One Mysterious Night

The Titus Alsfield Republic.

A place where all elements coexist alongside each other in harmony.

Outside of the city limits lies the horrors of discrimination and the residences of non shifters, stuck in poverty and crime.

In a small family of four, Luisa Donaldson lived in the slums of Zephir, a populated city just outside of Montrose that was flooded with the shiftless. Despite the poor living conditions, she remained diligent; straight A's, a student athlete, and still managed to work a part time job.

Luisa was completely ordinary, surrounded in her world without the magic of elements.

But how did being ordinary make her so different?

Her father, little brother, and even her stepmom shared the same reddish orange eyes and the ability to shift fire. Of course it always confused her as a child, considering she was the only one in her family who couldn't shift at all.

Her eye color wasn't even blue, gray, or green like the other elements- it reflected a deep amethyst hue.

Growing up, she definitely assumed she was adopted with heavily similar features to her family, but nevertheless, she stopped questioning it as she grew older.

That was, until they decided to move into the Republic.

It was a dream for her family, getting to experience life around people just like them after settling in the slums.

Though, she couldn't dread it more, knowing she would be the only person who wasn't like the others.

"Hey, sweetheart. Got everything for school tomorrow?" a knock on the door was heard, making her head snap up at the sound.

Her father, Calvin, peeked through the opening. His eyes trailed over the boxes that still weren't fully unpacked, despite moving in two weeks ago.

"No." she mumbled, inattentively scrolling through her phone.

Calvin let out a sigh, stepping into her space. He looked at her room that was barely decorated, only the essentials laid out. "Min, it's been days. Your brother is already unpacked." he frowned.

Luisa rolled her eyes, hearing the younger boy yell from the other room at his television. "Jason only unpacked cause he wanted to play video games."

He chuckled, taking a seat on the edge of her bed.

"I know it's different, but I've been wanting to move here with Maribel for years. Jason deserves a chance to be around people like him."

"I know, I was holding you guys back from moving here." she replied bitterly, pitying herself for being the only non shifter in the household.

Despite living with Jason's real mom, Maribel, most of her life, she just never considered her as her own. Sure, she makes an effort, but it's never settled correctly that she has absolutely no memories of her biological mother.

"No, it's not that. Living in the Republic is expensive and Maribel couldn't afford commuting here for work anymore. We're lucky we saved up enough and landed some pretty good paying jobs." he tried reassuring her.

"Whatever." she sighed deeply.

"Have you been talking to Damon? It's a bummer he couldn't drive up here for Christmas." Calvin changed the topic, understanding she wasn't fond of the idea of moving.

Luisa nodded in response, cracking a small smile at the mention of his name. "Yeah, he and I are fine." she shrugged.

"Long distance, huh?"

Her lips pursed at the reminder, feeling heavily burdened with the concept. "It can't be that bad, it's only a thirty minute drive without traffic. He said he'll visit on the weekends and I can drive to Zephir too." She convinced herself.

Calvin ruffled the messy hair on her head, standing back up. "That's the spirit, Minnie. Make sure you wake your brother up for school tomorrow." he smiled, walking out of the room.

A small groan left her lips, remembering she had to go to the same school as him.

It was bad enough being the only non shifter attending the school, but people knowing she had an annoying first year brother? She could only imagine how dreadful the first week was going to be.

Finally stretching out of her bed, she lugged her feet to the room beside hers, swinging the door open.

"Go mid. No, I said mid- fucking shit!" the pubescent boy yelled into his headset, angrily mashing the buttons on his controller.

"Watch your language." Luisa leaned against the doorway, earning his attention.

"What do you want?" Jason grumbled, laying back into his beanbag while taking a sip of the energy drink beside him on the floor.

"Is that your hot older sister?!" a boy in his headset asked, making both of their faces scrunch up in disgust.

"Keep dreaming, kiddo." she leaned into the mic, rolling her eyes. "I'm waking you up early tomorrow, I need to get gas and breakfast." she informed him, making an obnoxious groan leave his lips.

"Why?" he whined.

"I just told you why, you brat. Get some sleep tonight, you've been yelling till six in the morning the past week."

Jason silently mocked her as she walked outside of his room, back into her own.

She unlocked her phone, clicking on someone's contact to FaceTime. It rang a few times before they picked up, making a small smile appear on her lips.

"Hey, babe." a deep voice greeted her on the other end.

"Hi, I'm about to go to sleep so I wanted to talk for a bit." she grinned at the screen, rubbing her eyes with her free hand.

The boy didn't spare a glance to his phone, keeping his eyes focused on the monitor of his PC setup.

"You're playing video games, aren't you?" she exhaled deeply, still not gaining his attention.

"Damon?" she said louder into the mic, finally averting his gaze.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Sorry, I'm in the middle of a game right now." he let out a low whistle, making her lips form into a slight frown.

Nevertheless, she smiled at the camera softly. "It's alright, I'm gonna get some rest then. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Her tone was sweet, but disappointment filled her system.

"Cool, I'll talk to you tomorrow, babe. Love you!" he said over the clicking of his keyboard.

"I love you too." she hung up the call, shutting her phone off in the process.

There was no doubt that she felt the inevitable melancholy that followed as she adjusted to the new space. Her eyes trailed over the unpacked boxes that still sat on her floor, despite everyone else that had fully moved into the new home.

It was as if settling down meant really leaving everything she knew behind learning how to live with the new society she was foreign to.

A girl like her didn't know how to fit into the lavish house on the street full of politician's daughters and sons, skilled shifters at that.

No rays of the moon spilled through her curtains due to the gloomy clouds that always lingered above their roof, regardless if it were clear skies everywhere else.

"It's like the sky is feeling the same way." she whispered to herself, pulling the blanket up to her chin.

As she closed her eyes, she processed the idea of going to school tomorrow, a place where every kid was nothing like her. No matter how much she tried to make good of the situation, she couldn't come up with anything, accepting that she'd be friendless for the rest of her senior year.

"Welcome to the Republic, I guess." she sighed, falling into a deep slumber.