Awaken the Elements (Elemental Trilogy) (35 page)

             
“I was reading my poem,” Envy said angrily.

             
“Autumn, you do know that it’s past Halloween, right?” Anatha asked as she stared at River who had started his human beat box thing again.

             
She thought about it. “Yeah, I know. I’m just making sure you all know for next year.” River bit his bottom lip, saying nothing as he stopped making noises. Rowan put his hand to his face to hide whatever look he had. Anatha was trying to figure a way to shut River up.

****

Taken from Jaime’s journal: January 7

Everyone is crazy! They’re trying to eat my brains, since I seem to be the only sane person here. Oh, Lord, save me! You know what I just noticed? I’m white!

Need to change.

****

              Autumn walked through level two, eyeing everyone. They had gone and lost their marbles, she thought as she stopped for Anatha, who was chasing after River with her little mechanical pig. She dragged the fake toy behind her. The pig looked up at Autumn and asked her to help.

             
“Sorry, I can’t,” she said to the poor pig.

             
“You do know that pig is fake, right?” Adair asked.

             
She shrugged. “I think you need to tell that to Anatha, not me.” Autumn looked around. “Where is Angel?”

             
“Running an errand,” the brown monkey said, scratching its head.

             
“What kind of errand?”

             
“Maybe I should help. I don’t like the way this is turning out.”

             
She shrugged again. “Whatever.”

             
Envy ran around with fake devil horns on her head, holding a plastic fork. She ran in circles, threatening people. “You’re all going to die!” She screamed. “I’ll kill you all!” Autumn shook her head and continued walking.

             
She walked by Stefan as he threw his football at Linden, who wore a cowboy hat and rode a fake, stick horse. She saw that his horse’s ear was tied with a small pink bow.
It must be a girl
, she thought.

             
“Touch down!” Stefan shouted, jumping around with his arms held high over his head. She sat on the edge of the fountain and wondered where Drake, Rowan, Jaime, and Ivy Lee were as she kept an eye on the others, so they wouldn’t hurt themselves.

****

             
Ivy Lee sat in Postage on Us licking stamps. She enjoyed the taste of them and normal envelopes too. Every time she attempted to lick the envelopes, she would cut her tongue, so she stayed with the stamps. She found a huge drawer full of them. Pulling it out, she sat on the maroon tiled floor and started licking. She put the licked stamps on her shoes but soon ran out of space.

             
“Well, what now?” She asked herself out loud. She thought about her pants.
I can always get others
, she thought, shrugging. She licked another stamp and placed it on her jeans.

             
When she had finished with the drawer of stamps, she got up to look for more. She opened drawers and cabinets in the front and back of the store. Ivy Lee found none and got mad. This is a postage place, she thought. Where is the postage? She pulled a drawer out too far, and it fell on the floor. She noticed a small packet of stamps taped to the bottom of it. Pulling it off, she sat down and began licking.

             
“Yum.”

             
Half an hour later, Ivy Lee walked out of Postage on Us. She stopped, looking up at the LS Denny’s sign. Right then the enny’s part went off. She read the remaining letters, “L-S-D,” out loud. She busted into a fit of laugher. She didn’t know that the stamps she had found had been coated with LSD. The new manager of the store, one of the infected they had killed the first day, had a love of the stuff and put some down there for safe keeping. She made her way to the elevator as the floor turned to paint. She didn’t want to slip, so she held out her arms for balance. The elevator’s mouth opened, and Ivy Lee screamed in horror, watching the elevator’s teeth grind in front of her. She ran down the escalators.

              Rowan jumped out of the other elevator dressed as a super hero. He swished around, telling people he was quicker than a speeding bullet. He stopped by Autumn. “You like my cape?” he paused, sticking out his chest.

             
“I do,” River said, running by.

             
“You are so weird. Go fight crime,” she pushed him away. He ran off, making swooshing noises. She didn’t like the cape, but she loved what was under the cape. She watched his nice ass move.

             
Stefan hit River with the football. “Touch down!” he jumped around again.

             
“Ouch!”  He rubbed his arm and glared behind him.

             
“Sic him, Foofy!” Anatha cried, dragging her pig. “We got him.”

             
“Eek!” River jumped, running away. He began beat boxing again as he tried to avoid Anatha.

             
“I’ll kill you all!” Envy ran around the fountain. She came over and tried to poke Autumn with her plastic fork.

             
“No you don’t,” Autumn tripped her.

             
Ivy Lee ran over to Anatha, still screaming. “The elevator’s a monster.” She looked at Rowan. “I’m going to fight the law!” She jumped on Rowan’s back, smacking him in the head.

             
“She’s got a problem,” Envy replied, briefly staring at her little friend hitting Rowan. She got up and continued to run around again with her plastic fork.

             
Autumn watched them all run around acting crazy. She was glad she wasn’t that crazy. “Autumn, get me some ‘shine,” said the palm tree to her right.  Autumn ignored it. The one to her left laughed. “She be ignoring ya, cousin Fretis,” the tree laughed. Autumn looked from one tree to the other.

             
“Shut up.”

             
“Bring me some ‘shine, girl!” Fretis demanded.

             
“Don’t do it, Autumn.” Linden’s horse warned as he galloped by.

              “I want some ‘shiiiine!” the tree cried.

