Once Upon a Steamy Night

"Claire! It's dangerous to run around the school after all this chaos took place!"

Claire stood again and whirled around. He was still standing before her. Her literature teacher was supposed to be on a vacation with his wife and his newborn baby. "What are you doing here?" She asked suddenly.

"What do you mean? You're the one who came into my office rambling about something and then you take off the moment you see me. It was almost as if you expected to see someone else." "Yes. The principal introduced a new teacher to us today and said you were with your wife and baby," she replied.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"I mean it, Sir. There was a new teacher. He was young with green eyes!" She cried.

"What is going on here? I asked you to leave the premises. Evacuate all the students here!" Principal Jenkins thundered as he came into view.

Claire stared at him with wide eyes. "Tell him, Principal. You got a new teacher for us because he was on a vacation with his wife and new baby, right?"

"Claire, your uncle Is here to pick you up. Go home, I think you've been traumatized enough for one day," the principal replied.

"What? I'm not traumatized. We got a new literature teacher today!" Claire cried, "Kol Rowland!"

"Claire, go home this minute!" The principal snapped.

Claire looked around for help when she saw Anna and her friends strutting out of the class, their eyes were red and puffy, she ran towards them.

"Anna! You saw the new teacher right? His name is Kol Rowland. You and your friends were drooling at the new literature teacher that was introduced to us today, right? He has green eyes. Can you remember?" She cried. Anna gave her a cool look and then pounced on her yanking her hair.

"You fucking murderer, you're a bloody psycho! I can't believe Liam got hurt because of you!"

"Let me go! Just tell them you remember the teacher!" Claire groaned.

"I don't know what you're talking about, bitch. But I know that it's your fault Liam got hurt and you're going to pay terribly for it!" Anna hissed in her ear.

"Claire! Claire!! Claire!!!"

Claire blinked as she heard her name being called repeatedly. She looked up and her eyes met shimmering worried golden orbs.

"I've been calling you for ages and asking you why you did what you did at school, but you just keep staring at that mug with a blank look."

Claire sighed but kept quiet.

"What happened, Claire? You can always talk to me," he coaxed.

"I don't know, Adam!" She cried.

"I'm seeing things and hearing things. My life is a fucking mess, I don't even know who I am. I have these strange powers and I almost killed somebody today! I almost killed Liam." She broke down in tears as her body shook from angry tears.

"Claire, I'm so sorry love but you have to get yourself together else it's going to start raining again," Adam said.

Claire looked up teary-eyed as the sky darkened and thunder rumbled in the clouds.

"I'm not even allowed to cry again!" She wailed.

The torrent of rain began in full force and she looked at the sky, a pathetic look on her face. Wiping off her tears, she took a deep breath and relaxed, slowly the rain stopped to a drizzle. "You're still upset, Claire," Adam pointed out.

"Do you blame me!" She moaned sadly, "My parents just died! I don't even know if they're my parents and next thing I'm being accused of their murder, also you show up and weird things start happening. I burnt Liam's palm today with my bracelet, and Scot is still hanging onto the ice freezing thing, turns out Liam didn't freeze also, and he saw the whole thing."

"You're doing it again, Claire!" Adam pointed out.

She glanced at the drizzle that had changed into another heavy downpour.

"Why does this keep happening!"

"Don't panic. You'll make it worse," Adam said calmly.

"Do something," she cried.

Lightning struck somewhere in the streets and screams of people filled the air. Thunder rumbled in the cloud as the rain increased.

"Make it stop!" She screamed, "It's happening just like it did in the school!"

The wind howled ceaselessly as panic gripped the entire town, everybody running around for shelter while the wind-tossed things around. "Claire, give me your hands."

She held Adam's hands as she tried to stop her racing heart.

"Don't panic. Just look at me."

Her eyes connected on his golden orbs and she could see her reflection in his eyes.

"Do you trust me?" His voice floated in her ears.

Adam was the last person she should trust especially since his presence had been the one to awaken all these powers. But somehow, staring into his eyes and holding his hands, she felt the connection, and she knew she could trust this stranger with her life. She gave him a slight nod and he smiled.

"Let go, Claire. You're going to pull through this," he whispered.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. When she opened It, there was a small smile playing on her lips.

"Look outside, Claire. You did it."

She followed Adam's line of vision and saw the rain had stopped, there was a rainbow in the clouds and the sun was starting to shine.

She didn't argue that he was the one who was responsible because deep down, she knew the power had come from her.

"Good girl," Adam commented, "Acknowledging your powers is your first step to learning how to control them." "Thank you, Adam," she smiled at him.

"It's time to talk, Claire. Tell me everything that happened at school today," he said.

