Open Your Heart (Chosen By Fate Book 2)

by Aspen Winters

  Ashlyn being full, pushed the plate of food away from her and waited for the other two to be done, which didn't take very long. "What beach do you want to go to? The big waves with more people, or little waves with no people?"

  Raine and Sophia looked at one another. "No people. I don't want to deal with men who think they can teach us how to surf."

  Ashlyn winced at the memory, it had happened more often than one would think though. People tended to think surfing and guys went together, more than girls did at least. Which wasn't true, there were plenty of good girl surfers. "I agree, I don't want to deal with macho guys today."

  Ashlyn got up, taking her plate to the sink and setting it in the water that was already drawn. "I will do the dishes after surfing. I don't know about you, I want to go have some fun now."

  Sophia laughed, standing up and grabbing Raine's plate and sat them into the soapy water. "Let's go then, I am dying to get on the water. I have missed it. I wouldn't be against just swimming for a while before we surf, that way the food has time to digest."

  "Sounds good to me, that way we can see if the waves will be any good before we drag the surfboards out." Raine nodded to herself, making Ashlyn and Sophie roll their eyes at her. Raine could be rather lazy when she wanted too, which was all the time.

  "We can leave the surfboards here, and come back for them when we want to surf," Raine suggested as she moved toward the front door. The beach they were going to go to was maybe a five-minute walk.

  "You have the keys, Ash?" Sophie asked as she grabbed the bag she had gotten ready last night. It had towels and sunscreen and most likely a book for Ashlyn.

  "Yeah." She pointed around her neck, a key hung right next to her neck and it was sitting right next to the necklace Raine had given her. All three had the same necklace, just different colors. Her necklace was a heart made of a turquoise stone, which was her favorite color, while Sophie's was a heart made of moonstone, and lastly, Raine's heart was made of black stone with white speckles in it, giving it a space type look.

  They’d had them since they were in elementary school. The three of them never took the necklaces off.

  "Let's head out then."

  Raine's voice brought her out of her memories and she nodded all of them leaving and pausing so Ashlyn could lock the door. The walk was filled with joking and talking about what they wanted to do for the whole summer.

  When finally getting to the beach, there was no one there. It was still early, before eight in the morning, so there was still time for people to show up. It was nice and peaceful though, so Ashlyn hoped they could keep the beach all to themselves.

  "It's like I remember." Sophia smiled, taking in the ocean front scene. The waves were lightly crashing against the sand, and you could see sea shells scattered all along the sand. Ashlyn was wishing she had brought her camera to take pictures, she didn't even bother to bring her phone.

  "Looks like we have it all to ourselves." Raine grinned flashing her white teeth.

  Ashlyn could almost imagine the evil thoughts she had going through her head. She was probably going to do something to them to embarrass one of them.

  "Keep me out of it," Ashlyn told her, walking in the direction of the cliffs that were off to the side of the beach. She quickly took off her sandals, followed by her shorts and tank top. She ignored her friends who were already in the water and dunking one another.

  Ashlyn shook her head, she was not going over there. She would relax for a bit. Though, it didn't look like they would be going surfing from the calm look of the water. She was fine with soaking and enjoying the scenery.

  Ashlyn dipped her toes in the water, a smile spreading across her lips as she slowly walked into the ocean. It was nice to be back near the ocean. She started to walk deeper into the water and gave a hum of satisfaction, she could see Sophia and Raine further in the water splashing one another, laughing.

  This was why they needed this vacation, to relax and spend some time with each other before they all went to different colleges, and started to be different people. They might not have another moment together like this in a long time. They needed to enjoy it.

  Ashlyn waded deeper and deeper into the water until she no longer could touch the bottom. The water gently moved as she turned and was on her back so she could float and look at the clouds. After a few minutes of watching the sky, Ashlyn closed her eyes, soaking in the feel of the sun as the water brushed against her skin.

