Chapter 1

Plot
It is a dark night. On the outskirts of Greenville, three officers are on guard duty. Two of them are in the booth while the third walks out to take a look around. He stands under the street light and looks all around him.

"You see anything Anil?" one of the other officers ask.

"No, nothing," Anil tells them.

"I don't see the point of guard duty. Nothing ever happens," the other officer said.

"Bite your tongue Elton," the other officer in the booth said.

"What did I say?" Elton asked confused.

"You have the habit of saying nothing ever happens right before something bad happens," the officer explained.

"Fred! Elton!" Anil shouted drowning out whatever Elton was about to say.

They hurried outside and saw four hooded men walking slowly towards them.

"I told you so," Fred told Elton.

"Seriously?" Elton asked in disbelief.

"Now's not the time," Anil told them.

"Halt! Remove the hoodies and state your purpose!" Fred shouted.

Fred and Elton had joined Anil and the quartet stopped.

"Now what are you doing lurking around our town?" Elton asked.

Instead of answering, the four continued walking.

"If you don't stop we'll be forced to take action!" Anil warned but the figures did not comply.

The officers each fired three shots at them but the bullet appeared to have passed straight through them. In the blink of an eye the of the hooded figures appeared behind each of the officers and began choking them. They held the officers up in the air, then dropped them to the floor. Rain begins to fall.

Meanwhile the fourth continued walking and looked up at a sign. Lightning flashes revealing: Welcome To Greenville.

"The police found the bodies of three officers; Anil Ramdine, Elton Joseph and Fred Marker who were on guard duty last night. No other information has been revealed yet but the Sheriff believes that they were murdered." the new reporter said.

The Elementals were in the living room watching the news report.

"Wow! When was the last time we had a murder," Shane wondered.

"Sometime last year but it wasn't nearly as bad as this," Shaun told him.

"Don't you guys find it strange?" Dylan asked.

"The town's too peaceful. It was bound to happen sometime," Max stated

"So there's a serial killer on the loose, big deal," Omar said nonchalantly.

"Why because we can protect ourselves?" Dylan asked him.

"Exactly."

"We have powers, we're not invincible," Kyle told Omar.

"As for the rest of the town, they don't have powers to defend themselves," Ravinda pointed out.

"So what? We develop a hero complex?" Matthew asked.

"Let's just focus on one thing at a time," Shaun said interrupting whatever Ravinda was about to say.

"Like our trip to the Wesley estate," Matthew said.

Their housekeeper, Vilma Herrera walked in then.

"What's this about an estate?" she asked.

"We're looking at estates from the Founding Families for my history project," Shaun lied quickly before Matthew could've blown their cover.

"Why not start with this one though?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Matthew countered.

"This building's been standing as long as those founding estates. Probably even longer.

"How come Theodore never mentioned it?" Shane wondered.

"Probably didn't know you kids were interested in things like that."

Vilma looked at the news report on the television.

"Live is such a fleeting thing. One minute it's here then the next it's gone. Be careful at the Wesley estate," she warned then walked away.

"Let's go," Max said and the eight of them exited the house.

Vilma watched the door then pulled out her cell phone. She sent a text to someone saying: They just left.

The Greenville Police Force blocked out the area preventing the villagers from leaving as well as anyone from entering. Sheriff Leon accompanied by David Barkley, his assitant, Lisa Milano, the tech wiz, and two officers Burke Logan and Dexter Miller.

"Anything in particular to look for?" Burke asked Leon.

"Look for anything out of the ordinary," Leon told him.

"What about me?" Lisa asked.

"You stay here by the car," Leon said.

The three spread out and looked for clues. Leon walked by the trees nearby. He noticed that there were holes in it.

"Take a look at this," he called out.

Leon reached into the hole and pulled out a bullet.

"Looks like they fired at the assailants," Burke observed.

"No weapons were found at the scene of the crime," Dexter stated.

"Well they had terrible aim regardless," Lisa said.

"No. They were some of the best shooters in the force. There's no way they'd be this off," Leon told her.

"I can make a graphic representation. Then we might get some insight on what happened," Lisa told him.

"Get to work!" Leon ordered.

"On it," she said heading to her car.

Meanwhile Burke was looking into the forest and saw a hooded figure watching them. He took off running towards it. Lisa was the first to noticed when she turned to go to her car.

"Where's he going?" she asked.

"He must have spotted something. Come on!" Leon suspected and ran behind Burke with Dexter at his heels.

