The Elementals: An Elemental Origins Novel by A.L. Knorr

Author:A.L. Knorr [Knorr, A.L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Intellectually Promiscuous Press
Published: 2018-06-06T22:00:00+00:00

14

Petra

Rain began to spatter lightly on the pavement as I said goodbye to the girls. I walked to where my Toyota was parked and looked back over my shoulder at the girls. I'd offered them a ride, but they'd said they preferred to walk together so they could keep talking.

As I watched them walk away, Targa lifted her hands and an arch of water appeared over their heads like an invisible umbrella. I snorted a laugh at this as the girls clustered together in the dry zone. Then Akiko said something and Targa put her hands down and the rain drenched them again. I laughed again, guessing that Akiko had reminded Targa that if someone saw them, they’d catch trouble.

What we'd been through today had bound us with an invisible cord. I didn't know them, but I had grown to both respect and care for them as the day progressed. They were good people, all of them. That was not hard to see, and I found it exciting that I might get to work with them on something as important as Project Expansion.

I got into my car and put the key in the ignition, thinking that though they had not yet finished high school, the girls seemed more mature than they should be. We hadn't had time to chit-chat, but if we were going to be working together, I intended to ask each of them for their origin stories. I expected there would be hardship in every one. Could a supernatural come about without some kind of adversity to bring the powers to the surface? I didn't think so.

As my car roared to life and I turned the heater on, my eyes drifted to the phone box across the street. This morning seemed so long ago that I half wondered if I'd dreamt that it had rung.

The car windows began to fog up so I cracked my window open. I paused, listening, before turning up the fan. No ringing. I smiled at my own silliness. It had just been a fluke the first time, and my imagination was getting away with me.

I pulled away from the curb and headed for my apartment.

The rain began to come down in earnest as I dashed from my car to my building. The sky was so thick with clouds that it blocked out any possible moon and starlight. The sound of pelting raindrops hammering against my windows greeted me as I opened the door to my apartment and locked it behind me, shivering.

I stripped off my sopping jacket and hung it on the coat rack by the door. My teeth chattering, I got out of my damp clothes and turned on the shower, leaving the water to heat up. I scampered to where the thermostat was beside the key hooks and turned it up. Then I returned to the bathroom, where steam was already fogging the mirror. I got under the spray with a long, exhausted sigh.

As I shampooed my hair I thought I heard the faintest sound of a phone ringing.

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