She scanned the shore for the two girls he'd been with, but they were gone. Aggie had no idea where they had gone or how they'd left. Her attention had only really been focused on Daniel. Since he'd been the one to try to save her, she had to return the favor, but she didn't owe the other passengers anything.
"John!" Daniel shouted, and he tried to push against her. "John!"
"John's gone," Aggie told him, speaking as firmly as she could. "He's gone, okay? Now we need to save you."
"No." He fought Aggie, even though he barely had any strength and was trembling in her arms.
"Shh, okay? Just calm down," Aggie said, making her voice lyrical, but he didn't seem to notice. "Come now, weary traveler, I'll lead you through the waves."
Instead of calming down the way Aggie had thought he would, Daniel only became more fervent in his struggles. He grabbed the front of her dress, balling up the wet fabric in his hand, and stared up at her with a fresh intensity.
"Listen to me, I have to find him. He's my only brother, and it was my fault," Daniel said, his voice cracking as he spoke. "I crashed the boat, and I can't lose him. Please. You have to help me."
"I'll help you," Aggie said, brushing his hair back from his forehead. "What's your name?"
"What?" he asked.
"What's your name?" she asked again, louder this time.
"Daniel."
"Daniel." She took a deep breath, still stroking his hair. "You're dying, and I have to get you out of here. We can't help your brother. He didn't make it. But none of this is your fault, okay? You didn't do anything wrong."
He stared at her, his expression unchanged, with his fist still balled up, and for a minute she thought he hadn't heard her. Then a single tear slid from his eye.
"We need to get out of here," Aggie said again.
She stood up and tried to help him to his feet, but Daniel was either unable or unwilling to stand. When she tried to take a step with him, he tumbled back down on the rocks.
"Leave me," Daniel said when she crouched down next to him. His eyes were pleading with her. "Leave me here to die."
And she actually considered it. She'd done her part. She'd pulled him from the water, and if he wanted to be left here, that was his problem. Even helping this much had already put her at risk.
Aggie had been gone for a few days, so her sisters would be looking for her soon, and it would bring all kinds of unwanted questions if they discovered her in Capri. And if she actually answered their questions, it would mean the end of her. They would destroy her if they knew what she was up to.
Until this, she'd been doing so well, doing her best to stay below the radar everywhere she went. She'd only planned on being here a couple hours, not long enough to leave any kind of trace for her sisters to find. Right after she had spoken to the witch, she'd meant to leave, but the full moon had made the night swim too enticing, and she couldn't resist.
And now she was in this mess. Aggie should be moving on instead of helping some boy, but she couldn't bring herself to leave him. She didn't want any more people to die because of her.
"I can't leave you," she said finally. "But I have no idea what I'm going to do with you."
With or without his consent, Aggie was determined to save him. Daniel had apparently gone into some kind of shock, and she had to pick him up, because he wasn't moving.
If she wanted to save him, she would need someone else to help her, but who did she know in Capri?
5. Ameliorate
Lydia always slept better at home. Maybe it was because she didn't have a roommate snoring loudly, but Lydia liked to think it was because of how safe she felt here.
Nothing ever seemed to touch her grandma's house, despite its supernatural contents (or more likely because of them). But no place in the world felt safer. She could sleep soundlessly and wonderfully all night long.
Or at least usually she could.
"Lydia, get up," Delia announced as she slammed open her bedroom door.
"Why? What? Is there a fire?" Lydia sat up in her bed and squinted at the bright light spilling around her grandma from the hallway.
"No, there's no fire," Delia said. "We just need to be up."
"Why? What for?" Lydia looked over at the alarm clock next to her bed. "It's, like, two in the morning. Why do we need to be up?"
"Just wake up and meet me downstairs in five minutes," Delia said, then she disappeared.
Lydia yawned and looked over at the blue troll doll standing on her dresser, the jewel in its stomach glinting from the hall light. It smiled brightly, as if it didn't know that she'd just been awoken from this really great dream about a cute guy in her English class.
