DAMAGED - A Bad Boy Romance (22 page)

“My mother almost burnt down the house when she was a toddler. She found out the elementals were fun to play with and made a whole bunch of fire spirits dance. By the time her dad unleashed a rainstorm inside the house, the kitchen table was on fire. She was like my dad, a double elemental worker. When she became old enough to date, one of her boyfriends tried to get a little too familiar with her and found himself under a rainstorm for two hours. He couldn’t understand why only he was under the cloud that drenched him and no one else.”

“My maternal grandparents also came here from the old country in the Balkan Mountains. There are entire villages of elemental workers over there, or at least there were before the wars broke out. We’re scattered all over the world now and I think it’s better that way. It helps us survive and we don’t have to worry about bothering each other. You have too many elemental workers in a given area they can start getting on each other’s nerves. It’s a miracle we marry each other, but it works out better that way, I’m told. I don’t know much about my great-grandparents, but I’m told only the husband in each union was an elemental worker. It’s the way it normally happens.”

“A lot of time the wife or husband doesn’t know their bride or groom is an elemental worker, but they find out later. It’s a nice talent to have around the house and we learn how to make it work for the other. I’ve met a few families where the wife was an elemental worker and it doesn’t cause any issues. My other aunt and uncle, for instance. My other aunt is my mother’s sister and is a fire worker. She uses her ability to keep the house warm if the furnace isn’t working. I wish you could use the ability nonstop, but it tends to wear you out.”

“My parents taught me how to control the elementals when I was very young. You start with small abilities, such as what you just saw with the fire elemental. Only an Elemental Grandmaster can confer you full abilities and they have to see proof you know what you are doing. It’s why I need to find the Elemental Grandmasters here in the mall. Only
they
can give me the permission to use my abilities. Until then, they’re only good for small tricks… like knocking over cards.”

“How did you parents meet?” Lilly asked him.

“They were introduced by each other’s family. Where they come from in the old country, arranged marriages are common. Since double elemental workers are so rare, the elders decided they should marry to see if a full elemental worker could be produced. I know it sounds like I was the product of a breeding program, but my parents have always loved each other. When they found out I had all four abilities, there was a flurry of interest in the community of elemental workers. They hadn’t had someone with my talents in hundreds of years. They’ve seldom had a person who could work the fifth element and I think the elders hope I’ll be the one.”

“You keep talking about this fifth element,” Lilly said. “Tell me more about it.”

“It’s the aether, the force which binds it all together. It’s the root of the power of fire. You can do all kinds of transformations with it if you have the ability. From what I understand, there have only been a few of us who can work this element. You need to have the ability to work all four before the fifth can even be attempted. It’s why they have such interest in me. If I can work that element, it will be a huge break-through.”

They walked a little further, hand in hand, and watched the sun set some more.

Lilly couldn’t believe she had spent the entire day with Dion; her parents would want some kind of accounting when she returned. However, for the time being, she didn’t really care. The important thing was that they were together and he’d revealed his abilities to her. Lilly had always known the world was full of magic, but she didn’t have any way to prove it. Now she did. And his hand felt good around hers.

“We need to figure out a way back in there,” Dion said. “It will close soon and I have to reach the Earth Element Grandmaster. We were so close several times, but it doesn’t count unless I reach her and she bestows the ability on me to use the earth element. If she doesn’t, I’ll never be able to do more than party tricks.”

“So all these incantations and spells really do work?” she asked. “I saw you make some passes in the air when the fire elemental appeared.”

“Look,” Dion said, his face growing serious, “this isn’t something from a Hollywood movie. All that nonsense you see on TV, forget it. These are very powerful forces I can manipulate and I only do it because I have their trust. Try to use an earth elemental to find a buried treasure and you’ll have a mine collapse on you. Walking on water can be accomplished, but it’s no parlor trick. You have no idea the level of concentration it takes me to do the simplest of things. So just forget what you might have heard about flying broomsticks.”

“I’m sorry,” Lilly said, looking apolitically at the ground.

“No need to apologize,” he said, “it’s one of the reasons we don’t let just anyone know about our abilities. I’m aware of all kinds of elementals. Most people aren’t. And it’s good that the average person doesn’t know about the air elemental flying through his house or the fire one dancing in her fireplace. If they could see what I do, they might go crazy. You ever wonder why insane people go around talking to things that aren’t there? It’s because they can see them and you can’t. Believe me; most people are better off not seeing them.”