"Thanks for almost blowing our cover Matthew," Max scolded.

"I didn't know she was eavesdropping," Matthew defended.

"Well it doesn't matter now anyway," Shaun said.

The eight of them were climbing up a hill. They were headed towards the abandoned Wesley estate. Even though no one lived there the house was maintained by a living Wesley who sent people to keep the house clean.

"Why are we going to the Wesley estate anyway?" Dylan asked Shaun.

"To get answers," Shaun told him.

"Why are you so sure that the Wesley estate has answers?" Ravinda inquired.

"My research into the Wesleys. I found records of activity by Johnathon Wesley for over 150 years. No normal person lives that long."

"So how is that linked to us?" Omar wondered.

"It may not but it's a start regardless."

They arrived at the Wesley estate and walked towards the back door. Max opened the door and the eight of them opened entered.

"What about the local town legend?" Kyle wondered.

"The one with the Elementals?" Shane clarified

"Yea."

"Wait it makes sense," Max said, "we can control different elements."

"Except sand's not a element, it's a compound. Besides neither is energy or nature. Not all of us control elements," Shaun explained.

"That's just a little technicality," Matthew said.

"Alright back to the main point. We've been searching for almost a year and we haven't even got one answer," Shaun said.

"Why can't we stick with the fact that we're gifted," Matthew wondered.

"So how come none of us have any memory of the day we got our powers. There's more to the story."

"I still don"t get how the Wesleys' history is going to help." Dylan voiced his opinion.

They arrived at a large double door then. They opened the doors which revealed a library.

"I already told you," Shaun reminded Dylan as they looked around the library.

"You think they were supernatural?" Max asked Shaun.

"They probably weren't but they had an item that gave them longevity," Shaun explained.

"What was it?" Shane asked.

"The book was vague," Shaun said.

"I think I found something," Kyle announced and they hurried over to him.

He held an old book and blew the dust off the cover. The initials J.W. were scratched onto the cover.

"Johnathon Wesley," Omar breathed.

"What does it say?" Ravinda asked when Kyle opened the book.

"It's a story about Greenville from over 200 years ago." Kyle told them, " guys look at the date."

"September 2nd 1801." Max read.

"September 2nd. That's the same day we don't have any memory of," Shane said.

"I don't think it's a coincidence," Shaun stated.

Johnathon Wesley's voice "Today a meteor fell from the sky. We, the nobles, were out discussing the use of the land when it crashed close to us. In the debris was this large stone which looked like a diamond. When I picked it up it split into seven. The same number of us that were present. I'm not sure if it split because there were seven us there or for any other reason because I've seen stranger in this town. We all had."

"It was decided that each of the stones be given to the nobles. A local craftsman is to create seven items in which to place the stones. It will be passed down from generation to generation and be known as a symbol of that family. It will also act serve as a reminder of this faithful day, September 2nd."

"Well now we know why September 2nd is a holiday," Kyle joked.

"What are you guys doing here?" they heard a female voice ask.

The eight of them spun around to see who it was. They all gasped as they recognized the girl as their friend, Sharon Pollywright.

Leon and Dexter ran the direction Burke went and raced through the forestry. Suddenly Leon stopped.

"What's wrong?" Dexter asked him.

A thud was heard nearby.

"Come on," Leon said and they followed the source of the thud.

When they arrived they found Burke lying on the floor. The hooded figure stood a few feet away.

"Burke!" Dexter exclaimed running to check his pulse. "He's alive," Burke sighed with relief.

"You must be the famous Sheriff Leon," the hooded figure said.

"I'm sorry I don't think we've met," Leon told him.

"Oh but we have, lo those many years ago. I'm surprised you forgot me."

"Maybe I'll remember if you remove the hood."

"Something tells me you already do. If I'm right you'll know that it will be pointless to hunt me down. Coming after me will only lead to certain death."

"Like how you killed those officers."

"It was necessary. They were blocking our entrance to Greenville."

"Our?"

"You didn't think I'd come alone did you? Greenville is about to take a turn for the worst sheriff and there's nothing you can do to stop it!"

The figure turned and walked away. Dexter got up as if to chase after him but Leon restricted him.

"Let him go. We have to take care of Burke."

"Fine," Dexter said reluctantly and looked as the figure walked away.

"What are you doing here?" Shane asked.

"I asked you that first didn't I? I've been following you for a while. You guys just happen to be there when strange things happen."

"Are we busted?" Matthew asked.

"Should we tell her?" Shane added.

