I scrunched my brow at the mention of my name.
"How does everyone know my name?!" I cried. I did not trust these people at all.
"I'm very sorry for surprising you. But rest assured, I do not wish to cause you any harm. Let me introduce myself," the man said. "My name is Archean. It is a pleasure to meet you."
He held out his hand for me to shake and I did so hesitantly.
"Uh, yeah, nice to meet you too," I said in a nervous voice. "So, why exactly am I here?"
"You are here because of your...small incident at your high school," he said, choosing his words carefully. "I sent Gram to bring you here."
'Okay, what doesn't make sense is how he found me.' My head started to spin from all my thoughts. I wrapped my arms around myself.
"What are you going to do to me?" I said in a whisper. The room fell silent and my question rang out. I bit my lip nervously. Next thing I knew, someone was hugging me. It had to have been Astrid because I saw a flash of red. At first, I was frozen in place, but I hugged her back. It felt nice that someone cared enough to comfort me. To have someone to tell me everything was going to be alright.
I started to break down in front of them. I squeezed Astrid harder and cried. I had never realized just how much I really needed this. I held this in for a long time, 7 years to be exact. The moment I was adopted I knew that crying would make it worse, so I held it in. I never let it show how much I was hurting. I just knew that I had to stay strong because one day I would escape. I would leave and never come back. I could have the life I always wanted.
Astrid just rubbed my back and held me as I cried. Once I had stopped and my crying was reduced to a sniffle, she pulled back and grabbed a chair to sit next to me. She gave me a kind smile. A smile that promised friendship. I returned a small smile and wiped my eyes. Archean cleared his throat and I looked back up. His eyes softened when he looked at me. My face turned red in embarrassment.
"I'm so sorry about what has happened. I know you just met us and you don't trust us, but... just know that we are here even if you don't want us to be," Archean said with a small smile.
"Thank you," I said. Even though this goes against all logic, I trusted them. I really did. I knew they weren't going to hurt me and that they would take care of me. But, now was not the time to cry. I wanted answers.
"I'm sorry for crying in front of you, but can you please just tell me what happened?"
Archean sighed. "What happened is you lost control."
I scrunched my brow. "Lost control of what?"
Astrid and Gram looked at each other. Gently, Astrid touched my arm. "Amara, how much do you remember?"
I focused on trying to recall what happened. "I remember getting really upset and then I felt this weird little tug in my stomach. It grew and it started to consume my body. I was so cold. It almost felt like everything in my body just froze."
Astrid, Gram, and Archean were gaping at me. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Gram was the first to speak.
"It's impossible," he said looking back and forth. "Isn't it?"
Archean shook his head. "Ice...amazing."
"Um, can someone explain please," I said, growing more uncomfortable by each passing moment.
"It means you are very special Ms. Solis. The last time one of us could control ice was long ago," Archean said with a far-away look.
My eyes widened, all of the puzzle pieces falling into place. "I-I can control ice," I stuttered. It sounded like I was trying to convince myself. 'OMG, I'm freaking Elsa.' I laughed internally at my horrible comparison. Then, another thought struck me.
"How?" I said. "I'm human... right?"
Archean ran his hand through his hair. He mumbled something to himself.
"Alright," he began. "I know this is a lot to take in so can you please just listen?"
I nodded my head. "Let's start with the basics." He continued.
"Ms. Solis, you must understand that the world that you are living in is not what you think it is. In fact, almost everything you know is false. The human race has a hard type accepting change, especially when the truth is so life-changing. That is why it was covered up, but the truth is, humans are not the only species in the world. In reality, there are actually millions of races of extraterrestrial beings." I opened my mouth to say something. "Call them aliens if you like, but you yourself are an alien." I shut my mouth instantly.
"You see, not just anyone can control the elements. It has to be what we call an elemental hybrid, hybrid for short. A hybrid is any intellectual species mixed with a human. They are very rare and very few survive. Gram and Astrid are hybrids too. Gram is half-giant and Astrid is half-fire nymph."
"As for what elements they control, you can ask them. Now, there are as many elements as you can imagine and more, but there are 5 main elements: fire, earth, ice, energy, and darkness. These five are the purest form of the elements. The rest of them are separated into categories below these five. For example, energy or electricity has 'lower forms', such as static, light, plasma, etc."
