...And The Fifth Element Is Fear

By Linda Sawicki

A mysterious ring that gives the powers of the Elements of Air, Fire, Water and Earth to those who possess it, is the obsessions of evil wizard, Lucas Collerton, a time traveler who has chased the ring through many incarnations. Until now, the wizard has had little success. But in this existence he believes his eternal enemies have no memory of battles fought in lifetimes past, or if his four opponents recognize each other at all.. This time, his threats will fall on the innocent, the weak, and he will stop at nothing, even death, to steal the ring.

When Katie Connelly finds an old ring tucked inside a wooden box with pictures etched into the top, she has no idea of the danger about to come crashing into her family summer vacation on Martha's Vineyard. She had hoped this would be a time to celebrate her fifteenth birthday with new friends, Cassie, Robinson, and Johnny, not realizing their lives have been entwined during many lifetimes.
Their world become a race in time to discover who they really are and the powers they have, in order to protect the ring, the town, and those they love from the terror the wizard has brought to destroy them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Linda Sawicki
• Release date: Oct 22, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301658190

Linda Sawicki

I live in Rochester, NY with my husband, Mark. I have lived here almost all of my life except for a brief stay in California when I was a kid. Other than most winters that last way too long...it is a pretty fun place to live.Writing is my favorite thing to do. I love dreaming up my newest character, or continuing their story in a second book.I have loved to write since I was a teen and managed to collect a following of friends who complained until I completed the next chapter of my book, or my latest short story.When I started writing my first novel "And The Fifth Element is Fear" in the "Element Series," I though I was creating a short story. Before I knew it...I had completed my first book. Since there are four main characters, I decided to continue on giving Katie, Robinson, Cassie, and Johnny their own story inside each book. Now, I love them like they are my own kids!I am a different kind of writer, I guess. Most authors devise an outline and know exactly where each chapter is going...that is definitely not my style. When I sit down at my computer, many times I haven't a clue what difficulties my characters will be getting into that day...sounds crazy, right? But when I write my heroes into a tight situation I feel like I am right there with them...and sometimes it makes me a bit nervous until I determine how to save them...and me.If you enjoy writing, and I hope you do, respect the way other authors develop their creations...but never doubt your abilities or your methods of writing. Your story is yours only to tell...just do it!I hope you will enjoy each of my books. If you have any comments, or suggestions, please e-mail me at:[e-mail] Thanks!

Book preview

Chapter 1

Each year, during the months of July and August, our family takes a vacation.

We visit a new place my parents picked out by digging through ads and AAA books. After reading the same pages over and over again for months during the cold winter, they would finally make the great announcement. It had to have certain things going for it like: museums of interest, art houses for lingering observations, at least two restaurants for fine dining, and most importantly: a cottage where there would be comfy beach chairs for relaxing and enjoying a glass of wine while recouping all the energy they had lost teaching students who don’t give a damn about anything other than rock music and the opposite sex. For two months during the summer, the talk about anything that resembles a curriculum or state standards is barred from discussions. Fine with me.

As for my requests, all I want are a few kids my age, almost fifteen, a town with a movie theater, a place that can serve a good hot fudge sundae, and something resembling a beach. Easy, I think. Usually my parents do a pretty good job of giving me my wishes. My sister, Rene, stated that any resort even in consideration had to have a teen club nearby for hanging out and meeting cute boys, and a salon where she could be pampered by having her toe nails painted and her hair styled for the many dates she would have after meeting previously referred to boys. Personally all that work makes me tired.

Finally, after long discussions and arguments, the vacation spot is chosen.

Wow! What a great place to celebrate turning fifteen. The parents outdid themselves! I step onto the little porch attached to my bedroom at the beach house we're renting for the summer. Across a narrow road, the most perfect beach stretches before me. The waves crash onto the sand sending small children rushing back to their families as they squeal with laughter. Blankets are spread out for sun worshippers, umbrellas for shade dwellers.

I definitely got the best room out of this deal. I grinned. My older sister Rene had begun complaining the moment we stepped from our van. She needed to have the biggest room. After all, she is the oldest and definitely the one with the most stuff, and surely that is a good enough reason for her demands to be met.

True, this room is much smaller but I have my own bathroom away from Rene's collection of sticky hair spray and mousse; and I have this great view.

Looking out at the ocean, my attention drifts for a minute as I think about arriving here. The minute I got out of our van and looked around at the beach and the other New England style houses that lined the old road, there was something familiar. I couldn't put my finger on it or remember anything special, but I swear I had been here before. I made a mental note to ask mom about it. Maybe we had visited here when I was a little kid.

