Elemental

“Not Sebastian! Not my baby boy! Run Sebastian, run…” His mother’s final screams echoed in his ears as Sebastian jerked awake on a gloomy winter morning.

The cracked ceiling was what met his eyes when he opened them. Its river of peeling paint reminding Sebastian of the way his life had crumbled around him lately. Everything he touched turned to dust like the foundation that had once held the paint together.

Feeling more depressed than usual Sebastian decided he didn’t want to be inside anymore. The sky outside was dark and cloudy hinting at a June rain storm that would come with or without him. The kind of weather that meant Sebastian could freely mope outside without being blamed by his uncle for the weather.

Sebastian stood and put on his signature black jeans and black hoodie which his uncle called ‘moody teenager clothes’. With a sigh that would have made his uncle mutter even more about teenagers and their attitudes Sebastian left the apartment as his uncle’s snoring shook the walls.

Outside the air was crisp and the wind sent icy daggers through even the warmest clothes but Sebastian didn’t mind ice was one of his only friends, it didn’t remind him of pain.

He had been a happy child, before the death of his parents anyway. Now he didn’t really see the point in smiling or being joyful. If he didn’t get attached it wouldn’t hurt as much when it got taken away.

It was dangerous to have relationships with people when you were as likely to cause disaster as Sebastian was. One bad day and he could destroy the whole city, drown hundreds of innocent people. No, it would be selfish to connect with anyone.

Sebastian huffed and sat down on the verge about a block away from his crummy apartment. It was bad enough to be an Elemental, cursed to spend your whole life running from the Peacemakers who thought you were too dangerous to be alive. Let alone one who couldn’t even use the powers that made him such an outcast.

Water was his friend and his worst enemy, he was supposed to be able to control it at whim and use it to help himself stay alive like his uncle used the earth. Except Sebastian had never been able to do anything except freeze water. Pathetic that’s what it was.

“What would you do if the Peacemakers attacked you right now Sebastian? Throw ice cubes at them?” he muttered to himself bitterly as he remembered the many, many lessons his uncle had given him on the psycho cult that was responsible for his life on the run.

The Peacemakers were a group who knew of Elementals, they had existed for only the last thirty years or so and considered it their job to rid the world of the threat that was Elementals.

They weren’t entirely with it in the head, these guys seemed to think that every natural disaster that killed people must have an Elemental as its cause. Which wasn’t true because there weren’t even that many Elementals left. Let alone any really powerful ones.

Sebastian felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as though he were sitting in the middle of an electric storm. Something was wrong, he knew it but he didn’t know what.

“Who kicked your puppy?” Sebastian scowled and pulled his hood over his head at the gentle teasing. Damn the elements he knew that voice, she went to his school and though he’d never spoken to her you’d have to be blind not to notice her.

Her name was Gabrielle, she was in the same year as him and with her brilliant white blond hair and gold eyes she was one of the most popular girls in school. He’d only started at Sacred Hearts High School last winter and she’d never even looked at him.

Yet here she was, smirking from under a gold and black hoodie at the irritated glare he gave her. Sebastian wouldn’t have cared if she’d spoken to him before, but the way his neck hair was standing up made him uncomfortable.

“Wow if looks could kill I’d be dead by now” Gabrielle sat down next to Sebastian not seeming to care that he shifted away from her. He wasn’t used to having a girl near him let alone sitting beside him.

“I’m going to call you Puppy, because you look like you either need one or you need to hit something” she laughed and it was an annoying giggle that made Sebastian want to grind his teeth. Couldn’t she just leave him alone? Didn’t she have better things to do then annoy him?

“Go away!” he snarled knowing that he sounded like a jerk but not really caring. He wasn’t in the mood for company, he was never in the mood for company. She was popular if she wanted to be annoying she could go find someone else!

“Well geez, I was only trying to be nice! Are you ever not cranky? Every time I see you at school you look like someone died!” Gabrielle didn’t look so amused anymore in fact she was starting to look angry. Not that Sebastian cared.

“Well maybe you shouldn’t try to be nice to people who didn’t ask for it!” Sebastian stood to leave and accidentally brushed Gabrielle’s shoulder with his hand. A tiny spark of light jumped from her shoulder to his hand and he shook it at the stinging sensation.

“I can be nice to whoever I want, but I won’t be to you again you grumpy freak!” Gabrielle jumped to her feet and stomped away not seeming to notice Sebastian holding his hand in bewilderment.

Damn, the eye colour and the spark of light made Sebastian wonder if he might have accidentally stumbled upon another Elemental like himself. His uncle kept tabs on most of the younger ones in the world trying to keep them from The Peacemakers until they were strong enough to hold their own.

Maybe he didn’t know about Gabrielle or hadn’t seen a reason to tell Sebastian about her power. Either way the only way Sebastian would get any answers would be if he asked Daniel himself.

His uncle would be angry that Sebastian had left the house without his permission, still if he went back now he would hopefully be able to avoid the apartment building falling on top of him from his uncle’s angry earthquakes.

So Sebastian headed back to his apartment pondering the mystery of Gabrielle and not realising how much trouble one golden eyed girl was going to cause him.