The Elementals

Orphanages

Sophia's POV
I have always hated orphanages. I hate the musty smell that lingers in the rooms, the terrible owners, the messed up kids. But the thing I hate most about orphanages is that the reason that children have to survive there is because their parents have either died or abandoned them.
Since young, I have been living in orphanages, eating the disgusting slop they make there, wearing the passed down clothes. All because I don't have parents. It's very unfair. Being cooped up in a musty place like that. So whenever I have the chance to go out, I have to, or I will go crazy.
" Get out of my sight! I don't want to see you until tomorrow morning, do you understand?" The orphanage owner barked. I meekly ran out of the room and out of the orphanage. I settled down onto the swing in between the honeysuckles and roses. Starting to rock myself, I sat and just stared into space.
" Whatcha doin'?" A voice scared me out of my thoughts. I looked up and saw a girl outside the metal fence that held me prisoner. I looked at her warily.
" Who are you?" I asked.
" I'm like you." The girl replied. Her reply confused me. What did she mean like me?
" Oh! I get it. You're an orphan too, aren't you?" I asked. She nodded.
" Yes, I am."
" So why aren't you cooped up, like me?"
" I escaped protective custody."
" How?"
" That's not my tale to tell. Soon, you will end up like me too." I looked down at my hands in confusion. When I looked up again, she had disappeared. I shrugged. The girl's probably barmy. I thought to myself.
When I returned to the dark bedroom I shared with my friend, Alicia, I found that she still wasn't in bed.
" I can't stand this any longer." Alicia said. " I can't stand another second in this hell hole! I've got to escape somehow."
" You know you can't," I replied. " This orphanage is in one of the most remote parts in town! Nobody's actually gonna come and adopt you." Alicia shook her head.
" I don't mean that," and my eyes opened wide with shock.
" You mean.." I faltered.
" Yes. I'm going to run away. And you're coming with me." My eyes opened even wider.
" But...but...how are we gonna survive? We don't exactly get money here, you know!"
" Anything's better than staying here." Alicia held up two bags. " I've packed for both of us. Wanna come along?"
" Yeah." My answer surprised me. I grabbed the bag. We had to leave before I could lose my nerve. " Let's go."
We ran out of the dorm and into the kitchen. Unfortunately, the orphanage owner was in there.
" Where are you going?" She eyed the bags we were holding.
" Uh...nowhere," Alicia pipes up, a bit too excitedly.
" Then get back to bed!" The orphanage owner barks in her signature fierce voice and frowning face. A streak of anger shows in my face for just a second, and I know that the orphanage owner saw it. I smoothed out my face and showed no emotion.
" With all due respect, I think that we should be allowed more freedom." Alicia says, surprising me. I look at her and she winks back at me.
" What did you say?" The orphanage owner asks.
" I said, we should have more freedom!" Alicia repeats, a streak of anger leaking into her voice. The orphanage owner's eyes flashes.
" My orphanage, my rules." She intones, but failed in keeping the anger out of her voice. " So GET TO BED NOW!" My face is now not ignorant anymore. My features are heavy with anger and discord. A glance at Alicia's face and I can tell she feels the same.
The orphanage owner's face is contorted with anger now. " You do not have the right to look angry, young lady! Now get back to your dorms!"
My emotions are building up a storm inside me. It's swirling, hurling, and just throbbing with unspent power. Suddenly, I feel a longing, it is so intense that my entire body fizzes with energy. It feels like thousands of bees are biting me. My hands lift up. I have no idea what I'm doing, but it just feels right.
" Your eyes..." Alicia starts to back away. I ignore her and fix my goblin-like stare on the orphanage owner.
" Oh, this is ridiculous!" I say, in a dangerously low tone. " You can't order us around like this!"
" Oh, really?" The orphanage owner sneers. " Don't forget who's your legal guardian!" That was the final straw. I concentrated my energy into my hands.
