When I woke up I was tucked up in bed, I could feel sunlight pouring in through the windows and the whole room felt nice and warm. I sighed, happily snuggling back down into bed back home safe and sound in my own flat. What a weird dream that was. Talking lions, girls with the power to control ice and a monster stitched out of human body parts. It was going to be one hell of a story to tell Maxie and Lilah. They'd be amazed that they were in the dream too, being pulled through a portal along with Mum, they would see the strangeness and humour in it though, I knew they would.

I could hear someone talking, or rather some people, Mum must have her radio on again I thought sleepily, finally opening my eyes. Then I opened my eyes a lot wider. I wasn't at home, I wasn't at a friend's house or sleeping on the desk during a detention. Honestly, I didn't know where I was. I sat up and scanned my surroundings. I seemed to be in some sort of infirmary, rows of identical beds lining the walls, slings suspended from the ceiling and I V units were hooked up to the shapes of other people lying in their own beds. There were a few windows, the ones I could see were showing pale blue sunset skies and green fields and a distant view of London's skyline peaking over the trees. I wasn't in Kansas anymore.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and had a good look at what was surrounding me. My school uniform and bag were neatly piled on a nearby chair while a pile of clean clothes was on the little chest of drawers. There was a note on top of the pile, written in a handwriting I had never seen before, I hope these fit you, it was all we could find for the moment - Sophie x. Sophie? I didn't know any Sophie's, but I have to admit that I was a bit more concerned about whether or not I was vivid dreaming and if I wasn't, if this girl had seen me in my pants.

I quickly pulled on the jacket and jeans, they were a bit big to be honest, and the t-shirt was way too small, so I abandoned it on the chair. I looked up now and saw a ball of light hanging above my head, not a light bulb, a ball, hanging in the air. I actually checked, I stood up on top of the bed and swiped my hand over the empty space where the ball was hanging. Hmm.

As I jumped down I nearly kicked over a I V rack, it looked empty but when I looked closer I could see a long tube of something green hanging from the rack. The liquid inside was an acidic green and it was bubbling within the tube, it looked like poison...or snake venom. I looked down at my hand, the hand that had been torn to bloody ribbons didn't have a scratch on it. But I remembered it clear as day, it hurt like murder, so it couldn't have been a dream. But if it wasn't a dream and I was here, that meant that... oh god. Oh my god.

I ran for it then.

This couldn't be real, it just couldn't be, but I could feel my bare feet slapping the wooden floor and I could hear the voices of dozens of people in the dozens of different rooms. I skidded to a stop just in front of a heavy wooden door, my mind was racing, my thoughts were swimming around my head so quickly it felt like my head was going to burst. I had to wake up, I had to wake up right now.

"Hey, shouldn't you be in bed?"

I jumped about three feet in the air in surprise, slipping down a small set of stairs as I landed. I fell backwards, giving a yell of surprise as my back slammed into the doors and I spilled backwards, crashing down the steps and into the bright sunshine. I moaned in pain as I steadily pushed myself up into a sitting position and then I gasped as my eyes struggled to take in what I was looking at.

The world around me was filled with colour and sights not even my wildest imagination could conjure up. From the bright green grass which shone and rippled in the wind, to the ochre blue sky fading to purple that was filled with summer clouds while three tall buildings stood like monuments. I steadily pushed myself up to my feet, my jaw scraping the floor as the world revolved around me. A variety of buildings rose out of the ground like monuments, totem pole like trees rose even higher, scraping the sky with their needle like leaves while the sound of rushing water echoed up to my ears.

Seemingly hundreds of people were walking round me, some stared, some simply glanced and looked away, but they were all whispering to each other, and I knew that they were talking about me. I jumped back as something metallic and shiny careered past me with two kids, no older than ten, ran after it laughing all the way, joyously shrieking as it smashed itself to pieces on a rock as a third, more dazed boy fell out, grinning like a madman.

I had to be dreaming, or dead, one of the two. Was I dead? I could be, after all I had fallen from the fifteenth floor of a tower block, I remembered that part vividly, I should have been smashed to pieces on the courtyard. Yet, I was here. Clearly in one piece, alive and, no matter how many times I pinched myself, not dreaming. But if all that had happened, that meant that...no. No.NO. NO! Mum. Maxie. Lilah. They were gone, all of them.

"Nicholas, isn't it?" I was doubled over, trying not to faint, throw up or cry, so concentrated on not doing all three at the same time, that I didn't notice the guy that was standing in front of me. I looked up at him.

Thick brown hair, a tangled beard and a pair of those old fashioned, steel rimmed owl glasses lined the face that peered down at me. He was also huge. Probably about six foot nine and just as wide. He looked like a hybrid of Hagrid and Harry Potter.

"Hello?" I said, "and why does everyone around here know my name?"

He chuckled, a deep hearty laugh, so not a giant killer. "I know it seems like that after the day you've had, but the whole camp has had time to hear about you."

"Camp?"

He laughed again, "Yeah, someone needs to fill you in on what you've missed out on. Follow me."

He turned on his heel and headed briskly towards the big white building leaving me no option but to follow him. The white house was a veritable labyrinth, seemingly put together at complete random, but the Hagrid/Harry guy seemed to know where he was going, leading me through twisting corridors and marching through doorways so quickly that I was almost having to run to keep up with him. I was running out of breath as we began to ascend a scarily twisting staircase, that began to creek alarmingly.

"Wait up dude!" I was almost out of breath from jogging behind him. I leaned against the railing to get my breath back. The staircase leaned against the window precariously. "Can I just get some clarification here?"

"Sure thing, but the boss can probably explain better than I can."

Boss? Who was the boss? I decided that that wasn't a priority. "Alright three questions and can you please answer them?"

"I'll do my best."

