The Frozen Beginning (Elemental Diamond Book 1) (2 page)

The man’s snarl is deadly as he glares down at young elementals with menacing dark-blue eyes. He quickly retrieves his abandoned rod, holding it pointed towards them with his uninjured arm. Two sharp, vertical barbs protrude from the end of the stick, humming with shrill energy.

Michaels snarls like a vicious animal before lunging forward, stabbing the barbs into Glacier’s shoulder blade.

Her loud screams burn her throat as potent currents of electricity course through her muscles. Her body seizes from the sudden shocks, her eyes squeezing tightly.

A sudden feeling she hasn’t felt before washes over her like running water. The impression is similar to serenity, an oasis of painless wonder and harmless light. The inside of her eyelids shine white as she feels a source blossom within her centre. It chills her bones, something she has never known how to feel.

The cloth-like tranquillity silences her pain. Her body is coated with a blanket of protection, suppressing every ache her body holds.

The blanket is suddenly ripped from her body, expelling past her skin like a wave. Cracking and snapping sounds fill the space around her. The pain rushes back, all the aches and fractures in her body returning like they have been unforgivingly re-dealt.

A sickly gurgling follows a loud, manly scream. Then silence.

The only sounds heard across the yard are quiet cries and heavy panting.

Glacier raises her head slowly, peeping through her curtain of crimpy snow hair. Fear clouds her as she worries Michaels will attack again.

To her stained surprise, Glacier glimpses up to completely new surroundings.

Tall, thick shards of ice have sprouted from the snow like enormous clear blades of grass, spread around her as a barrier of enormous transparent spears. Her eyes follow the various ice picks, before resting on the large pile of red slush. It groups at the bottom of a dense, bloody trail, leading down a thick ice shard.

She gawks at the nightmarish image of Mr Michaels. Hovering half a foot in the air, an enormous shard of ice pierces his chest cavity. His head lolls to one side, his vacant eyes open wide, blood spilling from his gaping mouth and impaled torso. His haunting blue eyes hold a heavy silence of death.

Her eyes turn fast, the sharp movement sending everything spinning. Glacier falls to the side, her head hitting the soft ice cushion beneath her.

~

Cringing against the dim light shining from her right, Glacier’s head pounds painfully.

A blanket is tucked around her body snugly, trapping bearable warmth against her. She sits up slowly, wincing from the increasing pressure against her forehead. She is surprised when hand rises to massage her temple, and her fingertips encounter mesh fabric instead of skin. Following the gauze around, over her curly hair, she finds the ends tied at the back.

Her mind runs through everything that had happened. Remembering Mr Michaels, the boy and the ice, Glacier’s mind leaps to the terrifying possibility.

Did I kill him?

Her breathing stills, blood draining fast from her face, leaving her skin ghostly.

I killed him, Mr Michaels. A living person… I mean think I killed him…

The image of his suspended body, head hanging sideways with blood gushing from his openings echoes through her mind like a heartless taunt. His eyes are haunting, at first angry, then inert shock.

Could I have killed him? Was that even possible?

Unwelcome tears fall over her cheeks. Glacier’s hand covers her mouth to muffle a sob struggling to break free, when she hears a young voice.

“You’re ar’wake!”

She looks across the room and finds the young boy she had been protecting yesterday, now standing at the entrance to what she earlier realized to be her bedroom.

He shuffles towards the bed, crawling over the covers to sit beside her. The boy wraps his tiny arms around Glacier’s waist, squeezing tight. The sharp spasm of pain she feels through her shoulder and back causes an uncomfortable wince, but she remains silent as her arms wrap around his shoulders in return.

“Thanks for protectin’ me from Mr Michaels…”

His little voice is grateful but desolate, as he speaks in a soft tone. He snuggles his head into her side, shaking slightly.

Glacier lowers her head to rest her lips beside his ear, “I will always protect you, Castor,” she addresses the boy, squeezing him a little tighter. The young boy, Castor, gazes around the familiar room, avoiding her eyes.

“What were you stealing from Mr Michaels?” Her words are soft but demanding. Castor shrugs his shoulders against her side, refusing to relinquish his hold.

