So here begins my first ever novel!! I hope you enjoy! It is the lightly edited second draft of Celeste Artimera: Masters of the Elements. If there are any errors, PLEASE tell me. It would be greatly appreciated.

-Olivia Koepp 

I don't remember much about how I obtained my scar. Which, for some reason is in the shape of a circle hook. All I know is I got my scar the night my parents died.

I remember my dad's hearty laugh when he would throw me on his shoulders and my mom's smile when she would put me to sleep.

I have this habit of outlining my scar, that is engraved above my right eye. I found myself doing this as I sat in my guardians', Nathaniel and Emily's, black jeep. They gave me the keys on one condition. "Do not turn on the radio, turn your phone off while driving, wear your seatbelt, and many others, but I won't go into the nitty-gritty details. Let's just say that Nathaniel and Emily are extremely protective, I had to do a lot of begging to let them even consider my getting a license. But in the end, they obliged. Grudgingly. Much to my enjoyment.

I took the keys out of the engine and grabbed my gorgeous, high-low off-the-shoulder dress. The place I bought it from said it was a prom dress, that was when I decided I wanted my sweet sixteenth to be a more formal event. I still don't know how I managed to convince my guardians to let me have a party like this, but they have always been big on planning things. Carefully cradling the dress in my arms, I walked to the front door of my guardians' modest, white, colonial house. Emily loved having flowers blooming in the window boxes.

I turned the doorknob of my house and walked in, only to be smothered by a girl wearing an extremely short tulle pink and grey dress.

"Celeste! You are finally here!" she exclaimed, pulling back and repositioning her brunette curls over her shoulder.

"I'm here," I said not as enthusiastically as the girl, whom I identified once she had pulled back as Rebecca Luvs. Becca had been my best friend since kindergarten. "Does your mom even know you're wearing that dress?"

"Don't be a buzzkill," she said slightly miffed. "C'mon, we have an hour to get ready. So, let's get up those stairs to get you ready!" Becca was almost gushing with excitement at the thought of getting me ready for my party and ushered me up the stairs to my room. It wasn't much, just a simple full sized bed with grey and soft green covers, a desk, and a bathroom door at the opposite side of the room.

"Celeste, I know that you like your hair in your face due to your scar," Becca nodded at my forehead, then hastily added when I gave her 'The Look', "but you never pull your hair back." She whined.

I stared at Becca with my steel blue eyes, unamused, and totally not wanting to let her put a crazy amount of makeup on me...but it was a special occasion. "Ugh, Fine," I groaned.

Becca nearly squealed with excitement as she hurried and shoved me into my desk chair.

"Just don't go crazy, Luvs," I said, using her last name to prove a point, which didn't really matter because Rebecca just swatted away my sentence like a pesky fly and continued on with her frenzied hair-doing skills.

I watched in the mirror as Becca skillfully curled my hair and started to position them with bobby pins to pull my hair out of my face. She then grabbed my birthday tiara off two textbooks on my desk and pinned it to my head. She giggled and I rolled my eyes. Becca took some black lace flowers and started incorporating them around my tiara and throughout my curls. The end result was amazing.

"Wow... You sure the flowers won't fall out?" I asked hesitantly touching my hair.

"Yup," she said. "Absolutely positively positive."

I laughed and stood.

"Wait!" she exclaimed.

"What did I do?" I paused like a deer in headlights.

"The makeup," she said exasperatedly and pushed me back down into the chair.

"Ugh, fine," I obliged, letting myself be pushed back down.

Becca took out her makeup bag and got to work.

She was done in 30 minutes, and the end result was fabulous. My eyeshadow was a dramatic gold and black smokey eye, and my lips were a hollywood red with a black ombré. It was a little dramatic for my taste, but I liked it.

"I can hardly recognize myself," I said. I touched my scar. "But I can still see it . . ."

"Oh, geez," Becca huffed, swatting my hand away before I could get too close to touching it. "It's not going to be perfect. Now go put your dress on! I'll pick out jewelry. We gotta go." Becca handed it to me and I quickly undressed and stepped into my dress.

Slipping on my black heels, I turned and Becca had my earrings, bracelets, and rings.

"Perfect," She said. "Put these on in the car. I'll drive." She handed me my jewelry and I followed her out of the house.

I shrugged my shoulders. It wouldn't hurt to let her drive. Emily and Nathaniel don't need to find out, even though I had police sirens ringing in the back of my mind. I shoved them out and got into the passenger seat.