"I don't know," Shaun answered.

"Well we can't really lie our way out of this one," Max said.

"Or can we?" Ravinda wondered.

"We have no choice," Kyle sighed.

"She'll freak out," Dylan said.

"Oh, she'll freak out regardless," Matthew said.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sharon asked angry now.

"You wanna know the truth?" Shane asked her.

"You're not gonna like it," Ravinda said.

"You might not even believe us," Omar added.

"Just tell me," she said uneasily.

They all looked at each other.

"Well we're not really sure about the details," Dylan started.

"But we can do things that ordinary people can't."

"What do you mean?" Sharon questioned

"Well in a way you could say we're gifted," Max said.

"Or cursed," Matthew added.

"It depends on how you look at it," Shaun told her.

"You're not making any sense," she told them.

"Well then I guess we'll have to show you," Omar said.

"I can control sand," Max said

He held out his hand and all the dust in the room began to rise.

"I control wind," Shane said as he opened the window and blew all of the dust outside.

"Fire," Dylan said.

He looked at the fireplace. His eyes glowed and a fire started.

"Nature's my thing," Ravinda said ad all the dead plants in the room came back to life.

"Water's mine," Kyle said.

Water particles began to rise. They swirled in the air and went towards the wall. When they disappeared, the walls were spotless.

"I control electricity," Omar said.

A current escaped from his body and went towards the chandelier and it lighted.

"Earth," Matthew said as rock fragments rose from the ground.

"I manipulate energy," Shaun said.

He controlled the fragments and used it to fix the cracks in the wall."

"Wow! What are you?" Sharon asked overwhelmed.

"That's a very good question," Shane smiled.

A loud noise interrupted their conversation and gradually became louder.

"What is that?" Sharon asked.

"It sounds like a helicopter," Shaun answered.

"Someone's landing in the backyard!" Sharon exclaimed.

Sheriff Leon and David Barkley enter Dr. Grant's office to meet with Michael Grant. Michael leads them to his operating room.

"Thanks for coming on short notice," Michael said as they walked to the room.

"That's our job," David told him.

"The cause of death was strangulation."

David and Leon examined the bodies. They all had large red marks on their neck.

"There's no way it could have been rope, so what was it?" David asked.

"To be honest, I believe it was a human hand," Michael told them.

"Are you serious?" Leon asked.

Michael lifted the head and showed them marks that looked like the outlines of fingers.

"It was a hand," Michael explained reenacting what had happened to them.

He placed his hand around his neck and showed how the bruises matched the shape of his hand.

"Now look at these sinks," Michael pointed out.

There were holes on the victims neck. Four on the right side and one on the left.

"The assailants' fingers penetrated the skin. Their larynges were severely damaged and their hyoid bones as well as others were crushed. A tremendous amount of forced is need to do that. I don't even think it's possible to do it with your bare hands. Their necks caved in. If the assailants hadn't let go of the victims their whole throat could have been ripped out. " Michael finished explained

"Well one thing is certain," Leon said, "whatever did this isn't human!"

The Elementals and Sharon went downstairs to see who landed in the helicopter.

"Wonderful timing," Kyle said sarcastically.

"Why are we going to meet them?" Shane asked.

"Considering the fact that we're not suppose to be here, it'll look worse if they catch us running away," Max explained.

"So we make up a story?" Shane asked.

"That's the plan," Max said.

The walked out into the backyard. They saw three people exit the helicopter. A man about mid thirties and two children who were about the same age as them. One was a boy and the other was a girl. The Elementals noted that the trio didn't look the least bit surprised to see them there.

"Hello," the man said, "you must be the help."

"Who the hell are you?" Omar asked.

"Morgan Wesley and these are my children Emily and Renaldo. I'm the owner of this house."

"Hi," Emily said while Renaldo paid them no mind.

"Excuse my friend, he..." Shaun said quickly.

"It's not a problem," Morgan interrupted whatever Shaun was about to say.

"If you're not the help then what are you doing here?" Emily asked.

"That's a very good question," Kyle said and Dylan quickly jabbed him in the ribs.

"We're helping the town with the restoration of the house," Shaun said.

"We didn't know anyone would be coming," Max stated.

"Well it was sort of a last minute decision," Morgan said as he walked inside the house.

The Elementals inched towards the door.

"Leaving so soon," Morgan smiled at them.

It wasn't a normal smile and it seemed creepy to them.

"Yea we have to report back," Shane told him.

