The Fifth Element
Chapter Twenty-Two

“Mom, oh no mom!” Emily, cried as she knelt beside Miss Howl, who lay bloodied, pale, and motionless on the ground. Her other kids stood nearby, with dazed looks on their faces. Beside her laid Neeva, my father, pale and out cold.

“Emily, move!” Emily’s dad commanded and gently pushed Emily away from her injured mother. He knelt beside her on the ground and began examining his wife.

“This can’t be real,” I whispered and still feeling like this had to be a nightmare I started drifting towards the Howl family.

When Emily saw me coming, she shot to her feet and barred her teeth at me in a snarl. I stopped in my tracks, shocked expression my normally smiling friend was wearing. She pointed a shaky finger at me. “Don’t you dare come any closer, this is all your fault.”

“Emily...”

“No, I don’t want to hear it. No matter how many times you say it, Vi, it’s never going to make it better!” and with that Emily burst into tears. She backed up a couple of steps, then went barreling into the woods at full speed, leaving me in her dust.

I hesitated for a split second, before giving chase; I was not sure of what else to do. I stopped when I heard someone say my name loudly.

“Violet,” My mother called. I turned away from the spot in the undergrowth I had just seen Emily disappear into, to see my mom kneeling beside my father. “Leave her alone for a bit. Her mother’s hurt, and she’s scared for her. Fear makes us into people we don’t even recognize.”

My body felt like it was being weighed down by stones, but I still managed to force myself to walk over to her and Neeva.

I turned to Emily’s father. “Is Mrs.H going to be alright?”

Emily’s dad turned his attention from his wife to me. He looked like he had aged ten years in a span of minutes. “Her injuries could be worse. She should be up and walking in a week and a half.”

“Is that really true dad?!” Carson, Emily’s little brother, said. His young face looked hopeful.

“Yeah is it!?” Kami, Emily’s older sister, chimed in.

Emily’s dad nodded at his children. Kami and Carson both high fived each other, but I couldn’t help noticing how skeptical Emily’s Dad looked.

Not wanting to think about it anymore; I crouched down into a kneeling position beside Neeva. “What’s wrong with him?” I asked my mom, and pressed my hand against his forehead; his skin was burning up.

“If I would have to make a guess, I would say it was magic exhaustion. The only cure for it is rest.” My mother pointed across the lake at the cabin, “I think our best bet is bunking down there for the night.”

“I’ll go check it out,” Danny volunteered. The sound of his voice surprised me, I had almost forgotten he was with us with all the drama going on.

He took off his shirt and tossed it casually on the ground. I gulped when I saw the rippling muscles underneath, he took off his pants then, and kicked off his shoes, until he was in nothing but his boxers. He walked to the edge of the lake. I watched from the shore, in never ceasing amazement, as he launched himself into the water, and propelled himself across the large lake in a matter of minutes. His small figure disappeared inside the cabin, once he reached the other side.

“He’s cute,” my mother said, coming up behind me, she rested her chin on my shoulder.

“Mom!” I yelled, swatting her away. “Is this the time for that!?”

My mother laughed. “Violet you’re turning bright pink.”

I believed her, I could feel my cheeks burning.

“That’s because you’re so embarrassing! Let’s get all our supplies before he comes back, ”Or more like before you embarrass me to death," I thought.

My mother agreed, and we began gathering all the stuff that had managed to survive.

Henry’s POV

Greta was pacing back and forth across the entire length of her room.

“So did you replace any traces of them?” she questioned him.

I shook my head. “Not even a footprint, they just vanished into thin air.”

Greta slammed her hand down on her desk and narrowed her stony gray eyes. “Keep looking. People just don’t disappear from the face of the earth unless it’s me who does it! She’s out there somewhere, and you’re going to replace her.”

I threw my hands up in frustration, “We tried Greta, but the men you sent to her house failed. They said she summoned the dead, and then disappeared in a flash of blue light. They barely managed to escape with their lives, not to mention one of them reported seeing “him” with her.”

Greta didn’t even have to ask who that “him” was. She already knew who he was, “I don’t care who’s she is with, I want her here in less than three days.”

“And what if I refuse?”

A grin spread across Greta’s face, and she reached under her desk, and I heard the click of a button being pressed. The wall behind her dissolved to reveal a hidden chamber behind.

I let out a sound of anger which came out as a primitive growl, because in the hidden room was Amber, blindfolded, gagged, and tied to the wall. Bruises and cuts covered her exposed skin, and I felt the bottom of the world drop out from under my feet.

“You witch!” I yelled and charged towards Greta, my hands blazing with flames.

