"So what does that mean?" I asked looking from David to Angela.
"It means that you will either be the death of us all, or our hero." I jumped from surprise at the voice behind me and turned around to find a young boy behind me. He was a ghostly white child. About nine years old and shaved completely bald. He was wearing a brown leather loin cloth and a vest made from the same material. A dainty silver crown was on top of his head. The front of the crown had a lightning bolt made from a deep blue gem. Probably Aquamarine. I know I'm a sucker for useless knowledge, but it was the stone that fit. Legends say that Aquamarine can endow the wearer with foresight, courage, and happiness. It is said to increase intelligence and make one youthful. Although I could not figure out any reason why this little boy would be wearing it. His eyes were the same grey as the man from my dream. He gave me a once over, looked me in the eyes and asked, "So when was the last dream you had about your father?"
"How did you? Wait what do you mean, my father?" I turned to my foster parents, "What is he talking about?!" I asked practically screaming.
The boy cleared his throat and I turned to him. He pointed to a small leather chair that looked completely out of place with its surroundings. His throne maybe? "Take a seat and I will answer any questions you have." I sat down putting myself nearly eye level with the child. "Now ask away and I will answer them to the best of my abilities."
"Who are you?"
"My name is J'aret." He pronounced it like Jared. "I am the ruler of this village. And before you ask, no, I'm not to young. My knowledge of the Storms surpass anyone alive."
"Why is it that nearly everyone I come into contact with here lately has grey eyes?" I asked waving my hand from him to David and Angela."
The king just laughed and pointed to a mirror. A man stepped out from the shadows, a servant supposedly, and took the mirror from the wall. He brought it in front of me. I looked at the king confused and he just motioned to the mirror. I looked at my reflection and saw my surprised face staring back. My eyes had turned a smokey grey color. Almost the color of a dark storm cloud on the horizon. " What happened? Why did my eyes change color?" I couldn't look away from the mirror.
"Your powers have awakened." He looked at me as if that should have been the only answer I needed.
"So I'm some kind of lightning dude that dreams about a father he doesn't remember?" I looked at the faces staring back at me.
"Well if you want a simple watered down version, then yes that's you." J'aret motioned for the servant to hang the mirror back up. After he was finished he melted into the shadows waiting for his masters next call.
"Why am I dreaming about my father? I never knew him.  I don't even know what he looks like."
"That's not entirely true. You know what he looks like from your dreams. As to why he is creeping into your dreams. The only thing we can figure is a reason is the fact that his power is getting weak and he wants to find you before he dies. There can only be one Elemental for each element at any given time."
"Wait. So my father is dying because of me? What about you people? You all have grey eyes. Doesn't that mean your power has awakened too?"
"We all have certain parts of the Element we can control. David and Angela can only control enough to use for protection. I can use my part of the Element to read the coming storms and peoples thoughts. You will be able to control all aspects of the Storms when you are fully trained."
"Why me? Why will I be able to control them all?" I asked, just getting more confused.
"Because your father is the Storm Elemental. That is how he can get into your dreams. Once he dies you will take over his power." Thunder rolled in the distance. J'aret looked toward the west in the direction of the sound and lowered his head. "Something is coming, and he is coming for you." He pointed a finger at me.
"So are we in danger?" Angela asked.
"Johnny is, you all must leave now. His father is coming." J'aret said with a note of panic in his voice. I looked up when he said that.
"Why do I have to leave? I thought my father was looking for me before he dies?"
"He is Johnny, but he is going to kill you, that is why you must leave. If he kills you he will stay alive. Immortal even. That's a benefit of being an Elemental, you can't die without a child to take over the power. So if he kills you he continues to live on as if nothing happened."
"So what do I have to do?" It was hard to take in. My father wants me dead and he doesn't even know me.
"You must run. We will hold him off for as long as we can. David, take him to Persephone. She can train him to block his mind. Johnny you must learn to control your thoughts and block out intruders in your mind. That's how your father will find you. When you have learned that then you can begin the other aspects. After you are totally trained you can face your father." He was pushing me out the door and pulling Angela behind him. "Hurry he will be here in thirty minutes!"