"Well it was nice meeting you," Morgan said.

"Likewise," Max said and they left in a hurry.

They sighed in relief when they exited the house.

"Well we didn't act suspicious at all," Omar said.

"What if he checks out our story?" Matthew wondered.

"Something tells me he won't," Max said.

"I agree. They don't strike me as normal," Shaun added.

"You think they're like us?" Shane asked.

"I don't know."

"If they're really Wesleys then they should know that the restoration finished weeks ago," Dylan stated.

"Plus they weren't even surprised to see eight strangers in their house," Ravinda mentioned.

"It was almost like they feared nothing," Omar deduced.

"The bright side is that they don't know who we are," Shaun said.

"At least not yet," Kyle said.

"So what do we do now?" Ravinda asked.

"I've gotta go meet Reece," Dylan said.

"Shane and I will walk Sharon home," Matthew offered and began pulling Shane and Sharon.

"I'm off to the library," Shaun stated and left as well.

"And no one answered my question," Ravinda sighed and Kyle slapped him on the back.

Inside the house Morgan stood by the window smiling.

"What were they saying?" Emily asked.

"I think we just had our first encounter with the Elementals."

Renaldo head raised immediately intrigued.

"Let's go after them," he suggested.

"Don't be hasty," Morgan told him, "let's not forget the real reason we came back here."

Matthew and Shane walked Sharon home.

"Are we really going straight to her door?" Shane asked.

"Yes," Matthew answered.

"Oh great," Shane sighed.

"You can wait here lazy," Matthew told him and he complied.

"I'm not lazy though," he shouted, "bye Sharon." Sharon smiled and waved at him.

"Well you still have a crush on him," Matthew smiled.

"I can't help it," She sighed.

"Why don't you tell him?" Matthew asked.

"I was planning to but now I know how complicated your lives are," she explained.

"Yea."

"What about you and Mellinda?"

"They still don't know about us."

"Why? The eight of you are like brothers. Inseparable."

"Mellinda still wants to keep our relationship a secret because her mother and grandfather would freak out if he knew. Besides it's worth it."

They arrived at Sharon's door then.

"If it was worth it then you wouldn't have to hide it," Sharon told him then went inside.

"Reece, come on we're going to be late!" Dylan shouted.

He stood outside the house waiting on his brother. He was growing impatient when he felt something hit him and he fell to the ground.

"Oh my god! I'm such a klutz. Are you all right?"

A blond girl had bumped into him and made him fell. She extended her hand to help him up.

"I'm fine," he side while getting up.

"Are you sure? You're not damaged or anything right?" She asked.

"No really, I'm fine."

"Wow, my first day here and I'm crashing into people already. I'm Lucy by the way."

"You're first day?" Dylan asked.

"Yea. My dad lives here and he wants to move so I decided to check the place out," she explained.

"Well if you need some company, I'll be happy to help," Dylan said smiling.

"I might just take you up on that," Lucy smiled back, "anyway I have to run so I'll see you around."

Lucy walked off and Dylan watched her and smiled.

"Hopefully," he muttered.

"What'd I miss?" Reece asked as he appeared behind his brother.

"Nothing. It's about time though."

"Come on, let's go."

Shaun went to the library to do research.

"Hey Mrs. Miller," Shaun greeted the old librarian.

"Hello dear. Here for the usual?"

"Actually I'm doing some research into the Founding Families and need some information about the Wesleys," Shaun explained to her.

"In the fourth aisle there's the journals of the Founding families but I'm afraid that's about it," she said.

"There's a journal from Johnathan Wesley," Shaun wondered.

"Yes. A fine young man donated it a couple months ago."

"Thanks," Shaun said and headed towards the section.

There were many old books and cobwebs everywhere. It was cleaner than the last time Shaun was here but even that was dirty. Shaun supposed it was Sandra Miller's old age that prevented her from keeping the library in top shape like it used to be when he was little. Shaun looked around and saw many journals from different families. When he reached the Wesleys' section, everything was empty.

"That's strange," he mutturred and went back to ask Sandra where the books were.

"Hey Mrs. Miller the books are..."

Shaun saw her sitting in her chair. A black fog escaped from her mouth. It lingered around for a while before disappearing. Sandra then fell to the floor.

"Why are we back here?" Matthew asked.

"We're going to spy on the Wesleys," Max told them.

"First we break into their house, then we spy on them. This has jail time written all over it" Kyle said.

"Only if we get caught," Max pointed out.

