Elements

The next day, I wasn’t sure whether or not I should tell Raven about what had happened the night before. I decided I shouldn’t tell him for his own safety.

“Can you move any slower Jade?” Raven shouted from his car as I was walking out of the house. “Hurry up. We’re going to be late.”

I opened the car door and collapsed in its seat. I was sleepy from staying up so late.

“Why are you so tired? Did you have a project or something to work on?”

“Yeah, I stayed up pretty late last night to work on an essay,” I lied. It was believable since I really did have an essay.

“These damn teachers already giving out work on the first day. My history teacher already gave us a project.” Raven talked the whole way to school, but I was hardly listening. I was still thinking about last night. When will people start coming after our gems? What if we weren’t strong enough to protect them? What if--

“Jade. Earth to Jade.” My thoughts were interrupted by my brother. “We’re at school. You need to start focusing. I know you’re tired, but you’ll have to get used to it.” He and I jumped out of the car and headed our separate directions.

I made it to the oak tree where Leo and Carina were waiting. Michael was behind me, and ran to catch up.

“Guys I’m exhausted. I couldn’t go to sleep after what happened,” I told them.

“Same here. I fell asleep in my cereal and ran into a pole. I can’t focus on anything now,” Michael said. “What are we going to do?”

“Well, I think we should keep our mind off of it for now so we can get through school until the time comes,” Leo suggested.

“Whenever that time is,” Carina muttered. She looked up and saw something behind me. “Look who’s coming.”

It was Kiely, Kendall, and Kayla. They were all wearing name brands and had their hair and makeup done perfectly.

“Well, well, well,” Kiely started. “If it isn’t the lame-o squad.”

“Lame-os!” Kendall and Kayla chanted from behind her.

“What do you want Kiely?” Michael said. “Can’t you just leave us alone? Or are we just so irresistible that you can’t stay away from us?” I stifled a laugh.

“Very funny. Actually, Kayla has some news to tell you.”

“You’d better back off my man.” Kayla stepped towards Carina. “We just celebrated our one year anniversary.” She held up her hand, and on her middle finger sat a gold ring with a fat ruby on it. It was actually beautiful. The more I thought about it, that was the ring that Carina had wanted! She posted on her social media a picture of that ring, saying how she was saving up for it. Carina’s face was red with anger and sadness.

“I told him to buy me it. Do you like it?” She waved her hand around Carina’s face. I could feel a strong breeze around me, making the trees sway and the leaves dance around us. I exchanged worried glances with Michael and Leo. Carina was calling on Air.

I stepped forward. “Carina, we should get going now. There’s no point in listening to her nonsense.”

She didn’t respond. Instead, the wind around us grew heavier until a tree was knocked down. There were many screams coming from students everywhere.

I tried pulling on Carina’s arm. “C’mon girl. We need to go. NOW.” She wouldn’t budge. I looked back at where the tree had fallen, trying to make sure no one was hurt. I heard a high pitched scream and turned around. Kayla was floating in the air!

“Carina! Let’s go! Do you even see what you’re doing right now?” At first, I was worried someone would hear me say that, but I then realized that the wind was too loud for anyone far to hear. She opened her eyes and looked around. Kayla was put back on the ground, and Carina looked flustered.

“I...I’m sorry Jade,” Carina stuttered.

“It’s okay. Let’s just step away from the situation.”

“You freak!” Kayla shrieked. “What did you just do?!”

We ignored her and started walking inside the school, when another tree was knocked down.

“Carina!” Michael shouted.

“Guys, that wasn’t me…” We all ran back outside and saw four figures floating in the air.

They must be Toxic Shadow, I thought.

I followed my first instinct, which was to press the button on my watch to reach Willow. As I did this, we took cover behind a fallen tree. Willow picked up almost immediately.

“Yes?”

“They’re here,” I panted. “Toxic Shadow is here.”

“You must hide your identities. There’s a small switch on the side of your watch. This will open it, and give you access to a button. Hide from others before pressing this button. Good luck.” And with that, the watch was silent.

I turned to my friends and repeated everything she had said. We ran to the side of the school, out of sight from everyone, and pressed the button on the watch.

I thought nothing had happened, when I looked up. Leo and Michael were wearing full bodysuits. Leo’s was light orange, with sleeves and stripes going down either leg that was dark red, and he had black boots on. Michael’s was the same, but with sky blue and indigo. He wore white boots. Carina was wearing a long sleeve, silver v-neck leotard, with matching thigh-high boots. Her long black hair was swept up in a high ponytail, with a silver jeweled crown around the bun. I was wearing the same thing as her, but I had an earthy green theme. My hair was in a crown braid, and a flower headband sat on my head. We were all wearing jeweled masquerade-like masks with colors that coordinate with our outfits. All of our gems were shown and were glowing brighter than ever.

“Cute!" Carina said. "Now that our identities are fully hidden, I think it’s time we actually go out and save the day,”

“What do we do though?” I asked. “They’re all up in the sky.”

“That’s probably the work of Touchless. Carina, can you use Air to get us up to them?” Leo suggested.

“I can try.” Carina closed her eyes and focused. I felt myself being lifted off the ground, and eventually level with Toxic Shadow.

“Hey!” I called out to them. “Leave these people alone. We’re the ones you’re looking for. Come down and fight us.”

“It’s the protectors of the elements,” One of the members said. I assumed she was Touchless. “Get them.”

They were brought down to the ground. I called Carina through the watch and told her to bring us down and to be prepared to fight.

“Got it,” she said. We were slowly being lowered down, and were placed in front of Toxic Shadow.

“You are the protectors?” Touchless laughed. “You are just children. This should be easy.” In an instant, the fighting began. Boulder went for Carina, Icy Volcano for Leo, Black Hole for Michael, and Touchless for me.

I could feel myself being pushed back, but I couldn’t see anything. I realized it was one of her invisible platforms that pinned me against a building. I called on Earth and lifted roots out of the ground to get the platform off. The roots attacked Touchless, but they couldn’t touch her because she was guarded. I knocked down a nearby tree and it hit her platform. She wasn’t strong enough to resist against the weight of the tree, so it broke and it landed on her. I knew she would eventually get back up, but I took the time to try to help someone else.

I saw Michael struggling with Black Hole, so I sent a branch her way. I expected it to hit her, but she formed a portal in front of her, and one in front of me. The branch hit me directly in the face and sent me stumbling on the ground. I looked up, and saw a lamppost about to fall on me! I quickly rolled out of the way, but ended up rolling into another one of Black Hole’s portals. I wasn’t sure where I was, when I realized I was falling from the sky.

I started to panic, but noticed I was falling slower, and was gently put back down on the ground. I looked to Carina, and gave her a thankful smile. I almost died, if it weren’t for Air.

Touchless found me on the ground, and began floating over to me. I launched a bunch of trees and bushes in her direction, but she easily dodged them. I ran into a building, and she chased me into a broken open metal room full of money. I was in the bank vault. I tried using my powers, but it was no use. I couldn’t sense any part of the earth around me to connect to.

I was trapped.

“What’s the matter?” Touchless said in a teasing voice. “Earth isn’t here to save your ass?” I was stuck inside an invisible box, with no way out. She pressed a button on a device in her ear and spoke into it. “Black Hole. I’ve got Earth. Open a portal in the bank vault.”

Seconds after she said that, a void opened beneath my feet, and I was taken somewhere else.