Julia Lelieveld and the fifth element
~27~

I looked at him intently and then at the other four. I actually wanted to ask right away what was going on here. Which Leo had just done, but maybe it was useful to wait a while. I don’t know where I got that calmness from, a normal person would be freaking out if this had happened.

“All together?” I knew there was no point in arguing. Because I also wanted to know what the hell was going on here.

“Yes, I think this is the wisest thing to do.”

I nodded.

“I live around the corner from here.”

“It’s better we have some privacy,” he said, looking at the other four.

“No one’s home, I’m the only one.”

Rob looked at me questioningly and then nodded.

“Good, you go ahead of us.”

I nodded again and got on the bike. I cycled around Rob and the four others with a bow, they all looked at me a bit suspiciously. I was used to a lot staring, but not that anyone looked at me like that.

I led them to my house. I hoped I was right. It would be very rare if my father were home. He probably wouldn’t be home until late tonight.

When our house was in sight, I heaved a small sigh of relief that he wasn’t home. That was the first time, I would have preferred that he would be home more often. I opened the garage and put my bike down. I waited for everyone to get out of the car that Rob had parked on the side of the road.

I unlocked the door and stepped from the garage into the house toward the kitchen. When I heard everyone come in I turned around.

“Somebody have a drink?”

They all shook their heads. I shrugged and grabbed myself a bottle of water.

I led them into the living room and pointed to the couch.

“Make yourself comfortable.”

They looked a little surprised but sat down.

Leo sat down on the big couch, next to him the girl with the blond short hair sat down. On the other couch, Max sat down with the other girl. Rob took a seat in the big chair. I grabbed a chair from the dining table and sat down next to them. I thought it was wise to sit in such a way that I could see everyone well.

I looked at Rob questioningly. I really didn’t feel like starting to talk. It was their turn to come up with an explanation.

“Thanks for the hospitality, Julia,” Rob said politely.

“Don’t mention it.”

And it was quiet again.

“Okay, this is pretty unexpected for us,” he said, pointing at all of us. Rob was clearly the spokesperson for their club.

“We thought we were past this stage, but I was wrong.”

He seemed to be thinking about something or remembering something.

“Julia, what brings us here is that we’re almost convinced you heard the group in the detention room. We would like to know whether that is really the case.”

He looked at me expectantly. I didn’t know what he’d rather hear. Whether or not it was. I knew this was not the time to lie.

I nodded. “Yes that’s right.”

I saw the four on the couch look at each other confused. Leo was the first to say something.

“Rob, how can this be? How is it possible?”

“I don’t know exactly yet. Julia, have you noticed any changes?”

He looked at me questioningly again. I could feel the eyes of the other four burning.

I wanted to talk to them about it, but first it was their turn.

“I’d like some clarity first. I don’t even know who everyone is and why you’re here.”

I looked at them for a moment.

“I’ve been told your name is Leo.” And I pointed to the surprised-looking blond boy. “And that you are Max.” I nodded at the black-haired handsome boy. He smiled mischievously and tapped his head with his index finger, then pointed at me. “Entirely right.” And he winked a moment. Fortunately, someone else was able to relax a little.

I nodded to the other two girls. “I know your names are Kate and Sara, but I don’t know who’s who. And of course I already know Rob.” I pointed to Rob.

“Very remarkable of you Julia. Sara sits next to Leo and Kate sits next to Max.” They both raised their hands to me for confirmation.

Okay, now I knew who everyone was, but now the most important thing.

“Can you please tell me what the hell is going on here?”

I saw Max suppress a laugh and saw understanding in Lisa’s eyes. The others looked expectantly at Rob.

“This is not just explained,” Rob tried.

“Try, I can keep up,” I assured him.

He was quiet and I saw him think.

“Okay, what exactly did you hear in the detention room?”

Yes, and I could speak again.

I let out the big sigh.

“I heard you were quite interested. Especially when Leo said I radiated something.” I looked at him for a moment. “Especially when Leo noticed that I could hear you, which I thought made perfect sense since there were only five of us in the room. But your response didn’t seem logical. Before I heard anything I wasn’t supposed to hear, I sat down in the next room.” I shrugged, but they still looked at me expectantly. Of course they wanted to know if I had heard what Kate had said.

“In the other room, I was surprised to hear you still talking as if you were sitting next to me. You were talking about me, that I couldn’t hear you and that I wasn’t seventeen yet.”

