The Elementals Book One

Rebecca Archer stepped into the plane and chose a seat towards the middle. Her hazel eyes were sad, her light brown hair went down to the small of her back, and her light skin was flushed, like she’d either been very excited or very sad. She stared out the window, unaware that Vince had done the same thing on a different plane.
“Hey,” a male voice said from the aisle.
She glanced up to see a boy of about eighteen. “Hi,” she said. “Can I help you?”
“May I sit?” he asked, gesturing to the seat beside her. “Everywhere else is full.”
“Sure,” she said softly, studying him. He was built like a martial artist and had auburn hair and gold flecked brown eyes. “What’s your name?”
“Vince,” he replied. “You?”
“Rebecca,” she answered, resuming her stare out the window.
“Where are you headed, Rebecca?”
She didn’t answer, and he correctly assumed why. “I’m sorry,” he said. “You’re probably wondering if I can be trusted with your location or not. But I’m being sent to an orphanage in Idaho and I believe there was a Rebecca on the list.”
She turned. “You’re right. I am. My parents died two weeks ago. The lady in charge, Crimson, told me to take this plane. She told me that someone else was coming, but I didn’t know who.”
Vince held out a hand. “Nice to meet you, Rebecca,” he said. “Any idea why we’re in Washington State and they’re transferring us to Idaho?”
“No,” she said. “I think it’s a new orphanage, so they’re wanting the newer orphans.”
Vince noticed the bitter note in her voice. “You’re not happy about it.”
“I’m just…missing my parents,” she whispered.
“I know how that is,” he said softly. “But let’s find something to distract ourselves, shall we?”
She turned towards him. “What?”
He studied her for a moment. “What kind of things do you like to do?”
“Um…reading, writing, martial arts…”
He grinned. “Martial arts, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Me too. Most girls I know are into dancing, not fighting.”
“I like to be prepared,” she replied. “And I am into some dancing, but it’s mostly ballroom. What about you?”
He shrugged. “I’m not a very good writer—average at best. But I do martial arts like you. I also do ballroom. But I’m a little rusty at it. Another thing I like is fencing.”
“Fencing? As in swords?”
“Yeah,” he replied. “I also do archery and some other weapons.”
“You’ll have to teach me.”
“That can be arranged. Are you in the mood to write?”
“Uh…sure,” she replied.
He opened the small satchel he had with him and handed Rebecca a leather bound book. “Here,” he said. “You can have this to write in.”
She gave him a confused look. “Thanks,” she said. “But this is yours.”
“Nah,” he replied with a smile. “I’ve already started writing in mine.” He patted his satchel. “It’s in here.”
She nodded. “Okay…well, thank you,” she said with a smile. It took her a moment to realize that this was the first time she’d smiled in two weeks.

Rebecca and Vince stepped of the plane and a tall woman with long crimson hair and tanned skin smiled at them. “Hello, you two,” she said. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“Hi, Crimson,” Vince replied. “How are you?”
“Not bad,” she said. “It’s you two I’m worried about.”