"Okay. Number one, where the hell am I?" I was serious, but he smiled, infuriating me slightly.

"You mean you really don't know?"

I stared at him for a few seconds. "No. I wouldn't be asking you if I did!"

He held up his hands, "Alright fair enough. You're in Camp Elemental. The London branch anyway."

"And what does that mean?"

He chuckled again, "Oh come on. You've got to know about Camp." I stared at him, the expression on my face clearly indicating that he may as well have been speaking Latin to me. His expression fell. "You really don't know?"

"No!" I half yelled at him. "Everyone keeps saying that and I don't know what the hell they're talking about!" I ran my hands through my hair in despair. "Can someone just give me a straight answer, please?"

He gave me a sympathetic look, he seemed to understand how I was feeling now. "Okay, the London Camp is basically the centre of elemental life for England. Its where the young can hone their powers and rise to their full potential."

"There's that word again."

"What word?"

"Elemental." I shrugged. "I apparently am one, but I still have no idea what one is. And that's my second question."

"An elemental is someone that can control the elements of the world."

"So...Earth, air, fire and water?" I said.

He nodded, "yes, but there are also two more elements, light and dark as well as several sub elements."

"What's a sub element when it's at home?"

"When two or more base elements combine to form another element."

"...Come again?"

Sigh, combined with a head shake. "I'm not explaining this very well, Elaine can do a much better job than I will." He started up the stairs again with me following in hot pursuit.

"One last question," I said. "Who are you?"

"Forgive me for not introducing myself, my name is Seeker. I'm in charge of the campers and the residents. It's my job to find new elementals and take care of the current students."

I cast my mind back to every summer camp movie I had watched in my life. "So, you're like a head counsellor?"

"Sort of, my official title is Co Director, but I am a counsellor to a certain degree."

"Is Elaine the Director?" I asked.

He stopped me just as we were about to walk in a door. Hushed voices drifted through the wall to us. "Just don't call her Elaine, its Ms Harper."

"What would happen if I didn't call her that?"

"She'd probably shoot you." And without another word he opened the door, and we both stepped into a war zone.

Two people were stood shouting at each other, screaming might be more accurate as I winced at the high-pitched noise. It reminded me of the regular fights that I'd witnessed in the halls of Skinners Park. One was a very old woman, she was small, her shoulder length hair was a pale grey, but she was holding her own against the younger girl. Seeker coughed to announce his presence, a look of slight embarrassment etched on his face. The two women turned to face us.

"Ah, I see we have the new recruit," The old woman waved the younger girl away who scowled viciously at the old woman and then at me for some reason, her blue eyes narrowed into slits as she glared at me, even though I was sure that I'd never met her.

Her expression looked so familiar, but I just couldn't put my finger on where I recognised her from. The older woman sat down at the large wooden desk that took up a good chunk of the room. The rest was filled with bookshelves that were crammed, fit to burst while dozens more books spilled onto the floor in piles, maps and photographs lined the walls, papers rolled into scrolls layered in a pyramid sat next to the desk while various knick-knacks were spread over every surface and available space.

The only area of the room that was relatively clear was a corner with a large perch and a giant eagle sat on top of it. It was strangely beautiful in its eeriness. Its feathers were smoky grey with dark jewel like ashes nestled into its body, a crown of smoke rose from its magnificent head and its eyes smouldered like two dying suns, the tips of its wings were smoking, twirling and twisting into nothingness, just one good gust of wind from blowing away completely. I couldn't help but stare.

"Her name's Phinea." I jumped at the sudden voice of the woman, who I presumed was Ms Harper, and turned to look at her.

With the sunlight from the window behind me on her face I could see that she wasn't as old as I originally thought she was. Her hair was actually snowy white, but she wasn't particularly old. She wasn't much older than my own mother, less than forty easily, but her forehead was creased with worry lines and her maroon eyes seemed tired and weary."Not much of a talker?" she asked, not unkindly.

I shook my head. "Just lost in thought, sorry." I nodded towards the bird, "She's beautiful, what is she?"

Ms Harper smiled. "She's a harpy eagle, I rather inherited the whole Harpy image but its served me just fine. Though your beast is rather impressive as well." My hand instinctively went to my throat. The amulet wasn't there and for some reason I panicked, until Ms Harper handed me the amulet. "I wanted to talk to him," she explained as I put the amulet around my neck. "He's pretty much explained everything, but I still need to ask you a few questions. I hope you don't mind."

I shook my head. "So long as I can get a few answers myself." I held the gold amulet in my hands, the eyes of the lion flickered at me, they weren't threatening anymore but I still had something I needed to clear up. I swiped my thumb across the metal and with a swirl of fire and a smell of burning, Flame once again appeared in front of me.

"Hi." I said sheepishly.

His eyes were narrowed into slits, his voice was steely. "Hello, are you going to hit me again?"

I winced at the memory. "I wanted to apologise about that. I was panicking and scared, it's not every day you see a fully-grown lion in front of you and you don't tend to see one that can talk. I was scared, and it was just an instinctive reaction. I know that it's one of the lamest apologies I could have come up with, but I just want to say I'm sorry. I just really hope I didn't leave a bruise with that branch."

Flame had been glaring at me throughout my lousy speech suddenly softened his expression. He padded over to me and rubbed his flaming head against my stomach. "I might have been a little forward, but I did have to get you here as soon as I could. You must understand that my biggest priority is to keep you safe, but now that that's done I can now focus on making friends. Oh, and I must congratulate you on that swing, you'd be an expert baseball player."

I smiled, "Thanks bud," I said as I ran my fingers through his flaming mane, so he growled affectionately. It sounded like an old car engine and made my whole body vibrate with the noise. Now having Flame on my side felt much more comforting than having to experience the Camp alone.

