15653029Brooklyn, New York, 8:00 AM
"Honey, it's already 8! Hurry up!"
"Oh, crap. See you, Mom. I've got band practice after school so I might not be home til late," the tall, raven haired boy shouted as he ran down the stairs of the dumpy New York apartment building, bass guitar in hand. He ran a few blocks and got onto a subway train. While he would have looked out of place in suburban America, he was perfectly at home among the diverse crowd of New Yorkers. His messy black hair fell over his dark, mysterious, seemingly electric eyes. His lower lip was pierced with a simple ring. He wore black jeans and a worn out, faded red shirt. He played bass in a (surprisingly good) emo-rock band (Lonely Streets) with his friends. He was quite attractive, but not exactly interested in dating anyone. He lived with his mother and stepfather in a loft apartment, but his stepfather was away drinking most of the time and was to be avoided at all costs. He'd gotten a part-time job at an indie record label. It didn't bring in much money, but it helped. His name was Alexander Lunghesi, and he was a very different boy.
Aspen, Colorado, 3:55 PM
"Just hold still one more moment, Bella. Then you can go play with your little friends. Oh, that looks nice. Could you nip it in a bit at the waist?" a tall, blue eyed, well to do blonde woman in her fifties was instructing a busy dressmaker in creating a bridesmaid's dress for her daughter. The daughter looked nothing like her mother, with metallic grey eyes and hair dyed bright blue and cut at an awkward angle.
"Thank you, Paulina, she looks lovely," the girl bolted out of the dress shop. "Remember, honey, there's a party at the lodge tonight! Be home by six!"
"As if" thought the girl. Her name was Bella Nicholas. She rushed out of the tiny boutique and into the freshly falling snow. If she got home fast enough, she could still catch the fresh powder and make it to band practice. She played drums in her friends' metal band (Lonely Chaos), much to the dismay of her parents. She lived with her parents in a huge ski condo right next to the slopes at Aspen Mountain. She was a rebellious girl, but he still liked her life enough. Bella was a very different girl.
San Francisco, California, 6:47 PM
A girl with dusky green eyes and sharply layered blond hair was sitting on the rickety fire escape of her San Francisco apartment. She was staring out at the stormy clouds and choppy waves with no intention of going inside. A simple acoustic guitar sat in her lap, but she wasn't playing it. She lived with her father in their small apartment. Her mother had simply left when she was born, so she'd developed a close relation with her dad. She played guitar in a techno-rock-pop-everything band with her best guy friends (Absolutely Zero), and they had self-released an EP. She also had a part time job at a small vintage store. She walked into the diminutive apartment and into her bedroom, which held a dress form, an antique dresser, another guitar, a bookshelf full of strange sci-fi books, and a loft bed.
She used to be a popular, normal girl. She was a competitive show jumper, but her coach had died a few years ago. She could have moved barns, but she joined the band and left that life. Now she marched to the beat of her own drum and hung out with the guys in her band instead of all of the silly little preppy girls. She was that girl who everybody thought was hot, but had never been more than friends with anyone except for her ex-boyfriend Garrett, who played bass in Absolutely Zero with her. She'd dated him for a few years, and they had a great relationship until she found out he was cheating on her. They'd broken up only about a month ago, and she was still sad about it. She hadn't spoken to him since. She was very stubborn that way, which could be a good or a bad thing. Her name was Juliet Martinez (even though she looked in no way Hispanic; she'd gotten her looks from her mother). She was a very strange girl.
Palm Beach, Florida, 4:51 PM
"Yo, Josh! Over here!" a red haired boy shouted at a brown haired one. They were running down a soccer pitch, engaged in a fierce competition against ten other boys. The boy with wavy brown hair and bright blue eyes was Josh Starling. Soccer was who he was, what he did. He'd played since he was a toddler and he just loved the feeling it gave him. Soccer was most of his life.
The referee blew the whistle, signaling the end of the game. He slapped hands with his teammates and headed home in the humid Florida air. The reason he loved soccer was because he could forget the rest of his life. He had an average American family, overprotective, overweight, and overly conservative. When they'd moved from New Mexico two years ago, he didn't fit in at all. He still didn't like the way humidity, the heat or the bugs; and the only reason he fit in now was because of soccer. Josh Benneton was a unique boy.