“My father knew a man who realized one day dad was an elemental worker. He wanted to use it for profit, which is something strictly forbidden. When he found out dad wouldn’t help him, he decided to learn on his own. He went to some disreputable place that offered to teach him the basics for a large fee. The guy’s car caught on fire with him inside while he was on his way to close some stockbroker deal. The police never did find out what caused the fire and there were people who thought it was some kind of mobster hit. I think the elementals found out what he was up to and struck back. They can overact in a hurry if you don’t treat them right. The last thing you want is a creature made out of fire angry at you.”

“So what do you plan to do with all this ability when you have it bestowed on you? You can’t make money with it, what good can it do you?”

“I can help people,” he said. “Especially if I can grandmaster the aether. There are all kinds of things I can do for people who need help and they never have to know their benefactor.”

“But enough about
me
,” Dion told her. “I don’t know a lot about
you
. So where are you planning to go after leaving this town? I thought I heard you say something about college?”

“International studies,” she said. “I’d like to be a diplomat, or the wife of one. I think that would allow me to travel the world and see places. I’ve always dreamed of attending parties with the rich and famous.”

Dion looked at her for a few seconds and returned his gaze to the mall. “I don’t think that is a sure thing. What happens if you spend all that money on college and can’t get a job afterwards?”

“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Lilly replied with assuredness. “I mean, there is a test you can take that will get you a government job if you graduate high enough in your class.”

“I wouldn’t count on that test being around forever. Something tells me it’s going to go up on the chopping block someday.”

“Not all of us can do what you do,” she snapped back. “Or is it possible to learn these things on your own without having your car burst into fire?”

“You can,” he said calmly. “But it takes a lifetime of study. I’ve only been able to do what you saw because my parents made sure I knew how at an early age. I tell you, these elementals can be dangerous. They don’t reason the same way humans do. Look at those ghouls, they may pass for human, but they’re far from it. Anyway, I have to figure out a way inside that mall without confronting Officer Karanzen. I could just waltz inside there, but he might have some of his minions on the watch for me. I don’t need any further trouble from him.”

“Why does he have it in for you so much?” Lilly asked. “It wasn’t
you
that kidnapped Emily.”

“I’m an unknown factor to him. I caused some disruption inside the mall by being there and he didn’t understand why. He worries that I might upset the delicate balance inside the mall between all the elements and he would be out of a job. So, by his reasoning, the best thing he can do is keep me out. But I have to get back inside if I am to reach the Earth Element Grandmaster and acquire my full powers.”

The sun was blotted out by a band of clouds as they passed overhead. Lilly looked up and noticed them, realizing that the clouds were nowhere else, just over them to block the rays of the sun. It became chilly; she felt the air drop a perceptible level of degrees and hugged her sides as a slight wind began to blow from the north. Something changed and she knew it had to do with Dion. Since meeting him earlier in the day, she was ready for any strange occurrence.

He seemed to attract eeriness to him.

She felt odd, but not in a way she’d felt before. Something was stirring in the air and it had to do with the intersection of Dion and the mall. There was a feeling of two sources of energy struggling to find a common way to talk. Yet, it was not a dangerous sensation; she felt the power in the air was simply the forces trying to communicate. It was two different languages in an attempt to find a common way to speak. Whatever the mall contained was struggling to contact Dion. She watched him turn his eyes in the direction of the mall and cock one ear as if he wanted to hear something.

Lilly looked up, but the clouds were not storm clouds overhead. Nerveless, they could turn that way in a second. She realized the elements had them both under close observation. They wanted to know what Dion’s intention was and how she figured into the picture. Lilly felt electricity spark into her soul. There was something gathering in the air and she didn’t know what it was.

An elderly couple began to walk up to them from a distance. Lilly thought they were just another pair of old retired people who wanted to go the same direction as them. However, they were very intent on reaching them. She watched them slowly walk up the path to the fountain where they stood. They didn’t walk so much as glide across the pavement. They wore clothes that were out of style twenty years ago. Finally, they reached Dion and Lilly. They stood facing them.

Then Lilly noticed something else: they didn’t breathe. There was no rise and fall of their chests, nor did they make the sounds of breathing.

