A Time To Kill (Elemental Rage Book 1) (3 page)

Raven opened her
eyes and said in a strangled voice, “Claire, Mindy, get in the house now.”

Mindy, still
sputtering, had already run to the porch of the rambler and was standing
huddled and looking miserable as she dripped onto the wood. Claire was coming
up out of the water, her head forming first.  Raven ripped off her leather
jacket, annoyed that it was about to get wet.  For a moment she almost thought
the jacket more important than her sister’s dignity, but Air remonstrated her,
giving her the scent of the man watching.

Raven asked Air to
send a swirl of dirt and leaves into the man’s eyes.  Air complied. As Claire
stepped out of the water, Raven moved to block her from the stranger. Raven
wrapped her coat around Claire.  “Run to the house and keep that coat wrapped
around you.  Get inside. I’ll get your clothes.”

Claire’s clothes
were strewn along the grass a few feet from the bank.  Bertha and Mom had
planted grass all the way to the edge of the bank.  It stopped with an abrupt
drop of a couple feet into the water. Raven felt a sick fear as a strange image
rose in her mind.  It was the image of her father burning. The memory played
over and over in her head as she picked up Claire’s trainer bra, her underwear,
her t-shirt.  Raven knelt on the grass, her stomach heaving. 

As her stomach
revolted, she remembered the flesh melting, the stench.  She tasted toast and
jam as they came back up, spewing across the grass while tears streamed down
her face.  Her whole body shook with the memory. 

Mindy, soaking wet
and shivering, ran across the back yard to Raven.  She put her hand on Raven’s
shoulder.  “Stranger.  Come home, Raven.”

Raven trembled as
she grabbed Claire’s shorts. Mindy tugged on her sleeve.  Raven seemed to wake
up out of her flashback as Mindy said, “Cold. Raven.”

With a hand on
Mindy’s shoulder, Raven and Mindy stumbled to the house.  Raven circled the
house, dropping the blinds and curtains, and locking the doors.

“What are you
doing?  Has everyone gone crazy?” Claire had just come from her room dressed in
pajamas. She now stood with her hands on her hips in the center of the living
room, watching as the last shade dropped from half height all the way down, and
Raven untied the curtains and slid them across the curtain rod for extra
measure.

Raven wiped her
mouth with her sleeve. “There’s a guy in the woods.”

Claire’s cheeks
turned a fiery red, “Do you think he saw me?”

“I threw dirt into
his eyes. Well, Air did, so no, but we have to be careful. There’s something
wrong with him.”  Noticing Mindy shivering at the edge of the carpet, Raven
said, “Help Mindy change into pajamas. I’m calling Mom.”

“No Mom,” Mindy
said.  She shook her head sharply and water droplets flew.  Claire had really
dunked her.  On a hot day, Raven might have been amused, but poor Mindy was
obviously in severe discomfort.

“Fine, we won’t
call,” Raven said. 

She could hear
Claire berating Mindy for not holding her arms out high enough. With a sigh,
Raven strode through the hall to Mindy’s room. “You got it?” She asked Claire.

Claire was clearly
unhappy helping Mindy.  Mindy’s wet clothes were on the floor and she was
tangled in her green frog pajama top. Claire gritted her teeth, “Mindy, quit
squirming.”

Raven found
herself smiling in spite of herself.  She helped Mindy out of her pajama
prison.

Mindy fussed until
her pajamas were on.  She said in a whisper, “I’m scared. He’s coming for me.”

Raven felt a chill
along her spine.  It was like a physical blow to her heart to hear Mindy say
those words. She pulled Mindy into a hug, “Shhhh…Min Min, no one will hurt you.
Not with me and Claire here.”

Mindy clung to
Raven, Mindy’s arms wrapped tightly around her sister’s neck.

Her voice rose to
a cry, “He’s watching me. He’s watching.”

Mindy broke out of
the hug and ran to the living room where the big picture windows faced the creek. 
She stepped in between the curtains and the blinds, and used her fingers to
roughly part the slats. A vague memory told her she wasn’t supposed to touch
them, that she would break them if she pulled them apart. Mindy ignored the
buzzy fly memory and stared into the forest.

Bright sunlight
lit the lawn and sparkled in the creek.  There, standing between two trees was
something that looked like a man.  He was wrong, so very wrong.  Shadows spun
around him, creating a well of darkness even where the sun landed.  There were
black holes where his eyes and mouth should be. 

Mindy whimpered.
“Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad.”

She muttered over
and over.  Her mind couldn’t shake her fear, and she couldn’t stop herself. She
turned to run and found that she was wrapped in the curtain.  Shrieking, Mindy
flailed.

