BREWING STORMS

In no time, I'd gotten to my gate and I took some time to check the traps I'd set in place, to see if it had been disturbed by anyone. Thankfully, no one had come to this place today. I could tell because I had my ways around it. I went inside, with Matt trailing closely behind me. I doubted if he even had time to look at where he was going. Well, maybe he moved around effortlessly due to his vampire sense of smell,  because Matt had his head literally buried in his phone all through the time, and he had little or no time to even take note of his surroundings. If not for his vampire speed and agility, Matt would have had himself knocked down countless times by incoming vehicles, because he always was either looking into his phone or looking into his laptop. 

I went into my room, and kindly enough, Matt decided to stay in the living room, while I went in to take my bath and change into something appropriate for the occasion. As I entered the bathroom, I let the water heat up for a few minutes before getting into the tub and letting myself sink below the water surface, the exact way I liked it. Water had no harmful effects on me, and I could stay underwater for as long as I wanted to, because I was an elemental. Yes, I was an elemental, and very few people knew about this. Only my workers knew that I had elemental magic, and I hid it away from the world as much as I could, because the fewer people that knew about my elemental powers, the better for me, and the more advantage I had over them. Here in Buckland, one advantage you would have over any of your enemies is not necessarily strength, but the element of surprise, and the element of surprise was one tool I wanted to keep for as long as I could. If fewer people knew that I had elemental magic, the better it was for me to blend in, and evade surprise attacks. Your secrets being out in the open here, was the easiest way to get yourself killed. 

I discovered that I had these powers at a very young age. I did not grow up to meet my parents, but I guess I inherited it from them. Elemental powers, and in fact, all other magical abilities were passed on from parents to offspring, with slight modifications or alterations. However, I had learnt how to use it all by myself and I was quite proficient in it. Well, it wasn't as though there were no other elementals around. Buckland consisted of several paranormal beings, each with a different magical ability. 

There was the Dwarves, who were very short but very tough skinned and had unnatural strengths. A single dwarf was stronger than about ten normal humans put together and could do as much work as them without breaking a sweat. Again, there were the vampires. They had an unnatural kind of speed and strength, and unlike the conventional vampires in fictional books, vampires here in Buckland could comfortably come out in the sunlight and do every other thing a normal human being could do. The only feature that made them similar to the fictional vampires was their ability to suck blood from their victims. Though vampires here could eat any food a normal human will eat, they get their vampire strengths only from blood, and so, from time to time, they had to go get blood in order to replenish their energy. There also were the elementals. The elementals controlled the elements of water, air, fire and earth. Asides these ones, there were very few gifted elementals such as myself who could control an offshoot of these four basic elements. For instance, I could control water, air and an offshoot of earth - stone. I'd heard stories of elementals, powerful elementals who could control lightning, who could control the mind, and many other unimaginable things, though I had not yet met any of them. 

There were many other groups of Paranormals here, and each of them had their own specialties and powers. The common thing however, was that everyone fought for a favourable positions on the food chain. I looked at my watch and found out that if I didn't come out of the water now, I would run late. So, I quickly jumped out of the water, used my air magic to dry myself in a puff of steam, and quickly selected a simple gown from my wardrobe. I wouldn't say I was rich, but then I wasn't complaining either. I could comfortably provide every of my need because I had worked for it. I remembered staying on the streets of Buckland for the better part of my childhood days, working my ass out for despicable payments from my bosses then, while saving up every little penny of my earnings to start up my own business. My efforts had paid off, and I was the proud owner of the Annie Charlie Food Store, one of the best food stores in Buckland. As if on cue, I heard Matt's voice from the living room, telling me I had five more minutes to come out, unless unless I wished for him to come inside here and drag me out himself. I made a mental note to remind Matt of his place as my employee, while I applied some dark lipstick to further accentuate the intimidating look I wanted to have. This night, I was going to meet several underworld bosses, and being a petite girl, I needed to make my lips speak more than my stature, and that was exactly what I wanted to do. Well, I had Matt with me and his height alone was able to intimidate anyone. We also had Giants here in Buckland. The giants were very tall and had very thick skins too, but their skins weren't as tough as that of the dwarves. They also had strength, but their strength wasn't also as much as that of the dwarves, and they constituted one of the most dangerous group of Paranormals we had here. Where we were going, we were going to be meeting a whole lot of them. But then, I wasn't scared. Fear was one thing I didn't have and I was very sure I will won't ever be afraid of anything that will come to me because I'd had my own fair share of problems, all of which I had been able to overcome by myself, and I didn't think there was anything that could scare me now. It was not as though I was invincible. I knew that there were many people above me in the food chain, who could wipe me off Buckland with just a sniff but then I was very sure to maintain my lane, and not cross any of their paths. If however, any of them tries to cross my path, I wouldn't dare keep calm and watch them do that. Keeping calm here simply meant acknowledging defeat, which also simply meant being owned by whoever it was you had conceded to, and I wasn't ready to be owned by anyone, not yet and not ever. I hooked my necklace in place on my neck, just as Matt blasted into my room to drag me out as he had promised. I simply waved him off with a shrug and sent a little gust of air to ruffle his hair, making him remember that I could simply enclose him in a case of ice,  even before he could say "Jack". Well, I doubted if I could do that though. I was pretty sure that Matt would be a worthy partner with me in combat, because of his strength and speed as a vampire.