"You're entirely too happy about this," Lydia told the doll, then got up out of bed.
She went to the bathroom and smoothed out her black hair, which somehow had gotten so messy from sleep that it stuck up all over the place almost as bad as the troll doll's did.
Delia had instructed her to wake up, but hadn't told her if she needed to be dressed for this mystery occasion, so Lydia decided to pass on the clothes and went in her plaid pajama pants and T-shirt.
When she came downstairs, she discovered Delia sitting at the dining table drinking a cup of coffee. She wore the same U2 shirt from earlier but paired with a pair of pajama shorts for bed, so Lydia wasn't completely off base in her attire.
"There's a pot of coffee in the kitchen if you want some," Delia said.
"Do I have time for a cup?" Lydia asked.
Delia shrugged. "Maybe."
"What's going on?" Lydia asked. "Why are we awake?"
"I just had a sense that we should be," Delia said. "You know how my senses are."
Lydia had spent her whole life hearing about Delia's senses and following up on hunches. Most of the time they turned out be right. Delia hadn't ever really explained what they were, other than some type of feeling, and Lydia guessed that her grandma had some kind of mild psychic abilities.
"I don't know, Nana," Lydia said as she glanced around. "It seems like your senses might be wrong this time."
Just then the doorbell rang, a loud booming noise that echoed through the whole house.
"Never doubt your Nana," Delia said with a sly smile. "Now get the door."
When Lydia opened the front door, she found the most beautiful girl she'd ever seen. Her long chestnut waves framed her face, and the porch light made her hair positively glisten. Thick lashes hooded her russet eyes. Her tanned skin was impossibly smooth, making her look almost unreal, like she was a hallucination or a CGI creation. The pale blue dress she wore was soaked, so it clung to her curves, and the fabric dripped water on her bare feet.
It was a few seconds before Lydia even noticed the bloody boy in her arms, and even then she couldn't form the words to speak.
"Who are you?" Lydia asked finally, sounding far more in awe than she would've liked.
"I'm..." She seemed to hesitate, then the boy in her arms groaned, and she glanced down at him. "I'm Aggie, and I need your help."
"Lydia, let the poor girl in," Delia commanded.
She'd gotten up from the dining room table and was on her way over when Lydia opened the door wide enough so Aggie could come in. She had to step carefully to keep from knocking him against the door frame.
Aggie didn't look much more than eighteen or nineteen herself, but she carried the injured boy with surprising ease. He was much taller than her, with his long legs dangling over one arm, and he appeared strong and muscular, so he had to be heavy, but she didn't seem to notice.
"Lydia, get a blanket so we can lay him down," Delia said.
Lydia ran to the hall closet and grabbed an old blanket. When she returned, Delia had her head to the boy's chest, listening for his heartbeat while Aggie held him.
"Do you need me to get your kit?" Lydia asked as she spread the blanket out on the floor.
Delia shook her head. "Not yet."
Aggie lowered the boy down on the blanket. One
of his arms flopped to the side, and, almost delicately, she laid it across his stomach. Delia and Aggie knelt on either side of him so they could inspect him, but Lydia stayed standing, hovering beside her grandma.
He seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness, but when he was out, his face relaxed, and Lydia realized that he was younger than she'd originally thought. He would probably grow up to be a handsome man, but now his features still had the softness of a boy's.
His skin was ashen, and his lips had a cerulean hue to them. Lydia couldn't be sure if that was because he was soaking wet and it was forty degrees outside, or if it was something supernatural.
"So, what are we dealing with here?" Delia asked, holding her hand against her forehead.
"Um, his name is Daniel," Aggie said. "He's lost some blood, and he was in the water for longer than he should've been."
Delia lifted up his right arm so she could get a better look at his wounds. His shoulder and his upper back were mangled, and Lydia could see the muscle protruding through the tears in his flesh. When Delia touched a gash, Daniel moaned softly.
"What did this to him?" Delia asked.
"Was it a werewolf?" Lydia asked.
Aggie shook her head. "No, it was just an accident. He was run over by a boat propeller."
