The Elementals of Edgewood

Chapter Fourteen

Under Sadie's glare, George convinced Nate to drive him home, claiming that his concussion was flaring up again. His friend happily obliged- apparently the mission to find the ice had been enough of an adventure for one night.

George found himself once again sitting in a silent car, guilt writhing in his stomach.

He and Nate didn't keep secrets from each other. There was nothing his friend didn't know about him- and vice versa- until now.

And it was a pretty monumental secret.

"You okay?" Nate broke the unnatural silence.

George nodded, staring out the window. He felt Nate's gaze linger on him, before his friend laughed nervously.

"You sure? You seem kinda-"

"I'm good, Nate." He winced internally at his tone. "Just...my head hurts."

He fiddled with a loose thread on his hoodie, avoiding Nate's eye.

"Okay," Nate said quietly, focusing back on the road.

George could tell he didn't believe him, but his friend said nothing more.

The awkwardness of the silence faded, and George's thoughts began to drift.

Adrian and Jordan Summers were vampires.

Did Arlo know? Did anyone know?

How many of the people in this town were elementals?

"I'll see you on Monday, buddy." They'd pulled up to his house.

"Yeah, thanks for the lift man." George mumbled, quickly clambering out of the car.

He walked up the path, listening to the sounds of nature grow louder as the grumbling of the engine faded. He closed the front door behind him with a sigh.

"George, is that you?" His mother called from the lounge.

"Yeah," He replied, walking down the hall towards the room.

There was one big room at the back of their house which fitted in the kitchen, dining and living room all into one. His mother called it "archetictural flow", but really it was just because the house was only built for two bedrooms, so they'd turned the previous living room at the front end of the house into his mother's room.

She peered over the back of the couch at him as he entered the room. "Party was a bust?"

"Nah well, my head started to hurt a bit." He walked over and opened the fridge, but nothing struck his fancy. He felt kind of sick anyway.

"What did I tell you?" His mother said smugly.

George gave her a look, before grabbing a banana and walking out towards his room. "I'll see you in the morning."

"There's painkillers in the bathroom upstairs if you need them!" She called out, before George heard the sound of Antiques Roadshow resuming behind him.

--

George didn't even remember falling asleep because he was so tired, yet he was once again ripped from his slumber by a nightmare. It was the same one as the night before- the new one- and he still had no idea what it meant.

Sadie had said their dreams had something to do with their powers, so did that mean the dreams were now a part of his everyday life? 

And were the others still getting them as well?

George wondered this as he lay in his bed, drowsy from a disrupted sleep, watching the morning light dance across his floor in the shadow of the curtain.