I can smell the sweet aroma of roses. I hadn't noticed them around the house when we pulled in, but on the floor of the porch, red petals blow over the wood and settle against the white railing. Although their scent is beautiful, for some reason, right now, the smell seems to be a bit pungent and disturbing.

As I turn to go back inside to get ready for the beach, everything starts blurring and spinning. My knees almost buckle under me and if it wasn't for the railing on the porch, my butt would have made a definite connection with the floor. I rest my back against the weathered wood as a burst of heat blasts through my body, almost bringing my lunch past my throat and throwing it on my shoe.

What the heck is this? I whisper trying to force myself to take a deep breath; but failing miserably. Leaning back against the wooden doorframe, I close my eyes and try to relax. As suddenly as it arrived, it's gone. Bizarre. Weird. Another fifteen words come to mind as whatever happened to me passes by.

It is extremely hot out, I reason. That could have caused me to almost pass out, right? Right. Being overheated can do that to a person, can't it?

By the time I pass though the doorway into the coolness of the my air-conditioned bedroom I have myself convinced I need to drink more water and be careful with the blast furnace of the summer heat. The heat was what did this to me, I was sure of it.

I was so busy trying to convince myself, I didn't notice the snake as it slithered from the drainpipe down to the floor, passing over the doorframe I had leaned against only moments before.

As it traveled on to the edge of the porch, the red flower petals evaporated in the sunlight.

Hey mom? I yelled as I turned the corner into the kitchen. My mother was just filling her tall glass with fresh lemonade, placing it on a tray beside a plate of crackers and cheese.

I'm right here Kate.

I have to ask you a question.

Well, OK, but before you do I'd like to make a request myself. Before you take off for the beach, would you be a wonderful daughter and help your dad set up his computer in the den? And remind him there is to be no curriculum writing or lesson plans while he is on vacation.

He shouldn't have any problem mom, it's suppose to be a WiFi set up. But, just to please my darling mother, I'll check in on him.

Thanks. she smiled as she pushed open the screened door leading to the back deck. Now, what's up?

I follow her outside, Mom, have we visited here before? I mean, maybe when I was real little?

No hon, we've never been to Martha's Vineyard before. Kind of wish we had. It's just beautiful here. Why do you ask?

Shrugging, I mentioned how familiar everything was. How it seemed I had been here before.

Mom grinned, Glad you like the place but this is the first time in the area for all of us.

Did you notice the smell of the roses? It's pretty strong. There must be a lot of them.

We have roses? Mom shakes her head. I didn't see any. Are you sure?

Maybe I'm wrong, but it sure looked like rose petals on my porch. Don't know how they got there but oh well.

Waving goodbye I head for the den. Leaning through the doorway I see my dad stretched out on a big black leather chair that sat behind a desk almost the size of Montana. He had already opened his laptop and was eagerly typing with rapid pounding of the keys.

You are supposed to be on vacation. I said, Work was to be left behind and not spoken of during the entire time.

He smiled and continued typing. After a few seconds he paused, looked up and said I wasn’t doing any school stuff, just looking for the best fishing spots in the area and directions on how to get there.

Fish on, I answer, turning to the hallway. I’m going to the beach.

Swim on! he laughs and waves with one hand while continuing to type with the other. Watch the undertow.

I was a good swimmer. Number two on my swimming team, so I was sure I knew what I was doing. The parents didn’t need to even give it a thought nothing was going to happen to me.

Chapter 2

As I stepped onto the road and crossed over to the beach, I climbed down a bank of grass. Just as I reached the sand a large bird, the size and color of a full-grown crow, swooped down and attempted to latch onto the ponytail on the top of my head. Ducking, I swatted at him and he flew away only to make another sweep one moment later. Suddenly from behind me a Frisbee flew by and hit that bird square in the chest. Squawking, it tumbled onto the beach and after a second flew away.

Whoa! That was somethin’! a voice yelled from behind me. When I turned around to see my rescuer, my eyes rested on the lanky frame of a rather tall, thin, and pasty white body of a guy about my age. On top of his head was a mass of curly, bright red hair that reminded me of an overloaded plate of spaghetti. A bridge of freckles covered his nose.

That bird must have thought that was a haystack on the top of your head and was going to use it to puff up its nest.

Dork! I sneered at him while I pulled the ends of my hair tighter in the rubber band.

Fine way to thank me for saving your life, or at least what resembles the hair on your head. He laughed. In fact he laughed so hard he almost doubled over.

Reaching up I checked to see if I found anything resembling bird poop in my hair.