"Is he..."--Delia attempted to give Aggie a knowing look--"anything?"
"What?" Aggie asked.
"Warlock, vampire, troll, nephilim, et cetera?" Delia elaborated.
Aggie shook her head quickly. "Oh, no, no, he's mortal. He's just a human."
"I need to find him," Daniel mumbled, then turned his head to the side. His eyelids fluttered but didn't open. "I have to get him."
"What's he talking about?" Delia asked.
"His brother," Aggie said. "He was in the accident with him."
"And he's not here?" Delia asked.
"No," Aggie replied simply, and Delia didn't press it further.
"Has he been asleep the whole time?" Delia lifted one of his eyelids, checking for something. Daniel weakly swatted at her, so she took his hand, gently holding it. "Shh, it's okay, sweetie. You're safe, and we'll take care of you."
"He was awake, but he's been going in and out for a while," Aggie said. "I thought he might be in shock or something."
"He may be," Delia agreed. She leaned closer to him, still holding his hand, and she stroked his damp hair. "Daniel, can you hear me?"
"What did I do?" he mumbled again and began moving. He turned his head to the side, and then he opened his eyes wide, looking completely stricken. "What have I done?"
"Daniel, everything's going to be okay," Delia said. He tried to sit up, and she put a hand on his shoulder, holding him down. "Daniel, you need to stop moving. You're hurt."
"I've tried singing to him to calm him down, but it doesn't seem to help," Aggie said.
"Nana, do you want me to get your kit?" Lydia asked.
Delia thought for a second, then looked up at her. "No. Not the kit. Go upstairs to the bathroom and get the salve out of the medicine cabinet. It's in a purple glass jar on the top shelf."
Lydia hurried upstairs. Since her childhood, she'd been helping assist her grandma in all kinds of situations like this. When she was done with college, she hoped to officially start apprenticing with her. But right now she was satisfied to help in any capacity, even if it was just using the bathroom sink for support as she stretched to get a jar off the top shelf.
When she came back downstairs, she found everyone in much the same position. Daniel was still moaning, and Delia was crouched over him trying to calm him, while Aggie looked on.
"Here you go," Lydia said as she handed her grandma the jar.
"Thank you, my dear." Delia propped Daniel up so he was lying on his side. "Aggie, can you hold him?"
Once Aggie had him, Delia opened the jar of salve and scooped some out with her hand. It reminded Lydia of petroleum jelly, except it had a bluish tone to it. Lydia had a feeling that if they turned out the lights, it probably would glow in the dark.
"Is that supposed to heal him?" Aggie asked as Delia rubbed it in Daniel's wounds.
"Not exactly," Delia said. "It's to slow the blood loss and help with the healing process, but it's not a cure."
She made sure to get some in all his wounds, and she even put some inside his ears, since he was bleeding from them. By the time she was finished, she had used almost the entire jar.
"What else do you need?" Lydia asked.
"Nothing," Delia said and carefully lowered him back down on the blanket. "There are some things that magic can't fix. For that, we need the hospital." Then she looked up at Aggie. "Can you help me take him out to the car?"
Aggie nodded. "Yeah, of course."
Delia wrapped the blanket around him, because he'd been intermittently shivering. It would also help with the bleeding, which had already stained Aggie's dress all down the front.
Aggie slid her arms underneath him and picked him up like he weighed nothing. Delia grabbed her purse and slid on a pair of tennis shoes, then led them out to her '76 Mustang in the driveway. She opened the passenger door and pushed the front seat forward so Aggie could lay him in the backseat.
"Lydia, why don't you get in back with him?" Delia said.
Lydia climbed in back and carefully arranged Daniel. She rested his head on her lap, and he groaned, so she apologized and tried to comfort him.
"Are you coming with?" Delia stood just outside the car and spoke to Aggie, who stared into the small back window to where Lydia sat with Daniel
"I can't." Aggie shook her head. "I've already been here for too long."
"So you're leaving town tonight?" Delia asked.
