Elemental Fire (12 page)

I stared open mouthed. “You’re
dead,” I said, shocked.

“Well spotted,” the ghost
affirmed. “My name is Sigil.”

“But, what?” I sputtered. I had
no idea how to respond to this, except that it answered the question of why
this denizen of the library had never stolen food from the kitchen to live.
Sigil watched my face closely. It was hard to tell how old he’d been when he
died, but I guessed he had been much older than Risper or Dacer.

“Ghosts are not respected
creatures in the paranormal world,” he explained. “We are considered part of
the ‘sixth’ or lesser types of paranormals. I am with your Mrs. Swan and the
Slime Dwellers. Now I live here.”

I shook my head, still too
surprised to move. “You must have more of an explanation than that,” I said.
“Let’s hear it.”

Sigil laughed softly again.
Strangely, his lips didn’t move when he talked and his belly didn’t shake when
he laughed. It was like sounds coming from a hologram.

“You first, my dear girl. It has
been many a year since I’ve had a visitor, though I used to have many. I know,
from my last visitors, that elementals were dying. . . .” Despite the lack of
movement in Sigil’s face I saw sadness light his eyes. “I wish I had paid more
attention.”

I realized now that Sigil must
have been around for the end of the elementals.

“They let you stay here?” I
demanded. “Why?”

Sigil blinked. “
They
didn’t let me do anything. The
last librarian of this fine library was a friend of mine back in our school
days. Once I became a ghost I had nowhere to go. I wandered for many years,
lost and alone. I tried to live in several places, with my family, for example,
but I couldn’t do it. They kicked me out, chased me away with fire and
pitchforks and incantations. They hated me. They were embarrassed by me.
Eventually I ran out of places to go, so I came here. I like being among the
books. . . .”

He stretched out his arms to take
in the library. I had to admit, the place had a certain charm to it. I could
see how he would find comfort here.

“At first,” Sigil continued,
sounding almost giddy at having a chance to talk to another paranormal, “I hid,
just as I have for the past few years. I was very afraid that I’d get found out
here as well, and then where would I be? I would watch the librarian go about
her business, a lovely woman by the name of Mabelle. I thought I had kept well
out of the way, but one day she came right up to my hiding place and told me to
stop being silly. She had known I was there since the beginning, and as long as
I didn’t make a mess, which I most certainly did not, she was happy to have me
for as long as I wanted to stay. She quickly noticed that I knew the cataloging
system, and since there were several projects she needed help with, I might as
well make myself useful. She also missed having someone to talk to. She didn’t
mention for a long time that we had been classmates, and that when I died she
felt sorry for me when she heard of my plight as a ghost. I used to be
respected, you see.” He looked down and bit his lip. I saw now that his thin,
frail hands were fidgeting with the fraying edge of his coat. “That’s another
story, though.” He looked up quickly. “Do you like stories? I have many. Who
are you, anyway? What’s happened?”

“I’m Charlotte,” I said
tentatively. I stepped forward to shake his hand and then realized that there
was no point. “It’s nice to meet you, Sigil.”

He smiled, tipping his hat
slightly to me. “You too. I ask again: what’s happened? Mabelle just didn’t
come back one day. After that there were a couple of days when they came and
looked around, sort of boxed up her things, but not long after that everything
went quiet. I hid, of course, and I’ve been glad for the quiet, but it does get
lonely.” Sigil looked down, scuffing his booted foot on the ground. No dust
rose up from his movements.

I swallowed hard. “You really
don’t know?” I asked softly. “The elementals that were last here, they didn’t
talk about it?”

Sigil looked up at me, hearing
the sadness in my voice. “They discussed murders, but I was so afraid they’d
make me leave that I stayed as far away as possible. Sometimes I look out the
window and see the students walking around, and they look so happy and . . .
and alive.” Sigil looked longingly at the covered windows. “I could see that
none of them came to Astra until you and your friends showed up: that tall,
intimidating-looking girl, the cute blond, and that incredibly handsome young
man.”

I raised my eyebrows as Sigil waggled
a finger at me. “I have eyes. I used to be young once. The way he looked at
you. . . .”

I cleared my throat, sure that my
face was burning. “So, you’ve been watching me for years?”

Sigil nodded enthusiastically.
“Every once in a while I would venture out at night, of course. Didn’t want to
get too cramped. But I had to be careful, avoiding the vampires and such.
Horrible creatures.”

I nodded, deciding to answer his
question in as straightforward a manner as possible, just to get it over with.
“All the elementals are dead. Murdered. That’s why they stopped coming here and
Astra stopped being used. There were no elementals left to use it.”

Sigil stared at me, his eyes
growing to the size of saucers as he sucked air in through his teeth - well,
that was the sound he made anyway. Since air technically went through him I was
not sure where it was actually going.

He threw up his hands and started
to pace, staring around. “Oh no!” he cried. “How awful. How just awful. So many
lovely elementals. I thought they just stopped using Astra, that they had a
bigger and better home, maybe that some went into hiding, but I never. . . .”

He paused in his pacing and
stared at the floor. His hat tipped forward, nearly covering his eyes. He
shoved it back on his forehead.

“I’m sorry,” he said, meeting my
eyes.

I was touched by his compassion.
“Thank you,” I said. “That means a lot.”

He took a deep breath and tried
to straighten his shoulders. “Get it together, Sigil,” he muttered. “You have a
guest and you should be nice. Must be nice. Offer to help. Okay.” He looked at
me again. “What did you come here for? Can I help you find something? I’ve read
every book here twice. I’ve had some free time, after all.”

I nodded, grateful for the offer.
“I’ve been afraid to come up here,” I said, my voice breaking a little. “I’m
the only elemental left, and somehow if I came up here, read about my history,
researched my family, somehow. . . .”

