Julia Lelieveld and the fifth element
~34~

And then I got it. Shit, he was an e-warrior. How else could he find me here? Why else would he say I had changed?

I wanted to take another step back, but the door frame pressed into my back.

“Lucas, what are you talking about?”

I tried to shake my hand free from him, but immediately he held on tighter. This made no sense. I looked around to see if there was anything I could do, but for a moment I didn’t know.

I was stuck between the door frame and Lucas. And from the look of Lucas, he wouldn’t just let me go.

“What am I talking about?”

He quickly grabbed my other hand and pulled me close to him, pressing his lips to mine with that movement. It happened so fast I couldn’t even stop it.

The moment he pressed his lips to mine, the moment he kissed me, a painful twinge went through my head. As if it had burst open. It was unbearable. I moaned in pain and my knees almost gave out.

I couldn’t think clearly anymore. All I could think about was that the pain had to go away before I passed out. Without realizing it, I moaned louder, tears streaming down my cheeks, and I squeezed Lucas’s hands so hard it should hurt, but he didn’t budge an inch. Almost as if he enjoyed it. He just pressed closer to me and started kissing me more intensely.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I felt like my head was really going to explode. I was about to give up when I suddenly felt a little breeze against my wet cheek. And that touch made me know what to do. I tried with all my might to summon air. I felt the pain ease slightly and the wind began to blow harder in the alley. And with the last bit of strength I had, I tried to make an orb like Simone did. Somehow I managed to free my hands and before Lucas could grab them again I felt the tension between my hands and I fired the air ball into Lucas’ stomach. With a great jolt and bang, he broke free from me and shot into the opposite wall of the alley. For a moment I was transfixed, but when he opened his eyes, he looked at me so hostile that I took immediate action. He was already getting up to walk towards me. With all the speed I had, I stepped into the storage room and closed the door behind me and locked it with the safety catch. I could feel him pulling at the door and cursing.

I leaned my forehead against the cold door, it eased the pain a bit. After a few seconds, he kicked the door hard and walked away. I was relieved for a moment, but that quickly went away. He would come to me in a different way.

I tried to ignore my headache and climbed over the devices. I looked around for a moment. I ran to the other emergency exit and put the safety catch on it so he couldn’t get through. I ran to the locker room, I had to go to Rob.

As I opened the door from the dressing room to the hallway leading to the main hall, I bumped into Tim.

“Hey” He looked at me for a moment and his look went from surprised to concerned.

“Julia, what happened?”

I looked at him pleadingly. “Sorry, I don’t have time to explain, I really have to go now.”

And with those words, I rushed past him, hoping Lucas wouldn’t be in the great hall sooner.

I ran as fast as I could up the stairs toward the library. I didn’t know how I managed it, but I made it. I pushed open the big library doors on my way to Rob.

With relief, I turned and closed the large doors. I looked through the window to see if I really didn’t see him coming. I was convinced he would come after me. I will never forget that look in his eyes.

“Did you really think you could avoid me?”

I felt my whole body stiffen. I turned carefully. Telling myself this couldn’t be true. With my back against the large doors, I looked straight into his eyes. He stood in the center of the entrance, just in front of the benches, with his arms folded.

“I have to tell you I didn’t see that trick of yours coming.”

He rubbed his stomach briefly.

“Luckily I can take a beating.”

He took a step towards me.

“Lucas, why are you doing this?”

He gave me his first cute bad boy smile which was now only evil.

“Still don’t get it?”

He tilted his head a little and waited for my response.

“Of course you get it, how else could I find you.”

I cleared my throat.

“You’re an e-warrior.”

He nodded.

“So then you know what I’m here to do.”

He took another step toward me.

“Oh and you don’t have to do that trick again, because now I know what’s coming.”

He raised his eyebrows briefly.

I lifted my chin as if he didn’t hurt me at all. It was time for a different approach, I stopped acting like a little scared bunny.

“Oh yeah, what were you up to then?”

This time I raised my eyebrows and took a step toward him. I had managed to do this without trembling knees. Maybe I didn’t look scared now, but I was really terrified.

I saw him hesitate for a moment, but he recovered quickly.

“What I was trained for, what else?”

“You keep repeating that, but it’s not quite clear to me yet.”

I saw annoyance flare up in his eyes.

With two big strides he stood in front of me and placed his hand on my cheek.

“Then I’ll clear that up for you. I’ve been trained to take out practitioners like you and those other buddies of yours.”

