The Elementalists

PETER

"You know what I just realized?" John asks me. Before waiting for my answer, he says, "I haven't seen Cooper in awhile."

I blink, just realizing this myself. "You're right," I say, "I wonder what happened to him?" I feel bad that we forgot about him, and hope that he's okay, but Robin and Mark are our number one priority right now.

We're at the campsite, sitting on a normal blanket, watching Jamal sob his heart out. I can't snap at the kid; if I do, it'll just make everyone's depressed mood worse. Instead, I say, "So, how do we figure out our elements?" Then a thought hits me: What if Cooper's element is air?! What will we do then, if he just disappeared?

"Cooper didn't disappear," Jamal says, "he ran off awhile ago, while you were yelling at me, Pete."

My mouth drops open. "How," I ask, "did you know that I was wondering that?!"

Jamal tilts his head and says, "You just asked that aloud, didn't you?"

I shake my head. "No," I say, "I thought it. How did you... know what... I was thinking...?"

Jamal's eyes get wide. "No way," he whispers, "I can read minds? I can read minds!" A big grin crosses his face as he jumps up and down, chanting, "I can read minds! I can read minds!"

"No fair," John complains, "why can't I read minds? No. Freaking. Fair!" He makes a pouty face and crosses his arms.

I wait for Jamal to quit his happy dance, and then I ask, "So can you read Robin's? Or Mark's, maybe?"

Jamal shakes his head. "I dunno," he says, "but they're probably too far away. At least, according to TV shows, I think."

I sigh. "Well, crap." Jamal begins chanting again and I resist the urge to smack him. I look up at John and say, "Hey, maybe I'll take you up on your offer after all. How about Jamal jumps first?"

Jamal's eyes widen. "I don't know what you're talking about," he says, "but I fear for my life now."

Emma grins. "Good," she says, "maybe you'll stop acting like an idiot long enough to save your cousin's life."

Jamal's face changes, and he bursts into tears, as if he just remembered Mark's deadly situation. "My cousin!" he moans. "They're gonna kill my cousin! Waaaaaaah!"

I bury my face in my hands. "This is hopeless," I moan. "They're both as good as dead!" I feel like crying myself, but I've become the group leader, somehow, and I can't break down in front of my friends.

"Not completely hopeless," someone behind me says. I turn around to see Cooper standing underneath a nearby tree, holding something.

"You little traitor!" I growl, ready to lunge at him, but John stops me with a motion of his hand. He points at what Cooper is carrying.

"What's that?" he asks, and Cooper smiles.

"I'm not a traitor," he says. "I went to get this." He holds out the object and I examine it closely. "The government people dropped it," he explains, "so I don't know exactly what it does."

"I do," Emma says. "It's one of those static thingies; you turn it on and it crackles with electricity, all pretty-like." She taps the objects spherical top, and then flicks the 'on' switch. Blue static immediately crackles along the surface, and Emma reaches down to touch it, but before she gets close to it, the thing explodes. Emma goes flying backwards, and I cry out. She closes her eyes tight and covers her head, as if that will protect her from any injury.