The blonde girl was still scowling at me, her icy blue eyes were practically boring into me. It was making me uneasy. "Of course, he forgives you," she snapped. "He didn't have to take the blame for that stupid stunt you pulled, I knew I should have just brought you here as soon as I found you."

Well knock me down with a harpy eagle. "Sheira?" I gasped. It was her, just completely different.

The Sheira I had met was a brunette with brown eyes and plain, comfy clothes. This Sheira was just plain stunning. Her snowy blonde hair fell to her waist, woven into an intricate braid that seemed to sparkle with crystals of ice, her eyes were the colour of a glacier, pale blue and piercing. The previous outfit was gone and in place of the normal London fashion was an outfit that couldn't have been practical in any sense of the word. Denim shorts, Silvery crop top and blue, knee height hiking boots that had soles that were about an inch thick. Like me she had her beast's amulet around her neck, a snow leopard, forged in silver and two sapphires glowed in the eyes. You can't go unseen looking like that in London.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble I'm in because of you?" She snarled.

I took a shocked step back. "Why are you in trouble?"

"Because she strayed from directions," said Ms Harper, her fingers entwined in front of her. "Sheira had strict orders to get you and bring you here with no diversions. And yet, we have to clean up the mess of your little stunt, so she has to be punished."

In the world that I knew the worst she might get is being grounded, but I wasn't in Kansas anymore and nothing was out of limits. "But it wasn't her fault," I argued. "It was my idea to go see my family, I was the one that convinced her to come with me and it's my fault that we got into a fight with those creeps. If anyone's going to be punished it should be me."

Sheira's scowl had melted away. What had replaced it was surprise and gratitude. I can't stand people taking the blame for me, if it's my fault, it's my fault and I should be the one to own up to it. It was just the way I was raised.

Ms Harper on the other hand didn't look overly impressed. "I appreciate your honesty, but Sheira really shouldn't have listened to you, she had her orders."

"I can be very persuasive when I want to be."

"You don't know the rules here yet..."

"And yet I know that owning up to your mistakes is the right thing to do," I retorted.

Ms Harper opened her mouth to argue with me, but Seeker placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "I think the young man is putting up a fair argument, why should we blame one of our best Veterans on something that wasn't entirely her fault. It's hardly fair on Sheira, now is it?"

Ms Harper drummed her pointed nails on the desk and sent a hard stare in my direction. "Fine. Since one of you has only just arrived we'll put you on probation for a week, one toe out of line and it'll go down on your record and something will be devised for the end of the week. As for Sheira her punishment will be to act as your guide for the week, if she lets you do anything you shouldn't something will be devised. Clear?"

"Yes, Ms Harper," we both said in unison.

Ms Harper pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "I have a bad feeling that I'll be seeing a lot of you young man. But until I'm proven wrong let's get you settled in."

She opened a drawer on the desk and pulled out a pile of papers and one of those old-fashioned ink pens with a nib and inkwell from the Victorian age. "First and foremost, let's go over what we have. Your first name...Nicholas, isn't it?"

"Nick is what I prefer..." I said wearily.

"But is that the name on your birth certificate?"

"Well no-"

"Nicholas it is then. I can't stand diminutives." Her pen scratched on the paper as she spoke.

I had a maths teacher like that once. She drove me mad I thought.

"Age?"

"Sixteen."

"On..."

I stared at her baffled for a few seconds. "She wants your birthday," whispered Flame.

"Oh, sorry the thirty-first of May." I said as I felt my cheeks redden.

"Address?" I told her. This went on for a while. After a further five minutes she seemed to be on the last page. "Your beast's name?"

"Flame." He answered. "And you already know my name, I told when we first met."

"Are you an African or an Indian variety?" She continued without looking up from her papers.

"African," said Flame.

"Are you really from Africa?" I asked him.

Flame nodded, "Elemental Beasts are just regular animals imbued with elemental energy. I was a normal looking lion up until a few weeks ago. I'm actually from the Serengeti."

"Cool."

Ms Harper looked up at us from her mountain of paperwork, she was scowling slightly. "I'm not even going to bother asking what your elemental ability as judging by the pyrotechnics displays you put of yesterday and the fact that your Beast is burning, makes it very clear you're a fire Elemental."

"Wait, displays?" Had I managed to burn any other tower blocks yesterday?

"Are you forgetting the spontaneous combustion at your school?" she said raising an eyebrow.

I put my hand to my head and winced. They knew about that, and if they knew about that they might also know about some of my other...outbursts. "I didn't have any control over that."

"A subconscious action is still the fault of the mind it belongs to." She folded up her papers and opened a filing cabinet behind her. "We're just going to have to learn what sets you off." She sighed as she pulled out an near empty file and started arranging papers. Sheira looked stunned for some reason.

"Is that it?" she said. "Is that all we have for him?"

Ms Harper nodded. Seeker scuffed the floor with one of his faded trainers. Sheira sighed. I remained puzzled. "Excuse me, can someone tell me why you all look so disappointed that you don't know every detail of my life?"

"Because we're supposed to know everything," said Sheira. "You see, all elementals are kept on record at Camp. If you're born to a family with one or both parents being elementals you're automatically put on record. Everyone at Camp has a file with all their life information in it. But with you, we had nothing."

"Nothing till a few months ago," said Seeker. "You just appeared on our radar out of the blue and we've been clutching at threads of information ever since." He shrugged, "it took us weeks to even get an accurate description of what you looked like."

Ms Harper stood up and began to pace anxiously, my file brandished in her hands. "It's completely unheard of. You just materialised out of thin air and then we had to race to find you before the Army did. Because if we could see you, anyone could." She dropped my file on the desk and began to pour herself a drink from the little cafetiere that was sat on top of the filing cabinet. "I mean we don't know anything about you, knowing the names of your parents would be a good start," she laughed weakly.

