Lana

There are no signatures on my cast.

It's such a stupid thing to notice, but I notice. I broke my foot when I was ten, and everyone signed it. My family, my classmates, even the neighbors. The swirls of ink took up more space than the plaster. But now, my elbow cast is still a pristine white.

I wish I could say I broke it when I was practicing propelling myself into the air, but truthfully, I tripped down some stairs. Going to Urgent Care with a dead girl's identity was easier than I thought—probably because I picked a location that serves homeless and runaways. I gave them a fake name, explained that I had no insurance, assured them I was eighteen and not a trafficked runaway, and they said not a word, bandaged me up, and let me go.

And now I sit with a blank pager, waiting for my life to begin.

I'm the last of them. Dr. Jansen called the others fire boy, water girl, and Earth boy. For the sake of all of us, he wouldn't tell me their names or anything about them. That, he said, would all happen in due time, if it was meant to. I've only been waiting for two weeks. The others have been waiting for longer. I wonder what they're up to. I wonder if they actually want to become the Elementals.

Because I'm not sure that I do.

I haven't ruled it out. I just need to meet them. I want to talk and see if we truly can be what Jansen envisioned for us, or if that was simply an old man's fantasy. I want to believe him. I think that I do, but team or no team, I'm going to do some good. I believe I was meant to. Why else would I still be alive?

I sit up and yawn. It's already noon, and I haven't eaten breakfast yet. Honestly, who cares? No one expects anything of me, not yet. Tardiness is allowed.

I go to a diner across the street, a homely place called Zelda's. My usual is a stack of waffles, and I take it with me to the counter that faces the window. Through it I watch the cars zip by, hurrying through this desolate, nothing-town on their way to bigger, flashier places—Atlanta, mainly, which is thirty minutes down the highway. My motel sits on the other side of the road, worn-down and maybe one-third occupied.

A car pulls into its lot, and I sit up, intrigued. From it emerges two boys, and without going to the lobby, they go straight to one of the doors, and I drop the syrup jug.

That's my door.

They knock. Obviously, no one answers. I fumble around for the jug, but my eyes are glued to them. They're too far away to make out clearly, but I can see them talking to each other.

Maybe that's fire boy and earth boy, I think dryly, but I chuckle because there's no way that's true. We're not supposed to know anything about each other. They can't find me here, just like I can't find them.

They knock a few more times, and then they go into the lobby. I expect them to go to a different room, but they go back to the car.

And they don't leave.

I blink, but the car's still there. I wait for ten minutes, then thirty, then forty, but they're still there. My heart starts to thud. Are they waiting for me? For someone else? Is it safe for me to go back?

The little bell above the door rings as I leave Zelda's and begin making my way to the motel. Their windshield is facing the motel front, so they won't see me coming unless they're looking at the mirrors.

I hesitate by the road sign. There's no other way to access that room, but I can't bring myself to go inside in front of them. I sit in a bush and wait, watching through leaves and twigs. From this angle, all I can see is the side of one of their heads, and I can't see the other one at all. They don't seem to be talking.

An hour passes, and just as I'm about to give up, the engine starts. I shuffle further into the bush, and the car pulls onto the road and heads toward Atlanta. I watch it go, trying to take note of the license plate, but it's already too far to read.

I practically run to my room. It's been home for two weeks, and it gives me an immediate sense of safety. I don't think I was in any danger, not when I have the ultimate escape plan...when I'm outdoors, anyway, but I still sigh as I sink into the bed.

That was the most excitement I've gotten since arriving here.

________________

Lana

It's night, and I need to do laundry. Dr. Jansen provided me with supplies and money when I was sent off, and today's the day my last rotation of clothes has become dirty. The laundry room is next to the lobby, and when I go down there, struggling with my basket because I can only properly use one arm, there's someone sitting in the lounge.

I don't glance at him when I pass by to go into the laundry room, and he doesn't look at me. His face is but a smudge in the corner of my vision, like the faces of the two boys, but still I panic and think, he's one of them.

