The Elements of Calor

Chapter 1

[Riley's POV]

It was a normal day, or so I thought. I was going on a family vacation, all the way to Los Angeles, to visit my Aunt Lily.

My best friend Tristan was coming with us, and after convincing his parents, he was finally allowed to go.

Right now, we are stuck in the car and have to drive from our house in Portland, Maine all the way across the country.

I've figured out that the trip will take about...TWO DAYS!

My mom said that it won't feel that long, with all of the rest stops and with Tristan there it won't be so boring.

After about 5 hours, we stopped at a café in somewhere in Connecticut, to refuel and get some lunch.

The trip overall is pretty boring and the stops didn't help at all, but we finally arrive in LA, at 4:00 in the morning. Aunt Lily looks really tired when we ring her bell, so we all end up falling asleep in her living room, too tired to even make it up to the rooms she has ready for us.

[Tristan's POV]

When we finally woke up, it was 12:00 noon. Riley and I decided to eat something, then go explore the woods behind her aunt's house. WOODS. IN LA. I know right? She lives in some secluded area that's for really rich people.

"TRISTAN! YOUR SPILLING THE MILK!" yelled Riley, waving her hand in front of my face. "WAKE UP DUDE!"

"Oops, I was just thinking", I said casually cleaning up the milk I spilt while pouring it into my cereal.

"Can we go now?" she said, exasperated. "I don't wanna wait all day!"

"Fine, I just need to grab my jacket," I said. "Let's go."

We ran outside, only to find that it was suddenly pouring rain.

"That's weird," said Riley. "The weather forecast said it was going to be sunny all week, and my aunt said it never rains in LA!"

"Oh well," I said, grabbing my umbrella, "We'll just have to deal with it."

Riley and I rushed into the woods under my umbrella, and quickly took cover under a giant tree. We continued down the path when I suddenly tripped and fell.

"Ow!" I yelled. Riley stopped to see what happened. I looked over to what I tripped on, and realized it was a lever.

Curious, I pulled on it to see what would happen. Nothing. "Huh" I said, "I guess it doesn't work."

I looked over and saw Riley staring into the bushes. "Wait!" she exclaimed, dashing over to the bush. "There's a hole here! That definitely wasn't there before."

I got up and went over to where she was standing. "I don't see what's so important about some hole, it's not like we could go down there or something."

"Right? I said. "Riley?" She looked straight at me and grinned mischievously.

"Sure...."