The Four - Book 1

Chapter 3

Juris

I'm surprised Paytah was nice enough to make us a fire for the night. We all surround the fire awkwardly. We're all confused, or at least I am. Do I trust these people? Can I trust people with different elements? Of course not.

Of course not.

And here I am, sitting next to the other three elements. Lana's laying on her back, humming a melody. Aira is picking the spilt ends of her hair. Paytah is staring intensely at the fire.

"Would you fucking shut up." Paytah hisses at Lana. He stands up and rests his hands on the glass dome. Lana groans. "Would you fucking loosen up?"

Paytah growls and kicks the dome hard, so hard it sounded like it hurt. "How. How can I fucking loosen up when we're stuck in a dome, being tested." He spits out.

Being tested.

"Why us?" Is all I ask. Aira looks at me and shrugs. "I don't know. I was just...taken. Taken out of my own house. It happened so..so."

"So fucking fast." Lana says, sitting up. "And then some man came into the white room and said "water.""

"A man? A man you didn't have time to see?" I ask, and Lana nods.

"Same." Aira says.

"They want us to figure a way out. Together. It only makes sense." Lana says.

"Maybe we shouldn't. What if this is only part one?" Aira asks nervously. It's easy to tell she's the quiet type, the one that sticks to the rules.

"I'm not staying in this dome forever. I actually want to see my family again." I say.

"What do you think we should do, fire boy?" Lana asks. Paytah turns around and glares at Lana. Man, they just really don't get along.

But I guess fire and water don't work the best together either.

"We get out of this hellhole, and see what happens next." He says simply, turning back to the dome. Fire comes out of his palm, and it hits the glass dome. It does nothing, only smoke flies in the air.

"Maybe we should just get some rest for tonight," Aira suggests.

"They want us all to use our powers together." I hear Paytah mumble. He rests his hand against the dome, and it glows under his hand.

"Huh?" I say, and he turns around.

"I put fire to the dome, of course it won't break. We all have to do it at once. It needs all the elements for it to break."

"Ha, yeah. We defiantly need Juris's leaves, that'll do the trick." Lana laughs. I glare at her. "I'll put vines all around your freakin' throat."

"Guys stop. I think Paytah is right." Aira says, standing up and going between us. "Let's just try it. All use our powers against the dome. And if it doesn't work, no harm done." I suddenly feel a gush of air so strong, it brings me to my feet, as well as Lana.

"Thanks." I say, and Aira smiles, her blonde hair over one of her eyes. She blows it back with her mouth and walks over to Paytah.

"So, you all ready?" Aira asks.

"Now." Paytah says, totally ignoring Aira. But she raises her palms, we all do.

And a mixture of water, fire, air, and earth all come together.

It looks strange. Sparks flying, the wind blowing it all around. I feel mist fly on my face. Vines are glued to the dome. After a moment it feels hopeless, but then I hear something crack.

"Stop!" I say, and we all put our palms down, and wait for the smoke and mist to go away so we can see.

"We made a crack." Lana says, and I squint my eyes and see it. A clear crack right on the dome.

"Aira, do the honors." I hear Paytah. Aira smiles bright, like a proud child. She then raises her palms, and the harsh wind breaks the glass.

"Well, that was easy." I watch as Lana walks up to the hole. She looks out, then steps through it. "Come on losers, we're free!"

I glance at Aira, who shrugs. I decide to walk up and step through it next. I look around, the night sky looking down on us. I look around for..well, something. Anything. I was thinking that strange man would be here, but nobody is.

Nobody is here.

"That's it?" Lana asks. "How dumb was that! Being held in a white room for who knows how long, only to break out of a fucking glass dome."

"Where are we?" I ask. Paytah shrugs, walking farther from the dome. Still, nothing happens. No guards come and give us sedative, nobody is even watching us.

"So, is this where we split up?" I ask.

Lana starts to walk the other direction. "Yep! Nice doing business with y'all, but I actually hate every single one of you. Bye!"

"Lana wait!" Aira cries, loud enough to make her stop. The one thing I know about Aira is that she's quiet, her voice naturally quieter than us all. But she's all of a sudden louder. Maybe she's nervous to go out on her own.

Cause I sure am.

"This can't be right. We just all split up now? That's all?" She says, looking at us all. Lana glares at her. "Aira, I don't want to be used. I don't care if we worked together to get out. We are still all different elements. We don't belong together. So, I don't care if you three stay together, but I don't want to be some science project for a strange man who purposely put us together. And if you try to stop me I'll drown you all." And with that, Lana walks away into the night. I no longer see her shadow.

Aira's eyes water, and she runs her hand through her hair, clearly irritated but also scared.

"Maybe we should split up, just to see what happens. Maybe we actually are free." I say, trying to cheer Aira up. Paytah just stares. Clearly he has no heart or sympathy to cheer Aira up. But he's fire. That's just his personality, I suppose.

And Lana is right. We truly don't belong together.

"Okay." She finally says, wiping her tears.

Aira faces a way and starts walking. I stare at Paytah, who waits for me to pick a way. Then we all walk our separate ways.

"Stay safe." I hear Paytah mumble. I turn back to him and nod, as well as Aira. I give her a reassuring smile, and she slightly smiles back.

I continue to walk, totally confused and unaware of what will happen next.

But for now, I'm free.

•••••

Hello!!!

Juris's POV this time! 😊

What do you think about all the characters so far? Who is your favorite? Please comment!!! And also vote 👍

Shoutout to animalsjam1 for the aesthetic!

Thank you!!!