Hidden Past

It was seven-thirty in the morning on a Monday on Wellington Street. Naomi had just woken up and as she sat up she dreaded going to work. She sighed and slid her feet off the bed and got up going into the bathroom. When she entered the bathroom she turned on the shower and got in. On the left side of the bathroom was the sink and mirror. The toilet and shower was on the right side of the room. Her bathroom wasn’t that big but it wasn’t too small. The floor was black and white tile while the walls and ceiling were white. When she finished in the shower she got out and did her morning routine. She brushed her teeth, washed her face then went into her room to change. Naomi changed into a pair of black jeans, a black shirt that had a skull on it and a pair of black sneakers with red and black laces. She had her eye brow and tongue pierced. When she was ready to leave she grabbed her keys and locked the door on the way out. As she walked down the street her phone went off. Naomi took the phone out of her pocket and answered, “Hello Rachel, I’m on my way now.” She smiled and laughed, “How did that happen?” She stopped outside of her work and said, “Man she can be quite clumsy sometimes, well I’m right outside I’m coming in now.” She hung up the phone and put it in her pocket then walked through the door. When she walked in she was greeted by some of her friends that either worked there or stopped by for some coffee or lattes.

 

            Rachel smiled, “Good morning sunshine,” she sighed and remarked sarcastically, “We have to work extra shifts tonight because Katherine and Bonnie haven’t showed up for work these past few days and we were the lucky picks to stay late for the next week until they can hire someone else.”

 

            Naomi sighed and replied, “I hate working late and how come we always get picked? I hate having to,”

 

            Dana interrupted Naomi and scolded her and Rachel, “You guys need to get to work, chit chat later.”

 

            Naomi and Rachel rolled their eyes but got to work. During the day many people came in and out. Today was very busy but as night came around not as many people came in. One of the few people that came in struck Naomi as suspicious. She looked at Rachel then motioned to the guy inconspicuously. Rachel shrugged then walked over to her. Rachel stated, I’ve never seen him around here before,” she thought for a minute then continued, “maybe he’s new to town or something.” As she said that the stranger looked up and over at them. They couldn’t see his face but they saw his eyes. His eyes were like nothing Naomi’s ever seen before. Those eyes were a piercing blue and so emotionless and empty. She shivered and looked away. Rachel looked at her curiously but said nothing. As it got closer to closing time he was the last person in there and Naomi and Rachel were left to clean and lock up.

 

            Rachel commented, “One of us has to tell him it’s time to leave.” She looked at Naomi and grinned, “I officially nominate you for that job while I finish cleaning up.”

 

            Naomi glared and replied, “Whatever but after I tell him to leave I’m going home.” Rachel just nodded and got to work. Naomi walked over to the stranger and said, “Excuse me but we have to close now.” He looked up at her and she stared into those bottomless eyes.

 

He raised an eyebrow and nodded saying, “Alright.”

 

At those words she shivered hearing the coldness in his voice. She snapped out of it and turned towards the door and left. Not only did she feel his eyes on her but she also felt Rachel’s eyes on her too. As she was walking she could hear footsteps behind her. She didn’t think anything of it until she could still hear them when she was near her house. She turned her head to the side and could see a shadowy figure out of her peripheral vision. She tried to calm herself down and looked straight ahead. She started down and alley way and took off running as fast as she could. When she no longer heard the footsteps she stopped and walked up to her house pulled her keys out of her pocket and walked in the door making sure it was locked before she went into the kitchen. Little did she know that someone had been watching her amusedly as she ran down the alley and then watched her go into her house. When she entered the kitchen she walked over to the cupboard and took out a packet of chicken ramen noodles. She boiled some water then started to cook the noodles. After the noodles were done she walked into the living room and turned on the television. She turned on the news and the news reporter was talking about some bodies they had found in the forest, near the lake and in the cemetery. She shuddered and shook her head wondering who could just steal another life like that. The odd thing is all of the reports are the same. The bodies are found with barely or no blood left and they all had two marks on their neck like they had been bitten by something. Rumors are going around, some think its vampires which is really silly and some think its animal attacks which sounds more reasonable. Naomi jumped as her phone went off and she laughed in spite of herself. She picked it up and answered, “Hello?” she instantly smiled, “Hi Grandma is everything okay?” she looked straight ahead thoughtfully, “Okay, I’ll meet you there tomorrow since I don’t have work,” she smiled, “good night, I love you too.” She hung up then turned off the TV and took her bowl to the sink. She ascended the stair to her bedroom she couldn’t help but to think of the stranger and the way he looked at her today in the shop. His eyes were just so empty, she wondered why. She sighed heavily as she changed into a pair of shorts and tank top to go to bed.

 

The next morning she woke up and did her normal routine. She showered, brushed her teeth, washed her face then went and got dressed for the day. Today she wore a red shirt with a black rose on it, with blue jeans, black sneakers and a black hoodie. She walked downstairs and sighed wondering what her grandmother wanted to talk to her about. Naomi grabbed her keys and locked the door on the way out. She walked to her grandmother’s house that lived about ten minutes away. When she arrived her grandmother was sitting on the front porch. Naomi smiled and greeted her, “Hi, what did you want to talk to me about?”

 

Her grandmother sighed and led her inside and replied, “Evil walks among us and you are our savior.” She sat down and thoughtfully said, “You may not understand what’s going on right now but evil is at work and innocent lives are being taken.”