She nodded and told him. She told him about the green-eyed boy in her history class, she told him about how Kol had been introduced as her teacher and how no one seemed to remember him, how she had burnt Liam's palm with her bracelet when he won't let her go.

"What triggered the panic attack that led to the storm that destroyed half of the lockers in the hallway, Claire?" Adam asked.

"Fear," her lips quivered.

Adam placed a warm hand over her hands, and she smiled gratefully at him.

"Scot had interrogated Liam and kept giving me suspicious looks. I panicked and left thinking about what the townspeople would do to me if they found out about my powers."

"Then you saw images and heard voices in your head," Adam said.

She nodded. "I couldn't move, and I wasn't even aware of what was happening around me."

"How did you snap out of it?" Adam asked.

"He kissed me," she replied, closing her eyes and savoring every detail of his lips pressed against hers. Her very first kiss and it was perfect.

"Claire?!"

She blinked and opened her eyes, a deep blush staining her cheeks as her ears turned red from embarrassment.

"You can fantasize about Liam's kiss later, but now, I need you to be focused."

Her ears reddened and she nodded stiffly.

"Liam kissed me and the vision disappeared, my mood changed, and he managed to push me out of the way before the locker fell on his leg," she finished.

"You are special, Claire," Adam began, "You are a faerie princess="

"What! So, you're a king? As in I'm royalty?"

"-with a lot of potentials," Adam continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, "Questions later, young lady."

She nodded.

"You are an elemental faerie and that's a rare kind of faerie. The last elemental faerie was two thousand years ago and since then, no one has seen one till you were born. You have a connection with all the elements, and they work according to your mood. That's why when your adopted parents died and you were out in the night, it rained and the same thing today."

"So, you're telling me that I have an elemental power, right?"

"That's your special power, Claire. You have magic coursing through your veins, you're a faerie, descendant of Tuatha Dé Danann. You are the most powerful being this world has ever known," he replied.

Claire's mouth hung open as she gaped at him. "I've been ignored all my life!"

"That's because you didn't know who you were and you had no confidence," Adam replied.

"So, you're telling me that I'm a faerie princess and the last of the elemental faerie?"

"That's who you are, Claire," he replied, "My daughter."

"That means you're a faerie King?" She asked.

He chuckled. "To be a faerie king I need a partner beside me, a powerful faerie partner."

"Is that why you're looking for my mom?" She asked.

"Your mom is human, Claire," he chuckled, "It's a mystery how you're this powerful when you're born of a human and a faerie."

"Oh, then why are you looking for her, and why have you not gotten married to claim the throne?"

"I don't want the throne, Claire. I only need to be with your mom, I left her once because of the throne, I'm not going to do it again."

"But you said you met her once."

"Yes, Claire. It's complicated but I met your mom eighteen years ago on the night of my coronation and the end of my banishment. She fell in love with me instantly and we had something special that brought you." "Then you left her."

I didn't know I was in love with her till I got back home. I was young, naive, and happy. I ascended the throne with a faerie my mom selected as my partner." "So, you're married?"

"No, not anymore. There was a war in our realm after three years of our marriage by the hunters. Somehow, they've managed to penetrate our shield and we fought, won but they killed her and left a surprise for us." "I'm sorry, Adam. It must have been painful for you."

He chuckled bitterly.

"It wasn't, Claire. The moment I had arrived home, I realized I made a mistake in coming back but I was bound by duty and I couldn't leave so I went ahead with the marriage and coronation. Losing her made me leave to find your mother and you because I had nothing left again, I gave up the throne. I couldn't find your mother, but I found you with this bracelet."

"So, this bracelet is magic?"

"No, it's to keep your magic in check and to keep your true form hidden."

"So, you couldn't find my mom?"

"I've roamed the earth and I can't find her with a locator spell. It's like she just vanished from the surface of the earth."

"What other surprise did the hunters leave?"

"That's where you come in, Claire. They left a tear in the veil between the mortal and immortal world. Over the years, that tear has widened and soon the earth is going to be crawling with demonic creatures." "Why would they do such horrible things?"

"The hunters care for only themselves and to destroy us. As the tear continues, our realm will be attacked, and we will grow weaker and be destroyed."

"So, this is just to destroy faeries that they've endangered the life of all."

"Yes, Claire."

"But what have I got to do with this?"

"You're the last and only elemental faerie who can repair the tear in the veil."

"What?!"

"You need to be prepared and trained by the guardians in the faerie realm. You are the hope of this world, Claire else It will all be consumed once the veil opens fully."

"But I'm just an ordinary girl," she said.

"You're not just an ordinary girl, Claire, you're my daughter. Come let me show you something."

He took her to the mirror in her room and removed the bracelet with a spell.

She gasped at the reflection in the mirror.