One Mysterious Night

The Titus Alsfield Republic.

A place where all elements coexist alongside each other in harmony.

Outside of the city limits lies the horrors of discrimination and the residences of non shifters, stuck in poverty and crime.

In a small family of four, Luisa Donaldson lived in the slums of Zephir, a populated city just outside of Montrose that was flooded with the shiftless. Despite the poor living conditions, she remained diligent; straight A's, a student athlete, and still managed to work a part time job.

Luisa was completely ordinary, surrounded in her world without the magic of elements.

But how did being ordinary make her so different?

Her father, little brother, and even her stepmom shared the same reddish orange eyes and the ability to shift fire. Of course it always confused her as a child, considering she was the only one in her family who couldn't shift at all.

Her eye color wasn't even blue, gray, or green like the other elements- it reflected a deep amethyst hue.

Growing up, she definitely assumed she was adopted with heavily similar features to her family, but nevertheless, she stopped questioning it as she grew older.

That was, until they decided to move into the Republic.

It was a dream for her family, getting to experience life around people just like them after settling in the slums.

Though, she couldn't dread it more, knowing she would be the only person who wasn't like the others.

"Hey, sweetheart. Got everything for school tomorrow?" a knock on the door was heard, making her head snap up at the sound.

Her father, Calvin, peeked through the opening. His eyes trailed over the boxes that still weren't fully unpacked, despite moving in two weeks ago.

"No." she mumbled, inattentively scrolling through her phone.

Calvin let out a sigh, stepping into her space. He looked at her room that was barely decorated, only the essentials laid out. "Min, it's been days. Your brother is already unpacked." he frowned.

Luisa rolled her eyes, hearing the younger boy yell from the other room at his television. "Jason only unpacked cause he wanted to play video games."

He chuckled, taking a seat on the edge of her bed.

"I know it's different, but I've been wanting to move here with Maribel for years. Jason deserves a chance to be around people like him."

"I know, I was holding you guys back from moving here." she replied bitterly, pitying herself for being the only non shifter in the household.

Despite living with Jason's real mom, Maribel, most of her life, she just never considered her as her own. Sure, she makes an effort, but it's never settled correctly that she has absolutely no memories of her biological mother.

"No, it's not that. Living in the Republic is expensive and Maribel couldn't afford commuting here for work anymore. We're lucky we saved up enough and landed some pretty good paying jobs." he tried reassuring her.

"Whatever." she sighed deeply.

"Have you been talking to Damon? It's a bummer he couldn't drive up here for Christmas." Calvin changed the topic, understanding she wasn't fond of the idea of moving.

Luisa nodded in response, cracking a small smile at the mention of his name. "Yeah, he and I are fine." she shrugged.

"Long distance, huh?"

Her lips pursed at the reminder, feeling heavily burdened with the concept. "It can't be that bad, it's only a thirty minute drive without traffic. He said he'll visit on the weekends and I can drive to Zephir too." She convinced herself.

Calvin ruffled the messy hair on her head, standing back up. "That's the spirit, Minnie. Make sure you wake your brother up for school tomorrow." he smiled, walking out of the room.

A small groan left her lips, remembering she had to go to the same school as him.

It was bad enough being the only non shifter attending the school, but people knowing she had an annoying first year brother? She could only imagine how dreadful the first week was going to be.

Finally stretching out of her bed, she lugged her feet to the room beside hers, swinging the door open.

"Go mid. No, I said mid- fucking shit!" the pubescent boy yelled into his headset, angrily mashing the buttons on his controller.

"Watch your language." Luisa leaned against the doorway, earning his attention.

"What do you want?" Jason grumbled, laying back into his beanbag while taking a sip of the energy drink beside him on the floor.

"Is that your hot older sister?!" a boy in his headset asked, making both of their faces scrunch up in disgust.

"Keep dreaming, kiddo." she leaned into the mic, rolling her eyes. "I'm waking you up early tomorrow, I need to get gas and breakfast." she informed him, making an obnoxious groan leave his lips.

"Why?" he whined.

"I just told you why, you brat. Get some sleep tonight, you've been yelling till six in the morning the past week."

Jason silently mocked her as she walked outside of his room, back into her own.

She unlocked her phone, clicking on someone's contact to FaceTime. It rang a few times before they picked up, making a small smile appear on her lips.

"Hey, babe." a deep voice greeted her on the other end.

"Hi, I'm about to go to sleep so I wanted to talk for a bit." she grinned at the screen, rubbing her eyes with her free hand.

The boy didn't spare a glance to his phone, keeping his eyes focused on the monitor of his PC setup.

