When we got to my apartment he started to whisper to himself. “Oh no how did I let this happen! I should’ve came earlier now father is gonna kill me.” I stopped him and said, “What are you even mumbling about?” He looked at me and said, “Ok this may sound crazy, but I was sent here from a place called Elevale. It’s a place for people like you and me, people with powers. My dad is an important member of the council and he sent me here to find you.” What?!?! I mean just what. I met this kid today and now he’s telling me he wants to take me where? So I say, “Um, what is Elevale and what are you even talking about? I don’t get anything you’re saying.” He replied,“Well there is this kind of city where people with powers, like the thing you just did, all live. There’s even a school there. You and I aren’t human we are what's called Eletai we have powers from the different things in nature. You obviously have lightning powers I believe. I have water powers see.” He held up his arm and in his hand was a sphere of water spinning around. It was amazing, I was speechless. All I got out was a small “woah”. He looked at me like he wanted me to say more, but what was I to say? I couldn’t go and just leave
my whole family. “Why would I ever just leave my whole life and follow some kid I just met?” He stared at me for a second, “Well, I just thought maybe just maybe you’d wanna come cause well, well I don’t really know. I’ve never really been sent on like a field mission before and I don’t want to let my father down.” He looked really sad and for like the millionth time today I didn’t know what to say.
   “I mean I guess I could maybe come and check this place out, but how can I just leave my parents they’ll think I’ve been kidnapped or something?” James looked at me and frowned, “I didn’t really think about that part”. He started to pace around the room, “Well would your parents ever understand and agree to letting you go?” “Oh no definitely not”, I bursted out laughing. “My mom lectures me everyday on being safe on the subway she would NEVER let me go to an unknown city with a boy I just met.” He thought and said, “We could tell them you died?” I replied,“I would never want them to think that, but I mean I guess maybe it’s for the best.”  James said, “Ok so that’s settled. I’ll tell my dad’s assistants to fake your death.”  I asked, “What’re they gonna say happened?” He said, “I don’t know, but maybe it is better that way.” I thought about that and I guess he’s right so I shook my head.”Ok, then let’s get going!” he said as he grabbed my hand. “Wait I need to grab my stuff don’t I?” “Oh yeah I forgot about that.” We headed upstairs and I filled a backpack with clothes, books, and pictures. “Ok I’m ready now.” 
   We headed outside as he called his dad. A few minutes later a car arrived for us. We get in and it takes off, then it went dark and we were in Elevale. It was beautiful, like a fairytale city. We pulled up to a gigantic house which I assumed was James’. “Here we are,” said the driver. We got out and as we walked to the front door a man came out of the house. He said, “Hello you must be Meredith. I’m Mr. Walters, but you can call me Adam.” I replied with a quiet hi. We walked in the house and it was as equally gorgeous on the inside as it was on the outside. He lead me to his office and told me about what was going to happen next. I was to attend the school that James went to which was a boarding school. I was the same age as him so I would be in year three with him and the school year started tomorrow. We then headed to my new home.

   Adam left me with a girl named Maggie who was in my year. She led me to the girls year three dorm. Apparently our year’s color was blue, so we had blue uniforms and our room had blue decor with the school crest. I told Maggie about what had happened to me and she told me that she had grown up here. She has earth powers which I thought was so cool. She can grow a freaking plant out of thin air.  We headed down to dinner and I found James. After we finished Maggie and I headed back to our dorm. “So are you excited for tomorrow?” she said. “Totally! I’ve never felt like I’ve belonged somewhere before and now I do.” We talked for hours and then we fell asleep, I couldn’t wait for tomorrow.
   I woke up and got dressed in my uniform. We got our schedules and headed down for breakfast. We have science, history, power skills class, and literature. I headed to science with Maggie and James. Our teacher was an old woman and it was probably the best class I’ve ever had and it’s just the first day. We then went to history where we learned all about Eletai. It was so interesting, but the teacher kinda droned on. Then we went to lunch and I met a guy named Riley with water powers and a girl named Ellie with lightning powers like me.
   Ellie and I headed to our power skills class. The teacher taught me how to control my powers and we did target practice for defense. I no longer would have outbursts like the one with Felicity. After class we joined Maggie, Riley, and James in literature. We were assigned to read books by Eletai who are famous for writing in the human world. That was probably my least favorite class just because the teacher was really mean. We headed to the library to finish homework before dinner.
   I did a paper on the first Eletai, a paper on the elements, and I read five chapters of one of the assigned books. Then we headed to the dining hall. The food was delicious as usual. This one kid at the year five table caught my eye, but not in a good way. He looked distant from the others and he kept on snapping his fingers which created little globes of darkness. I turned back to the others and said, “Hey who’s that kid in the corner of the year five table?” “Oh that’s Dan he’s a creep.” Riley replied. “Just ignore him.” Maggie added. “Oh, ok” I said hesitantly. Everyone got up and went to the dorms.
   “I still have a weird feeling about that kid.” I told Maggie and Ellie. “Yeah he’s pretty strange, I heard he’s the only person in ten years to have the light ability. It’s super rare and the most notorious villain had it. It creates light, but it also creates darkness.” Ellie replied. Well maybe this isn’t the most amazing place like I thought it was. I was chilled to the bone, I no longer felt safe. Who is this villain and where is he. Tomorrow, I’m definitely going to the library to research whether my friends will help me or not. We arrived at our dorms and it was late so I just went straight to bed.