They came back.

Maybe.

My clothes slosh around in the washing machine, and my eyes are focused on the door. It's open, and his shadow is visible on the wall of the hallway. What's he doing there? I've never seen anyone actually use the lounge—at most, this motel is for people passing through or people who want to be left alone. Neither of those types risked conversations with strangers.

The washing machine beeps, and I go to open the dryer. The door won't budge. I lean close to its screen—the motel may be run-down, but for some reason, the dryer's got a screen—and it says Key card. Ask employee.

The employee is at the receptionist's desk. I have to go back through the lounge to get there.

Crap.

I go into the hallway. Without my basket, my other arm feels awkward at my side, but I force it still as I walk to the desk.

"Can I sign your cast?"

I turn and look directly at him. He's around my age, but I still can't figure out if he's one of those boys. "Um," I blink. "I don't have a pen."

"I have one."

I shrug. "Sure."

I hold out my elbow. He takes a Sharpie out of his pocket, signs my cast, and steps back. I position my arm so that I can read it. It says Taylor, and at the end of a cursive r is a cute flourish: a cartoony little fire.

Fire boy.

I look at him. I don't mean to give it away, but I know my face has gone slack.

He looks at me. "Lana?"

"Lana?" the employee repeats, leaning far over her desk so she can see us. "I thought your name was Sarah?"

"Lana's a nickname!" I say quickly. Sarah Evans is the name I checked in with, and the last thing I need is her pinning me for identity fraud. "The dryer's asking for a key card."

"Oh." She slides around her desk and goes into the laundry room, leaving me and Taylor in the hallway.

"How did you find me?" I ask. "And—wait, the other guy, was that Earth?"

"Jude," he says. "Come meet him."

"Dryer's ready," the employee interrupts.

I hastily drag my clothes from the washing machine and into the dryer, and as soon as the dry cycle starts, I rush back into the hallway. "I'm ready."

Taylor leads me to a room on the first floor, in the back. He opens the door and announces, "Found her."

But the room is empty.

Taylor blinks. "Jude?"

"I'm under the bed," says a muffled voice.

Taylor blinks again. "Uh, why?"

"I saw a roach. I'm not going to be able to sleep unless I kill it."

"I have bug spray," I suggest.

There's a violent thud as Jude's head hits the underside of one of the beds, and then he slides out, face red. "Sorry," he mumbles. "When he said found her, I didn't think he meant you were standing right there."

I gesture to my elbow. "No worries. I'm an idiot, too."

Jude smiles and holds out a hand to shake, but before I can reach for it, he takes it back. "You probably shouldn't. I slapped the roach."

"And did you kill it?" Taylor asks.

Jude ignores him and looks at me. "You said you had bug spray?"

"I'll go get it!"

I go to my room to retrieve the can of Raid I've been using since I got here. On my way back, I'm practically running. A small part of me doesn't believe this is real, and I'm afraid that if I don't get there fast enough, they'll disappear.

Jude thanks me when I hand him the can, and then he turns to Taylor. "This is flammable," he warns. "Don't do anything while I'm using it."

"Let me burn the fucking roach."

"No!" Jude exclaims. "We can't leave a burn mark on the carpet."

"They won't care," I interject. "There are some...interesting stains here. A burn mark is the least of their worries."

Taylor makes a face at the carpet. Jude shrugs and crawls under the bed, and I wait, shifting my weight from foot to foot.

"Damn it," Jude mumbles.

"What?" I ask.

He crawls back out and puts the cap on the can. "It disappeared."

Taylor's eyes roll up. Jude returns the can to me, but I set it on the nightstand, for later.

"Have you had dinner yet?" I ask. "There's a diner across the street. We can go there and eat and...talk."

"We'll meet you there," Taylor says. "You have to get your laundry."

Right. I forgot about that.

________________________

Lana

"How did you find me?" I ask.