∆

When we pulled up at the hotel my guardians had rented for my sweet sixteen, I felt bad because I was ignoring one of the rules Nathaniel and Emily told me, 'Do not let any teens drive you.'

"Come on, we need to get you inside," Rebecca said. "Guests should start arriving in 10 minutes."

"Okay," I said, bubbling with excitement but at the same time, feeling a little knot in the pit of my stomach.

"Are you nervous?" Rebecca asked, opening her door, laughing at me.

"What? No. Pfffft . . ." I said. Completely rejecting her question. "Fine, yes," I relented after a second.

"Oh come on, it's not like some group of people are going to charge in and try to knock over the punch bowl and steal your tiara," Becca said comfortingly. And it worked because the idea was so weird and absurd that the actual chances of it happening were probably very slim. "You good now? 'Cause we need to go inside."

"Yeah, let's go," I said, opening my door. "I don't want Nathaniel and Emily to see you in the driver's seat." Becca laughed.

I entered through the revolving door feeling very important. As I walked, Becca alongside me, I saw an elaborate sign in front of a set of glass doors. I steered Becca towards it, and as soon as we entered I heard a loud squeal of excitement and a giant bear hug around my middle.

I yelped and Aubrey King, a bushy brown haired girl, stepped back. She was dressed in a blood red tulle and velvet poofy dress that accented her Filipino skin perfectly.

"Sorry if I scared you, I'm just so freakin' excited!" she said in a high pitched voice. "I am the first one here, aside from your parents and those four teenagers. Do you know them?" Aubrey asked in rapid fire, waving nonchalantly over at the group on the other side of the room talking together in hushed whispers.

"No," I said folding my arms around my waist as I looked over at the group. There were two boys who were both wearing navy blue suits, one was wearing a red tie but the other was not wearing one at all and all but the first button was undone of his white shirt. I looked up to their faces and realized with a double take that the two boys looked identical. I turned my head to Becca who turned and smirked at me.

"I call the one without the tie," She whispered in my ear.

"Ha, I guess I'll get the other one," I replied jokingly, "Since you leave me no choice."

"Look at the girls' dresses, I wonder where on earth they got such gorgeous dresses!" Aubrey gushed. "I have half a mind of going over and asking them where they got them." Aubrey quickly made up her mind and waltzed over, twirling with one of her natural curls.

"Their dresses are gorgeous," I said, positioning myself in front of Becca and turning her back to them so I could pretend to be talking to Becca but actually looking at the group.

The two girls were beautiful, one had light brown skin and was wearing the definition of a skin tight black dress with two mid-thigh slits on each leg.

The other girl had strawberry colored hair, had an excessive amount of makeup on, and was wearing a flowing halter dress in an elegant deep forest green.

"Oh, Celeste!" A feminine voice sounded, tearing my thoughts from figuring out who the group was.

I turned to see Emily, my guardian, rushing forward with a small fist sized box wrapped in a pastel pink wrapping paper and a pastel blue bow on it.

"I have your birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa." She said, handing me the box. By Grandma and Grandpa, she meant Nathaniel's parents. All my relatives are non-existent, except for Emily and Nathaniel- of course. Emily quickly stepped back and looked me over from head to toe. She gasped (a little over dramatically), "You're beautiful, darling. If only your parents were here to see you."

My face turned red and I had no idea what to do. I hate it when my guardians compliment me, or when any older people compliment me for that matter. I never know what I should say. Thanks you too? I have no idea. Emily has not mentioned my mom (her sister) or my dad for years, so I was truly at a loss for words.

"Thanks, Emily," I said, looking down at the box. "Can I open it?"

"Of course! They wanted you to wear it for tonight." Emily smiled, but it did not reach her eyes.

I gave her a curious glance and tore the wrapping paper off the box. Inside was a jewelry box. I opened it to find a simple silver choker necklace with a silver box for a charm.

"Oh! It's lovely." I said taking it out and put it on. Becca swatted at my hands and did it for me, she apparently didn't want me to mess up my hair. "Tell them I love it!" I smiled. I took my phone out of my pockets (Did I mention that my dress has pockets? I mean who doesn't love dresses with pockets!) and I turned to the camera to see myself in it, it was simple and beautiful. I loved it. Becca popped her head over my shoulder and smiled, causing me to take a picture.

"I will," Emily laughed, though it sounded a bit forced. I frowned slightly.

"Um, Emily, who are those people over there?" I asked, nodding my head very slightly at the group of teens.

