Turned: Elementals, #1

By S. G. Basu

Welcome to Löthia—a picture-perfect world with a dark and hideous past.

When seventeen-year-old Anavyx Elon unleashes a fatal storm of spontaneous ice spatter, Löthia's tenuous peace—put in place by barbarous genetic tinkering over a millennia—disappears in the blink of an eye. The GROUST, a ruthless watchdog organization with the blood of countless Elementals on their hands, is determined to silence Anavyx before Löthia falls apart once again. Anavyx finds herself on the run and at the center of a storm that threatens to bring a terrifying past back to life.

Can Anavyx evade the GROUST? Or will she be yet another sacrifice made in the name of peace?

Turned is the first book in the Elementals trilogy, the paranormal fantasy thriller series that features non-stop action, surprising plot twists, compelling characters, and a kick-ass female heroine. If you like fast-paced adventure, thrilling paranormal powers, and dark conspiracies, then you’ll love this page-turning series from author S. G. Basu.

Pick up Turned to discover this exciting new series today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamweaver Press
• Release date: Sep 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781540161314

S. G. Basu

S.G. Basu is an aspiring potentate of a galaxy or two. She plots and plans with wondrous machines, cybernetic robots, time travelers and telekinetic adventurers, some of whom escape into the pages of her books. Books have been an important part of Ms. Basu's life. Even before she had learned to read on her own, she spent hours wandering in the stories her mother read to her. Soon enough, she was weaving a tapestry of magical tales of her own. Once upon a previous life on planet Earth, S.G. Basu trained to be an engineer, and her interest in science and her love of engineering shows up time and again in her books. She shares her home with a large collection of Legos, a patient husband, and resident inspiration and entertainer, her daughter. Find out more about the futuristic worlds she creates at sgbasu.com.

Book preview

Turned

Turned

A Paranormal Thriller Series

S. G. Basu

For fearless Allison, who wages wars to keep my words in line

Text copyright © 2015 by S. G. Basu

Image courtesy of bigstockphoto/ANZAV

Image courtesy of bigstockphoto/dolgachov

Image courtesy of bigstockphoto/nongkram_ch

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All rights reserved.

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products of the author's imagination and are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.

The author greatly appreciates you taking the time to read her work.

WARNING: This book is intended for mature audiences. It has a dark theme with many disturbing scenes and mature language.

Contents

Introduction

ANOMALY

Elemental Edict #1 of Löthia

1. Anomaly Zero

2. Chaos

3. Damage

AFTERMATH

Elemental Edict #2 of Löthia

4. Suspicion

5. Renegade

6. Distress

DECEPTION

Elemental Edict #3 of Löthia

7. Scandal

8. Duress

9. Power

COVENANT

Elemental Edict #4 of Löthia

10. Discord

11. Kindred

12. Fear

EXPOSURE

Elemental Edict #5 of Löthia

13. Hatred

14. Regret

15. Truth

16. Pursuit

17. Ambush

18. Clarity

19. Herald

20. Concession

21. Embrace

What’s next?

An Excerpt from ‘Forged’

Reflection

Appendix

Geography of Löthia

Cast of Characters

How YOU can help spread the word

Also by S. G. Basu

About the Author

Introduction

Löthia is at peace–after a millennium of genetic tinkering there has been no anomalous incident in the last 300 years.  The Löthians' power over the elements has been obliterated.

The Elemental Wars between the Peaks and the Flats that have plagued Löthian civilization from the beginning of time is now distant history.

This peace has been possible because of the relentless efforts of the GROUST, a watchdog organization that terminated the last of the fire and the water Elementals. To this day, the GROUST watches over Löthia and continues to weed out suspected Elementals ruthlessly. The force behind that bloody crusade is Tomlyn Elon, its feared and celebrated war strategist.

For all the horrors Tomlyn has unleashed on the Elementals, he lives picture-perfect life with his geneticist wife, Alana, and his seventeen-year-old daughter Anavyx.

