It was a dark and stormy night, and it followed one of the hottest days that the town of Little Rock had seen all year. This was despite the fact that they were just about to head into winter. It wasn’t that unexpected however. The Elemental Festival was in town for the duration of the week and elementals weren’t exactly know for their high levels of control. The place was filled with sprites and weathermakers, causing intense storms and then later breezy sun showers or sweltering snowstorms on a whim. It was bad enough with the regular elementals but this week it was pure chaos.

“Agatha! Come on.” Mindy rolled her eyes, as she clutched at Trevor. Both of them stood outside massive iron gates, hunched under a single umbrella. Two other kids from their class waited with them; a girl in a bright red coat and glasses who swung on the gates which marked the main entrance to the old house, and a boy, in a not quite waterproof parka.

“I’m . . . coming” Agatha gasped between breaths.

”We’re not even walking up hill. If you’d ever lived in Ridgetown you’d have died before you’d have gotten anywhere.”

“Be nice Mindy,” Trevor scolded her, but it was light tone, as if he didn’t really care, it was just what he was expected to say.

Fat Agatha finally reached the gates, puffing and panting for all she was worth.

Now that they had no reason to wait the other teenagers eyed the house nervously as if not wanting to be the first to breach the wall. Even the girl on the gate, who had looked so restless when she’d been waiting, didn’t suggest they move further in yet.

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Mindy and her boyfriend Trevor had won the genetic lottery as kids, and because of their innate luck in life, the rest of the group looked to them for instruction.

Mindy, who was lithe and pretty with wavy hazelnut hair, placed her hands on her hips and pushed up her chin. “Well, what are you waiting for?” she said putting on her best posh voice. She was the envy of many and she knew it, although she never would have said it. She was too polite for that, and while she was a stunner, she was more than just a pretty face.

Despite her nice clothes and proper posture, Mindy’s family was run of the mill middle class. But thanks to her superb sewing skills and eye for detail in fashion she had managed to convince everyone at school otherwise, including Trevor, who unlike Mindy, had been lucky enough to win the class lottery as well.

Trevor, with soft sandy hair and a face that would probably look young for his years, nodded at the girl on the gate. “Is it unlocked?”

The girl on the gate, also known as Brandy pushed her head up against the railings so she could peer down at the chain that tied one gate to the other. She shook her head and shrugged. “Looks like we’re going to have to climb over.”

“Ugh, let me have a look,” Dylan, the boy in the not quite waterproof parka said as he rolled his eyes at Agatha who was still getting her breath back.

He studied the lock for some time with a frown. Trevor was almost about to prompt him for an answer when Dylan turned around and shrugged.

“Yup,” he said “looks like we’re going to have to climb over. As he finished speaking he turned and leaped up to grab the top of the gate and hoisted himself up and over. He was down on the other side and running for the cover of the house before anyone else had even moved.

“He couldn’t have just said that straight away,” Mindy complained. She didn’t waste any time beyond that one sentence though. Almost as fast as Dylan had, she too scaled the gate.

“He’s just being funny,” Trevor replied as he pulled himself up and over the gate alongside Brandy, who stopped at the top to adjust her glasses.

Agatha sighed and looked up at the gate for a few seconds before calling, “Wait for me.” But nobody heard her.