The Elemented

The Visit

P.O.V: Iris

The next time I woke up, I was being dragged by two overweight officers. They made me change into an orange jumpsuit, then dragged me some more to a room filled with jail cells from floor to ceiling. As I looked around, I saw that there was only children with dirty faces in them. Then I remembered something. Imagination is strictly banned, like books and even music. Adults in the city already had no imagination, but children had large imaginations, fueled by the books they had once read. It made me angry that these kids were being punished for this.

My captors threw me into a cell and said, "Have a nice stay."

They laughed at their own cruel joke and slammed the barred door closed. I looked around my cell and found a bathroom with a door but no lock and a sink faucet that doesn't work. There was a small bed with a mattress that was as hard as a slab of stone.

"Just my luck." I say to no one in particular.

I sigh and sit down on the bed and take out the one thing I have left from my parents. I open the book, but all the pages were blank. But as I think about my favorite book, Time Turners, the book actually fills with words and I now have Time Turners in my hands. I dropped the journal in surprise and it closes. I pick the book back up and open it. Once again, the pages are blank.

"Cool." I say out loud.

Before I know it, I fall asleep. In my dream, I see my parents. This time, I run to them and try to hug them.

"Iris listen to me." My mother says to me.

I can't really touch them because it was trying to catch air. I look at my parents with tears in my eyes.

"Iris, honey, I know all of this doesn't make sense to you, but you have a powerful gift that could restore or destroy the world. You need to practice and trust your powers. I know this is a lot to wrap your mind around, but you are special." My mother is smiling at me and my dad nods in agreement.

"Mom? Dad? What should I do? And this guy named Ajax Fent." My voice broke. "It feels like I have some sort of connection with him. What does that mean?" I ask my parents.

They both glance at each other when I said Ajax Fent.

"Honey, that is something you must find out." My dad says mysteriously.

He looks at my mom and she nods.

"Iris, I wish we could stay longer, but we have to go. Be careful, sweetheart."

They smile at me and I try to return their brave smiles, but I am crying too much. Then my parents begin to fade and I start to panic.

"Mom! Dad! Please don't leave me! Come back!" I beg, but it's already too late.

I wake up to find that I'm five feet in the air and my hands were on fire. I immediately fall back on my bed and the flames extinguish. My hair is stuck to my face by cold sweat and tears. Then I hear the door unlock and Ajax stood in the doorway. I pull my hair off my tear-stained face and look up at him.