“I’m stronger than you.”

I tried to keep my eyes on him.

“Maybe, but you don’t know how to use your powers against me yet. I’ve only been feeling you since Tuesday, so you can never be fully developed. And the weird thing is, you’re the only one I feel strong. Like calling me from afar. I haven’t figured out the other practitioners that should be there yet, but they will. I’ll take you out one by one.”

His hand slid down to my neck and his grip tightened. If there was one thing I couldn’t stand, it was that.

I didn’t know how it happened, but somehow my instincts took over and I grabbed his hand from my throat, twisted his arm so that he landed on his back, stepped aside and slammed him against the big doors. I felt him try to get his arm back and regain his control, but he couldn’t. Somehow I had him in a stranglehold and felt very strong. I stood on tiptoe so that my mouth was beside his ear.

“If you do that again, I’ll kill you.” It was almost a sizzle that came through my teeth. As if all the pent-up anger was coming out. And the weird thing was that I still meant it. No, this couldn’t be me. I’m not violent at all. The terror of my own thoughts weakened my grip. He immediately seized his chance and turned around. He pushed me away with one movement.

He had used such force that I slammed my back against the table a short distance away. I could barely hold myself up, but I doubled over. I rested my hands on my knees to catch my breath. I couldn’t breathe because of the blow.

“I don’t think you’re in a position to tell me what I can and can’t do, let alone fire threats.” I heard him walk towards me.

I struggled to get up. My breathing was still shallow. This time I couldn’t pretend to be the tough girl anymore. I was scared, really scared. Jesus.

I thought I’d never feel like this again after Mom was killed.

I almost wanted to stop fighting. What was the point? If I got out of here alive, only more would come. I couldn’t handle that.

“What are we going to get? That’s how the fun is over if you give up.” He approached me again in a sarcastic tone.

Giving up? Am I really going to give up? After fighting for my life after mommy was killed, would I just give up now? Never!

As if his words flipped a switch in me, I straightened my back and looked at him.

“Who’s talking about giving up here?”

He laughed a little.

“You’re stronger than I thought.” And he nodded at me.

I shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t know what to say to that. Frankly, I was also amazed at myself that I had made it this far.

He stopped right in front of me. I felt my instincts flare up again, my defenses kicking in automatically.

“I’m curious what your next trick is. Since you can summon air, I don’t give you much of a chance.” He ran his finger along my cheek again.

I was done with it. Like he could just touch me anywhere.

With a firm hand I grabbed his hand and stopped him. I tried to get it off my face, but I couldn’t. He was exceptionally strong. Stronger than a normal person.

And then it suddenly occurred to me. It was like putting a puzzle piece in place. I’m not just an aerial practitioner. No, I could damn well summon all four elements, and the fifth element. I had absolutely no idea how to do it, but I wasn’t just chosen for this. I need to be able to stand up for myself and fight.

The image of Max came to me. How the others could barely touch him when he practiced fire. Would I succeed?

With all my might I concentrated on the element of fire. In my mind I saw my hand glow and make the touch of it unbearable.

I didn’t know how it worked, but I felt fire enter my body. How every fiber in my body glowed, as if suddenly plunged into a warm bath. I felt myself grow stronger, the power of fire running through my veins. It was a wonderful feeling. I concentrated on my hand. I felt a glowing sting run through my arm to my hand. And that’s when I saw Lucas’ face cloud and let go of my hand in horror. He looked at his red burnt hand and then at me in disbelief.

“You bitch, you burned me!”

His eyes widened.

“No, that can’t be true? But perfectly logical. Oh my god, you are the chosen one.” He couldn’t take his eyes off me anymore.

For a moment I felt confused. Did he know of the possibility of controlling the fifth element? Would he know more about me than Rob might know?

For the first time, I saw something in his eyes other than power. He took a step back.

Holding his burnt hand with his good hand. He probably realized that he couldn’t fight well anymore.

“This doesn’t stop here, I’ll be back,” he said threateningly. And with those words he pushed open the large doors and walked out of the library.

As if I had held up until then, my legs gave way and I slumped to the ground. I really didn’t know anymore. I could feel the fear spreading through my body now that the instinct had weakened again. How could I do all this? I am a girl of almost 17. How could I compete against evil?

I glanced at my hand, which was still tingling. Then I realized that I could do it if I just believed in myself and trusted in myself.

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