Her own powers had been hard to control at first. So hard, indeed that she had almost died twice as a child. Like most Glibs the first signs of her gift had appeared when she was six years old. She had always gotten cold rather easily but one day during a rather warm summer day, the chills started. She couldn’t stop shivering and had gone to see her father who was talking on the phone. She tugged at his sleeve, her teeth chattering violently by then.
Her father didn’t even turn around when he covered the receiver to quickly admonished her. She knew that it was no use to try to talk to him. When he was busy managing her brother’s future all other things needed to wait. She should have gone to looking for her mother then, but the frost that had taken over her body had become so overwhelming that all she could do was huddle up in a corner of her father’s office, hoping that he would be done with his phone call soon.
The last thing she remembered before losing consciousness was the dazzling reflection on the ceiling that came from the pond in front of her father’s study. The buzzing sound of a dragonfly beating its wings against the window panes followed her into the darkness.
The second time had been just as scary. Noticing the chill that had taken hold of her had nothing to do with the frosty winter day outside, she had panicked. The fear of the frost made her look for a source of warmth with little regard for her safety. She ran into the kitchen and pulled up a stool to reach the gas stove. It took her a few tries to strike a match with her shaking hands. Then she opened up the gas of all four burners and lit them quickly.
Even though she was standing quite close to the fire, the cold wouldn’t leave her. Holding her hands all but into the flame she suddenly felt a strange current running through her body, from her fingertips all the way down to her toes. It was almost as if her skin had become absorbent like a sponge. She felt the warmth of the fire being sucked from the flame and into her body and abruptly the frost in her veins was replaced with the blaze of a firestorm. She started to yell in agony.
Her mother came in only seconds later, realizing her daughter had tried to ward off the cold with fire, she snatched her away from the stove only to pull back her hand quickly from Santana’s scalding skin. Hesitating for only a second, she dragged her over to the door, picked her up and laid her on top of the hard-packed snow in the backyard.
Santana shook her head quickly to get rid of the memory of her mother’s panic-stricken look. A squealing sound make her look up. Ava was tickling Tint who was sitting on top of her head.
“I give up, I give up!” the little sprite chortled.
“Alright”, Ava conceded and let him go. She looked much happier now that she had made up with Tint. Sneakily Santana lifted her camera to her eye and pressed the release.
“Hey!” the two of them said in unison. “This was a private moment”, Ava complained.
“Yes, personal and private” Tint backed her up. With a slight “Pop” he suddenly disappeared from Ava’s head and appeared again on Santana’s knee. He drew himself up to his full height and put his hand on his hips looking up at her.
“Very personal and private!” Ava said copying Tint’s pose next to her.
“Damn paparazzi! What about my privacy?” Santana smiled at their mock-indignant faces.
“Oh, stop complaining. This is just going into the family album.” She carefully put the camera back into her school bag.
“Speaking of family, how his Micah?” she asked. Imperceptibly the mood had changed. Ava and Tint shared a quick look.
“I’m going to see, if he’s online tonight.” Ava said quietly.
- - -
After dinner in the dining hall, Ava went upstairs but didn’t stay long in the common room with the others. The dormitory was empty as most people were occupied with homework or lounging in the big armchairs in front of the fire. She got out her laptop and settled on her bed.
An hour later she was still waiting for her brother to come online. As she couldn’t call Micah, the only way to keep in contact with him were regular conversations via instant messenger.
“Well, not the only way”, she thought. “Tint?” she called out loud. “Will you please come out?” The familiar “pop” made her breathe a sigh of relief. She felt Tint’s reassuring weight on her shoulder and turned around to face him.
“Will you please go home and check on Micah?” she asked him. She didn’t have to ask twice. The sprite gave a short nod and disappeared again. Ava curled up and waited for his return. Only after a minute did she notice that he hadn’t even argued or complained about going. It only made her worry more.