"You're playing video games, aren't you?" she exhaled deeply, still not gaining his attention.

"Damon?" she said louder into the mic, finally averting his gaze.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Sorry, I'm in the middle of a game right now." he let out a low whistle, making her lips form into a slight frown.

Nevertheless, she smiled at the camera softly. "It's alright, I'm gonna get some rest then. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Her tone was sweet, but disappointment filled her system.

"Cool, I'll talk to you tomorrow, babe. Love you!" he said over the clicking of his keyboard.

"I love you too." she hung up the call, shutting her phone off in the process.

There was no doubt that she felt the inevitable melancholy that followed as she adjusted to the new space. Her eyes trailed over the unpacked boxes that still sat on her floor, despite everyone else that had fully moved into the new home.

It was as if settling down meant really leaving everything she knew behind learning how to live with the new society she was foreign to.

A girl like her didn't know how to fit into the lavish house on the street full of politician's daughters and sons, skilled shifters at that.

No rays of the moon spilled through her curtains due to the gloomy clouds that always lingered above their roof, regardless if it were clear skies everywhere else.

"It's like the sky is feeling the same way." she whispered to herself, pulling the blanket up to her chin.

As she closed her eyes, she processed the idea of going to school tomorrow, a place where every kid was nothing like her. No matter how much she tried to make good of the situation, she couldn't come up with anything, accepting that she'd be friendless for the rest of her senior year.

"Welcome to the Republic, I guess." she sighed, falling into a deep slumber.

"Jason, get up." she barged into his room for the third time in the half past hour, her toothbrush still in her mouth.

The groggy boy flipped over in his bed again, snuggling up into the blanket.

"Five more minutes." he slurred.

Irritated at this point, she snatched the covers off of him, turning on his overhead lights.

"We're gonna be late, we have to leave in ten minutes." she hissed in annoyance, storming back into her restroom.

After she rinsed out the toothpaste from her mouth, she looked up in the mirror, examining her look.

Luckily, she had gotten a decent amount of sleep the night before, making her eyebags a lot less prominent. Her medium length black hair fell right above her chest where the warm denim jacket was clothed. She was snuggled up into warm layers, seeming that Montrose was a lot chillier than Zephir. She also applied light makeup, hoping to make a good impression on her first day.

Hesitantly, she looked at the colored contacts sitting on her restroom counter, contemplating her next actions.

It's better than everyone questioning why your eyes are purple.

Quickly, she applied the lenses that were tinted a foxy shade of burnt orange, changing her whole appearance. Her eyes blinked harshly at first, but eventually adjusted to the discomfort.

"Jason, we have to go!" she yelled as she ran downstairs with her bag, taking her keys off of the rack. Before putting on her shoes, she took the prescription tube from the medicine cabinet, popping one tablet into her mouth and dry swallowing it.

"Good luck on your first day, Luisa!" a female voice rang from the stove.

Awkwardly, she smiled back. "Thanks." she mumbled. Despite living with her stepmom since Jason was born, she still felt awkward regardless of her kind efforts.

A tired boy came down the stairs in a large hoodie and sweats, not caring about his appearance.

"Did you even brush your teeth?" Luisa questioned, watching him lazily drag himself to the front door.

"Mouthwash and gum." he smirked, making her face scrunch up in disgust. I hate teenage boys, she thought to herself.

Luisa started the car engine, googling where the nearest gas station to the school was. Jason was dozed off in the front seat, hogging all of the heater from his sister.

Letting out a big yawn, she began on route, turning on her phone to play music on the aux.

"This dude is trash." Jason grumbled, hearing the same discography she listened to over and over.

"Which one, there's thirteen." she chuckled, pulling into the gas station. As she parked, she turned off the car, making her little brother groan in discomfort.

"Go get something to for breakfast inside, make sure you get my-"

"Cold brewed mocha with a third of the cup filled with ice and a bagel with blueberry cream cheese spread, I know." he recited the order she had engraved into his mind, taking the cash from her hands.

She pressed the buttons on the machine, inserting the gas pump into her vehicle.

Leaning onto her car, she unlocked her phone hoping to see any messages.

A disappointed sigh left her lips as she clicked onto the conversation, beginning to type.

"I can't believe he left me to read this morning." she muttered under her breath.

After the machine indicated that her tank was full, she grabbed her wallet out of her backpack, fumbling with the zipper. The card from one of the compartments fell out into the lane on the other side of the machine, making her eyes widen.

"Shit!" she hissed, running over to get it.