Up ahead I saw a small truck with a big toothless guy driving. David sprinted ahead of us to the drivers window and talked to him before jumping over the side into the bed of the truck. He motioned for us to hurry. The thunder loomed louder above us and I stole a glance to the sky. Dark grey, almost black, clouds were rolling overhead. Behind us lightening streaked from cloud to cloud. Crackling and popping. Suddenly a crash of thunder so loud we had to cover our ears roared across the village and the winds blew a smaller hut over revealing the family huddled inside seeking shelter. We reached the tailgate of the truck and jumped in. David slapped the side twice and the driver took off across the country side. There was an airstrip across the plain and a small private jet was rolling out of the hangar. Behind us the clouds formed a wall moving over the village. Older men all gathered around the king and raised their hands towards the sky. Lightening struck one man and he flew backwards landing in a crumpled heap. The rest of the men had blue energy gathered around their hands and were starting to form a shield above the village. Lightening struck at the blue bubble as it grew bigger. We made it to the airstrip and David picked me up and jumped out of the still rolling pickup. He ran to the plane as the engines were starting. We got inside and he sat me down in a seat and dashed to the cockpit to tell the pilots to take off. As the plane started rolling Angela jumped in and pulled the door shut. Out the window I could see the Storm attacking the small shielded village. On the outside edge of the shield looking towards the airstrip stood a man in a long leather trench coat.

Maria was standing in the doorway that lead to the courtyard. She was wearing a flowered dress that went really well with her tanned skin and long black hair, really beautiful to be thirty something. She waved her hand towards the door motioning me outside.
As I entered the courtyard I could see a couple standing in the middle of the five acre plot. They looked like tourists. He was in an expensive business looking business suit. He had blonde hair, and was wearing some sporty looking sun glasses. She was in a solid black dress that came to just below her knees and had dirty blonde hair that fell to just below her shoulders. She had sunglasses on that looked way to big for her eyes. The couple just stood there like they were in awe of the place. From the outside Five Acres looks like a giant school, so it gets a lot of surprised looks when visitors see its mostly a giant play ground.
To my left kids were racing back and forth along the length of the swimming pool. On my right some of the younger kids were starting a game of hide-and-seek. Up ahead at the other end of the courtyard the parents were in the middle of a softball game.
The couple did a three-sixty look around and stopped when the turned to me. Maria nudged me in the back and whispered so only I would hear "Go say hi dodo brain."
I stepped towards them as Maria introduced us "Johnny, this is David and Angela Caine." David extended his hand to me offering a hand shake. I just stared at it until Maria nudged me again. I stuck my hand out and David reached to shake it. When he came within a quarter of an inch to my hand a blue spark arced from my hand to his like a bolt of static electricity. It always happens when I'm angry or nervous. I didn't get the nickname Sparky for nothing. Its worse when I get angry. Maria says I have a temper equal to a lightning storm. Sam has told me I glow in my sleep. That's always on a night when I dream of the tall dark stranger.
David jerked his hand away rubbing the spot on his palm where he got popped. "I'm sorry," I said just looking at the ground, "I must be a little nervous."
Angela let out a small laugh. "Don't feel bad we are nervous too." She gave me a sincere smile as david pulled his sunglasses off and slipped them in his pocket. He reached down to pick up my suitcase. Now that I could see them, his eyes were a smokey grey color. My thoughts went back to my dreams and the strange man. This guy didn't match though. He was pale skinned not the tall and dark like the man in my dreams. But his eyes were still a bit unsettling. Angela cleared her throat to put a break in the awkward silence. David glanced at her and said "I guess we should get going." and he headed through the building and out the front door. Angela trailed just a few steps behind him. Maria put her hand on my shoulder and steered me to follow them. "Be nice to these people Sparky. They're a really nice couple, just give it time and they will open up to you." I gave her a half hearted smile. At least she was trying to help me feel better. We walked out the front door as Angela was sitting down in the passenger seat and David was closing the trunk lid. He stepped to the side of the car and opened the rear passenger door for me. Probably didn't want my fingerprints on his shiny new cadillac I thought to myself. Although it was a really beautiful car. Solid black, looked like it had just rolled off the assembly line. I even caught a whiff of the new car smell in the light summer breeze. I climbed in and buckled my seat belt and waved at Angela. David got in, started the car and we were off.
As we headed down the highway Angela turned around in her seat to look at me and asked, " So Johnny, where would you like to spend the rest of your summer?" I blinked just looking at her dumbfounded. I had never really had a vacation. A group of the adults at the orphanage had raised enough money one time to take all of the kids to the Grand Canyon for a weekend. That had been the furthest away from home I had ever been. "We will take you anywhere in the world you would like to go." She said noting the look of shock on my face. I had always wanted to travel the world but now that I could pick anywhere to go I felt lost. I guess the top place on my list had always been New Zealand. Mainly because that's where Lord of the Rings was filmed. It was my favorite book and movie of all time, so I thought I would try my luck.
"Could we go to New Zealand?" Angela pulled her sunglasses off and eyed me over, looking to see if I was serious I guess. Her eyes were the same smokey grey color of her husbands. They had the look of age and wisdom in them which didn't really fit the age of the rest of her body.
