Just binge-read this all, and wow. It's pretty crazy good.

Wow, this is good! I like your style, and it's well-written. One suggestion, though; you could maybe take the beginning a little slower. 

Wow, thanks you guys! I'm glad you like it. 😀 Soren Infinity, thanks for that suggestion! It's super helpful. Yeah, the beginning is a little awkward, I re-wrote it fifteen times. Beginnings are not my strong suit! I'll keep what you said in mind as I revise. 🙂 

I'm so glad I wrote something you're enjoying! 

And the next chapter!!! This one is also cut in half because it's 10 pages long… I need to make my chapters shorter! 🙂

Chapter Five 

I woke up, still enveloped in Chloé’s hug. Arivas had fallen asleep under the blankets and was snoring quietly. Chloé’s eyes were closed, but I could tell from her breathing she was awake. 

I slowly rotated my head, observing the bedroom. It was bathed in golden morning light. The birds were chirping. A glance at my alarm clock told me I had woken early. 

“Chloé?” I whispered, so I didn’t wake Arivas up.

“Yeah?” Her eyes opened immediately.

“Did you sleep at all?” I asked, shifting out of her hug.

She stretched. “No. I watched the moon through that crack in the curtains. Don’t worry, I won’t be sleepy. Staying up late makes me energized.”

“Uh hu, I believe that,” I said, slowly inching my way from under the covers. I went to the corner of our room where a full-body mirror stood and frowned into my reflection.

“Darn it, I left my beanie on while we were sleeping. My hair’s going to be a mess…”

Chloé came up behind me. “I bet it’s not too bad. You have really beautiful hair. You should wear it down more, you look so pretty.”

“I don’t want to look pretty,” I said, taking off my hat an exposing my tangled rat nest of hair.

“Yes, so pretty,” I said sarcastically, pointing up at a knot so big a bird could have lived in it.

“Here, I’ll help you. I have a brush on my bedside table.” Chloé said.

She walked over to her bed and came back with a magenta hairbrush in hand. “Sit down,” She commanded.

I sat on my knees before the mirror, and Chloé sat behind me. She began to brush my hair. I had to use my hands to keep myself from falling over because she was pulling so hard to get the big knots out.

“Chloé!” Arivas had woken up, and her voice rang out loud. “What are you doing to Grey?” 

She came racing over, her own hair a little messy. “Don’t comb out the knots from the top down. Do it from the bottom.” She grabbed the comb from Chloé’s hands and began to work my hair.

“Okay, well. Sorry if I was pulling too hard,” Chloé said.

“It’s fine,” I said. “I don’t really mind.”

In a couple minutes, Arivas had worked all the knots from my hair. She was more experienced in the ways of beauty than Chloé was, I guess.

“Ooh, this is beautiful, Grey!” Chloé said, reaching out and touching my hair. 

I observed myself in the mirror. Beautiful? No, I wasn’t beautiful. Arivas was beautiful, and Chloé too.

“Nah. I prefer it hidden under my beanie,” I said and shrugged.

“Will you wear it down? Just for today? Please?” Chloé asked.

I shrugged. Honestly, I didn’t care that much about how I looked as long as I was completely covered, ankles to wrists.

“Guys, we’re going to be late for class if we–” I began, but Arivas bounced in and interrupted me.

“Wrong!”

“What?” I said.

“You forgot! It’s Saturday! No school!” Arivas said, beaming.

“Oh, yay. Another day sitting in the library with nothing to do.” I said unenthusiastically.

“Oh, come on. Study, do homework if you have to be doing something. I like weekends because it means I can write letters home.” Arivas said, plopping down onto the softly carpeted floor next to me. Chloé sat down too, and we formed a little circle.

“We could just nap all day,” Chloé offered.

“No, I still have a little of my book report to finish, and it’s due Monday,” I said, thinking about my report on Fahrenheit 451.

“Let’s go to the library,” Arivas said. “It’s always quiet there. Chloé can nap, Grey can write, and I can answer letters. We’ll have to stop at the office on our way there, though.”

“Can we go out for dinner?” Chloé asked suddenly.

“I thought you wanted to nap!” Arivas said, and I cracked a smile.

“Sorry,” Chloé said sheepishly. “Now I’m suddenly craving Burmese food.”

“Okay, we can go out for dinner,” Arivas relented. “But can we really afford it?”

“Of course we can,” Chloé said.

“Yeah,” I broke in. “My dad sends me a little allowance every week, and that’s literally all he’s done to help me for years.”

“I work as a babysitter for a woman named Mrs. Clacey who lives nearby, so I can help pay,” Chloé said.