As she reached down to grab it, the sight of gleaming headlights stopped in front of her, making her flinch at the anticipated impact.

"Watch where you're going!" an annoyed voice yelled from the window, honking the horn to startle her.

Once again, she flinched, standing up to walk to her car. "You didn't have to honk the horn." she spat back, stomping over to the other side of the machine.

The boy parked his car, turning off the engine to get gas himself.

"Maybe if you didn't get in my way, we wouldn't have a problem." he spoke back, inserting the pump into his car.

Luisa looked over to his side of the gas pump, locking eyes with his rustic marmalade orbs. "Do you always have an attitude this early in the morning?" she hissed, losing her patience quickly.

The boy pressed his tongue to the side of his cheek, staring down her figure.

"Do you always get on random stranger's nerves?"

He looked up and down at her appearance, intrigued by her more street sense of fashion. His eyes landed on her burnt orange ones, indicating one thing.

"You're a fire shifter? Are you in high school?" he questioned, seeing that they were around the same age, yet he never saw her around.

Feeling nervousness built up in her system, she turned away, opening the door to her car again. "Mind your own business." she mumbled back, shutting it close.

"I wasn't even trying to be mean..." he said to himself, shaking his head at her sudden rudeness.

Jason came out of the gas station with her requests, hopping back into the front seat.

"They didn't have blueberry cream cheese spread, so I put in strawberries." he handed over the brown bag to his sister, making a frustrated look plaster on her face.

"Jason, I'm allergic to strawberries." she seethed between her teeth, making his mouth fall into an 'o' shape.

"Right..." he scratched the back of his head, opening the can of his energy drink. Luisa sighed deeply as she put the car in drive, accepting that she'd have to starve until lunch.

The boy on the other side of the gas pump caught sight of the boy who just entered her car, making him raise an eyebrow in curiosity. He saw the yellow letters boldly imprinted on his navy blue hoodie, spelling out the name of a school.

Zephir HIGH BASKETBALL

"Zephir?" he read to himself, recalling the name of the city outside of Montrose.

"Javier , we're gonna be late." Darrell yelled from the passenger's seat. Javier watched as her car exited the parking lot, going into the direction of their high school.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he paid for the full tank, hopping back into the front seat.

"Have you ever seen that girl?" he asked, heading back onto the road.

Darrell tilted his head in confusion. "The one you almost ran over? Never." he shrugged.

"I almost didn't run over her, she got in my way." Javier remarked, turning into the school.

"Zephir isn't in the Republic, right? Isn't that where non-shifters live?" he leaned his head on his hand against the window, furrowing his eyes in confusion.

"Javier , it doesn't take a genius to know basic geography."

Shooting an annoyed glance towards him, he parked his car next to Augustus and Lottie's, turning off the engine.

What's a non shifter doing in the Republic?

Wait, no. Her eyes were orange- why was a fire shifter going to school in Zephir?

"Here are your schedules, have a great first day." the counselor grinned, handing the papers over to the pair of siblings.

As they walked out of the office, they were greeted by a crowd of people clogging up the hallways, all dressed rather expensively.

"Damn, these kids would get robbed if they walked around Zephir past seven." Jason muttered.

"Meet me back at my car after school. Don't be late, I don't want to be stuck in traffic." she warned him as he walked off, probably in the wrong direction.

She looked down at the piece of paper in her hands, going through her different classes.

"C21? What?" she mumbled to herself, seeing that she was currently in the A hallway. Cluelessly, she pushed her way through the pool of people who were now in a rush to get to class.

The tardy bell had rung unexpectedly, indicating that she was already late on her first day.

"Wonderful." she hissed, looking around the near empty hallways.

She dragged her feet through the entire second floor of the building, exhausted from how big the school was compared to her old one. It at least gave her an opportunity to get familiar with the layout while there weren't animals stomping everywhere, providing herself with some sort of ease.

"Are you lost?" a deep voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

Luisa turned around on her heel, greeted with a boy with platinum blonde hair. She cleared the dryness in her throat, flickering her eyes back to the piece of paper.

"Uh, yeah. Shouldn't you be in class though?" she scratched the back of her head.

He approached her, taking a look at the schedule. "You're on the wrong floor, it's the one above this. It should be on the right side, two of my friends are in that class. And I'm an office assistant for the first period, helping lost students is a part of my job." he explained, making her eyes widen a fraction.

"T-There's more than two floors?!"

The boy let out an amused chuckle, nodding his head. "Welcome to Titus Alsfield High School." he shrugged, flashing his pearly whites.

"You're a fire shifter?" he questioned, noticing the burnt orange color in her eyes.

