"Oh, you are here." I whisper as soon as I see the silhouette of Selene standing in front of me, her back facing me. She slowly turns around, looking at me with her large, dull white eyes. Her gaze holds nothing, but emptiness and tiredness. I can feel the exhaustion sipping from her, circling and covering her up. She says nothing as she slowly, yet closely eyes me and turns around after she is done. "Selene?" I take the initiative of talking once again, but she gives me no response. Instead, she concentrates on something ahead of us.
I follow my gaze the same direction, only to see nothing, but the horizon of the sea, where sea and sky are touching one another.
"You are still too young." Selene whispers as she looks up at the sky, from where moon is shining peacefully. "Despite your powers and heritage, you still know nothing, Cassidy." She sighs and turns to me, facing me with tired expression. Her gaze lingers at me for another second, before looking aside. "You will see lots of hardships and pain. But you must not give up on who you are." She starts explaining with her eyes frozen on sea and moon.
"What do you mean by that?" I can't help asking, staring at her. She looks older, older and worn out. Yet, her gaze is still strict.
"I have seen what happened to you several days ago. I saw what you could do. I just... I am warning you, not to lose yourself to the power. Do not let elements control you, but you start controlling them. Remember that you are in charge of them and not vice versa." She explains and smiles at me gently. "Till we meet again, Cassie." She whispers the last part, before fading into nothing in front of me.
Once again I find myself waking up in the room full of people. The first person, I spot is mom, sitting on the lather armchair, her face buried in her hands, sobbing. Dad is standing beside her, slowly and gently patting her shoulder, as if scared not to hurt her.
"Cassie." Michael is the first one to notice that I am awake. Besides my parents, he is the only one in the room. Mom lifts her head, bright and worried smile plastered on her face as her eyes land on me. She and dad, hurriedly, yet carefully make their way towards me, giving me a hug before letting me explain on how I ended up in the hospital palate.
"Mom, I am okay, really." I mumble after I hear a small sob escaping her lips. She lifts her head from my shoulders, giving me the tightest smile, one can master. Tears are cascading down her rosy cheeks, dropping on the blanket of mine. Her emerald orbs are red from crying, while her blonde hair is a terrible mess.
Next to her is standing dad with worried expression on his face. His eyes are full of different emotions, I can hardly name. They appear and disappear within seconds, not giving me enough time to comprehend them entirely. His ocean eyes find my own, locking the gaze with me. But he soon averts them to Michael, gesturing something.
"Take care, will you?" Michael smiles at me gently and without giving me a second glance leaves the room. I stare at the white, wooden door with mouth agape. I believed that he would have many questions regarding the matters that took place not so long ago.
"Cassie." Dad whispers in a low voice full of agony. His eyes drift to mom, who only nods in response. He sits on the same armchair, mom was sitting a moment ago and coughs. "We have... something important to tell you. " He sighs and rubs his temples before looking back at me. I sit up, my back against the pillow.
"I can start if you want, Richard." Mom says softly, smiling at dad with sad, yet gently smile. Dad nods, relieved that he would not be alone in this. "So, Cassidy..." She smiles at me and strokes my face softly. "Long ago the family of Stewarts used to be called Achesons." She whispers and waits for the reaction, that never comes. It visible surprises her, but she makes no further comment about it. "Achesons were Royals among Elementals, but due to some events, they had to go in hiding." She adds in a lower voice and looks at dad, who only nods. "But it is not as important as what we have to say." She sighs and smiles. "Achesons had always had stronger abilities compared to others. Their control over the elements were fluent. They were the only people recorded to have the ability to control three elements together. Joan Acheson was a young girl of your age, who, alongside her twin brother Micah, was the one of only to manage and control three elements. She used Ice, Water and Lightning at her will." Mom whispers and looks at dad, who decides to take over the story from there.
