Escaped the Night (9 page)

“Those are the four elements,” Jayce said. “Earth, fire, wind and water.” He looked back over at the four people
standing before us
.
“Allow me to re-introduce
my friends.
”

Jayce began
with the
closest girl
.
“Terran represents th
e earth element
,
which
is the
keeper of
life
.”

Terran
wore
beige and brown clothing
. She h
ad
big green eyes and sandy brown hair
, which
was
a wild mess of curls
. T
he r
esemblance
, m
ade sense, but I didn’t say
so
—
at least not out loud —
but Jayce somehow knew what I was thinking because he laughed at that moment.

Jayce
motioned to
wards
the tall
fellow
standing
beside
Terran. “Aiden
represents the fire element. Fire gives people warm
th,
light
and
many other things
.”

I looked Aiden up and down. He had the brightest shade of red ha
ir, n
ot like a
carrot top,
but more
of a deep
burgundy. His eyes were a light
, piercing
brown. He wore simple clothes
that accented
his body
by
showing
off
his rippling muscles.

I
realized I
co
uld really i
dentify
the
m
. They each
resembled the element
they were attached to
. I found it completely fascinating
.
“
I
know this
, I know this one!
” I
shouted
before Jayce could
speak
. “Makan represent
s the wind element.” I smiled,
pleased with myself.

Jayce nodded
. “The w
ind element supplies us with
the
air we
all
need to survive.”

Makan’s
prominent grey eyes had various blue specks spun
through.
His
silver-
toned hair was
fairly long.
His
muscular frame didn’t
appear
old,
al
though
his hair stated otherwise.

“
And then there’s
sweet
Meriel
,
” Jayce smiled. “
The water element give
s us much needed
hydration.
”

Meriel was a
blue-eyed stunner, with
blonde
hair
shaped
like a
set of spikes,
po
pping
out
in
every direction
.
Her
clothes sway
ed around her
,
like she was
submerg
ed in water
.
They
float
ed
all around her
, not clinging in any way
.

“Well
… I’m
pleased
to…
and umm….
t
hankful
?
” I paused
, stumbling
over
my words.
“
I’m happy to meet
you
all
.”

They all
laughed, putting me at ease
.

Even though
everything
they’d
shown to me was
far beyond
reasonable
comprehension
,
it
made sense and
I believed
them. They were the most unique p
eople I’
d ever seen
.

“
Let me guess,
you’re going to tell me
there’s
something sp
ecial about the cat?” I was
kidding
, but as soon as I said this
,
I heard a ‘whoosh
ing
’ noise.

I turned
and
notice
d
a beautiful
,
dark-
skinned girl standing before me. She had the same unforgettable
purple eyes. With another blink of the
eye
, the sound of a
‘whoosh’
happened again
.
The girl was gone and
a large black panther
stood
in her place. I gasped
and
stum
bled
backwards as it growl
ed
and took a
step towards me.

I
started to panic,
while e
veryone else
laughed
.
I was feeling
very unsure
about these people
. This wasn’t funny. I was about to be eaten by a giant cat.

“Enough showing off
,
Layla
,
” Jayce warned.

Right before my eyes
,
the
panther
became
the beautiful
girl again.
Layla
spoke
with an accented voice. “Sorry if
I scared you. I didn’t mean to, I was only
having
fun.
I’m Layla
,
the
shape shifter. I can take
any form I choose.
I protect
my
secret
by
normally
keep
ing
form as a house
cat. It keeps
suspicion
s down because c
ats
a
re
pretty
common
.
Ther
e
are
only a handful of shifters
left
,
so I’m choosy
about
who knows
about me
.
I
’ve got a
good
feeling about you
,
though
.” She placed her hand on my shoulder
. “I
can already tell
we’
re
going to be great friends
.
”

If I hadn’t seen
this firs
t hand, I’d n
ever
be able to comprehend
any of
it. This was
unbelievable. I’
d just made the most
amazing friends, but t
his broug
ht up a
nother
thought. If Jayce hung around
such
mythical beings…
what
did that make him
?

Before I could ask,
Jayce
answered
. “I’
m
,
as some say
,
connected… and
I’m
the keeper of the elements.
”

“Connected?”

“
I’m
connected to the elements
, and to certain other minds
as
long as
they
’
re open I
’m able to
connect.
I can
share thoughts,
experiences, secrets, dreams,
you get the drift.” He
looked
embarrassed
.

“You said certain minds?”

“I’
m
abl
e to connect..
.
umm…
normally
…
only
to immortal minds,
”
he said in a low
voice. “
What I mean is
,
you’re the first human
I’ve been able to do this w
ith.
”

“I see.”
This explained
why he
always laughed
at the arguments in my head. I h
adn’t been saying them out loud; he
was in my head hearing the
whole conversation.

I
felt anger starting to build up, where was my privacy? He should’ve told me sooner. I was about to erupt
when
he turne
d
looking
deep in
to
my eyes. His
stare was penetrating.
‘
I’m sorry, I
know,
I
should’
ve told you sooner
.
’
H
e apologized without saying the words aloud.

This was bizarre; I heard his voice
in my head
. “How’d you do that?”

The
blood rush
ed
to my face.
Wow,
I’
d have to
learn to
watch my thoughts from now on
,
considering I was
n’t
the only one
who was
aware of them.

Just then
, my cell
rang.
I pulled it out of my pocket and recognized the number.
“M
y unc
le
must be
getting worried
.”
I moved a few
steps
away from the group
and
answered
.

“
Shanntal. W
here are you
?
Why haven’t you called?
Are you okay
?
”

“I’m fine
,
” I
said, walking
further
away
from the group. “I’m sorry, I
know I
should’
ve called
sooner
, but
I
met some nice people
so I
wanted to hang out
more. We’re down at Mystic Beach
.
I tol
d Auntie Steph what I was doing and
she said it was fine.
I’m
sorry
if
I made you worry
. I’m okay,
I
promise.”

He let out
a big
sigh of relief
. “
Well, t
ime to start heading back. Should I come get you
?”

I looked over at
Jayce
who
mouthed,
“I can bring you home.”

“
I can get a ride home. My new friends are really nice.
C
an I
please
stay
longer?
Maybe
a few
more
hours
?
”

I heard mumbling in the
background and then my uncle said
,
“Fine Steph…
I know…
y
es,
of course
I
want her to have friends…
yeah,
I know
…
a
ll right then
, Shanntal
a
few more hours
,
but
not too late.”

“Thank you
!
Thank you! Thank you!
”

“Okay,
s
ee you in a while.”

“See you.”