  She could still hear her friends, who were about twenty feet away from where she was relaxing. The two were roughhousing. It was because of how close they were Ashlyn and others were surprised the two weren't together, sadly that won't happen until Raine dumps her boyfriend...if you can even call the asshat that.

  Ashlyn was brought out of her thoughts when she felt something brush against her half submerged body, making her snap her eyes open. She moved her body so it wasn't floating anymore and looked around. After yesterday, Ashlyn was a little jumpy about things that could be in the water. Her eyes scanned over the clear blue water, her heart frantically beating as she swam in a circle, seeing if she could locate anything in the water. After a couple minutes with nothing happening, she relaxed a sigh leaving her. "It was probably just a fish..."

  Ashlyn decided now would be a good time to get out of the water, she just had a feeling in her stomach. Looking around one more time, she made her way toward shore, as her feet finally got to a standing level she smiled. The sand made her feet sink a bit, it was a weird feeling. Just as she took her first step closer to shore, she felt something brush against her ankle, the same ankle that she had gotten bitten on yesterday, and in the same place she had the bandages to hide the marking away.

  She was only able to let a startled yelp escape her lips before she was yanked under the water. The salty water filled her mouth, burning her as she tried to breathe. Ashlyn tried to look around her to fight off what was holding her under the water, but it only caused her eyes to burn. The water bubbled around her as she moved frantically, her vision blurring. She could see a figure, in front of her, but it was hard to make it out. She tried to get away, but she felt something being pushed down her throat, it made her body warm and feel weird. The figure was gone and Ashlyn was being pulled out from under the water a second later.

  When breaking the surface, Ashlyn coughed out the water, her lungs were screaming at her in protest as she kept on coughing, her vision still blurry as she tried to focus on what was going around her.

  "Ashlyn! Ashlyn!"

  She could hardly make out the sounds of the voices around her. Her vision was still blurry and she was leaning against one of her friends as she continued to cough and close her eyes because of the burning.

  "Are you okay? Answer us!"

  Ashlyn definitely knew the sounds of Raine's demanding voice.

  "...fine..." Ashlyn croaked out, coughing again when she felt the burn go down all the way down her throat. It hurt to talk. "I'm fine!" She was still leaning against one of her friends for support, as her vision started to clear. Blinking she looked at her friends, who both held worried and slightly fearful looks on their faces. "I'm fine," she said again, and stood on her own, rubbing her eyes, another cough leaving her.

  "What happened? You are a great swimmer...." Raine’s voice trailed off as she looked at Ashlyn for an answer.

  "I don't know...." she winced, her voice cracking, "...something pulled me under." She didn't know what pulled her under, but she knew it wasn't an animal. Whatever had grabbed her felt...human. She could have sworn she felt fingers on her leg when she was pulled under the water. If she said that, it would make her sound crazy. Her friends probably would think she hit her head which caused her to see that.

  She would keep her mouth shut for now. Ashlyn didn't know what was in the ocean, but it seemed like it had it out for her.

  Sophie sighed, a frown on her face as her blue eyes looked at Ashlyn in concern. "Let's get out of the water. I don't like the sound o
f whatever happened to you. If something is in the water, it is better we are nowhere near it." Her eyes swept over the water around them, then started to pull Ashlyn in the direction of the shore.

  When safely on shore, Ashlyn sat down eyes heavy, and still burning along with her throat, and her body had started to feel heavy and achy. That was something new.

  "Are you sure you are alright?" the redhead inquired, brows furrowed seeing the exhausted look on Ashlyn's face, and her slumped over form.

  Ashlyn shook her head, and held back a wince, so she wouldn't worry her friends more. "Just tired. I think I swallowed too much sea water."

  Raine looked Ashlyn over, as if trying to see if she was lying or not, before she turned to Sophia. "Let’s head back then. We can go to a different beach tomorrow. Today doesn't look like a good surfing day anyway." The waves weren't big enough to surf. It was a good swimming day though until Ashlyn almost drowned.

