Julia Lelieveld and the fifth element

~28~

"And Max, what's your specialty?"

He started laughing.

"Fire," he said proudly.

"Ah, I already suspected that."

It couldn't be otherwise. I had only been able to observe him for a short time, but judging by his attitude, he radiated fire.

"And how do you view the whole situation?"

He looked at me for a moment and shrugged.

"To be honest, I like that there is a bit of excitement. Rob has told us a few things, but judging by his reaction, this is very unusual."

I looked at him for a moment. He was someone who needed a challenge.

"Okay then."

"I've got your back." And he gave me a nudge with his elbow.

"Thank you." And I laughed again.

"Have you fought with evil yet?" I asked cautiously.

"Fight? No dude, are you stupid? We've only trained."

"Oh, but I wonder, were there before you... us other practitioners? Have we relieved someone or is something like this happening?"

He seemed to think for a moment.

"Obviously there have been other practitioners, but at the moment we are the only one in a large area. It often arises when evil is imminent or has already occurred."

I just nodded.

I really had to think about this for a while. Could it really be that we had to fight against evil? I still couldn't get my head around it. This morning I didn't know anything about it and now I'm sitting on the couch talking about the supernatural with an almost complete stranger. Something I thought only happened in movies and books.

"And you as a group, does that click a bit?"

He had to laugh at this question.

"Yes, fine. You are connected in one way or another, this makes your bond very strong."

"What about you and Kate?"

I knew it was a cheeky question, but I might as well know all the ins and outs. Especially considering Kate's reaction just now.

"Kate is Earth and I am Fire, we can work well together. Just like Leo and Sarah. Leo is air, as you already know and Sara is water. It is already predetermined. The four of us form a very strong team."

Oh, and now I come in. What the hell am I supposed to add if there's always been four, and four is the magic number?

"And that whisper?"

"That is very useful if you want to talk to each other in a busy environment and no one is allowed to hear you. We are all connected. Rob, Leo, Sara, Kate, me and now you too."

And I indeed, what was this about? Was I really part of it? Was that that simple?

Of course I wanted to know more about it. Something like this violates privacy terribly, but then again, they probably don't have any secrets from each other. Of course you have to know each other through and through when you are in a fight together.

"How exactly does it work? Does it work unlimitedly or can it only be done within a certain radius?"

He laughed a little.

"It is not so far. You have to be really close to each other. You have to see it a bit, that if I were to scream and you could just hear me, well from that distance we can whisper. It's weird isn't it? I also had to get used to it. Just like that conversation you had with Rob in the other room. We're not supposed to pick up on anything like that at all. We respect each other's privacy and do not eavesdrop on just anyone. It's that the situation had us a little confused and that's why we were listening. When we hear something we don't want, we really hate it. Sorry about that."