~Emma's Point of View~

The spring air began to warm as the week went on. I spent my days in class trying to absorb all this new material and any free time I had was spent with Ava trying to set me on fire or watching the boys play video games. My nights were with Trinity, studying and working hard. It was finally Friday now, which meant the weekend was finally here.

Classes were over and I was outside in the field, playing catch with a football with Trinity and the guys, since Ava decided I needed a break. I remember what she said. "Rest up and try to get back what little strength you already had." I shook my head at this memory and tuned back to what I was doing.

"So, how was class today, Emma?" Merick asked me as he threw the football to me.

"Good besides the fact that Miss. Helbourne gave us a ridiculous three page essay to do on how elements affected inventions," I complained and tossed the ball to Riley.

"Ouch. That really blows chunks. Not only do you have that, but you have your first Survival tomorrow," Riley said. I looked at him questioningly. I could see Merick look uneasy now.

"What's survival?" I asked, as Riley passed the ball to River. River thought for a moment then passed it to me.

"It's an event every Saturday afternoon that all freshmen and up participate in," he explained.

"Where's it at?" I asked, passing the ball to Merick.

"The entire forest," Merick answered.

Holy crud! The forest is huge! How can people go in there with out getting lost?

"What's the object of the game?" I asked, as Merick passed the ball to Trinity.

"To find a flag and bring it back. There's only a certain number of flags and they're all hidden among the forest. You only have until three o'clock," Trinity said and she passed it to Riley.

"And if you don't get a flag, you have an extra lesson of E.P.E every day after classes until the next Survival," Riley added. I shuddered at his comment. I couldn't imagine having to go to that class twice as much. Riley passed the ball back to me.

"Survivals a really big deal around here. Kids have gotten hurt before. That's why I say we all try to stick togeather," announced Merick. We all nodded in agreement.

We played catch and talked until dinner. After dinner, Trinity helped me with my big paper and I managed to piece togeather the first page. I was too tired to go on so I crawled into my bed and thought.

If all freshmen and above participate in Survival, then how am I going to get a flag? And since Trinity and the boys will be getting flags too, that means I'm going to be alone for most of it. A nervous feeling passed through me.

That night I had a nightmare. It was of Survival and I had managed to get a flag. Feeling so happy and relieved, I started running through the forest back to the field where we started. But right before I left the forest, Ava was there. She jumped out at me and started attacking me. In the end, my body was burned badly and I couldn't get up. I was left there alone to die.

"Emma wake up," I heard a voice call out to me. My eyes flew open as I saw Trinity's face. I was sweating and shaking lightly. Trinity was staring at me with concern. I looked over to the clock and it read eleven a.m.

I hurried to take a shower and as I got out, I saw Ava had gotten up. Both her and Trinity were wearing normal clothes and not their uniforms, so I walked over to my closet and picked out jeans and a long sleave, midnight blue shirt. It was still chilly out but I wouldn't need a jacket. Ava left the room, slamming the door on her way out. I saw Trinity roll her eyes.

"Let's go," she said, and led me out and through the school. I saw lots of people making there way outside to the field. I seemed small in this crowd full of upperclassmen. Outside, the wind gently blew my hair and I shivered slightly. Everyone was sitting in groups amongst the field. Trinity tugged my arm as she saw the boys.

"Good morning sunshine," Riley smirked at me as he stared at my nervous figure. I glared at him with my "don't mess with me this early in the morning" look.

I almost jumped up at the sound of a loud whistle. Mr. Larson came swiftly down from the school and to us. Everyone instantly stopped talking and watched him.

"Alright. Normal rules, normal time. Try not to get hurt. That means you Mr. Belle," his voice boomed. Everyone turned to look at a small boy who's face was now beat red.

"On your marks," he started. Hundreds of kids jumped up and got ready. My heart started to pound against my chest. Merick tried to give me an assuring look but no such luck.

"Get set." All was silent, except for my heart that was going crazy.

"GO!"

Trinity pulled me towards the woods as everyone started running. I could see Merick, Riley, and River already ahead of everyone, their speed made them a blur. I stared at them in awe.

Entering the woods, I focused on not tripping over roots and not getting a concusion from low hanging branches. Searching around frantically, I scanned everywhere for a flag.

I shrieked as a huge tree branch fell about ten feet behind me. I turned and saw that a boy caused it to fall. He jumped onto the huge branch that now sat on the floor. Pulling a flag out of a hole in it, he grinned and ran back to the school. He almost destroyed a tree just to get a flag?!

My nerves were at their peak. Some yelling could be heard off in the distance. I gasped as I saw a flag up in a tree and started towards it cautiously. But a girl my age was already sprinting towards it. She grabbed a branch and swung herself up. My eyes widened at her balance and grace.

Walking slowly across a branch to grab it, she yelped as a sharp shard of ice shot towards her from behind. I turned and saw an older boy was the cause. The girl somehow dodged it and shot two fire balls at him. He ducked and sent a big wave of water coming at her. She crouched down and wrapped her body around the branch and held on. The wave shook the tree but she didn't fall. Drenched in water, she reached out and grabbed the flag.

The boy ran to her and they started fighting intensly. I backed away, not wanting to get burned or drowned. Searching around the forest, I watched every where, scared of being attacked.

"Sup," said a voice. I flinched and bent my head back to look up. Riley was grinning at me from up a tree, waving a flag in his hands. He jumped down and smiled at me.

I opened my voice to talk but suddenly Riley grabbed me and threw me behind him. A wave of fire was coming at us. Riley threw up his hands but before he could do anything, a mountain of earth shot up from the ground as a wall between him and the fire. I looked everywhere and saw River up ahead with his hands up.

