Among the Elementals

Aubrey, Kale and Lucy were making the awkward trek back home. Today, they’d agreed to go to the Malta house rather than split up and head to Aubrey’s. Lucy had tried to push the two to leave her and she’d catch up, however, Kale was having none of that. Once he’d heard the words social workers, he was adamant to let Lucy go anywhere on her own. They’d agreed that Kale and Aubrey would wait in Kale’s room while Lucy had her conversation with the social workers.

As soon as they arrived in the house, Lucy was ushered away by Ms. Malta to the formal seating room. Kale had scowled at Lucy’s back. The formidable old lady was scowling herself. Her grey hair was sleeked back into a tight bun. Her wrinkled face was done with white powder and red lipstick. She looked frightening rather that welcoming in her purple dress.

“Every year they get younger vagabonds to work with the children,” she muttered, as she washed the dishes from the worker’s presumable lunch in the kitchen. Aubrey and Kale had settled in there to start their homework. Ms. Malta would never allow Aubrey to be alone with Kale in his room.

“Vagabonds?” mouthed Aubrey to Kale, who was tapping the nine button on his calculator as he stared down the hallway leading to the kitchen.

“Any idea what they wanted to talk to Lucy about?” asked Kale hopefully to Ms. Malta.

“No,” said Ms. Malta, pursing her lips angrily. “He rode up here like a maniac. Then he acts like he’s far too important to have a polite conversation! Eats four plates of food! If I wasn’t a good Christian, well, I’d have had him out of here. Then he wants to be alone with her! The sheer impropriety of it all! Vagabonds!”

“He’s alone with her?” asked Kale, “Who’s he?!”

“As if I know his family,” scowled Ms. Malta at Kale, “Probably some hippy nonsense. I bet his mother was one of those fools running around back then. Probably never even taught her son respect! Now finish your homework, or you won’t get to play today! I’m going to go pick up the children from the day-care program.”

“Yeah, alright,” said Kale with a scowl, returning to furiously tapping a button on his calculator as Ms. Malta stepped out.

“I wonder what’s taking so long,” said Aubrey, as she glanced nervously back to the door.

“I’m going to check,” announced Kale, getting up abruptly.

“Don’t do that! It’s a private meeting Kale! You’ll get in trouble!” hissed Aubrey.

“So what? It’s not like it’s the first time,” said Kale with an eye-roll, “And I’m going to just make sure she’s alright!”

Kale began to move down the sparsely decorated hallway to the formal sitting room. Aubrey clenched her fist, and looked at her math homework. On one hand, she didn’t want to get into trouble. On the other, her curiosity was making her nervous. Finally, Aubrey sighed and chose to stay. Kale would tell her what was going on. However, she couldn’t concentrate anymore on her math homework, and instead, she moved towards the kitchen door to see what Kale was up to.

Kale, meanwhile, had moved to the formal sitting room. It was blocked off by an imposing door. He shrugged, and banged the door loudly. His curiosity to know the truth was overriding his politeness. Besides, it was easier to forget to be polite when you’d only practiced doing so for a few years now. It’s much easier to be angry and determined when those were traits you’ve had all your life.

To Kale’s surprise, the door swung open. He came face to face with a shorter, leaner man. He was pale, like Lucy. Unnaturally white skin that seemed to blind him stretched over the man’s face. He had bright, sharp blue eyes, which made Kale uncomfortable. His blonde hair was so shiny and platinum in color, Kale found himself wondering if it was bleached. He didn’t even seem to have eyebrows, or eyelashes, since they were as pale as the rest of him. He was about a few inches shorter to Kale, but everybody was.

“Who- What- You- The guy- What are you doing here?” Kale finally settled for with a scowl, glaring at the man.

“I was on my way out, come Lucy,” he said in a clipped accent, something Kale couldn’t quite place. It might have been European, but it sounded strange to his ear. Whatever the accent was, it sounded rich. He was someone Kale immediately detested.

“Is that how you talk to everyone?” Kale replied coolly, not moving from the doorway to let him pass.

“Kale! What- Weren’t you supposed to be in the kitchen?” asked Lucy, coming up behind the blonde man. She was so much smaller to the lean man, and she looked nervously between the two.

“I came to check up on you guys, see if you needed anything,” said Kale easily to Lucy, not meeting her eyes.

“Well, we don’t. Walk me out Lucy,” said the man coldly, glaring at Lucy as though Kale’s appearance was her fault. Lucy flinched in response, and nodded.

“She doesn’t have to-

“I’ll walk him out!” interrupted Lucy, her voice a bit higher pitched than usual. She immediately moved past the man, and lightly nudged Kale, who in his surprise, stepped back. Lucy turned to the man, and nodded, “I’ll be right back! Let me just see Elio out!”

