An Elemental Difference - AIR - Book 1 (Stefan Salvatore)

The smell of fresh coffee and newly cut grass mingled in the air as Aella Bennett padded down the stairs of the Gilbert household. Sunlight streamed through the kitchen window, illuminating dust motes dancing in the morning light. Jeremy was already at the counter, hunched over a bowl of cereal, earbuds firmly in place.

“Morning, sunshine,” Aella quipped, pulling out her favorite mug – a chipped, oversized ceramic with a faded cartoon wizard – and heading for the coffee maker. She hummed a slightly off-key tune, a habit she’d picked up from her Grams. Elena, ever the early bird, was probably already writing in her diary, or fretting about something. Jenna, bless her heart, was likely wrestling with her own morning routine, a whirlwind of papers and last-minute presentation nerves.

It was a typical Mystic Falls morning, deceptively calm. But Aella, with her inherent connection to the world’s unseen energies, felt a subtle hum beneath the surface, a faint whisper of change on the wind. She paused, coffee halfway to her lips, a prickle of unease brushing against her skin. Just a passing feeling, she told herself, probably just the jitters for the first day back at school.

She took a long sip of coffee, its warmth spreading through her. The world seemed to hold its breath for a moment, an anticipation that only she could truly sense. A new school year. New faces. What secrets would this year hold, she wondered, as she glanced out the window, watching the leaves rustle on the ancient oak tree in the front yard.