Just Beneath the Surface: The Elemental Chronicals- Book 1

Insanity

The sun beat down upon the asphalt, almost blinding Arthur and making the parking lot feel like a furnace. A headache was starting to form in his temple, pounding at his head like a dull hammer. He took a long drink of room temperature of water, which did nothing to help his headache, adjusted the straps of his backpack.

"Gees is North Carolina always this hot?" Emma panted

"It's just as hot as it is in as home." Arthur retorted

"Exactly! I'm tired of this heat. Couldn't we have gone on a vacation in Minnesota or something!" Arthur smiled. His sister could be very entertaining sometimes.

"Well, I thought it would be cool if we did some cave exploration. But if you'd rather stay in the car, be my guest."

"Your joking" Emma exclaimed, an expression of disbelief. Their father shook his head. Both of the twins smiled in unison, and ran towards the large building at the end of the parking lot.

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Emma and Arthur slowed down as they approached the tall brick building and the crowds thickened. They pushed through the crowd up to the double glass doors. A gust of wind hit him in the face as the doors swung open and the crowds pushed them into the building. It looked like a museum that had been fused with a gift shop. There was a front desk covered in pan flits and posters with hardly any line. There were rooms leading of from the front with signs like "Fun Fossils" and "Great Geo's". Arthur could see displays of gems and fossils, some bigger than his head some the size of his thumbnail. His heart filled with joy, and he was half tempted to rush over. Emma however looked rather bored. She glanced over at at Arthur's excited face and raised her eyebrows.

"Really Arthur?"

"What?" She shook her head and didn't say anything, which bugged Arthur even more than her relentless fidgeting. Their father caught up to them and together they walked up to the front desk. 

"Hello, I'm here to pick up our tickets for the cave exploration workshop." 

"Name?" Asked the woman at the front desk

"Vernon Fitzgerald." The woman typed something into the computer

"I'm sorry sir, I don't see your name on the list." Emma and Arthur glanced at each other, worried looks on their faces. But their father did not seemed phased.

"I'm sure you just spelled it wrong. Let me see." As he spoke, he pulled something out of his pocket. He clenched his fist and then let the thing fall. A fine powder fell out of his hand and flew towards the desk clerk. She got a blank look on her face, he eyes blank and expressionless. Arthur blinked, sure he was imagining things. The lady at the desk nodded.

"Oh yes, sorry, your names right here." She handed our father three colorful tickets. Arthur glanced at Emma, but she didn't seem to have noticed anything strange. Never mind, it was his headache. He could barley think from the dull ache in his skull. 

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