The Elemental Power

Chapter 10: The Hooded Figure

"I-It was here, I swear!", she said, and then Stone touched her forehead. "Do you have a fever again? It seems quite warm.", "No! I learned that horrible accent from that crow!" Stone knew that she wouldn't learn an accent just like that. "But where is the crow?", he asked. "I don't know...", she said, "You must have a fever, Kate. Just go and lie down on your bed. I'll be there in two minutes.", he still said these words, hoping she would go. And she did. He needed some time to process everything and went to Kate's room.

Kate was lying down when Stone entered the room. "Are you sure there was a crow?", "I'm damn sure!", she said. "Then find him. I'll give you 1 hour-", "Woah! That's not fair, I should get 1 day!", "Ok, 1 day.", said Stone. "But what if I don't find the crow?", "Let's deal with that later, Miss. Parker. And I would like it if you call me Stone, and not Professor Stone." "Believe me, I never liked that term myself.", said Kate.

The next day, Kate started finding the crow. She searched the whole house, but couldn't find it. "Stone, I can't find him anywhere! What should I do?", "What places did you check?", "Your bedroom, my bedroom, Caleb's bedroom-", "All the bedrooms?", "Yes. The kitchen, the garden, the backyard, the hall, the streets-", "You checked the streets?", asked Stone, "Had to be sure. And the dining room. Oh, and all the bathrooms.", "There's no there place left.", "I know, and I'm really tired.", she said, as she went to her room.

Moments later, she heard a crashing sound from the place where Stone was sitting and reading a book. "Stone?", she called out before going outside. She used to get blurry and incomplete visions of the same scene. And when she went outside, she saw Stone, and he was still. No movement and no sound. "Stone? Are you there?", she said as she waved her hand in front of his face. "U-Uh, I'll call an Ambulance-", "Not needed.", said a hooded figure.

She couldn't see the hooded figure's face as it was covered with a mask. "Who are you?", "Not supposed to tell, and he's kind of dead now.", he said, pointing at Stone. "What? You're lying!", she screamed. And then, she woke up, only to find out that it was a dream.

"Breakfast is ready, Miss. Parker.", said Stone from the kitchen. She knew Stone would ask more and more questions if she opened her mouth about the dream, so she didn't tell him. She tied her hair, went outside, and sat on a chair. "I made pancakes, " he said, handing Kate a plate of pancakes, topped with honey and butter. "Mm, you're good at cooking, aren't you? Where'd you learn it, by the way?", she asked, mesmerized by his cooking skills. "My father taught me. Not that it is your concern, Miss. Parker. You have a few lessons to attend.". She sighed, ate the pancakes, and got ready for the lessons.

After the lessons, Kate, who was still curious, went to Stone. "You really love weird stuff, don't you?", "I do,", he said, coldly, knowing that she was up to something, "Why does that come to your mind all of a sudden?", he asked.

"I um, I got this dream where you were, kind of frozen, in one place.", she continued. "And when I was looking at you, some 'random guy' in a black hood and black mask appears out of nowhere and he's like you're dead. Of course, I didn't believe him, but it seemed so real...", she said. "And I've been getting a few dreams, or visions like this. But they were blurred and incomplete.", "Since when?", asked Stone. "When I found the 3 letters. I thought it was normal at first, but last night, I had this dream, and it was complete and clear.", she said, as she sighed.

It was late at night, and they slept after having dinner. Kate didn't feel like sleeping so she came outside, only to find the same hooded figure sitting in the backyard. She wanted to wake Stone up, but the hooded figure spotted her. She slowly went to the backyard, making no sound. "So, I'm having a vision again, I guess.", "Not a vision, Miss. Parker.", "You know me? Of course, you do. By the last vision I had, right?", "You're more than I thought.", said the hooded figure. "I'm just like you, Kate, your brother, those two friends of yours, and Stone,", he said, "What do you want?", "Are you sure you'll be able to give me what I want?", "Place, the offer.", "Ok, I want you dead.", he said, pulling out a sword.

Then suddenly, Stone appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the hooded figure by its neck. He pinned him to the fence and started strangling him. "Ok... What?", said Kate, as she was confused. The hooded man looked at Stone in his eyes, and Stone saw the rage in his eyes. He immediately let go of him and the hooded man jumped through the fence. "What were you thinking? Why did you let go?", she asked, angrily.

"He has powers like us, and he was about to attack.", "Oh, he sure does! But how are you so accurate that he was going to attack?", she asked furiously, "You know, this man is the same man who's been haunting me ever since. He came here today, and you let him go!", "I saw it in his eyes. He was fuming in anger and was ready to attack. In fact, his eyes turned purple, which is a sign that he was more powerful than both of us. And knows how to use them, he's not afraid.", he said. Kate pulled herself together.