THE FIFTH ELEMENT 🌊🔥🌪️⛰️☯️

~Cassie's POV~

When we finally got to the cafeteria, Veronica led me to her favorite table after we grabbed trays from the lunch lady.

I spotted the blonde girl who'd tripped me in class. She was in the corner with her crew. The guy who asked me to lunch; Jamie, was at that table too.

"Hey. Stop staring before they notice," Veronica said under her breath. "Everyone at that table is bad news. The most popular crew in school. You should avoid them at all costs. Especially Lisa Freeman. The blonde one."

I scoffed. "What a cliché. The most popular group in school is full of jerks and bitches. Nothing I haven't seen before." I finally looked away.

We were halfway through eating when two other people dropped into the empty seats. A nerdy guy with thick rimmed glasses and a petite girl with huge ribbons in her hair.

What is she, five?

I kept that thought to myself.

"Hey, Veronica. Hi, Cassidy," Glasses said as he sat down.

"She prefers Cassie," Veronica corrected him.

"Hi," I managed, nodding at both of them.

"Oh, right. We had English Lit together. That's how I know your name, you introduced yourself. I'm Marvin, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Marvin. And you?" I asked Ribbons.

"I'm Abby," she said, barely above a whisper.

We've got a shy one.

"Nice to meet you, Abby." I smiled. She smiled back.

We were eating in peace when something cold and slimy splashed over my head.

"Ugh! What the hell!" I shot out of my seat, wiping liquid off my face.

Lisa Freeman stood right in front of me.

"Oh my god. Are you okay?" Her voice dripped fake concern. "Looks like it's not just my leg acting up today. My hands too."

"I think your whole brain's been acting up the longest," I shot back. "You should get that checked."

"What did you just say to me?" Her eyes went wide with disbelief. I smirked.

"Wow. Now your ears are acting up too. You're one sick girl." I copied her mocking tone exactly.

"Take that back, you bitch!"

Her palm cracked across my face.

For a second, everything went white. All I could feel was rage... hot, boiling in my blood. My ears rang.

I looked at her. She was with her friends now, all of them laughing, pointing at me. The whole cafeteria was staring.

I glanced at Veronica. Her mouth was open, shocked.

I turned back to Lisa. Something inside me rumbled.

I stared at her, letting every ounce of pent-up fury rise, and then....

Lisa stopped laughing. Her face went blank.

"Guys... what's happening?" She waved her hands in front of her face like she was swatting at smoke. "Oh my god, guys... guys! I can't see! I can't see anything! Somebody help me, I can't see!"

Her friends grabbed her. "Lisa, you're scaring us. Stop joking around. What do you mean you can't see?"

"I'm serious! I can't see anything! Oh my god, call my parents! Call the principal! I don't know what's happening to me!" She was crying now, panicking.

Her outburst snapped me out of it. The rage drained away instantly.

"Guys? I can see you. Oh my god... Jessica, I can see you. Mindy, I can see you. I can see, guys! I can see again!" Lisa touched her eyes, her friends, relief flooding her face.

Her friends didn't look relieved. They looked pissed.

"What kind of sick game was that, Lisa? You scared us," one of them said.

"You know what? Forget it. I'm out of here." The other one rolled her eyes and stormed out of the cafeteria.

Lisa looked at me. Just for a second. Her eyes narrowed, suspicious. Then she followed her friends out.

"That was intense," Veronica said as we sat back down.

"You mean hilarious," Marvin said, grinning. "People are never going to stop talking about this."

"That wasn't normal," Abby murmured. "What if something actually happened to her?"

I stayed quiet. Because I knew something had happened to Lisa.

It wouldn't be the first time.

Every time I got into a fight, a real one, where I was furious, something unexplained happened to the other person. Nosebleeds. Fainting. Once, a boy swore his legs went numb for ten minutes.

It couldn't be coincidence anymore.

Could I actually be doing this?

It wasn't supposed to be possible. But it kept happening.

~

After school, I waited for my mom to pick me up.

An hour passed. No show.

She forgot me. On my first day.

I sighed and walked to the bus stop.

The ride home was quiet. When I got to my stop, I saw them immediately , three black SUVs parked in front of our house. Neat. Identical. Expensive.

Who are these people? Mom doesn't have any friends.

I walked slowly to the front door and pressed my ear against it. Voices were echoing inside, but it was muffled. Too faint to make out words.

Giving up, I crept to the living room window and peeked through the gap in the curtains.

Two huge men stood just inside. Black leather, old-fashioned, almost medieval. Their shoulders blocked the rest of the room. From the way they stood, feet apart, hands clasped ,they were bodyguards or some security men.

Or something else like it.