That only made Greta’s smile more, she snapped her fingers, and giant spiders began materializing all over the room. They shot silk at me, tangling my feet and arms up in a thick, white glue. I fell to the ground, unable to move. I knew it was not real, none of it was, but I just couldn’t convince my body.

“Please Henry, did you think you could fight me?” she scoffed. “You really should know better,” she stood from her desk and walked over to him. She bent down, and whispered in his ear, “Especially since you know what I am.”

Greta snapped her fingers, and the illusion broke. I sprang to my feet and brushed at my clothes frantically, but I could still feel the spiders crawling all over me.

Greta walked back to her desk, the heels of her shoes clicking loudly on the marble floor, and echoing off the high ceilings. “Three days Henry, or she meets her maker,” Greta said darkly.

I glared at her, before storming out of the room. Before I left her office, I made sure to give her one last look of loathing, before I slammed the doors shut. She was a dead woman walking.

Greta’s POV

I watched him leave with great satisfaction. I knew he would have the girl in less time than I had given him. Henry never failed, especially if something precious hung in the balance. I looked forward to finally being able to kill him when I get back.

When I was absolutely sure he was gone I stepped into the hidden room I had constructed so long ago. I gave Amber a soft pat on the cheek, which Amber cringed away from in disgust, and moved towards the wall to her right. I placed her hand on its rough surface and opened up the entrance to my special room. I stepped inside the much bigger room and surveyed it with satisfaction.

“Good evening darlings, how are you all doing?” Of course, there was no response, all of the children in the room were in a zombie-like state, their powers slowly being drained by the giant crystal ball they were all hooked to and feed into my ability. The vines pulsed with energy in the dim room.

I was pleased to see that the ball’s light had grown even brighter. I placed my hand on the ball and relished the power I felt just under the glass’s surface. It was more than enough to finally take over the country and do much more. It was unfortunate timing the school board decided that Violet had to die now. More unfortunate that Henry had been the one to discover her and report her before I had a chance to take her myself, and even more unfortunate the Kraken had failed. Now I had to make sure the school boards died before they had a chance to kill her. They were already converging to activate the spell they had placed on her.

Not a big loss though to see those self-righteous pricks go. The only reason they had kept me alive was I was a human radar for special elementals. I could feel their minds from a hundred miles away, and well after I had convinced them with a little mind trick. They thought the could control me and were too dumb to realize it was me who made their minds believe that.

“Kill them now and destroy the spell,” I whispered on the wind to my most trusted allies, “I have something to do,” I said before sending it off.

I began to walk towards the steering room of the school, which controlled where the school was to move next. It was finally time to make this wretched school useful and finally direct the path of my own fate. Something which, besides marrying my now deceased husband, I had had no control over. But it was time, to force this country into the mold that it so desperately need to be mold too. Next stop, the magic council.

Violet

I had just put the last bag into in a neat pile when I felt a chill run down my back. I stood up straight and looked around me, but didn’t see anything. Well, that was weird, I thought to myself.

I saw that Danny was back and talking to my mom, he was still in his boxers, not that I was looking down there!

3-2-1, I counted he looked over at me and then back at my mom, 3-2-1, he looked over at me again. 3-2-1, he looked over at me for the third time, but this time, I raised an eyebrow at him. He looked away, embarrassed. He avoided looking at me for the rest of my mom’s and his conversation. When they were done, he walked off into the forest, and towards a small rock formation.

“Where is he going?” I asked once he was out of earshot, and after my mom had joined me at the pyramid, I had made out of all our combined stuff.

“He’s going to dry off in the sun a little,” she leaned in and whispered in my ear, “and he’s going to be completely naked!”

“MOM!” I shrieked and pushed her as hard as I could. She went stumbling backward laughing so hard, that tears were rolling down her face.

“I’m sorry, the temptation was too much.”

I glared at her and stalked off. I swear my mother was more of a prettier older sister than a parent.

I stopped in my tracks, when Emily stepped out of the woods right in front of me, in all her messy hair and puffy eyed glory.

She looked like a unicorn in the headlights when she noticed me.

“Hi,” She mumbled.

“Hey,” I said back.

“How’s my mom?”

“Your dad said she is going to be alright.”

“That’s good,” she said and smiled at me, but soon dropped her eyes to the ground. Her body language was all awkward. I didn’t think she knew how to act around me now; we hadn’t had a real fight since we were really young. Emily really didn’t have it in her to be angry at anyone for long, and I didn’t have it for me to stay mad at Emily.

“We really should gather some wood, I have a feeling it’s going to be cold tonight,” I said.

Emily nodded in agreement and together we both began collecting firewood.