“Frick,” Aurora cursed as she stubbed her toe. She was packing her luggages in her car, getting ready to go to camp. It was her first year back since… the accident. It had been hard for her to get over what had happened. That was time she could never get back. Luckily, she was back this time as the Camp’s head counselor. She wanted to make sure that what she had gone though never happened to anyone. It was too traumatic, and she wouldn’t even wish it on her worst enemies.

3 years ago

“Ugh, this hill is too high,” Aurora complained, trekking up the hill to reach her destination, Camp Elemental. People assumed this because the camp was in the middle of the woods. But in reality, it was because the people in the camp were elementals. They all had powers, making them stand out from normal people. But here at camp,  they were all allowed to be who they were, without prying eyes. For most people the camp was the only place that they could truly let themselves be free. The camp was large, about 50 acres. There was plenty of space for everyone to live and practice their powers without the risk of accidentally hurting someone. 

“Aurora!!!!” Olive yelled, running towards her. “I’ve missed you,” she managed to say between deep breaths, trying to get oxygen into her lungs.

“Wassup, Olly?” Aurora asked, laughing at Olive. Aurora took her in, giving her a quick glance. She saw that Olive hadn’t really changed. She still had beautiful, light brown hair, and deep green eyes. 

“I see you haven’t grown at all,” Aurora said jokingly.

“That’s not fair,” Olly whined, “You're 17, I'm only 12. You are just too tall.”

“Sure, Sure,” Aurora said patronizingly. Aurora then ruffled Olive’s hair and moved on, wanting to put her stuff down in her cabin. Her cabin was deeper in the forest, made of a beautiful, black material. It sat deep in the shadows that the trees provided. Which made sense. Aurora was a shadow elemental, and quite a powerful one. She could travel between shadows easily, and had control over the shadows as well. Shadow elements were not as common as the other elements; she was one of only 8. People always thought that the shadow elementals were eccentric. They dubbed them “Malis” because they believed they were evil, or bad luck. This kept people from trying to talk to Aurora, but she didn’t care. She and the other Malis actually liked the name given to them. Aurora had never cared if people liked her. Most of the time she just ignored them. 

“Aurora, wait up for me!” Olly screeched, snapping Aurora out of her stupor. She waited for the girl, who was trying to catch her breath. Olly was one of the few people who Aurora had trusted enough to let in. Olly was a nature elemental. She wasn’t very powerful, so she could only grow small things. But that didn't stop her from trying her best to learn. Aurora had saved Olly from her bullies, which was how the two had met. It had taken Olive months to get Aurora to trust her. But now, Olly was inseparable from Aurora. She followed her wherever she went.

“I gotta go Olly, I’ll meet you in the pavilion in 30 minutes, okay?” Aurora said, impatient. She wanted to unpack her stuff in peace. She loved Olly, but sometimes she could be a bit much. 

“Okay! See you soon!” Olly said, skipping away. Aurora watched Olly, then rolled her eyes.

“What a child,” she muttered affectionately, moving towards her cabin.

“I hope you don’t mean me,” someone drawled into her ear. Aurora turned around surprised, about to slap whoever had said that. Then, after meeting the eyes of the offender, her eyes widened with surprise.