             
“Shut up!” Autumn warned.

             
Jaime strutted out of Country Digs, the only country and western clothing store in the mall. He walked out clad in tight fitting Wrangler jeans, a white t-shirt, shiny black cowboy boots, and a black cowboy hat to top off the costume. Autumn’s mouth fell open. He had a rope in one hand, and his cowboy boots clicked on the tiled floor as he strutted over to her. She looked at Anatha who stopped chasing River to look at Jaime in his new tight pants.

             
“Look at me. I think I’ll become a country singer,” he said. He noticed Envy running around with her devil horns. “Excuse me, little lady, while I go rope me a bronco.” He tipped his hat to her a little and ran after Envy.

             
Autumn laughed as he lassoed her sister. He jumped on her back, and Envy tried to reach behind her and poke him with her fork. “I’m going to kill you!” she threatened.

             
“Giddy up, horsey!” Jaime shouted.

             
Linden ran into the stationary store and brought out a poster board and black marker. They all watched as he wrote something on the board then held it up. It was a poorly written number ten.

             
Everyone ignored him and went back to what they were doing. Ivy Lee was beating Rowan. Anatha chased after River, the human beat box, followed by her fake pig. Jaime rode Envy, and Stefan threw his football at anyone who got in his way.

             
“Grab me some ‘shine, Autumn,” the tree spoke up again.

             
“I said, shut up,” Autumn hissed.

             
“Maybe I’ll make you,” the tree threatened.

              A tree was threatening her. Her, threatened by a plastic tree. “I said shut up you stupid piece of plastic. I’ll go find a freaking lighter and torch your sorry ass!” she screamed. The trees laughed and mocked her. Autumn stormed off, away from the tree’s mockery. She had to get away from the plastic idiots. To hell with the others.  A couple minutes later, she found herself in an electronics store on the second floor. The TVs were all on. Her eyes followed Bean the Happy Dragon around the screen. This was not happening, she told herself. I’ll wake up any moment. Bean started the goodbye song.

             
“No fucking way!” Autumn looked around. She saw a metal pole that held an advertisement. She ripped the advertisement off and picked up the pole. She swung it as hard as she could at the closest TV, shattering the screen. She started in on each TV that showed the singing, dancing Bean. “I’m not going to take any more of this!” She hit a TV between each word.  Sparks and glass exploded everywhere.

             
Finally, when all was quiet, Autumn looked around at the damage she had done. She had destroyed every TV in the store. Dropping the pole, she looked at her feet.
Lucky for me, I decided on wearing my slippers
, she thought. She looked at her hands which were covered with small scratches. She thought, while holding her scratched hands out in front of her. She could think. Not only could she think, but she knew what was going on. Thinking about what she had been doing recently, she shook her head. She had been pretty out of it. As she walked out of the store, she watched all the loony people in the mall.

             
“I have to stop this,” Autumn said out loud. She walked over to the fountain and avoided Stefan and his football.
What can I do?
She asked herself as she pulled Ivy Lee off of Rowan.

             
“I’ll take it from here. Why not save Envy?” She pointed to her and Jaime.

             
“Envy,
nooo
, I’ll save you!” Ivy Lee screamed.

             
“Let go of my cape!” Rowan demanded.

              “In a minute,” She looked around at the other guys. What was she going to do? She looked around at the store signs, finally noticing the sign of a store no one really went into; Hot ‘4’ Boyz which was snuggled in the corner. She quickly put together a plan. It might just work.

             
Stefan snuck over to her. Autumn noticed the football before it could hit her. She grabbed the ball. “Hey!” Stefan cried.

             
Still holding Rowan’s cape, Autumn held out the football. “Stefan, if you want this, follow me,” she said holding out the ball to him. She pulled Rowan with her over to River, who was hiding behind one of the palm trees.

             
“River,” Autumn whispered. He looked at her. “Come with me if you want to live.” He nodded. She grabbed Linden’s fake horse away from him. She had no clue where Drake was. She looked around at the remaining people on the second floor.

             
‘
Tell me, my daughters. Since now we will divest us both of rule, interest of territory, cares of state. Which of you shall we say doth love us most? That we, our largest bounty, may extend where nature doth with merit challenge. Goneril, our eldest born, speak first.
’

Drake’s voice tra
veled down to them, and everyone looked up. Drake sat on top of the Lears sign.

             
Well, hell,
Autumn thought. Drake was quoting Shakespeare’s
King Lear
. Did he know what happens to Lear? She thought back to her English A1 class. She could remember some of the play. Envy ran around the small crowd.

             
“I love you so much!” she screamed up to him. “But then, I’ll kill you,” she said, so only the people close to her could hear.

             
Drake continued. “Come now. For the one who loves me most will get the jewelry section of my kingdom.”

             
Autumn made her way to the elevator, dragging Rowan, followed by the other three.
“What shall Cordelia speak? Love, and be silent,”
Autumn said as she tried to remember the rest of the lines.

Drake
was getting mad and frustrated because no one had answered him yet. He was mumbling down to the people. “Come, I say.
To thee and thine, hereditary ever remain this ample third of our fair kingdom. No less in space, validity, and pleasure than that conferred on Goneril. But now, our joy, although our last and least, to whose young love the vines of France and milk of Burgundy strive to be interessed. What can you say to draw a third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.”