopped and looked up, a black scorch mark looked back at me.

Chapter Sixteen

Aydan sat on the ground, his knees pulled up and his hands firmly over his ears. Blood was on his skin and his clothes were ripped. “Aydan!” I s
creamed in terror, he looked up and I gasped. His beautiful eyes were sunken and devoid of anything except fear. “No…no..no..no why are you here! You shouldn’t be here!” he moaned as a fresh wave of tears rolled down his already stained cheeks. His hair was dull and matted and his color was more pale than even before. I knelt in front of him, my hands hovering over him afraid to touch him. “Why? Why can’t I be here?” I asked, my voice trembling as it fought against the lump that had formed in my throat. “Because, he will know…he is going to know.” He sobbed. I could barely stand watching him this way. Slowly I eased myself next to him and leaned my head against his shoulder. Sitting there my heart felt so heavy inside my chest.

“Don’t tell me where you are.” He whispered as he slid his hand into mine. I shivered at his touch, he was so cold. “I can’t even if I wanted too. I don’t even know where I am.” I laughed. It was a pathetic attempt at a laugh… halfhearted and followed by silence. “Are you okay?” I asked after a moment. Aydan leaned closer and his other hand gently cupped my cheek, “As long as you are safe, then I am ok.” I felt the tears slid down my cheeks and I didn’t bother to brush them away. “Do not cry. Please..” He pleaded. I smiled to reassure him. “I don’t know what to do Aydan. I need you.” I gripped his hand tightly in mine and felt him flinch.

I couldn’t understand how someone could do this to their own brother. The evil that must rest in Blaze’s soul must have been unfathomable. Aydan didn’t even look like the same man. Growing up he had so much going for him and now he was half that man, or perhaps I should look at it as he was more of a man for enduring it. I sighed and nuzzled my face into his neck, even his normal scent was gone, replaced by the salty scent of sweat and the copper scent of blood. “He’s hurting you.” I whispered. I felt him kiss the top of my head and I glanced up. “I would endure the pits of hell for you” I chuckled and closed my eyes, just savoring the moment I had with him.

“I know what you’re doing. I can feel it Gemma. Please don’t try to rescue me. He knows you will try, he will kill us all.” I shook my head adamantly. “No Aydan, I refuse to let you take the downfall.” Aydan looked at me and suddenly his face went blank. “Aydan?” he looked up at me calmly and smiled. “You have very unique eyes, has anyone every told you that?” I looked at him, completely baffled. “You look almost like my friend Gemma.” My heart nearly stopped. Had he forgotten me already. “I am Gemma…” I whispered in horror.  Aydan’s eyes searched mine and I waited for the recognition, I prayed for it. He studied me and the look on his face suggested that he may recognize me a little bit. “You do seem awfully familiar…” Suddenly his eyes grew wide and he stood up quickly, dragging me with him.

“Gemma you have to wake up…you have to get out of here. He is searching for you now. You need to go dammit
Gemma!” He shoved his hands into his hair, pulling it into his clenched fists. His eyes searched around widely. “He is searching my mind Gemma, erasing you, you’re not safe with me right now!” His face flinched like he was in pain and I screamed as he lunged towards me.

I woke up panting. The room was dark and my face was wet with tears. Aydan was forgetting me.

Chapter Seventeen

“We are running out of time!” I screamed, my anger finally boiling over. “Roland, he tried to attack me! He didn’t recognize me.” I was kneeling in front of Roland. Darrington and Franco stood on either side watching me sympathetically. Roland just looked impassive. “Roland! Please! I’m begging.” I sobbed.

Roland stood and came to kneel down in front of me. “Gemma, you realize, if we go in now knowing that Blaze is waiting for it, waiting for us that it would be a suicide mission. Everyone here would die…” My heart was breaking as I nodded, “ I’ll go…just me. Please Roland…” Roland sighed and looked down, rubbed his suddenly wet eyes. “I can’t let you do that Gemma.” He said sadly eliciting more loud sobs coming from me. I crumbled to the floor and let my tears soak the ground.

“Gemma, please listen to me.” He said softly. I peered up through blurry eyes, “We have three days…to get you ready. And I won’t let you go alone.” He smiled, it didn’t reach his eyes but at least he was trying. “I’ll go.” Darrington announced as he stepped forward. “I could only wish that one day I find what you and Aydan have…” “I will to.” Franco said next. “And if you think for a second Eli and I are going to abandon you, you’re wrong.” Ronnie said as she walked into the room. I flung myself into Roland’s arms. Three days, I just had to make it three days without him and finally Aydan and I would be together.

