Elements : Book One

Chapter Twenty One

Luke is walking side-by-side with him. He is wearing deep maroon sweater with black jeans. His black hair is messy, yet stylish. His brown eyes are bloodshot and worn out. He, too, has dark circles underneath them. He smiles, when he spots us and nudges Jacob, making their way towards our table.

"Hey." He greets me with low voice and smiles. I offer a smile back. My eyes shift to Jacob, who only nods at us and sits down. His gaze is still on Sebastian, as if he is not trusting him. I don't know what happened between them, but whatever it was it caused both of them to lose trust in another. And it caused both of them to change. Jacob became cockier, while Sebastian started to feel and empathy for others.

"What's up with you?" Kate asks worriedly. She pushes her messy locks away from her face as she stares at her brother. Marlee is shyly stealing glances at the siblings and looks away from them, clashing with my gaze.

"Nothing, Kate." Luke rolls his eyes and steals one of the sausages from her plate. "I am just sleepy." He adds and smiles, while chewing the meat. Kate does not take her eyes away from him paying attention to every single detail Luke does.

"Okay." She whispers in a low voice and averts her gaze from him to her plate. Watching her in this state, makes me feel even guiltier than before. She had to see her brother bloodless and dead, and she had to watch how he came back. 

Luke says nothing, his mind occupied with far more difficult things than Kate's feelings. I can sense the worry seeping out of him, engulfing him entirely. Everyone around here is on edge. Some are scared that I might blow up and kill everyone, some are scared because The Base came here, while others are scared of the Dark Ones return.

I start tapping my fingers on the metallic table, counting the time  I have to spend here additionally. Most people, with whom, I used to spend time are gently avoiding me. I haven't seen Chloe or Oliver ever since I visited the Training Hall, two days ago. I haven't seen Caleb ever since the invasion.

"Are you alright?" Luke  whispers in my ear, gaining my attention altogether. Only people, who keep associating themselves with me are Luke, Michael and sometimes, Jacob. I nod, seeing no point in verbally answering him. Lately, I have been feeling awkward around people, especially if I have to talk to them.

What is wrong with you?

Sapphire asks in skeptical voice inside my head. I shrug  my shoulders, momentarily forgetting that our conversations take place in my head and not in the outside world.

Nothing. I am just thinking and waiting for Sebastian to get over with this.

Sapphire says nothing. I am left alone once again. I look around, Michael's words appearing in my mind. Even he realized that something went wrong back there. Something that is even more unnatural than my existence.

The cafeteria slowly clears out, until only handful of us are left. We are scattered around the large room. No one is talking, but everyone is listening closely, carefully. Sebastian stands from his seat and starts making his way towards the centre of the cafeteria. He gets on the round table and clears his throat.

"Please, be kind and approach me." He states simply and waits till we all circle around him. He looks powerful and sure of himself, as if he has been doing this all his life. "So, as some of you may know, my name is Sebastian Morrow." He smiles again and looks around. "I am 25 and I am Air Elementalist." He states once again. "I hate when people are not trying their maximum and I am going to be a strict teacher. If you have any complaints in the future, feel free to contact me and we will try to sort things out, but if you are slacking off, then you are going to leave Elite Class." He finishes shortly and looks around. "You." He points at the boy with white hair and crystal blue eyes. "Introduce yourself." Sebastian adds and waits for the boy to speak.