" And you can stop giving me that glare, young lady!" The orphanage owner shouts. I concentrate and push the energy out of my hands.
My vision goes blurry and it feels like I'm underwater. I lose track of time as I fall into the oblivious darkness. When I wake up, I am still standing. Alicia is staring at me. I look at her and back at my hands. For some reason, I am still holding up my hands, like a conductor about to start a concert. The bees have become less intense, but they are still there. A blob of water is floating about a meter from me. The strange thing was, the floor below it and around it was not wet at all. I expected the water to drop to the floor and wet the entire ground, but it didn't.
I wave my hands about experimentally. The blob of water moves with my hands. I sudden realization hits me and I lose control. I am controlling the water. Free of my instructions, the blob of water falls to the floor. A figure falls out, thrashing and gasping for air. It is the orphanage owner. Once she gets enough air to breathe normally, she starts screaming bloody murder.
" Freak! You're a freak!" The orphanage owner points at me. Panicking, I start to back away. Her accusing fingers point at me. I'm pretty sure all of the children were waking up at this point, and were probably going to hand me over to the police or something. I start to run towards the door. Suddenly, I remember that the keys are always with the orphanage owner. I'm trapped. What do I do now?
Alicia's POV
Wow! I never realized that Sophie was an elemental, too. She never told me. Maybe she just didn't know, though. Oh, no. I bet the kids upstairs are waking up. They're probably gonna catch Sophia and lock her up or something. Well, it's my turn then.
Sophia's POV
Suddenly, just as I am giving up all hope, there is a sudden bloom of flame in the roof. The orphanage owner screams as the ceiling tiles start to drip. The fire burns a hole in the roof. Dang! It's too high to climb to! The fire starts to burn higher, raging, feeding off the fuel of the roof. The dripping ceiling tiles catch another part of the wall and it started to burn. Another hole was burnt in the wall. Yes! When the hole is big enough, I beckon Alicia and start to climb out of it. The ball of flame abruptly blows itself out in a corner. Once out, I start to pull Alicia out too. Just then, she is jerked back.
" Where do you think you're going?" The orphanage owner says.
Alicia's POV
Yes! I did it! I make the fire in the wall grow bigger, brighter, allowing it to eat hungrily at the wall. Soon, the hole is big enough. Sophia beckons to me and starts climbing out of the hole. I put out the fire reluctantly. I grab the bags, which I had dropped on the floor, and run to the hole. Just as Sophia gets out and starts giving me support to climb up, I am pulled back by the orphanage owner.
" Where do you think you're going?" She asks. Oh, no! Wait, I need a distraction. I mull over my options. Should I reignite the fire? But then, what use would it be? Aha! Wait, I can do this!
Sophia's POV
No! I try to pull Alicia back over, but the orphanage owner's grip is like vice. Suddenly, the fire reignites. Must have caught a spark or something. I suddenly caught a glimpse of Alicia's eyes. They are hot orange. I stare at her, but with her next blink, her eyes go back to their normal color. The fire moves over the orphanage owner's head. She stares up at it warily. Soon, the fire starts to melt the cheap ceiling tiles. It starts dripping again. The orphanage owner screams and tries to get out of the way, but the fire follows her, and the dripping ceiling tiles catch her sleeve. Immediately, the fire starts, feeding off the thick fabric of her sleeve. It hungrily laps up the fabric. The orphanage owner screams out loud and starts beating at her charred sleeve. While she was distracted, Alicia ran over to the hole in the wall. I hold on to her and pull her right into the hole and out of that orphanage. We both looked at each other, and hearing police sirens in the distance, our eyes communicated a silent information. We would talk about all of this later, after we'd escaped the range of the police. We ran out into the dark night.
A/N
So, I had really no idea where I was going with this story. My friend told me I should write this and I did. So if there's any spelling errors, grammar errors or anything else like that, just PM me or leave comments. Vote please!
Dedicated to BoredMarshmallow
Shoutout to JoreenMagic
Unedited.