The 6 Elements

CHAPTER VII

The Six Elements

Layla walked for nearly 10 minutes now. Looking down is the best she can do. She was afraid she might lift a garbage dump, and a police officer would be hanging out in an alley and seem suspicious about her and the officer will arrest Pax too. Stop Thinking like that, that’s crazy. She thought. So Pax said it’s just like the streets. So that means I need to follow the same directions to go to him. That’s a left, right, right, and I can see an alley that has two parallel doors with a chain and padlock. Okay, I got this.

Walking to Pax’s what-she-called “Secret Lair” was easy now that she’d gotten used to it each day. Every other day before that, she’d just lie in her bed, with her phone, or play guitar, or read a book, or sleep. Sleeping would always ne her thing. Always. She’d just go out to a restaurant and eat there, she’d mostly go to Subway, or McDonalds, or Wendy’s. Ohh that’s her ultimate favorite. “Can I have a regular burger and 20 pieces of nuggets. Oh, and a frosty would sound good.” She remembered. Now that she’d spend her hours with Pax, and his crazy experiment, she’d order early, and she’d bring it with her in her handy-dandy backpack. Her guitar was left untouched a month now. So’s her book. It’s making her feel a little bit guilty though. She spent a lot of money on those, of course she ought to use it. Money was very hard to earn these days. She’d work on some days on an antique shop if she needed money. Now that she hadn’t got time to earn some because she spent her time with Pax, it was a bit of a relief. Of course, being kind of broke isn’t a relief, just the feeling of not being useless every second was. If it wasn’t for me Pax wouldn’t know the idea he had now. She thought. 

Oh here I am. Finally. She said to herself in relief. Pax had great unknown technology, he’d not just unlock the door with the padlock. There was a face scanner. Although, if Pax forgot to lock the door. The face scanner wouldn’t work either. Pax seemed cool to Layla, ever since she showed up like a complete stray in his Lab.

“Face scan: Complete. Layla Bergin.”  The computer said. Even though she doesn’t posses a key for the padlock, it unlocked automatically. If the government knew this they’d install it to each house and property they have. She thought once more. The doors were opened and inside was Pax, holding the knob. 

“Hey. Nice to see you. Come in?” he said like he was a kind of formal speaker, and like she was one of the guests wearing a long-neck and holding a suitcase filled with a billion dollars. Pax is acting odder and odder every day. Layla took a big step forward, and Pax closed the doors, locked them heavily, too. 

“You don’t lock the doors when I visit.” She spotted, she slowly sat on a chair. “Why’re you acting oddly these hours?”

“Because I’m not.” He excused himself, grabbed a chair and also sat down facing her. Lifting his right leg up and resting it in his left leg’s knee. “So…how was it?”

“It’s horrible yet exciting at the same time! It’s leaving me quite confused, Pax.” She leaned forward. “I haven’t said to you… Did you drink the other elements?”

“Not yet, would you like for me to start now?” he stood up and went to the table where all the other Erlenmeyer flasks are. He quickly grabbed one and drank it.

“Pax! What the heck! Stop that! Pax! Stop!” she hurried to him. “Why the hell did you do that so quickly! I still haven’t said at least 2 sentences about what I felt, Pax you don’t know! Pax don’t you dare drink the other on-“

He gulped and gulped all at once, it came to a surprise that he didn’t faint, or didn’t even ask for water. He just drank all of it. All the elements at once. It took a minute or two of Layla eternally screaming for Pax to stop, even though he didn’t. Then he finished all of them.

“P-Pax, you alright? Need water? Maybe other elements react differently to people, and maybe you won’t faint just like I did-“ Without Layla finishing her sentence, Pax let out a loud groan. It left Layla staring. Is he about to vomit?

“Pax, if you vomit on me, you’ll really regret it” she said, “Go to the toilet or sink or-“

Without hesitation, Pax vomited on the floor. His vomit was all dark green, it came out of his mouth, some spots of it in Layla’s jeans but before it splattered al over the floor, it evaporated in midair.  Just like that.

Layla hurried to the kitchen to get water and a tidy towel. While doing so she thought, If he vomited all of it, and it evaporated into thin air. Then we lost all the other elements. And I’m the only one who has one. But what if-

Ignoring her own thoughts, she came to aid Pax who was now kneeling on the floor, his hands in the air, probably wondering where it all went.

“Pax, drink this, go on.” She handed the cup of water to him, who was now shaking. She wiped his forehead, and his face, sweat was all over him. After 4 or 5 gulps, he handed the cup back to Layla, leaving her to put it back to the kitchen table. “You alright now? You shouldn’t have drank all those mixtures at once. I knew it was dangerous, you should’ve stopped when I told y-“

“I know! Now shut it!” he yelled with angst. He grabbed the towel away from Layla, who was staring at him with a puzzled, and confused glare. “The other elements- They’re in the air in here, we should suck all the air that’s left here and we can start over.”