Chicago, Illinois, 4:29 PM
"Well, it should work now, Mrs. Fowler," a boy with slightly spiked pale red hair and pale blue eyes told his teacher while sitting at a computer desk in a classroom. It was well into the evening, and school should have been over, but the boy was a self professed computer geek, and his teacher's computer was broken.
"Thank you, Nick. I appreciate it a lot. You can go home now," the teacher told him, and the boy started home. He walked into his house. It was an average sized ranch house in Barrington, a suburb of Chicago. His father was an engineer and his mother was a calculus professor, so it wasn't surprising that he was smart.
He was a total computer geek, but he didn't care. He was even mildly cool in his own strange way. His full name was Nicholas Hatter. He was in a techno band with a few of his friends, and he mostly worked with the computer stuff and sound effects. Nick Hatter was a pretty different kid.
Washington DC, 9:03 AM
"Girls, get on the bus. Jessica, put away your cell phone! Those going to the white house, with me, those going to the Vietnam memorial, with Mrs. Jenkins," a frumpy looking teacher was shouting at a crowd of uniformed girls. They were just as bad as a crowd of angry elephants on steroids.
After a half hour of hectic cow herding, the girls were all on the bus. They were all talking animatedly, very happy. One girl seemed exceptionally excited. Her name was Jessica Greenlake, and she was the Queen Bee of St. Claire's all girl catholic school. She had super long black hair and strange reddish-gold eyes, and looked a whole lot like Megan Fox. She wasn't much of a backstabber, but she could be a total bitch when she wanted to.
She accessorized with Prada, Gucci, or Chanel. She had a fairly wealthy family (well, duh) and lived with her younger sister and parents in a huge house. Her father was a senator and her mother had never worked. She had just about everything she could ask for: a loving family, plenty of money, a crowd of sycophants mimicking her every move, a job playing keyboard in a pop band, and a fabulous wardrobe. And yet Jessica Greenlake felt as though this was not enough. Jessica was deeper then you average queen bee. She was a very different girl.
Each of these sixteen year olds was very different, and yet they were all very similar. What do an emo, a punk, a scene, a jock, a computer geek, and a popular girl have in common? This similarity had something to do with a little thing called destiny. I know everything that happens is the consequence of your own actions. That still held true, but the actions of these six children had affected their destinies.
You see, all of these teens had expressed a desire for something more in life. They knew too much of normality, and they needed more. They didn't all know it, but they knew the world altogether too well for people of their age. It was time for them to get a crash course in the paranormal.
Brooklyn, New York, 10:12 PM
Alex sat at his desk in his room, checking his email on the ancient apple computer that was his own. His bedroom was pretty messy, decorated mostly in black. His inbox was full of basic emails about anything from employee discounts to homework. He briefly scanned them, looking of any that would be worth spending the time to open. A certain one caught his eye…
Aspen, Colorado, 11:12 PM
Bella had finally gotten herself out of her parent's stupid little "jamboree" when her mother was too drunk to even notice her. She checked her email on her super expensive macbook pro in her bedroom full of punked up designer furniture. It contained the usual metal news and information about new sales at hot topic (even though the nearest one was in Boulder, which was about 4 hours away). There was one strange one though…
San Francisco, California, 11:41 PM
Juliet ran back from band practice, attempting to avoid all of the drunk, high, sexually active college kids. Since none of the band members had much free time, they were forced to practice on weeknights from 9:00 to 11:00 PM. It complicated things, but it wasn't horrible. She checked her email, whose inbox was crowded with information on various bands, information about a possible tour and recording contract for next summer, and stuff about work. A certain email caught her attention…
Palm Beach, Florida, 8:42 PM
Josh left his family's beach-view living room and walked upstairs to his own bedroom. It was just an average bedroom, with whitewashed walls and a blue comforter. It was a complete mess, and his soccer trophies and metals were littered around randomly. He clicked into his email on his dell desktop, looking at all of his emails. Most of them were about soccer or, well, soccer, but there was one strange one…
Chicago, Illinois, 7:49 PM
Nick sat at his super high tech PC in his super messy bedroom. It was a small bedroom, full of computerized devices (a super-enhanced wii, a complete speaker system, even a computer enhanced microwave). He checked his email on his own website, . His inbox was full of emails from clients (his website was basically a techie advice column) he opened them and replied to them, but the most recent one was strange…
Washington, DC, 11:23 PM
Jessica sat at her desk in her perfectly neat blue and white bedroom. It was more sophisticated than the typical pink and fluffy room, and more fitting to her. She logged into her giant Apple desktop computer and onto her email. It was full of sale information at her favorite stores, emails from her best friends, and one strange message…
Intrigued, are you? Well, here is that letter. Blah, blah, blah, they all opened the letter and stared at it with wide eyes… blah. Since you're so curious:
"Congratulations. If you are reading this, it means you have been chosen out of a select group of individuals to help in an important mission. This mission involves destiny, fate, and most likely very hard work. Why have you been selected? Because you are more than an average person: you are disciplined, skilled, hardworking, and intelligent. What is the mission? Sorry, the mission is confidential. Sometime tomorrow you will be escorted to our headquarters and informed more. We appreciate your understanding.
