Authors: Annalynne Thorne
The danger the prophet spoke of was an enigma, the prophet herself was an enigma. Aunt Gwen would never talk about it and without giving a reason everyone else knew better than to discuss it. It was unusual in itself that Terra even knew her own last name.
"Need help?"
She turned, seeing Era's smoky form solidifying before her. She was smiling, her hair pulled up into a ponytail and her light blue eyes twinkling in beauty.
"Thanks."
She waved her hand, the boxes lifting up and out the door. Dodging them on her way in was Marissa, her long skirt flowing around her elegantly with a radiant smile that lit up her face.
"Isn't it nice to have the garage attached to the house?" Hopping onto the desk and swinging her legs, she looked at Terra. "Aunt Gwen is leaving now. Once the boxes are dropped into the new house she's going to work. Going to see her off?”
"Why hasn't she told us who this psychic was," Terra asked instead. She would see her aunt later at the new house.
Marissa and Era shared a kindred look of exasperation. "Here she goes again," they both said in unison.
"We've looked everywhere," Era pointed out "Every local library and the surrounding area. There's only so much that books can tell us. We will find fire within this next year. We are to be reunited in our teens, remember?"
How could she not remember? Every word of the future was etched into her brain. It was recited to Terra and Marissa at birth like most children are recited lullabies and children’s books.
Marissa laid a gentle hand on Terra’s shoulder. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm supposed to see or know anything. It has to run its natural course. Listen to Era, we'll meet fire soon."
"Then we can stop calling him fire and by his or her name” Terra joked wryly.
"That's the spirit!"
Era chuckled. "Let’s go, Aunt Gwen left already. I'm driving."
Together they went to the garage and climbed into their small silver car. It was old, but hadn't lost its sleek look. If you didn't look too close you'd think it was brand new. Either way, it was precious to them, they took it everywhere and Era was diligent about maintaining it. For the first few months that Era learned about cars and worked on theirs, it struck them odd. Not only were cars loud, but Era herself could transport at will, what interest would a car hold for her? Then one day when asked, she said,
"It gets you all around. What if this danger Aunt Gwen speaks of, comes and I'm not able to help? This car will get you where you need to go."
"That's very logical," Terra said, recalling similar words spoken when she talked with Aunt Gwen about the unknown danger. If it was as serious as we were told, it could possibly destroy each of them one by one.
They piled in the car, Marissa with her books in the backseat, sunglasses and baseball cap on for precaution, Era stuffing her ear buds in and Terra looking out the window rather than the review mirror. She learned to never look back. It reminded her of a story she heard when she was younger. Something about a family fleeing a terrible village turned to salt at the mother’s backwards glance. She didn't believe the story, but being young and superstitious, it seemed the rational thing to do at the time.
As they drove out of the small city, the trees thickened, the gold and red falling leaves mesmerizing Terra. She was brought out of her daydreams when Marissa snapped one of her books shut causing Era to flinch against the sound.
None of the girls wore seatbelts as it seemed a useless and human concept considering their powers. Something as trivial as a car crash couldn't hurt them.
Soon, sleep was too hard to deny, Terra’s eyes as heavy as lead, she fell into a deep sleep. Her head against the door, until they arrived at their new destination, at which she was gently prodded awake.
The new house was larger than any of the other houses. It had a second floor and a three stall garage with a rocky driveway. The front and back doors were painted a lovely blue with wicker white stones. The grass was brown and dying but stretched out for a couple of miles, which meant their neighbors were plenty of distance for privacy. It was the best land Aunt Gwen had ever bought.
Sadly, it was a place that Terra could get attached to. Hopefully, just hopefully, they would find fire here, the last element. She thought of how they might find him or her to be a pyromaniac, burning down buildings. Perhaps they would have to spring them from jail. They were senseless thoughts, but she found them entertaining nonetheless.
Marissa and Terra wondered for many years what Era would be like before they ever met her. Without knowing her name they came up with this image of a beautiful person. She was kind and sweet, someone that would complete them and enlarge their family. Someone they could love and would love them back. It was the yearning for family that caused it and it was merely by luck (or prediction) that they got all and more of what they desired and wished for. They never concluded that the person would have been any less of a sister than they were to each other.
There was also the fear that the element air would find them crazy. What if she didn't realize who or what she was? Would she run from them? There were many possibilities that could have resulted but in the end they were extremely lucky.
They didn't question it again after finding Era and feeling they were almost whole. They never doubted it would be any different. Terra doubted if fire was going to be the same. There was no telling how fire would be. Terra wondered if in fact it would be a he or she but she was leaning toward them being a female. They were all female after all, even their guardian. Having a male fire would bring it all out of balance.
