5 A Confronting

Ella woke to a voice yelling at her.

"Ella Lee! You better get up right this instant. Your forgot to take the trash out last night!" yelled Grams from downstairs.

Ella got out of her bed, got dressed, and proceeded downstairs to her unhappy grandma, her black hair still a mess and tired still filling her eyes.

"Gee, sorry, Grams. You know, after saving our lives last night, I think you would let that slide," she said hopefully.

"Your smart mouth is going to get you beat up some day! Now get down here and take this trash out. It's bad enough that the press found out about yesterday's little fiasco."

"Come on, Grams! You know we were going to get hit by that bus. Was I supposed to just let it?"

"I just wish you didn't use so much of that power all the time. Someone is going to catch you in the act and who knows what'll happen to you then."

Ella noticed how sad her grandmother looked. She walked over to her and hugged her.

"Hey, grams, it'll be okay," she said reassuringly. "I'll try to limit how much I use the power. I can't help what mom and dad gave me, you know."

"I wish your parents never passed down that element. All it's done is ruin your life. You can't even go outside without it accidentally firing off!"

"You know I'm trying my hardest to control it! I practice trying to create and control little things all the time. All I gotta do is keep practicing with bigger and more things and I'll have it controlled in no time!"

"I sure hope you do soon, Ell. The press is really spreading news about what happened last night with that bus. Heck I wouldn't be surprised if the whole world doesn't know by now. That kind of attention only brings bad people around. People who want your powers for their own personal gain."

"Grams, you're getting worked up over nothing! No one's going to travel all the way to Seoul just to find the person responsible for avoiding a bus crash. Seriously, we'll be fine!"

She could see in her Grams' eyes that she hoped she was right, but didn't quite believe it. Ella took out the trash as her Grams had told her to and went back into her room to get ready for her day.

• • •

Rain continued to pour on the police officers. Red and blue lights could be seen through the misty down pour. A bus sat parked in the middle of the road right next to an open bench on the sidewalk. Passengers were being escorted off the bus, most of which were recovering from the shock. Chief Brian Hill noticed the only civilian calm in this situation was the bus driver. He began to walk in the driver's direction.

"Excuse me, sir! I'm Chief Brian Hill. I was wondering if you could tell me what exactly happened here?"

The old man looked up at the Chief in a calmly manner. "Oh well I was just driving my normal routes, and I started to get some engine trouble." The bus driver pointed towards the bus stop bench. "I could make out two people sitting together right there on that bench and thought if I kept driving they could hop in and at least get out of the rain. So instead of stopping I decided to drive a little bit further down the road just so I could get them inside the bus."

"Is that it sir? Just some engine trouble? Nothing strange happened?" asked the Chief.

"Oh, well I'm not done yet. Anyways I kept going forward until the engine began to stall out. Instead of immediately stopping, the engine somehow disabled the breaks and the bus began to move faster and faster. Next thing I know, the bus is about to slide straight into the people on the bench! That is, until these black rope looking things wrapped around the bus and put it back on the road. Me and the passengers couldn't believe our eyes. It looked like the black ropes were being shot out of a person's hand. After the person put us back down they grabbed the other one and ran off!"

"Sir, I appreciate you cooperating with my questions. I'll tell headquarters this and we'll find an answer." The Chief began to walk back to his squad. While walking, he called headquarters.

"Yes sir the satellites were correct. We have a dark elemental on our hands."

"Find out who it is and make sure they're not harmed," replied the voice.

"I'll make sure sir. Brian out."

• • •

Ella quickly put her shoes on and decided to go for a jog. Grams was watching television and didn't mind if she went and got some exercise. She put her ear buds in and began to jog to the park. While jogging, she noticed that she must have taken a wrong turn somewhere because of how close she was to the bus stop. Police officers could be heard talking. Ella turned back and ran straight for the park. A large man appeared on the sidewalk. He looked as if he was searching for something.

"Oh, hello, officer! I didn't mean to almost run into you," said Ella in a chuckle.

"Why hello there, miss! I'm Chief Brian Hill of the local Seoul PD. Do you mind if I ask you some questions?"

"Of course not, officer. Ask away!"

"We've heard something strange went down last night at that bus stop right over there. Do you happen to have seen or heard anything during that time?"

"I can't say I have, officer. I don't live that close to the area. I was just jogging to the park."

"Well if you happen to hear anything, give the police a call and ask for me. We're trying to find out who did this."

Ella's hands began to sweat and tiny droplets of dark liquid began to form.

"What's that on your hands, Ella? Did you fall before you got here?"

Ella looked down at her hands and quickly wiped them on her shorts. "Haha! Nope, just sweating from this intense heat wave we're having!"

Tiny dark strands were beginning to form around her fingers. Ella tried to hold her hands in a normal looking way until the tiny strands began to grow in size.

The Chief noticed this and his eyes widened. "This is the Chief! I've got the elemental right in front of me. I need assistance ASAP!" said the Chief into his radio.

"No no no no! Please just run away. I can't control it anymore." pleaded Ella.

"Stand still, Ella. I'm just going to put this device on you, okay? It'll tone down your powers and you'll be able to talk to us."

"Run away, Chief. I don't want to hurt you. The powers act out if I'm frightened."

A group of police officers in black clothing were running in the direction of the Chief. Ella noticed that they were holding guns that had an electrical device on the end of them.

"I SAID RUN AWAY!"

Black tendrils started to form out of both of Ella's hands. They rose up in the air and began to shield her from the oncoming barrage of electrical shots.

"Ella calm down! The E-D's don't hurt! It's just to calm you down."

"You're going to take me away from my family! I know what you guys do! You used to take elementals and train them for your own purpose! I can learn about my powers on my own. I don't need your help!" shouted Ella with anger.

Just then a strange group of men appeared on top of a building behind the Chief. They quickly took out rifles and, before Ella could say anything, tranquilized the Chief and his squad. This all happened so quickly that Ella began to feel safe again. Her powers began to fade, but quickly regained color once she realized that these new people might be enemies as well.

A thin man with dark hair dropped down from the balcony. The others soon followed. "Glad we showed up before they took you! Who knows what would've happened," said the strange man.

"Stay away from me. I had this handled and I'm not going to become someone else's power toy," Ella told them aggressively.

"We're not here to recruit you. We're here to save elemental kind!"

"Ah yes. My saviors have finally arrived," replied Ella in a sarcastic tone.

"Haha! Allow me to explain. Before the collapse there was a company named "Indigo". This company was just like any other ordinary elemental recruiting academy, except they treated their people with respect. I'm the CEO of Indigo and I'm here to help you."

"Oh yeah? How'd you find out about me, huh? The bus incident? Or are have you been stalking me for who knows how long?"

"We've been keeping tabs on the other elemental academy." The thin man suddenly looked gravelly at Ella. "The same one that just tried to kidnap you and take you away."

"Well, my grams and I know how to disappear. I don't need anyone's help."

"All I'm asking, dear Ella, is that you join our academy and help us rid the world of corporations like this. We'll keep you safe and you can learn how to control your element."

"I told you. I'm not going to fight anyone. Leave me alone before I unleash my powers."

"The Solar Flare Academy will be back again. Your only hope is to stay with us." There was a long period of silence before the man spoke up again.

"Did I mention that the academy has your grandma?"