Thank you,
Nobody"
Brooklyn, New York, 2:16 AM
Alex couldn't sleep. He'd lay awake for several hours, pondering the strange email he had received. It was just one of those nights when you know you aren't going to be able to sleep. He slipped out of his bed and pulled on a tee shirt and some jeans, grabbed his bass, and walked out onto the old balcony of their once fancy apartment. He stared out at the city skyline and began just playing the riff to one of his songs.
"Nice song," a hoarse voice whispered. Alex turned around to see who was there. He thought he saw a flash of movement, but immediately he felt a sharp pain in the crown of his head everything went black.
Aspen, Colorado, 12:16 AM
Bella had managed to jump out of her fourth floor window unharmed and run to her friend Zaira's house, where they held band practice every day. She threw a rock at Zaira's window.
"Here, try a harder rock," a husky voice behind her told her. She turned around and looked for the person, but all she saw was blackness.
San Francisco, California, 11:16 PM
"See you tomorrow!" Juliet shouted and ran out of the dark garage. She had her beat up guitar case, her old converse, and a sharp mind to protect her against any drunken assholes who wanted to hit on her, and she loved running in the moist California air.
"Need a ride?" asked a gravelly voice. She whirled around, ready to lash out, but before she could, something whacked her in the head and she went unconscious.
Palm Beach, Florida, 2:16 PM
Josh had lain in bed, pretending to sleep, for a few hours. Now he walked out of the house to the sound of his parents snoring and grabbed a soccer ball. Thos was really why he was so good. Every night, after his parents went to seep, he snuck out and practiced for a few hours. He'd scheduled it perfectly so that by the time his alarm clock rang, he was asleep and safe in his bed.
"Nice shot," whispered a harsh, rough voice. He spun around just as something hit his head and he blacked out.
Chicago, Illinois, 1:16 AM
Nick had stayed up late, remixing one of his songs. His life was easy and predictable, the way he liked it. It wasn't strange or crazy or different, aside from the fact that he had an IQ of about 165 and had received a very strange email. He was a pretty average computer geek.
"Not anymore," whispered a gruff voice. He lost his train of thought and fell unconscious.
Washington DC, 2:16 AM
Jessica walked home from the club, slightly drunk but not enough to get really tipsy. The 'elite girls' of DC were all fake IDs and martinis on the rocks with salt. It wasn't a bad thing, and they all had enough common sense not to drink and drive. It was a pretty nice life.
"Don't drink when you're underage," a guttural whisper met her ears. She rolled her eyes, figuring she was drunk and imagining stuff. She felt a sharp bang on her head and everything went dark.
Well, well, a little drama. I do quite enjoy action. I suppose the six children ought to meet each other. I suspect it would move the plot along…
The boy known as Alexander was kicked awake. "Ugh, Dad; let me sleep. It's a Saturday!" he exclaimed sleepily.
"Up. Walk. Now," the same harsh voice from the night before commanded him. Alex realized he was in a large black car outside of a huge office building on a beach. The air was hot and wet. He had a large, swelling bump on the back of his head. The voice was coming from a male figure in an elaborate, clearly expensive black suit, sunglasses, and a ski mask. Alex was more than a little freaked out. Hell, wouldn't you be too if you woke up in a mysterious car in front of a gigantic office building in the middle of nowhere with a big bump on your head?
He was dragged into the building forcefully, by the collar of his worn black shirt. He was still wearing yesterday's skinny jeans, too. He was led into a glass walled room, then through a multitude of winding corridors, and finally into a waiting room, where he was told to sit in a chair like the ones they have in school offices. His 'escort' left, letting him take in his surroundings.