"Oh, um...they're supposed to be undercover guards to make sure that anything doesn't get out of hand." Emily said, also frowning. "They do seem a bit young, maybe they just joined the force or just work here. Do you think they have weapons?" she asked, cocking her head to the left.

"How could the girls hide a weapon wearing that?" I asked, looking over at them. "I understand the boys, but the girls? How?"

Emily looked over at them, her lips pursed. "I have no idea. Nevermind what I said. Your guests will be arriving any minute now." She walked off to the lobby.

I turned to Aubrey and Becca, "Well, I guess we have four 'guards,'" I said putting the last word in air quotes.

"Um... Celeste?" Aubrey said, sounding cautious.

"Yes?" I answered, furrowing my eyebrows.

"They're coming over."

"What?" I turned and saw the four teens walking over towards us. As they got closer, I saw that the twins were really tall. And so were the girls, surprisingly. Fortunately, I am too, so I wasn't dwarfed, as much as Aubrey was.

"Celeste Artimera?" The boy with the red tie asked, his twin behind him like a shadow.

"Yes?" I answered, turning towards the small group.

His eyes flickered to my forehead and I guess he saw the barely visible circle hooked scar, I forced a small smile.

"My name is Xavier Beowulf, we're here to make sure your sweet sixteen stays safe and relatively... sane," he said, rolling the last word in his mouth.

"Okay, thanks," I said in a small voice, my eyes flickering to his twin and to the two girls by his side.

Xavier caught this action and a huge smile spread across his face. "I'm sorry, let me introduce you to my twin brother Pippen, and these two ladies are Alysia Sprite and Rosalva Estimar." He motioned to his brother, then to the girl wearing all black, Alysia Sprite, and the girl wearing the very revealing dress, who I assumed to be Rosalva Estimar.

I smiled at them and thrust out my hand to Xavier. "Celeste Artimera." Xavier took my hand and gave it a firm shake. "And this is Rebecca Luvs and Aubrey King." I motioned to my friends on either side of me.

After the little meeting with the group, they moved on to the doors to greet others, and it wasn't long before my guests began to flood into the ballroom. I made my way to the double doors to meet my guests as they entered. I greeted one of my old friends, Caroline Knight, and her boyfriend, Jacob Weaver. I complemented Caroline's two piece mint green tulle and silver beaded dress, she laughed her soft feathery laugh.

After many more people had come into the ballroom- most of the school was probably here- I took a deep breath and made my way up to the stage. There was a microphone on a stand in the middle, I took it off and looked at it before figuring out how to turn it on. I grinned widely and said into it.

"Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3." Everyone turned toward me. It felt intimidating to have the whole ballroom filled with my guests, and all of them staring at me. "I've always wanted to say that," I grinned, achieving a couple laughs here and there. "Welcome to my sweet sixteen! Now, I'm not one for speeches, so I'll just give you the rundown," I spoke into the microphone, fiddling with the waistline of my dress. "First, we're going to all make our way through the double doors, the ones you entered through when you arrived, and you're going to walk straight across the lobby to the restaurant. There, hosts and hostesses will lead you to your tables in groups of eight. I suggest you go ahead and find your groups of eight. After dinner, you all will make your way back here for the party. Now, please make your way over to the restaurant," I smiled, turning off the microphone. I made my way off of the stage and over to the shortcut to the restaurant, which had been shown to me so I could sneak to my table without playing bumper cars with all of my guests. Walking through, I met up with Aubrey and her plus one, Ben I'zee, Becca and her boyfriend, Daniel Rice, and Caroline and her boyfriend.

Once dinner was finished, our table went into the ballroom. By the time we had gotten through the main doors, the dancing had already started. I had planned out the first hour of music, and a couple slow pop dances. Aubrey, Becca, Caroline and their dates all made their way out to dance to one of the faster songs. As the song was nearing its end, I looked around for someone to ask me to dance and I realized I had forgotten one of the main things- a date.

The realization dawned on me and fell heavily, like a stone, to settle in the pit of my stomach. I looked around expectantly, hoping someone would notice and ask me to dance. I stood at the edge of the dance floor alone, with no invitation forthcoming , a lump started to form in my throat.

I heard a cough behind me and turned around to see Xavier Beowulf. He looked a little nervous and slightly uncomfortable.

"Yes?" I uttered huskily, the lump in my throat preventing me from speaking clearly. I cleared my throat. Feeling like a complete idiot for starting to tear up over something so trivial.

"Want to dance?" He offered, holding his hand out for me.

I smiled in relief and took his hand, "Yes, please." He led me to the dance floor.

