1
The silence in the car was deafening. Adara was physically and mentally exhausted, her legs and arms stiff from the previous days exertions. It all felt like a lifetime ago. Her mind refused to absorb what had happened. It was impossible, wasn’t it? As she thought about everything that happened, the answer became clear in her mind. Fire, water, the elements! This girl had to control air. No wait, not just control, she could control and become air. That was the only way that all of this made sense. 2
"Of course, that’s it," Adara screeched spinning around in her seat. Slowly she turned back, tapping Manzi on the shoulder as she turned, a shocked expression on her face. 3
"What?" he asked irritation evident in his voice. 4
"Nothing really, it’s just Ghost girl - well she’s gone," she said motioning toward the back seat. 5
"You’re kidding?" he asked, unwilling to check. 6
"I have a theory," Adara said making herself comfortable in the seat. " I think she’s still here in the car. I think she can turn into air," she said looking intently at Manzi. 7
"You do realise you sound insane?" he said looking into the rear view mirror. 8
"What, more insane than me saying I think we’ve been transporting a ghost?" she asked with a smile. After a short silence she continued, "Oh, come on! It’s the only thing that makes any sense,"9
"Really, so you think we control the elements?" he asked checking the rear view mirror again. 10
"Yes I do," she confirmed. 11
" So what about Seth? He isn’t an element," he asked. 12
"Oh, I didn’t think of that," she admitted slumping back in her seat. 13
"Who is Seth?" asked a voice so soft Adara almost didn’t hear it. 14
"Is that you, Ghost girl?" she questioned, feeling rather foolish talking to the empty back seat. 15
"Yes, who is Seth?" she repeated. 16
"I’ll tell you, but I prefer speaking to a person. Please show yourself," she said as gently as she could. "Oh, ok," the girl said, materialising before her eyes. 17
"What happened back there?" Adara asked, unable to control her curiosity. 18
"I heard your theory and I think your right, though I’ve never really thought about it before," Ghost girl said. There had to be something they had in common that would explain all of this. If they could just find that thing, they could finally make some sense of this situation. 19
"Did your father go to the army?" Adara asked. 20
"Adara, it used to be compulsory - all our fathers went to the army. 21
"Unless she comes from overseas, he went," he said looking nervously from the rear view mirror to the road in front of him and back again. 22
"What’s your story, Manzi? You look like you’re going to have a panic attack," she said looking out the back window, trying to see what he was seeing. 23
"I’m not sure," he replied, looking over his shoulder. 24
"Manzi, what is it?" she asked, now concerned. 25
"I didn’t want to scare you, but I think we are being followed," he said lifting his foot off the accelerator. 26
"Why are you slowing down?" Adara asked, desperation in her voice. "I’m slowing down to see if they do. I need to be sure," he said. 27
"Sure of what! You want to make sure they catch us?" she said really beginning to panic.28
"Put your seatbelt on. Now I’m sure," he said calmly. 29
"What are you planning?" she asked, doing what you he said. 30
"This thing may be slow, but it’s built like a tank. We’re going off road," he said slamming on the breaks and making a hard left into the bushes that lined the highway. "Hold on this is going to get bumpy," he called as he accelerated up and over the embankment, smashing through the fence at the top. Behind them two cars followed suit. 31
"Shit, shit, shit," Adara repeated as she ducked the branches that couldn’t possibly reach her. Manzi expertly negotiated the way through the trees. 32
"Drive faster!" she screamed, panicking. 33
"Did you notice the pretty trees?" he asked sarcastically. 34
"Haha, Mr. Funny man," she said disdainfully. 35
"Where are they? How far?" he asked calmly, concentrating on missing the trees. 36
"Too close, we need a plan," she said nervously looking around. 37
Manzi slowed down to allow them to catch up. "Let’s see what happens when they follow us too closely." 38
"Again with the slowing down," she said, throwing her arms in the air in exasperation. 39
"Just watch white girl," he said driving straight for a tree. 40
Turning out at the last moment, Adara watched as one of the cars hit the tree bursting into flames. "Fucking A! Do that again," she shrieked. 41