“I guess since I work and I get an allowance I can help, too,” Arivas said.

“Okay! Office, Library, then into town!” I said, about to stand up.

“Wait, Grey!” Chloé said suddenly.

“What?” I asked.

“Will you wear your hair down?” She asked me a little nervously.

“Fine,” I said and shrugged.

I stood up with Chloé and Arivas and turned to look at myself in the mirror one more time. I hardly ever saw myself with my hair down. I looked like another person. I tucked my hair behind my ears so my earrings were visible like they usually were. That looked a little more like me.

I went over to my bed and slid open my drawer, pulling my clothes out. I turned my face to the wall and began to slip out of my pajamas and into my usual clothes. Jeans and a black turtleneck. I always wore that. I had never really liked wearing anything else. Except for before my mom died. Then I wore blue angel-winged shirts and jean shorts, every day. In the winter I wore a long sleeved shirt under my angel-winged one and leggings under my jean shorts.

I sighed as I flipped my hair around onto my shoulder and tucked it behind my ears again. What I would give to go back to that time.

Normally I’d freak out if I had to change in the same room as anyone, but with Chloé and Arivas, I trusted them enough to respect my boundaries and my wishes. I knew they cared about me and they wanted me to feel comfortable. As I grabbed a pair of socks from my drawer, I couldn’t help but think how they were the nicest people I had known for a long time.

Once I had pulled my black sneakers on and stuffed my backpack with all the books and papers I’d need for my report, Chloé and Arivas were ready.

Chloé was wearing her usual — a baggy sweater and jeans, with her reddish hair hanging around her shoulders in spring-shaped curls. Arivas had her blonde bob cut, her bright pink off-the-shoulder shirt, her acid-washed ripped jeans giving her the ultimate popular girl look.

“To the office!” Arivas declared, and we stepped out of our room.

The light streamed in through the windows on one side of the hall. I cast a glance outside and saw that most of the puddles from the rainstorm were gone. I hoped it would rain again soon. 

We made our way down the white tiled hallways quickly, our footsteps echoing down the hall. We passed other groups of people, mostly girls since we were still basically in the girl’s dormitory. As we went by one group of girls, I heard them whispering worriedly about some kind of break in around their neighboorhood. In the back of my head, somewhere, I wondered about it. Normally this area didn’t have a very high crime rate. But the thought was gone in a moment.

We clomped down a staircase and around another corner, picking up speed. I didn’t know why we were running but, hey, it was fun.

I laughed, my hair flew behind me and my backpack bounced. My mind took me back years, to when I used to run like this with Mae. 

Just as we were rounding another corner, I slammed right into someone, knocking them to the floor and scattering papers from my bag everywhere. 

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, are you okay?” I said, turning to whoever I had knocked down to help them up.

My hand closed around his.

—————-

Sorry about the cliff-hanger! I'll post the rest of the chapter tomorrow. 🙂 

Here's the rest of Chapter Five!

———————

Chapter Five 

My hand closed around his.

“Come on, Grey! Hurry up!” 

“I’m coming! This bag is heavy,”

“Leave it! My brother’s coming soon, and I still need to get back at him for scaring us last night.” Mae helped me lower the bag to the ground.

“That sleepover was the best. Which was your favorite ghost story?” I asked.

“I liked the one you told, where there was a girl who could control darkness, and every night she heard the sound of ghosts’ voices.” Mae shivered.

“Yeah,” I looked down. How do I always manage to just barely skim the truth?

“Come on, let’s run!” Mae said, grabbing my hand and pulling me with her.

We raced to her car, laughing and smiling.

It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault. It’s not–

“Grey!”

I gasped, shocked back into myself by Arivas’s voice. I was on the ground, sitting. I looked up and saw my hand tightly wrapped around Caleb’s. I pulled my hand away.

I knew what had happened. I had been thinking about Mae, about running with her. When I touched Caleb, I transmitted the memory to him. That was not good. 

Maybe he’d write it off as him remembering a movie he saw once or something. But I doubted it. Caleb wasn’t stupid. He’d know that it wasn’t just him.

I began to stuff papers and books back into my bag.

“Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going. I guess I forgot to zip my bag,” I said to Caleb.

He was still where he had been when I had been holding his hand. Sitting, pale, surprised, and staring at me. I felt like I was going to explode. Why couldn’t I just keep my powers to myself? Why couldn’t I stop endangering the people around me?

Arivas and Chloé dropped to the floor to help me with my bag. Caleb regained his composure and came over to help, too.

“It’s not your fault,” He said.

“Uh, yes it is. I ran into you.” I said.