"Well that's easy to solve," I said. "My dad's Jonathan Hayden and-" I didn't get any further than that as a loud bang made me stop in my tracks.

The teacup that Ms Harper had been holding had fallen right through her hands, landing on the floor with a horrible cracking sound as dark liquid spread across the floor and shards of pottery spread across the carpet, and I didn't have shoes on. Although, to be honest, I was more worried about Ms Harper than my own feet.

She'd gone white as a sheet. Her already pale face was now ghostly, her mouth was stretched into an O and her eyes were wide in shock. She looked like she was about to faint. She leaned on the back of her chair to steady herself.

"That can't be..." she whispered, almost too quiet for us to hear. I shot a worried look at Sheira. Seeker didn't look much better. A few beads of sweat had formed on his forehead and he was visibly trembling as her helped an unsteady Ms Harper to her chair, who collapsed into it, her legs had given up trying to support her. "How...It can't...She told us..." As well as the power to stand she had lost the ability to speak.

Seeker spoke for her. "Who are your parents Nick? What are their full names?"

His tone was very serious. I felt very uneasy. "Jonathan Charles Hayden and Aleena Lily Hayden, though her maiden name was-"

"Pengrave..."

"Yeah, how did you know that?" I asked.

Instead of responding, Seeker unhooked a picture from the wall and handed it to me. I didn't know what he was trying to show me, but when I looked at the faces in the image, it was my turn to be speechless.

Six faces smiled up at me. Three guys and three girls. Two were clearly a young Seeker and Ms Harper, one was a tall blonde guy with blue eyes, another was a young woman and the last two were painfully familiar in a way that pulled at my heart. Mum and Dad couldn't have been older than seventeen when this picture was taken but you could tell that they were going to grow to be a perfect couple. Mum was smiling, no, laughing as the picture was taken, her bright blue eyes glowing with happiness as she looked up at the handsome young man who had his arm wrapped around her waist. He was tall, dark and completely wild. His hair was a tangled mess that covered his striking green eyes that I knew bubbled with energy. The lightning scar zigzagged down his face and along his left arm, but he didn't care about that, he wore it with pride. He wasn't looking at the camera, he could only see the only one on earth that he had the eyes for. My mum. I ran my finger across the image as the tears pricked the corner of my eyes.

Ms Harper was still shaking. "It can't be...He can't be Jack's son." Jack? I had never heard Dad being called Jack. It was always Jonathan or Jonnie or just plain 'Hayden!' if Mum was getting mad at him. I knew Jack was a nickname for Jonathan, but I had never heard it being used for him.

"Look at him Elaine," said Seeker, "he's the spitting image of his father."

"But he didn't have any children, he repeatedly told us that they had never had kids. The only child we knew of died at a year old!"

"May I interject?" said Sheira.

"What?" snapped Ms Harper irritably.

Sheira flinched slightly but recovered. "He's not the only one." The two adults stared at her, waiting for her to explain. "He has two younger siblings, a boy and a girl. Twins I think."

Ms Harper turned back to me. "Is this true?"

I nodded, "Maxie and Lilah, they're both five."

"Why would they want to hide them from us?" asked Ms Harper to the air in front of her.

I shuffled uncomfortably at Ms Harpers question. "Did you know them?" I asked.

Seeker nodded. "Your father was my best friend," he smiled sadly. "I did everything with him, I got into trouble a lot, but I didn't really mind. Remember the Night Wardens Elaine?"

Ms Harper chuckled. "He drove them absolutely mad, sneaking out at all hours and running rings around who was on patrol, I think they just gave up in the end. No one could control Mad Jack."

I smiled sadly. "That sounds like him."

"All except your mother of course," continued Seeker, "she didn't let him get away with anything, she managed to tame his rash nature. But, he did always have that wild streak in him."

"Couldn't get rid of it if he tried," said Ms Harper.

Seeker nodded. "Your parents were a true case of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object." He hung his head now. "It's such a shame."

"What happened?" asked Sheira.

I swallowed once. Twice. Three times. "He died two years ago."

The room fell as silent as a tomb. The two adults looked down at their shoes while Flame pressed his head into my hand for comfort. But it was Sheira's reaction that was surprising. She walked up to me and put a hand on my arm and squeezed it tight. "I know it's a cliché, and you might not believe me...but I know how you feel." Over the years I had heard plenty of 'I know how you feels' and 'You'll get past its' but I believed Sheira. Something about her tone made it seem like she had possibly lost a parent. Or both. I smiled up at her to say thanks.

"One of the most powerful elementals we've ever had, and he was just killed. Must have been such a hard time for your mother, her husband was gone and now she has three kids to raise on her own. Never mind being a Vessel, your mother is the strongest person I've ever met."

"A Vessel?" shrieked Sheira. She was still standing next to me and if my eardrum was still intact after that onslaught I would be very surprised. "What kind? What power level? Did you ever find out?"

"Hold up," I said, cutting off Sheira's barrage of questions. "What's a Vessel when it's at home?"

"Sometimes elementals have a sort of empty space within their souls," explained Sheira. "This space allows elemental sprits to connect with them, boosting their power and gifting them with additional abilities."

"Just for the record, you may as well have just been speaking Martian just then." I pondered for a second. "Why have I never noticed this then? This spirit?"

Ms Harper stood up and began skimming book titles from a shelf. "Because your mother doesn't have it anymore. It left her in the war twenty years ago, and it saved the Camp in the process."

"Can she not get another one?"

"Most Vessels are one hit wonders. Their Vesselliness closes when the spirit leaves. It doesn't always happen though. Sometimes spirits just pass through as they see fit and some set up permanent residences. It happens mainly in Greys and on the rare occasion, elementals," Sheira said with a shrug.