It's raining outside. For once, I'm not sitting by myself at the counter. We're in a booth, facing each other. Taylor and Jude on one side, me on the other. There's a sandwich on my plate, but my stomach is too knotted up to accept more.

"Dr. Jansen gave me everyone's info," Taylor says.

"Why? I thought—"

"He changed his mind. We come together first, reveal second."

"Oh." I shift in my seat, trying to find a comfortable way to position my elbow. The table is too close.

I'd given a lot of thought to what I wanted my reveal to be. Flying would be included, of course, because that's cool. Saving a cat stuck in a tree was my favorite plan. No matter the process, I was preparing for a solo mission. That's what Dr. Jansen said we would be doing: making a name for ourselves individually before we come together. For him to change it, well, I can't be mad, but now the reveal has to be re-planned.

That is...if we're going to be a team.

Now that I've met them, my doubts have ebbed a bit. It seems like the Elementals is going to work. I'm willing to try.

"How is Jansen?" I ask.

Taylor glances out the window at the rain. "He's doing fine."

"Are we going to meet him? Before the reveal?"

Taylor shrugs, eyes glued to the clouds. "I'm not sure yet."

I hope so. I trust us, but I'd like his input before the Elementals makes their debut. It suddenly occurs to me that I'm the newest. I knew that already, but it hits me again as I study Taylor and Jude. According to Jansen, fire boy's accident was four months ago, water girl's was three, and Earth boy's was two. Mine was only three weeks ago. I was the only one who was sent out with the certainty that the team was complete. I'll guess that Taylor was kept in the loop, since Jansen seems to have entrusted him with the information, but when Taylor was first sent out, no one could have known how this would go. I wonder if he's relieved.

"Are we going to find water girl next?" I ask.

"Her name is Rani," Jude replies. "And..."

"She's not where she was supposed to be," Taylor explains. "We went to her address before we came to find you, but she checked out before we got there."

"So how do we find her?"

Neither of them respond. I don't have a suggestion, either. She could be anywhere, and it's not like we can file a missing persons report in hopes of getting the authorities to help us. She's a dead girl, as far as anyone but us knows.

"We can draw her out," Jude says. "Send a subtle message."

I tilt my head. "Like what?"

"I can grow a massive tree in the middle of a park. People will wonder how it got there overnight, and if Rani sees it on the news, maybe she'll think it was me and come to investigate."

"But Rani was the second," I say. "She doesn't know that Jansen found you, or me. She only knows that he found Taylor before her. That is, unless he kept her in the loop after he sent her away."

"He didn't," Taylor says. "I'm the only one he kept in contact with. But...it's not like I can burn a park."

"No, but you can burn something into the bark," I suggest. "Something small but noticeable so the news mentions it. How about an R? That's three clues she should understand—the R for her, the burn means it's you, and the overnight tree means the Earth elemental was found."

"And air?" Jude asks. "How does it include you?"

I frown. "A gust of wind when the news is reporting?" I shrug; it's lame and depends on the fact that we'll be there when the crews show up, but it's the only idea I have. "Mess up some people's hair."

"I like it." Jude thinks for a bit and then nods. "Yeah. I like it."

"There are lots of parks in Atlanta," I say. "We can go tomorrow, scope them out, and make the tree at night."

Taylor takes a sip of his water. "That works."

He doesn't sound convinced. I can't figure out if he doesn't like the plan, or if there's something else bothering him.

We finish eating and head back to the motel. They go around back to their room, and I go to the front, alone. I'm sliding my key into the lock when a twig snaps behind me.

As I turn around, something blurry disappears. My eyes go back and forth, but there's no one there. "Hello?" I call out, and the only thing that answers is a raccoon that pokes its head out of a bush and dives straight for the dumpster.

I laugh nervously, wanting to be relieved, but before I close my door, I take one last look to make sure no one's there. I think the excitement of the day has made me paranoid, but I can't shake the feeling of being watched.

It's probably another raccoon.