The Fifth Element

When Emily and I came back from gathering sticks, we found my mom, Mr. Howl, and Danny deep in conversation. Kami sat only a few feet away from them on a log with Carson.

“I think the best thing to do is to make a raft and try to row over to the cabin,” I heard my mom say.

Mr. Howl made a noise of disapproval, “We can’t build a raft strong enough to hold us and all our stuff,” he pointed to my pyramid. “It would take at least seven trips, and we don’t have enough daylight to do that in and I don’t like the look of those rocks, especially if they aren’t being lit up by the] sun,” he gestured to the lake and sure enough I could make out the shapes of several black rocks protruding from the water, “Mr. Howl’s golden eyes landed on Emily and me for the first time since our return. “Look, we already have enough firewood to get us through the night.”

My mother looked at the ground with disgust, and then back at the cabin across the lake longingly. I could tell what she was thinking. She really did not want to sleep on the ground with all the bugs and critters; neither did I, but I wasn’t about to argue with what Mr. Howl said. He was one of those people who could live off of the land and do it in any kind of environment. I guess my mother knew this too, because she gave in quickly, and agreed to attempt the boat ride to the cabin tomorrow.

I had just placed my bundle of sticks in a neat pile and was in the process of standing back up when I felt a burning sensation in the middle of my stomach. The pain was so intense that I doubled over.

“Violet?” my mother was by my side in a flash. “What’s wrong baby, where does it hurt?”

I opened my mouth to answer her when another wave of unbearable pain hit me like a ton of crystals, so all that came out of my mouth was a moan. I let out a cry of pain as yet another stronger wave of pain washed over me. I toppled over from my crouching position and curled myself into a tight ball on the dirt.

“C’mon baby, tell me what’s wrong! ” My mother sounded beyond frantic. “Where does it hurt, is it your stomach? Oh, gods, you’re burning up!”

I managed a nod, and then a remembered something I had banished to the back of my mind, the tattoo, the tattoo designed to kill me. The school board was using the curse on my stomach to kill me!

Then, one more wave of excruciating pain hit me, and I slipped into a black void.

When I came to, I was standing in Greta’s office, but something looked different about it, something had changed since the last time I had been in here, but what? Then I notice it, a room where a wall used to be behind Greta’s desk.

“Ahh great, you’re dead too.”

I jumped at the sound of Lacy’s voice. I looked all around me, but could not pinpoint where her voice was coming from. “Down here you idiot,” I looked down to see Lacy’s head sticking up from the floor.

“How did I get here?” I asked her, a little dazed.

Lacy shrugged her shoulders and pulled the rest of her body into the office. “Who knows why any of us end up where we are, so how did you die?”

“I’m not dead.”

“Oh, really?” Lacy reached out her hand, and instead of her hand going through me, her fingers grazed my skin, as she rested her hand on my right shoulder.

I looked down at her pale hand resting on my shoulder. “I think I’m going to pass out.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you can’t, there’s no sleep or rest for those of us trapped in limbo, which now includes you,” She poked me in the middle of the forehead, and floated over towards the new room. “At least I’ve got some company now, gets kind of lonely around here.”

“I thought you hated me.”

“Nah, I was just jealous of your living status is all, but now since you’re dead too we are both just a couple of dead girls, aren’t we? ” She smiled, and I got a chill down my spine if that was even possible for a ghost to get a chill. She floated past me and into the new room.

“Wait, where are you going?” I asked, and ran after her, and then realized my feet weren’t touching the ground. Man, this day was just getting better and better, wasn’t it?

“Seeing what the headmaster’s dirty little secret is,” Lacy replied. “Whoa, isn’t that your boyfriend’s sister? I was starting to wonder what the hell happened to little miss perfect.”

“You mean Amber!?” I pushed past Lacy and was horrified by what I saw. Amber was tied to a wooden stake planted in the center of the floor. There was a blue piece of cloth in her mouth, and her hands were tied behind her back. She looked like she had been beaten recently.

“Jeez and I thought I had it bad,” Lacy snorted. I turned and stared her down.