My heart was thumping. It was beating so fast it just sounded and felt like a big, low, vibrating mass. I kept my voice calm. I couldn’t let him think that I had anything to do with the memory.

“Okay, that’s true. But I’m sorry I was in your way,” Caleb said.

“Are you sure you’re not hurt?” I asked.

Caleb looked up at me for the first time in this conversation and I saw shock register on his face. “You’re really pretty,” He said. Then he gasped and put a hand over his mouth. 

“I… uh, I mean… Um… you’re-wearing-your-hair-down-today-and-it-looks-nice.” Caleb said frantically.

For a second I was just sitting there, blushing my face off. My really pretty face, apparently. Then I took a deep breath. “Um, Thanks,” I said as calmly as possible.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Arivas stifling a giggle and Chloé hiding her smile by neatening a pile of paper that was already perfectly neat.

“Your welcome.” Caleb said stiffly and passed me a pile of paper. “Here,”

I took it, and my finger just barely brushed his. I pulled back, not wanting to give him another of my memories. The papers spilled everywhere.

“No!” I groaned.

“Darn it!” Chloé said and began to pull papers together into a pile.

I sighed and pulled my hair around onto my shoulder. This was why I never wore my hair down. Because it got in the way when I tried to do stuff. 

We finally got everything into my bag again, and we’re just zipping it up when I heard a voice above me.

“Samantha!” Some girl called out.

I looked up, even though it wasn’t my name. Arivas, Chloé, and Caleb also turned their gaze upwards.

There was a group of four girls, all with their arms either on crossed or with their hands on their hips. I knew these girls. The ‘mean girls’. Their leader, Maggie, was the biggest jerk I’d ever met. All the girls were all looking a little down the hall at a small, curly-haired girl trying to hide behind her two other friends, who also looked terrified.

“Samantha, did you hear that?” One of the girls said, raising her hand to her ear with a mock expression of curiosity.

“Hear what?” The tiny girl, Samantha, squeaked.

“Sam, don’t answer them!” One of Samantha’s friends whispered to her.

“You didn’t hear it? Huh. Well, I thought I heard a monkey somewhere over there. Oh–wait! Maybe it was you!” The girl exclaimed, with a face of fake surprise.

“Oh, yeah, you’re right! She does look a lot like a monkey, doesn’t she?” Maggie said, stepping forward. Sam’s friends shrank back, leaving her exposed.

“I bet you are a monkey,” Maggie said, her glare venomous.

“I’m–I’m not a monkey…” Sam whispered.

“Yes, you are. Prove to us you aren’t. Prove it! Come on, prove it!” Maggie said.

Sam sniffed.

“Aw, is she going to cry?” One of the other girls in Maggie’s band of jerks said.

I felt myself tightening. My shoulders stiffened.

They were chanting “Is she gonna cry? Is the monkey gonna cry?” at Samantha.

I stood up. “Quit it.” 

They stopped. They hadn’t expected to be stood up to. Maggie was shocked, but she quickly put herself back together.

“Uh, what are you going to do about it?” She said bossily.

“Well, I’d insult you back, but that would make me no better than you. I’d just be another pathetic jerk in a crowd of pathetic jerks.” I said. 

Maggie’s strong expression slipped for just a moment.

“Well, well, well I– I take karate!” She burst out, at a loss for words.

“Where did you hear that one?” I said.

“From you, actually,” Maggie said, and I could see her preparing her next insult. “When you were trying to convince your new boyfriend you don’t love him!” She shouted.

I was completely taken off guard. I had expected insults about my appearance, my grades, and my family. All of which I don’t care very much about. I wanted to shout at her, but I couldn’t I was so mad.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Caleb. 

What is he thinking now? My brain thought, somewhere too deep under my anger to really hear.

“Yeah, I think it’s a perfect match,” Maggie said. She had found my weak point, and she was going to exploit it.

“You two should get married!” Maggie said, and her band of girls started murmuring other insults, always about me and Caleb. Caleb and me.

I stepped forward, feeling myself losing control. But I wasn’t losing control of my Darkness, I was losing control of something else.

I don’t remember exactly what happened after that, but I remember that the punch I landed on her jaw was not a wimpy punch. When I could think clearly again, Maggie was on the floor, looking up at me, shocked.

She scrambled to her feet and stepped backward. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” She whispered to the other girls. They slowly stepped back, like I was some kind of crazy monster. I saw Samantha in the corner, smiling at me. She caught my eye and wordlessly thanked me. Then she turned and began walking down the hall, her two friends following, slightly bewildered.

I turned around and saw Chloé, Arivas, and Caleb staring at me with their mouths wide open.