He went to the table and threw the towel somewhere randomly.

“I know you can invent that and all but, Pax think it through, we’ll die if we do that-“

“Nothing matters now that they’re gone. We need to get them back.” He was acting like he was a crazy, mad scientist who was desperate for power. He was preparing materials, tools, assembling them. His hands so quick, she was sure it wouldn’t even work. Layla knows he wasn’t like that. He’s just stressed out that’s all.

“Pax, let’s just talk this through you don’t get it-“

“You’re the one who doesn’t get it! So shut up!” 

Layla wanted to get near him. Grab him. And just let him sit to the sofa for awhile. She attempted to get near him but-

“Stay away if you won’t help! You don’t help at all of course! You’re just as useless!” he shouted, his bright ginger hair all messed up. His glasses tilted. He was a bit crazy and mad. Just a bit. He’ll stop later. Layla thought, thinking as positive as she can. He didn’t mean what he said, because without me he won’t get this idea. 

“Pax, if you suck out all the air here, it’s obvious isn’t it? We’ll die of loss of air and it’ll be all for nothi-“

“STOP TALKING! JUST STOP! YOU’RE NOT EVEN HELPING!” He was really acting mad. He was out of his mind. But still Layla said to herself-

He doesn’t mean it. He doesn’t mean it. Just keep talking it through.

Him shouting was the most terrifying thing she saw, just like her step brother beating her up. But this time, she felt sorry for Pax. She felt sorry to whoever made him a mad, crazy, arrogant, man. Her.

“Pax, that won’t even work.”

She said quickly so she can finish what she’s saying. Pax was still banging stuff at the table, throwing some tools randomly, and soon reaching out to it. 

“P-Pax, stop pleas-“

“you don’t know!” He yelled, but it evaporated into a weeping whisper. Yes, he was crying. How odd it is to see him cry. Of course Layla thought he would sometimes cry alone, but crying in front of her, that was really odd. She was starting to feel really sorry for him, and really guilty. “you don’t know! What it’s like to lose your parents!”

“P-Pax, I think I do-“

“SHUT UP! FOR ONCE JUST SHUT UP!” his glasses came flying in the air once he threw it. “AAAARRGHH!” he screamed, grabbing his hair and messing it all up, pressing his fingers hard into his skull.

“you don’t know what it’s like. To lose your parents, lose your adoptive mother again, that felt like everything to you! YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO FINALLY HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED AND LOSE IT!”

His eyes were red because of crying. His face was all wet. His hair all tangled up. The white strand of hair he has on his right- I never noticed that before. 

There was actually a little strand of white hair on his right side. Now, it was scattered all over. It just came to Layla that she forgot all about that white strand of hair. She forgot to even question it. He probably dyed it white anyway, just to look all cool. She forgot that Pax was actually screaming his hat off.

“-oh and now you’re just staring at me like a dumb moron? After all that you did! I should’ve not let you in my house! I should’ve not trusted you! All these white strands in my hair! Is because of you! ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!”

“Pax, just calm down! Stop screaming! STOP, CALM DOWN!” and for a sudden moment, everything surrounding her was in slow-motion. Objects were moving outward, away from her. Pax was there. His hands in midair, his mouth about to shout, and his face all wet and messed up. For a moment, Layla thought, why are the objects moving? Wait is this-? Then everything was normal again, the objects flew outward, including the messy invention that Pax was about to make to suck all the air out of the lab. It hit the wall hardly and soon the pieces went apart and collapsed on the floor. Pax was staring at her, catching his breath. Layla was too. For a few seconds she stared blankly at him, and back to herself. Wondering how she did what she did earlier. “P-Pax..”

“Don’t.” he held his hand up to her. “Don’t say anything.”

“Pax-“

“Just leave!” he exclaimed, he went to sit in the couch, and put his elbows in his knees and palms in his eyes. “get out of my house. And my life. And never ever come back.” He was tearing up again, but this time, he was doing so silently soft.

Layla opened her mouth to say something, and soon ignored it, and shut it. She went to Pax’s bed to grab her backpack. She also went at the table to get some of her stuff. She was heading to the door and decided to say her final words to him. 

“Pax, I left my glasses here earlier. If you found it, just throw it away or burn it. Burn your notifier too. I’ll keep mine, even when it won’t answer.” She was about to head out and again and thought that her words weren’t enough to say goodbye. “And Pax… dry your tears. Because I’m doing what you want.”

She smiled at him like it was her last. It was. And went on. Leaving the doors ajar.

And with both not looking, the 6 quite unique shapes and textures of gas lying on the floor followed.