  "I'm sorry," Ashlyn croaked out, she didn't want them to have to go back to the house with her. "You guys can stay. I can walk home on my ow..." She felt a hand hit her upside the head cutting her off.

  "Enough talk. It isn't like you did it on purpose. You always apologize too much." Raine rolled her eyes, a small smile on her face. "Besides we would be too worried if you went home alone...you may keel over before you make it."

  "Raine!" Sophia scowled, hearing the last part, causing Ashlyn to snort in laughter. Sophia turned her attention to Ashlyn. "Do you really feel okay? Or do you want to head to the clinic?"

  "I'm fine. I think taking a nap and drinking some water will be all I need." Her throat still hurt, so hopefully, the water would help with that...and get the bad taste of sea water out of her mouth. Her body ached and felt heavy, which was weird, but she assumed it was from almost drowning, and her eyes still burned from the sea water. "If I still feel bad after some rest, I will let you drag me to a doctor...sound good?" Ashlyn improvised, seeing the apprehensive look on Sophia's face.

  "...Alright..." Sophia reluctantly agreed, but she would be keeping an eye on Ashlyn all night to make sure nothing seemed out of the ordinary. If there was one thing that seemed off, Sophia would drag her out of the house kicking and screaming to go to the doctor.

  "Let's go." Raine tore her eyes away from the water, her lips pursed.

  Ashlyn saw something out there, but she didn't know what it was. She just had a really bad feeling that something big was going to happen.

  The three headed back in the direction to where they were staying, never noticing something was watching them the whole time.

  The three girls had just gotten back to the summer home and Ashlyn was going to go change clothes before taking a nap. Her body still hurt and hoped laying down would make the pain less.

  "I am going to head upstairs. I will see you guys later." Ashlyn gave them a weak smile, which caused the two girls to frown, but the two said nothing as Ashlyn went up the stairs and out of sight.

  When getting to her room, Ashlyn sighed, her mind had been going a mile a minute the whole walk back to the house. She was trying to figure what the hell was going on. The last twenty-four hours had turned into something out of a television show.

  "What is happening," Ashly whispered to herself pushing her wet hair out of her face. Her eyes her heavy and her body was starting to throb. It was something she had never felt before.

  Grabbing her clothes she made her way into the bathroom to change. She sat her clothes on the sink as she stripped out of her swim attire, frowning when she felt something brush against her skin. Looking down, Ashlyn saw that the bandage was half falling off and gave a small curse as she unwound the white material, throwing it in the trashcan. She paused seeing the mark. "What in the hell..."

  Her blue eyes were zoned in on the mark, it wasn't plain black anymore, there were three colors mixed into it. Black was still the prominent color, but there was blue, red and green now mixed in. It hadn't been that way hours before, whatever happened when she was almost being drowned changed the tattoo...well, that was her guess at least.

  Her fingers traced the mark in wonder. "What the hell did this..." She didn't know what to make of this. Shaking her head, she quickly got changed into dry clothes, leaving the wet ones in the bathroom hanging on the bathtub to dry.

  "Bed...I just need to sleep and this will all be a fucked up dream when I wake up." This was muttered as Ashlyn climbed into the bed, and pulled the covers over her head. She would sleep and everything would be alright when she woke up.

  She kept telling herself that until she fell asleep. Ashlyn couldn't have been asleep long before she woke up with a gasp, her head spinning. She blinked as she slowly got up, a frown on her face.

  She could hear a voice faintly calling for her, she moved to the window and looked at the ocean, the voice getting louder. It sounded almost like singing.

  "What is going on," she whispered putting her hand on the window as she looked out to the sea. She could almost see something in the water, shaking her head she moved back to the bed and sat down. Her head was starting to throb again.

  Come oh, come, to the sea at last.

  Groaning, Ashlyn held her head between her hands hunched over, her hands pulling at her hair as the singing got louder as if the person who was singing was in the same room as her.