Naomi looked at her confusedly, “What do you mean evil walks among us? How am I the savior? Grandma what’s going on?”

 

Naomi’s grandmother smiled, “All of your question will be answered but first I have something to give you.” She got up and left the room. When she returned she handed Naomi an old looking book and said, “That was your mother’s old diary from when she was younger,” she smiled and looked at Naomi, “You are one of the few who can save the world from being overrun by evil.”

 

Naomi looked at the diary and replied, “This was my mothers?” she looked up at her grandmother skeptically, “How am I supposed to save the world? I can’t even fight.”

 

Her grandmother smiled, “Yes that was your mothers, that’s what I wanted to tell you,” she looked Naomi straight in the eyes, “it’s your right to know, and I’m going to train you, so that you will be able to protect us all.”

 

Naomi nodded confusedly, “Train me how?”

 

Naomi’s grandmother replied, “You’re able to use the elements at will, you just have to learn how,” she smiled, “your one of the few elementals left.”

 

Naomi looked at her as if she were crazy, “An elemental, what is that?”

 

Her grandmother explained, “An elemental can use all of the elements, air, fire, earth, and wind but in special cases spirit.”

 

Naomi nodded speechless, “How can you teach me?”

 

Naomi’s grandmother smiled and replied, “I have the perfect teacher for you, he is an elemental himself and you will start training today.”

 

Naomi’s eyes widened, “Today?”

 

Her grandmother nodded, “Yes today and he should be out back right about now his name is Robert. Listen to everything he says and keep practicing.”

 

Naomi nodded and slowly walked outback. When she got there Robert was standing there. He looked at her and nodded in acknowledgement letting her know he knew she was there.

 

Robert spoke up, “I presume that your grandmother told you my name and I already know about you. We will get started once you come down here.”

 

Naomi walked down and stood about a foot away from him. For the entire day he had started teaching her to tap into her powers. Once she did she learned very fast and for the next week he taught her everything he could. When it was time for him to leave Naomi started to worry. She frantically said, “What if I mess up and can’t do anything?” she continued to ramble on and on until her grandmother interrupted her.

 

Her grandmother smiled warmly, “Don’t worry everything is fine, just keep practicing.” Naomi nodded.

 

As the days continued she kept practicing very hard. It was Friday and she had to go to work. Her day started out normal. Today she wore a black tank top that said Bite Me in blood red letters that looked like it was blood dripping. She wore black pants with her black sneakers. Naomi went downstairs grabbed her keys and left. She arrived at work five minutes early. She sent a smile towards Rachel and walked over to her. She smiled and raised an eyebrow, “You seem extremely happy today.”

 

Rachel nodded and grinned, “You are extremely observant, my boyfriend is taking me to his house today to finally meet his parents but I’m really nervous.”

 

Naomi chuckled and replied, “Yup I know, and it’s okay to be nervous.”

 

Rachel smiled at her friend and then they both started working.

 

As it became dark Naomi noticed that the stranger was here again as he had the past few weeks. This time he looked at her and she saw his eyes again yet there was a look in his eyes. He seemed amused by something but that look was gone just as she had seen it. He looked out the window. She sighed and went back to what she was doing while thinking about the stranger. After her shift was over she left and headed towards the forest. She didn’t know why but something wasn’t right and an invisible force led her there. Naomi looked around the forest and as she did a tightening feeling started in her stomach. She felt nauseous. Before she could do anything three figures stepped out of the shadows smirking. The first figure had red hair with blonde streaks, green eyes and his lip pierced. He wore blue jeans and a hoodie. The second figure had blonde hair with black tips, hazel eyes and had his lip and eyebrow pierced. The third figure surprised her. It was the stranger from the Café. He had jet black hair, shockingly blue eyes, snakebites and his eyebrow pierced. She looked at them all and wondered what they were doing here and why they gave her the nauseous feeling she had. The second figure spoke up, “You know it’s not safe to wonder around all alone in the dark.”

 

Naomi rolled her eyes, “I can handle myself, and if it’s so unsafe why are you out here?”

 

The three guys smirked at her. The first one spoke up this time, “We are the reason it’s not safe at night.” They chuckled and watched her every move intently.

 

Naomi glared at the three of them and just shrugged them off. The third one disappeared but in her mind she saw his footsteps and she used that to dodge his attack. The other two watched surprised. Then all three of them came at her at once. For the third guy she used vines to hold him still the for the second guy she made the earth come up and trap him inside until it got smaller and smaller and finally crushed him. For the first guy he had become engulfed by flames. When only the third guy was left she walked over to him she asked, “Why did you keep coming to the Café?” she also asked, “Why did you follow me home those different times and what is your name?”

 

He looked at her struggling to get free and replied, “I kept going to the Café because I felt something was different about you which is true.” He glared, “I wanted to find out more about you and my name is Braden.”

 

Naomi nodded and the vines holding Braden grew tighter and tighter until he was sliced into several pieces. Once he was dead she used fire to burn his body and also the second guys body. The first guys body had already been turned to ashes and now moved with the wind. She grinned at her victory and went home tired from using her powers and thought ‘I dare any evil to come to this town again.’ ‘I will protect these people as long as I live.’ She smiled at her thought and went home. When she got there she went up to take a shower and then she changed into shorts and a tank top then went to bed. As she laid there she thought ‘I wonder why it took grandma so long to tell me about my powers, I’m sure there was evil here for a long time.’ She just shrugged the thought off and drifted into a peaceful sleep.