Chapter 2

Oh man this is going to be a whole lot harder than I thought it was going to be. Everyone deserves to read that, well if I find all four of them. She loved us, she truly did or does, and I never knew her, I never even got to know anything about her! Thanks Granny! Calm down Kenna getting mad at Granny isn't going to help anything, but I miss Granny so much and now I miss a mom I never even knew! I love you mom. "Granny I need you, I need you here explaining all of this to me, I don't think I can do this on my own! Why did you have to keep this from me!?"

Ok so I cried for about an hour, but come on who wouldn't after reading a letter from their dead mother. Ok let's see what else is in this trunk. Alright, my birth certificate, that is interesting, the one I have down stairs says I was born in North Dakota, obviously that isn't right! Huh so I was born in Providence Rhode Island, Providence Rhode Island! I would say Granny went as far as she could before the damn ocean stopped her, how in the heck am I suppose to find my family. They could be anywhere! Wait wait, ok this file says Aiden, maybe this will help. Well it says that Aidan was sent to a home in Bridgeport, Connecticut, man he could be anywhere, being sent to Bridgeport doesn't mean that is where he ended up! Come on I need something more to go on.

Ok this note says, "After seeing how distraught the Grandmother is about not being able to take all five children, this court believes it would be in the best interest to all involved to place the children far apart from each other. That way the grandmother cannot find them and try and take them." Stupid court systems, this was three months after we were born, so my siblings didn't have homes for three months, that is crap.

Okay there is something else here, this picture looks like a picture of our dad Jacob, but it is dated about the time I was 18. This must Aidan, he looks just like dad. Could this be the guy from my dream? Not our dad but my brother? It looks like a graduation picture or something. Great, why couldn't I have become an investigator or something? Oh that's right I have never been good at finding things, just great! At least I have a start, somewhere to go from. Granted it is only a picture of Aidan, but it is something. Let's see what else we have in this life changing, turning everything upside down, trunk!

So the rest of the trunk is just family history stuff, a file that says "In Case of Emergency", and folders on my other three siblings, but Aidan is the first folder I grabbed so I will look for him first, plus he is in my dreams now, so pretty sure he is the one I am suppose to be looking for. If I didn't know better I would say everything in this trunk was all fake, but there are some really cool things in it.

Even a journal from Halaina, that is the best probably, Huh, I always wondered why Granny made me learn that strange language, well now I know, it must be a special language only our family knows, and I used to complain so bad when Granny was forcing me to learn it. But that means I am the only one who can read this journal. Who knows, anything is possible at this point. It will actually be pretty cool to learn more about the family history, but that will take some time to read. I will just take it to bed with me, I always read before I go to bed, now I have something more interesting to read.

Okay time to put this trunk and wall back the way I found it, well except the folders about my siblings, Halaina's journal, and the in case of emergency file, oh and a few pictures. I have to have a picture of mom and dad close by.

I put mom and dad's pictures in frames next to my bed, that way I can look at them all the time. And I find myself doing that a lot. But I can start on Halaina's journal, I only have about an hour before I need to get to sleep so I am not dead tired at work tomorrow. Halaina speaks funny, but she is from a long time ago what do I expect. Well, here goes nothing, my best interpretation of what she said!

What an interesting day I had today. I met someone new. I know dad does not like me traveling in the woods alone, but there are so many interesting things to discover I just cannot help myself. It also is not proper for a lady to travel with a man either, but that is what I did today. He was amazing, we walked by the stream and he really talked to me, most of the men around here don't want to talk to me, just wed me so they can claim me as their prize. He didn't do that, all he did was hold my hand.

But the part dad would be most cross with is what he did with the water. Witch craft is very dark in his eyes, so anyone found to be dealing in witch craft is run out of here. That is what he did to mother, she was amazing, she could heal anyone, but father said it was wrong, the good lord told him so, and he sent mother away.