“I’m probably going to get in trouble for that later,” I said.

“I thought you didn’t take karate,” Caleb said.

“I don’t,” I said.

“That was awesome,” Chloé said.

I shrugged. “As I said, detention here I come.”

“Actually, I don’t think she’ll have the courage to say anything,” Arivas said.

“I wouldn’t,” Caleb said, still staring at me.

“I kind of hope she doesn’t,” I, glancing down the hall where the girls had disappeared.

Chloé smiled at me. “This is the best day ever.”

———————

Not super proud of this part, I'definitelytly be coming back to work on it later. 

Here's the next chapter! I'm probably cutting it into three this time because the original is twelve pages long. 

Chapter Six

Getting rid of Caleb was easy. All we had to do was tell him we were going to the library to study and he left. Once we were safely hidden behind the tall shelves of dusty books, I plopped down into a chair by one of the tall windows.

“I accidentally transmitted a memory to Caleb,” I said immediately. 

“I guessed that something like that happened,” Arivas said, sitting down on the floor across from me.

“That’s not good at all. What if he figures it out or something?” Chloé said, sitting down in a chair next to me so we formed a circle.

“Then I’ll have two people’s missing memories to be responsible for,” I sighed.

“Don’t talk like that. I…” Chloé trailed off. Then she took a deep breath and continued. “I don’t want you to blame yourself after I… after I forget. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I knew. But I wouldn’t know. And then, years later, my memories will come back like you said it will and I’ll feel horrible.”

I looked at her sadly. “It’s so hard. How do you live with the knowledge that tomorrow… you won’t remember anything?”

“ just don’t think about it.” Chloé looked up at me. Her eyes were so sad, I couldn’t stand it.

For a moment there was silence. Then Chloé asked me something that caught me completely off guard and changed my whole life in a second.

“How do you live with the knowledge that one mistake could end someone’s life?” She wasn’t scared of asking. She wasn’t hesitating.

I was so shocked. Somehow I had never realized that what was going on in my head could be going on in other people’s heads at the same time. I thought that somehow it was a secret that I was really just a bomb waiting to go off. Chloé asking me how I lived with myself made me feel so sad and hopeless. My own best friend, saying that I could kill someone in a second. 

Of course, she was right.

I swallowed. How do you answer a question like that?

“I don’t. I’m scared of myself, of every move I make.” I said finally, staring down into my lap. I felt tears building in my eyes, but I fought. Like I always did, I fought. I fought down my emotions, hid them for my friends’ safety.

Chloé reached out her hand and closed her fingers around mine, but I lurched back. Chloé hesitated, then lowered her hand back into her lap.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I just… I don’t want to share any more memories. I don’t want to hurt anyone else.”

“I understand. But can you try to understand me?” She whispered.

I looked up at her, confused. “What?”

“I am your friend. One of your best friends. I love you. You are in pain. Great, horrible pain. And you won’t let me reach you. You say it’s to protect us, but really… I think you’re scared. You’re so scared of yourself you hide away so you don’t have to look and see and really feel.” Chloé’s voice was getting louder. “You shut us out and leave yourself to suffer! How can I help you if you won’t let me? I love you, Grey! Let me come closer and help you.”

She was standing now, shouting. She was angry, she was worried, her eyes were looking right into mine and I could see the pleading in their depths.

“You’re right.” I said, feeling myself start to shake. I couldn’t hold it back. “You’re right. But I can’t let you get closer. The closer you get, the more in danger you are! The closer you get, the sooner you’ll be gone!”

I began to sob, and the tears flowing from my eyes were black. I couldn’t speak through my tears anymore. I shook so hard I could hardly breathe.

I pulled my knees up and hid my face, rocking back and forth. I felt Arivas’s arms close around me, but somewhere deep inside me, something broke. The little, weak dam that had been keeping my emotions contained snapped, and everything flooded out.

Arivas was thrown from me, and I could hardly hear her scream. An orb of shadow formed around me, coming from me. Radiating from the stone above my heart. The whispers of ghosts grew to shouts and screams, the sounds of those who could never speak again, except to me. My tears floated up around me, and my hair rose like gravity meant nothing. I opened my eyes, still crying, and they weren’t warm gray, they were dark, dark black.

“Grey!” Chloé’s voice called out to me. “Stop! I’m sorry! Please, Grey!”

I wanted to. I didn’t want to, too. I wanted to let everything out, I wanted to let myself feel. But I couldn’t hurt my friends. I couldn’t. I was trapped in a circle of myself, everywhere I turned something else showing up and saying, but because of this stone, this stone above your heart, you cannot tell anyone, you cannot show anyone, or else they will be hurt. Hurt so badly they will never heal, never be the same.

