Authors: Annalynne Thorne
Young Adult - Fantasy Romance Novel
by Annalynne Thorne
It was a wail that shook Marissa Webb to her core; the sound of her older sister Terra in the depths of Marissa's nightmares. She watched her sibling mourn over the body; she looked at the smeared makeup over Terra’s face and watched her battle an aged and nameless man in an unknown house which was the epitome of uncleanliness.
Marissa knew the differences in her visions, even as she slept. She knew the difference between a dream, nightmare or a vision. The future was more defined, more set, and though their eldest sister Era told her time and time again that the future was never carved in stone, Marissa had difficulty believing it. How could it not, when every single thing she saw came true?
It unnerved her; she would never be able to cast the image out of her mind. Watching just one horror movie with her sisters scarred her for a month with insomnia. After that she covered every mirror in the house with sheets.
It took strength, but she recovered from that experience. She would never recover if she let Terra die.
There had to be another way, something she didn't know yet. She would have to find out, because she wouldn’t let Terra die. Since their mother’s death after Marissa was born, Terra had become a secondary mother raising Marissa while their aunt worked. Marissa didn't know what she'd do without her sister and didn't want to find out.
In her nightmarish vision Terra was lying on a filthy and grainy floor, glass flying over her from a window behind her. The elder man throwing curses at her, using the force they were born with to hurt Terra. It was unthinkable that someone of their species would dare do such a thing, but she had been told throughout her life that not everyone with Elven blood is good. There were bad ones, just the same as with humans.
Still... It didn't stop the terrible scene playing over and over again in Marissa’s mind. Twist and turn as she might, she couldn't escape the prophecy, it would haunt her until it played out completely. Even in the midst of her nightmares, Marissa knew that she was asleep yet could not open her eyes with no one to save her and no one to wake her. She cried knowing her pillow was drenched in tears; knowing that it would be cold when she did finally awaken.
It was all too real. She was on the outside looking in. She wanted to save Terra, to call her, to help her...
In a sheer moment it looked like Terra would win. She was weakening as she lay on the floor but then she turned onto her stomach her hands stretched out. It was chaotic for someone like Terra who was very practical and brilliant with her powers, but it did the job, for at that moment Hadrian was pulled down to Terra’s level.
It wasn't as bad as it first seemed Marissa decided. Terra would defeat the man. The man that Marissa thought was after them; was the disaster they had been told about and waited for all of their lives.
“All of their lives”. They used that phrase bountifully. Changes were no stranger in Marissa’s life. They frequently changed houses they lived in, schools they attended and lacked friends aside from Era.
Marissa thought Terra was in control; it looked good until that elder made his final hit and he blew out her big sister like a tiny flickering candle that had worn its use.
* * * * *
No matter how much she stuffed the beloved cotton balls in her ears, Era could not help but hear Marissa's cries. It was the fourth night in a row in which she had that same prophecy. From her silence during breakfast in the mornings Era knew it was more than a nightmare. Era had grown to learn the variations between Marissa’s cries; the difference between Marissa’s nightmares and visions. For the past four nights, it was more than a nightmare, it was a terrifying vision.
Era had been Marissa's unending source of comfort from the day Marissa and Terra discovered her in an art supply store. She always knew that she was different but Era never guessed that she too, was Elven. It was the best day of her life, coming home with her new art supplies that she admired greatly. They wanted Era to feel at home, to have something that felt like her own, but she was certain that she would have felt at home either way.
They
were home.
Painting was Era’s comfort and passion. It was how she expressed herself and was something she had always done. She would find discarded and broken crayons in the trash bins behind businesses, mostly restaurants with a child's menu, and use them to draw on sidewalks. Usually she worked at night under the glow of the street lamps when the chance of being trampled by feet was least likely.
Era didn’t mind soothing Marissa but when her visions plagued her, Era tried to let Marissa stand on her own, to toughen up because she knew they would always be together and one day she would have to face them alone; head on.
Era dipped her brush into yellow and splayed it over the sky of pink and blue, on the lower horizon which barely hinted at the fiery sun that lay hidden beneath. The rays were shining, touching the sky, like arms stretching to the ceiling. When the last shriek from Marissa threatened to explode her ear drums, Era dropped her paint brush and evaporated into thin air rematerializing into Marissa's room. The ocean blue walls and floor was a trademark of every room she had lived in. The perfect and circular bubbles seemingly floating to the light colored ceiling. Era found Marissa in her bed screaming into her pillow. She sat beside her and shook her shoulder desperately. The yelling ceased and Marissa gasped rolling onto her back. Creases from the pillow embedded the right side of her cheek and her hair was wild but untangled surrounding her round face.