“Grandfather?” Dion said. “Grandmother? What are you doing here?”

“We’ve come to help, Dion,” the old woman said to him. “You are in great danger if you don’t go back in the mall and find the elemental grandmasters. Your parents were captured by the mall builders. They are held in the tower. To get them out you must obtain full elemental powers and only the Elemental Grandmasters can grant those to you. We can help you out, but we are not allowed to come back very often. We are here to let you know it is important you return to the mall immediately.”

“They fear you, Dion,” said the old man, “because you may be the one who can work the fifth element. We’ve never seen anyone do it before this time. If you develop the ability, The Tower will no longer with have dominion over the aether. And they want to keep that power very much. They know you have tracked your parents here and plan to free them. Now you must return to the mall.”

“But grandfather, grandmother,” he said. “This is too much for me. Isn’t there someone else who can learn the use of the fifth element? I just want my parents back.”

“No one is safe so long as The Tower controls the aether,” the old woman said. “Please, hurry as the sun is going down and you haven’t much time. The mall will close in a few hours.”

The old man and woman turned and walked back the way they had come. Lilly watched them depart. The cloud moved away from the sun and the fading light returned to warm her and Dion. Soon the old couple was no longer there and the mysterious sensation she had felt was gone.

“My father’s parents,” he said. “I never got to know them very well. They passed over when I was very young.”

A chill went through Lilly. “We just saw ghosts?” she asked.

“Call them what you will, all I know is they were allowed to return to help me, and for that I am grateful.”

He turned and looked at the mall. “Guess I have no choice. We need to get back inside. But first I want to show you some things.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Chapter 9

“You can learn the basics about manipulating elements in a few minutes,” Dion explained. “If something happens to me, you might need to summon one or two. So let me show you how to work an elemental on a very small scale.”

Dion sat down on a bench with Lilly and showed her how to attract the attention of an earth elemental with the right words and signs. Initially, it wasn’t much good and she failed to cause a plant to sprout. Deciding the best way to do it was to show her how to attract the attention of a basic earth elemental, Dion soon had her create a little homunculus on the ground that walked for a few paces before falling apart.

Lilly broke out in a big smile and looked up at Dion.

“It’s a beginning,” he said. “I need to show you more, but I don’t have time. Just be careful with what I’ve demonstrated. These things can get out of hand if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

They stood up from the bench and began walking back to the mall. Most of the traffic from it was from the opposite direction. It was toward the end of the day and the shoppers were headed home. Plenty of women and men with clean shopping bags and fresh purchases. It was amazing to see the endless display of consumers.

Dion stopped and stood outside the mall looking at the glass entrance doors. “I really don’t want to go back in there,” he told Lilly.

“Why not?”

“I’m not certain of myself. This is a lot for one person to do. I should have help from the elders, but they haven’t offered any. I need some kind of backup plan before I go inside that place.”

He put one hand on the wall and rested. Lilly stood behind him with one hand on his back. She could feel his lean muscles under the shirt he wore and took in the sensation of the touch. She wished there was some way she could give him comfort, some way she could make him find his parents without the need to go inside and seek them out. But she had no way to do it unless she too was an elemental worker. Right now, she only knew what he’d taught her. Perhaps later, he could show her more…

“Have you ever faced something so horrible in your life?” he asked Lilly. “Have you ever been in a situation where any decision you made could turn out bad? I worry I’m approaching this whole thing wrong and I need guidance. But the only guidance I get is from my dead grandparents and they don’t seem to stick around very long.”

“At least I can smoke outside,” they heard the voice of Edward sound behind them. “No one seems to mind pipes so far. This tobacco is beastly; I need to get a better variety.”

They turned to see the funny little Englishman in a tailored business suit, with a pipe in one hand. He inhaled the fumes one final time and placed it back in his pocket. “They say it will be the death of me, you know,” Edward announced to them. “Tobacco. Can’t understand why. I thought it was invented by the natives in this country and they seemed to be a healthy people.”

“You have a way of appearing at the most charming times,” Dion said. “Did you know that that floor polisher almost had me arrested for theft?”

“But it worked, didn’t it? The ghouls couldn’t stand the noise created by it. They are sensitive to light and noise. I almost gave you a camera with a flash to take down there, but I felt it would be better to let you have the floor polisher since the operation of it was simple. By the time you solved the method of using a flash on a camera, it would have been too late.”

