Elementals: The Prophecy of Shadows Read online

  “There’s energy everywhere.” Chris moved his hands in a giant arc above his head to demonstrate. “Humans know that energy exists—they’ve harnessed it for electronics. The difference between us and humans is that we have the power to tap into energy and use it ourselves, and humans don’t.” He smiled at me, as if I was supposed to understand what he meant. “Make sense?”

  “Not really,” I said. “Sorry.”

  “It’s easier if you relate it to something familiar,” he said, speaking faster. “What happens to the handle of a metal spoon when you leave it in boiling water?”

  “It gets hot?” I said it as a question. This was stuff people learned in fifth grade science—not high school homeroom.

  “And what happens when it’s plastic?”

  “It doesn’t get hot,” I said slowly. “It stays room temperature.”

  “Exactly.” He grinned at me like I’d just solved an astrophysics mathematical equation. “Humans are like plastic. Even if they’re immersed in energy, they can’t conduct it. Witches are like metal. We have the ability to absorb energy and control it as we want.”

  “So, how do we take in this energy?” I asked, since I might as well humor him.

  “Through our hands.” Chris turned his palms up, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He looked like a meditating Buddha. Students snickered, and Chris re-opened his eyes, pushed his sleeves up, and sat back in his chair.

  “O-o-kay.” I elongated the word, smiling and laughing along with everyone else.

  Darius cleared his throat, and everyone calmed down. “We can conduct energy from the Universe into our bodies,” he said, his voice full of authority. Chills passed through me, and even though I still didn’t believe any of this, I sat back to listen. “Once we’ve harnessed it, we can use it as we like. Think of energy like light. It contains different colors, each relating to an aspect of life. I’ve written them on the board. The most basic exercise we learn in this class is to sense this energy and absorb it. Just open your mind, envision the color you’re focusing on, and picture it entering your body through your palms.”

  I rotated my hand to look at my palm. It looked normal—not like it was about to open up and absorb energy from the Universe.

  “We’re going to do a meditation session,” Darius continued. “Everyone should pick a color from the board and picture it as energy entering your palms. Keep it simple and absorb the energy—don’t push it back out into the Universe. This exercise is for practice and self-improvement.” He looked at me, a hint of challenge in his eyes. “Now, please pick a color and begin.”

  I looked around the room to see what others were doing. Most people already had their eyes closed, the muscles in their faces calm and relaxed. They were really getting into this. As if they truly believed it.

  If I didn’t at least look like I was trying, I would stand out—again. So I might as well go along with it and pretend.

  I re-examined the board and skimmed through the “meanings” of the colors. Red caught my attention first. It apparently increased confidence, courage, and love, along with attraction and desire. The prospect made me glance at Blake, who sat still with his eyes closed, his lips set in a line of concentration.

  But he was out of my league and he had a girlfriend. I shouldn’t waste my time hoping for anything to happen between us.

  Instead, I read through the other colors and settled on green. It supposedly brought growth, success, and luck, along with helping a person open their mind, become more aware of options, and choose a good path. Those were all things I needed right now.

  I opened my palms towards the ceiling and closed my eyes. Once comfortable, I steadied my breathing and tried clearing my mind.

  Then there was the question of how to “channel” a color. Picturing it seemed like a good start, so I imagined myself pulling green out of the air, the color glowing with life. A soft hum filled my ears as it expanded and pushed against me, like waves crashing over my skin. The palms of my hands tingled, and the energy flowed through my body, joining with my blood as it pumped through my veins. It streamed up my arms, moved down to my stomach, and poured down to my toes. Green glowed behind my eyelids, and I kept gathering it and gathering it until it grew so much that it had nowhere else to go.

  Then it pushed its way out of my palms with such force that it must have lit up the entire room.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The bell rang, and my eyes snapped open, the classroom coming into focus. I looked around, taking in the scuffed tiled floor, the chalkboard covered with writing, the white plaster walls, and the lack of windows. Everything looked normal. Unchanged. There was no proof that anything I’d just felt had been more than a figment of my imagination.

  But that energy flowing through my body had been so real. I tightened my hands into fists and opened them back up, but only a soft tingle remained. Then it disappeared completely.

  Kate stood up, dropped her backpack on her chair, and studied me. “I’m guessing from the look on your face that it worked,” she said.

  “I don’t know.” I shrugged and picked up my bag. “I’m not sure what was supposed to happen.” I met her eyes and managed a small smile, since it wasn’t exactly a lie.

  But the energy I’d felt around me was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. Which meant my imagination was running out of control. Because there was no proof that I’d done anything. What I’d “experienced” had existed only in my head. Right?

  Kate glanced at her watch. “What class do you have first?”

  I pulled out my schedule. “Honors Biology.” I scrunched my nose at the prospect. “They put me in all honors classes, and I have no idea why. I was in regular classes at my old school.”

  “I’ve got Honors Bio, too,” she said. “Come on. I’ll explain the whole honors thing on the way there.”