"Thus it had a higher possibility to have a family member with stronger powers." Dad smiles at me proudly, as if I have achieved something impossible. "But you have exceeded all our thoughts and became something far more important." He finishes and looks down in a sad smile. He slowly approaches my bed and gives me a look full of pity. "But child, you have inherited powers, no one else should have."
"What do you mean?" I whisper in scared tone. I tried to cover my fear, that slowly kept escaping my grip, but the last words he said made something snap inside of me.
"I am afraid, I cannot tell you anything else." Dad smiles brightly and pats my head. "So, you have any questions, kitten?" A question instantly pops inside my head and I lift my head, wondering if I should ask it, or hide it without letting them to know.
"Dad, who are Dave Acheson and Jeannette Beaufort-Acheson?" I find myself asking the question without the true need of it. I am about to brush the subject off, but the look on both of my parents' face, makes me change my decision.
"Who told you about them?" Mom asks me in trembling tone, looking frantically around, as if scared to see something terrible.
"No one." I shake my head and try to give them an innocent look. "I just dreamt of the names, while I was sleeping." I tell them the truth, they seem not to believe.
I told you not to talk about them, yet you had to jump right onto that subject.
I still can't understand what's wrong with it. I believe I deserve to have some additional information about people, who keep reappearing in my dreams.
It's just side affect, Cassie. Dreams will stop sooner or later. You should not have asked it.
"They are no one." Dad says in the voice, I have never heard before. His tone is stricter and colder, biting a person in the edges. His eyes become like metals instantly, anger surrounding him. As if I can feel the emotions seeping off of him. The radiating energy seems to consume him entirely, as if my question triggered something deep inside of him. "They are just another part of Acheson's long history. Nothing to worry about." He adds in calmer voice. But the way he speaks, the way he moves indicates more, than he wanted to show.
I don't speak, just nod. I let the information flow inside of me. I grip the handful of blanket and sigh, letting my anger transfer into the thin material, letting the small dots of energy jump on it.
"Cassie." Mom whispers my name softly, as if it was an enchantment that has to be dealt with carefully. "Everything is going to be good. I promise." She whispers again, holding my hand tightly. But I don't want thing to be good. I don't want them to be peaceful and safe. The world we live in, can never be safe and I don't want to be hiding behind my parents till my time will come.
They are just worried for you, you know?
But I don't want them to be. I need freedom, Sapphire. And I am not getting even the glimpse of it.
Cassie. You have to understand them. They do love you. And they want what is best for you. They will keep you at bay, ban some things for you, because they love you.
Or because they are afraid to let go of me. They are hiding something from me. And they are lying, how is it keeping someone safe?
One day. You will understand everything one day.
"Cassie." Mom calls out my name again. "What...Where are you staring at?" Her voice cracks by the end, her hands shaking. I have never seen her act like that, emotional. As if she has already lost me.
"Mom..." The word rolls off of my tongue without me intending to do so. "I don't want to be safe." I add with higher tone. Her eyes flicker to me, searching for any signs of non-existing insanity. "I don't want to be preserved. I don't want to be at peace, to have peaceful and safe life. I want to see a real world, mom." I whisper with tears pooling in my eyes. "I can't sit back here and let you shield me from outside world, when I have seen what is going on there. I want to fight. I want to be some kind of help in this madness. I want to deserve my place in this messed-up society and feel as if I truly belong." By the end of the speech, tears are streaming down my reddened cheeks. My eyes are flushed, my breathes hitched and voice cracked and broken. My limbs are trembling uncontrollably. I can feel eyes staring at me, taking in every bit of me, studying me carefully with every fresh tear rolling.
"Cassie." She whispers my name again, but this time she lets go of my hand.
YOU ARE READING
Elements : Book One
Fantasy"There is always something hidden from our eyes. Sometimes, it is just a minor thing, but sometimes, it is a whole new world. " Cassie Stewart was a normal teenage girl in her sinior year. At first glance, her life was perfect. Until the powers star...
