Scotland's unofficial rulers are five powerful clans that each control one of the five elements: Fire, water, earth, air, and energy. In order to keep their land safe and protect the citizens, everything about the five clans is kept under tight wraps. Uninvolved people may never, under no circumstances, find out that elemental magic, let alone the power play among the clans are a real thing.
Just like everyone else, Kurt is totally ignorant when it comes to the five clans' existence. Every night, he sneaks out of his home to hunt down so-called elementals – murderous creatures that killed his mother ten years ago. His fighting partner is Blaine, a mysterious boy that just showed up in his hometown a while ago. He has absolutely no idea who Blaine is and where he comes from, not that he cares about that – until an encounter with one bad boy changes his life forever. From that moment on, Kurt is suddenly able to control water. What sounds great at first, however, is quickly turning into a ticking time bomb. He needs to find a way to control his newfound abilities, and fast, or else, he will turn into the very same thing that once took his mother's life.
I'm back with a new story! This piece of work will heavily be based off Bianca Iosivoni Sturmtochter - books, a quite talented German author. Of course, I changed a lot of things haha.
That was it. Enjoy that story :D
Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
Quinn
Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland
Kind of weird to bury someone that wasn't dead. How could she say goodbye to someone that was still out there somewhere? Lost, unattainable, but still alive. If one could still consider it a life.
"Quinn…" The voice of her brother was quiet and still so loud. He was standing behind her, his shadow visible on the tombstone.
Even though she didn't turn to him, she could feel Charlie like she could feel the sunrays on her back. His powers were getting stronger every day. He tried hiding it from her, played it down whenever she asked him, but she knew better. She knew because she had seen it happen multiple times. Again and again, until almost no one was left of her family. And soon, she would be alone. Alone in that huge castle that belonged to her clan for centuries and was her home. But with every day that passed, it turned more and more into a mausoleum.
"She is not dead", she muttered while she looked at the letters on the tombstone. "Mum is still out there."
"I know." Charlie took a step towards her so that they were standing next to each other. He was taller than her and had broad shoulders. His hair was blond like hers, but unlike her, he had emerald eyes that were sparkling a little in the sunlight. The siblings stood next to each other in silence, looking at the empty grave in front of them. No coffin. No dead body. Just a symbol, a gesture to say goodbye. Charlie insisted to do it. With the passage of time, more such symbols have been put into their backyard, more empty graves, until the backyard where Quinn used to play with her siblings and her cousins had turned into a cemetery.
The cold wind was ruffling her hair. Other than her brother, Quinn just couldn't bid goodbye to her mum. She watched Charlie kneel down in front of the tombstone and mutter something quietly. After a while, he got up again and turned to her. Even though he was only twenty-two and four years older than Quinn, he looked as if he had aged a couple of years in the past months. After all, he had been the one that tried to keep the family from breaking apart. The parts that were still left of this family, anyway.
"She is not dead." Quinn knew how childish she sounded, but she needed to repeat it, say those words out loud to make herself feel better. To not feel betrayed. "There needs to be a way to bring her back."
"Quinnie…" Sighing, Charlie massaged his temples. He looked tired. She could see that he was tired of fighting for this family. But most of all, he was tired of fighting himself. Fighting those powers they both possessed and turned them to ticking timebombs. That's how their relatives had called them not long ago. It was easy for them to talk, after all, they hadn't inherited those elemental powers that had been passed down from generation to generation within their clan.
Charlie wanted to say something but decided against it and just shook his head. Quinn might know what he was thinking. That discussion had been going on since she came up with that insane theory. Since her favourite aunt Adaline fell victim to that abhorrent curse of their clan. Indeed, Quinn had always called it the curse of the Fabrays because her family was prone to all that bullshit. But the truth was crueller: All the clans were affected. But they were way better at hiding the family members they had lost than them. Or better at killing them, depends on how she looked at things.
Quinn may be no angel – it was the opposite; she had been one of those mean cheerleaders that regularly bullied her schoolmates before she had been homeschooled – but she would never think about killing her own family.
"Let's go inside." Charlie pointed at the castle in front of them. She nodded and wanted to turn away from him again when she saw it. Exactly where her brother had pulled up the sleeve of his flannel shirt. A small crack on his skin, looking as if a plate had a crack in it. Quinn felt sick to the stomach. She knew what that meant, she had seen it so many times before.
Small cracks on the skin were the first signs. Underneath those cracks, elemental magic was shimmering in all its nuances from brown to green. With the passage of time, those cracks would become bigger, the shimmering stronger. It could be mistaken for a piece of art- if only it wouldn't be the forerunner of the end. It meant that those powers were way too strong for his body. Too strong for her brother. Just like for her aunt. Her sister. Her uncle. Her mum. And if she was unlucky, for herself too.
Tears were burning in Quinn's eyes when she looked at her brother. She swallowed and fought the feeling of powerlessness that seemed to get stronger day by day. Hastily, he pulled down his sleeves as if he could hide what she had already seen. His brows furrowed, he looked at her worriedly.
"Since when?", she croaked.
"It won't happen. It's under control."
She smiled even though it hurt. The memories hurt. "That's what Frannie said as well. And mum…"
"Quinnie." The ground was trembling slightly. "I can control it. I won't become one of them."
She wanted to believe him. She wanted it so bad it hurt. But she also knew that the process was unstoppable once it started. In her family, no one had managed to resist the power trip. All of them gave in to the untameable magic within them, got overwhelmed by those powers and lost all of their humanity. Still, Quinn refused to give up on her family.
"I know", she whispered and touched his arm. "You are the strongest among us. If anyone can do it, it's you."
He smiled and grabbed her hand to squeeze it. But when the ground underneath them vibrated once again, his smile faltered. Blades of grass were trembling, the trees were creaking and dust of the brickwalls fluttered over to them.
"That's not me." Charlie sounded panicked. He dug his fingers deeply into her skin, it almost hurt. "Please, Quinnie. Believe me, that's not me!"
"I know." She put both her hands on his shoulders and tried to make him look at her. "I know, Char. Please stay with me."
His entire body was trembling until his knees gave in. Quinn wouldn't bear if she lost him too. He had always been there for her ever since she was little. He was her rock whenever she needed him. How was she supposed to live without him?
"Look at me." She dropped down next to him and touched his face. His skin was cold. More and more cracks were forming on his body and were spreading as fast as on the ground around them. Between those cracks, a neon green light was shimmering menacingly. "Please stay with me, Char!"
But it was too late.