And I couldn’t let myself keep going like this. My crying slowed. I could breathe again. The shadows evaporated, streaming back into the stone, into me. Still there. Not gone. Just waiting.

I wiped my eyes, and slowly raised my head, afraid of what I would see. Arivas was sprawled on the floor, pure terror showing on her pale face. Chloé was on the floor too, crouching like she was ducking to avoid being hit, her eyes squeezed shut.

I raised my eyes just a little farther, and they landed on the face of Caleb Peterson, standing frozen by one of the bookshelves.

I fainted.

Okay, it's no longer premature that I say this. I ship it. Bumping into your crush cliche. Being teased about your crush cliche. All signs are pointing to it. Grayleb. I ship it.

Here's the next section of chapter six!

Chapter Six

When I began to open my eyes, I didn’t want to come back as myself. I silently wished that I would wake up in my bed in my mom’s old house. Mom and dad would still be together. I wouldn’t be Guardian. None of this ever would have happened.

But as my vision grew clear and clear, and lights began to seem less blinding, I knew that I was coming back as myself, Grey Mendoza, 14-year-old Guardian of Darkness.

I opened my eyes completely. I was lying on my back on the floor of the library, near the chair I had been sitting in before. Arivas, Chloé, and Caleb –Caleb– were crouched on the floor at my sides. I groaned.

“Help me get her sitting,” Arivas said.

Caleb extended his hands to help lift my back so I could sit when suddenly I didn’t need help anymore. In one motion, I sat up so I was on my knees and punched Caleb in the gut. He landed on his back.

“What was that for?!” He said, wincing in pain.

“You keep your nose in your own business, Caleb Peterson!” I shouted. “If you just hadn’t come to the library, everything would be a lot simpler right now, for both of us!”

Especially you, I thought, but I didn’t say it. 

Arivas grabbed my arm. “Grey! It’s okay. Stop.”

I turned to her. “No, it’s not okay. You know what’s going to happen? He’s going to lose his memory, too.”

“Wait, what?” Caleb said.

I didn’t pay attention, I went on, still talking to Arivas. “And it’s my fault. Chloé, don’t say it’s your fault because you asked me a question. It’s my fault because I couldn’t hold myself together.”

“No it’s not–” Chloé began, but I cut her off.

“Yes, it is!” I wrenched my arm from Arivas’s grasp and turned my gaze back to Caleb. “Have you told him?” I asked angrily.

“Yes. He already had guessed that there was something going on, because his cousin is an Elemental, too.” Chloé said.

“Let’s… get into a circle so we can all see each other,” said Arivas.

“Fine,” I said hotly.

I scooted back and Caleb picked himself up from the floor. We ended up next to each other in the circle we made.

Suddenly all the anger I had just been feeling burnt off, and I was exhausted. I uncrossed my arms and sighed, my back slumping. I glanced at Arivas and Chloé. “Did you explain everything?” I asked.

“Yes… except for the fact that you're a Guardian. You woke up just as we were about to.”

“Wait, you’re a Guardian?!” Caleb said, excited, pointing at me.

“Yes, I am,” I said.

“That’s crazy!” He said.

“No, it’s not. Come here,” I said, grabbing him and pulling him closer.

I reached my hand up and pulled my neckline down just a few inches, which was more than enough to see the stone. “See? That’s the stone that we use to symbolize that we’re Guardians.”

“It’s so… dark.” He whispered, reaching his hand out to touch it. I let go of my neckline and it snapped into place. I smacked his hand away. 

“Personal space,” I said.

“Sorry,” He said. “It’s was just… really, really dark. I was expecting something light, blue, maybe.”

I thought of the stone. Swirling, dark purple center with everything else black. It was oval and smooth. Almost too smooth, too perfect.

“Why was it so dark?” Caleb asked. I wondered why it’s being dark bothered him so much.

“Because I’m the Guardian of Darkness,” I said.

Caleb lurched back. “Oh. They said that Darkness was kind of evil…”

“What?” I whirled around to face Chloé and Arivas. “Why did you say that?”

“We didn’t say that…” Arivas said.

“Yeah, we just said that Darkness was the Element of shadows and death,” Chloé explained.

I turned back to Caleb, exasperated. “Well, you can be assured that I’m not evil. Sometimes I may be dangerous. Like what you just saw before I fainted. But I’m not evil.”

“Okay, I can believe that,” Caleb said shakily.

“Now that that’s cleared up,” I said. “Time for the bad news.” My face darkened.

“One of you going to tell him?” I asked.

