Spectra

Prologue

Spectra's eyes opened, and her mind went to work, like always. It's the first day of summer break and my parents are getting home today! Her parents were inventors, and they traveled often.Then suddenly, she felt like she was being watched. "Archae, you can come out now," she said, chuckling, knowing exactly where he was.

Her eighteen-year-old brother crawled out from under her bed. "How do you always know where I am?" he yelled in mock anger. "It's unfair!"

"I've told you ninety-seven times that I don't know!" Make that ninety-eight. "But you want me to make breakfast, don't you?"

Archae tried to hide his embarrassment. "Yes."

"Croissant, egg, and cheese?"

"Mmmmhmm!" her older brother went downstairs, turning on a movie they had seen hundreds of times, but they still watched anyway.

Spectra got dressed as quickly as she could in her usual lavender-colored lacy shirt and black jeans, which complemented her black (with a purple streak), wavy hair and lilac-colored eyes.

She quickly went downstairs, quoting the movie perfectly as she walked to the kitchen. She turned the gas stove on and gently set her pan on the side after putting butter in it.

Then she smeared the halved croissants with butter and put them in the oven on 500 degrees, got her cheese, and put one slice on the top half of each one. After cracking the eggs in the pan, she heard the doorbell ring.

"Archae, could you get that, please?" Spectra asked cheerfully.

"Got it." He smiled.

Archae opened the door, and she heard a surprised "What?"

Then one voice--a man's-- started to talk, and her brother turned his head to face her. He said, "They want to see you, too."

Ummm... What could this be about..?

Despite her misgivings, she pulled the baking sheet out of the oven to ensure her croissants wouldn't burn and walked cheerfully over to the door. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw two police officers, dressed in full uniform. They looked obviously uncomfortable, and they stared at the ground. One, a dark-skinned woman, snapped out and said, "I'm so sorry. Your parents--their jet crashed, and they... they passed away."

Spectra felt like some bubble was put around her. Her vision went blurry, her hearing left her, and all she could do was slump to the ground in shock. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. She just kept repeating it in her head. Then the bubble popped, and Archae was helping her up.

"How?" he asked, his voice growing very angry. "Who did this?"

"It was a pulselift malfunction--one of the back ones died, and the jet flipped over. No one survived."

Then the other officer added, "But, somehow, this survived." He was holding out an envelope, sealed in a partially-melted plastic bag. Spectra took it gently.

"Thank you," she said politely, bowing and barely restraining her tears.

"We'll leave you be. Your brother is at a legal age for caregiving, and you seem pretty responsible." The lady smiled sadly.

Archae closed the door.

He then wrapped her in a tight embrace, and they cried. For how long, Spectra didn't know, nor did she care.

When they finally stopped, it was dark outside, and nothing in their house had moved a centimeter. Spectra looked down at the letter, still enclosed in its bag. Her mind filled with thoughts of what it could be. Good things, bad things, in-between things... She was terrified of what was in it. She almost didn't want to know.

"Archae?" Her voice came out in a very weak tone, as if she had no strength left.

"Yes?"

"The letter... what do we do with it?"

"We should just read it now."

Spectra opened the bag and pulled the letter out gingerly, and she opened it.

It read as follows:

Dear Archae and Spectra,

Yes, we're writing this down as our jet is falling, but we needed a way to communicate with you. Archae, you must go to your aunt and uncle's home. They will welcome you warmly. Spectra, you will be going to the Academy of Elements. Call and ask for Xian Jinn--we've made arrangements a long time ago, and a promise will be kept by your being there.

We love you very much, and will miss you,

Kiri and Tarek Antei--Mom and Dad

Each letter was written in the neatest cursive they'd ever seen.