The Prophecy of Shadows by Michelle Madow

basement.
    “Finally you’re here,” she said, studying her nails. “Blake told us about the … thing that Darius showed you.”
    “You mean the prophecy?” I pulled the folded piece of paper out of my back pocket and waved it in the air.
    She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that.”
    Blake sat down next to her, and she placed her hand in his, a smug smile crossing her face. He didn’t lean into her, but he didn’t back away, either. He also refused to meet my eyes.
    “So,” I said, sitting as far away from Blake and Danielle as possible. “What do you all know so far?”
    Chris jumped right in. “Blake’s got some crazy fire power, Danielle just told us that she can control water, Kate makes plants grow without meaning to, and you made that glass explode today. And some prophecy talks about the comet making a wall grow thin, five representing each part of the world, and a journey east. I wouldn’t mind a trip to Europe, but it makes no sense.”
    “That’s the gist of it,” I said, placing the paper on the coffee table and flattening out the creases.
    Chris brought his hand up to his mouth and chewed his thumbnail. “So you all have cool powers, and I have nothing,” he said. “That kind of blows.”
    “Maybe you have power over the air,” I suggested. He stared at me blankly, and I continued, “You could try testing it out.”
    “And how should I do that?” The sarcasm in his tone surprised me. “Since you’re apparently the expert on all of this, even though you’ve only been here for a little over a week.”
    “Chill out.” Blake clenched his jaw and glared at Chris. “We won’t figure anything out if we attack each other.”
    My heart leaped at Blake’s defense of me. But when I tried to catch his gaze, he avoided me again, and I quickly deflated. So I looked away from him and focused on Chris. “Let’s see if you have an ability that you didn’t have before,” I suggested. “Try doing something with air control.”
    “Air control?” He laughed and pushed his sleeves up to his elbows. “What does that even mean?”
    “Try harnessing the air to create wind, and blow this paper off the table.”
    “Seriously?” He widened his eyes, looking at me like I’d lost my mind. “No one can do that. Not even the Elders.”
    “The Elders also can’t control fire, water, and plants, or make glasses explode,” Kate said from her spot on the floor. “You should try it. It’s no more far-fetched than what any of us can do.”
    “Nicole’s the one who made the glass explode,” he said. “Couldn’t that mean she’s air?”
    “It could,” I said. “But what I did was … different. I’ll explain soon. First, it’ll help if you try this. Please?”
    He sat straighter and planted both feet on the floor. “All right,” he said, leaning forward and rubbing his hands together. “Here goes nothing.” He stared at the paper and narrowed his eyes, his forehead creased in concentration.
    For a few seconds, nothing happened. Was I wrong in thinking he could do this? But then a gust of wind blew the paper off the table and across the room. It whirled up to slap the ceiling, and then fluttered to the floor next to the television.
    “I did it!” Chris exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. The paper swirled up again and landed back onto the table. “That was awesome.” He fell back down on the couch and gave Kate a high five. She tucked her hair behind her ears and looked back down at the floor, a small smile on her face.
    “Now, we know that you four each have control over a different element,” I said, clasping my hands in my lap and looking at each of them. “It could relate to where the prophecy says, ‘five representing each part of the world.’”
    “Each element has a color it correlates to,” Blake broke in. “Nicole and I looked it up online after Darius showed her the prophecy. Earth is green, fire is red, water is blue, and air is yellow.”
    Danielle huffed and crossed