Wasn’t that funny! Who are you anyway? Do you live around here or did you just arrive from another planet? I stared up at him, shading my eyes from the sun. He was about 5 inches taller than I was, and despite his gawkiness, had a warm and friendly smile.

Robinson Jamison at your service miss! he proclaimed while sweeping his hand in a bow. My family rented one of the cottages over there for a couple of months. I just got here yesterday afternoon and thought I would come down here on the beach to see if I could rescue some poor defenseless waif like yourself. And here you are!

Defenseless waif? I’ll show you defenseless! Robinson doubled over again but this time it was to avoid my swinging fist.

Hey! That’s a fine way to treat your knight in shining armor! He laughed as he ran to catch up with me as I headed further down the beach.

Smirking, I spread my towel on the sand and waited for him to drop down beside me. His long gawky arms and legs spread out like butter on toast. Wiggling his toes and fingers he smiled over at me.

Do you have a name, or is a title appropriate?

Katie Connelly. Miss Connelly to you! I offered my hand in queenly fashion.

Laughing he flicked some sand toward my leg and then raised his arms to defend against a possible retaliation.

"Nice to meet you Miss Connelly. Do you live around here or have you dropped in from a neighboring planet of mine?

We’re renting the white cottage with the big porch in front. Actually, I’m from New York.

New York? The City, the Great White Way, Time Square, the Yankees? Robinson was almost turning inside out with excitement.

I waved my hands in the air signaling him to stop and take a breath before he passed out. Whoa! Not New York City! I live upstate in a town near Rochester which is on Lake Ontario.

Oh. He paused and seemed disappointed. I know where Rochester is because I live right near there too.

No way!

Way. I live in Victor, New York; it’s just southeast of Rochester. Do you know it? he asked.

Eastview Mall, just around the corner, Eastview Mall on Route 96 I echoed the jingle to the mega mall near to where he lived.

Ok enough with the tune. Where are you from?

Spencerport. Just a little west of heaven. I joked.

We wrestled there one time for some tournament for our high school.

You wrestle? I know I sounded incredibly surprised but he took it in good humor.

Naw, just went to the tournament. Judging from the way you attempted to swing your fist, I would guess that you made the boxing team though. He laughed as I stuck my tongue out at him.

So that was it, the meeting of the first of my new, soon to be partner in crime. Robinson Jamison. All six foot of gangly rubber like skin and bones, with a sense of humor as big as the ocean, and who would soon prove to have the heart and courage to match.

Chapter 3

The next morning Robinson offered to show me the town of Angel Bluffs and promised to buy me a hot fudge sundae if I agreed to go with him. Never one to pass up my favorite sundae I got the all clear from my mom and dad who insisted they meet Robinson before I was going to spend much time with him. Of course, within minutes they nodded their approval and we were off to find excitement in Angel Bluffs.

We walked down a two-lane road that had no sidewalks but a large dirt area to each side. It took about ten minutes before we turned a corner and entered the town. I liked the place immediately. I could see there were areas of adult interest grown from tradition and history, but mostly it was a town that screamed with tourist interests. Agreeing with Robinson that it was pretty cool, we checked out all the little shops that lined the streets. Old lights that looked like oil lamps hung on shepherd’s hooks were lined up and down the sidewalks. The streets were packed with visitors and a few courageous town people who must have had important stuff to do to put them selves in the center of such chaos. Each storefront was painted a different color. Bright flags and signs hung from the roofs and shutters. There were candy stores, souvenir shops, fabric stores, flag emporiums, restaurants with small tables for dining and people watching, and best of all, there was a small theater advertising the latest sci-fi movie. As good luck would have it, the ice cream store with a picture in the front window of a monstrous hot fudge sundae was next to the theater. Once again, life was good!

Robinson was doing everything possible to walk beside me but there were just too many people to allow for that. Trying to point out each place of interest, and the fact he had been totally accurate about the movies and the sundae shop, his long arms were flinging left and right. A boy with Robinson’s extreme extremities should not be allowed to wave uncontrollably in the presence of a large crowd of people who are not paying attention to where they are going or when they are stopping to enter a shop.

While attempting to point out the hot fudge sundae poster and the fact that the ice cream came in seven different sizes, his gangly freckled arm swung to the right knocking a large beach hat and equally large sunglasses off a rather petite girl exiting the shop carrying a triple-decker ice cream cone of Rocky Road, Strawberry, and Death by Chocolate. As her glasses flew in the air her ice cream nicely landed right inside the big old hat, which then flipped over, the entire three scoops and waffle cone crashed on top of her orange flip-flops.

In an effort to help remove the ice cream from her shoe, Robinson knelt down quickly causing her to slide right over the top of his shoulder as she leaned forward to remove her sandal. Plop, the ice cream loaded flip-flop tumbled to the sidewalk.