Chloé shook her head and Arivas pretended to be checking her nails, which obviously meant no.

“Okay, Caleb… Bad news.” I said, turning to him.

“What bad news?” Said Caleb, his face darkening. 

“Well… non-elemental humans aren’t supposed to know about elementals.” 

I could tell Caleb was getting nervous.

“Well, the Guardians–that is, the ones eighteen and older–they found a way to keep people from learning about us. They destroy memories.”

Caleb’s face showed fear and shock and disbelief.

“They come and they wipe your mind so that you don’t remember anything about elementals. I don’t know how, but they do. After years and years of not remembering anything, memories usually come back. But until then, it’s like you never had a life in your mind.” I looked at him, sadly. “You have three days at the most. I’m sorry,”

For a second, there was silence. 

“I don’t believe you,” He said shakily.

“What?” I said.

“I don’t believe that. That… that’s not true.” He said. “It can’t be.”

“Caleb, I think you–” I stopped. “Listen,” I whispered.

“Listen for what?” Arivas said, but I shh-ed her.

“You’re creeping me out. I must be dreaming. I don’t believe any of this.” Caleb said.

“Shh, Caleb! Listen!” I said, trying to block him out.

I could just barely pick it up. The faint sound of wind chimes. Sweet, bright, twinkling wind chimes. I reached across the circle and grabbed Chloé’s hands. I looked right into her face. “Thank you. I love you. They’re coming.”

She nodded, and a single tear slipped down her cheek. She knew what I was talking about. We stood up, Arivas following our lead. Caleb was standing now, too.

“What’s going on?” He said.

“Shut up, Caleb!” I said. “I’m trying to listen.”

The sound of windchimes grew louder, and soon I could feel a slight breeze on my cheek. Then the wind picked up, the wind, inside a library, and blew my hair into my face.

“Keanu! Stop showing off!” I shouted into the wind.

The sound of the wind grew so loud I couldn’t hear myself, and I closed my eyes so they wouldn’t sting. Then the wind stopped as fast as it had come. I opened my eyes and saw her standing there.

She was tall and thin. She was wearing jeans and an a-shirt, and her long black curls seemed to be blowing in a slight breeze. Her eyes landed immediately on Caleb.

“Another? Ugh! Why do I always get this job?” She complained to no one.

“Keanu! Stop!” I said.

“Oh, Mendoza, you’re here. I already knew that but I thought that I’d be allowed to do my job in peace for the most part.” She said, rolling her eyes. 

I scowled. “Guys, this is Clara Keanu, Guardian of Air. Caleb, she’s the one with the light blue stone that you were looking for.”

No one spoke, besides Caleb who just mumbled something like, “I still don’t believe you,”

Keanu bowed. “Yeah, I’m what she said. And I’m here to take you, and you, and you, with me.” She jabbed a finger in Chloé, Caleb and my direction as she said “you”. 

Arivas frowned. “What about me?” She said.

“I can take you, too. But you better stay out of the way.” Keanu said. “Though I don’t know why you’d like to come to this.”

I glanced at Chloé. She was fighting back tears. 

“Keanu, please. Please don’t do this.” I said, pushing back questions of why I was supposed to come with everyone else.

“Sorry, Mendoza. But we don’t make exceptions. They’re getting their memories wiped whether you like it or not. You let one person go, and then they’re all asking, and pretty soon everyone knows about us.” Keanu said, scowling.

“But please! For me. I’m a Guardian! Just one exception!” I pleaded.

“No. If you want, you can ask Ciel once we get there.” Keanu said.

I would have kept persisting, but I saw that every time I asked the less likely it would be for her to say yes.

Keanu raised her arms and closed her eyes. The wind picked up again, and the sound of windchimes filled the air. I stepped back, but the wind swirled around in a kind of ball, keeping me from leaving. I ended up pressed to the bookshelf with Caleb.

The wind was so loud I could hardly hear. Keanu raised a few inches from the ground.

Caleb leaned closer and whispered into my ear, “I believe you,”

There was a flash of bright light, and I closed my eyes.

Wow! This is a really good story, in fact it's one of the only reasons I check the CB. Keep writing!

The last part of Chapter Three! It's a little long and it sounds kind of awkward since I had to cut the chapter so much. 

Chapter Three 

Slowly, the light faded, and the sound of windchimes disappeared suddenly. The wind vanished, and I realized that I was holding Caleb’s hand. I let go quickly and stepped forward.