Crimson parked the car and Vince and Rebecca got out. Rebecca stared up at the mansion—like orphanage in front of them. “It’s huge,” she said.
Crimson nodded, still in the car. “Arden and Brooke will show you around,” she said. “I’m going to run some errands for a little while. See you!”
Vince opened the door for Rebecca, and she thanked him as she stepped through. A tall sporty looking boy grinned at them. “Hey,” he said. “I’m Arden. This is Brooke.” He pointed to the slender girl next to him and she gave a small wave.
“Are you two the only orphans?” Rebecca asked softly.
Brooke shook her head. “A-A-Andrea is here n-n-now,” she replied.
Arden saw Rebecca’s gaze soften as she heard Brooke’s stutter, and he felt a surge of relief as he realized that he had been worried for no reason about the newcomers being cruel to her.
“A girl named Andrea joined us this week,” he said. “Don’t take anything she says personally—she’s kind of snappy.”
“Way too snappy,” a girl said from the top of the stairs. Her golden hair was wound into a bun and she wore stylish jeans and an intricate blouse. “Her dad apparently broke out of jail and killed her mom. So now she’s even more depressed than she was before.”
Rebecca frowned. “That’s sad,” she said softly.
“I don’t want sympathy,” another girl said sharply, walking down the flight of stairs above the stylish blonde.
“Hey, Andrea,” Arden said, a forced smile on his face.
She ignored him, instead focusing her sharp gaze on Rebecca. “What’s your story?” she asked bluntly. “Are you another jerk like Laurel here?” She gestured towards the blonde, who glared at her.
Rebecca flinched. “A-Andrea.” Brooke’s tone was firm despite her stutters. “Th-they just got here.”
Andrea scowled. “So? My story’s already out.”
“My family died in a fire,” Vince replied. “About two years ago. I’m here until I turn eighteen in two months.”
“Why are you here after two years?” Laurel asked.
“I was thought missing because my dad was the one who murdered my family,” Vince explained. “They thought he’d taken me too. And he had in the beginning, but I escaped a few months ago.”
“Wow, you must be very brave,” Laurel said, fluttering her long eyelashes at him. Andrea rolled her eyes. Laurel reminded her too much of Grace. Laurel smirked and walked down the hall back to her room.
“So your dad is a murderer too?” Andrea asked quietly.
“Yeah.”
“My story isn’t quite so spectacular,” Rebecca said softly. “But I was at the park with my family and lightning struck a tree and it fell in front of us…the flames seemed to spread more quickly than I’ve ever seen fire do, but it may have just been my imagination…then when we were about to get free of the flames…a gunman…” She faltered, fighting back tears.
“That’s enough,” Vince said quickly. “Where are our rooms?”
“Brooke will show Rebecca her room and I’ll lead you to yours,” Arden replied. “There’s more of us, but the other two are at a basketball game.”
Laurel suddenly appeared beside Andrea again. “Where are they?” she demanded.
Andrea shrugged. “Don’t know what you’re talking about and I really don’t care,” she replied flatly.
Laurel glowered at her. “Tell me where my new Veronica heels went!” she whined. She was obviously used to getting her way all the time.
Andrea raised an eyebrow. “I told you,” she said. “I really don’t care where they are. If it was up to me, they’d be in the river about now.”
Laurel’s eyes flashed. “You so did not say that.”
Andrea smirked. “Yes, I so did,” she retorted.
“O-okay, you t-two,” Brooke said. “L-Let’s calm d-down.”
“O-or what?” Laurel taunted. “You’ll h-hurt me?”
This time it was Andrea’s eyes that flashed. Her smirk vanished. “Be. Nice. To. Her,” she said, voice dangerous.
Laurel smirked. “Or what?”
“Or I’ll show you how much getting hit by a girl who’s done thirteen years of martial arts can hurt,” Rebecca said without thinking—she really couldn’t stand bullies.
Everyone stared at her. Vince fought a smile. Laurel grumbled something, then stalked back into the hallway.
Andrea gave Rebecca a sharp nod before following the golden haired girl.
Brooke smiled at Rebecca. “F-follow me.”

“May I please have my key?” Rebecca asked the smaller girl as they stood in front of her door.
Brooke smiled and handed her a key “Thanks,” Rebecca said, taking it. The smaller girl let Rebecca study her new room for a moment before leading her down to the kitchen.
Once there, Rebecca sat and pulled out her Swiss army knife. She cut a long piece of five fifty cord that had been in the same pocket as the knife and slid it through the key. She stopped suddenly, noticing that everybody was staring at her. “What?” she asked.
Vince and Arden suddenly burst out laughing. Brooke giggled. Only Andrea looked unimpressed. “I like how you’re just sitting there with a pocket knife and putting a key on five fifty cord,” Arden grinned. “A real boy scout.”
Rebecca grinned self consciously and finished tying the cord. She put it around her neck after making sure her knife was securely closed and in her pocket. “I’m an Army Brat,” she said simply.
Vince chuckled and pulled her over to the table. “Come on,” he told everybody. “Before she decides that she wants to cut our biscuits with her handy dandy pocket knife.”
“Since Crimson and the other two boys are deciding to come home late, Brooke made dinner,” Arden said.
Rebecca grinned crookedly as she sat beside Vince and Brooke. For a moment she could almost forget why she was here. It felt like she was among friends.

Andrea stepped out of the orphanage the next morning, feeling more reluctant than usual. This would be her first day back at school since her mom had died five days ago. The funeral had been two days ago, and her relatives had made it obvious they didn’t want her. They were too scared of her dad coming to kill them as well.
“Hey, hang on,” Arden said from behind her. She turned and glared at him. “I’ll be at school later,” he said. “I’m helping Vince and Rebecca around. So would you mind doing something for me?”
“What is it?” she grumbled.
“Would you mind watching out for Brooke?” he asked. “I’m her protector and I’m not going…”
She hesitated. “Fine,” she said. She reminded Andrea of her sister, who her dad had murdered three years ago, when he was first put in jail. So maybe being with the younger girl would provide some happiness, at least.
Arden breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” he said.