“It did work to keep the ghouls at bay,” Lilly agreed. “And the ghouls had mirrorshades.”

“So now have you shown up to give me some wisdom?” Dion asked.

“I can’t dispense what I lack,” Edward laughed.

“Then what ever shall I do?” Dion asked with a fake southern accent.

“Both of you are talking in circles,” Lilly said. “Edward, why can’t you just get to the point?”

“Because it would be too easy. And the longer I drag this encounter out, the longer I get to wear this suit and smoke my pipe. It’s the little things you miss once you’ve passed over. So many things…”

“You have never told us why you are involved,” Dion snapped to him. “Why didn’t they send Isaac Newton or Julius Cesar to help out?”

“Well, Mr. Newton would spend the entire time tracing out sun patterns. And what good is Julius Cesar without an army? I’m sorry, you are stuck with me. I made many mistakes the first time around. This is their way of giving me a chance to fix what I broke.”

“We’re going to walk through those doors and Officer Karanzen and his good squad will be waiting for us,” Dion made clear. “What do I do when that happens? I need to get to the Earth Element Grandmaster and have her blessing. I can’t approach the next element grandmaster until I have done it.”

“You must be ready to let him know there are people with your best interests in mind. Don’t worry, the moment he tries to give you some trouble, I’m sure he’ll see the logic of backing away from you. It’s not Karanzen you have to worry about; it’s the earth elementals who don’t want you obtaining full power. The ghouls in particular. They are furious you’ve made them look bad to the mall owners and will do everything they can to keep you from reaching the elemental grandmaster.”

“Are they going to pull that cleaning crew stunt again?” Lilly asked. “Because I don’t want to deal with it again. Our friend Emily will never come back to this mall and I think she may be scared for life.”

“They’ll try something else this time and they may be very direct how they do it. I would watch out because you have no idea where they will strike. And, rest assured, the security guards will be nowhere to be found if you need their help.”

Dion looked at the doors and took Lilly by the hand. “Okay,” he said to them both. “I can do this. It looks like I’m the only one who can get my parents back, and prevent even worse things from happening.”

Edward raised a hand. “You can’t even conceive what you are up against. I would tell you more, but they only let me share so much information. But I’m sure you’ll come through, dear boy. In fact, you must…”.

Edward pulled out his pocket watch again and looked at it. “Oh, lovely, time is up. You two take care and I will see you again.”

Then he vanished.

Dion and Lilly walked through the glass doors into the entrance to the mall again. Once again they walked down the corridor lined with shops on each side and slowly approached their destination.

For a few minutes, they thought it might be possible to go upstairs and find the pharmacy where the elemental grandmaster had her shop. Dion and Lilly strolled into the main concourse and saw nothing. There were no security guards, no ghouls, nothing that appeared out of the ordinary. Just a bunch of shoppers finishing their activities for the day. Mothers pushing children in strollers. Groups of kids walking down the main hall, looking in the windows of stores, and men in front of a TV display who drooled over the big game on the latest twenty-five inch console.

It was the picture of domestic tranquility.

They walked toward the escalator with every intention to take it to the second floor where the pharmacy was located.

Lilly had never liked escalators and was happy using the stairs. She’d heard a story about a kid who got his foot caught in one and the ambulance company had to be called out to free him. From that day on, she’d avoided them. As a young kid, she froze when trying to go down one and had to have someone help her get on the track. There was something unnerving about escalators that worried her. It was as if by climbing on one you placed your future in the hands of an inhuman machine. It wasn’t something she wanted to do and couldn’t understand why anyone would do it. She felt the same way about elevators, although for some reason they didn’t bother her quite as much.

Just as they walked up to the escalator, two of Karanzen’s guards blocked their path. Dion and Lilly turned to the other sides only to see them blocked by his men as well. They turned to walk back when they found Officer Karanzen approaching with two more.

“Just couldn’t take my warning could you?” he said to them. “I thought I made it clear you weren’t supposed to be back in the mall.”

“What have I done to be banned from it?” Dion asked. “You never did spell out any charges.”

“First of all,” Karanzen snarled. “There is the matter of the floor polisher you took without authorization. Then there are the other items, which have mysteriously disappeared while you’ve been in the mall. I won’t get into the disruption of you being here creates. I don’t need it and I don’t want it in my mall.”