  I followed Kate down the hallway, although I kept bumping into people, since my mind was spinning after what had happened in homeroom. I’d felt something during that meditation session. Maybe it was the energy that Darius was talking about. And if this energy stuff was the reason behind the miraculous recovery of my torn tendon and the healed scar …

  I pushed the thought away. There had to be another explanation. One that made sense.

  Kate edged closer to the wall to give me space to walk next to her. “So, about the honors classes,” she said, lowering her voice. “You saw what was written on the board. Each color has a different meaning. Once we learn how to harness energy properly, we can use the different colors to help us … do things.”

  “What kind of things?” I asked.

  “Let’s take yellow—my personal favorite—as an example,” she said. “Yellow increases focus and helps us remember information. If you channel yellow energy before studying for a test, it won’t take as long to review everything, and you’ll remember more. It’ll make your memory almost photographic. Pretty cool, right?”

  “It does sound useful,” I agreed. “Although I’m still not buying all this colors and energy stuff.”

  “Give it time.” Kate smiled, as if she knew something I didn’t, and stopped in front of a classroom door. “We’re here. Want to sit with me?” She led the way to a table in the front, and I followed, even though front and center wasn’t my thing. “I’ll help you with the basics after school,” she offered. “You got the hang of channeling energy pretty quickly, so it shouldn’t be hard. Sometimes it takes the freshmen months to gather enough energy to feel anything significant. It was obvious from where I was sitting that you did it on your first try. That was pretty impressive.”

  “I’m not sure I actually did anything, but sure, I’ll study with you after school,” I said. Even though this energy stuff sounded crazy, it was nice of Kate to reach out. I didn’t want to miss the chance to make my first friend here. “I could definitely use help getting caught up with my classes.”

  “Great.” Kate beamed. “I’m sure you’ll pick it up quickly.”
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br />   More students piled in, a few of them people I recognized from homeroom. Then, just as I’d started to think it was stupid to hope he would also be in this class, Blake strolled inside, with Danielle trailing close behind.

  His eyes met mine, and my breath caught, taken aback by how he’d noticed me again. But he couldn’t be interested in me like that. It was probably just because I was new. And because, as embarrassing as it was to admit, he’d caught me staring at him. So I opened my textbook to the chapter that Kate already had open, focusing on a section on dominant and recessive genes as if it were the most fascinating thing I’d ever read in my life.

  “I told you in homeroom that he’s taken, remember?” Kate whispered once Blake and Danielle were far enough away.

  My cheeks heated. “Was it that obvious?”

  “That you were checking him out?” Kate asked, and I nodded, despite how humiliating it was that she’d noticed. “Yeah.”

  “I’m not doing it on purpose,” I said. “I know that he has a girlfriend. I would never try anything, I promise. But … have you seen him? It was hard not to at least look.”

  “I know you’re not doing it on purpose,” she said. “He’s one of the hottest guys in the school—I get that. But Danielle doesn’t take it too kindly when girls flirt with Blake. Or check out Blake. Or even look like they’re interested in Blake. It’s in your best interest to keep your distance from both of them. Trust me.”

  I was about to ask why, but before I could, the bell rang and class began.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The other sophomores from homeroom were in most of my classes, and Kate sat with me in each one, including lunch. I was so behind in the honors courses that I seriously needed whatever Kate said she would teach me after school to help.

  “What class do you have next?” Kate asked as we packed our bags after advanced Spanish.

  I pulled my schedule out of my pocket. “Ceramics.” I groaned. I wasn’t awful at art, but I would have preferred a music elective, since music was always my favorite class. “What about you?”

  “Theatre,” she answered, tucking her hair behind her ears. “I want to be in the school play this spring, but I always get nervous on stage. Hopefully the class will help.”

  “You’ll get in,” I said. “Besides, can’t you use that witchy energy stuff to convince the teacher to give you the part you want? Or mess up other people during their auditions so they don’t get the leads?”

  Her eyes darted around the hall, and she leaned in closer, lowering her voice. “We don’t use our powers to take advantage of others,” she said. “I’ll fill you in on everything later. Okay?”

  I nodded and followed her through the art wing, resisting the urge to ask her more right now. Instead, I looked around. Student paintings decorated the walls, and what sounded like a flute solo came from a room close by. Kate stopped in front of the double doors that led to the theatre. “This is me,” she said. “The ceramics room is upstairs—you shouldn’t miss it.”

  We split ways, and like Kate had told me, the ceramics room was easy to find. Kilns lined the side wall, pottery wheels were on the other end, bricks of clay were stacked in shelves in the back, and the huge windows were a welcome change from the stuffy classrooms I’d been in so far.

  I looked around to see if anyone seemed receptive to having the new girl join them, and my eyes stopped when they reached Blake’s. He sat at the table furthest away, leaning back in his seat with his legs outstretched. The chairs next to him were empty. He nodded at me, as if acknowledging me as a member of a special club, and I noticed that no one else from homeroom was in this class. Could he be inviting me to sit with him?

  Since everyone from homeroom seemed to stick together, I took that as a yes and walked toward Blake’s table, my pulse quickening with every step. I remembered what Kate had told me earlier about Danielle—how she was crazy possessive over Blake—but Danielle wasn’t here. And Blake was the only person who wanted me to join him. Refusing would be rude.

