Elemental

Chapter Six

Katherine led Jade and Charlie towards the house. They stepped inside to see a long and wide hallway made of mirrors with a spiral staircase at the end that led upstairs and downstairs. The mirrored hallway was lined with doors concealed by more mirrors.

"Whoa! There are so many of me!" Charlie gasped as he made silly faces at his reflections. Katherine smiled.

"This is the Main House, where everything happens. The dining room is inside the door to you left and your rooms are being prepared downstairs." Katherine gestured towards more doors and the stairway as she explained where everything was. There were so many doors, Jade thought she would never learn which one leads where. Charlie didn't pay any attention to Katherine's tutorial. When she finished, Katherine looked in a mirror and reapplied lip gloss.

This is your chance. This is your chance to ask the one question you have been waiting to ask Jade thinks.

"Um, why are we here?" Jade asks awkwardly to Katherine. She turned around, looking a bit confused.

"Nobody has told you?" Katherine said, eyebrows arched.

"Told us what?" Charlie speaks to Katherine for the first time, probably the most confused. Katherine looked worried.

"You two need to be introduced to Ezriah in the Introduction room," Katherine gestured towards the fifth door to the left of Charlie and Jade. "so you can learn why you are here. It is not my place to tell you . I'll send him up. Go ahead." Katherine leaves the Petersons and walks down the hall and down the stairs, her high heels clicking. For a moment, Jade stood silently and still.

"Let's go meet Azera, Jade!" Charlie pulls a reluctant Jade in front of the fifth door on the left.

"I think his name is Ezriah, not Azera." Jade corrected her little brother as she turned the shiny reflective doorknob.

For some reason, Jade expected to see more mirrors inside the Introduction Room. She was incorrect. The walls were a soft blue with a sunset painted on the back wall. Plush couches and chairs were randomly placed around the room. A fireplace crackled on the opposite side of the sunset. Somehow, the whole room seemed peaceful. Jade closed the door after she let Charlie in.

"I'm hungry." Charlie stated as his stomach growled. It now dawned on Jade that they had not eaten since dinner yesterday. Had it really been yesterday? Her parents were alive yesterday. Just yesterday!

"Me too, buddy." Jade sat down on one of the plush couches in front of the hearth, waiting for Ezriah to arrive. She set down her faded orange backpack. MROW! Kip wrestled with the zippers. Jade had almost forgotten about him. She unzipped the pack and Kip jumped out. Jade pulled out the emergency kit, water bottles, matches, crackers, cheese, and still some-what frozen ham chunks.

Jade told Charlie to go place the ham near the fire. She gave him three crackers and a bit of cheese. She treated herself, too. The siblings couldn't resist eating all of the food except for five crackers and a good sized chunk of cheese. Jade, still hungry, was about to pop a warm ham chunk into her mouth when the door opened.

"You do realize you don't have to eat your food, right? We have a whole meal prepared downstairs for you two after we are done with the introduction. By the way, I'm Ezriah Freeman."