"This could be it!" Marissa beamed jolting Terra out of her thoughts and leaping out of the car. It was nothing new, she did it all the time and just like the past, her enthusiasm was catching.
Terra and Era followed her up to the front door where under a bamboo mat was an envelope with three keys. They opened the door to their new home.
A few cobwebs hung in each corner gleaming with beautifully made designs and a thick coating of dust along the counters in the kitchen. At first glance it appeared spooky and suffocating, but as Era opened the fogged windows, light poured in and Terra saw how lovely it all was.
The crown molding was made of cherry wood which matched the floors and only a small area of tile that separated the dining room from the small kitchen. It was rich and satisfying almost as though she could walk into the room in a grand ball evening gown, even filled with cobwebs, and feel right at home.
"It could use some lightening up," Era commented, beginning to fish in the cabinets looking for a rag. "It'll be perfect by tonight."
Terra stood in the center and craned her neck to the ceiling, the beams meeting in a high arch. "I think it's already perfect."
"You would."
Good naturedly Terra smiled at the serious jest and broke off by herself to explore the upstairs. Unfortunately there wasn't much to explore. At the top of a twisting staircase were five rooms that surrounded her. The area she was presently in was small, with barely enough room for both her and Marissa, who was the smallest of them all.
The emerald green rug under her feet was dirty and worn with unknown gray and black splotches holding the threads together creating hard chunks.
Without thought or further inspection she chose the door in front of her, a tradition she had developed over the years in hopes that she would stop caring about the places she had been to. It didn't seem to do any good as she always felt sadness when she left one home for another, but as long as they continued to search for the fourth element, she would continue to try. The room was tiny, lacked any sight to the outside and smelled musty, but it would do. If it became unbearable she would let Era lighten the room, a specialty of hers. Whatever the case, she had to help the others unpack. Like Terra’s own tradition at choosing bedrooms randomly, it was a tradition of theirs that they would unpack all of their belongings before nightfall and they only had a few hours left.
For the past three years they would unpack before sunset, but the one year they failed, the sisters worked until four in the morning nonstop. When the last pot and pan was in place and cobweb and speck of dust was gone, they turned in for the night. In only a few hours they were to be up, per Marissa's request to not attend her first day of school alone. No matter how many new schools she attended, the first day was always the same, with Terra and Era at her side.
Terra was tired and as worn as the rug outside of her bedroom door. She lay in her new room, but could not fall asleep. She twisted and turned and rolled onto her stomach moaning into her pillow.
"Terra"
She looked toward the door, to see Era standing there in her long, silk gown. Without a window, it was pitch black but the light from the hall cast an ethereal glow around her. Era looked like an angel, only with a scowl on her face, a bad tempered one at that.
"What's wrong? You're causing a lot of racket."
"I'm sorry, Era. I can't sleep."
"After all the work we did today?" Era peered ahead thoughtfully. "Is something on your mind?"
"No... Not really." Terra replied.
"Aunt Gwen is downstairs and it sounds like she can't sleep either. That or she had to be back into the office again. I heard the coffee maker. You haven't seen her in a few days. Go down and talk to her."
Before she could argue the point of staying there for a few more minutes, Era disappeared in a haze. She might as well have been a ghost as she was made of energy and air.
Terra kicked off the thin blanket that had coiled around her leg like a snake, then stood up. The coldness of the wood planks sent shivers up her spine and she moved quickly to warm herself up. She spun in circles down the staircase coming into the large dining room. Just as Era said, there was Aunt Gwen at the table, her cup of coffee in front of her, steam rising from the cup with a strong and heavenly scent that reminded her of morning.
Aunt Gwen looked nothing like her nieces. Her hair was golden yellow, falling in soft curls over her shoulders with a red band that matched her business suit pushing the curls back. One high heel dangled off her toe as she tapped it up and down to the beat of the music playing in her head. Her black rimmed glasses set right at the edge of her long nose, her eyebrows plucked in a high arch. She was so professionally beautiful that it made her plain.
"Going back to the office?"
"Yes, there's an important meeting. There's a lot of work to being treasurer of the Kin."
The Kin was the grouping of freaks. Freaks sounded wrong, and they were more commonly known as Elves or the Old Ones. However, unlike popular media they didn't have extended lives or pointed ears and came in an assortment of sizes, thin, tall and short. Elves were mostly boring creatures. The only thing that set them apart was their powers of great healing abilities. They were able to put together a healing tonic in a pinch.