by Winter, Eden
“I remember how weak you were Sam. And I don’t even mean your physical capabilities. You have always been weak-minded and weak-willed.”
A year ago, that would have had me curling up into a ball. I would have cried and felt like I wasn’t worthy enough to be with someone like him. But I’m not the same person I was a year ago. I wasn’t going to take his bullshit anymore. No man was going to make me feel ‘less than’ ever again.
“No matter what you say to me, I am certain that I am going to kill you tonight,” I said through gritted teeth.
“But you’re half human. What can a human do to a king?”
Without warning, a shadowy figure appeared out of nowhere and lunged for Malcolm. One swift hit and Malcolm collapsed onto the ground.
“A hell of a lot,” the shadowy figure said when he stood up.
“Peter!” I shouted. I ran over to him and flung my arms around him. He gave me the tightest embrace I had ever gotten. He’d found us. He’d found us, and he’d saved me.
“Quick. Get the silver off my sister. I’ll take care of this,” I said. He nodded and ran toward Isabelle.
I moved over to Malcolm who was still out cold. I took the bow and threw it as far away as I could. I didn’t throw the bag because I didn’t know what was inside it. I took it from him and moved it as far away as I could. I raced back to Malcolm and grabbed him by the feet. It took all my strength to even drag him toward the lake.
I groaned and pulled as hard as I could. At this rate, it was going to take me forever.
“Cesar!” I called out. I didn’t know what else I could do. “Cesar, I need your help!”
I continued to pull. If no help was coming, I still needed to get Malcolm by the lake. The surface of the lake started to stir. It churned gently and then I saw a giant blue tentacle reach up toward the sky. The tentacle was about three times the size of me. That part of the legend had been true, the fish was able to change into whatever water-dwelling creature it wanted to.
“Oh, my God. What is that thing?” Peter came up behind me and stared up into the sky.
“Wait, you can see it too?” I almost dropped Malcolm’s legs. I looked behind me to see if my sister was okay. She was standing and rubbing her wrists and occasionally her face. But she was all right.
‘What shall I do, Samantha?’ Cesar asked me. It wasn’t a voice that could be heard like someone was standing in front of you and speaking. This was like the voice was already inside you, and you were able to hear it that way.
“Whoa… it talks?” Peter asked completely bewildered.
I looked over at Peter. How could he see and hear the fish the way I was able to?
‘Shall I take the king?’ Cesar asked.
“Hold him. I still have so many questions,” I said.
Another tentacle came out of the water and they reached for Malcolm’s legs. They picked him up like he was a ragdoll and held him up.
“What would you have given him if he had taken all of my blood?”
‘I would have restored the world to the ways of the old kingdom. The continents will have been joined, and there would be one rightful king for all the land. I would have made him the king,’ the fish of Cesar whispered.
“How… how can I hear you?” Peter asked.
‘You are joined. You are bound for eternity with Samantha. You both were chosen before you were born to meet. The premonitions you have are incomplete without Peter. He is the power source for the visions.’
I had never heard of anything like it. My powers were like a light, but Peter was the switch. Was this the fish of Cesar’s way of telling us that we were soulmates?
I felt a gentle touch on my hand, and it made me jump. It was Peter. He was trying to take me by the hand. I reached over and interlocked his fingers with mine. We smiled at each other, not regretting the fact that it was possible we would be together for the rest of our lives.
“Why now? Why me?” I asked.
‘It is prophecy. There is a light and a courage you possess that is so powerful that it broke the spell that kept me in the caverns at the bottom of the lake. You are stronger than you believe yourself to be,’ Cesar said.
I don’t know why, but that made my eyes fill up with tears. Malcolm, or Alex, or whoever he was had been trying to tell me I was unworthy, only for the most powerful being on this earth to then tell me that I was more than worthy. I was not just enough. I was bigger and more powerful than I had ever imagined I could be. If I ever felt low about myself, I would bring my thoughts back to this memory. I am powerful. I am worthy. What Alex or anyone else said could not matter. What mattered was how I saw myself.
“Do…” I sputtered as I wiped the tears from my face, “Will I still have my visions and my dreams after this?”