Xavier guided me to the centre of the dance floor, put his hand on my waist and clasped the other with my hand. I placed my other hand on his shoulder, we started to dance. We swayed in circles. It was awkward at first, but I embraced the silence and enjoyed the music.

I caught Rebecca's eye, and she gave me a knowing smirk. It was amazing, I could hardly conceal my disappointment when the song ended and we began to pull apart. When the next song began to play, I grinned. It was one of my favorites. Xavier looked down at me. I gave him a look of 'just this last one, please-e-e?' and he grinned.' He obliged, his eyes twinkling.

When it had finished, Xavier led me away from the dance floor to the punch table. "You thirsty?" he asked. I nodded and he filled two cups from one of the various types of punch bowls, handing one to me. I decided it best not to comment that I prefered the other punch at the end of the table.

We stood there for a couple awkward minutes sipping our punch. We were soon saved from the awkward moment when Becca and Daniel made their way over to us holding hands and looking so happy.

"You two looked like you were having fun," Becca noted, as her boyfriend handed her a cup filled with my preferred punch. I looked enviously at her cup, then at Daniel and Xavier. While the boys were distracted sizing each other up, Becca and I smiled at each other conspiratorially and quickly switched cups. We grinned at each other as we took a sip.

Xavier turned and offered his arm to me. I accepted it as he guided me to the courtyard. But before he could sweep me out of view from Becca, I shot her a "Please follow me" look. She nodded her head and dragged Daniel along with her, keeping her distance from Xavier and me. Close enough to keep an eye on us, but not close enough that Xavier would think they were following us. I didn't completely trust him. I didn't know him and for goodness sakes, he barely even spoke!

"Where are we going?" I asked looking around as he brought me through the double doors opposite the dance floor which lead to the garden.

"I want to show you something." He kept his face forward, but his eyes darted back and forth, scanning the courtyard.

I thought about commenting on this, but decided against it and instead continued holding onto his surprisingly muscular arm.

We had walked fairly far away from my party when I opened my mouth to say something, but the words never came out of my mouth. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a bush give a small shake. The shake obviously was not the wind, but it had been shaken by someone or something.

"Xavier—" I started nervously, but he had apparently seen the bush move as well. He took my arm slowly from his and pushed me behind him. "Stay behind me," he said in a low voice. Thoughts were racing through my head as Xavier stood protectively in front of me. Why am I out here in this courtyard, with a guy I don't even know? He barely talks, and I am hiding behind him like some scared little child because there is something in the bush. I bet it's just a rabbit. It's going to just be a rabbit. I grinned at the thought, but quickly changed my expression to that of annoyance.

Xavier and I stared hard into the bush, waiting for someone- something- to jump out, but nothing did. I relaxed, and let out a sigh of relief. Suddenly, an arm shot out of nowhere and wrapped around my throat, and squeezed. I tried to scream, but it came out as a gurgle, the tight hold blocking my airway. I thrashed and kicked, trying to get away. I heard shouts around me.

"Celeste!" I recognized Becca's panicked voice calling out to me.

More shouting voices filled the courtyard and I looked around wildly, tears welling, blurring my eyesight. Six figures surrounded me, and everything seemed to move in slow motion. I saw Becca being held back by a man in all black, her hair falling out of place and tears streaming down her face. Daniel, her boyfriend, was dragged by another man. He fought against the man's hold, trying to get to Becca. His captor grew tired of the struggle and struck him at the base of his skull. Daniel collapsed onto the ground in a heap. Becca screamed.

Xavier was in front of me trying to get to me through two men who were trying to hold him back with little avail. Then a flash of red filled my vision and then icy blue as well, and when my eyes became accustomed to the fading light. I saw two burned men standing there, covered in a sheet of ice. Xavier and his twin— Pippen— were standing in front of the two men holding their hands out in front of them for some odd reason.

I saw flashes of white light and a burned patch of ground where a man used to stand, and the girl in black— Alysia— was standing before the burnt patch with white sparks interlacing her fingers.

Then Rosalva in all her green glory strangling a man with what looked like vines with little purple flowers.

I felt myself passing into darkness, giving into my holders sleep choke. I saw Xavier and his twin, Pippen, both running at top speed towards me and as black clouded my vision I felt arms wrap around my waist and arms around my neck release the pressure and my holders body coming completely away from my body before I passed out into the arms that were wrapped around my waist not caring who's arms it was. 

So there you have it! The very first chapter, please tell me what you think below. And if you have any suggestions, theories, or ANYTHING. Let me know! 

-Olivia Koepp