Reclaimed (The Phoenix Chronicles Book 1) (5 page)

“What?” She stared at him with a furrowed brow. “I'm...a girl?”

“You really don't know a thing about your family?”

Summer frowned. “I don't remember much. They died and then I was thrown around different foster homes until those guys started chasing me.”

“That's it?”

“I had a cat named pickle.” Summer scratched her head. “And a fish named baseball.”

“Baseball?” Ash shook his head. “You really are clueless.”

“Baseball is a great name. He was white with black-”

Ash waved his hand. “I mean about all this.”

“Of course I am.” She sat down on her bed. “The first thing I ever burned down was my foster family's piano. It was horrible and I cried. Then I ran before they could kick me out.” She held out her hands, opened them, and then closed them. “This sucks. I'm scared, I'm confused but, I have nowhere to go. If I can't fit in with a bunch of freaks, then I really don't belong in this world.”

Ash leaned against the wall. “You're a wielder. It's your right to train here. No one else's opinion matters so, train hard and you'll fit in. It's your choice if you want to belong.”

Summer blinked a few times. It was not what she had expected Ash to say at all.

“I guess we'll see how the rest of the week goes,” replied Summer.

“Sure,” said Ash.

“Wait!” exclaimed Summer as he headed for the door. “What can dark wielders do?”

Ash surprised her again by smirking. “You'll find out tomorrow.”

With that, he left the room and let the door slam behind him. Despite Summer being exhausted, all she could do was replay their conversation in her head and wonder just what was Ash trying to say?

Chapter 6

Summer sat on her bed with her knees to her chest. The sun was just beginning to rise. The first rays caught the tail of the phoenix and continued to creep up the rest of its body. It didn't take long until the whole thing was ignited in its beautiful, stained glass blaze.

“How long have you been up?” asked a groggy voice from over her shoulder.

Summer didn't take her eyes off the phoenix. “About an hour. I couldn't sleep.”

Tracy grumbled and rolled out of bed. “Let me throw on some clothes and we can head down to the cafeteria early.”

There was a lot of clanking and crashing behind her as Tracy cursed loudly. If Summer didn't know any better she would guess that there were at least four people living here by all the noise and trash that invaded Tracy's space
.
             

Not much time had passed before Tracy was gesturing for Summer to follow her. She walked alongside her and glanced down at her outfit, making sure hers matched Tracy's. She wanted to be dressed appropriately without being too obvious.

They entered the cafeteria where there was a handful of people already eating. She was glad when no one paid her much attention.

Maybe today won't be so bad,
she thought.

She picked a variety of food and sat at an empty table with Tracy. Both girls were quiet as they began digging into their breakfast. The warm food was always a welcome change to what she had become accustomed to.

“Hey Summer,” said a cheerful voice.

She looked up just as Troy was sitting down across from her. He opened up a flask, winked at her, and poured the dark liquid into a cup.

“You're going to drink al-”

“Coffee,” he smiled. “We're not supposed to have any. The old guys think it makes us too jittery.”

Summer grinned and pushed her half full cup of milk forward. Troy glanced around before filling the rest up with coffee.

“They're going to notice, Troy,” said an obviously irritated Tracy.

“I drink it every day and they don't notice. Having coffee is the least of their worries.”

Summer nodded eagerly. “I've only been here a few days but, that sounds about right.”

Tracy said something unintelligible and went back to eating her food. The cafeteria gradually began to fill up with different wielders. That's when Summer noticed a trend. All the wielders wore some article of clothing that was a matching color to their element. Even Troy had on a white sweatshirt.

Tracy must have noticed her looking because she held out her fork full of egg in front of her and waved it around.

“Don’t let these people intimidate you.”

“I'm not.” She let out a long breath. “Well not yet at least. I was looking at the color on their clothes.”

“Oh,” answered Tracy. “They want to do that. You don't have to. We have different team competitions every Friday so, they wear it as a pride thing.”

“How do we compete if there's only two of us?”

Tracy's eyes grew wide. “We lose.” She laughed. “I'm just kidding. The teams are split up so I used to just choose. If you decide to stay, then they might make us go on opposite teams.”

“What do we do today?” asked Summer. She swallowed the hard lump of anxiety that was beginning to rise in her throat.

“We test the new people's wielding skills,” said a voice from behind her.

Ash sat down next to Summer and brought with him a large bowl of oatmeal.

“Ash,” said Tracy, not bothering to hide her surprise. “What are you doing here?"

He showed her his bowl of oatmeal. “Eating. Is that okay?”

“You always eat alone or with Petar. Are you actually trying to become friends with our new guest?”

Ash scowled as his cheeks turned red. “I'm just trying to be friendly.”

“Ash and friend don't mix,” said Tracy as she pointed her fork at him.

“I'm trying to be nicer to all the new students so they don't run away.”

Summer was starting to feel bad for him. He clearly wasn't a very social person and it took a lot for him to sit next to her.

She turned slightly and looked up at him. “I appreciate it. I'm not used to kindness.”

He tilted his head towards her, the blush returning to his cheeks. Tracy must have gotten the hint because she eyed him suspiciously but, didn't say another word. Shortly after an uncomfortable silence fell over them. Ash's presence must have been baffling because everyone at the table continued to stare with a confused expression.

Summer couldn't take the awkwardness anymore. She inhaled her food and shot up from her chair.

“I think I'd like to go outside.”

Tracy picked up her tray. “Let's go then. I'm done anyway.”

Troy said his goodbyes as Ash and Tracy walked next to Summer. They stood on each side like some over protective bodyguard. Now she was starting to become irritated.

“I don't need to be babysat all the time. This is getting ridiculous,” she grumbled.

Tracy looked at Ash with a raised brow. “We're going to the same place as you. We can walk faster if you want.”