"That's another word I've heard tossed around today. What's a Grey?"

"A child to two elemental parents who possess no powers themselves," explained Sheira.

"Can we return to the matter at hand please?" Asked Ms Harper. From her tone her patience was wearing thin. "We still need to find out why Nicholas was hidden from us for this long."

She held up a battered looking book. It was bound in leather and very dusty, a cloud spilled out the floor as she flicked through the pages. I took a step back, conscious of my still bare feet. "I've been looking up if it's possible to block someone form the vision of others. Because we should have seen you, or your siblings come to think of it, at the funeral and we didn't, meaning that you might have some sort of cloaking Seal on you."

"A seal?" I took a good look at my arms for any sign of a seal on my skin.

"Not that sort of seal," said Sheira. She took hold of my arms and began to study my skin. "You know those old wax Seals you see in those old movies? It just means a mark or an emblem. Nowadays people call them Sigils."

"I think I'll stick to that, sounds a bit more mystical. And it sounds better than a sausage with a face."

Sheira laughed. It was the first time I'd seen her smile properly. She looked better with a smile on her face. She took a look at my other arm and jumped. "There!" She jabbed at the birthmark I had on the underside of my wrist. I'd had it for my entire life. A small, pale brown, squiggle, no bigger than a five pence piece, that I used to say was a tattoo and used to boast to my friends about it. I'd never thought that it was all that important.

Ms Harper peered at the mark intently and began to flick through her book. She held my wrist up against and nodded. She sighed and snapped the book shut. "Its certainly no birthmark, I'll tell you that much."

"Is it a Sigil?" asked Sheira.

Ms Harper nodded. "A very ancient, and rarely used one. It's able to completely cloak the wearer from the sight of elementals. It can't be undone and lasts for fifteen years. If it was put on you on your first birthday that explains how you just showed up. We're seeing you for the first time."

"My brother and sister have them as well, same place."

"They have to be mostly visible in order to work, after they're used up they just fade."

Sheila peered intently at the description in the book. "Who put it on him?"

Ms Harper scoffed. "I have an idea who did it and if I run into him again I'm going to kill him for not saying anything. I don't care that it's impossible, he's in for a whole world of hurt."

I chose to ignore the fact that someone existed that physically couldn't die. I looked down at my wrist and saw that the brown mark was already beginning to fade, shifting from brown to a pale pink. But I still had a question. "How could that girl see my brother and sister, they had their marks."

For the second time this afternoon, the colour drained from Ms Harpers face. "Molly knows about your siblings?"

That thing. That monstrous, ugly, brute, was called Molly? Molly... seriously. For a demon creature it had a very deceptive name. Sheira explained what had happened to Ms Harper. The meeting, the fight, the portal. It didn't take her long but by the end of the tale Ms Harper had her head in her hands. "Our Aleena... taken by those freaks."

"Two little kids as well..." murmured Seeker.

"What will she do to them?" No one answered me. Their silence scared me more than an answer. "What will she do to them!" I yelled.

"I don't know Nicholas, I really don't know."

"Can we do anything?"

"We don't know where they are," said Ms Harper firmly. "We'll try to find them, I promise." She paused. "Aleena was my best friend, Nicholas. I'm not about to let that monster do anything to her. But I know how strong she is, she'll hold out, I know she will."

I didn't say anything for a while. "I know," I whispered eventually.

Ms Harper chewed her nails anxiously and then sighed. "We'll do the best we can, but for the moment we'll get you settled into Fire Cabin." She tapped a button on the microphone on the desk and spoke into the receiver. "Sophie Francis to my office, repeat Sophie Francis to my office, as soon as possible." The microphone clicked off. She turned to Sheira. "As part of your punishment for straying from orders, you are going to act as his personal guide. You will show him the ropes. Make sure he gets to know the rules, and you will start his training tomorrow. Clear?"

"Yes, Ms Harper."

"Good. Sophie will see to settling him but everything else will be up to you, he's your responsibility and if either of you get into trouble so help me God-" The door swung open so violently it rattled the entire room. A girl was standing in the entrance, her hair covering her face like a sheepdog as she panted for breath. "FOR GODS SAKE, KNOCK!" screamed Ms Harper.

The girl quickly u-turned out of the room, shutting the door behind her. With all of us staring at the door, three loud knocks sounded. Ms Harper sighed irritably, muttering something like, 'That girl' and told the girl to come back in. The door once again swung open, not with as much force as the original entry, but still enough to shake the windows. She darted in followed by a small dog with a flaming head, at this point nothing would surprise me, who went shooting over to Flame to investigate this possible new friend.

"Do you have to make such an entrance every time you walk into a room?" asked Seeker. He was pretending to be cross, but his tone was warm and affectionate, and he was smiling compared to Ms Harpers scowl.

The girl, who I presumed was Sophie Francis, pushed back her wild tangle of red hair and grinned broadly. "Of course I do, it's like my signature."

"A signature that I would prefer if it didn't make a dent in my wall every time you come into my office." Ms Harpers tone was dangerous, but the girl just laughed.

"Oh come on boss, I can't help being me." She grinned even wider, "though I am concerned what made you want me up here so quickly. For once I've been as good as gold, I swear."

"And for once you aren't actually in trouble, I have a new camper joining and he's in your cabin." Ms Harper gestured over to me, so Sophie turned to look at me. She did stare at me for a bit, her mouth hanging open, so I stared back.

She was a good head shorter than me, but her mass of dark red hair almost made up for that missing height. Her eyes were just as wild as her hair, laughter lines creased around them, and a smattering of freckles dotted her face like someone had sprayed paint at her from point blank range. Her wide grin was real and not faked as her whole face lit up. She was wearing shorts, brown flip flops and a baggy blue t-shirt with the smiley face emoji and the word LOL written under it in capital letters.

