Chapter 1 Dreams and Reality

Isaac awoke shaking. It was another nightmare. Tongues of flame, spears of ice, and people causing devastation with glowing eyes. Isaac had suffered from these night terrors all his life. His mom had sent his to countless therapists and psychologists, but they never could find the root of it. In the end, they blamed the nightmares on his father leaving when he was young, so they could keep making money off of him. But the nightmares never stopped. What they didn't know was that Isaac was a fire bender. One of the few left in the world with the ability to manipulate the elements. Not even his mom knew his secret. The only person who knew was his father, Samuel, who passed on his gift.

Before Isaac was born, his dad had been involved with the wrong crowd. He met in secret with some of the few benders left, and became drunk with power. Isaac didn't know all the details, but he knew that his father made enemies, and went into hiding. Then he met Isaacs mom, Jennifer. They dated for years, eventually married. Jennifer knew parts of Samuels past. As far as she was concerned, he was with a gang, and bending didn't exist, and as long as it remained as his past, she was fine with it. Eventually she fell pregnant with Isaac.

When Isaac was five, Jennifer asked Samuel to take care of Isaac for the night, while she went out to a work function. Samuel turned his eye for 2 minutes, and in that time Isaac had found some matches. This was the first time he ever firebended. Samuel walked in, to see a small flame hovering above Isaacs hand, and burnt matches on the floor. Fearing that enemies from his past would try and seek Isaac for their cause, he left that night, after telling Isaac what he was, and how nobody can find out.

Grabbing the first clothes he could find, Isaac ran out the door to the station. He knew that it would be another half hour before he got to school, and that it started in 10 minutes. He also knew there was nothing he could do to get there on time, so he relaxed, and enjoyed the train ride. He finally got to school, and managed to get to second period class without anybody noticing his lateness.

Recess was next, and since he had no breakfast, and was falling asleep, went to the 11th grade common room to make a coffee, a feeble attempt to kick-start himself. That plan disappeared when he saw the line. It didn't stop him though. Heating the water from his "personal source", he sipped away at his coffee for the rest of recess, amused at the people waiting in line.

School finished and Isaac walked to his friend Asher's house. After eating dinner, Isaac walked home. Tonight felt like an average night, but it was the night that changed everything for him. Isaac decided to take a shortcut through an alley. He had gotten to the other side, when a man walked in front of his path. The man smelt of alcohol, and was covered in tattoos. But what had Isaac scared the most, was the flick knife.

"Give me your wallet, and your phone, and nobody gets hurt" said the mugger.

Isaac froze on the spot. He didn't have his phone or his wallet with him. When he said nothing, the mugger advanced towards him. Without a second thought, Isaac punched the air in front of him, and created a tongue of flame. Suddenly the smug look on the man's face became one of fear, as he stumbled to the ground. Isaac then thrusted his hands towards the man, creating a larger flame, which knocked him back further, causing him to hit his head on the ground. He head injury knocked the man out, and his clothes were singed. Isaac ran, ashamed of what he had done. He had never used his gift to hurt another person before.

Isaac ran home, and went straight to bed, but he couldn't sleep. He was plagued with guilt from what he had done. He couldn't help but picture the man burning. Though it was silent, all he could hear was the man screaming. He knew that his mind was exaggerating what had happened, but he felt that might as well have happened. Eventually he fell asleep, where the only the nightmares reached him.

Isaac woke up the next morning earlier than usual. He had set 3 alarms to wake him up, in case one of them didn't like the day before. He walked over to the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal, then sat down in front of the TV. Isaac, like most teenagers didn't watch the news, but it was on, and he could not be bothered turning it off.

"Last night in an alley off 42nd street, a man was admitted into hospital with a concussion, and minor burns. The only witness to this event was a security camera, which depicts him attempting to mug somebody, but not expecting a fight. Channel 6 warns you that the following video may be disturbing to young viewers."

Isaac wasn't paying attention, until he saw himself, knocking the mugger from the night before onto the ground, and flames everywhere on the TV.

"Crap, I should have thought to check for cameras!" thought Isaac. Truth was, Isaac was that scared, his first thought was to go home. After having a second look at the video, Isaac was relieved to find he was wearing his hoodie at the time, and the camera was behind him during the fight. He was safe, for now.

"Officials are stating that the man being mugged in the video was believed to be a firebender, and that the police are taking care of the situation. They also want anybody with information on his whereabouts to contact the number on screen. They also warn the public not to approach this man about the matter if they know who it is, as the man could become violent if threatened."

Isaac checked the time, and turned off the TV when he realised he needed to get to the train station. He grabbed his bag, and ran out the door.

7 hours later Isaac got home from school.

"Mum, I'm home" he said as he walked in the door and dumped his bag next to it.

"Isaac, can you come here please, we have guests" said Jennifer.

Isaac walked into the lounge room, to see 2 police officers sitting on the couch opposite his mother.