Raven saved her. 
Raven, not Jade.  It was a small step in building trust between the two
sisters. Mindy relaxed in Raven’s arms as she comforted her. Raven said, “It’s
okay, Cricket. It’s okay.”

Mindy could feel Raven’s
arm moving behind her as Raven lifted the shade and looked outside.

Claire huffed, “So
now you’re calling her Cricket, too?”

“Don’t be jealous,
Claire. She’s scared. Mindy, do you need to use the toilet?” Raven asked,
giving Claire a wink above Mindy’s head. 

Claire grudgingly
smiled.

Mindy was still
safe with Raven.  She didn’t have to go yet, but she knew if she got scared at
the wrong time, she might go anyway, so she nodded.  Raven carried her into the
bathroom.  Mindy was old enough to walk, but wanted Raven close.  Raven closed
the door to the bathroom and watched the mirror while Mindy tinkled.

When they were
done, Claire pulled Raven aside, “So what did you see when you looked through
the blinds?”

“There was nothing
there,” Raven said, “At least not that time.”

Outside a shadow
wraith skimmed along the ground away from the house.  Power rose from the
children, but if anyone was holding the magic stolen from his master, it would
be the mother.

Chapter 3

~~  Raven ~~

Raven usually loved
the weekends with both Jade and Mom working.  If Mom was at home and Jade at
work, Raven would lock herself away in their shared room, playing on her phone
or the laptop. With both away, she touched the Universe, something her Mom
absolutely forbade. Except for watching Mindy, she could mess around with Air
and test the boundaries of her power. 

Mom was such a
bore. She grounded Raven for a small breeze during spring break. If she knew
that Claire was actually turning into water, she would have a stroke, and when
she came out of it, lock the girls away forever.

Not today.  Ever
since Raven felt Air’s sense of the man in the woods, she paced the house
uneasily and longed for her Mom and sister’s return.  At least five times she’d
picked up her phone to text Mom and then put it back down again.  

After three hours
of pacing, Raven told Claire and Mindy, “Stay inside and lock the door behind
me.”

Raven sat on the
porch. She didn’t dare go too far into the yard.  The forest came right up to
their lawn.  Great for hiding.  Not so much if a deadly stalker came with
kidnapping and murder in mind. She started with the leaves on the apple tree,
sending wind fluttering and playing along the branches.  Somehow she had to
figure out how to become Air. 

As her awareness
flowed through the yard, she found herself eye to eye with a crow. Suddenly the
world changed.  Colors shifted and strange columns of shifting air became
visible to the eyes.  With a caw, the crow fluttered his wings and jumped into
the air.  

“Holy cow!” Raven
exclaimed when she realized that she was actually looking at the world from
several different points of view.  It was a kaleidoscope of landscapes and for
a minute she felt dizzy.  She realized that if she focused on one, the image
sharpened and became clearer, like looking at Google Images and then
double-clicking on an image to make it big.

As she followed
the source of the images, Raven realized that she was seeing through the eyes
of multiple crows.  She tried to track down the guy who had been watching the
house.  One of the crows was close to him.  Raven tried several times to get a
focus on the shadowy figure a few miles from the house and moving further away.
He was moving quickly and Raven wanted to get a good look before he
disappeared.

The crow refused
to cooperate.  Air knew what she wanted, and Raven felt in the knowing kind of
way that the crow knew, too.  As they approached the shadowy figure, the crow
veered away and Raven could feel the animal’s fear.

She tried a
different crow, a younger, smaller one.  This crow moved closer, and the man
looked up.  Raven caught just a glimpse, but the face seemed so familiar.  She
couldn’t place it.  The image of her father in a blinding flash of light rose
in her memories, along with the familiar guilt.

Raven sank to the
porch, her heart racing, “No, please no.”

She rubbed her
cheek, the raised scar a reminder of the moment she lost her dad.  She had
spent the past seven years trying to forget that moment, the moment her father
was murdered.  Maybe her memory was faulty. Maybe the man who had watched the
house was just a random stranger, but he felt familiar. 

Raven couldn’t be
certain…but she thought that he was there, lurking in the shadows watching when
her father was murdered.

The stranger was
on his way out of the woods.  Raven stumbled to the creek bank, tears stinging
her eyes.  She whispered into the air, “I’m sorry, Daddy.”

Raven pulled her
shoes and socks off and sat on the grassy bank overlooking the creek.  Perhaps
her mother secretly used the universe’s power to keep the lawn in check. The
grass on the house-side of the bank was soft and nice to sit on.