  He moved his legs to give me room, and I settled in the seat next to him. His deep, liquid eyes had various shades of reddish brown running through them, and he was watching me as if he was waiting for me to say something. I swallowed, not sure how to start, and settled on the obvious.

  “Hi.” My heart pounded so hard I feared he could hear it. “You’re in my homeroom, right?”

  “Yep,” he said smoothly. “We also have biology, history, and Spanish together.” He counted off each on his fingers. “And given that you’re in Darius’s homeroom, it’s safe to say that you have Greek mythology with me next period as well. I’m Blake.”

  “Nicole,” I introduced myself, even though Darius had already done so in front of the class this morning. “I heard that all of the sophomores in our homeroom have to take Greek mythology. Luckily I read The Odyssey in English last year, so I shouldn’t be totally lost.”

  “There’s a reason we’re required to take Greek mythology.” He scooted closer to me, as if about to tell me a secret, and I leaned forward in anticipation. “Did you know that we—meaning everyone in our homeroom—are descended from the Greek gods?”

  I arched an eyebrow. “Like Zeus and all of them living in a castle on the clouds?” I asked.

  “Exactly.” He smirked. “Except that they’re referred to as the Olympians, and they call their ‘castle in the clouds’ Mount Olympus.”

  “So you’re saying that we’re gods?”

  “We’re not gods.” He smiled and shook his head. “But we have ‘diluted god blood’ in us. It’s what gives us our powers.”

  “Right.” I wasn’t sure how else to respond, and I looked down at the table. Was he playing a joke on me? Trying to see how gullible the new kid could be?

  “What’s wrong?” He watched me so intensely—so seriously—that I knew he was truly concerned.

  “The truth?” I asked, and he nodded, his gaze locked on mine. So I took a deep breath, and said, “Everything from our homeroom sounds crazy to me. But you’re all so serious about it that I’m starting to think you actually believe it.”

  “It’s a lot to take in at once,” he said.

  “That’s the understatement of the day.” I flaked a piece of dried clay off the table with my thumbnail. “But Kate offered to teach me some stuff after school, and she’s been really nice by taking me around all day, so I told her I would listen to her.”

  “Kate’s a rule follower,” Blake said, crossing his arms. “She’s only going to tell you about a fraction of the stuff we can do. But stay in homeroom with us, and maybe my friends and I will show you how to have real fun with our abilities.”

  The teacher walked inside before I could respond, and the chattering in the room quieted. As much as I wanted to ask Blake what he meant, I couldn’t right now. We weren’t supposed to talk about our abilities when humans could hear.

  Then I realized: I’d thought of other people as “humans,” like I wasn’t one of them anymore.

  The scary thing was—I might be starting to believe it.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  After Greek mythology, Kate and I walked together to the classroom in the library. Darius was there, hunched over his desk as he studied a paper. Kate knocked on the door, and Darius flinched backward, lifting his head to look at us.

  “Nicole.” He picked up the paper and put it into his briefcase. “I’m glad you’re back. I wanted to apologize again for the dramatic way I introduced all of this to you this morning. I didn’t realize that you were coming in here knowing nothing.”

  “It was certainly dramatic.” I looked at the board where the writing had changed in front of my eyes that morning. “And to be honest, I’m still not sure if I believe any of it. It seems very…” I paused, not wanting to say anything that he might take as insulting.

  “Far-fetched?” he completed my thought, and I nodded. “I wouldn’t blame you for thinking that. However, what’s your instinct telling you?”

  �
��My instinct can’t get over how witches are creatures from fairy tales—or horror stories,” I said. “They don’t exist.”

  “Give it time.” He waved my answer away, and packed up his stuff. “I shouldn’t have asked you so soon.”

  “Hold on,” I said, since I still wanted answers. “What did you do to the board this morning? When you made the letters move?”

  “I didn’t ‘make the letters move.’” He chuckled. “Our powers are mental, not physical. So before you came inside, I created an illusion to hide what was really written on the board. Once I determined your identity, I removed the illusion to allow you to see what it actually said.”

  “You ‘created an illusion,’” I repeated, shaking my head. “I guess I shouldn’t have expected something that made sense.”

  “It will make sense,” he said. “Just give it time. After all, you did a fantastic job with harnessing energy this morning during our practice session. You chose green, did you not?”

  “I did,” I said, gripping the strap of my bag. “How did you know that?”

  “I felt it fill the room,” he said. “It was impossible not to sense it. Well, at least impossible for me. None of the other students are advanced enough to have been able to tell. But that was quite impressive, especially for a first try. It would be a shame to waste such natural talent.”

  I stood there, unsure what to say. I hadn’t told anyone what color I’d chosen that morning. How could Darius have known?

  It was either an excellent guess, or he was telling the truth.

  “I’m going to go over the basics with Nicole,” Kate spoke up. “I want to help catch her up.”

  “Thank you, Kate,” Darius said. “I know you’ll lead her in the right direction. In the meantime, I’m going to get out of your way. I’ll see both of you tomorrow morning.”