The Last Elementalist

Chapter 14

Shouts sounded from the corridors in the early morning. Lielle sat up groggily and quickly smoothed down her hair and ran toward the sound of the shouts.

A crowd had gathered and was staring up at the balcony overlooking the cafeteria. Daniel held up his hands to calm the crowd, but got nowhere. A family of four stood on the balcony staring glassy eyed at them. The two younger children stood on the railing, holding knives to their throats.

"You know what we want, Thunderthrillers. Bring it to us, and we will leave you be. Deaths will end and we will be satisfied."

The children drew the knives deeper into their necks and instantly collapsed, followed by the adults, whom dived over the ledge, head first.

"Get to the Crows!" someone yelled as Healers pushed their way through the crowd.

The name hit her like ice. Crow. Her Father's Mother's name was Crow, though Thomas was their name now.

"The Crows lived a short, but happy life..." someone began.

Tears stung her eyes as she lowered herself to the ground, burying her head between her knees. Someone's hand landed on her shoulder and she pulled them over her back, leaving them to lie on the floor as she elbowed her way through the crowd.

She was done crying. This would never end unless she ended it. Her family was dying for one reason or another and no one seemed to care. Well she did.

She made it to the door and knocked out two guards. As she ran up the hall, she heard Evie calling her name and allowed her, Connor and Cassidy to catch up. The entire way up the ramp, guards attempted to pursue them and failed.

At the top, Connor stopped and yelped, "We forgot the twins and my sister!"

"Connor we can't-"

"I already lost Layla once, I won't lose her again," Evie worried.

"You guys can stay here, then." Lielle melted the keypad and ran through with Cassidy. "Try to find us another time without dying first."

As they ran through the park, someone behind them screamed, "Wait."

She turned, and behind them stood a girl, her face covered in dirt and grime. She held her hands up in surrender as she said, "I'm a Thunderthriller too. Take my daughter, please." She pushed a girl of about five up to them and smiled. "Thank you. I will be forever grateful."

Cassidy grabbed her arm and they continued to run until the little girl could not go any further. Stopping for a drink by a fountain, they sat down and laid back against a building. The girl sat across from them, staring blankly.

"Um, so, what's your name?" Cassidy asked awkwardly.

She answered with silence, so Cassidy continued.

"So, I'm Cassidy and that's Lielle. Do you wanna tell us what happened?"

The girl continued to stare silently. Lielle and Cassidy exchanged a glance.

"We should find a place to stay while we wait for Connor and Evie," Lielle said matter of factly. "Either of you know a place?"

Cassidy frowned. "Not around here. Do you, girl?" she asked, forming a house with her body.

She nodded and stood up while Cassidy sighed, "Good. I almost thought that she didn't understand English."

They walked up Livingston Road, then turned onto Comanche Drive. The girl led them to the very end of the road right onto the doorstep of an old abandoned house. Ash stained the windows and burns marked the floor, making Lielle's mind flood with the dread of her past. She saw the blazing fire that was once her house, her family's bodies in the ambulances, Reggie burned to nothingness and Gabriel lying on the floor, blankly staring at her.