The Beginning (book one)

Chapter Twenty

Emily watched the wave stop. It slipped down, not hitting anyone. It was amazing. Emily stood there in the water, amazed. How had that happened.

Oh yeah! Powers. Because that's something they had.

Emily sighed, and walked further into the water. She walked over to where Kyle and Astrid were.

"That was so cool!" Emily squealed. Kyle let out a breathless laugh.

"Y-yeah! There goes my fear of water." Kyle stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

"'Water' you talking about?" Jack asked gleefully, walking up to the trio, Ann walking with him. "That wasn't just cool. It was amazing! Glad you found your power!"

"Hehe, thanks." Kyle said. "I don't really know what came over me. I just saw the big wave that was behind Astrid, and I thought about what happened to me when I was little. So, I just... Ran."

"Hmm, I bet Sophia is right about everybody else's powers, since she was right about Kyle." Astrid said thoughtfully.

"Probably." Ann said.

"A-ha!" Jack exclaimed. "That means puns!"

Ann groaned, and playfully pushed him.

"Oh!" Emily exclaimed, clasping her hands together. "We should play the game Marco Polo!"

"I'm clearly going to win!" Jack said cockily. Ann raised an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't count on it." She said dryly. "You're not the one who has water powers."

The five of them spent the rest of the day tromping through the water. It ended when the sun was setting.

Ann had dived into the water, trying to escape Jack, who was 'It'. Jack dived in after her, laughing. He hit her foot, and she let out an angry breath. The air bubbles floated to the top of the water. There was a sound, and little flashes of blue light. Emily watched Ann rise out from the water, hissing in pain. There were little burn marks on her arms. Jack came up to the surface after her.

"What happened?" Astrid said, worry in her voice.

"Something burned me!" Ann said, clutching her forearm. The five of them walked onto the dry sand, heading towards Sophia, who had been sitting on the sand the whole time. She slipped her sunglasses noto the top of her head, a small, amused smile on her face.

"Hmm. To me, it looked like lightning had struck you. And, I bet, the lightning had come from you, Ann." Sophia said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Yeah, probably." Jack said casually. "She struck me last night. I don't think she did it on purpose, but she did it. Don't worry, it was only a small burn."

"Oh, I can give you a bigger burn, if you'd like." Ann growled, little lightning bolts sticking out from her closed fists. Her eyes were a bright, electric blue.

"O-oh no thank you. I'm okay!" Jack said in a nervous, high-pitched voice.

"So, I think we're just going to sleep in the van tonight. We can't keep taking hotel rooms." Sophia said, interrupting Ann and Jack. "So, go get dressed, and pile into the van."

"Okay!" Emily chirped, and skipped away to get dressed.

Emily emerged last, and bounded into the passenger seat of Sophia's van.

"Okay. We're all accounted for." Sophia said, locking the doors of the van. Emily gave a soft smile and closed her eyes. After a couple minutes, she drifted off to sleep.