As long as all is well with Löthia, Tomlyn’s future looks bright and secure. But will this peace last?

ANOMALY

Elemental Edict #1 of Löthia

Löthia is hereby declared free of Elementals. Usage of the elements as aided by psychokinesis is hereby declared illegal. Any person found guilty of using the elements by such means will be terminated as per GROUST Amendment 1045, 16.

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Year 4352, GROUST 8

1. Anomaly Zero

Anavyx Elon

1900 hours: Day 0 (night of dual complete moons)

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Nothing during the course of the grouchy summer day indicated that, by the time it was over, seventeen-year-old Anavyx Elon would be accused of the grisliest murder in recent Löthian history.

Dual complete moons blazed across the purple skies of Löthia that evening, and there shouldn’t have been any interruptions to Anavyx’s routine, yet there was.

She heard the faint noise of her bedroom door opening when she was halfway through her shower. Her body, warm from the water cascading down from the canopy over her head, stiffened immediately.

Moma? Anavyx called, voice trembling a little as her throat dried up with fear. No one replied.

It couldn’t be Moma.

Alana, her mother, was a top geneticist in the Peaks. Her evening consultation hours ended precisely at 2030 hours, not a moment before or after. There was no reason for her to leave her patients and come into the private section of the house looking for Anavyx.

Maybe it was Dadi.

Anavyx banished that idea with a shake of her head. It was impossible. Her father did not set foot in the house before midnight. Nothing except a calamity would bring him home this early. And even if he came home, he would never venture into her room. So who could it be?

There was no other noise after the door opened. That was the oddest thing—the silence. It made her insides curl up in a tight ball.

Anavyx reached for her robe and having wrapped its flowing expanse around herself, tiptoed forward to investigate. She barely took a step into her room, heart pounding uncontrollably fast and unbearably loud, when she saw him. A man, clad in an impeccable white suit, was sitting on her bed, cradling her personal portal, riffling through her files.

What in Löthia!

Anavyx wanted to scream. Or at least demand his identity. But her tongue, leaden and immobile, was trapped between jaws that refused to budge.

Anavyx Elon, you have a lot of secrets, the man said, smiling as if he had stumbled upon long-buried treasure. You and I are going to have long chat, Ana.

She tried to rush back into the bathroom. Her feet were glued to the floor.

She tried to wiggle her toes. Nothing.

You’re coming with me to the HQ, Ana. You know the GROUST headquarters, don’t you?

Of course she did. Her father was the chief strategist at the GROUST. She had known those shiny buildings spread across the top of summits 9 and 10 since she was a child.

But why did he want to take her there?

Nothing seemed right. The man, his slinking into her room, his threats. The fact that she couldn’t move or talk.

And where was Moma? There was a weird man in their house—how did she not know?

Ana, are you listening?

Anavyx bristled at the name he chose to address her. That name was only for Moma and Dadi. No one else could call her Ana. She wanted to yell, but her throat was stuck as if a lump of dirt had been shoved inside.

How did Papper’s hand get that bruise, Ana?

Papper? How did he know about Papper’s hand?

Ana? Are you listening? Don’t you remember Papper?

She remembered Papper all too well. But that was the last thing she wanted to think about. The bitch had had it coming.

Papper had no business laughing at her, none at all. And to think they had been friends since forever. They were, until Papper blossomed. The girl turned textbook beautiful—purple eyes, hair as dark as coal, figure all nice and curvy. Almost overnight, Papper changed into a creature that couldn’t be any more different than scrawny, brown-haired Anavyx with commonplace blue eyes.

Their lives went different directions. Suddenly, Papper was the queen of the hive. Girls and boys flocked around her, swarming like bugs on steroids. Anavyx had no place in that crowd.

Humiliation, still vivid in her memory, weighed on her eyelids and made them droop. Anavyx tried to clutch the robe tighter. Water dripped down her long tresses and pooled at her feet. Too much water! She was going to drown.