Trying to get a
handle on her emotions, Raven thought through the situation. If she called Mom,
they might have to move.  The town was small, and Raven’s best friend, Shelly, kept
her sane. If they moved, she’d have no one who understood.  Stella did. Her mom
died of an overdose a decade back while she was in her room playing with
dolls.  Talk about a screwed-up family.

Mindy would forget
the whole thing in an hour or so. It was all up to Raven.  Remembering the
horrified scream her father had made all those years ago when the fire whooshed
around him, Raven decided that maybe she should tell her mother. 

She felt the twin knives
of guilt and sorrow.

The creek ripples
in the space just under her toes.  Raven squinted, watching the spot, “Claire? 
Is that you?  I want to be left alone.”

Claire rose from
the water, the long tresses of her hair dripping water and wearing a long
flowing white gown made of sun sparkles and water.

“What is it?  I
saw you on the porch. I know you know something,” Claire pulled herself out of
the water and onto the bank.  The garment of sun and water sparkles remained. 

Raven wasn’t the
sort to be jealous of Claire’s power. She had her own.  She acknowledged the
usefulness of Claire’s ability with a genuine compliment, “Nice dress.”

Claire smiled, her
eyes sparkling as cheerfully as the dress, “Thanks.  I came up with it in case
the guy was still here.”

Raven played with
a blade of grass, “He’s not.”

“What’s wrong?”

Raven lifted her
eyes to the tree tops, silent for a minute.  She trusted Claire more than any
of her family.  Somehow they had a natural affinity for each other, a bond. But
this was too big, much too big to share.  Still, she didn’t want to carry it
alone anymore.  She swallowed hard.

“Promise me you
won’t tell Mom or Jade or Mindy.  Promise me you won’t tell anyone,” Raven felt
haunted.  She knew what she was about to blurt out might change her
relationship with Claire forever.  If Claire told anyone else, Raven probably
wouldn’t even have a family anymore.

“I promise.  What
is it?”

Raven swallowed,
the permanent lump in her throat still there after.  She said, “I was there the
night Dad died.  The man from the woods…I think he was there.”

Claire’s eyebrows
rose.  She had the same black hair that Raven did.  Raven could see Dad when
she looked in the mirror or at Claire.  She didn’t think she could say the
rest, could be honest enough to tell the truth. Claire said, “Are we going to
move again?”

Raven felt as if
her heart were made of ash.  She had to finish the story, but the words choked
her. She said, “Claire. That’s not what I have to tell you.”

Claire sat very
still, as if she knew that Raven was feeling as skittish as a baby squirrel on
its first outing.  They both waited, a cool breeze teasing their hair, the
water from the creek gurgling in the background.  Finally, Claire said, “You
can tell me.  I promise I will take it to my grave.”

Raven shivered.
With a hoarse voice she said, “Don’t talk like that.”

“Tell me.” Claire
took Raven’s hand.  She and Raven were more touchy-feely than Raven and Jade. 
Raven almost never touched Jade.

Raven whispered,
“You’ll hate me.”

Claire shook her
head violently, “No. Never.” Moving closer to her sister, Claire put her arms
around Raven’s shoulders in a sideways hug. She said, “No matter what, I’m here
for you.”

Raven expelled a
shuddering breath, and sniffed, letting a single tear spill.  She said, “I
killed Dad.  Not on purpose, but in the end it was my fault.”

Whatever Raven
expected, it was not the gentle squeeze on her arm as her sister hugged her tighter. 
She had expected a slap, or maybe for Claire to stalk off and not say another
word to her ever, ever again.  She was even more surprised when Claire said,
“You just said that a man had stabbed Dad. You feel guilty just like Mom, but
you’re not.”

Raven didn’t want
to say the rest. She didn’t want to speak the words, but she was almost done
with her confession, almost.  She said, “Do you remember how Mom said he burned
up?”

Claire nodded.
Raven could feel Claire’s hair brushing along her ear. They clung to each
other.

Raven continued, her
voice rising with pain, “I’m not sure how the fire started. I think Dad’s
attacker had power over the Element of Fire. I was sending a tornado to attack
him, to push him out of Dad’s way, but somehow he used my wind.  When Dad
caught fire, the air fed the fire. He might have survived…if not for me.”

Claire didn’t let
go.  She held her sister, and Raven felt relieved when Claire said, “It was an
accident, Raven.  You were just a kid.”

“It doesn’t feel
that way,” Raven whispered.  She squeezed her eyes shut as she remembered the
screams and the smell, that terrible smell. She hated that helpless feeling of
fear over something that had happened so long ago. She longed to forget, to
erase that memory from her mind, shove it back into a cobwebby corner where it
could never surface again. 