  "Go away! Leave me alone," she called into her empty room, eyes wide with fear. The singing continued, but she could hear more voices join in, male and female. Her body went limp, her hands falling from her head, as she slowly sat up. Her normally blue eyes were misted over by a sheen of white, no expression present on her face.

  Come, little one. To the Sea.

  Why did she want to go there? She was supposed to stay in bed and sleep. Her friends were worried and going to the ocean could make them worry more.

  Come, you belong there. They are waiting.

  Her body responded on its own, standing up and walking. Her brain had stopped thinking of everything but getting to the ocean. She opened the door and made her way to the stairs, slowly going down them. Not even giving the two girls any form of acknowledgment as she tried to get to the door.

  Hands shot out and stopped her, Raine, was there holding her back. Why was the girl holding her back? Raine shook her, yelling.

  Ashlyn didn't understand, so she tried to break free. "I need to get to the water. I have to go."

  She needed to get to the water, which was where she had to go. It was pulling her, calling her. Her misty eyes looked over to her friend. "Let me go, I need to go."

  Raine yelled some more, but Ashlyn couldn't hear her, she could only hear the voice in her head. Then she was being pinned to the floor, she fought, trying to get free.

  Come. Ignore them. They are trying to stop you from going to where you belong, where you are needed.

  Ashlyn got angrier as she was held down by Raine, she needed them. She had to get there. "I belong there! They need me!" She thrashed trying to get away, so she could get to the ocean.

  Raine moved so she was straddling her, and then there was more yelling.

  Ashlyn screamed, "Let me go! Get off! I need to leave!" She kept on screaming those over and over again until Raine moved saying something before all went black.

  Chapter Three

  The two watched their raven haired friend go up the stairs to nap after returning from the ocean, neither said anything until they heard the bedroom door shut. Raine motioned with her hands to go outside. Sophie nodded following her and shut the door quietly.

  Sophie saw the look on her friend's face and knew something was wrong. "Raine?" She had a feeling she was going to be told bad news.

  Raine bit her lip as she turned to look at the ocean that wasn't too far away from the summer house, a glare on her face as she looked at the water. "I have a suspicion on what happened to Ashlyn earlier, but I want to be wrong...I really want to be wrong."

  Sophie's eyes widened. "Then it was to do with," she paused before continuing, "...your f
amily business. That is why you think you know, but don't want to be right..."

  Raine nodded. "My family doesn't usually deal with their kind, but we do have some information on them...I don't remember all of the information, but I do remember some." She closed her eyes and breathed out a sigh. "I may have to call my brother if I want to know more. I was lucky I remembered how to identify them."

  Tilting her head to the side, she curiously asked, "How did you identify the creature then?"

  Raine gave a weary smile. "Ashlyn's bandage job sucks." She paused as she saw the look on Sophie’s face. "Around her ankle, there were some bandages, she did a horrible job covering the mark. The mark means she was chosen by them."

  "What is hunting her...exactly?" She wanted to know what was coming after Ashlyn, but at the same time, she was afraid to know the full truth.

  "One of the merfolk." Raine's lip curled, as her eyes darkened in distaste. "Nasty creatures. They hunt people and lure them to the sea, drowning them." She tried to hold her tears as she spoke the next part, "The bodies are never found. My family concluded that they...that they eat them."

  A soft whimper escaped Sophie as she looked at Raine in horror. "There has to be a way to make sure that Ashlyn is safe..." She couldn't act normal around her friend when she could have a chance at literally becoming fish food.

  Raine shook her head, balling her hands into fists at her side. "I didn't get that far in my studies before I told my family to 'fuck off' because I didn't want to be a hunter."

  "So what are we going to do?" The two stayed quiet both trying to figure out what they could do next.

  "We can see how the night goes..." She shook her head though. "But I have a feeling I will have to call my brother soon..." Raine didn't want to have to call her brother because then she would owe him a favor.

  "If you do, will he be able to help?" Sophie had never met any of Raine's family, neither had Ashlyn, she kept her family separate from her friends and normal life.