After dropping the news about the missing Keturah Williams, Raidah had refused to answer any questions, insisting that she be allowed to finish her meal in peace. Kallan was left anxious for the next half hour until finally, in the car, Raidah decided to talk again.

"Well, tonight didn't go quite how I planned, but at least the food was good," she joked while driving.

"Yeah," Kallan agreed. "Could you tell me anything more about Keturah?"

Raidah sighed and pulled to a stop as the light turned red. "I've told you pretty much everything I know."

"Don't you have any leads?" Kallan asked.

"If I did, we would be following them. No, leads are what we're here to look for."

"Um, Raidah?" said Kallan nervously. "What's he doing?" she pointed nervously out the window at a tired looking man sitting on the curb holding up a cardboard sign.

Looking back at Raidah at that moment, Kallan saw what she thought was the most raw, unfiltered, heartfelt version of her leader she had ever seen. The strong façade she held up daily chipped away, revealing eyes that were tearing up and filled with conflicting emotions. She reached into her purse and took a fifty dollar bill out her wallet.

"Here, pass this to him," she said to Kallan, rolling down the window. Kallan tentatively handed the fifty to the man sitting on the sidewalk, who welcomed it with a smile and a "God Bless You." The moment was then ruined when a red sports car blasting music with a loud pounding bass pulled up behind them and Raidah quickly rolled up the windows to block out the sound. The person driving had his window all the way down, arm dangling out, holding a cigarette. He paid no attention to the man sitting on the street corner.

The light turned green, Raidah rolled the window back up and they drove off. "You see Kallan?" Raidah said softly. "People can't even care for those around them. What makes them think they are the ones fit to own this world?"

Kallan didn't answer. She was staring out the window, deep in thought. "If Keturah went missing, don't you think there would be some sort of thing in the news or something?"

"Yes, that's why I'm confused. This whole thing makes no sense," Raidah said.

"Well, maybe she didn't actually go missing. I mean, all you know of her is from the human news and things, so maybe she just hasn't been in the news for a while," Kallan reasoned.

"No, that's not it," Raidah protested. "It's the middle of hockey season, there's things in the news about her team all the time. But she's not in any of the pictures, not mentioned in any of the articles. At least, none that I've read."

"Weird," Kallan whispered. "It's like she just... disappeared."

Shaking her head, Raidah shrugged. "I wonder how Owen's holding up with being in charge. Dear lord, he better not be doing anything stupid. I told him not to do anything too drastic."

"I'm sure he's doing just fine," Kallan assured her.

They rode the rest of the way home in silence, but on the inside Kallan's mind was a noisy jumble of questions. What had happened to Keturah? What was her power? What was Taya doing back home? Suddenly, a thought entered her mind that she found very worrisome and disturbing, which was saying a lot what with everything else going on.

"Raidah," Kallan said. "You know, my power was supposed to be this big huge thing. But what if it's not? What if it's something so lame and un-useful that it just disappeared, it was so unneeded?"

Raidah snorted, keeping her eyes trained on the road. "Trust me Kallan, if that were true, we wouldn't have Light Primum. And you know that's not true."

Light. The least respected power of them all. Oh, in the old days they had been somewhat favored, mostly by aristocratic humans or rich Primum who would pay to have them put on shows. In ancient times, they had been honored for their beauty in both looks and their skill. But as the time for Recovery drew nearer, Light was shunned. What good were they in battle? They still trained, though they worked only with weapons and physical capability, while other Primum did both this and trained in using their Ability in combat. Kallan had frequently trained at the same time as them, since she herself was unaware of her power, but she had never actually spoken to them any more than what was necessary.

Raidah continued on: "See, my assumption is that the more valuable the Ability, the less Primum have it. For example, light is the most common Ability as of the most recent census taken. Air is the second least, for air's most useful purpose is in being able to create storms. Fire next, a powerful weapon surely. Water, which is necessary for life, yet can be fatal. Next, Earth. Oh, do not underestimate the power of the soil, of the plants."

They turned into the driveway, exited the car and walked into the house.

"Kallan, would you be a dear and take my purse up to my room? I think I'll walk around the neighborhood a bit, get some fresh air."

"Yeah, of course."

"Thanks so much. I'll be back in a jiffy!" Raidah headed back out the door, locking it behind her, and Kallan headed up the stairs and down the hall. She pushed open the door, walked in, and tripped on the large navy blue suitcase laying on the floor, the purse's contents tumbling everywhere.

"Jurat!" she swore, scrambling to pick up the purse's spilled contents. Wallet, lipstick, tube of lotion, pocket mirror, the newspaper article, keys, and... Kallan paused as she picked up the last item, a small old photograph, creased and worn at the edges. The picture was of a boy and a girl, both wearing traditional Primum kirya, standing with their arms around each other's waists. The boy was Owen, no doubt about that, though the picture must have been taken a long time ago, before Kallan was born, since Owen's cheek was scar less. The girl next to him, smiling happily, had long black hair with bangs cut straight across her forehead, equally dark eyes, and her tattoos showed that she was a Light Primum.

Kallan studied the picture carefully. She had never seen the girl before, and she was sure she would have noticed if Owen was hanging around a Light girl, of all things. She had never seen Owen talk to any of them beyond instructions. What had made her so special?

Kallantucked the picture back into the purse, and made the decision not to bring upthe subject with Raidah. She wasn't sure why, but she had a gut feeling thatbringing up the topic wouldn't be smart. Besides, she had plenty of otherthings to worry about already. Kallan pushed thoughts of the girl and Owen tothe back of her mind, and instead headed into the living room to take advantageof this beautiful human invention called TV while she had the chance.

A/N Okay this chapter seemed a bit short to me, but I felt like this was the right place to end it. Hopefully it's not too short! Also don't forget about my Q and A, you can ask any questions as long as they are not super personal, just comment/PM. I'll post them once I get enough questions. 

Who do you think the girl is?

What do you think happened to Keturah?

What do you think made this girl special to Owen?

Any other thoughts about the chapter/ predictions?

Remember to vote and comment if you liked this chapter!

Love you guys, thanks so much for reading!