Elementals [Four Elements Personified]

Chapter 21~ Jacobi

Chapter Twenty One~ Jacobi [Lewister]

   I managed to garner a disappointingly small amount of information from my Uncle Carter. The only thing he was willing to tell me was the known past physical powers of the Air Elementals. There was flying, levitation, air manipulation, and lung adaptation, which he explained was the skill used to breathe anywhere. I prodded him further with excessive annoying tactics, and I knew Lupe would be proud. He unwillingly informed me that he himself could fly, which I thought was cool. He said that the Elemental powers usually alternated down the Air Elementals in a certain order; levitation, flying, air manipulation, and lung adaptation. We both surmised that I would be likely to have levitation. I knew it would be a useful skill to master in order to help Talia. If I was able to get a hold of Janna and Tyson and stop them in their tracks by using air currents as a form of levitation, then it would make it much easier saving my sister.

                Even though it was as aggravating and heart-wrenching as ever to not know where Talia was or what kind of condition she was in, it was of some solace to know that she was still alive. Even though I had only heard this from Lupe who had relayed her encounter with Janna, deep down I believed it. I just knew Talia was out there somewhere, although she was alone, and afraid, probably being starved and mistreated. The thought ripped a fresh new pain throughout my gut. I clenched my hands into fists, making a resolve to continually stay strong for my sister. The more I dwelled on the guilt and inner turmoil of how bad I felt, the less helpful I would be in rescuing her. So I focused instead on trying out the air levitation.  After the short chat with Uncle Carter I left him to do whatever it was he did in his spare time.

                In the meantime I wracked my brain, trying to figure out an ideal spot to practice the air levitation. Anywhere in my house was not a good option, seeing as how there was a possibility of breaking stuff. I had no intention of starting small. If I was going to help Talia, then I needed to master the art of using levitation to pick up heavy objects and move them around as soon as possible. There was also the possibility that if either of my parents, or uncle, caught me trying it out they might question me about it, and I just knew I would give in and tell them why I was trying levitation. I found it hard to lie to my parents, and I was already trying to keep the fact that Zen, Lupe, Cheyda, and I knew Tyson and Lupe’s dad were involved with Talia’s kidnapping, which was hard enough.

 I settled on visiting an abandoned basement that Cheyda had told me about once. It was situated in the middle of town. The floor level of the building was a small pizzeria, but if one was to walk around the back they would find a small set of cellar doors trapped behind a massive pile of garbage, leading to a basement independent of the pizzeria. Apparently Cheyda and Zen had made a clubhouse in the cellar when they were younger.

                As I approached the smell-assaulting blockade of garbage I couldn’t help but crumple my nose in disgust. The tower of broken down boxes, newspapers, and miscellaneous refuse loomed over me. It took quite a bit of work and patience on my part in clearing it out of the way. Armful by armful I scooped the stuff up and tossed it to the side, not really caring where it landed. Every now and then I glanced around to see if anybody was watching. One end of the alley ended in a brick wall and the other end led out to the street. So far nobody had walked past, or if they had, they kept going without a second look. I glanced at the brick wall that surrounded me. There was only one door, which was near the sidewalk. Looking up I saw that there weren’t even any windows, which was fine by me. Other than that it was just me and the rancid mound of trash. Within several minutes I managed to clear it, and sure enough I found the doors Cheyda had mentioned. The doors were barely elevated above ground level, and were streaked with various colored stains; coffee, ash, maybe even blood. I reached for the nearest newspaper and used it to grab the handle of one of the doors. I latched both hands onto the lever, making sure to only touch the newspaper, and pulled on it. It popped open with a sudden wham as the door collided with the ground. It bounced back up for a moment before settling down with the handle touching the pavement. My inner paranoia flared and I wildly looked around, hoping that nobody inside the buildings had been alerted to the noise. But nobody came, the lone door near the sidewalk didn’t open, and not one soul rushed in from the sidewalk to see what all of the hubbub was about.