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"Em, come on." Julian calls from the tree above me, naturally climbing through the branches.

"I don't have the nature amber like you." I say looking directly at the black vines that climb up his forearm, this means that he has the Nature amber. I quickly glance down at mine. A wave crashing into fire stares up at me from my arm. I'm the only one I know of with this amber. My amber is rare. My amber is the water and fire amber. Most people born with this amber die due to the water and fire clashing. I am the only one to survive, so I'm told, but only because of the ember my mother gave me. An ember is an object with a strong spell casted onto it. Mine happens to be a bracelet.

"I've seen you climb before. Come on." I wrap my hand around the first branch, smiling. Julian and I have climbed these trees since we were little.

"Embry." Lucas, my oldest brother says. I turn to be face to face with him, his icy blue eyes staring directly into my red ones.

"Yes?"

"Mother has told you not to climb anymore." Julian jumps from the tree and lands on his feet next to me with a hard thud.

"I have never heard such a wild request. They are merely trees." Julian says. Lucas shakes his head.

"If Embry were to lose her ember she could become very ill. Her fire and water will clash. Plus, father told me to come get you anyway. It is nearly curfew."

"I'll be there on time, I promise." Lucas shakes his head and walks back the way he came. As soon as he is out of hearing range we look at each other. Julian and I have been friends since we were little. But I've never realized how green his eyes are.

"My sister should be coming for me soon." Julian says.

"I know. She hates me." Julian laughs.

"She thinks you're a bad influence on me."

"It's the other way around."

"Exactly. You were a good girl when I met you."

"Was not. I grew up with seven brothers. I had some bad in me."

"Maybe so, but you hid it well."

"You were always acting out in school."

"I have nine sisters, remember. I had to get noticed somehow."

"I was always noticed, and it bugged me. Everyone was either asking to touch my amber or my ember."

"I know. I never did. You fascinated me, I never understood how you were lucky enough to get two ambers. I wanted to be like you."

"But you had no idea what I go through everyday. The injections, the pills, recasting the spell to make it stronger as I get a day older. I felt like a drug addict. I never felt like a normal kid. You had an easy life compared to me."

"Julian! Come on. Curfew is in four minutes!" Julian's sister Astara steps out of the bushes that lead to Julian's house. Leaves cling to her wet blonde hair from her evening shower.

"Bye, Em." He waves goodbye and follows his sister into the bushes. I turn around and go home. The place I live is farther away from town. We are forced to live in the country due to my uniqueness from the others. Not a single person from the town is allowed to come to our house. It's nothing special. It has tan siding with an apple tree outside. My mother greets me at the door.

"Where were you? I sent Lucas for you." Her voice is calm even with her worry.

"I know. He met us in the woods."

"Us?"

"Julian and I. We are always in the woods. Its calm and beautiful."

"How many time do I have to tell you that you're a danger to that boy. We have no way to tell when your powers decide not to obey the ember."

"I won't hurt him, mother. I finally have to have someone to talk to. You can't cut him out of my life."

"Just wait until he meets his match. You will mean nothing to him the second he meets her."

"What if he doesn't have a match. I can't be the only one." Due to my situation, I'm not allowed to have a match. After you turn twenty-one you can have a match. A match is the person the government assigns to each person based on their personality and amber. Since my amber is messed up, I'm not allowed a match. They told my parents the day of my birth that they wouldn't match me based on my powers, because I could hurt them.

"Dinner is almost done. Go sit down."

"I'm not hungry." I push past her and down the hall to my room. My room is fire proof due to my fire being untamed. I open my computer, a small handheld device people used to call a cell phone, and text Julian.

Ugh. I hate her.

Who? Julian texts back.

Mother. She's always telling me how you'll be matched and forget about me. Why can't she be encouraging like most parents?

She's trying to protect you from being hurt.

It's not helping. It's making it worse actually.

I have to go. No phones past curfew. Meet tomorrow in the woods?

I'll be there. See you then. I stare at the screen until it turns black. There's a knock at my door. I turn just as my brother, Jax, walks in. He's two years older. His blonde hair sticks up in all directions. His green eyes seem to see right through me.

"Mother said to come downstairs. She's mad. What did you do this time?" I roll my eyes.

"If you must know I was out with Julian." I retort sassily.

"Oh. The one you're in love with." He teases with a smile.

"No. Never. Julian and I have been friends since we were little. We don't see each other that way." He always teases me about Julian.

"You mean you don't see him that way." He suggests his statement further with his eyebrow.

"Jax, you don't see me teasing you about Anna." I tease him back, trying to embarass him.

"Anna is my match. That's different. Anna is not just a crush."He said with a matter-of-fact tone, rubbing in the fact that I will never have one.

"I don't have a crush on Julian. He's my friend and just that."

"Whatever you say." He said with a tone that suggested the conversation wasn't over.

"I'm not going to dinner. I'm not dealing with her anymore, not tonight." I wasn't in the mood to put up with my mom's seemingly endless onslaught.  

"Fine. You know she'll come up here and get you herself." He turns and leaves.

"Embry Jane Blight! Get in here now!" Due to the rules of our 'continent' I am forced to obey my parents until I die. No one else can cast the spells necessary for me to survive. When I enter the dining room all eyes are on me.

"You at least have to be here for the telling of our freedom." My father says, smiling. He isn't really that important, which is probably why he smiles at me. It was mandatory for him to exist in order for me to be alive, and it wasn't like he was here often enough for me to dislike him. I roll my eyes.

"Who's telling it tonight?" Mother asks. Jax stands, dramatically clearing his throat.

"Exactly a thousand years ago, today, we became free from 'The Others'. They called us jinxes, freaks, and monsters. They tortured us, burned us, and beat us relentlessly. One day, we made an agreement with them. We would take our amber members and live away from 'The Others'. Now we have this entire island to ourselves,amber members only."

"That was really vague." I say and walk away. Normally the story has lots of details and drama. He didn't even tell about the finding of the island. Tonight was depressing.

"Embry Jane!" My mother chases after me. She grabs my arm, that I immediately pull away.  

"Mother. What do you want?" I ask, my tone clipped.

"Why aren't you eating tonight?" She asks like I burned down the house.

"You."

"I did nothing wrong." She says, defensively.

"Your parenting is what your doing wrong. I sneak to meet with Julian everyday and you don't do anything about it. Do you not care?" I meant to insult her.

"Don't tell me what I am doing wrong! I let you sneak out because I love you. You are my daughter. I want you to be happy. I turn my back when you sneak out. What if you never came back? Your ember could kill you. I hate making you mad at me but I have to. Do you think I like telling you that your best friend will replace you as soon as he meets his match, because I don't! I want to tell you that Julian will stay with you no matter what. I want to tell you that you can take that stupid ember off and go practice using your amber. But I can't. You aren't normal. You are a danger to the amber members. You are a danger to every single person in that town." She said choking up like I'm the bad guy.

"I'm gonna stop you right there. I never asked for this! All I want is to be normal. I'm just like the Originals. I can't even use my powers." I scream, frustrated.

"No one is stopping you from using your amber." She mocks me.

"Your spell is keeping me from using my powers." I sneer back.

"You need to calm down. I'll leave you to your thoughts." She says like nothing happened and turns on her heel and retreats the way she came.