“Only took a candle, cause we don’t ‘ave none left, and I can’t sleep wit’out one, and mama said she was gunna buy some, but she only ‘ad ‘nuff money for a bit’a food, not candles. I want ‘er ta get food, ‘cause then she can eat…”

Castor’s speech impediment is heavy with his fast pace. Glacier has learnt to decipher the boy’s gibberish over the years.

He takes a deep breath before his gaze flickers to her. Glacier’s hands fly to cradle the dark bruise across his battered face.

A dark discoloration covers his left cheek and jaw, his soft innocent face seeming harsh. She traces her fingertips over the marks with sadness in her eyes. The boy flinches from contact, hissing in pain.

Gripping his shoulder gently, she assesses him.

He sits crookedly on the bed with his shoulders slightly hunched. The side of the boy’s face is covered in dark splotches.

“You miss’t it though, Glacier. You should‘a seen the ice that was e’erywher’! There were ‘eaps and ‘eaps of spikes‘a ice all ‘round us!”

His arms motion around wildly with excitement, before they dart to cradle his ribs.

“Cast, how hurt are you?” Glacier watches him with worry, but the image of ice spikes has her head spinning.

Was it her that did it, when I felt that white feeling? I hadn’t shown any element until now, but ice wasn’t an element…

“He didn’t get me that bad ya know. Kelly said that I just ‘ave a frack-tured rib and bruisin’.”

The mention of her father’s nickname caught Glacier off guard.

“So my dad knows what happened?” The thought of him being disgusted that she had killed a man crosses her mind.

Would he think I killed him? Was it me that killed him?

Castor nods his head, “You fell ‘sleep, so I ‘ad ta get ‘em to get ya, ‘cause I can’t carry ya.”

“How long have I been asleep?”

His little smile drops at her question, “Like, a whole day.”

Her face pales.

I slept for an entire day?

“Where is my dad now?”

“In the kitchen wit’ mom. She’s real angry at me.”

Glacier nods her head in understanding. The short movement sends a sharp pain through her nose, and the memory of Mr Michael’s head butting her comes to mind.

I hope it isn’t broken
.

Glacier swings her legs over the edge of the bed, placing her feet on the wooden floorboards. The wood feels rough against her sensitive feet. Castor swoops in under her, wrapping his arm around her waist when he sees her sway. Despite being nine years her junior, his head nearly reaches Glacier’s shoulder.

“Thanks, Cast.”

“S’OK.”

Heading towards the door, Glacier takes short steps across a tattered rug. The palms of her feet ache as she moves sluggishly over the floorboards. Some creak under her weight.

When the two of them enter the kitchen, they find Glacier’s father and an older woman sitting at the small dining table, a steaming cup of tea between their fingers. Glacier’s dad has his eyes trained on his finger, as it circles the rim of his mug. The woman’s eyes dart to the injured girl standing by her son, her lips forming an ‘o’. Glacier smiles at the familiarity of Castor’s mother, Mill.

In Glacier’s opinion, Mill is an understatedly beautiful woman. Her head was wrapped in a cloth, tied at the back and covering her non-existent hair. Her large bird nose pokes out parallel to her chin, and her skin is spotty with age marks and sunspots.

Her mug of tea forgotten, the older woman raises from her chair, scurrying across the short space to envelope Glacier in a warm, tight hug.

“Ah dear, ya don’t know how special ya are! Ye’are truly ‘n a’gel, purest a souls!” Her thanks are kind and gracious.

Glacier nods in return. “I’d protect him from anything, Mill,” she says, addressing the older mother with a reassuring smile.

Glacier’s eyes then shift to her father sitting silently at the table, his finger still trailing around the rim of his tea mug.

Kellen watches Glacier with interest, studying her appearance from head to toe.

“You were reckless, Glacier.”

His words sting, but they weren’t the worst she expected to hear. Glacier lowers her head, and Mill rubs her back reassuringly.

“He could have seriously hurt you. You knew Michaels was crazy.”

“He was beating Castor like he were a disobedient dog! I wasn’t just going to walk away and pretend I didn’t see anything!” Glacier fires back.

“Michaels was a ticking bomb, just waiting–– ”

“Was?” Glacier tries to breath, but the air around her feels thick. “He’s dead?”