We were in a cave. The floor was smooth from eons of people walking across it, the ceiling was covered with stalactites. The cave was like a tunnel, opening out into a forest full of towering pine trees. I heard birds tweeting and a woodpecker pecking a tree, somewhere in the forest. I turned to look the other way and saw the tunnel continuing deep into… whatever it continued into. A mountain? Probably. The cave was lit with torches all along the walls that cast wavering shadows on the walls.

I looked around and saw Arivas and Chloé standing together, Arivas grasping Chloé’s hand tightly. Caleb was staring out of the cave into the woods. Keanu was standing in the center of the cave, brushing some feathers out of her hair that hadn’t even been there a second ago.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“You’ve never been here?” Keanu said. “I guess that makes sense, though, since this will be your first official Guardian Meeting. This is our headquarters, so to speak. We meet here. We erase memories here. We discuss problems. That sort of thing.”

She dropped the last feather from her hair onto the cave floor. “Come on. We have to walk deeper.”

I went over to Chloé and Arivas. I grabbed Chloé’s hand and she held on tightly. Caleb came over and stood next to me awkwardly. After a moment’s hesitation, I reached out and took his hand, too. 

Keanu began to walk farther down through the cave, and we followed quickly, in one line.

We walked for a while, always going down. About halfway to our destination Chloé began to cry silently. Arivas wrapped her arm around her shoulder and I squeezed her hand comfortingly.

I kept glancing at Caleb out of the corner of my eye. He was holding onto my hand so tightly I thought he might pull it off. He didn’t cry, but his eyes shimmered with the wetness of hidden tears. I realized how often my eyes shimmered like that. How often I held back my tears. I leaned closer to Caleb’s ear and I whispered to him quietly,

“You can cry.” 

“I’m not crying,” Caleb said. “I’m just scared.”

“We’re here,” Keanu called from up ahead. We turned a corner in the cave, which had been straight up until this point. The cave opened up into a huge cavern with a towering ceiling. The cavern was lit by huge braziers along the walls, and on the floor was painted a design I had never seen before, at least not in my memory, but seemed familiar.

It was a circle, and inside the circle blue, brown, white, yellow, and black swirled together to meet at the center. The blue looked so much like water I thought it would be wet if I touched it. The brown looked so much like rich dark earth, I could almost smell it. The white looked like a hazy cloud, lazily lying on the cavern floor. Yellow looked like the golden morning light, flooding from the sky onto the ground and into the onlooker’s eyes. The black, pure, deep black, reminded me of a huge chasm hiding in the shadows, just waiting for you to take a wrong step and fall into its depths forever.

The elements.

Once I could tear my eyes from the floor, I saw a long stone table across the room from me, with the longer side facing me. Around the table were five thrones, one for each Guardian. I would say chairs, but there was no other word to describe these.

They were tall-backed, each with a different color velvet seat. Blue, brown, white, yellow, and black. Each was decorated with items from their element. In the blue chair, for the Guardian of Water, mother of pear and seashells were embedded in the glass armrests which glistened like light on water. The yellow chair for the Guardian of light had golden velvet and glistening yellow stones. 

In each chair, the Guardians were sitting. My eyes met with each Guardian’s eyes, one by one, each time making me feel more and more self-conscious. 

Light, Argider Díaz, a tall man with a small beard and dark hair. Water, Jake Ayers, a kind young man with chocolate hair and healing hands, literally. And Earth, Fox Ciel. Basically the ‘leader’ of all of the Guardians. Shocking red hair and green eyes, and a voice so strong and commanding hardly anyone dared disobey her. 

My eyes glanced over the next throne, where Keanu, the sharp, determined woman standing behind me would sit. Then they came to rest on the next and last throne. My throne. It’s black velvet and dull purple stones seemed to give off a feeling of coldness. As I stared at it, I thought I might have heard the quiet whispering to ghosts grow louder.

Ciel stood. She was twenty years old, and already a natural leader. Her voice rang out as she spoke, echoing through the cavern. “Grey Mendoza, Guardian of Darkness, welcome. Please, take your seat,” She gestured to my throne.

I almost took a step forward, but then I stopped. I let go of Chloé and Caleb’s hands. “Thanks, but I’d rather stand.”

Ciel shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

I tried to act as confident as possible, and I met her eyes with defiance and courage.

She continued. “We’re here today to do many things. Firstly, to erase the memory of these two–” She gestured dismissively to Chloé and Caleb.

“No,” I said loudly.

She stopped. “What?”

“I said no. I won’t let you take their memories.” I said.

“Grey, it’s for the best, no matter how much we wish it wasn’t,” Ayers said to me. 

“This time it’s not for the best!” I shouted. “They’re my friends! My best friends! They’re not going to tell anyone!”