“Is that why you
stopped using your gift? I mean, Jade said you used to fly and make windstorms
and then you stopped.”  Claire finally released Raven, but her tone and manner
suggested an easy forgiveness.  Of course, Claire was too young to remember Dad
much.  She didn’t even know what she had lost, so of course she wouldn’t be as
angry as Jade or Mom.

Raven was curled
in on herself, hunched into a ball with her arms around her knees. She nodded,
“Yes. I keep seeing it happen over and over. In dreams. When I’m awake. Sometimes
I think I’ll go crazy. I thought if I stopped using my gifts it would go away.
It never has. It’s gotten better with time, but something about that guy
watching us brought it all back.”

“When I discovered
my gifts, the only way to help me was to use your own,” Claire looked
thoughtful, “Thank you. That couldn’t have been easy for you.”

Raven felt
forgiven.  A weight she didn’t even know she had been carrying lifted. Pushing
off the ground, Raven held her hand out to her sister.  She felt cleaner.  Her
conscience still bothered her. She still hated herself for creating the wind
that led to her father’s death by fire. But at least her sister knew and
forgave her. That was a start. Maybe someday she could forgive herself.

Raven said, “We’d
better get in there before Mindy freaks out.”

Claire groaned, “I
hope Aunt Bertha hurries home. Mindy is driving me crazy.”

Raven air-popped
some popcorn the old fashioned way, and they all watched a movie, a Disney
cartoon since Mindy was with them. Mindy was calmer now. Raven figured it was
because the stranger had gone. They settled in and actually got along better
than they had in well, forever.

Jade was the first
one back.  The girls were halfway through the movie when they heard the sound
of the garage door lifting.

Mindy squealed and
jumped up, clapping.  “Jade. Jade. Jade.”

Raven laughed,
“Yes, Jade’s home.”

The door opened
and Mindy ran to Jade.  Raven waited until the two settled down to ask, “Wanna
watch a movie with us? Mindy even let us watch a classic. It’s Aladdin.”

Jade shook her
head, “I’m beat. I just want to take a shower and crash for a few hours.”

Mindy was
disappointed and looked like she might start whining.  Raven said, “Mindy, do
you want to hit the button to start the movie again?”

With a grin, Mindy
abandoned Jade and dashed back to the couch.  Jade cast a grateful look in
Raven’s direction, and hurried to her room to grab comfy clothes for a quick
shower. 

A half hour later Amy
came home, looking disheveled and distracted. The movie had just finished and
the girls were cleaning up the popcorn.  If there was one thing they had
learned, it was not to leave dishes in the living room. The habit of returning
the dishes to the dishwasher had been ingrained in all of them.

Leaning on the
counter, Amy stared out the window, as if the answers to all her questions were
out there under the trees.

Raven noticed how
worried her Mom looked and asked, “What’s wrong?”

With a sigh, her
she said, “Bertha called. She decided to stay in Denver another month.”

Hearing the news,
Claire made disgusted cry of discontent, “What? I’m not even going to have a
summer! I have to watch Mindy ALL the time.”

The sisterly
togetherness died an ignoble death in the living room when Mindy curled up into
a tight ball and said, “Cartoon.”

Claire had hit
pause the minute the discussion turned to Aunt Bertha.

Ignoring Claire,
Raven said, “It’s okay, Mom.  I’ll watch her. No biggie.”

Amy forced a
smile, her eyes still scanning the woods.  “Thanks, Honey, I appreciate that. Do
me a favor?  I don’t want any of you girls hiking in the woods. Just stay close
to home. Okay?”

Raven had planned
to keep everything from their afternoon a secret.  Her Mom seemed to know
something was wrong the way she watched the yard. Raven said, “I was going to
say something about that.”

In the background
Claire widened her eyes and shook her head sharply.  Raven ignored her little
sister in favor of the truth.  This was one secret she couldn’t keep.  

Amy said, “About
what?”

“You said not to
go into the woods. Someone is watching the house. I think…Mom, I think it’s the
man who killed Dad.” Raven hadn’t meant to say it quite so bluntly.  She hadn’t
really meant to mention that part at all, and yet it slipped right out.

Amy paled. Raven
had never seen her Mom scared before, not like that.  She felt terrible for
being the one to tell her. She waited to hear what she would say.   

With a shaking
voice, Amy said, “We’ve got to go.”

Raven didn’t have
a chance to ask where they were going or what they were doing. Her Mom started
moving through the house like a drill sergeant, “Claire, Raven, get the to-go
bags out of the closet.” She banged on the door to Jade and Raven’s room, “Jade,
grab Pebbles and get Mindy into the van.