I nodded at Rob. “And then you came in, you instantly fell silent. Probably because you could also follow our conversation.” Which I was very upset about. I knew they heard the part about my wrist. And about Renzo and Ivo. I also knew that if Rob had known they would be listening in, he would never have said it.

I was automatically lost in thought. I soon realized they were all looking at me. I sighed and continued.

“After that Rob went to you, so I could understand everything about it. Also what Kate said about controlling an element.” I looked at Rob again. Waiting to hear what he had to say.

“Interesting,” he said, lost in thought.

Everyone was waiting. I saw that Max had trouble sitting still, he seemed full of energy. It wouldn’t be long before he opened his mouth. As if I sensed it, he did indeed open his mouth.

“Good folks, we’ve beaten it enough. Julia clearly wants to know what the hell is going on here.” He made quotes with his fingers and smiled at me for a moment.

“Julia, each of us can control an element. We are connected to it. Rob is our mentor. What we wonder is why you can hear us. We can already hear each other very clearly in a kind of whisper, which is only possible if you are connected with the elements. The strange thing is that this only manifests itself when you are seventeen and the point is that if there are already four practitioners, there cannot be a fifth. So we also wonder what is going on. And now it’s Rob’s job to replace out.” He nodded briefly at an angry Rob. He wanted to open his mouth, but I stopped him.

“Thank you Max. It’s still all unreal to me, but I understand your attitude a little better now.”

“Yes, thanks Max!” said Rob in a very irritated tone.

“No thanks Rob,” he said with a big satisfied smile.

“I don’t think it’s weird at all if you want us to leave now, Julia,” Rob said in an understandable way.

“Leave? I want you to tell me more”, I said with incomprehension in my voice.

Now it was Kate who spoke. “Wait a minute, do I understand correctly that you believe us?” she said with wide, questioning eyes.

“Well, it’s actually too crazy for words, but I do believe you. I don’t know what my role is in this, but I’d like to replace out.”

“Well, that’s one step closer. Some of us couldn’t quite believe the truth.” And Rob nodded at Kate.

I saw Kate roll her eyes for a moment and sit down demonstratively with her arms folded.

“But you’re seventeen now. That means it’s all new to you too.” I asked the question in general.

“Yes, that’s right,” Rob started.

“Leo was the first to turn seventeen, he has the longest experience, then Sara joined and not long after Max. Kate is the shortest among us as you can see.” And he just nodded at her. She gave him a mocking smile.

What struck me is that they all treated each other as somewhat equal.

“Okay, but how did it manifest itself or how did you replace each other?”

“There are several ways to replace out.”

I already realized that Rob was really the point of contact, the mentor of the couple. Probably because they didn’t know much about it either.

“It may be that your arrival has been predicted so that the elementors can take action on that.” At the word elementors he pointed to himself.

“It may be that an e-warrior sees it coming to someone and they intervene.”

“An e-warrior?” I looked at Rob questioningly.

“These are people who are trained to take on the practitioners. They are trained for this from birth. They also possess a special instinct that indicates whether a person is or is becoming a practitioner. They just don’t know which element. As you understand, this can be very dangerous if an e-warrior discovers someone before an elementor. The e-warrior may disable the practitioner before they have a chance to develop themselves. And they’re smart, they can pretend to be your best friend, but in the meantime they’re trying to figure out what element you’re practicing so they know how to compete against you.”

He sighed and looked gratefully at his four students who were all there. I was quite shocked by this fact. Warriors that can take you out? Who was raised for that?

“But why are there warriors who can take you out? Are they the bad guys or us?”

I saw them looking at me in shock, except for Max.

“Ha, you see I’m not the only one asking stupid questions.” And he looked at Rob.

I looked at Rob questioningly.

“Julia, one who is a practitioner, is greatly blessed with his powers. You don’t get this one for free. You have them for a purpose and that is to protect the world from evil. You get your gifts, the warriors train for it.”

“The evil?”

The thoughts in my head that I was stuck in a supernatural movie were now very strong.

“There are people and creatures in the world who have evil plans. Who wants power or just gets a kick out of shedding blood.”

“Creatures?” Jesus this just kept getting crazier.

“Yes, creatures. All the stories you read and see on TV are not just made up. There’s a part of reality in it.”