But not before she taught me, dad does not know that, he also does not know that mother lives in the woods. That is where I go when I can get away from dad, but I didn't see her today.

The man told me his name is Nereus, I have never heard a name like his before. But he made the water dance so beautifully, I couldn't stop watching. He even allowed me to dance with the water, and it was glorious. When he left he told me he would visit me again, but I don't know when he will come back. He is my secret another to keep from dad.

So that must be when she supposedly met the Lord of water. But she meets all four of them, all of their meetings must be in this journal, and they are. The following pages tell of how she met three other men, Aedus, Auria and Dagan. I really don't know what to believe anymore. Is this all true or a very elaborate story that has been passed down through our family?

Sleep Kenna, you have another day of work ahead of you tomorrow. Let's hope you get some sleep.

Again the dream, and even more urgency to find Aidan, at least that is who I think I am being told to find. But I don't even know if any of this is real. But it isn't like it would be really hard to find out, just do a few experiments. It isn't like I would need a lot, and what few things I would need I can pick up at the store on my way home from work.

It will be easy to try a few experiments, and disprove everything then I don't have to wonder anymore. Honestly this is the best idea I have had. If I just try to do what Granny is saying I can do and I can't do any of those things, then Granny really was just having a few hallucinations before she died, and no one need know about this. Of course then I am also proving that Granny went nuts before she died and our entire family history is a lie! Just a few experiments and no one will be the wiser Kenna, it will be fine.

Ok, so she said earth, fire, wind, and water, so four experiments with the elements. Huh, for earth, I should be able to bring a rock to me from across a room that should work. Uh wind, what to do for wind, or air, well if I can control air, then I should be able to make the air more solid, so maybe make steps I can walk up onto, so float on air. K then there is fire, ok so am I suppose to have these elements within me or can I just control them? Cause if I can only control them I cannot just create fire, but if I have it within me I can create fire, right? Oh, I really should stop talking to myself. Anyway, get some fire starting stuff, and go from there. Then the last is water, so, well there is a stream out back, so I can just try and get the water to do something I guess. Yeah, nice grocery list, so matches and snacks, everything else I already have at the house. Alrighty then, to the store. So, the easiest one for me to see if it works is air. Let's see if I can make myself float!

Come on concentrate Kenna, you can do this! Ok honestly you don't believe you can do this, but let's give it a descent try. I can feel the air stir around me a little, but that can easily have just been a draft in the house, and nothing now, I just look like I have to take a dump real bad, this is ridiculous! Why did I decide to do this? Oh right cause I am nuts, ok so one down and three to go. Earth ok, so just put this rock across the room and move it to me. That should work right? Ok, so concentrate, see the rock moving across the room to you, just sliding a little, just a damn nudge! And nothing, again nothing, Kenna you truly are going crazy like Granny, now you are starting to believe you should be able to do this and getting mad when you can't!

Ok, so maybe this really is nuts! No come on girl you are half way through, you can do this. Alright, now comes fire. Well I guess I can try lighting the fire in the fire place, what can that hurt, concentrate, see the flames coming to life, growing in your mind, and sparking onto the wood. Did I just hear a hiss? No, the wood still isn't burning; now my mind is playing tricks on me. Whatever, I will just light the fire with the matches like a normal person; it will take the chill out of the house anyway. Then I will see if I can make flames dance.

Ok so now the fire is going, I love how I can just watch the flames, I can get lost in them sometimes. Imagining them really dancing around and growing brighter, trying to escape the confines of the fire place, then jumping back in, wait, did that really just happen or was I imagining it?! Ok, Kenna concentrate on what you are doing, you want the fire to slowly go down, almost out, where it is just glowing, nope still nothing. What am I doing wrong? Wait a minute Kenna do you really believe you can do this? Just watch the fire, it is tired the fire is going to sleep.

OH MY GOD! It did! The fire is just barely glowing, ok liven back up, burn hot and fast. OH MY OH MY, this really is happening. Um, ok so fire element, so does that mean I can play with the flames? Can I have one dance on my hand or something and it not burn me? Or am I about to burn the shit out of myself and have to explain that to everyone tomorrow?