I saw that the fire person was none other than Ava. She glared at River for stopping her then turned back at me. She punched once and then spun and swung her hands at us. Fire came from every move she did. Riley knelt down and created a ten foot high wall of ice. I was amazed at his ability.

The fire hit the ice and both Ava and Riley kept feeding their creations with there hands. Ava's face was scrunched from her efforts and so was Riley's. Ava spun around as she saw two huge balls of earth coming at her. Doing a back hand spring, she dodged them. After she landed, Ava then shrieked as she was thrown backwards. The earth under her had exploded.

River came closer to her. She now had Riley in front of her and River behind her. She kept turning and looking like she was a cornered animal.

"Go," commanded Riley threateningly. Ava glared at him then ran off. I let out the breath I was holding and tried to calm myself.

"River, did you get a flag?" asked Riley. River nodded and grabbed a flag from his pocket.

"Alright, now we need to find Emma one. Stay close to us, Emma," Riley stated. Both boys started searching around for a flag. I tried to keep close to both of them. Why were they finding a flag for me? Wasn't I supposed to do it? A sickening feeling passed through me. I couldn't even defend myself, let alone find a stupid flag. The boy's have to do everything for me all the time. I'm pathetic.

I looked up at the clear blue sky and sighed.When I looked back towards the boy's, I saw a flicker. About twenty feet away to my right was a flag in a tree. My eyes lit up and I walked towards it. Riley and River will be so proud of me. They probably won't even notice I was gone. I jogged to the flag happily but was stopped.

Damien came out from behind the tree. He grinned at me. I stopped and stared at him. His icy blue eyes stared into mine with amusement.

"If you want it, come and get it," his voice soothed evily. My eyes narrowed at him then I started walking towards the flag. I reached it with no problems. As I extended my arm to grab it, Damien grabbed my arm tightly. I jerked my arm away but he was too strong. His smile made my blood boil.

The now familar feeling of my body heating up was here. I took my other hand and held a ball of fire right in his face. He chuckled and released my arm. I dropped the flag and he quickly knelt down to get it. When he began to stood up, I suddenly grabbed his shoulders and kneed him in his stomach. I was shocked at what I did, it just happened without me planning it.

He fell back and moaned in pain, clutching his stomach. His eyes rose and glared at me with pure hatred. But then something strange happened. His light blue eyes started to change into a more yellow color. My heart clenched. Damien laughed crazily and shot out his arm towards me.

Lightning came out and hit me. My insides burned from the impact. I screamed and fell against the hard ground, shaking from the shock coursing through my body. I kept gasping and moaning loudly in scrutinizing pain.

"EMMA!!!" yelled a voice. My vision started to blur and darken. I could then hear the lightning strike again but a scream did not follow after it. A choking sound then a bang as someone hit the ground. I used all the strength I had left to turn my head. It was Damien who had fallen.

"Emma! Emma, look at me!!" called out the voice again, this time closer. I opened my eyes with much difficultly as I saw Merick's face staring into mine. He looked broken, his eyes searching mine frantically with worried. His dark blue eyes began to water.

I groaned in reply and he seemed to relax, but only a bit. Next to him I saw the flag. I reached out and grabbed it just as he lifted me up gingerly, bridal style. I moaned in pain.

"RILEY! RIVER!" Merick shouted. The boys heard him and they came racing towards us.

"What happened?!" they both said. Then they looked at Damien passed out on the ground. Their faces turned angry and then we all started heading back to the school. Darkness then took over me.

~Trinity's Point of View~

I headed back to the field happily, clutching my flag tightly. I did great today. I even fended off three upper classmen. I smiled but then frowned once I reached the field. No one was back yet except the boy's. But then I saw Emma in Merick's arms. My heart started to beat faster as I ran and knelt besides Emma. I stared into Merick's eyes, searching for answers.

"Damien," he whispered. His voice was a mix of a dangerous fury and a horrible sadness. Why would Damien hurt Emma?! She's younger then him, let alone a new arrival! How could someone do something like that?! His lightning could have killed her! He better face harsh consequences for this!! I heard running footsteps as I saw Mr. Larson rushing towards us.

"Get her to the infirmary," he ordered. The five of us headed back to the castle, Merick still holding her. Once we got there, we set her gently on one of the beds. A nurse came and ordered us out of the room as she tended to her. She would use her elemental power to heal her.

Mr. Larson had left, heading towards the Headmaster's wing. Good. He knew that Emma had been electricuted and Damien is one of only two people who could do that. The other one was his younger sister, Jenna, who was an eigth grader. Damien would be blamed since Jenna wasn't at Survival. I sighed as the boys and I paced the hallway outside the infirmary.

"He's not going to get away with this," growled Merick.

"Of course he won't. Emma's a new comer. Headmaster's going to eat him," said Riley.

"Merick means that WE'RE going to take care of it," River said, annoyed with Riley. I stared at the boys with worried eyes. I didn't like the sound of this.

"Next survival, we're going to ambush him. I'm sure as hell am not going to hold back this time. I'm going to do a lot worse then choke him," threatened Merick. My heart clenched at the memory of Riley telling me what happened. He said that Merick used his darkness to enter Damien's lungs and choke him.

"Please Merick, calm down," I whispered.

"CALM DOWN?! He brutally attacked her!!! He knew she wouldn't be able to defend herself!!!" Merick roared. The hall was silent.

"Merick, we're going to take care of this. Right Trinity?" River said, staring at me. I paused then nodded. No one hurts our friend and gets away with it.