“Wow, time out. Are you telling me that everything I believe in is a world made up for ordinary people to live as normal a life as possible?”

“Right the first time,” Rob said, nodding.

“But......, aren’t there enough bad people too?” Which I unfortunately knew all about.

“I don’t want to shock you too much, but many of these people are possessed by evil creatures. Those creatures will leave people again, but make them believe that they did it themselves.”

What? He didn’t mean that. Could it be that those men who killed my mother were possessed too? That any random person can suddenly become possessed.

“Can anyone get hold of these creatures?”

Rob looked at me questioningly. He probably wasn’t expecting this question. The others looked at us intently.

“No, not everyone’s. Often from people who have given permission for this or from people who already have evil in their mind.”

I got up and walked to the window. This was unbelievable. All those months I thought it was just us. Suppose those men were possessed, suppose those creatures were still roaming free and were going to finish their job. No, it couldn’t. I took a few deep breaths in and out to calm myself.

It seemed like this was predestined. As if I had been given these powers for a reason. To take revenge on these creatures. The creatures that have made my life hell. Would this really be my new start?

It was still all unreal. But one thing I knew for sure, I had to try to see the positive in it. This was predestined, there was no other way. Certainly not because there are already four practitioners. I turned vigorously. Everyone looked at me intently.

“What else do I need to know?” I said as I walked over to Rob.

Rob looked at me for a moment.

“Julia, I think it would be useful for us first to know why you believe in us right away and if you have experienced any powers yet?”

“How did you feel you possessed a power?”

I looked at the four.

Leo, who also seemed a bit like the leader of the four. Or perhaps the wisest.

“We were lucky that Rob knew in advance that we were going to change and that we could control an element. He taught us how to deal with it. When we turned seventeen, we didn’t really feel any different. It is that Rob has motivated us to use our powers. So we’re actually very curious how you found out on your own.”

I let this sink in for a while. They didn’t feel any different. It’s that Rob made them activate the power within themselves to manifest, but why did I feel completely different this morning? That I was aware of everything around me. How I could control the wind just by thinking about it. That I heard them coming early in the car. How I could turn it off or how my own body selected everything that was important to hear and what was not. Like now. Instinct told me not to dwell too much on this just yet. I think I could tell about that wind, but leave the rest behind for a while. Otherwise I immediately felt like such a freak. I don’t think I fit into the normal picture at all. At least if you could call something normal right now.

“Well, I didn’t replace out until I heard you guys talk. Or rather, Kate. I started thinking back when I was cycling home. I think I have a thing for the wind.” I shrugged and looked expectantly at everyone. With the hope that they would come up with answers right away or something.

“Why air? Did you accidentally fly a feather when you didn’t mean to?” Leo looked at me questioningly. Assuming he was an aerial practitioner. Since he was the one who almost blew me off my bike.

“A feather?”

What was he talking about? Why the hell would I let a feather fly?

“Well, that’s how I started to activate the air force. Slowly I was able to expand that. What I just did with you on the bike I recently got under control.”

“Oh.” But why do I get a strong tailwind just thinking about it? Maybe that’s not normal either. God damn it. What was I supposed to do with this?

“But why air?” he asked again.

I felt very uncomfortable. Five pairs of eyes looked at me very intensely. Would they feel it if I lied? I wasn’t going to risk it.

“Well, um......., when I was on my bike this morning I hoped that I would have the tailwind because I was late, while I thought about it I had a tailwind. And when I thought back to what Kate said this afternoon on my bike, I thought maybe that tailwind wasn’t a coincidence at all. So then I tried again and got a tailwind again, but I quickly turned it off, because to be honest it scared me a bit.”

I looked at Leo carefully and he looked at me with wide eyes. His mouth barely hung open in surprise. Leo looked questioningly at me to Rob. I followed his example, but saw that Rob was also looking at me with wide eyes.

“Are you sure this was the first time?” Rob asked.

“As far as I know,” I replied.

When all those looks were burning on me I felt like a freak.

“Jesus, please say something.”

I was sick of it. All that staring. I’ve had enough of that.

“I’m sorry, I think we all have nothing to say for a while. I’m going to contact the Elders right away.”

“The Elders?” the four said in unison.

“I’m sorry, but am I the only one here who mistrusts this situation? Who says she’s telling the truth?” Kate looked at me with disapproval.

I don’t know how it happened, but I stood up in response. It all became too much for me.