"If New Zealand is where you want to go then that's where we will go." Wow I thought to myself. I had heard rumors that this family was loaded, but to not bat an eye at loading up and flying halfway around the world at the whim of a kid, that was more money than they knew what to do with.
She turned around and sat back down in her seat as David reached and turned the radio on. Some guy was singing something about his IPod being stuck on replay. This wasn't really the kind of music I liked. I listened to older music that was made with actual instruments instead of computers. David, as if reading my mind, hit the seek button and told me, "Yell when you hear music that you like." The radio stopped on a song with a beautiful flute intro and a country rhythm  to the lyrics. I motioned for him to stop. The band was one that I listened to a lot. "Always something greener on the other side of that hill." The singers voice came from the speakers. David drummed his fingers to the beat on the steering wheel and his lips moved with the words to the song. As the chorus started and he "heard it in a love song" I saw David's hands tighten on the steering wheel as he shouted "Hold on!"
Next thing I know I see a blinding red flash and feel a searing heat. The front of the car comes to a grinding halt as the rear comes up off the pavement. I shut my eyes and all of a sudden I feel like I'm flying. I open one eye as I crash into the grass. I tumble a bit and come to a stop. I stand, amazed at the fact that I'm able to, and look back towards the car. The wreckage is now just a giant fireball, the front was smashed flat as if a giant fist came down on it and stopped the car where it sat. I look down at the ground where I'm standing and see two black strips that I realize had once been my seat belt. Behind me I find a chunk of metal that looks like it had come from the roof of the car. As I look more closely I notice a light blue sphere surrounding me. As the tall blades of grass blow in the breeze against my blue bubble electricity sparks pop and crack onto the grass. I look back to the car thinking that this family didn't last near as long as the last one when another blinding red glow hits me from behind. I fly towards the car and land beside a post that was once a road sign. I stand back up a little dazed and look back to the source of the red light and see a woman. At least I thought it was a woman, she had the figure of a woman but she was glowing red. As she started walking towards me I realized she was actually made of rock. It put me in mind of a female version of The Thing from the Fantastic 4. Wherever there were cracks between the rocks glowed red like lava. She held a hand up and a red fireball appeared in her palm. She took a pose like a major league baseball pitcher on the mound and hurled the fireball at my face. I ducked just in time for it to skim the top of my blue bubble and fly off into the wild blue. That seemed to just make her mad. She started running towards me, faster than I had ever seen a normal person run. I grabbed the closest thing I could reach and came up with the sign post. As my grip tightened around it the electric sphere disappeared from around me and the post lit up like a light saber. When the she-devil got within swinging distance I swung the post as hard as I could and caught the creature below the right armpit and sliced down to her hip. Electricity arced across her entire body. She freezes with a look of shock (no pun intended) on her face and let's out a shrill scream as the flames go out and she turns to stone. When all the glow was gone from the torch girls body it collapses into a pile of rubble. I drop the sign post and look at the car burning to my left about ten feet away. It was now totally engulfed in an inferno. There was no way my new family could have survived. Suddenly weariness attacked me and I felt like I hadn't slept in weeks. I collapsed from exhaustion on the road side.

February 28th, 1995
A tall man in his forties wearing a long tan leather trench coat is walking down Mountain View Street with a basket in one hand and an umbrella in the other.  A light rain is falling but the thunder is rumbling loud enough that the windows of the houses are shaking. Lightning streaks across the dark sky illuminating the city of Altadena as well as the mid day sun. The weather was a fluke, the entire day had been calm and sunny. And now the thunder storm came from nowhere as if it was following the tall dark stranger.
He passes a tall victorian house and arrives at his destination. The wrought iron gate was tall, over 7 feet, and was made not to keep intruders out but to keep the occupants inside safe.
The building was old. One hundred and seven years old to be exact. It was founded as an orphanage but now it provided assistance to everyone from domestic violence victims to child foster care. The gate was always locked after hours and seeing as how it was 11:30 at night it should have been locked tight but as the stranger grabbed the handle to the gate it swung open as freely as if it was broad daylight. He walked up the sidewalk to the doorstep and gently set the basket down under the awning out of the rain. A small baby with black hair and blue eyes looked up at his father with an innocent smile. The man straightened and turned to walk back down sidewalk. He closed the gate behind him and the lock clicked shut. As he walked down the street back from the way he had come. The storm seemed to follow him out of the county of Los Angeles.
As he disappeared on the horizon a final streak of lightning and clash of thunder ran through the sky. The baby in the basket started crying as a woman opened the door. She looked down at the boy and reached to pick him up. As her skin brushed his a small pop of static electricity hit her hand. Startled she picked up the basket with him still in it and took him inside....