Luisa froze nervously before cracking a tense smile. With no words she nodded her head, making him nod back in response.

"Nice, did you just move to the Republic? Or did you come from the other side of town?"

What is this, an interrogation?

"I- uh, I'm not from the Republic." she replied, unsure if she was able to continue lying.

"Oh, cool. Fire... does that mean you're from Argenta? That's the most populated fire city in Trodel."

"Uh, sure. I really gotta get to class, thanks though." she nervously chucked, leading herself back to the staircase that seemed to go on forever.

"No problem! What's your name by the way?"

Before she could escape his endless questions, she paused in her steps.

At least I don't have to lie for this question.

"Luisa Donaldson." she said quickly, desperate to escape from his never ending interview.

"I'm Dexter Leon, see you around!" he said enthusiastically, watching her head up the steps frantically.

Once she reached the third floor, she panted with anxiety and tiredness.

"Who makes a school this big?!" she whispered to herself.

As she looked on the right side of the hallway, she processed her first encounter with a student in this new environment, mentally kicking herself for lying so much.

Dexter Leon, the name echoed in her mind.

Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks, feeling the dryness rise back to her throat.

Dexter Leon.

"Shit, I just lied to the air leader's son."

"I forgot how exhausting school was." Dwain grumbled, yawning as he set his lunch tray down. It was his first day back since his un-enrollment, spiking gossip between every person in the building.

"I did too, and we were only gone for two weeks." Jordon signed, taking a sip from his carton.

"You don't have to keep downing cups of milk, you're done growing." Javier teased, pushing the buttons of the smaller boy.

"I'm starving, I couldn't even get breakfast because Javier was late." Darrell sighed, taking his seat beside Augustus.

He shot a glare in his direction, rolling his eyes as he took a bite of his carrot. "It's not my fault, maybe if you got out of your house early enough we wouldn't have been late." he hissed.

"Okay, fine. But I still paid for your gas." Darrell shrugged, digging into his plate.

"Anyways, how's everyone's first day back so far?" Lottie asked, happy to see all her friends reunited at once.

"There's a new girl in my statistics class, she delayed the whole class so that's fun." Augustus chuckled.

"Really? There's a new girl in me and Dwain's English class." Carlene added.

Dexter raised an eyebrow, recalling the situation from this morning.

"Was she like Lottie's height with black hair?"

The three of them nodded in response.

"Oh, cool. I helped her find her classes today, she's from Argenta." he shrugged, continuing to eat his meal.

"Was she hot? Fire shifters from the mainland are always fría." Javier smirked confidently.

The table knitted their eyebrows together, shooting him a confused look. "Fría means cold." Lottie chuckled, shaking her head at his stupidity.

"What?! I took French last year, it sounds like fire."

"Javier , that's Spanish." Darrell let out an obnoxious laugh.

He rolled his eyes, brushing off the inevitable correction. "Whatever, is she a cutie?" he leaned over the table, raising an eyebrow at the said witness.

Dexter shrugged inattentively. "I don't know, she was pretty, I guess."

Automatically, Lottie's gaze fixated on him with a nasty look, crossing her arms in shock. Dwain and Carlene eyed each other at the same time, knowing that he definitely messed up.

"Argenta? That city is swarming with fire shifters!" Augustus gasped, unintentionally saving his friend from a scolding.

"She should be a really good one then, her spirituality must be high being surrounded with that many." Dwain commented, aware of the city of flames.

Across the room was a clueless figure walking out of the lunch line, overwhelmed by the amount of seats taken in the cafeteria.

Luisa bit her lip in frustration, weaving through the different tables in hopes of finding a seat to herself. She caught sight of the only familiar face in the student body, making a smile graze her lips.

From a distance, she watched her little brother laugh with a large group of people around his age, looking like he was having a fun time.

At least one of us is.

"Luisa!"

Abruptly, she snapped her head away from his table, looking around to see who could've possibly known her name.

"I'm the one who called your name, silly." the deep voice followed up, landing her attention on the same head of platinum blonde hair from the morning.

He motioned her to come over, making her tense up. She scanned everyone's faces at the table, seeing all of their lavish appearances.

More specifically, the girl sitting beside Dexter, who was subtly staring her down. Luisa quickly tore her eyes away from her, landing them onto another intimidating figure.

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, wondering where she could've possibly seen him from.

"That's the girl Javier almost ran over this morning!" a boy exclaimed, following up with a high pitched cackle.

When the realization hit her, she didn't hesitate walking out of the cafeteria, frightened of that entire table.