She sighed and fixed her ponytail. “Whatever.”

The three of them marched in silence towards the field. A wave of anxiety suddenly hit Summer like a brick wall. She wanted to run, cry, and vomit at the same time. The only thing keeping her from leaving were Ash and Tracy by her side. Maybe they secretly knew she was going to freak out.

Point taken,
she thought.

As they continued across the field Summer realized this was the first time she had come this close to the other wielders. She wished she could say just a handful were staring but, she was pretty sure every single pair of eyes were on her.

They stopped at the end where an older man and half a dozen students were standing.

He snapped his head to the right and scowled. “Did I stay to stop stretching?”

There were collective grumbles as everyone went back to stretching. Summer held her breath as the man approached her.

“Glad you can join us today,” he growled.

“I was-”

He waved his hand and walked away from her. “I don't care what your excuse is. You're here now and we'll begin training.”

Summer looked for Ash and Tracy and was surprised to see them walking away. They didn't even bother turning around when the man had accused her of doing something she had been ordered to do.

“Jerks,” she said under her breath.

“You should all remember my name by now but, I'll announce it again since we had someone who was too special to train with us.” He turned to Summer; his thick, long beard shifting with his daunting smirk. “I'm Mario. I'm also a pretty damn good dark wielder. And you?”

She could feel her cheeks heating up as the small group stared at her.

“Summer,” she managed to spit out through clenched teeth. “And I guess I'm a fire wielder.”

“You guess!” Mario snorted. “Girl, do you know where you are?

“Disneyland?”

The few snickers she did get were quickly quieted by the crazed stare from Mario. He looked around the group like a rabid animal and then stomped towards Summer.

She could see his nostrils flaring at he came inches from her face.

“We have a comedian here? That's good, I like comedians. Always fake and easy to break.” He stepped back and smiled at her. “Good luck.”

Summer watched him march to the front of the group. He spun around, his hands behind his back, and purposely let his eyes fall on each individual.

“Today we start the most difficult part of being a wielder: the ability to control your element.”

Summer swallowed hard. She had no idea how to even summon her fire. The only time it happened was when she was basically cornered. This wasn't going to end well.

“Funny girl,” he said, pointing to Summer. “What is your last name?"

“I don't know. That's the truth."

He began pacing in front of them. “And when did you first get your fire? In other words, when is your eighteenth birthday.”

She looked down at the floor. “Next month.”

Mario paused for a brief second. He turned his head slightly; the smallest sliver of his purple eyes staring her down.

“Very young.” He scratched his beard. “That must be where the bad attitude comes from. We'll fix that.”

Summer refused to look up or acknowledge him. She hated that he had outed her after only being there for ten minutes. Blending with the other wielders was already difficult since she was only one of two fire wielders but, now she was alienated for her age.

“Look up!” he snapped.

Summer's head shot up as she locked eyes with him. He stopped and turned to face her.

“Stand straight. All of you line up next to her right now.”

At least the other wielders were just as nervous as her. They were too busy worrying about themselves to pay her much attention.

Mario started pacing again. “Some of us are lucky enough to be born with the power to use our element without needing help from the ones around us. Others are not. They have to grab the elements when they can and use them.”

He stopped and looked at them again. “Good news is I can teach you to summon your elements.” He flexed his arm. “It's like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it becomes.”

He pointed his finger at Summer. “You first, girl. Hold your hands out and let’s see if you can call your element.”

Summer put her hands out and cursed them as they visibly shook. She stood there, staring expectantly at her hands and then Mario.

“Well go on,” he said. “Pull it to you. Focus on the fire you can feel in the pit of your stomach and move it to your hands.”

Summer bit her lip as a single drop of sweat fell down her brow. She was focused on her hands but, could feel everyone staring. It was like the field had gone completely silent and all the attention was on her. She hated it.

“Come on!” shouted Mario. “We don't have all day.”

Summer closed her eyes and exhaled. She listened to Mario and tried to find her element. As she relaxed her mind began to feel the pull of something familiar yet foreign at the same time.

Summer gasped and opened her eyes. “I can't.”

Mario marched up to her and shoved a finger into her chest. “Yes you can and you will.”

“No I don't-”

“Good,” he said, nodding his head. “You are not special. Prove them right. You're nobody.”

Summer's mouth hung open as she stared at him. News had spread a lot faster than she thought it would. Who else knew about her and why she was here? What did it actually mean that she was breaking the wielding rules by being able to use her ability at seventeen instead of the common age of eighteen?

She lowered her hands. “I don't have to prove anything to you.”

“Scared.” He laughed. “You should be because your excuses will just get you killed.”

Now Summer clenched her hands into fists. “You don't know a thing about me.”

Mario held up his hand and began listing things off with his fingers. “I know you're scared, not who the council says you are, weak, and unprepared. Did I mention scared?”

Summer could feel her hands tingling. Her anger quickly disappeared and was replaced with panic. She looked at Mario, her eyes wide, and felt her lip begin to tremble.

“Girl, you okay?”

“This was a mistake. I can't control it,” she whispered.

Her hands exploded into two balls of flames. She jumped forward and frantically tried to bury her hands into the dirt.

“Let the fire go!” Shouted Mario.

Summer vaguely heard him as she began to slip out of consciousness. It felt like she was under water and the current kept pulling her further down.

Just as she began to accept the darkness that was consuming her, a hand reached down and grabbed hers. She could hear the hiss of pain as her fire left her and traveled up her savior’s arm.

Summer forced her eyes open and was met with purple ones. Damp, curly hair stuck to the person’s forehead as they shook her.

“Saved me again, Ash,” said Summer, her words slurring together.

“Stay awake!” he shouted.

Those were the last words Summer heard before falling back into her world of darkness.