Vanessa and Ava stroll into Harvard’s entrance after a midnight walk, Ava’s pink top with a puppy picture on it and Vanessa’s bubbly purple skirt flowing in the wind. Vanessa looks down at her shoes, grimacing from Vanessa’s previous encounter with her bully, 19 and 6 years older than Ava and Vanessa. Why were they hated so much? They were different from all humankind, at least that’s what their bullies said. Ever since the encounter with a mysterious man in the forest behind their house when they were five, the twins always had elemental powers, which consisted of fire, Earth, water, air and darkness.. Ava was strongest in the fire element, but Vanessa…she never found out what her main elemental power was, the main reason why she was bullied the most. Vanessa’s thoughts interrupted when someone said, “I’m so tired…” Ava announces mid-yawn. “Let’s get a midnight snack!”
“I thought you were tired…we also have a test tomorrow. We may be 13, but we got into Harvard because of our brains and should still sleep at a reasonable time.” Vanessa reasons.
“Oh, come on! Don’t be such a-” Vanessa covers Ava's mouth before she can finish letting the words roll off her tongue.
Vanessa glanced at Ava for a second before taking her hand and dragging her to a cafe on the college campus. “Let's make this quick.”
After both twins snack on strawberry flavored yogurt, Ava’s face, filled with makeup and jewelry, slammed onto the table, groaning from fatigue. “I’m soooo tired…” Ava mumbled, Vanessa having to lean in to hear her.
Suddenly, out of the corner of Ava’s eye, she spots a dark figure slyly slipping past the cafe. Ava’s head started to reel with thoughts and questions that made her shiver to the bone. “Vanessa.. I just saw someone race past us… let's go check it out.” Ava decided intrusively.
Before Vanessa could respond, Ava jumps up and dashes out of the cafe. “Come on!” Ava shouts before taking a sharp turn and smiles.
After a few seconds, Vanessa reaches Ava, panting. They push open a door that wasn’t there before, stairs leading to a basement beyond. “Be brave. Let's go.” Ava mumbles, her voice shaking as she takes Vanessa’s hand and dashes down the stairs, taking two steps at a time.
Vanessa stumbles behind and hears a gasp. “What’s wrong?” Vanessa questions.
“Look.”
She gasps as she sees test tubes filled with glowing substances, filling the room with the smell of poison. As they scan the room, the lights flicker, and they hear the door slam behind them. Ava jumps, and Vanessa turns her head towards the door. Before she can try and open it, Ava taps her on the shoulder and points toward another new swinging door that had suddenly appeared.
“What’s that? …Let's check it out!” Ava smiled, summoning her courage to act like her nature; brave, pretty, and a daredevil.
They reluctantly walk towards the door and push it open, blasted with the colors of the galaxy. As their eyes adjusted to the fluorescent lighting, they felt a nudge on their back. Before they knew it, they were suddenly shoved and fell right into a ring of light. They kept falling, gaining speed, before impact.
Ava’s head pops up before Vanessa’s. “Where are we?” Ava questions.
Vanessa cradles her head, her head throbbing. Vanessa looks around and sees tall, luscious trees surrounding them, the leaves rustling. “A forest…” Vanessa answers.
Ava frowns as she looks up to see a blue portal slowly shrinking and screams. “THE PORTAL! IT'S OUR ONLY WAY TO GET HOME!
Vanessa looks up and shivers. “We have to jump!”
Both Vanessa and Ava leap up to reach the portal, but they were too late. The portal disappears, causing them to slam into the dirt again.
Ava sighs, looking down and pondering as she scans the forest. She gasps, her eyes with gold sparks widening after spotting something. “Wait, do you see those footprints?” Ava whispers.
“Yeah…maybe this can lead us to an exit of this forest.”
Their footsteps seem to echo in the vast and silent forest as they walk farther using the footsteps as a path that seemed to become more fresh as they went, until they noticed a bright light blinding them.
Grunts and the sound of pain surround them as they step out of the forest. Before they knew it, a teenage boy with black, poofy hair and a slim body stepped out into the clearing. “Hi Av- I mean, what are your guys’s names? I’m Jackson!” Jackson complied with an energetic tone in his voice.
“None of your business…” Ava mumbles.
Vanessa elbows Ava in the ribs before replying with a sweet tone, “I’m Vanessa, and this is Ava!”
“Oh, great! You guys seem new here, you guys can stay with me!” replied Jackson excitedly.
Ava and Vanessa follow Jackson, both girl’s stomachs turning with unease. Vanessa deeply regretted sweetly replying to this stranger. However, they needed somewhere to stay and if anybody knew about this strange world, it would be the guy living in it. After a bit, they reached Jackson’s cottage and cozied up in their new rooms. Ava looked for the nearest exit, fear controlling her as she shakes her head with disapproval for following the young man. “Here are your necklaces that have all 5 elements on them. The one that you’re using glows, and we know that you have all the elemental powers, so you have all the charms.” Jackson explains as he gives the girls the necklaces.