   The next week passed like a blur. I improved more and more in my studies and when I wasn’t in class I was researching the villain and Dan’s powers. I sometimes saw Dan in the library reading books on what looked like darkness. One time I even saw him in an empty classroom practicing and I know everyone practices, but also I’ve been researching. I learned that our school only allows people with those powers to practice with light and he was practicing with darkness. I think my friends think I’m crazy, but it was all worth it on the Monday of the third week of school.
   Today started as just a normal day at school, but when we got to literature everything changed. The teacher, Ms. Turner, was droning on as usual about who knows what when we started hearing far away explosions. “What was that!” screamed James. Riley replied, “I have no idea, but I’m scared.” We all nodded in agreement. Although I had a theory that it had something to do with Dan. Unlike everyone around me I ran towards the sound. “Mer!!! Come back here!” James screamed as my friends ran to me. “I need to find out what’s happening, I was kept in the dark all of my life and it won’t happen again.” I snapped. They all looked down at their feet. Maggie replied, “Well then we’ll have to help you. That’s what friends are for.” We all nodded in agreement.
   We walked down the empty halls and heard faint screams. The sounds became closer and closer until we ended up next to my power skills class. We heard voices so everyone stopped. I looked around the corner and saw Dan, a man in a dark cloak, and bodies littering the floor. I turned back and whispered, “I knew it, Dan is there, but also there’s some guy in a dark cloak. I saw bodies all over I don’t know what’s happened to them.” “Well we have to do something don’t we? Those are our friends.” Ellie stammered. I looked around again and it seemed like whatever those two were talking about was over. Dan walked down the other hall towards his dorm and the man just disappeared in a puff of darkness.
   I waved to my friends and we rounded the corner. The sight made me want to gag. The bodies had a dark tint to the as if all of the life had been sucked out. Maggie screached and started to sob, “No no no no this can’t be happening! That’s my sister!” James ran to the body and checked for a pulse, “She’s still breathing! She’s ok.” I hugged Maggie and whispered into her ear, “It’s ok, everything's gonna be alright. We’ll find Dan and the man, I know it.”
   Riley went to notify Principal Keller and we went towards the dining hall. As we arrived there was an announcement being made. “All students and staff must stay in their dorms until further notice. A great tragedy has befallen us and we are doing everything in our power to stop it.” As everyone headed to the dorms I grabbed James’ arm. “Sneak out as quickly as you can and meet us in the science class. Okay?” He nodded and we seperated into the mass of students.

   Maggie, Ellie, and I got back to our dorms and I told them my plan. “We’ll sneak out and meet the guys at science then we’ll somehow find Dan and the guy. I know that isn’t a really good plan, but it’s all we got.” They agreed and we started to grab supplies. We grabbed textbooks on powers to help us and a bracelet Ellie stole last year that intensifies the powers of whoever wears it. A girl in our year named Tina approached us and said, “Um, excuse me what are you guys doing?” “Oh nothing really, just studying.” Maggie quickly replied. “That doesn’t look like studying. I’m going to tell Ms. Turner that you guys are up to something” “Oh no you won’t!” I said as I struck her with a small dose of lightning, just enough to knock her out for a couple of hours.
   We waited until the coast was clear and snuck out. We quickly ran to the science room to meet up with the boys. Right as we arrived they came running in. Riley was out of breath and managed to say that they barely made it out. We each read a book so that we were experts in both Dan’s power and our own. Then we were off. We agreed that splitting up would not be a good idea so we stuck together in a tight group. As we walked through the school we made sure that there were no teachers or staff in the halls.
   I started to laugh hysterically. “You know when I was in the human world nothing like this ever happened. I just had a plain old boring life, and it may have not been exciting, but at least it was safe. All my mom ever wanted was to keep me safe and this is the exact opposite.” James looked at me sadly and replied, “You belong here though, you belong with us.” They all murmured yeah in agreement. “Let’s just get this over with so we can all be safe again.” We searched all of the east wing and then stopped for a dinner break. I mean I know we have to find an evil villain and everything, but you can’t forget food. Thankfully the guys remembered that.
   After we finished we started searching the west wing. It felt as if we would never find them. About an hour or so later I heard a faint noise and motioned for everyone to stop. I looked around the corner and it was all dark, but I could hear Dan and the other man. I decided to listen to them, it was Dan talking. “Why do you want me to do this? I thought you just were gonna show Principal Kellen that our powers shouldn’t be hidden? I didn’t agree to any killing.” “Well I don’t believe you get a say. That was not in our agreement was it?” “No” “Ok then, I’m glad that’s all cleared up. Now you need to find my daughter and bring her to me!” I turned to the others and saw they were listening too. I whispered, “I think we need to go now. I think my powers can light up the room just give me the bracelet Ellie.”
   They had their backs turned to me so I rounded the corner. I put on the bracelet and felt a rush of energy. I zapped the lights and they flickered on. The others joined me as Dan and the man turned around. The man looked at us and said, “Well, well, well isn’t this a nice surprise. My daughter and her little friends have come to play hero.” “Look whoever you are I don’t know who your daughter is, but she’s definitely not here.” I said. The man replied,“Oh I believe she is, she’s right in front of me.” We all looked at each other confused. James spoke up, “Meredith is not your daughter. Tell us your name and the truth!” “I could have sworn I was speaking the truth maybe you just couldn’t understand me. My name is William Lance, and I am most definitely the father of Meredith Lance.”