Sophie grinned again. "Wow. You're even more attractive when you're conscious. And dressed for that matter."

I flushed scarlet, I could feel my cheeks physically burning under the blush/embarrassment. Sophie was rocking with laughter at my reaction, clutching her sides as she howled. I caught Sheira's eye, who rolled her eyes at Sophie. "Don't worry, you'll get used to her. Hey Soph, cut it out, he's a newbie."

"Aww you know I'm just messing around." She bounded over to me and stuck her hand out, "Sophie Francis, head of Fire Cabin and Dayton High Chilli Chomp Champion three years running."

"Nick Hayden. Still forty percent sure that I'm having a lucid dream."

"Hayden?" she said in awe. "Not like Jack Hayden?"

"Apparently so." Even Sophie, a complete stranger up until two minutes ago, knew more about my family history than I did. It was so infuriating. I'd have to quiz her later.

Ms Harper made a slight shooing motion with her hands. "It seems all the formalities are done here. Sophie take Nicholas to the Fire Cabin and get him some more suitable clothes, we can't have him wandering around like that. Now I need to talk with Mr Seeker in private so if you wouldn't mind." She practically pushed us out of her office and slammed the door behind us.

Sophie's dog whistled. "Yikes, she's in a bad mood."

"Always is, Inferno."

Sophie turned to me as we walked down the narrow staircase. "Just for the record is it Nick or Nicholas? You can never tell with her."

"Nick. Apparently, she doesn't like diminutives."

"She's funny like that. Anyway how was your first meeting with the Harpy?"

The fact that Ms Harper had earnt the nickname Harpy, was hardly surprising. "She seems nice enough," I said remembering what she had said about my parents.

Sophie snorted, but not unkindly. "She's like that with every Rookie that walks in the door. Just you wait a few weeks. You get settled in and you release the queen of nagging that lives within her. She'll be your worst nightmare by the end of the summer."

"She just sounds like any old maths teacher to me."

Sophie laughed. "She's good at heart, she's just a stickler for the rules."

"Tell me about it," said Sheira. The three of us stepped out into the late evening sunshine. The warm orange glow coated the camp in a blanket of heat. I sighed and took it all in as Sophie headed of in the direction of the cabins.

"Hey Nick." Sheira grabbed me by the arm to stop me, she wasn't meeting my eye, but she had a small smile on her face. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"For what?"

"For helping me out back there, by helping me out with the Harpy. She was really laying into me before you came in."

"I don't mind, I have a personal objection to people taking the blame for something that isn't their fault." I paused, "would you have been badly punished?"

Sheira shrugged, "I might have been put on clean up duty or night patrol. Nothing overly bad but it wouldn't have been pleasant. But now I have you to keep an eye on." She looked at me with a sudden steeliness that made me shiver, "I'm not going to let you get away with anything. You do everything that I say to the T, you follow orders and if you get into trouble that circles back to me and we both get punished. And trust me," she took a step forward, so she was looking at me eye to eye, "I'm still a little mad at you." She stepped back and walked away, "we start your training at seven thirty sharp, don't be late," she called over her shoulder leaving me standing, staring after her.

"Pretty intense huh?" I jumped about three feet in the air as Sophie materialized behind me.

"Don't sneak up on me like that you almost gave me a heart attack."

"You were slacking, now come on, we need to get you sorted out." Sophie dragged me by the arm for about five minutes, past training ground, and workshops and hundreds of people.

"How many people are at the Camp," I asked.

"About a thousand in summer, five hundred in winter. There's only about three hundred-year rounders, and that includes Sheira."

It figured that scary, intense Sheira was a permanent resident. "Well you're from then north so you're obviously not from round here."

She chuckled, "I'm a Brummy, I only come down during the summer, what about you, Londoner?"

"Born and bred."

"You'll fit right in then. We've got everybody. Scousers, Mancunians, Brummys, Geordies, Londoners, and everywhere in between. Only Englishmen though. Scotland, Wales and Ireland have their own camps."

"Are Camps always in the capital city?"

"Yep and America has one camp per state."

"Makes sense. How elementals are there in the world?"

"It's about ten percent of the world's population, so about...seven hundred million. Worldwide that is. The British Isles have about six million wandering around."

"How come there's only a thousand student then?" Six million elementals and only a thousand come to camp? Those numbers didn't balance.

"Some choose not to come," Sophie explained. "And anyway, if you think about it most campers only stick around for a few years, just to hone their powers and then they head on out into the big wide world."

We came into a massive semicircle of buildings. "It seems you're running out of room though."

Four giant buildings stood tall and proud. Each at least four storeys high, with one looking closer to seven. Each was decorated in the colours of its element and fashioned from the materials of the power it came from. The Fire Cabin was easiest to spot. It was the smallest building, only four storeys high, with red brick walls, dark wood beams fashioning a frame and a wide sloping slate roof with a chimney that was belching smoke poking out from the roof.

"Isn't it a bit counterintuitive to have something associated with fire built out of wood?" I said.

"Kind of, but it looks cool," said Inferno, who was sat on top of Flame using him as his own personal transport.

"Can't argue with that," I said as we both stepped inside the Fire Cabin. The first thing I noticed was the heat. I was expecting it to be burning hot inside, but it wasn't. It was warm and comfortable, inviting. Very little was actually red, which was surprising, but I could only assume that the fire elementals didn't want to be associated with fire for every moment of every day. The hallway was filled with shoes, coats and various objects and the sound of chatter and laughter drifted in from another room.

Sophie was rummaging around in a cupboard in the wall and finally pulled out a battered red book. "Let's see, what room have we got going spare at the moment."