“I’m sorry, Mendoza, but we can’t make exceptions. Please have a seat so we can get to work.” Ciel insisted.

“No! I won’t let you!” I shouted at her. “Do whatever you want, but you’re not coming a step closer to them until you promise to leave them alone.”

“You’re not serious, Mendoza?” Ciel said. 

“Yes, I am,” I said. “Completely.”

Ciel stood up in her chair and leaped onto the table. She strode across its surface and jumped down. As soon as her feet hit the ground the earth changed shape around her, lifting itself up and enveloping her up to her waist. Then she began to move forward quickly, the earth carrying her.

She halted, stepping out of the rock’s embrace so that she was just inches from my face.

“Think for a second, Mendoza. You, an inexperienced 14-year-old, who’s never even been taught how to use her abilities, against me, a 20-year-old Guardian who can crush metal with one fist.”

“I’ve thought,” I said, looking right back into the eyes. “And I know I can do it.”

“Prove it,” She said suddenly.

“Fine!” I shouted, and suddenly a huge wall of shadows shot up from the ground, forming a ball around me and my friends, knocking Ciel back and cracking the floor beneath it.

I could see through the wall of shadow. I saw Ciel, on her back, staring at me with amazement and fear in her eyes.

“Incredible.” She whispered.

I took a deep breath and the shadows melted away, leaving me still standing where I had been a moment ago, not a centimeter farther back.

Somebody’s hand touched my shoulder and I turned my head to see Chloé.

“Grey. Make sure you stay under control. Don’t get carried away.” She whispered.

“I’m not letting her touch you,” I said angrily. For once in my life, all my fear about losing control and hurting my friends was gone. Instead, I just wanted to protect them.

Ciel got to her feet with the help of a pillar of rock. Then she turned and went back to the table, sitting down on her throne. She looked at me for a second, then she raised her hand and lifted one of her fingers.

A huge rock dome erupted from the ground, closing around the table and the other Guardians, blocking them from sight.

I stared at it. What was going on in there? Were they talking about whether they should let Chloé and Caleb go?

I turned around to face my friends. They all looked terrified. 

“Somehow, what you just did was scarier then what happened in the library. Maybe because this was on purpose.” Caleb said, in awe.

I felt awkward with Caleb around, to be honest. Maybe it was how he had told me I was pretty. Maybe it was how he was kind of scared of me. Maybe it was how I kept catching him staring at me, and then our eyes would meet, and his would dart away. He kept blushing for no reason.

“Caleb, what on earth is wrong with you?” I said. For some reason, it never occurred to me that getting straight to the point may have been a little rude.

“Um, what do you mean?” Caleb asked, looking at me from the corner of his eye and blushing again.

“Well, you keep staring at me, and you keep blushing, and you won’t meet my eyes,” I said.

Suddenly Arivas was there, giggling and smiling. “Because he has a crush on you!” She said. Then she stopped, realized what she had just said, and stopped giggling. “Sorry,” She whispered, melting into the background.

I glanced around and saw that Chloé and Arivas were walking away from us and pretending not to be watching. Well, Chloé wasn’t watching. Arivas kept peeking over Chloé’s shoulder as they talked and then averting her gaze when she realized I saw her.

For a moment there was silence between Caleb and me. 

“Do you really have a crush on me?” I said suddenly, putting one hand on my hip and brushing some of my hair from my eyes.

“…Yes,” Caleb said after a pause, and he said it slowly, like it hurt to choke out.

“How long? How long have you liked me?” I asked, a little exasperated.

“Since the day you dropped that paper.” He shrugged. “I started to think, ‘what’s likable about Grey Mendoza? Why would I like her?’ and so I started to notice you more, and I realized how much I… liked you.” Caleb paused. “This is awkward,” he said.

“It doesn’t have to be,” I said. “Listen, Caleb. I can’t… Well, number one, I’m not going to date anyone until I’m 15, at the earliest. I think it’s pretty much pointless to date before then because everyone’s still immature and the boys are still acting dumb. It’s scientifically proven that boys don’t mature until they’re 15. Number two, I can’t. If I let anyone get too close to me, I could hurt them. It’s better if you stay away, you’ll be safer.” I crossed my arms, looking down. 

Here I was, doing just what Chloé had accused me of. But I wasn’t doing it just because I was scared! That’s what I thought, anyway.

“But… I really like you, Grey!” Caleb said.

“You can like me if you have to, Caleb. But like me from afar.” I said. I turned away and began to walk to one of the braziers against the wall. 

I found a shadowy corner and let myself be covered by the darkness’s blanket as I waited for the earth dome around the Guardians to open.

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Merry Christmas everyone!