“Elio?” muttered Kale, as he watched Lucy lead the man to the front door. He stared for a bit, slack-jawed at Lucy accepting the man’s treatment. She never let anyone walk over her like this! Rather than Lucy leading, it seemed more like she was following the man meekly. His eyes hardened, and he began to follow the two once they’d exited from the front door.

Aubrey, meanwhile, had heard Kale’s voice, and she’d gotten nervous. Her desire to stay out of trouble had moved to keeping Kale out of trouble. She hurried to see what was going on. Kale was lumbering on towards the door, where she was certain she’d seen three people leaving from, or was it just two? Rubbing her eyes, Aubrey followed behind him.

Kale stood by the door as the man said something to Lucy. His eyes widened as Lucy looked down shame-facedly. He tried to move forward, but it felt like he was being held back by something. He could only watch as his anger bubbled. Lucy suddenly began to cry as the blonde man continued to speak angrily. His rage grew. How could anyone make Lucy cry? How dare he make Lucy cry?!

“What’s going on?!” asked Aubrey, as she stepped behind Kale, her view obstructed by his large figure.

To her shock, Kale was trembling as he replied, “He made her cry!”

“Wh- What?” asked Aubrey, staring up at the angry teenager as she glanced to where Lucy was wiping her eyes and nodding, her face blotchy.

“Bastard,” muttered Kale, “Who- Rich guy thinks- He deserves- I’ll show him what it means to mess with us.”

“Wh- Kale- What?!” asked Aubrey in shock, her eyes widening as she turned to see Kale’s eyes suddenly getting dark and angry. The air around her seemed to be vibrating, and suddenly, Kale stepped forward.

As he did, Aubrey’s eyes widened. Around his ankle, a dark rope seemed to be shackling him back. Kale easily broke it, and Aubrey rubbed her eyes to see if it was real. However, it disappeared instantaneously, and Aubrey was unsure if she had been dreaming it. What happened next, however, was most definitely not a dream.

Kale lumbered forward to the two, the air around him crackling. His fists were clenched, and a dark black cloud formed around his fists. It was like his hands had purple fire. Aubrey’s eyes widened as he walked down to where Lucy was talking to the strange man. The two turned to see Kale approaching. Aubrey gasped out, as Kale suddenly took a flaming fist, and aimed at the man, punching him in the gut angrily.

“Kale!” screamed Aubrey, stepping forward to stop him.

“Not so fast,” said a voice, and suddenly a strong hand came around her waist, and she turned to see the other stranger behind her.

He was identical to the pale-man. However, he was more unnatural than him. His skin was dark grey, his hair dark as night. His eyes had white to it, as did his teeth. She stared as he held her back, and she felt her voice disappearing. He was identical to the other man with his features. Aubrey was surprised to feel that he was strong as he held her from approaching.

“Kale! Stop!” cried Lucy, suddenly turning to block the neighbor’s views, as a few came to the window. Aubrey watched in shock as her friend suddenly created white light in her hands. It spread along the neighborhood, and it seemed to be distracting as the neighbors left.

“Can’t- leave her- get you!” muttered Kale, as he continued to punch the man. His dark energized fists collided into the man’s shoulders, and the man brought up an arm to meet the second punch. However, he was suddenly blown down, and a fist collided on his face, most definitely leaving a bruise.

From Aubrey’s vantage, she couldn’t see Kale’s eyes filled with a dark cloud. She didn’t see the way the air around him helped levy his punches forward. All she saw was Lucy’s sudden spark. Her eyes darted to where her friend was. After doing something with the white light in her hands, she had turned to Kale. The girl was muttering something to herself. She suddenly rushed to Kale, causing Aubrey to try and scream, but a large hand clamped over her mouth.

“Shut up, human,” hissed a voice in her ear, and she realized it was the strange creature holding her. She began to struggle, trying to get away. Her body didn’t know what to react to.

Lucy had moved so quickly in the empty drive-way. Her lithe body jumped onto Kale’s back, and she wrapped her arms around his neck in some kind of wrestling endeavor. Aubrey stopped struggling as she watched Lucy in shock. Her hands filled with a white energy, similar to that of Kale’s. But instead of using it to smack Kale like he was doing to the other man, she targeted the white energy to Kale’s neck.

Aubrey’s eyes went wider as Kale began thrashing and shaking. He looked as though he was being electrocuted. White energy seemed to pulse through his body, and he shook and twisted. The man on the ground, to Aubrey’s horror, got up, unaffected, and matched Lucy’s actions. A white light moved from his hands to Kale’s heart. It was like the two were jolting Kale with electricity. She couldn’t avert her eyes as they continued to pump Kale’s body with it.

Kale sounded like a dying kind of monster. The wind picked up around them, and the man got blasted backwards to the garage. Kale’s body fell forward, as Lucy jumped backwards; looking determined and scared all at once. Aubrey watched as Kale smashed into the ground. He had passed out. She stared between Lucy, Kale and the man.

“Now what do we do to you?” said the man behind her, and Aubrey’s eyes widened as she looked at his eerie grin.