Change [Book 1 of The Elemental Marks]

Chapter 3

Focus. Lina thought to herself. She took a step forward and let the Portal take her over. The Philadelphia Institute.

But whenever she tried to close her eyes and think about it, all she saw was the Kelpie.

All she could see were its eyes, as black as the night around her, and yet somehow she knew they could see so much more than she could. They spoke of knowledge that no mortal had.

If you don't get your act together, you'll end up back with the Kelpie!

Lina forced herself to think as hard as she could on the Institute. In a minute, the air around her picked up and she felt her feet land . Opening her eyes, she saw the entrance of the Institute form around her. All she had to do was look for the doors to open.

By the time she made it in, Vic had appeared out of thin air. He followed her inside, only saying, "Let's go to my office."

The silence on the way left an opportunity for Lina to think over exactly what had happened.

One minute she saw something move in the water. Had she thought more first, she probably would've brought Tommie along. But she didn't. She went to see what it was on her own, and there was the Kelpie. After that, it was like she was out of her own skin. Her thoughts had been clouded over.

"Were you summoned here?" she remembered asking it.

"No. I've come for you," it told her. What the hell did that mean?

"For me?"

"I am a Water Horse, and you are a Water Girl. I've come to take you back to your element," it said. Water Girl. A moment later, he tried to take Lina into the water, where he would no doubt drown her for fun. Was calling her Water Girl just a ploy to get her to go along? If so, why? More importantly, why did it feel so true to Lina?

Vic unlocked his office door and showed her in.

"Have a seat," he told her. She did, and he went over to pull something out of a drawer in his desk.

"This is a tape recorder. Mundane instrument, and I don't know if the Clave can work one, but I think this calls for recording." He set the boxy instrument down and sat in the chair next to her. Like they were friends. "Do you want to start by telling me what happened?"

Lina swallowed. "Okay," she said, trying to figure out where to start. "I saw something move in the water. But then Tommie didn't see it. I went down to take a quick look-"

"Without telling Tommie?" It didn't sound like an accusation, but it felt like one to Lina. They had rules and training for a reason. Ignoring them almost got her killed. Because in her heart, she knew if Tommie hadn't stepped in, nothing would've stopped her from finding out what being a Water Girl meant.

"Yes. So by myself, I went to the water. And then the Kelpie appeared. I can't figure out what I was thinking. I could've attack it, or at least scared it away. But I just wasn't myself," she told him.

He nodded sympathetically. "Faeries have the ability to cloud our senses when they choose to, a sort of power over us. The Kelpie was just trying to make you believe what it was saying. Now, it called you something."

"A Water Girl."

"Any idea what that means?" he asked. His eyes were looking right at hers, looking for any hint of recognition anywhere.

Lina shook her head. "I've never heard anything like it before." How could she explain that she had no idea what the title meant, but she somehow felt it fit her perfectly? "Do you have any ideas?"