"I have to."
"Well, I'll be here, if you ever want to stop back," Delia told her.
Aggie smiled at her. "Thank you, but I don't think I will."
"I didn't think so." Delia moved toward the car, then paused and turned back to Aggie. "Thank you for helping him. I don't know what happened out in the bay tonight, but I have a feeling that you aren't in the habit of saving strangers."
"I've been trying to change my ways lately." Aggie paused, and when she spoke again, her voice was almost like a song. "But it would be better if you forgot me, if you all never even remembered that you saw me."
Daniel had begun stirring on Lydia's lap. He opened his eyes, looking right up at her, but it didn't seem like he was seeing her. It was more like he was looking right through her.
"Where am I?" Daniel asked. "What's going on?"
"Nana." Lydia leaned forward in the seat. "We should go. I think he's waking up."
"If you--" Delia glanced back at Lydia for a second, and when she turned back, Aggie had disappeared into the night. "And she's gone."
Delia went around and got in the car. As soon as she turned it on, the Rolling Stones came blasting out of the stereo, but she quickly turned it down.
"Was that the girl that stopped by earlier today?" Lydia asked as they drove to the hospital.
"Yes, it was."
"What is she?"
"I have no idea." Delia glanced back at her. "How is he doing?"
"Not good, actually." Lydia had tried holding his hand, but it didn't help. He was shaking badly, and he kept turning his head from side to side and groaning. "What should I do?"
"You can try singing to him," Delia suggested. "Aggie said she tried it."
"Yeah, and it didn't work."
"Well, that was before I put the salve in his ears," Delia said. "It's worth a shot. I can't get to the hospital any faster than I'm already going."
So Lydia gave it a shot. With one hand, she held on to his arm to keep him from rolling off her lap, and with the other, she stroked his hair. Softly, she began singing "Puff, the Magic Dragon," her favorite song from childhood, and hoped that everything would be all right.
6. Infirmity
The plastic chair was making her butt go numb, but Lydia barely noticed. Her legs were crossed und
erneath her, and she wasn't sure if that was making it better or worse. Delia kept shifting her weight in the chair next to her, so it was probably a bit harder on her than it was on Lydia.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" Lydia asked.
"I don't know," Delia replied honestly, and Lydia would never expect anything less from her grandma than total honesty.
Lydia had been staring at the empty hospital room across the hall from her. The bright blue door had been left open, so she could see the stark white room within. She looked away from it now to turn to Delia.
"You don't have a sense about it?" Lydia asked.
"No." Delia had leaned back so her head rested against the wall behind them, and she shook her head. "I don't always have senses, you know that. Sometimes they come, sometimes they don't."
"How come I don't have them?" Lydia asked.
"Well, your mother didn't have them, so that's part of it. And your father..." Delia let out a long breath. "He probably blocked a few things out."
"Did your mother have them?"
"She did, but my aunt didn't. Some people have them. Other people don't." Delia shrugged. "There's not always a rational explanation for the supernatural. But that's kinda the point."
During the car ride over, Daniel's had blood had stained Lydia's shirt, so one of the nurses had given her scrubs to change into. She stared down at the oversized shirt, absently picking at a loose thread.
"Don't you ever worry?" Lydia asked.
"Of course I worry about some things. Was there anything in particular you had in mind?" Delia turned her head so she could look at her granddaughter.
"That I'm not right to be apprenticing with you," Lydia said, speaking softly as she stared down at her lap.
"Well, first of all, you're not apprenticing with me right now," Delia said. "We both agreed that you'd finish college before you went into the family business. And second, why would I even think that?"
Lydia lifted her head, staring at the empty room across from them again, and sighed. "I don't think that I could've done what you did tonight."
"With Daniel?" Delia motioned to his room behind them. "Of course you could've. You practically did do everything I did."
"No, Nana, I didn't." She turned to her grandma, her brown eyes sad and worried. "I didn't even know he was coming. If I had been there by myself, maybe I wouldn't have woken up or Aggie wouldn't have known how to find me."
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