I walked out with large strides, as I gave Matt signals to lock the doors.  He was my PA after all, and then I had every right to give him orders. In no time, I was driving again this time not to my store, but to one of the busiest places in Buckland. I was travelling to the Diamond Court, a place where the Underworld bosses converge. The highest ranked of them met there to decide the fate of those far lower in the food chain. I had worked my way up to this level because of sheer diligence. As I drove along the roads of Buckland, I saw several children roaming about the streets, and then I couldn't help but think that those children would someday grow up to become thugs and bandits. Some of them had powers that they were yet to discover, but as time went on they were going to be able to use these powers and then they were going to start their own generational fight for supremacy, because that was how it was going to continue remaining. There would be continuous struggle for supremacy here in Buckland and it will never stop because human beings always had high affinity for being in charge, and no one would deliberately step down for the other to be on top, while they become the servant. 

In no time, I was already maneuvering my car into the diamond court and stepping out  from the car with Matt trailing closely behind me. I got to the door to meet few pairs of giants standing by the door as bouncers, ready to brutally deal with anyone who would want to come in without being invited. I quickly flashed my invitation at them, signalling to them also, that I was with Matt, and they allowed us entry. I looked very small, and as I entered into the court, I had the same feeling I'd always had, the few times I was here. I was quite intimidated by the sheer size of the people in here. The underworld bosses had not yet been able to figure out how I always resisted their attacks. At some point, I heard rumours that they had decided to agree, that it was my dwarf and vampire friends, who always helped me achieve these things. Well, I liked the way it was, and I wanted it to remain that way. I also knew that the incident at the store earlier today, would also pass the same message to them, because the thugs who had attacked my store would definitely go back with the information that I was only sitting down, watching my vampire and dwarf friend do the whole work. I wanted it to remain that way, because I was not yet ready to part with my secret. I knew that this would make me look more vulnerable to them because if they actually believed the rumours that were circulating, that I wasn't capable of doing anything, then it will not only put me in danger of constant attacks, but also put my friends, my workers in serious danger. They would want to attack my workers, because they would feel that if they were able to incapacitate either of Matt or Rosy, then they would have gotten to me. Little did they know that I had more potentials, and even though I looked really innocent, I had dangerous powers up my sleeves. 

I wasn't going to show them that anyways, so I gently walked into the court and made eye contact with some of the top bosses. Eye contact was also very necessary here in Buckland. I chose a table very close to one of the windows and sat there, making sure it was a place from which I could keep an eye on almost everyone. From the number of people here, I knew that  I had come very early, and I shot a warning glare to Matt, who shrugged me off as though I wasn't even referring to him. I made another mental note in my to-do list, that I was going to severely deal with Matt when we got back to the store. I got out my phone and started glancing through the internet, looking for the latest news in town well Matt had already briefed me of all that had been happening. The  normal tussle for power, how one underworld boss had attacked the other and how their fight went, who won and who lost. 

I just wanted something to keep myself busy, and that was why I decided to go through the internet again, but then, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go absolutely wrong here today.