Kellen heaves a sigh before pushing his mug away. His dark brown hair hangs limp over his thick eyebrows, light grey streaking like sparkling highlights. Crow’s feet and age spots surround his dark blue eyes.

Despite her father’s tough act, she knew something is off. He looks worried.

“I saw the ice, Glacier. How did you use it? Did you control it?”

“You think the ice was me?” Her jaw drops, her heart and stomach clenching.

Kellen watches her with unwavering eyes, chewing his thumbnail nervously. His eyes briefly flicker to Mill and Castor before he moves his hand to speak.

“Mill, would you and Castor please wait in the spare room? Get some sleep. I know you both need it. You can stay as long as you like.”

Mill nods her head before shooing Castor down the hall toward the spare room. Glacier watches as they trek down the corridor to the adjacent room from hers, shutting the door with a quiet click. She turns back to her father confused.

“Dad, I don’t understand how you think I could have done that? I mean…I’m latent…” She had never shown any sign of an elemental power.

I’m the girl who could never control water.

Latent. No one in the Hydra Region has ever lacked the ability to manipulate water, until Glacier Wardgrave.

“Doesn’t it confuse you,
why
you’re latent? Maybe because your element hadn’t developed within you until now…” His voice sounds far away, like he is thinking something over as he spoke. She recognized the look in his eye every time he lied to her.

He’s hiding something
…

Glacier shakes her head, trying to understand what her father is implying.

“What happened with the ice wasn’t some parlour trick, dad. No water elemental has been able to freeze water. It isn’t possible…” Her words trail off into silence, as she watches his face for any change.

His mouth pulls into a grim line, but he gives nothing else away.

Advancing to where Glacier stands hunched, Kellen gently rests his hands on her shoulders. He observes her with the same grey look he always has, but this time there is something lingering behind his dark eyes.

Definitely hiding something
.

Releasing a long sigh, he pulls his daughter into a gentle hug. She enjoys the closeness she shares with him, and the comfort he provides.

“Sometimes, the things you say remind me of your mother.”

Glacier is stunned by his words. This was one of the only times he has ever mentioned her mother.

Kellen never kept any pictures of her for Glacier to see what she looked like. She doesn’t even know her mother’s name.

Glacier notices a flicker of soreness flash through her father’s blue eyes, before he squares his shoulders and continues.

“She used to say she was willing to die for nothing, but wishing to die for something…”

Her father’s face pales with remembrance, before he shakes his head. “How about you get some rest, and we will discuss this more in the morning? I think it’s time I tell you…”

Glacier pulls back at his words, shock seizing her limbs. “Tell me? No dad, I slept for an entire day already. I want to know what––”

“Go rest.” His words are final, and from the set look on his face, she knew that nothing she could say would suede him.

Glacier huffs in annoyance, stumbling back into her room.

Pain continues to emanate from her back and shoulder. She pads over to her bed after closing the door, and lowers herself onto the cotton sheets. Gazing around the room, her head rests on her pillow, her body over the sheets.

There isn’t much decoration around the room, but it is still more than some have.

Families like Mill and Castor didn’t use to live on the dirty unkempt streets. Mill’s late husband, Fern, had been a shop hand at the butcher, until one night he was brutally beaten to death by a group of Higher Class drunkards. Simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Fern had been a past saviour of Glacier’s. The sentiment to repay the favour in any way she can drives her to protect his family at every turn…

Sitting up, Glacier hobbles over to the small cracked mirror leaning against the wall near her closet. The large crack that runs through the mirror separates her reflection.

She notices the glass of water she had left there the morning before. Glacier squints her eyes at the glass as she wills the substance to move. She clenches her jaw, raising her hand in front of her like she had tried many times before, and again tries to move the water.

Nothing happens.

Giving up, she blows out a winded breath before once again glancing up at her reflection.

A thick white bandaging gauze covers her forehead, wrapping over her large messy hair. The natural curls puff around her jaw, framing her face like a fluffy white aura. Her nose looks slightly crooked, a little dried blood around her nostril. Glacier’s blue eye looks sunken, and her green eye has a yellowing bruise surrounding it.

Her eyes have always been her metamorphosis. No one has two
different
elemental coloured eyes. No one except Glacier.