Page 7 of A Requiem of Fire and Ice

“That’s sweet,” I lie with a smile. “And don’t worry about your parents. My place is always open if you or Sara need a break.”

Why did I say that?

Her eyes widen into deep pools of blue. “Seriously?”

“Yep!”

Nope!

Kylie turns away with a smile and focuses on the water in the bottle. “Thanks, Panda.”

Now she’s using Xavier’s stupid nickname. Wonderful.

She encourages me to try harder, but then stops persisting after I mope and complain. However, as I glare at the water bottle, my finger glides over the frost splintering at the bottom. With a whine, I wrap the bottle around my arms to cover the ice until it melts.

“I’m sure your powers will come once you awaken,” she chirps.

If only she knew I could slip ice down her throat and let the shards spread until she was coughing crimson onto the table. What would she think of me and my powers then if she saw how violent I could be?

However, after arriving at Oceanview Harbour, I had to make some personality-altering changes. Elemny have different emotions depending on which element they awaken to become. Having been around ice elemny my entire life, I never realised earth elementals lean more towards the emotional side, are very intuitive about their own feelings and those of others.

Air elemny possess intelligent minds, often too bright for their own good. Most air elemny secure governmental positions, work for the king or royal families within the Kingdoms of Oria, Storm, or Cloud.

Mother warned me never to trust an air elemny. They can manipulate others effortlessly. The methodical games they play make me avoid them at all costs. I don’t need a sharp-witted air elemny figuring me out.

Then there is the fire elemny. The hot-heads. Elementals who love the taste of ash on the tips of their tongues and revel in mischief and mayhem.

I hate them the most.

An irritable itch shudders across the right side of my waist. Memories I long to forget blaze their way across my skin. Suppressing the heat, I rise from the table and walk out with Kylie. I’m still trying to figure out how to keep Sara and Kylie from coming with us. So, when we get there, I’ll need to think of something on the fly.

Shit.

A group of students cluster outside the classroom, leaving us no room to breathe. My mouth forms a grim line as I stare at the backs of heads and listen to the murmured, excited conversations in front of me.

Kylie, much taller than I, stretches onto her tiptoes. Her eyes widen, and the blood drains from her face.

“What is it?” I ask.

“It’s Jessica.” Kylie shakes her head. “She’s clawing at her throat as if something is stuck inside.”

“Oh…” I turn away from the action and toward the door leading to the courtyard. Xavier pushes the door open and races out. “What’s the point?”

“Where’s Andrew Simms?” Mr Rams bellows over the crowd. “Something has happened to him!”

Kylie grabs my arm and says, “We should go. This is too much.”

More teachers push through the crowd. The group disperses enough to see what’s happening. Jessica turns a shade of purple, with veins crawling around her eyes. Long red scratch marks scar with internal bleeding, and her body shudders uncontrollably.

By the time Xavier opens the door again and shouts for the injection Jessica supposedly has in her pocket, it’s too late. Her body becomes limp, and the horror in her eyes fades away. With a blank expression, she stares up at the ceiling.

“That’s so awful,” Kylie says. “I never want that to happen to Sara and me. Maybe you and Xav have a point about tethering with someone. It can be like a double-edged sword.”

Xavier approaches us and wraps his arms around my shoulders. He’s emotional and likely traumatised by the ordeal. It wouldn’t surprise me if he doesn’t come over tonight.

I stare at Jessica’s lifeless body, and my frown turns into a grim line. Ice elemny are cold and heartless. Our lives are all we care about, so when someone is in danger, we watch and then move on. That’s who I am now, far from who I used to be. A cold and heartless ice elemny who, like all the other sheep here, watched Jessica die while doing nothing about it.

Except while they cry, sob, and express remorse for Jessica and Andrew’s deaths, I feel absolutely nothing.