“What!? I mean just look at her.”

“Is there any way we can help her?” I said, looking away from Lacy and at Amber hopelessly.

Lacy shook her head and looked kind of sad. “I’m afraid we can’t do anything to help her,” Lacy floated over, and reached out to Amber, but her hand passed right through her. I tried to touch Amber too, but with the same end result.

I let my hand fall to my side in defeat. But then something caught my attention, a sort of buzzing sensation coming from one of the walls. I didn’t know how to explain it, but it just felt like there was a massive amount of power just on the other side.

“Do you feel that?” I asked Lacy.

“Feel what?”

“That.” I put my hand on the wall, and my hand went through it. I drew it back quickly.”

“I feel it too, come on, I want to see some more of the headmaster’s secrets.” She grinned again.

“I’m not sure if I’m ready to go through a wall yet,” I said, eyeing the black stones uneasily.

“Oh, stop being such a baby and come on.” She grabbed my wrist and, before I could protest, pulled us through the wall, but before we reached whatever laid on the other side, a slight pull on my body stopped me in my tracks. Then, there was another tug, but this one was much more massive. I went flying backward and out of the school. I had the sensation of flying through the air, and then I smacked into something hard.

At first, there was nothing, and then there was something, a sound, a voice.

“Violet, can you hear us, Violet!? Come on wake up!” The voice sounded muffled like it was yelling at me from the top of a well, and I was clear at the bottom.

Someone was shaking me violently, and I just wanted nothing more than them to stop. My body ached all over, and the shaking wasn’t helping the matter.

“Stop! I groaned.” The shaking stopped. I cracked my eyes open a sliver and found that everything was blurry. I opened my eyes even more, but I could only make out the outlines of several figures. In the background, someone was pacing back and forth.

“She’s awake!” The voice, which no longer sounded like it was coming from the top of a well, exclaimed, “The marking on her stomach, it just disappeared.”

“Oh, thank the gods!” I heard my mother say in relief. The person in the background stopped pacing, and the people around me leaned in closer.

“I just want to go back to sleep mommy,” I whispered.

“Alright baby you do that,” my mom whispered back and planted a kiss on the top of my forehead.

I smiled and let my gaze rise to the yellow and pink-streaked sky, but something caught my attention, something big was circling us from above. I raised my arm and pointed at it, just as my vision blend into a single color, black.

I woke up to a cold breeze hitting my face, and the sound of flapping wings. I opened my eyes to see glittering blue scales everywhere. I instantly knew what was going on.

“Just like old times, huh Henry?” I said. I was thrown over Henry’s saddle like a bag of potatoes again, but this time, I was in front of him instead of behind. I guess he had learned his lesson from the first time.

There was a long silence and then a reply. “Yeah, but this time I’m actually kidnapping you.”

“You’re doing this because of Amber, aren’t you?”

There was an even bigger pause then. “How did you know?” Henry asked though he didn’t sound too surprised.

“I saw her. She was tied to a wooden stake in Greta’s office. The question is why? Wouldn’t you go track me down on your own, without having to have something over your head.”

“Because Greta wants you for something evil, and there’s no better way or any other way to get me to do her bidding, then threatening the only member of my family!” he spat. “I perform at my best under pressure, after all, and she knows that. I’m surprised that I even found you alive. Last time I heard the school board was about to cook you alive. ” he finished, his voice was filled to the brim with bitterness.

“I believe that,” I laughed bitterly, and cringed at the pain. “They actually already tried to cut my strings just a little while ago,” I felt Henry tense up. “I’m not sure how I’m still alive. Hey, can I ask you one thing... are the people I was traveling with alright?”

“None of them knew what was coming. I just swooped down and took you, though that Danny kid got a good swipe at me,” Henry grunted, and I realized, for the first time, how pained his voice was.

I sat up as fast as I could and turned to Henry. The first thing I noticed was the huge gash running across his chest. He gave me a halfhearted smile before he slumped forward, and passed out leaving me hundreds of feet above the ground on a dragon, which I didn’t know how to fly.