   No, no, no this can’t be happening!!! I mean yeah my human dad never really looked like me, but I could never be the child of that THING. William continued, “When I was here I met your mother and we hit it off. As soon as we graduated we got married. A few years later we had you. Then I started my, what some call evil, plans. I wanted to take over the world and enslave the humans. We Eletai were far more superior yet the humans got all of the land. Your mother, however had different ideas. She ran off to the human world and remarried some puny human so you would never know of this world. Then I got defeated, but I ran away and now I’m back!”
   I couldn’t believe what I was hearing he was actually insane. He continued, “I’m going to resume my old plan and take over the world. This time nothing can stop me. Not even you Meredith. I will kill you and find your mother. She left me and that will never happen again, I will capture her and kill your puny little step-father.” He laughed and I wanted to throw up. He was pure evil and it was so repulsive. I was frozen and didn’t know what to do.
   James stepped forward, “No! You’ll never win cause we’ll stop you. We won’t let you get away with it this time.” “Yeah!” we all yelled in unison. Ellie ran forward and tried to zap him out with her powers, but William pushed her back with the darkness. He almost sucked out her light like what he did with the others, but Riley sent a wave to knock him over. Dan then started towards us and Maggie and Riley went to fight him while James and I focused on my father. Riley wiped out Dan with a wave as Maggie trapped him in her vines. I tried to zap my father, but it wasn’t working. Ellie was still knocked out and I was worried. This distracted me for a second and my father grabbed me by the arm. “No Mer!” cried James.
   “Now it’s time to finish you. You’re the reason my wife ran away and I’m going to take you away from her.” He started to suck out my light. It felt as if I was being strangled by some imaginary hand. It was so cold and just as I lost hope James grabbed the bracelet from my arm without William noticing. He engulfed him in water and I was able to pull free. William suffocated and collapsed dead. James passed out after taking off the bracelet and then all I saw was darkness.

   I opened my eyes and it was dark outside, I must’ve passed out. I was in the infirmary and James was awake in the bed next to me. Ellie, Maggie, and Riley walked in and ran to us. My throat was dry, but I managed to whisper, “What happened?” Ellie replied, “Well, after you and James passed out I woke up. Maggie and Riley had to keep watching Dan so I ran to get help.” Maggie continued, “Principal Keller came and took Dan away. Then some police guy came and took away William’s body. They also found a cure for what happened to the kids!” Rylie added, “And Principal Keller went and told our parents so they’re coming tomorrow. Even yours Mer!” It was kind of an information overload. All I knew was that my mom and dad were coming and I was so excited. I missed them so much. It was late so we headed back to our dorms and went to bed.
   I barely slept, I was haunted by last night. I couldn’t imagine what James was feeling. I mean William was an evil man, but he still killed him. I shook Maggie and Ellie awake and we quickly got ready. We met Riley and James in the dining hall. It was a really quiet breakfast everyone was haunted by the events of last night. I just wanted to finish my breakfast and go see my parents.
   Breakfast ended and we all went to the office. I saw my parents and ran to them. I gave them probably the longest hug ever. They were crying and my mom sobbed, “We thought you had died!” “I missed you guys so much.” My mom pulled me aside. “I always tried to keep you away from my past, I’m so sorry this happened to you.” “It’s ok, even though this happened this has been the most amazing couple of weeks ever. I met some of the best people and I finally feel like I belong.” “Really? I’m so happy for you Meredith.” “Mom, I was wondering if um maybe we could move here and I could keep going to this school?” She thought for a moment then said, “If that makes you happy then definitely.” “Yay! Thank you so much!” My dad came over and mom told him about what I asked. “Meredith whatever makes you happy makes me happy. I’d do anything for you.” We shared a group hug and I saw James walking back to the dorms with his parents.
   “James wait up!” He turned around and I caught up to him. “How are you doing? I know it’s probably been hard for you given what you did last night.” “I’m doing ok he was a bad dude he deserved it. How are you though? I mean, he was your real dad?” “He may have been my father by blood, but he’ll never be my real dad. My parents said they’ll move to Elevale so I can keep coming here! You’re coming back when classes start again next week right?” He laughed and smiled at me, “Are you kidding you make this school so much better than it was. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” and with that he walked away.
   I stood there frozen like before, but this time it wasn’t from fear it was from happiness. I couldn’t wait to come back next week, this was where I belonged. No one could deny that because I was the spark of hope that shone through all the darkness. I couldn’t wait for what was to come next.