Like a predator, the intruder circled round and round. Papper’s bruise was most unusual. No matter how hard Anavyx tried to shut him out, his drab voice burrowed into her ears. She said you grabbed her wrist tight. I have grabbed people’s wrists, but that didn’t freeze their blood. What did you do to her, Ana?

Painful memories dug their pitiless claws into her heart, threatening to rip it into shreds. Anavyx tried to push them away, but they clung on obstinately.

If Papper didn’t want to stay her friend or be seen with her, that was understandable, but for Papper to turn into an enemy?

The mess was all because of Niazz, a secret crush Anavyx had told Papper a long time ago. Anavyx had thought it would remain just that forever—a secret between the two of them. How stupid of her. Papper didn’t understand the need for anonymity.

He’ll like you, Anavyx, Papper had crooned. When I tell him how much you love him, it’ll all work out. Don’t you worry.

There was plenty to worry. Boys like Niazz, boys who led the evening band, didn’t care about girls like Anavyx. Heck, he probably didn’t even know she existed. She was just a blurry face in the crowd of his swooning fans. Anavyx knew that. She liked him anyway. Quietly. From a distance. She liked being swept away in his heart-melting melodies. Only if Papper would let it be.

Anavyx had grabbed Papper’s arm in panic. To make her understand. Plead her case. Remind her of the good old days. Awaken the friend lost under the blossoming. Anything to stop Papper from moseying over to Niazz.

Perhaps she had grabbed Papper too tight. She must have because Papper screamed. The girls’ refreshment room filled with more screams of terror as soon as Anavyx had let go. A dark brown band had formed around Papper’s wrist, as if the blood underneath her skin had frozen.

Papper was too scared to file a complaint. Instead, she’d left Anavyx alone after that, for which Anavyx was thankful. She herself couldn’t figure what had happened. She had planned to speak to her mother about it, but something or the other always came up. A month passed just like that . . . dawdling.

Do you like water a lot, Ana? The man’s strange question whacked her thoughts into oblivion. Dark eyes bored into her soul. Other fluids, perhaps. Do you like . . . playing with them?

What? She didn’t care about fluids any more than Papper cared about her.

Have you seen things, water-related matter in particular, change rapidly around you? Maybe accidentally transformed them?

The puddle at Anavyx’s feet felt like ice. She hadn’t realized that her hair was dripping so much.

Moma won’t like this a bit.

Just then, a white shape swirled across the dark windowpanes.

Snow. What in Löthia . . . ? It was far too early for that stuff.

Anavyx remembered the last time she had gone out on a drive across the peaks with Moma and Dadi. Maybe a month or two ago. Anavyx was sad when it had started to rain. An hour into the trip the rains stopped.

No, it had changed. Into snow—a light, fairy-dust kind of snow that left everything sparkling—just like Anavyx had hoped.

Beeeeep!

Yes. The intruder almost shouted. His joyful gaze was fixed on the small, dialed band around his wrist that kept on beeping. You just recalled an anomalous incident. You changed the rain to snow that day, didn’t you?

How did he know what she was thinking about? And what had she done that day? Simply wished for snow. She had nothing to do with changing the rain to snow. Or did she? But how?

You are caught, Anavyx Elon. We’ve suspected your elemental inclinations for a while, but you’re Tomlyn Elon’s daughter. We couldn’t just bring you in for questioning. So, we had to sneak in to get to you. Perfect planning, I’d say. No better time than a night of dual complete moons for a mind scan, eh?

He had been reading her mind. That meant he was a cog-scanner.

Of course! That made sense.

That was why she couldn’t move. He’d frozen her reflexes.

The man must have understood the flash in her eyes, because he spoke almost immediately. Yes, I’m a cognition scanner, and I’m here to record your flux patterns. Got some great readings too. Not even your father can save you now. He grinned, baring his misshapen teeth. By the power of the GROUST Amendment 1045, 16 . . .

The 1045, 16?