“You keep saying ‘my mall’,” a voice said to their right. “You seem to think this mall is your property.”

It was Dion’s grandparents.

They had, once again, appeared from nowhere and were right next to Officer Karanzen. The look of shock on his face told Dion all he needed. Even the security guards backed up a bit. His grandfather and grandmother had a presence that made it not wise to cross them. Lilly had felt it a bit when they’d appeared outside the mall, but now it was on full display.

“Major Auriel Bach?” Karanzen said to him. “I know you. What are you doing here? I thought you were--”

“Gone very far away?” Dion’s grandfather said. “Gone further than you could ever fathom? I’m the young man’s grandfather and I understand you have some issue with him.”

“He’s causing a problem in the mall. I’m hired to make sure the mall remains safe. I don’t need anyone here who causes problems.”

“Problems?” Dion’s grandfather said. “The way you handled the problems at the Chosin Reservoir? You’re lucky I let you keep your command after that happened.”

The faces of Dion’s grandfather and Karanzen faded into a cloud as Dion saw the security chief in a distant land in a military uniform. A soldier was leaning on a tank in a snow-covered landscape as he poured over a map. Karanzen was on a radio in a desperate attempt to communicate with someone.

“I said we’re lost!” Karanzen yelled into the apparatus. “Can you give me the coordinates we’re supposed to have? I have five men with a tank and me. We need to get back to the main column. Look, I know Chinese troops are in these hills. They’d love to find someone like us who don’t know where they are. Hello? Hello?”

He slammed the radio telephone receiver down on the tank’s side and swore. Karanzen, wearing a captain’s uniform, looked at the hills around him. It was getting dark. On top of the tank, an enlisted man held a pair of binoculars and scanned the horizon.

“Can’t see a thing, sir,” he told him. “No movement anywhere. If there are Chinese Army in these hills they are doing the best job of concealment anyone could….”

The man with binoculars fell away from the tank as the air filled with bullets. The bounced off the tank and kicked up dirt from the ground. Karanzen dropped the radio and ran behind the tank, as he tried to take cover from the rifle fire. Two other men were with him.

“Can you see how many?” he asked the man to his right. They were strapping on their helmets as fast as they could. At least one of them carried a carbine.

“Could be four, could be five,” the man said. “Hard to tell and they’re shooting out of the sun to make it difficult to spot. For all we know it could be the entire Red Chinese Army out there.”

Then the fog faded again and Dion saw his grandfather facing Officer Karanzen. But the security chief had lost his composure. No longer was he the fearsome defender of the mall but a man who’d just had a secret he fought to suppress revealed to people. Dion looked around and wondered how many of them had the same vision he’d just seen. Lilly looked at him with confusion, which meant she’d seen it too. The rest of the guards just stood there, as if nothing had changed. But the tension between Dion’s grandparents and the rough security officer was now finished.

“So long as he doesn’t cause any more trouble,” Karanzen said to Dion’s grandfather and walked off. He stopped three steps away and turned to his security guards.

Dion’s grandparents turned and walked back the way they came. Soon, they were gone, vanished as they had done before.

“Be sure to keep an eye on him. I don’t want those two out of your sight.” Karanzen moved away toward the rear of the mall in the direction of his office. Whatever had transpired between him and Dion’s grandfather left a powerful impression.

The other security guards began to move away and head toward their posts. All except for the ones who were stationed in this part of the mall. They walked back and kept their gaze on Dion and Lilly.

“We need to find someplace to get away from them,” Dion said to Lilly. “Is there some restaurant or store we can duck into for the time being?”

“I’m not sure what is around this part of the mall. There are a few places I can think of, but not many. Wait, what’s that?”

A small store with a modest front proclaimed itself to be “The Time Shop”. A large watch swung from the bracket over it and another sign talked about daily specials. At first, she thought it was a restaurant, but then Lilly thought it might be a place that sold watches. It didn’t look too big from the outside and she speculated it might only be a thousand square feet on the inside. Nerveless, it looked to be a good way to get out from the watchful eyes of Karanzen’s men.

“Let’s go here,” she said, pointing to the store. “They won’t follow us inside and they can’t wait outside forever. Eventually, they’ll have to move elsewhere.”