“Do you think I’m saying this for fun? Do you think I’m happy with this? I have enough on my mind, I don’t need this at all. I didn’t ask for this. What do you want me to do? Slam the doors with the wind?”

As I said that I made a wild gesture with my arm and with a big bang the open doors slammed shut. The wind blew in our faces for a moment and then it was gone. I looked horrified at the doors, then at my hands. Jesus, what just happened? I wanted the doors to fly shut and they did. I looked at everyone in disbelief. They all looked at me with startled eyes. I sat down again in astonishment and continued to look at my hands. Was this real? Did I really let those doors shut? I cleared my throat.

“Can someone please tell me what just happened?”

“Well, that’s pretty obvious. You have blown the doors shut with your power. I’m quite impressed if I can say so.” Max leaned nonchalantly back on the sofa.

I looked at him in dismay.

“Does he always say what he thinks right away?”

“Usually yes,” Sara said, rolling her eyes for a moment and giving me a loving smile.

“You have much to learn Julia, but one thing I can tell you. You become a good air practitioner.”

“Thank you.” I smiled back. That did me good. Someone who believed in me.

“Rob?” Leo looked at Rob.

“Yeah, I know Leo.” Rob and Leo looked concerned.

“What?” I asked.

“Well, earth boundaries have been set. This means that within these limits there can only be one practitioner of each element. It has never happened that there are two practitioners of an element within these boundaries.”

“And?”

“Well, I’ll have to replace that out. I think it would be wise for a protector to stay with you until then. There’s something going on here and if an e-warrior replaces out, it could get dangerous.”

“A protector?”

“Yes, someone trained to protect practitioners like you.”

“So now I’m suddenly a practitioner?” I asked incredulously.

“I’m sure you’re a practitioner. Only an air practitioner can do something like what you just did. But this is really very exceptional.”

“But now what? Do I also have to practice or train?”

“That seems best to me. You have to be able to protect yourself.”

“And those e-warriors, how can we recognize them?”

“That’s the annoying thing. E-warriors look like ordinary people, they can feel you, but we can’t feel them.”

“Rob, where do you get a protector so quickly?” Leo really thought about the whole thing.

“Isn’t he around here then?” I asked generally.

“No, protectors are not very common. It’s a dangerous calling and not everyone wants that.”

How ironic, they can choose, but we can’t.

“What are we going to do then?” I looked at Rob questioningly.

“I think it would be wise for one of you to stay here in case something happens. In the meantime, I’m going to consult with the Elders to see if more is known and how we should deal with this.” He looked at the four who were still sitting on the benches.

None of them responded quickly. They looked at each other, waiting for someone else to present themselves.

“I’ll stay.” It was Max who said that.

“No, I will. I don’t think it’s wise for Max to stay here.” This time it was Kate who spoke. If I’m not mistaken, I heard a jealous note in her voice.

“No Kate, I think it’s a good idea if Max stays here. Fire and air go well together when it comes to combat.” And with that, the decision was made.

A fight? I thought to myself. Better not to ask now. I had already received enough information for the coming year. And Max wasn’t so wrong. I think he was honest, so I could ask him a lot.

I just nodded.

“I think it’s wise that we keep it here. Max, make sure you and Julia are at the library by 7:30 tomorrow. Can I count on you being there too?” He looked at the other three. They all nodded and Max agreed.

“See you all tomorrow then.” He got up and walked to the front door. I unlocked it and let Rob, Leo, Sara and Kate out. I watched them drive away in Rob’s old blue car. I locked the door behind them again and walked back to the living room where Max was still sitting on the couch. I took a good look at him. He had black slightly wavy medium length hair. His special colored eyes looked back. He was handsome. He radiated self-assurance. I liked that. Guys who could stand their ground. The strange thing was, I was alone in the house with a total stranger boy on the couch who would stay the night. But I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. The opposite even. I felt comfortable. I had the feeling that this was also the instinct I had since this morning. The instinct that let him know it was safe for him to be here. He meant no harm. Weird, really, that I trusted an instinct I might not have been able to trust at all.

“What are you thinking of?” He looked at me seriously.

“I’m considering whether you can be here for me as a complete stranger.”

“And?”

His satisfied expression brought a smile to my face.

“I think so.” And with those words I sat down next to him.

“That smile looks good on you,” he said.

“I know.” And shrugged.