“Elements?” Vanessa thought, “How did he know? We are the only ones that have them. . . or are we?”
Jackson looked at Vanessa and glanced at Ava, almost seeming guilty before snapping back the tour guide person he was. The tour guide stranger that seemed to know Ava and maybe Vanessa, and about this place, who was also seemingly suspicious. He waits for a nod before leaving. “I’m really tired…shall we brush our teeth and get into pajamas?” Ava asks mid yawn once Jackson leaves.
Vanessa nods solemnly as she plasters a fake smile on her face.
After a while, they cozy into bed, Ava wearing pink pajamas with bows on them and Vanessa having dark purple and black clothing.
Ava closes her eyes, and before she knew it, she was fast asleep. Yet, Vanessa wasn’t sleeping, having a bad feeling about this. Vanessa jumps out of bed once she hears footsteps creeping from a distance, curiosity pulling her towards the sound. She silently opens the window and creeps out, crying out when she realizes she’s two stories up, but she had to leave. Now. Luckily, she falls into a bush safely. She walks into the forest and follows the sound.
After a few minutes, a figure jumps out and smirks.
“Who are you?” Vanessa whipped around, trying to call fire to her, yet, if she hadn’t left Ava, it would’ve been easier.
“Please,” The figure started, “There’s no need for defense. Hello! I’m Caden, I’m from the Neverseen and are the good guys. I see that you haven’t found who you truly are. I’ll help you with that.”
At least 45 minutes pass since Vanessa snuck out before Ava’s eyelids flutter open from the sound of footsteps creeping closer. Fear pulsates through her veins as her heart dares to break out of her chest. She pulls the silky, iridescent covers off her skin, almost paralyzed with fear. She jumps out of bed, her eyes and the palm of her hand igniting with blazing fire as the soft glow of the flames light up the room. A million thoughts course through her brain as two shady elves shadowed in black slam the door open. “W-who are you? What do y-you want from m-me?” She inquired timidly with shaky hands raised defensively, the flame sparking and growing by the second in her palms.
An intimidating laugh breaks through the silence as one of the elves taunts, “You’ll have to wait and see.”
Before Ava knew it, the elves raced towards her, almost as fast as her beating heart. The elf on her left grabbed her hands and restrained her as the other elf strode toward her with sass and confidence. “Hello, I’m Evelyn. We’ve been looking for you. Some may say you’re very…how do you say it? Rare. Maybe even more than your sissy. Don’t worry, we know you’ve always hated that, so we’ll take care of that. Not only will you be even more rare, you’ll be the first of our kind to be powerless.”
Before Ava could react, Evelyn lunged for her charms. “Oh! You want my powers? Then we are going to have a problem here. Now, do you want to do this the hard way, or the easy way?” Ava asked with charm and rage.
Silence filled the room as Evelyn froze.
“The hard way it is, then.”
With a grunt, Ava broke free of the other elf’s grasp and fueled by her rage, blazing flames flew out of her hands, forming a hungry mind of their own, and began surrounding Ava.
“You’ve only scratched the surface of what I'm capable of. Don’t follow me, or you’re going to be in a different world…a world of pain.”
A glare of anger and the urge to get revenge sparks in her eyes as she brings her hands in front of her, the fire following with a mighty blast. The elves hit the wall, their face filled with soot, burns and fear. With a pained expression, Evelyn yells at the other elf, “Llamar! Put out the flames… NOW!”
She turns around to find Llamar dashing out of the now open door.
“LLAMAR, YOU COWARD. COME BACK AND FIGHT!” Evelyn screeches with fury as she stumbles up and chases him.
Ava seizes the opportunity and jumps out the window. Panting and shivering, despite the fire, she runs into the forest.
Shadows danced around Vannessa as she grinned, she finally found the element she was most powerful in; Darkness. Ava was always the one who was more powerful; who knew who she was. Now, she knew who she was.
“I'm thrilled to see you chose the right side.” Caden said as a malicious smile slowly spread across his face.
Vanessa was smiling at Caden, who was twirling dark smoke around and around his finger. Cadan explained that the deep forest they were in ensured that their work would be secretive, which was important because in this new world, the elf world, he told her, it was illegal to wield the dark charm which Caden had. Caden had made this very clear. “The dark charm is quite powerful.” Caden starts, “It can destroy whole-”
“Wait!” Vanessa interrupts, cautioning.
She then points to Ava, open mouthed and frowning. Ava’s eyes turned glassy, feeling like Vanessa just stabbed her in the back. “The dark charm?” Ava cried, as if on cue. “What do you mean, ‘the dark charm’?”
Vanessa glances at Caden, who is smirking sinisterly. “Go on.” He nudges her.
