Fire & Water & Earth & Air

21: Water

Edward

           The car rumbles as it starts and I pull out of the driveway, where I was haphazardly parked.

           The whole deal is so intense, with Rob's mom missing, Juliette being arrested, and that one guy with the flowers that wouldn't shut up.

           Oh, and my brother.

           I step on it, not caring if I'm over the speed limit. Cars honk at me as I speed past them, but I ignore them. I don't slow down until I reach home, park in the driveway (in a, once again, haphazard way) and run to the door. The stupid key isn't working so I start banging on the door until I hear Eva say, "It's open, dim-wit!"

           I nudge the door and, sure enough, it opens.

           I rush to the living room and see mom sitting on the couch with dad, a cup of wine in both their hands. They throw their head back and laugh, while Eva and Silas sit on the other couch, arguing over the laptop.

           "Mom!" I yell.

           She stops mid-laugh and turns to me with a smile. "Yes, what is it?"

           The wine definitely loosened her up, but she isn't even tipsy. "Mom, what did you tell the officers?"

           Her eyebrows furrow. "About what?"

           "About the dead body! What else?"

           "Well, I told them the truth. A girl shows up at the same time a murder happens. The girl controls fire and the man was burned. They did the rest by themselves."

           "Mom, they arrested her! You know who we bumped into today? A man that can control electricity! And you know what he did? He burned people until they didn't look like people!"

           My father stands up. "Do not raise your voice at your mother!"

           I take two deep breaths. "Mom," I start in a quieter voice, "she's innocent." Then I take two more deep breaths and drop the bomb.

           "But Randy isn't."

           Everyone's head snaps to me. My father takes a shaky hand and places it on my mother's shoulder as he says, "What?"

           I clear my throat. "Randy isn't innocent. He's the man that killed the people.... and Mr. Clayton," I say in a voice too loud to be my own.

           With a shocked gasp, my mother covers her mouth and sits back on the couch, my father's eyes harden as he stares at me, and the twins give each other a look.

           Little buggers know something.

           "Silas? Eva? What's up?"

           Silas doesn't hesitate. "It was Eva's idea. I was gonna tell when I saw him, but she said we should use it for blackmail-"

           His twin elbows him. "Hey, Mom! Silas threw me under the bus!"

           "You knew about his powers?" my father asks, his voice lowering.

           They nod.

           "And you didn't tell us." It's not a question, but the twins nod anyway, slower and with guilt on their shoulders.

           With an apologetic sigh, Eva says, "We're sorry. We didn't think.... we didn't know people would get hurt." Her voice breaks and tears form in her eyes. "I just wanted someone to drive me places and I need blackmail and, and--" That's when she hiccups a sob.