Chapter 1 (The Present)
I look out of the clear glass window which has an open view of the field. I watch as the boys on the football team tackle one another and pass the ball around.
I lean against the hard, rough, rock walls of my spacious room. As I slowly gaze back into my room. My room is every normal girl's dream. A golden chandelier hangs above my large bed. I have gorgeous hardwood floors, a dresser carved with delicate designs, more chairs and tables than I could possibly need, a never ending walk-in closet, a bathroom decked out in marble, and an art studio.
Although these materials and objects will never fill that empty space in my heart.
They cannot buy my happiness. I sometimes feel like Rapunzel, locked up inside an old tower hoping for her prince to arrive. However, I do not long for a silly prince, but only for my freedom.
Since a young age, I am forbidden to socialize, due to the forever fear of being exposed. Only the Elders know my true identity. Even the other four elementals are unaware of my existence.
I am an Elemental, a person with special abilities pertaining to the elements. We can create anything we want when we summon the particular element that we control. There are four other people besides me in the entire world that have these special abilities.
The four other Elementals are Duke Walter who has control of fire, Fray Star who has the control of the earth, Jeffery Collins who has the control of air and Mike Storm who has the control of water. They all are forced to wear masks to hide their true faces and red long cloaks to disguise their bodies.
Like me, their identities must be hidden to protect them and any remaining family members they may have. Only the Elders and I have knowledge of their full names and backgrounds.
I possess the 5 elements; fire, water, earth, air and lightning. Whereas they only possess one each. They attend this school with me. Our rooms are isolated from everyone else's. I rarely come into contact with them, though. They do not know my room is down here with them.
Bertha is one of the only two people that know me on such a personal level. Bertha is one of the few Elders still living in this world, she doesn't necessarily trust all of the remaining Elders either. She fears that if someone finds out what I am, they can use me. She found me when I was in an orphanage. I consider her family.
I glance at the water in the cup on my dresser. I flick my index finger up causing the water to float out of the cup. I stare intensely at it causing it to turn to ice. I motion it to come to me. I place it into my cold hands.
Then I lit a blue flame on my finger and start carving into the ice, making it into a sculpture of a wolf howling. I get a bit of stone off the wall and made an uneven podium for the statue and meld them together. I then place it on the shelf in my art studio. I have tons of statues like these on my shelves.
People in my school don't take much notice of me. I wear a mask constantly hiding my identity. Just like the other elementals. To everyone, I looked like an innocent brunette with chocolate brown eyes. As unnoticeable as I could possibly be.
When in fact, I have luxuriant glossy white hair which only reached to about four inches below my shoulders. I absolutely adore my hair. I also have striking light blue eyes.
Today at school, we are preparing for the lunar week. Which is the week where we appreciate the stars that are above us. At the end of the week, we would have the Moon Ball, which was a masquerade ball.
The Elementals would only wear their usual masks and dance with the students. The girls in the academy wait in suspense every year for this ball. Apparently dancing with an Elemental was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
I snort just thinking about it. I have never been allowed to attend these balls. Bertha fears that someone might find out about me. This year though might be different. Maybe for once I was allowed to attend. Which is somewhat exciting, but for now I had mix emotions about it.
≠–≠–≠–≠–≠–≠–
I stroll into my walk-in closet and take out my school uniform. I place my mask onto my face reluctantly and watched my hair and eyes slowly transform into brown. I braid my hair to the side as usual. I had fallen into a mundane routine.
I get my bag which was full of supplies. I put on my dark blue sneakers and look into the mirror making sure that everything looks as it should.
Once I was done, I press down on the golden handle of my door and open it only to bump into someone.
It is one of the Elementals.
For years, I've been living here and I have never bumped into one of them. He had his mask with fire markings which made it hard to tell his emotions and his red cloak. I started adjusting my clothes and grabbed my bag. I don't have time for silly interruptions like this. I was about to walk away when he grabbed hold of my hand. He increases his grip on my hand, making it difficult to escape.
"I've never seen you around here before and why were you coming out of this room? Students are not allowed here," he says with his smooth voice. I ignore him.
"Come with me. I'm going to report you to the Elders," he says, pulling me along with him to the office.
When we reached the office, he knocks on the door. I try to escape his grip, but he only tightens his hold on my wrist. I have never been this close with another Elemental. It is actually kind of funny when you think about it. We live close to each other but not once in the past 12 years have I ever ran into them here.
He opens the door and pulls me in with him.
"Sir I found this student coming out of a restricted room," Duke said proudly while still holding on to me.
Elder James briefly glances at me. "Get your hands off her right now." He said sounding very strict causing Duke to let go of me. "Miss Valentine, I am so sorry to cause you such an inconvenience. I believe you're running late now because of the Fire Elemental here. Fire Elemental apologize to this young lady." He said the last part a little more loudly.
"But sir aren't you going to punish her for being in this building and exiting that room," Duke said.
"Miss Valentine here has permission to enter that area. The room she exited was her own room and it's off limits for everyone but the Elders. She is a very powerful person so I wouldn't inconvenience her like that ever again." He said demanding Dukes submission.
"Sir, I'm running late," I said softly.
"You may go Miss Valentine. I apologize for the inconvenience again." He said.
I exited the room leaving Duke and Elder James alone.