There were five other chairs, four of them occupied. The first was unoccupied, but a track jacket lay over the back. A girl with bright blue spiky hair, wearing lime green paint splattered super-skinny jeans and a bright yellow and pink super tight tee shirt and holding a beat up backpack sat in the second. In the third was a boy with spiked light red hair, a short sleeved button down, and some jeans. He was typing furiously at a laptop. In the next sat a Megan Fox look alike wearing a short, shimmery orange-red dress and typing furiously at a blackberry, looking frustrated. Finally, in the seat next to him was a girl with long, blonde, choppily layered hair and startlingly deep green eyes; wearing a pair of black skinny jeans and a loose plaid tunic over a white tank top cinched by a gold belt. A guitar case sat at her feet. Dang, she's pretty, he thought. They were all so different, but each had the same fierce but exhausted look in their eyes.
A tall, brown haired boy with bright blue eyes wearing track pants and a plain gray tee walked in from the next room. "Whoever's next can go," he said groggily and took a seat in the chair with the track jacket. "I think that's you, Bella," he said, indicating the blue haired girl. She rolled her eyes and stood up, leaving into the room.
"You must be the sixth kid," the boy said. "I'm Josh, the girl who left was Bella. That's Nick, Jessica, and Juliet," he said. Nick was the one at the computer, Bella was the blue-haired one, Jessica was the one who was mad at her phone, and Juliet was the pretty one with the guitar. The one who had called himself Josh rubbed his head. "Who're you?"
"Er, Alex. What the hell's going on?"
"Well, to tell the truth, none of us really know. I was woken up in a van, told to come in here, waited for a while, and was brought into that room. They were talking about six kids and destiny and whatever. They did some variety of physical examination, and then sent me out here. I'm way tired and wacked out 'n my brain isn't working properly, so don't trust what I say," Josh yawned.
"I'm pretty sure a bunch of psychopaths decided to kidnap six teenagers for no reason," Juliet piped in. "But that's just me."
The five just sat there for about twenty minutes. Juliet pulled out an iPod and started listening to it, tapping her finger on her jeans. Josh dozed off in his chair, Nick kept up at his computer, and Jessica was still pretty mad at her phone. Alex sat back, taking in his surroundings. He studied the glass walls of the room, the possible escape routes, and his companions. He studied Juliet's face, from her deep green eyes to her slightly golden skin and perfectly pink lips. He couldn't fall for her. He had a life ahead of him and didn't have time for girls…but she was gorgeous.
"Ugh, there is officially no cell phone coverage here," she declared. "I've tried for, like, two hours!" Nick finally looked up from his computer. "No internet or GPS signal either. I assume that we're either in a confidential, federal security area or else the middle of nowhere,"
"Wonderful! Got any more happy news for us?" Juliet's cynicism was becoming more and more self evident.
"And I thought my life was already effed up…" Alex added.
Meanwhile, Bella's level of irritation at the pretty Asian lady who was questioning her was rising slowly but steadily, like the temperature of a sick baby. The woman had essentially given her a full on, up close and personal "medical" examination and was now expecting her to walk out like nothing at all bizarre had happened. Bella stalked out of the room, more than a little peeved.
"You're up, geek boy. May the force be with you," Nick shut off his computer and left. "God, that was terrible," she said.
They waited until each one had had their examinations. It was boring enough already, and now that they had absolutely nothing to talk about, it was even worse. Finally, about two hours later, the six were all finished. A thug in a tuxedo and ski mask appeared and gestured for them to follow.
They were led through dizzying glass corridors until they reached a conference room-like area. There was a huge table with seven chairs at it. At the head of the table, a man was sitting, his face blocked by a newspaper. "The subjects, sir," the brute rasped, and left.
The man dropped the paper, revealing his visage. He was an average looking man, probably in his fifties or early sixties. His eyes were a strange, icy blue and his hair was silvery gray.
"Welcome to my…lair. I am Dr. Ian Nobody, former commander in chief of the Dolphin Nose Island naval base. You are currently on Dolphin Nose, which is approximately 200 miles west of Hawaii. This island was once a glorious naval base, but was disbanded in 1979. It is now a secret governmental locale, used only for the most confidential of operations. You, Alexander Lunghesi, Juliet Martinez, Nicholas Hatter, Joshua Starling, Jessica Greenlake, and Isabella Nicholas, are involved in our latest plan. You see, you are more than average humans. You were not born to the parents you have been raised by. You are children of the elements. Each of you was formed by a mortal human, but brought to life by one of the seven elements: Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Lightning, Ice or Metal."
