Elementalists

3) The Facility

I was on a hill. I remember this hill. There was a nice big white tree with nice white pedals. My mother was beside me on the blanket that had been laid out on top of the hill, and she was smiling at me. A big smile that made her eyes crinkle at the corners and dark hair stand out like a wave of chocolate. But I was not here. I woke up with tears welling in the corners of my eyes. I wiped them away as soon as I felt their hot presence on my face and looked at my surroundings. For a second I thought last night was all a dream. But what I saw was a small room with white walls, a white ceiling, and a tan girl sitting in a chair next to the bed I was laying in. There was an IV strip in my right arm that I yanked out and tried to sit up. A flare of pain raced up my spine and I gave up to lay back down with a grunt of pain. The girl to the left of me straightened quickly, and came up next to me. She was beautiful. Not like the other girls i've seen before at Burnt Ranch High. They always had a pound of makeup on and wore tight jeans with a tight shirt that made the jocks feel like kings when they got their attention. No, she didn't even have to try. Her delicate face had sharp cheekbones that gave her eyes a unique crescent shape. Her long dark brown hair that went down her back made her vibrant blue green eyes stand out like a tropical coral sea. But there was an intensity to those eyes that showed the brilliance underneath.

"You snore. A LOT" she said in a sassy tone. She eyed me for a couple more seconds until she walked over to the door on her left and walked out. In those seconds of silence I had time to think about last night. I had so many questions, Who were the people that attacked us? How is it that I saw people do what they did with fire? What do I have to do with all of this? Where was Jonah? The moment my thoughts entered my mind I immediately felt Ice forming in my body and tried to sit up one more time. Again a flare of pain had risen to a flame in the lower part of my spine, but I didn't falter. I slowly swept my legs over the side of the bed and lightly put my bare feet on the cold white floor. There were voices coming from just outside the door, one sounded male, and the other female. I stood, with my gown flowing on the floor and ignoring the pain I walked towards the door. I reached out to put my hand on the handle when the door swung open and I was face to face with "aunt Alyssa". Her red hair was down around her shoulders that resembled the flames I had recently seen so much of.

"You should probably grab a seat Soren. We have a lot to discuss." She said in a voice that seemed to be tinged with something. Defeat? She wouldn't make eye contact with me as she talked, and I felt the anxiety rising in my gut.

"I need to see them. I need to see my brother. Where is Jonah?" My rant came to a sudden halt as I searched her pale face for answers. Her pale blue eyes met mine, and she gave me the look I have gotten all my life.

"I'm sorry Soren. They took him." she said softly. Reaching out as if to touch me. I swatted her hand away and stumbled back, feeling my hip bump against the foot of the bed. My whole body was numb though, it was as if I was as hollow as a cave, and dark as one too. Alyssa stumbled towards me.

"You need to listen to me, there was nothing I could do. Jonah ran after you once Fred went into nova." Nova? Her words broke at the end, and it sounded like she was actually holding back tears. I had forgotten about Freddy. I felt tears starting to well up and I willed them to stay down.

"When Jonah went after you, so did I, but the last remaining agent still had most of his energy, and I had no way to fight him. Your friends dragged you to the car and when I went to check on Jonah he was gone, and so was the agent." She started to speak rapidly, as if to get off a weight that has been sitting on her shoulders. But I was too mad to notice. I unclenched and looked down at my hands to see that my fingernails had drawn blood from my palms. Why does everyone around me end up getting hurt? Or worse, dead.

"Where is he? We could still get him right? We'll fight whoever those people are and get him back!" I heard the hopeless tone in my voice as soon as i'd said it and with my hands still outstretched, look at the mirror to my right. My stormy grey eyes looked wild with what looked to be not anger, but despair. I looked to Alyssa to see her eyes were set downcast once again. At this moment a man with short grey hair came into view over her shoulder and swept into the room. He was tall, and stepped with the grace of an athletic appeal. He looked to be in his fifties and had a hard set clean shaven jaw with dark eyes that seemed to bore into me.