HOLY SHIT, I need to be a lot more careful with what I think, there it is that flame that I have no idea how it got in my hand, but it is in my hand, and it seems to be dancing! Um I think I am gonna pass….

Ugh, what am I doing on the living room floor? I was having the strangest dream; I had fire dancing in my hand. Wait, there are embers in the fire place, I really started a fire. I must have fallen asleep watching the flames; I have done that a ton of times before. There is a chill in the house though, need to get this fire going again, need to get some paper, wait was it a dream? I know I was experimenting with the elements, was it real? "Fire grow, heat the house, come back to life." It is, shit it is, I am a fire element! Maybe Granny got it wrong, maybe I am just the fire element, and someone else has all the elements. I mean the air thing didn't work, and the earth thing didn't work. Crap that means there is a sibling of mine out there that has no idea what they are getting themselves into if they have kids!

Well, I can't say nothing ever happens to me now. OK again time to regroup. Everything Granny said is true, and Halaina really did meet the elemental lords she spoke of in her Journal. I am a fire element. I have four siblings out there I need to find, and pray the Restorers haven't found them. And they probably have no idea there are Restorers out there, or that they have four other siblings. Figure out which one is gonna have five kiddos at once. That is a nice bomb to drop on someone, "Hey I know we never met before but I am your long lost sister, and you have elemental powers and are gonna have five kids, all at the same time!" Oh yeah great conversation starter.

Ok plan for tomorrow, call work, take a leave of absence, start finding my family. Oh yeah, piece of cake, this should be easy!

How am I going to do this, I can't really tell my friends they will think I am nuts, but maybe, I can tell Lexi, that I have family out there I didn't know about. I could do that, she will bend over backwards to help me find them. That's it call Lexi have her come over tomorrow and I will get more answers, and figure out how to find my family. Oh yeah, this is gonna be such an easy task you have set before yourself Kenna. This is going to be the biggest adventure you have ever had, and hopefully everything turns out good for everyone in the end!

Oh my GOD what the heck is that pounding?!? What time is it, Oh shit, its 10, Lexi was gonna be here by now, oh that is what the pounding is. Oh this will be fun.

"Morning Lexi."

"Morning Lexi that is what you have for me? I have been down here pounding on your door for 15 minutes now, what did you do get lost in your bed?"

"Uh, you know where the key is, why didn't you just come in?"

Lexi looked down kinda sheepishly and said, "I was trying to give you space, since losing Granny you have been on edge, and your front door is blocked by a pile of rocks, what is with that?"

"K, well I invited you over here remember, and if you had just come in you could have made some coffee before you made me get up. It has been a rough couple of days, did you say there are rocks on my porch?" Lexi is a great friend, but sometimes she is a little spacey.

"Yeah, rocks, a ton of rocks, you had to have known they were there, they would be pretty hard to miss. Are you sure you are ok, do I need to take you to see someone? Get you in to see the local psychiatrist or something? I know you took Granny passing pretty hard, but I didn't think you would start forgetting things, or doing things you don't know you are doing."

"Whoa Lexi lets back up a few paces, get me in to see a shrink, I don't think so. Give me a hug, and let's start this all over, and I will get some coffee for both of us going, maybe with some Bailey's cause do I have a story for you. And I really don't know about the rocks, that is really strange, must be some teenagers trying to pull a prank." Well, I can hope it was some teens, but I have a pretty good idea what put all those rocks on my porch! And I only missed it cause I don't use my front porch hardly ever.

Kenna and I are just sitting in companionable silence while the coffee brews, it's nice to have friends you can do that with, but I know something is up with her, but I can't even come close to fathoming what that could be. After Granny's funeral Kenna just disappeared, said she needed time to deal with what happened, and she was MIA for a week, but then she called me and we have been seeing each other about every other day since then. I think she just really needs her friends to help her get through everything, or to take her mind off of it all. She has a lot more coming, she needs to pull herself together or she won't be able to handle it all.