What the heck! Are you trying to kill me or something, A loud voice came from where someone would expect to hear a tiny sound.

Ah, no, not really. Sorry about that. I was attempting to show my friend Katie that great picture of her favorite sundae, hot fudge. Robinson was doing his best to set upright a totally pissed off, short girl. Both of them trying to move in opposite directions to right the collision, made it worse. The ice cream covered foot was swinging in the air and managed to land upon Robinson’s knee and a portion of his white shorts. There was a very creative outline of a small foot with five toes in the color of chocolate.

Will you just stand still for God’s sake, you ridiculous boy, and let me get my balance.

While pushing Robinson back a few steps and shaking her foot to at least remove the cone and a lump of Death by Chocolate ice cream, the girl started to laugh. The more she looked at her hat that had been filled with ice cream and her foot covered with blobs of chocolate, plus the total look of horror on my and Robinson’s face, she totally lost control of herself. Sitting down on the curb she attempted to stop laughing and regain a fraction of dignity but she wasn’t winning the battle.

Looking up, she noticed we were still standing with our mouths open in total shock. I’m Cassidy Evans! Cassie for short. Pulling herself up she shook her head when Robinson offered his hand. No thank you. I think I’m safer this way.

Are you ok? Robinson stammered. I am so very sorry.

So you said. Do you always flail your arms so wildly, knocking a poor innocent girl’s ice cream into her new straw hat, then making her new sandals so sticky they will surely be making a sucking noise when they flop down the street?

No, I, I’m, oh I don’t know what the freak I am!

Now after watching Robinson become so tongue-tied, I couldn’t help starting to laugh myself.

Hi, I’m Katie Connolly. I held out my hand and Cassidy instantly reached out to grab it. This Gumby style of a boy is Robinson Jamison, and I think you are possibly the first person to ever render him totally speechless.

From there the two of us helped Cassidy over to a bench and managed to get a cup of water from a nearby soda cart vendor so she could successfully wash the ice cream off of her foot and shoe. The hat, unfortunately, found itself dumped into the trash after we decided there was no saving it. Besides, who could possibly want to wear a hat once filled with three flavors of ice cream?

Where ya from Cassidy? Do you live here in Angel Bluffs?

Actually Katie I am from a town called Webster, NY. It is just a little bit east of…

Rochester! both Robinson and I answered.

Cassidy looked at both of us. You too?

Spencerport, I replied. Victor. I pointed at Robinson.

Eastview Mall, just around the corner, Eastview Mall…. Cassidy started to sing.

Enough with the song! Is that all you girls do is shop?

It’s a great mall! we echoed.

Cassidy and I both stared at each other and started to laugh again.

Oh brother! Robinson’s shoulders collapsed as he shook his head. Women!

And so began the friendship of three New York State kids on a vacation in a small resort town in Massachusetts and the combining of three of the necessary factors that would bring a total upheaval to our, until now, reasonably innocent and unassuming lives.

Chapter 4

Cassidy Evans stood about five feet two inches tall. That made her five inches shorter than me, and ten inches shorter than Robinson. When we walked down the street together, we resembled steps. It was interesting all of us had different hair colors. Robinson’s is bright red and very curly, Cassidy’s is brown and bone straight, and mine light blond and a bit wavy. Cassidy is very petite with the smallest feet I had ever seen. When she put her foot up against Robinson’s, it barely made it past his arch. Hand size too, was hysterical, since Cassidy’s hand fit totally inside Robinson’s palm.

I always thought I was a pretty average looking girl with my shoulder length blond hair, green eyes, and a sort of normal sized body. It was only a few years ago that my body decided to take on any kind of shape when I noticed my shirts were not fitting the same and my favorite jeans needed to be given off to Goodwill since they were way too big around the waist and way too small around the hips. Until recently I never really bothered wearing any kind of makeup. It was only when Rene told me I resembled a blank sheet of white paper that I allowed her to take liberties with my complexion and dust me up with blush, a mascara wand, and a touch of pink lipstick. It did make an improvement and, on most days, I made an attempt to remember to use the items Rene so nicely donated from her mass collection of creative masquerades.

As fashion goes, I was greatly lacking in that department too. Just before we had started school last September, Rene, and several of her friends, took me by the hand and led me to the infamous Eastview Mall. After spending hours and many dollars donated by my dear parents in hope that their youngest daughter would come home with some kind of style, we decided on several items from the GAP, Aero, and American Eagle. After what seemed like days, we agreed I had finally reached the point where I was in style enough to return to school and be