The Elementals

Heat Like Grief

Godspeed- Frank Ocean

The heat never really leaves South Texas. It clings to your skin like sweat, or grief.

Graduation caps fluttered in the air like broken wings, and I stood at the edge of the bleachers, watching my classmates scream and laugh like this was the beginning of everything.

For them, maybe it was.

I didn't feel anything. Not pride. Not joy. Just... pressure, curling like smoke in my chest. I clutched the cheap plastic diploma in my hand and stared down at the gold lettering. Luna Vale. That's all it said. No secret message, no flash of magic or purpose. Just a name I didn't feel like I'd earned.

My curls stuck to the back of my neck, my gown already unzipped, clinging to the edge of my arms. My grandma was somewhere in the crowd, probably yelling "¡Esa es mi niña!" at the top of her lungs while holding a laminated photo of my parents like it was a talisman. She always did that—showed up with their faces like she could summon them into the air.

But they weren't coming.

They died when I was nine. Some car crash in a storm. I wasn't allowed to see the wreckage. I just remember the sound of thunder, and the way my abuela screamed into the phone like the sky itself had betrayed her.

Since then, it's just been the two of us. She's all rosaries and home remedies, salt above the doorway and candle wax messages I wasn't supposed to see. She said I was touched by fuego sagrado, but I figured that was just her dramatic way of saying I was always too emotional. Too much.

Maybe I was.

⸻

The ride home was quiet. I didn't have a boyfriend to kiss or a best friend to sob with. Just me, a bag of Whataburger from the drive-thru, and my grandma humming old ranchera songs in the driver's seat like today was any other Tuesday.

The sun dipped low as we turned onto our dusty street in Edinburg. A row of cracked sidewalks and chain-link fences greeted us, the kind of neighborhood where nothing ever changed. Not even the air.

We lived in a small, beige one-story with a busted AC and a fig tree that grew sideways into the neighbor's yard. The porch light flickered like it had something to say.

Inside, everything smelled like cilantro and roasted chicken. She'd cooked my favorite—pollo guisado and fresh tortillas. No party. No cake. Just the comfort of routine.

I changed into an oversized t-shirt, wiped off my eyeliner, and sat at the kitchen table like always. The sunset poured through the window, casting orange light across the tile floor.

"You did it, mi niña," Abuela said as she lit a candle and pressed it near her collection of saints. "They would be so proud."

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. I didn't want to cry on graduation day. Not again.

⸻

After dinner, I took Nyx—our ancient black cat—out to the backyard and lay in the grass, letting the cicadas and the rustle of wind fill the silence in my head.

That's when I felt it. A shift in the air. Like something had inhaled, and the world held its breath.

The heat vanished.

Goosebumps rose across my arms. I sat up. A cold breeze swept through the trees, and in its wake, I saw a faint shimmer—like heatwaves, but in reverse—dancing across the fence.

I blinked.

Pain pricked my shoulder like a needle. I pulled up my sleeve and gasped.

A symbol—glowing, jagged like fire but curved like script—was searing itself into my skin. No blood. No ink. Just... light.

I couldn't breathe. My heart thudded wildly as the glow faded, leaving a strange, dark mark etched near my collarbone.

"What the hell," I whispered.

Nyx hissed beside me, her eyes locked on something I couldn't see.

Then, as quickly as it started, it stopped. The heat returned. The wind died. The world went back to normal like nothing happened.

I ran inside.

Abuela looked up from her prayer candles, eyes narrowing instantly. "What did you see?"

"What?" I froze.

She stood slowly, like her bones remembered something before her voice did. "Mija... show me your shoulder."

⸻

That night, I didn't sleep.

I stared at the ceiling and traced the mark with my fingers over and over, trying to convince myself it wasn't real.

But I already knew.

Something was waking up inside me.

And the worst part?
I didn't feel afraid.

I felt ready.

Hello, Novajynx here! Welcome to chapter 1 of The Elementals! Hope you all enjoyed! More to come shortly!