"What’s happening Marissa, what do you see?" She had watched Marissa cry in her sleep more times than she cared to count but it was nothing compared to now. Her tears were more than fear, they were of sorrow; sorrow in the exact likeness of someone grieving over the loss of a loved one.
Salty tears flowed from Marissa’s sad eyes. She was overcome with emotion and Era rubbed her arm taking her hand into her lap. "It… it was," Marissa gulped, "horri…horrible."
"What was it?" Era asked.
"A….a vision, of Terra..."
"What about her? What happened?"
"She dies!"
"There will be a gathering of four, each a representation of the elements. Together, they will be stronger than anything we have ever seen. Together, they cannot be broken. Together, they will be known as the Elementals. Together, they will be."
Ian Reilly was magical and Terra Webb was the perfect person to recognize this. She would never say it aloud not in his presence anyway. Ian was human and Terra was not.
In a darkened alleyway a block from her home, the couple huddled together. The gust of the fall air could have been a sufficient excuse but that was far from the reason they were embracing. Her plump lips pressed against his neck, she could feel his rapid heartbeat; her hands scanned his tenuous muscles under the cotton shirt. He was scrawny but beautiful with eyes that matched the color of a clear blue sky, prominent cheekbones and a skin tone to suggest his native heritage.
"Terra!" he gasped lowly and seductively. "You need to go home. Your aunt will be worried."
She nodded in agreement. She was eighteen years old, and knew her aunt wouldn't have been as concerned as other parents may have been. Terra never did anything to suggest that she was reckless. Despite her staying out past midnight or kissing a boy in a dark alleyway, whom she had just met a month ago, she knew how to care for herself. "Can I try something first" she asked Ian. "Sure."
Balancing herself on the tips of her toes, she reached up and kissed his lips. The softness and electricity of the contact shocked her stomach to her worn sneakers. She slid her palms over his arms to where he encircled her waist. Holding him there she took his lip into her mouth running her tongue along the edge. She then lifted them both into the air, their feet hanging inches above the ground. It only lasted for a second when he pulled back and before he could realize, she gently rested them both on the pavement. It wasn't much but she wanted him to have the sense of magic that her kind carried, even if he could never know exactly what it was.
"Whoa," he exclaimed, his eyes wide in surprise.
She feigned innocence. "What's wrong?"
"Felt like... It's crazy, never mind."
Terra swallowed her smile. "I should go."
His grip loosened on her waist. "Will you let me walk you home this time?"
That was the problem with Ian. He had no idea who or what she was or the danger he'd be in if anyone learned of their fling. She had to think of it as a fling for as much as she liked him, getting closer was virtually impossible. She had to keep him safe and it was a challenge to do it secretly. "No, I'm sorry."
"It's been a month. When will you introduce me to your family?" Ian asked.
"It's complicated..." What could she say?
I really like you but you're a different species?
Oh, yeah, that would go over well.
"Are you seeing someone else?" His thick brows furrowed as if in pain at the sheer possibility. "Tell me, it’s okay if you are." It didn't sound like it would be okay; his words so tight that one breath could have broken him.
"No! I'm not. I told you, it's complicated."
He raked his fingers through his soft black hair moving it from his sight. "Then what could be so bad? Are you in the witness protection program or something? If you are, I swear, I won't tell anyone! Whatever secret you have, it's safe with me."
It struck her to the core, the promises. She wanted to keep him, but it wasn't possible. To her, he was cute and fun to have around. But he wasn't a puppy. It was not as though she didn't have deeper feelings for him, but they had to remain closed off, in a part of her where they couldn't interfere.
It wasn't fair that they were each too different to belong to the others kind. Her kind would kill him and his kind, including him, would fear her. There were bigger secrets than what he had thought; she was bound by a law much stronger than his.
"You don't plan on keeping me around, do you?" Ian asked.
Terra shook her head solemnly. "I wish I could. I really like you, Ian. There are just some things I can't tell you. I wish I could."
He bent down slightly to look her straight into her eyes. Unfortunately for him she was an accomplished liar. "Are you in any danger?"
"No."
"This will be the last time I'll see you, won't it?"