I wonder who they could be?

~~~

THE FIFTH ELEMENT 🌊🔥🌪️⛰️☯️

Cassie's POV~~

After standing outside for a while, watching through the window, I gave up and found the courage to open the front door.

The second I did, the room went dead silent.

The two huge men turned their heads in unison. And I could finally see everyone else in our living room.

My mom stood near the couch, wringing her hands. Next to her was a middle-aged woman with jet-black hair, dressed in the same medieval-style leather as the guards, but she had silver medals pinned to both shoulders. Her face was cold. Sharp.

Beside her, a bald man in a gray suit. Next to him, another middle-aged woman with dirty-blonde hair, knitted clothes, and round glasses.

I glanced to the other side of the room. More bodyguards.

Who are all these people? And where did they come from?

Then I saw him.

A boy, maybe my age. Light-blonde hair, almost ash, tired looking eyes. His features were... beautiful. Beautiful in a way that made my stomach gallop. He had that Boyish hairstyle which was strikingly attractive.

He was staring at me, eyebrows drawn together and I looked away fast.

He probably hated me for staring.

"Honey, you're back," Mom said, relief flooding her voice. "I'm so sorry I forgot to pick you up from school."

"It's fine, Mom." I stepped inside, shutting the door behind me. "What's... what's going on?" I looked from one stranger to the next.

"Um. Cassie, I want you to meet some people," Mom said, nervous.

"Cassidy Fairchild." The woman with the glasses came toward me, smiling. "Oh dear, look how much you've grown." She reached for my cheek.

I stepped back before she could touch me. "Sorry. I don't really like it when people touch me. Especially strangers." I tried to sound apologetic.

She just nodded and smiled like she expected it.

"Mel? How much does the child know?" the black-haired woman asked, eyes still locked on me. Something about her felt wrong. Like standing too close to a cliff.

"She has zero knowledge of it all," Mom answered, head bowed.

"Mom. What's going on?" I asked again, walking to her.

"Honey, don't say anything yet. I'll explain everything later. I promise."

I frowned.

"Child, I believe you've had your eighteenth birthday, yes?" the blonde woman asked.

"Yeah. A few weeks ago." I turned to her. She seemed the most approachable. "Who are you people?"

"You'll find out soon enough," the black-haired woman answered instead. "When you follow us home."

I stared at her like she was crazy. "Excuse me? Follow you home? Last time I checked, I am home right now."

"Mel," the black-haired woman said to my mom, ignoring me completely. "Tell the child what she needs to know. Before sunrise. We're out of time. She needs to know who she is so we can begin."

I was lost.

Defend myself against what?

Who am I?

Then, one by one, the guests started leaving.

Each of them gave me a look as they passed. Long. Assessing.

The beautiful boy was last. He held my gaze for a second before shutting the door behind him.

I turned to my mom. "What the hell is going on, Mom?"

~~~

"Mom." It was dinner, hours later, and I couldn't take it anymore. "Are you going to tell me what happened earlier, or are we going to keep pretending it didn't happen?"

She pushed food around her plate. Stalling.

"Okay. I'll talk." She set her fork down and looked at me. Really looked. "Cassie, I think it's time you knew something."

"Yeah, I know. Just tell me. Please."

"Cassie... you're special. You're a special kid."

I rolled my eyes. "You've told me that since I was a baby."

"I mean really special, Cassie. Gifted to do great things."

"Gifted," I repeated. "What do you mean?"

Some part of me already knew. The cafeteria. The nosebleeds. The boys with numb legs.

"Cassie, I'm your mother. You know that." Her voice cracked. "But I'm not... I'm not your biological mother."

The room went quiet.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I was sworn to secrecy until now. But your real mother had a great and unique ability, just like you. But yours... yours is more special."

I stared at her, trying to process it. "Cassie? Are you okay? Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I'm trying to understand." My throat was tight. "You're not my real mother? What does that even mean? I'm adopted?"

"I'm sorry, Cassie. I'm really sorry for keeping this from you." She looked torn apart.

"If you're not my mother, then who is?" I met her eyes.

"That's something you'll find out soon enough. But Cassie, there's something else."

"Something else?" I laughed, but it came out angry. "After what you just told me, I don't think anything can top that."

"Those people you saw earlier - they're from your real home. They have gifts too, just like you. But each person has a different gift. And yours... yours is unique. Never seen before." She took a breath. "Which is why you have to go with them when they return tomorrow. They'll teach you everything you need to know about yourself."

"You're not serious." I stared at her, disbelieving. "I'm not going anywhere with those people. I don't even know them."

"You have to, Cassie. You don't have a choice."

I scoffed and stood up, my chair scraping hard against the floor. "Yeah, we'll see about that. Have a terrific night, Mother."

I didn't wait for her answer. I ran to my room, heart pounding, chest cracked open.

She's not my real mom.

But at the same time... it made sense.

She had curly blonde hair and blue eyes.

I had dark brunette hair and coffee-brown eyes.

We didn't look anything alike. Not one thing.

This had to be a nightmare.

I just wanted it to be over.

~~~