Ok coffee on the table, Bailey's on the table in case we need it, time to just dive right in I suppose. "Ok Lexi, so Granny left me everything of course, but she also left me this folder that has information about my family!"

"What! And you are just now telling me about this Kenna!"

"Well, I didn't know about it until a few days ago when I finally opened that letter from Granny."

"Oh, you finally opened that letter! That is really good, I am glad you finally were able to do that. But Granny would never speak about your family, this is huge Kenna, are you ok?"

"Not exactly but I am working on that. The short version is I am one of five kids, my dad died in a car accident and my mom died at the hospital the night of the accident after she had us."

"What do you mean after she had us?"

"Well, she had all five of us at the same time."

"She did what! Are you sure Kenna, I mean that is, well can you imagine having five kids all at the same time."

Yeah, you have no idea Lexi, "I know, but our birth records are in with all this stuff too. But anyway, my mom and dad died and the only family left was Granny. But the courts wouldn't let her have all five of us. So she got me, and they put the other four into the system. They even placed the other four in different places so it would be harder for Granny to track them down, cause they were afraid she would kidnap them or something."

"Poor Granny, I bet that was one of the hardest days she ever had, to lose your mom and dad and then lose four of the babies too. That is probably why she never talked about your family, brought back some pretty painful memories."

"Yeah," Ok here is where the fibbing comes in, "she was really distraught over losing the other four and not being able to find them, so she moved way over here and didn't talk about it because it hurt so much."

"That makes sense, kinda a big bomb to drop on you though. What do you mean way over here?"

"Yeah, I was born in Rhode Island."

"Rhode Island?!"

"I know, no time for that now, anyway Granny did do some research on my brothers and sisters, and we are going to find them!"

"Wait, we are going to find them, do you have a mouse in your pocket or something?"

"Ha ha funny Lexi, you are going to help me find my brothers and sisters."

I got up and popped some breakfast sandwiches in the microwave, refilled our coffee cups, and sat back down and gave Lexi the file on Aidan, there really isn't much, but it is what we have to go off of. "Here is the little bit I have on my brother Aidan, he is the first one we are going to find." But I can tell that Lexi is taking this about as easy as I did, which means not easy at all. I got up, set the sandwiches down, and waited for Lexi to look at the folder.

"Ok what are we going to do?"

"I have to find them, or at least try. That picture of Aidan was taken when I was about 18, so it must be a graduation picture or something. That is what I have to go off of so that is where we start."

"Ok, at least there is something, it looks like he is standing in front of a school. You know let me run home and get my scanner and laptop, my picture software is way better than yours and we can get a closer look at this picture. Give me 20 minutes and I will be back."

"Do you want me to just go with you, we can do it from over there you know."

"Yeah, that would make more sense, but you might want to actually get dressed before we leave."

"Oh right, ok be down in just a bit." It feels like I am really doing something to find my family, I knew Lexi would help me, and if anyone could find any details they needed in that picture it would be Lexi, she does photographic analysis, retouch ups, well really anything that has to do with photography. She can do this, she will find something! For the first time I am actually excited about my prospects.

"Hey Kenna, ready to go?"

"Yep all ready."

"So what do you want to do about these rocks?"

"Huh, oh right the rocks, I can't worry about those now, I guess I just get to have a rocky porch for a while. I need to figure all this other stuff out right now."

"Ok, but when you decide you are ready to tackle those give me a call, cause it is going to be one hell of a job."

"Will do, I haven't even seen this yet, so I should go look at it."

"Be prepared girl, there is a rock slide out front."

"Holy Shit!"

"I told you."

Oh God Oh God Oh God, shit I can control earth too, that means Granny was right. It is me, I can't deal with this now. Deal with it when I get home, "Dammit, I am going to need a dang back hoe to get those out of there. How did I not notice the noise when the rocks showed up?" Crap, Lexi isn't stupid, she knows something is up. But I can't just blurt out what I have found out about myself.