“Who’s the pipsqueak?” Grace asked nastily. “Is she your sister?” She suddenly blinked. “Oh, that’s right,” she snickered. “You’re sister died a few years ago, huh? Now she’s with your mom now, isn’t she? So I guess stutterer here isn’t your sister, then?”
Andrea met Grace’s gaze for the first time in years. “You were right the first time,” she said coolly. “Brooke is my sister.”
With that, Andrea pulled Brooke down the hallway. “Stay out of Grace’s sight as much as you can,” she muttered. “For now, have a good day.” She walked away, and realized that she had actually felt a surge of protectiveness over the younger girl.

Arden stepped into the school, checked in at the office, and headed to his class. On the way, walking through the empty halls, he passed the open door to the art room and peered inside. He saw Andrea give Brooke a slight smile from across the room as Brooke was told to put her drawing at the front of the room for the class to see. Even from the hallway, Arden could see that the drawing was signed with two names—Brooke and Andrea.
Smiling, Arden continued down the hallway. Then he opened the door to his classroom and frowned. The only seat left was next to Grace. Mr. Parker glanced up from his desk but didn’t say anything.
Taking the desk next to the brown haired girl, Arden gave her a quick smile and opened his math book to work on the lesson.

“So,” Grace said as the class started putting away their things. “Your sister is Brooke, huh?”
Arden’s anger flared as he thought of how she had treated his sister. “Yeah,” he said with a slightly forced smile. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you a question.”
“Anything,” she smiled.
“What did Andrea mean when she told me to tell you that the same trick wouldn’t work twice?”
Grace snickered. “Oh, that. She has a drunk for a father and now a dead woman for a mother. Her sisters died because of her dad murdering them. She’s a weirdo, and so we important people in the school sent my friend Johnny in to pretend to like her.” She paused to laugh. “He had her convinced he loved her. Then he broke her heart. Well, I’ve got to go to class…but if you’d like anything, you can always find me.” She flashed him a sugary smile before walking away.
Arden’s face was hard as he watched her walk away. No wonder Andrea been so slow to trust him.

Andrea and Brooke walked down the hall together to their next class, Brooke holding the picture of the dragon they’d drawn together.
“So has Johnny seen you lately?” Grace smirked as she passed Andrea in the hall.
Andrea spat at her and continued to walk grumpily down the hall.
“Why’s the pipsqueak stutterer still with you?” Grace asked, keeping up with Andrea as she pointed at Brooke, who was walking beside Andrea. “I mean, I know she’s your sister and all, but I didn’t think that you would be smart enough to lead your dad right to her—“
Andrea whirled to face the blond girl. “Shut up,” she snapped, eyes flashing. “Or I will shut your mouth for you.”
Grace smirked. “Like you could do anything. Johnny will protect me, remember? Oh, and you’re pipsqueak friend needs a makeover. She’s hideous.”
Andrea halted, pulling Brooke away from Grace, and glared at the other girl. “Don’t pick on Brooke,” she said, voice dangerously quiet. “Or you will wish you’d never met me.”
Grace seemed to sense that Andrea wasn’t kidding. She took a step back and turned to quickly walk away.
“A-am I r-r-really hideous?” Brooke asked quietly.
“No, honey,” Andrea said, unconsciously talking to her like she would her sister. “You’re ten times more beautiful than Grace, even on her extremely good days.”
Brooke smiled. “Th-th-thanks, Andrea.”

After dropping Brooke off at her next class, Andrea walked towards her own class. A hand was suddenly on her shoulder, stopping her. She whirled, preparing to hit someone, saw it was Arden, and smacked his arm as hard as she could with her books. He winced.
"Geez," he said, drawing his arm back and rubbing it with a wince. "You aren't very nice at times, are you?"
"Leave me alone!" Andrea snapped. She turned to walk away; even though they now lived in the same building, she still avoided him as much as possible.
"I heard what they did to you with Johnny."
She froze. “Yeah, I’m sure they’re still spreading that around. They were pretty dang proud of themselves for doing that,” she growled.
"Look, I'm not going to do that to you. That was them, not me."
She turned to face him, studying his kind face and deep dark green eyes. “Liar,” she spat. “Do you know—he said that I could always count on him! He told me that…he told me that it didn’t matter if I had a dad who was a murderer…he told me that the daughter has a right to live out of her dad’s shadow! Do you know what it’s like to have someone actually be unafraid of you who cares about you and wants to be there to take care of you?” she snapped, unaware that she was close to tears. “You are so much like him, and Grace isn’t going to succeed this time…she can’t…”
“Hey,” Arden said. “I’m not one of her cronies. I’m Brooke’s brother and your friend.”
She snorted. “Yeah right. I’ve had too many people screw me over to believe you now.” With that, she walked away briskly, head ducked down, trying to hide the fact that she had tears in her eyes.