"Sometimes certain elements can be mixed. Such as ice and darkness can create shadow ice or darkness and energy can create dark lightning. Hybrids can also have the ability to control more than one element which leads me to believe that you might be able to because of your rare ability."
Archean stopped, signaling that he was finished. I just sat there, gaping at them. 'I feel like Sophie Foster,' I thought. This was so much, almost too much. My world had been shattered and rebuilt in a couple of paragraphs. I slowly sat back in my chair and closed my mouth. I squeezed my eyes shut and inhaled deeply. When I opened my eyes, I looked at Astrid.
"What do you control?"
Astrid blinked, surprised at my bluntness. "I control white fire."
I looked at Gram expectantly.
"Oh, I control the earth and metal."
I nodded. Quietly, I got up from my chair and walked out.
"Wait, Amara!" Astrid called out. I stopped and looked back at her. She ran up to me and linked my arm with hers. "I will take you to your room."
I gave her a weak smile and nodded. She walked me back and waved goodbye. After she was gone, I flopped onto my bed. My head was spinning and it felt like it was going to explode. Suddenly, I heard a small knock on my door. I got up with a groan and opened my door. Standing in front of me was Gram.
"Gram, what are you doing here?" I said, slightly surprised to see him.
"I just wanted to check on you. I mean you didn't really say anything when you left," he said.
I sighed. I stepped aside, letting him inside. I closed the door and sat down in one of the armchairs. Gram sat down in the other one. He looked at me, waiting for me to start. I let out a shaky breath.
"I don't know anymore. I was just told that I have ice powers! I-I'm still trying to figure out how to react. I mean, I'm very happy for all the things you have done for me, but... I'm just scared. I just met you guys and I already like you, but I don't want to hurt you," my voice trailed off and tears sprung into my eyes. "What if I hurt you or Astrid? What if I hurt someone again?"
Gram got up and hugged me. "Don't blame yourself for something you had no control over. And don't worry, Astrid and I will help you. We are going to train you, so you don't have to worry any more."
I nodded in silence. Gram pulled away and sat back down. I pondered for a second.
"Are there others?" I ask quietly. Gram paused.
"Yes, you will meet them tomorrow. Are you okay with that?"
I open my mouth, but close it to think. What was so bad about meeting more like me? I nodded my head. Yes, I wanted to meet more people. Gram smiled lightly.
"I think you need to get some rest. You will have a long day tomorrow."
"Thanks Gram, for everything," I said. His smile widened. "No problem."
Right as Gram was walking out, he stopped. "Welcome to the Guardians," he said in a barely audible whisper. He closed the door behind him and the room fell into a chilling silence. 'I guess I will find out everything tomorrow.' I changed into a big shirt and comfortable shorts and climbed into my new bed. The word "tomorrow" drifted through my mind as I fell asleep.
Dream #1
I stumbled over something hard and fell. Someone lifted me up and grabbed my shoulders. The figure had long hair and her face was blurred. "Go and do not look back!" She said in a harsh whisper. "Whatever you hear, do not look back! Go!"
She pushed me gently, urging me to run. A crash rings out. She turns to me with urgency in her voice. "Run. Run!"
I didn't want to leave, but my body was dragged in the other direction. I ran far away. Far away from the figure. I felt my heart breaking as I left, but I had no idea where these feelings were coming from.
I had been running for a long time. Trees covered in snow streaked behind me. I wanted to turn around and run back. But, my body just kept running. I heard a voice swirl around in my head. 'Their coming. Don't look back. Never look back.'
I tried to look back, but I couldn't. I heard the crunching of something large in the snow. Suddenly, I slipped on a rock and fell. The voice raged again.
'Get up! GET UP!'
The next thing I heard was a loud bang and a sharp pain shot through my thigh. I didn't hear myself scream. I was silent. Trembling in pain, I dragged myself over to a ledge and hid underneath it. My vision was blocked by large black spots as I started to lose consciousness. Everything faded and darkened, trapping me in a cage of darkness that swallowed me whole.