I sat alone in the field behind the house. I wanted forget the pain and the fear that I had witnessed in Aydan’s eyes during the reverie. I closed my eyes, remembering the time he had changed down the ice cream truck and paid with money he had collected from the road for nearly a month. He had bought my favorite ice cream and we had snuck out to the park in the middle of the night for an ice cream picnic. Silent tears slipped down my cheeks as I remembered our shared past. I loved it but I wanted a shared future.

I looked down at the ground and felt a surge of energy go through my
arms and into my fingertips. I stared at them curiously. Carefully I shoved them into the dirt and closed my eyes. I focused on the feeling of the cold dirt moving over my skin, I focused on the way the energy seemed to grow in the tips of my fingers, aching for relief. I felt the earth rumble, felt it shake beneath me. I opened my eyes smiling. “I’ll save you Aydan.” I whispered as I stared at my dirty fingers with amazement.

Chapter Eighteen

Ronnie knocked loudly on my door at daybreak, shaking me from a peaceful slumber and commanded me to meet her in the field in ten minutes. I glared at the door hoping that it would explode however it did no such thing. I dragged
myself out of bed, anticipating more yoga formed torture. Yoga definitely wasn’t my style and I desperately missed Aydan’s honeybun mornings.

I met Ronnie in the field and waited patiently for whatever training I would be subjected to today. After several hours of water training, which I did not grasp as quickly as the others, I was finally able to sit and relax. I sat out along the tree line, nestled safely in the comforting embrace of a few low hanging tree limbs.  Suddenly, an odd feeling falls over me and I glance over into the thin stream of sunlight peeking through the branches. My eyes scan the horizon and the house noticing nothing out of place. I couldn’t seem to escape the odd prickle at the back of my neck. I shake it off and start to climb out of the tree, deciding it’s about time I go inside anyways. That’s when the heat hits me. I instantly fall out of the tree hitting the ground hard enough that it knocks the wind from me.

It hurts like fire consuming my skin, almost as bad as when they removed the power from my mark. I desperately claw at the earth, struggling to suck in precious air into my shocked lungs. My eyes are frantically searching my surroundings but still I can see nothing out of the ordinary. Finally I suck in a loud breath, coughing and sputtering as I do so. I feel like someone is slowly stabbing a needle into the back of my neck and now I’m screaming and swatting at whatever it can be. Roland, Ronnie, Darrington and Franco come running from the house. I’m too preoccupied with whatever is melting my skin from the inside out to wonder where the remainders of our people are. I’m frantically trying to get to my feet, to run, to flee, and to do something but I can’t even stand. I can barely even breathe. Every bone in my body feels like it is cracking open. That’s when I see them; the throngs of people standing on the roof of the house. Above all I notice the one standing in the very front of them, Aydan. He is dressed all in black, his hair and face in perfect condition and his arms folded as he stares down at me.
“Run Gemma”
I hear his smooth voice inside my head. I scramble to my feet just as Roland makes it to my side. “Gemma! They have found us, we have to go now!” He yells over the screaming. Our crowd is pouring from the doors of the house, running into different directions as balls of fire are lunged from the roof top.

I struggle, looking up at Aydan my heart nearly bursts. He is so close and still so far away.
“Please Gemma…run, I’ll hold him off as long as I can…”
His voice in my head sounds as broken as I feel and I want to run towards him, not away.

Roland is screaming at me but
it’s like I’m suddenly deaf. I can see his mouth moving and I can see tiny explosions kicking up dirt around me but I can’t hear any of it. My eyes are glued on Aydan. I want to ask him if he remembers me. I want to ask if he still loves me. I want to know if the voice in my head is nothing more than my imagination. Roland is tugging on my arm almost painfully, but still it feels like I am frozen in place. Finally I was able to tear my eyes from Aydan to witness the scene around me. Bodies were lying on the ground, blood and dirt scattered around them. My heart was going so fast I could barely feel it. I let Roland pull me to my feet and my breath caught in my lungs. Franco was lying just feet away, his eyes blankly staring into the sky and his chest smeared with crimson. People were dying all because of me. I took a look back at the roof and caught Aydan’s cold stare. I couldn’t see any recognition or love in them.
“I love you..”
  I heard his voice in my head and watched as his eyes flashed. Maybe he did still love me. Perhaps this was all a ruse. I let Roland drag me deep into the woods behind us. I wasn’t sure where we were going, nor did I really care. The further we got from Aydan the more my chest hurt and the more my heart begged for me to turn around.