"Kenna are you ok? You are acting kinda strange."

"I am fine, just had a lot thrown at me in the last few days."

"Are you sure, you know you can tell me anything, no matter how crazy it may seem."

That was a weird thing to say. Lexi doesn't know about me does she? I mean I would know if she knew right. Ok Kenna Lexi doesn't know, come on girl. "Really I am fine just a little stressed."

"Ok, well lets go."

Oh thank the Lord, I don't know what I would have done if Lexi would have questioned me more, Granny was right, I carry earth in me as well. This means I am the 5th child, which means I should be able to manipulate water and air too. Well, I haven't actually tried to do anything with water, but I sure as heck did something with earth. Talk about a big movie reference. Hey Ludo call the rocks, Labyrinth was one of my favorite movies as a kid. Guess I have more in common with them then I thought. Focus on one problem at a time girl, you are going to find out what you can about your brother and deal with your inner elements later!

The drive over to Lexi's was relatively quiet, I had a lot on my mind, and Lexi really seemed to want to give me whatever space I needed. I really have had a lot dumped on my plate, to find out I have brothers and sisters out. Then to also find out I have magical abilities. I am surprised I haven't ended up in a mental hospital after all this. I will tell Lexi someday, but not yet, I need to deal with this on my own first.

"Ok, so I have the picture uploaded, get on my desktop Kenna. See if you can get pictures of schools in the areas Aidan was sent to. Preferably with the school sign in the picture, then maybe we can find where this picture was taken."

"Will do, Lexi thanks for helping me with this."

"That is what best friends are for girl. We will find your brother."

"I hope so, I really do."

We have been looking through pictures of schools for two days. Lexi was only able to help on the first day, but still I am two days into this and I feel like my head is about to explode. I need a break.

My thinking spot, a large boulder that sits next to the stream behind my house, it is also the spot I am at in the dreams I keep having. But it is my place of peace, has been as far back as I can remember.

Lexi has been great the last few days, but we don't seem to be getting any closer to finding Aidan. There are entirely too many people on the east coast, if I had been looking for Aidan on the west coast surely I would have found his school already. Well unless it was in LA or some big city in California.

Kenna you are here to find peace and get away from the search for a while. Come on girl. Ok maybe I can start playing around with my powers. I haven't really done anything with them since my experiments. I have been pretty busy after all, but maybe messing with them will help me take my mind off of everything.

So I know I can do things with rocks, so let's see if I can get one of those rocks in the stream bed to start moving around. Nothing! Come on I know I can move rocks, I mean I pretty much covered my front porch with them. Concentrate.

Oh crap! Well that little rock in the stream didn't move, but this damn boulder I am sitting on did! Not a lot it just shifted, but it definitely moved. What am I doing wrong? Ok Kenna picture the stream in your mind, close your eyes and see it. Alright there is the stone watch it dance around in your mind. Watch the water come up and dance with the stone, they are partners in an intricate dance.

Well it is beautiful in my mind, if only I could make it do it in real life. Holy shit! I am doing it in real life, but it isn't the small stone that is dancing with the water it is me and the boulder I am sitting on. We are dancing with the water. Oh this is amazing, but dangerous too.

Kenna you are floating on a boulder and dancing with water! How do I get down? I don't want to be floating. I can feel a panic coming on. Crap, Kenna calm down you are fine, your just floating on a boulder and dancing with water. Deep breaths you can do this breath, SHIT!

All at once the water surrounded me and covered the boulder and I. Then the boulder fell back to the ground. Shit that hurt, Kenna you have got to be a lot more careful. That really could have turned out badly. Of course being soaked by a stream and dropped ten feet back to the ground isn't really a picnic.

Ok so maybe I won't mess with my powers for a while. I better get back to finding Aidan.