Curiosity peaking, I asked her a question. "Do you know what cabin my dad was in?"

"This one actually," she said without looking up. "His old room's actually free. Do you want that one?"

I bit my lip. I wasn't sure about whether I wanted to suddenly to go into the place that my dad had spent so much of his time in. A place that didn't know that existed until an hour ago. Flame pressed his head into my leg, and I gave him a scratch between his ears. "Sure. That would be great," I said finally.

Sophie tapped a page in the book and a small jet of fire shot from her finger and hit a small square on the page. The page glowed and my name burned onto the page. "Here we go, you're all moved in. I'll see if anyone's willing to donate some old clothes, but until then let's get you acquainted with the rest of the gang. Sophie took my hand and marched me into the next room and flung the door wide open. Human and animal faces turned to stare at us.

Sophie was unfazed and clapped her hands together, grinning. "Ladies and gentleman, I have something rather important to introduce to you."

"It better be that tenner you owe me," shouted one of the boys. Sophie playfully swore at him, striking up a laugh from the rest of the group.

"Nah, this is better. Let introduce our new cabin member, also known as the badass that took on the freak show, Nick." She gestured wildly, like a magician conjuring up a rabbit from a hat. All she got was a slightly awkward sixteen-year-old. Ever had that feeling where you feel like you're being watched? I was experiencing that now, only I was being studied extensively and possibly judged at the same time.

"Wow," said one girl. "I don't think it's possible, but you're even more attractive with your clothes on."

I felt my face flush, again, but I also found myself laughing. Well that was one way to break the ice. "I have been meaning to ask who stole my clothes back there."

"Probably just one of the nurses on duty, which means I got a very good look in."

"You're such a perv Katy."

"I object to this conversation as a whole," said Flame pushing his way next to me, accompanied by the gasps of the entire room.

"Check out that beast."

"Badass."

"How come mine doesn't look that cool?"

"Oi!"

"You're never going to be bothered at all, mate."

"Can I touch him?" Within about five seconds Flame was being petted, preened and doted upon by pretty much every fire elemental in residence. The kids loved him, and he actually gave a few rides on his backs, which made them all shriek with joy. He was thoroughly enjoying the attention, though I was just glad most of it wasn't on me. Flame playing with the little ones was giving me stabbing reminders of my own little brother and sister.

"Hey Rookie." I turned to the gaggle of teenagers taking up every inch of the sofas, armchairs and beanbags that were crammed into every section of available space.

The guy that had spoken was a tall kid about my age, with blue eyes to match his blue jacket and brown hair that stuck straight up like he had one finger in a plug socket. He tapped a space on the sofa between him and a girl with blonde hair and brown cowboy boots. I managed to squeeze in between them as Flame broke away from his entourage and slipped under my feet like a foot stool.

"Did you really take on Molly?" asked the cowgirl as soon as I sat down. From her wide eyes I could tell that she'd clearly been waiting to ask me for a while.

"Leela!"

"What? I'm just asking," she shrugged, "no one has ever taken on Molly and won."

"I didn't win though," I said miserably.

"You survived mate, you walk away from a battle with that lot with all your limbs still attached, I count that as a victory." He held out his hand, "the names Chip. And that's my hoodie by the way."

"Nick, and I'll have it back to you as soon as possible. And how did you know that I fought her?"

"Gossip travels fast around here," explained Leela. "And being on the news probably helped."

"I was on the news?"

"Well the flames were." The TV flickered on and a news article was put on. It was on mute, but I didn't need to hear the commentary, the twin jets of fire spilling over the building, flying a good hundred meters or so out over the spectator's heads was a sight to behold. I actually had to re-watch it a couple of times to make sure I was real.

"I did that?" I said after the third time of the clip playing.

"Yep, and it was one hell of a clean-up job. The Harpy was practically blowing smoke from her nose after that one," Sophie was trying to be serious but her massive grin spoiled the effect.

"It seems we've got a pure fire on our hands. And a powerful one at that," said Chip clapping me on the back.

"Now we've got two Pures wandering around now, our chances at the end of summer tournament are riding sky high."

"Three." Everyone turned to a little girl, no older than ten, sitting in the corner with her arms crossed. Her beast, a little pig, was curled up in her arms. "We've still got Daryl." The silence was agonising.

Sophie sighed. "Annie...Daryl might not come back."

"He will. I know he will!" Shouted Annie. "He's not going to replace my big brother."

"No one said anything about replacing Daryl," said Sophie gently. "Nick is just a new member of our team."

"You gave him Daryl's room."

Oh hell. Sophie was unfazed by this. "No, I gave him the room that once belonged to his father. Hundreds of people have stayed in that room, it's not just Daryl's."

"You're trying to replace him!" shouted Annie. "You want to pretend he never existed, and I hate you all for it!" She stopped just next to me, "I hate you most," she snarled as she stomped off up the stairs while Sophie buried her face in her hands.

I quietly leaned over to Leela. "Another one of Molly's victims?"

She nodded. "He was one of our counsellors. He went missing in January and we've been trying to rebuild the cabin ever since." Her gaze fell upon an empty armchair, pushed up into the corner with no one sat on it, even though there were people sat on the floor itself, that chair remained empty. "Annie's been finding it really hard, I don't think she fully understands what's happened, she's too young, she doesn't know how dangerous Molly can be and what the most likely outcome was for Daryl."

"I know how she feels," I mumbled.

"What?"

"I don't win that fight, no way. She got away and she took my family with her!" I blurted out. My hands were shaking, and that sick lump of fear was lodged in my throat. The room was silent. The tears began to flow. Sophie got up and handed me a box of tissues, wordlessly. No one said anything, but it felt better that way, I just felt like everyone was letting me have this moment of weakness. "So much for boys don't cry," I said finally.