“It would mean they were truly
gone,” said Sigil, pushing his glasses higher on his nose. Movements from
ghosts were strange, like watching colored air move. “I understand,” he said,
waving his hands gleefully. “Sigil understands and I can help.”

Sigil has spent a little
too much time alone
,
I thought. And as a ghost. I knew nothing of ghosts; I would have to ask Sip
later how to help them find peace. I felt sure she’d know all about it.

“What is it you want to know?” he
asked, nearly disappearing down the stacks and then reappearing. Without
waiting for my answer he started madly grabbing books. He picked out a
purple-bound volume with gold letters, than a green one inscribed with orange.
He moved so fast I could barely see him. After a few moments he dashed over to
me and started to pile the books in my arms, sputtering off names as he went.

“
An Elemental History of
Elementals
,
and
The
Last Stand of the Elementals in 1704
,
Power
and Purpose in Elemental Society
,
How to
Get Along with Other Elemental Powers, A Revised Version 1968
.”

I laughed as the pile got large
and larger and started to teeter.

“I’m not sure I need all this,” I
murmured, amused.

“You do,” said Sigil, pausing for
only a moment. “If you are the only elemental you are the keeper not only of
their future but of their past. I understand it is a large responsibility, but
you can manage.” I raised my eyebrows at his confidence in me.

“I also wanted to find out about
my family,” I said tentatively. “I don’t know anything.”

Sigil paused for only a moment.
“When you come back,” he said, nodding. “You tell me the name and I will find
the material. Then we can read it together.”

I tottered away, my back bowed
slightly under the weight of all the books. “I’ll get the door,” said Sigil. He
rushed forward and somehow - I had no idea how, and I was half tempted to ask
him for a book about ghosts - he opened the old door. I heard the rusty hinges
creak and saw the dark stairwell in front of me.

“Do you want to come out and be
in the rest of the house?” I asked, not sure I wanted this flappy little ghost
around but feeling bad that he’d been up here for years. Sigil’s eyes grew wide
again.

“Oh no,” he said brightly.
“That’s alright. I like it here, with the books.” He ran a loving hand over one
of the shelves as he said it.

I smiled and left quickly. That
had not gone as I had expected, not at all. Unfortunately, more unexpected news
awaited me. Ms. Vale wanted us all to meet her the next evening in the center
of campus, where the pens had been. She had an announcement to make.

Chapter
Twelve

I tossed and turned all night. At
first I started out back in the library, only Sigil wasn’t a kind, slightly
eccentric ghost but a mace-wielding darkness mage. Then I transitioned back to
the lake where my mother had appeared, before finally reuniting with Keller
back on the grassy hill with the sun shining.

“Can’t I stay here forever?” I
whined to him as I sat in his lap, his arms comfortably looped around my waist.

He chuckled into my ear. “You can
try. Wouldn’t you get bored with me?”

I snorted. “No, never, but
Lisabelle might come and wake me up. She has a habit of doing that when I’m
dreaming.”

“Lisabelle just wants what’s best
for you,” said Keller. He was so close to me that his warm breath tickled the
nape of my neck and I shivered with pleasure. “But she understands danger. And
danger likes her. You are not Lisabelle, and you should still fear it.”

“I wish you were here,” I
murmured. “It’s lonely at Public without you.”

Keller’s arms tightened around
me. “Like I said, I’m always there. It’s just hard not being able to protect
you. I keep having visions of. . . .” He broke off and I didn’t ask him to
finish. We could both imagine what the Fire Whips might do if they were
angered.

“Do the paranormals know they’re
biding time until they find the artifacts that are hidden at Public?” I asked
worriedly, squinting up at the sun. It was moving fast across the sky, meaning
we didn’t have much time together.

“I tried to tell them that’s what
I thought, but they don’t believe that we’re meeting in dreams. The artifacts
were adjudged to be a myth long ago. That Elam is supposedly searching for them
means nothing. All the paranormals care about is keeping the Nocturns down and
keeping their children safe. They think that giving Ms. Vale what she wants
will accomplish that. Or something.”

I shook my head in frustration.
“Don’t they realize that nothing will accomplish that?” I demanded hotly. “The
Nocturns take and take until they can’t take any more. If we give an inch they
will take a mile. There’s no getting around that.”

Keller nuzzled his nose into my
neck and I giggled.

“Stop that,” I said, swatting
playfully at his leg, but I didn’t really want him to stop. He was trying to
distract me and it was working.

He sighed. “I’m waiting outside
the gates. Lough is with me. He’s as mad as a poked beehive, wants to march right
into Public and demand his friends. He can’t figure out why Lisabelle didn’t
bring the place down around all your ears when she was captured; not that he
blames her.”

“I’m not sure she can,” I said.
“Maybe.” I stared off into the distance, thinking of my powerful friend. The
sun was rising higher and I didn’t want to lose a moment with Keller.

I turned to face him. The worry
line that I had become familiar with between his eyebrows was smooth. I kissed
the spot anyway. His mouth was relaxed and not in the hard line it had been in
when he saved us at Locke. I kissed each side. Eventually I found his lips, and
the tingling sensation I felt whenever we kissed spread all the way to my toes.
I sighed happily and once again hoped I would never wake up.

Unfortunately, before we could
get to the evening’s announcement we had to get through the day of classes. I
had been assigned a class with Zervos, and it was the worst possible subject.
He was teaching “How to Spot a Traitor Paranormal,” and Sip, Lisabelle, and I
were in the class with Camilla, Cale, and Rake - the large vampire who had
helped us last semester. Trafton was also in the class, having mostly recovered
from the wounds he had received on the night when we were “re-appropriated to
the student body.” For Ms. Vale, of course, stating the obvious - that we had
been captured and essentially imprisoned - would have been too easy.