He held up his hand. A shaft of ice shot from it, impaling the glass wall. This was met by six pairs of disbelieving eyes. "For years, mankind has pondered the existence of another life form. That life form is us. We are incredible: we are more powerful, more intelligent, and stronger than humans. On average, our lifespan is at least six hundred years. My three hundredth birthday is, in fact just around the corner. This lifestyle is wonderful, but it has its drawbacks."
"Longevity and intelligence are nice, but can be depressing. Strength and power can lead to clumsiness. But this isn't the worst part. There is war. You see, there are always fourteen elementals in the world. There are seven good and seven bad elementals, with two embodying each element. You are the good ones."
"The bad ones are a different story. They have been plotting something for years, and it is finally coming into fabrication. They have been plotting to overthrow mankind. We must stop them. They will not attack for a small while, but it will be soon. That is why we have brought you here. You need training. You need to know what is going on. But first, you need rest. We have provided rooms for you and brought some of your belongings from your houses so you will feel more at home.
At that, one of the thugs showed up. "Take them to their dormitories," Dr. Nobody commanded. "I will answer questions tomorrow. Good bye,"
He dismissed them abruptly, and the goon led them through more hallways. They were brought to a hallway with six doors leading off of it. Each door had a small placard on it. On each placard was a name. The man gestured that these were their rooms and made sure they each got into theirs before he lumbered away like a tree trunk with legs.
Juliet walked curiously into the room. There was her dress form and her laptop, her electric guitar and her iHome, her skinny jeans and vintage wear, her photo album with old pictures and her sketchbook. She liked it, but she hated it too. It made her feel more at home and yet more homesick. The feeling was comparable to having your favorite stuffed animal at camp. You love it, but it reminds you of being at home where you don't just have a dumb little stuffed animal to comfort you.
She just felt like she'd lost so much in her life. Her mother, her riding coach, her old friends, Garrett…it saddened her. Put things into perspective, she told herself. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Whenever her past caught up with her, she'd put it into perspective. Just grab her guitar and remind herself how silly she was being. It helped, but what if it wasn't all just herself overreacting?
Juliet was over thinking things. She forced herself to think about other things aside from the completely strange occurrences of earlier or putting things into perspective. Her companions interested her. Jessica seemed like a nice enough girl, a lot like Juliet's old friends. She already liked Bella's rebellious style, but wasn't sure what she'd think of her attitude toward life. Nick seemed like a cool kid, albeit a bit of a geek. Josh seemed genuinely nice, but a bit ignorant. Alex…he was attractive. The way his hair fell over his brooding eyes, his perfectly shaped nose and mouth, his bass…all so alluring. But he reminded her of Garrett. Garret…
She'd fallen head over heels, and so had he. Or so she'd thought. She remembered their last date so vividly. They'd gone to Warped Tour together and done all of the cliché couple-ish things…sharing a dripping ice cream cone, posing with the cardboard cutouts of rock stars, and just enjoying the music and each other's company. That is, until he "went to the bathroom."
Juliet decided to walk around, look at the band's booths, buy a tee shirt, and maybe get some stuff signed. She was just chatting with band guys and wondering where Garrett was. That was when she saw it…he was making out with Vanessa Lovelake, Juliet's worse frienemy. Of course he'd denied it, being his stupid, cowardly self; but Juliet had pressed him until he cracked.
She still felt terrible about it. Even though she hated him with incredible passion, her heart still hurt. A single tear dropped off of her cheek. She let it plop softly onto the guitar. Clinging onto the instrument as if it were her lifeline, she began to play, quietly at first, then building louder.
It all goes back to the first kiss
It was the one I thought I'd never miss
Maybe we were one of the lucky ones
Maybe I'm just not quite strong enough
This was supposed to be the easy part
But breaking down was what I found hard
Now I'm wearing a smile that I don't believe in
Inside I feel like screaming
"Mayday Parade?" asked a velvety voice. Oh god, it was Alex. He was standing in her doorway, smiling slyly. Juliet's heart flip-flopped like hearts aren't supposed to do except in romance novels. She brushed her messy hair out of her face.
"Yeah," she smiled a bit guiltily, blushing a perfect peach color. "Shouldn't you be in your room or something?"