"That makes me feel so much better," Ravinda stated sarcastically.

"Quiet!" Max whispered sharply, "someone's coming."

The four of them walked towards the side of the house. They saw two people walking up to the Wesleys' doors; an elderly man and a girl their age.

"Why are we here?" The girl asked and Matthew gasped.

"I have business to attend to," the old man said.

The duo walked towards the door and knocked. It was opened abruptly and they entered quickly.

"Isn't that.." Shane started

"Alfred and Mellinda Malasia," Matthew finished.

"We can't hear anything else," Kyle sighed.

"Let's get closer," Max suggested.

The quartet inched closer towards the house and strained their ears to hear.

"You're not getting it and that's final!" Alfred shouted.

"You'll regret this," Morgan said.

Max's phone rang and everything went silent inside.

"Run!" Max mouthed and they fled.

Unknown to them, someone in a blue hoodie stood in the fores near the Wesley estate watching them.

"That's why we have to fight for what we believe in!" Roxanne Malasia ended and thunderous applause ended.

Dylan and Reece were present. Dylan's phone vibrated and he watched it. He saw a message from Shaun: 'Meet me at the library now. It's important.'

"It's Shaun," Dylan told Reece, "I have to go."

"Ok. I'll see you at home later," Reece told him.

Dylan squeezed his way through the crowd and walked towards the exit. Unknown to him a girl with dark begins walking behind. Reece notices this as well.

The police arrive on the scene and Leon questioned Shaun.

"She had just helped me find a book and when I came back here she was on the floor," Shaun explained leaving out the part with the black fog.

"Thanks," Leon said as he scribbled in his notepad.

Max, Kyle, Ravinda and Matthew arrived then.

"Are you okay?" Max asked.

"I'm fine," Shaun reassured them.

"They're saying she died of a stroke," Matthew stated.

"It wasn't any ordinary stroke."

"What are you saying?" Kyle asked.

"Whatever happened was far from normal," Shaun told them.

"Well that plan backfired," Renaldo told Morgan after the Malasias left.

"Not entirely," Morgan said.

"You think the Elementals was listening?" Emily asked.

"Oh they were, but they didn't hear anything useful," Morgan said.

"So how do you plan to get this necklace now?" Renaldo questioned.

"Don't worry I have a plan," Morgan assured him.

"Why is the necklace so important anyway?" Emily asked.

"Because whoever wears the necklace is gifted with immortality," Morgan smiled.

Later that evening the Elementals sat at home and discussed everything that happened with Theodore.

"Well you guys had a busy day," Theodore stated when they were finished and they all agreed.

Theodore grabbed a notepad and wrote down an address.

"Things are getting dangerous. You should go there tomorrow," He handed the page to Max.

"Who's going to be there?" Omar asked.

"You'll see."

Reece walked through the door then.

"So how was your day?" he asked them.

"Pretty boring," Shane said quickly.

"We helped Theodore with his antique collection," Max added.

"Okay," Reece said smiling then went to his room. Theodore also excused himself.

"Why do we have to keep lying to him?" Shane asked.

"He may be in danger if he knows," Shaun said.

"The less people who know the better," Max added.

"But we told Sharon," Dylan said.

"Only cause we were forced to," Max told him.

"Drop it Dylan," Kyle told him but not in a harsh way.

"Today was a waste," Ravinda sighed.

"Not entirely," Kyle said, "Dylan got a girlfriend."

"Lucy's not my girlfriend," Dylan said quickly.

"Something evil's in Greenville. I can feel it," Max said.

"So what do we do now?" Omar inquired.

"I think we should split up," Max stated, "I'm going to check this out tomorrow," Max held up a flyer announcing a charity event at the Wesley estate the following day.

"A charity event on their second day here," Ravinda raised an eyebrow.

"Which is why I want to check it out," Max explained.

"Just don't do anything stupid," Matthew warned.

"No promises."

A woman is seen walking towards a tower. She keeps looking behind her uneasily. She reaches the door and enters the tower. She climbs up the stairs and reaches the highest floor. A hooded figure is there waiting on her.

"Why haven't you started yet?" she asked.

"I was busy meeting an old friend. Did you keep an eye on Creo like I asked you to?"

"I tried but he realised I was following him."

"It appears that things aren't going in our favours."

"Maybe it'll be different tomorrow."

"I highly doubt that."

"How come?"

"Another complication is strolling into town as we speak."

An old man dressed all in white is seen walking past a sign saying: Welcome to Greenville.