Vanessa let out a deep breath, hesitating to tell her sister the truth that would rip her apart. Ava always hated the dark charm, the only element that you could use that had the power to rip apart the world. When they were given their elements, they promised each other after they discovered their new-found power to use their strength for the better. But now, Vanessa could see with Caden’s help that the dark charm was essential to keeping the world in order. The dark charm was a leader of a new era, and the wielder would be the queen. Ava had to know that the temptation was too hard to resist, sometimes a voice in her head egging her on to use it. “Well, what had happened was-”
Ava jumps in, yelling something that Vanessa couldn’t hear as she slowly drifted away from the real world, evil taking the reins.
Ava shudders as she shakes Vanessa aggressively, urgency in her gold-sparked eyes. Suddenly, a light bulb flickers in Ava’s head.
Ava frantically begins to shout childhood jokes over Vanessa’s blaring head.
“Rubber duckies taste like chicken!” Ava cries out and then laughs in spite of the joke.
In the moment, she then realizes what to say.
“Strawberry yogurt!” Ava pleads.
Hope soars in her eyes as Vanessa takes her hand. “Vanessa?”
Likewise, Caden stretches his hand out, with a clearly different intention than what Ava had, muttering something Ava couldn’t hear. Wind whips through the forest as the shadow as cold as the breeze was called, rustling the branches and creating more smoke to shroud over the clearing. A tear slides down Ava’s cheek as she clutches her sister, noticing her eyes beginning to rapidly cover with shadows.
“Please.”
With all hope lost, Ava lets go of Vannesa as Vanessa walks slowly towards Caden, who was surrounded by purple mist. Suddenly, darkness and shadows as dark as Caden’s sinister soul withdrew from Vanessa.
“Looks like you have smarts.” Says Caden, “Welcome to the Never-”
Just then, Vanessa lunges towards Caden, attacking him at a full blow at an alarming speed.
“What!” Yells Caden
“Spoke too soon…” Says Vannesa with a chuckle.
Caden, enraged, seeps into the shadows and disappears.
“I'm so sorry Ava… I was downright-”
Suddenly, Ava hugs her sister.
“It's okay!” Says Ava with tears running down her cheek.
Llamar and Evelyn rush towards Ava and Vanessa. Ava jumps back at the sight of her former attackers. However, their motive wasn’t to steal.
“We're so sorry, we were under the control of Caden.” They apologized solemnly. “Our minds were clouded over with no idea how to escape the reins of the dark charm.”
Ava glares at them but then nods after Vanessa touches her shoulder gently. “It’ll be alright.”
Seconds after the settling moment, another figure dashes into the clearing. It was Jackson who announced a plan to destroy the dark charm for good.
“We need all the elements, including the darkness.” He explained.
So later, that evening at dusk, they set their plan into motion when Vanessa met with Caden.
“YOU!” Caden yells.
“Yeah it's me. Listen, I don't know what came over me. I just felt something and attacked you.” Vanessa lied, trying to keep her cool.
“Alright...” Caden mumbles, cautious of Vanessa.
Just then, Vanessa makes a hand signal and Caden understands what's going on. He was too villainous to not know what was happening. He had created enough master plans himself. Everyone they had gathered that crossed their paths jumped out of their planned hiding places. Jackson, Llamar, Evelyn and Ava ambushed Caden and wield their powers. Hands raised, they commanded their elements toward them, swirling them together to create a mighty, unified element. They sent it toward Caden with mighty determination, anger and love, fueling the rainbow flame they hurled towards their enemy. Caden was ready, grabbing darkness from parts of his hideout and ordering them towards the elemental team. The blasts clashed in an explosion that rattled the crystal city behind them, pushing them backwards. Like she always was, Ava was the first to pop up and find the element charms from her and Vanessa’s necklaces that were circling her and her newfound team. “NOW!” Ava calls, more fierce than ever before.
And with their remaining strength, they hurled whatever they had left towards Caden. The team falls back from exhaustion as Caden screams and everything falls silent. Then, the unbelievable happens. The skies clear and everything is peaceful. The stormy gray was replaced with a rainbow. The team stood up and brushed themselves off, marveling at the sky. The dark charm is nowhere to be seen as they notice Caden approaching the group.
“I-I’m so sorry. That charm. It's dangerous, it contains an entity with the power to take the reins of your body.” Caden stutters as he limps towards them, clearly nervous.
Was it a trick? However, Caden seemed different, so Ava approached Caden with a warm presence.
“It'll be alright, you can come live with us if you want!”
“You mean that?” Asks Caden.
“Totally! Just, we’d need to ask Jackson first.” Ava gestured to Jackson, looking wide eyed.
“Well, it would be all right with me,” started Jackson.
Then, he pointed to a small round, blue, circle growing bigger by the minute, “But I think the portal is reopening.”
Ava gasped and Vanessa sighed with relief. “Thank goodness.”
Everyone headed toward the portal, and when it was big enough, took turns heading through. Taking one last look at the crystal city, Vanessa and Ava stepped through as well.
“Ava! Why would you offer Caden to live with us on the day of our test!” Vanessa cries, looking at the time.
Caden tilts his head.
“What's a test?”
Ava and Vanessa look at each other and say, “You have A LOT to learn.”
