Awaken the Elements (Elemental Trilogy) by Ellie Potts Read Free Book Online Page A

the cool glass and watched the doors close. The elevator hummed softly as it took her to the second floor. It was a short trip, since she had started on the third floor. Most people under thirty were sleeping on that floor; the older crowd sleeping above on the fourth floor.
                  The elevator binged as the doors opened, letting her out. She noticed it was not as quiet as above. The noise came from the infected groaning at the glass doors. Looking over at the dark shapes, she shivered. She stood where she was for a while just listening, trying to hear sounds other than the infected outside. No one should have been down here, unless they too were having trouble sleeping. They had all agreed no one was allowed to sleep on the second floor.
                  She walked slowly over to the middle of the mall where huge plastic palm trees with fake grass surrounding them sprang up in the middle of the white tiled floor. The trees went all the way up to the fourth floor. She looked up. Right above the palm tree tops was a glass dome. That’s why the fifth floor was smaller than the other floors. She scanned her surroundings; a water fountain shaped like a small pond sat neatly in-between the trees. She touched the tree. She knew but still had to touch the chocolate colored plastic base. 
                  With a small sigh, turning, she buried her right hand in her jean’s pocket, feeling for change. Her wandering fingers didn’t find any but did stumble upon some keys. She tried to figure out exactly what the keys were for. Then it came to her. Earlier, up on the fifth floor, she noticed the keys to level one, also known on the directory map as Playland.
                  Autumn started walking quietly by the stores, eyeing the merchandise, window shopping. She didn’t need money now; if she saw something she liked, it was hers. She pulled the keys from her pocket, looking at them. There were small keys and some larger keys, all with small codes on them, likely for the games and other stuff. From the website, she knew there were all kinds of things down in Playland.
                  Something in the window of Got Shocks caught her eye.
                  Was it movement?
                  She had not brought a weapon with her. Her eyes went up to the next level, and she thought briefly about going back. Autumn walked to the store. She reached the entranceway, grabbing the welcome sign from the base.
                  “Hello,” she called out in a louder whisper than she liked. She waited a few seconds. No one answered.
                  “I’m seeing things,” she told herself out loud. It was so quiet, her own voice startled her. She turned around, getting ready to leave, telling herself how silly she was as she lowered the sign. Just then something bulky fell, making a huge crashing sound. She jumped, spinning around quickly, the sign up and ready to swing. Someone or something was in here.
                  “Who’s in here?” She called out a little louder than before. She walked deeper into the store. Pausing, she looked down at the ground toward the back of the store. Lying there was a guy she had never seen before.
                  The guy looked up at her. “I sorta tripped,” he said.
                  “I see that. Who are you?” Autumn asked, giving the sign a small swing showing she meant business.
                  “Hey, no hatin’, girl. Name is Jaime RM. I’s be the rapper who was opening here today,” he said as he got to his feet and dusted off his pants. “Damn, just got these too. Just my luck to put a hole in them.”
                  “Never heard of you.” Autumn still had a death grip on the sign.
                  “I’m new to the scene,” he said, bending over to pick up his wallet. She noticed it had a little more