"I’m trying," he said through clenched teeth, narrowly missing another tree. "This guy thinks he can drive, let’s see shall we," he said with a naughty smile. He slowed again, trying to pull the other driver in closer. By now the other driver had wised up to Manzi’s plan - he would need another way to get rid of this one. 42
Looking around he finally saw what he needed for there, not far ahead, was a boulder. He knew this would take exact timing. More that likely the driver behind him hadn’t seen the boulder. He turned out, grazing the boulder as he passed, ensuring that the other driver wasn’t able to avoid the large rock. The impact caused it to flip, landing awkwardly on its roof. 43
"Shit, that was mind-blowing," Adara said, turning to face Manzi. 44
"Did you know you swear, like a lot, when you’re nervous," Manzi said, smiling broadly. 45
"Where did you learn to do that? I mean that was fucking amazing," she said plopping back into her seat. Somehow in all the commotion she had taken off the seat belt and had been completely turned around in her seat. 46
"Have you ever driven around an informal settlement? Gives you great reflexes," he said. 47
"My hero," Adara said, winking at him.48
"It’s like I always say, It’s not what you drive, it’s how you drive," he said very satisfied with himself. 49
"Oh damn I forgot. Ghost girl, are you here?" she asked the empty back seat. 50
"Yes," came the hushed response. 51
"It’s safe, you can show yourself again." 52
No sooner had the words left her mouth, when there was a loud bang. The car skidded sideways, Adara landing on Manzi’s lap as he feverishly tried to control the car. 53
"What the fuck!" Adara exclaimed when the car had stopped. 54
"I think we had a blow out. I think I must of driven over something sharp. Would you get off me," he said indignantly. "Next time, keep your seatbelt on." 55
"Next time, don’t drive over sharp things," Adara said, climbing off him and getting out of the car. 56
"Oh great," she said seeing the damaged tyre. "Where is the spare? We need to keep moving," she said rolling up her sleeves. 57
"Um, spare?" he said scratching his head. 58
"You don’t have a spare?" she asked putting her hand on her hip and sarcastically adding. "Do you Schumi?" 59
"No, I don’t have a spare. Happy now?" he admitted. 60
"So what now?" 61
"Now, we walk,"62
"Walk! Where too? Where are we?" she asked, looking around. 63
"I think we are in the Tsitsikamma forest," a small voice said. 64
"Ghost girl, is that you?" Adara asked looking for the origin of the voice. 65
"I’m here," she said materialising next to Manzi. 66
"Damn girl, could you please stop doing that. You’re going to give me a heart attack," he said clutching his chest. 67
Adara looked from Manzi to Ghost girl, "We walk," she said. 68
"We walk," they said together. 69
They walked for what felt like hours until finally Manzi said, "We are going around in circles, let’s camp. We can find our way out in the morning," 70
" I agree there is enough distance between us and the black suits so let’s stop till morning," Adara said. Her limbs weren’t used the exertion and pained her horribly. 71
So, they all agreed to make camp for the night.72
While Manzi gathered firewood, the girls did their best to make the camp comfortable. They found logs to sit on and placed stones in a circle for the fire. When everything was in place and Manzi had returned, Adara threw a fireball into the pile of wood and the fire leaped to life. 73
At first they sat around, each lost in their own thoughts. Finally Adara spoke.74
"Maybe, maybe if we talk about everything we’ll come closer to a figuring this all out. Three minds are better than one, and all that," she said looking hopefully from Manzi to Ghost girl. 75
"I’ll start," she said after hearing no objections. She told her story, careful not to leave anything out and when she had finished she stared into the fire and quietly added, "I’d give anything to see Seth again," as single tear rolled down her cheek. In all the confusion of the last few days, she hadn’t really thought about him. While relating her story she realised that she still needed him and missed him as much as before. Wiping away the tear she looked up at Manzi, signalling his turn. 76
"My turn next, I guess," he said straightening up. He told of the first time he used his abilities and of how often he got to use them living on the bank of the Orange river. He also related some of those stories, ending with how he saved Adara. When he was finished, he and Adara both looked over at Ghost girl. 77
