Elementals

14

Lana

With my crutch under my armpit, I join the others as we stare up at the building. We're lined up in front of it. It's a Sunday; the parking lot is almost empty. Surrounding the building is acres of beautiful Maine forestry, and far away, waves crash onto the rocky coast.

"You're sure this is their headquarters?" Rani asks, skeptical.

"It's one of them, at least," Taylor responds. "Hendrix is a low-key corporation, if you can't tell by looking it."

The building isn't what I expected a headquarters to look like. It's large, but not enough. It's not guarded or gated on the outside. There's not even a sign.

"Everyone who made what happened to us possible, works in this building," he continues. "It's Sunday. I doubt many of them are here."

"Who cares?" Rani asks, cracking her knuckles. "We're here to screw them over, and ruining their headquarters is enough. Even if I don't get to punch someone in the face."

Our excitement is palpable, and without saying anything else—we had more than enough time to talk on the long, long ride here—we begin.

I get the honor of blowing open the doors. The resulting whirlwind brings fallen leaves and dirt into the building as we enter together, a collective of extremely pissed off teenagers. Then, we split ways. Taylor had no idea what the layout of this building was, so we never came up with a way to cover the most ground. All we decided was that destruction didn't need a method, and we would do what we wanted.

I limp along on my crutch, the air swirling around me as I do. It knocks paintings off walls and cracks the statues of exotic looking, rich-people art. I hear a single set of footsteps behind me, and when I turn, what looks like a security guard is hightailing it to the exit.

I grow tired of the crutch within seconds, so I let it drop and begin to float along, hovering an inch above the ground. Doors blow off their hinges. Ceiling tiles fall and shatter into a million pieces. The air ahead of me and behind me is calm and serene, but near me it's a turbulent mess.

I use the turbulence to blow off a set of important-looking doors, keycard scanner be damned. Inside is a conference room, whose chairs very quickly roll away from me as I float inside. The table is bolted to the floor, and I decide to leave it alone in a show of ironic mercy. The glass display case in the wall catches my eye, and I stop the whirlwind and let my feet touch the floor.

Inside the display are extremely random, extremely show-off things. Little gems, vials of precious metals, and some very old-looking figurines. Each has a little nameplate with a description. It looks like Hendrix really wants the people using this room to know how rich and fancy they are.

I put a little air pressure on the glass, and it shatters. I quickly step back to keep the shards from falling on my feet, and then I reach for one of the gems. It's so small, it would fit in my pocket, and I'd never feel it was there.

Rani leans into the room suddenly. "Hey, thought I heard you here. You good? Where's your crutch?"

"In the hallway," I reply blankly. My focus is on the display and all its shiny glory.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see her take a step inside.

"Would you judge me if I took this?" I ask, holding up the gem for her to see. "I was thinking I could sell it somewhere and donate the money to the town, to make up for the damages I caused."

Rani snorts. "Girl, I wouldn't judge you if you stole it, sold it, and bought yourself a world cruise. In fact..."

She comes by me, takes a few more gems and a vial of silver, and puts it all into the pocket of my pants.