Chip handed me another tissue. "It's a stupid saying. Go on, open the floodgates, let it all out."

I felt good to show a little moment of weakness, for the past two years I'd been strong and confident, never letting my family see my own sorrow or stress at the thought of taking care of everyone, dealing with bills, budgets and gangs of boys tearing down the walkways at two in the morning. I'd had to deal with nightmares and loan sharks and the fear of homelessness, but I'd never shed a tear. Now here I was, in a room of complete strangers, bawling my eyes out and not caring who saw me. When I finally stopped and saw a room full of sympathetic faces I almost started weeping again, but I managed to keep myself under control.

"If you don't mind me saying," said a guy from across the room, "you strike me as someone who's had quite a hard life."

No point in denying that fact. I nodded, "only since two years ago."

"What happened?"

"My dad died."

"Was he an elemental?"

"Yeah, Jack Hayden, or at least that's what everyone seems to be calling him."

There was a pause. "The war hero?"

Hero? War? What? "My dad was a war hero?"

"Yeah, he basically saved the whole Camp, without him we wouldn't be here today."

Well today was full of revelations. "Can you tell me about him?"

"I wanna here how you defeated Molly!" yelled a small kid from the crowd. A chorus of agreements rose up. Only silenced by a distinct grumbling sound that resembled a broken drain. Silence for a moment. Then an explosion of laughter.

Sophie was grinning broadly. "Just out of curiosity, when was the last time you ate, Nick?"

I cast my mind back. "Lunchtime," I said. "Yesterday, that is."

"I think you need some food in you then." She thought for a moment, "you just missed dinner, but maybe we might be able to find something leftover-"

"Stuff that, lets order pizza," announced Leela to the cheer of everyone.

"You've just had dinner," protested Sophie.

"I'm still hungry though, come on boss, for the newbie." Leela mocked begging and grovelling in front of Sophie.

Sophie sighed, but smiled. "Three pizzas only, and that includes the garlic bread."

Leela groaned but then turned to me. "Hey newbie. You pick a flavour, anything you like, in your honour."

"But if you pick something weird we will silently judge you for all eternity," Chip grinned.

I laughed. "Spicy Meat Feast?" I said a after a moments consideration. Half the room cheered.

"Carnivore." Said Leela as she dialled the phone number.

While the pizzas were on their way I took the time to tell everyone about the battle with Molly. I told them about the events leading up to the fight, emphasising some aspects of my evil teacher Mr Slattery including his protruding beer gut. I told them about Flame and how I had whacked him over the head with a branch. I explained my first meeting with Sheira. I described Molly and her goons in graphic detail, down to the last stitch. I walked them through the entire battle, acting some aspects out as I got into my own story to the delight of my audience.

Now I was hearing my own story I was struggling to believe it. Truth was truly stranger than fiction in this case, and while I may have emphasised a few details, I was telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It helped that Fire Cabin was a good audience, they booed and cheered and gasped and shrieked all in the right places. They hung on my every word and a few of them even screamed when I told them about the demon beast sinking its fangs into my arm and falling over the edge to my apparent doom and waking up in this strange new world. It didn't take me long, about half an hour, and I continued to tell my story as we dug into the pizzas and took turns taking swigs of Diet Coke from a bottle.

Never had food tasted so good, the pizzas were coated in hot melted cheese and had liberal chunks of hit pepperoni and chicken and beef and sausage buried like treasure under the thick gooey strands. I thanked Leela repeatedly, as Chip and Sophie begged to hear the part when I hit Jack's parrot over the head with a frying pan again and again until all three of us were doubled over with laughter. Being with these people was so strange. I'd know them for about an hour but already I felt closer to them than any of the friends I'd had in school. Never in my life had I felt so accepted in a group, I felt amazing. It was even better when they fulfilled their end of the bargin and told me about my dad.

It turns out, twenty years ago, the world had been on the brink of war. The Army was beginning to take shape, and was beginning to grow out of control. Back then there were two creatures like Molly, her and a sister creature called Penny. With their combined power the elemental world was put in danger. So, six people, Mum, Dad, Seeker, Ms Harper, a woman named Diana and a man named Light, formed a sort of suicide squad. They went on extensive missions into enemy territory, gathering information and loosing plenty of allies along the way and when the climax of the war was reached, these six found a way to drive the Army back by combining my dad's lightning bolt, which turns out he had actually stolen from an elemental spirit, going AWOL for six months as he recovered from paralysis after being struck by pure lighting, explaining his permanent lightning scars, and then my mother being a Vessel as well as the combined abilities of the other four unleashed a whole world of pain onto the Army, wiping out the majority of their forces in one fell swoop, including Penny, Molly's twin sister. It was rumoured that Penny had actually died later, after the battle, meaning that someone, probably a member of the six, had finished her off after the battle was done. But no one knew had done it.

Molly believed this, and ever since then she had carried a personal vendetta against those six elementals, swearing to kill them very, very slowly if she ever got her hands on them. Because of this Seeker and Ms Harper stayed in Camp, preparing for the next time Molly would gather enough forces to launch into round two. Light and Diana hadn't been seen in over twenty years, so many presumed that they might be dead. And as for my parents? They'd hidden their children, cloaking them from the elemental world until they were strong enough to fight on their own. Only it hadn't worked the way they had planned.

As I lay in bed studying the names carved into the wooden beam above me, in the room that my dad had called his own twenty years ago, I knew three things. One, Molly had killed Dad, there was no doubt about it. Her personal hatred for him would have been crazy enough for her to take out an entire power plant and twenty other people to get to him. Two, Mum was next, and so was Maxie and Lilah, guilty by association and they were going to be punished for something that they weren't even alive for. And three, last but most important of all, I was going to get them back, fight against the Army and destroy them. Once and for all.