Elements

2. common area

I step out of the small room into the white hallway. I look down the hall and their is just 3 other rooms lining the hall and a black door at the end. I look down the other direction and there is another door along the wall that looks like it's a blast shield honestly, why does it feel like this is a psych ward?

I slowly start walking down the hall when it opens up to what appears to be a common area? I freeze as I see other people.

An tall Asian guy with shorter black hair around my age stands up off the couch as he sees me. Not very long after a thin black girl then stands up beside him and also stares across the room at me. She's beautiful, with long curly black hair. What the hell is this place.

"Hello" she says breaking the silence, she's British.

I don't say anything and after a few seconds the girl starts the walk closer towards me.

"I'm Jesse, this is Aaron, you're Ivy right?" she says pointing to the guy she was standing beside. "We're like you, you don't have to be scared of us" she smiles and I step back again as she gets closer. Like me?

"Uhm" she says stopping. "I know you must be scared, we where the same way when we got here but you don't have to be scared of us, we're just kids who were kidnapped too, we're just like you" she says reassuring me again

"Look" she says pulling his hair back and behind her ear is a faint small tattoo of an upside down triangle? "My element is water" she says smiling

"And I'm air" Aaron says with an Australian accent, now joining in as he also pulls his ear back revealing a right side up triangle with a line horizontally through it?

"I don't know what I am?" I say confused

"You're the only one left, they have been looking for you for a few days now" she says grinning "you're Earth"

"They have been looking for me for days?" I say confused. What the hell are they talking about?!

"Yeah, you just turned 21?" She says and I nod unsure. "Every 21 years the elements moves to a new person to protect it"

"You know you sound crazy right" I say confused

"They used Malek to find you, they tracked you down, as soon as they have one of us they have all of us" she says "here, I'll show u" she says moving towards me and I let her this time, watching her steps cautiously.

"Do u feel that" she says holding her hand out over mine and suddenly their is this tingling feeling full of energy. it's like I am feeding off her aura, I suddenly feel better? It's like I can sense her energy and where she is and as I do I can suddenly feel Aaron now, followed by a feeling coming from behind me?

I turn around and it's coming from behind the huge metal doors?

"That's Malek" she says knowing what I'm thinking

"What is he?" I say confused

"Fire" Aaron says and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Is that why I felt like I was burning in the van?

"They brought him to get you because fire is your weakness, you can't compete with his powers, not that you even knew you had them" Jesse says

"But you're water?" I say trying to piece it together now. What the hell does that even mean?

"Yes, I'm Malek weakness" she nods

"We all balance each other out, one way or another" she grins

"What are they doing to him" I say looking back at the metal doors, I can feel his discomfort, it's like before I was aware it was nothing but now I know I can feel them and their presence I can't ignore it.

"Testing him, pushing his limits" Aaron says sitting down on one of the couch's that are set out around a small tv next to a table with art supplies and a small keyboard piano? This is our entertainment? Seriously

"What is this place?" I say sitting down aswell on the adjacent couch across from them

"It's a testing unit, they use us and study us like science projects and try to find ways for them to use us to manipulate the outside world" Aaron says and I just nod. Wonderful.

Suddenly the metal doors swing open as a gaurd leaves out them from behind us. I turn around to see a glimpse of what looks like Malek in distress, strapped to a standing metal contraption as his shirt appear to be burnt off him as his skin is dark and ashy when the door finally swings back shut?

"What are they doing to him?!" I say turning back around scared. I'm not going in there.

"Could be anything" Jesse says shrugging

"Probably seeing how hot he can burn, how big he can get, they have been testing my limits too" Aaron says nonchalantly

"How hot he can burn?" I say confused

"His clothes are burnt off for a reason" Jesse says and suddenly fear washes over me again

"I want to go home" I say scared now

"Don't we all" Aaron says under his breath when suddenly the metal doors open again and when I turn around Malek is walking out of the room with his eyes on me wearing only a white towel around his waist as the rest of him is black and ashy from head to toe. He walks down the hall to a different room. He's a lot taller than he looked in the van.

"He's going to the showers" Jesse says from behind me as I turn back around and face them.

"Lights out tonight in 10" a man wearing all white says coming into the room and Jesse and Aaron nod.

"That's our que, it's because it's your first night" Jesse says standing up with Aaron so I do the same. I follow them down the hall past the rooms to the black door at the end of the hall?

I follow them inside as it leads to a large bathroom with 6 individual showers with walls that only go up to your waist? Are you kidding me. I see Malek standing under one of the showers washing his chest and abdomen with soap as he gets the ash off his skin, I look back up and realize he has his eyes already dead set on me, clearly watching me very obviously checking him out like an idiot. I quickly shift my eyes back to Jesse and Aaron as we all grab our toothbrushes and begin to brush our teeth? I find myself curious again like an idiot as I look up in the reflection of the mirror at Malek but he's staring directly at me through the reflection and I quickly shoot my eyes back down. What did they do to him in there?

We wrap it up and leave the bathroom leaving Malek still inside as we then break apart and go to our separate rooms.