"Um, well, my turn," she said blushing from all the attention. She looked down at her shoes and Adara suddenly felt an overwhelming need to protect her. She seemed so small and vulnerable. She told her story in a voice only slightly louder than a whisper. Her story held many similarities to hers and Manzi’s. She told of how the men in the black suits shot her parents in front of her. She also recalled how she couldn’t understand why they couldn’t see her. The most interesting part though was that she also saw the man with the blue eyes and that he could see her. So also related that she felt so very safe in his arms. 78
She too had gone to a foster home. She told how she didn’t like it so she decided to leave. One day when she was about 12 years old she did just that, and had been on the street ever since. "No one notices me," she said effectively ending her tale. 79
"So how old are you?" Adara asked, convinced that she was not a day over 16. 80
"I’m 19 she said, finally looking up from her shoes. 81
"What happened back there on the road?" Adara asked. 82
"Well, I wasn’t paying attention while I was crossing the road. I didn’t see the car until it was nearly on top of me," Ghost girl said apologetically. 83
"So we did hit you?" Manzi asked moving slightly closer to her. 84
"Yes, but I turned into air just before impact, you didn’t hurt me," she said, trying to reassure Manzi. 85
"And the BMW?" Adara asked. 86
"Well, I saw you surrounded by fire and I knew you were like me. I had to protect you, so when that car accelerated towards you, I had to do something. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone, I just wanted them to stop, so I flipped the car," Ghost girl said looking back down at her shoes. 87
"Wow, that’s amazing. Wait, what’s your name?" Adara said realising she had renamed the poor child. 88
"Chantel, but I prefer Ghost girl, it seems more me," she said straightening her shoulders and sitting up straight. 89
"I think so too," Adara agreed, smiling.90
"So what do we know?" Adara asked no one in particular. 91
"We know, we are all the same age and that our parents all died because of the black suits," Manzi said, carefully side stepping Adara’s feelings on the topic. 92
"We all saw the man with the blue eyes," Ghost girl added. 93
They spoke for hours, dissecting every bit of information they had, never getting any closer to the answers they needed. 94
Adara looked up and for the first time noticed the beauty that surrounded them. The sun was setting, creating a glorious view through the trees. "Look guys," Adara said pointing at the setting sun. 95
Staring in awe, they all but forgot the concerns from moments ago. 96
Adara couldn’t remember hearing the singing start. But in all her life she had never heard a more beautiful sound. It seemed to float between the trees and glide through the air. She didn’t recognise the language but somehow knew the meaning. She looked around, searching for the source of the mesmerising sound. In the clearing, not far from where they sat, she saw Ghost girl, surrounded by the beauty of the setting sun. Adara had never before seen anything that beautiful.97
Adara lay down, the exhaustion finally taking it’s toll. Before she closed her eyes she looked over at Manzi, but he was already fast asleep. Ghost girl’s song still echoing in her mind, Adara finally surrendered to the sleep closing in on her. 98
She had never slept so well in her life. So much so that she refused to wake up from her blissful slumber. She could feel someone trying to wake her, but her mind refused. Then she heard a familiar voice say," It’s morning, time to wake up, Beautiful,"99
100
Author notes
I hope you enjoy the read. All will be revealed in the next and final part.
What did you think? Please comment!
Comments
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Wow you can realy write...my essays( the only school area were I get 100%) are like this..mabye not as long but your a great writer...keep this shit up...
Mike -
this was good, but i think it could have done with a little less dialogue and a little more action and ability usage. the explanation of ghost girl was good too and very effectively done. i can't wait for the next installment and i hope to see some more action. definitely ability usage, finding out what the characters limits are, etc. those kinds of things. and i'm guessing that seth is the earth elemental? i hope something like that...anyway, good job and thanks for the read. can't wait until the next one!!!
~Ryan -
Great
I love it! A great read! You keeping us all tensed for the next part!
Well done.
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this was great you know how to make me want more! dam u, jokes keep it up and i hope u are enjoying my story
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