‘Dreams? Your visions do not come in the form of dreams, Samantha. It was this one who has been poisoning your mind in order to lead you to me. Your visions are not a burden or a plague.’
“So, I won’t have any more dreams that can see the future? I can live a normal life? Well, as normal a life as someone who can see the future will have,” I said.
‘That is correct. What shall I do with him?’ the fish of Cesar asked. I looked at Peter and then turned to look at my sister. She couldn’t see what we saw. She was staring at us and then looked up to see Malcolm dangling in midair. To her, there were no tentacles. She may not have even known why it was she was there. I didn’t think that Malcolm told her about the fish of Cesar or the legend behind what was now happening. When we got out of this, I was going to tell her, and I promised myself then and there that I wasn’t going to keep anything from her. I realized now that opening up to her would have prepared her for something like this. My secrets almost got her killed. I had to trust my instincts, and I knew I needed to put more of my trust in my sister.
“You have to kill him,” I whispered. Peter looked at me.
“Are you sure that’s what you want to do?” Peter asked. He was trying to be the voice of reason, but he didn’t know that Malcolm was really Alex. I had only told him some parts of the story of Alex. I hadn’t been able to bring myself to talk to him in detail about what had happened between Alex and me.
“I’m sure. He took something from me that has been so hard to get back on my own, and if I don’t stop him, he’s going to find me and kill me, no matter where I am. I know I can’t explain everything to you right now, but I will. Then maybe you will understand why I have to do this,” I told him.
That was when Malcolm started to come to. He groaned at first, but when he realized he was upside down, he began to squirm and thrash around. He couldn’t see what it was that was holding him.
“You bitch!” he screamed at me. I didn’t feel anything. I watched him flail like the helpless rat he was.
A bright golden light appeared below the water right where Cesar was. It was the same color as the gold of the scales he had. It was now so bright that when I looked at Malcolm, I could see Alex clear as day. The magic from the gold could show me who he truly was.
“That’s Alex,” I said to Peter. “He was the one who hurt me last year.”
Peter stood and watched me and then the thrashing Alex above. His face looked like he was having a war with his thoughts. Would it be better to let him live or to kill him?
“I can’t choose for you. Do what you feel is best,” Peter said.
“You can kill him, Cesar,” I said. I didn’t want to watch, but I couldn’t take my eyes away. The tentacles sank into the sparkling gold in the middle of the lake. It was a slow descent into the lake, and that made it all the more uncomfortable to watch. I hugged Peter. Neither of us was able to look away from what we were seeing.
The water was starting to swirl. It was like the day I was standing on the bridge. It was a strange bubbling and churning that led me to believe there was something more sinister happening below the surface. Alex was thrashing as wildly as the water he was being placed into.
He was sub
merged up to his ankles that were still being held by the tentacles. Cesar was going to drown him. I didn’t know if I was expecting something else, but I was still shocked to see that this was happening. What would become of Malcolm? Was he going to drown since it was his body that was being used as a host?
And then he was gone. Cesar had let go of Malcolm’s feet, and he was engulfed by the violent thrashing of the lake water. The golden light was dimming, and I knew that it would soon go out. I hated to watch, but I had to see. I needed to know that Alex was really gone.
The water bubbled and churned so quickly that I could see some of it was beginning to boil. Malcolm or Alex, or whoever it was that had ended up in the depths, had now broken the surface of the water and was screaming and begging for his life. We all watched in horror.
“No!” It was hard to hear the voice over the whirlpool swirling in the dark lake, but I could distinctly hear my sister’s voice.
I looked behind me to see her running as fast as she could toward the water. Peter and I grabbed each of her arms and stopped her from going into the lake.
“No! You can’t kill him!” Isabelle shrieked. She was in hysterics. This was the first time I had ever seen my sister so distraught. Her eyes were wide, and her face was wet with the tears that she had been shedding. She struggled and fought to get away from our grip.
“That’s Alex in there!” I shouted back at her.
“No, it’s not. It’s Malcolm,” Isabelle wailed. She was crying so much that it was difficult for me to hear what she was saying. She was struggling less and less.
“Please, don’t kill him,” she said. She had become all but limp. It was Peter and I who were holding her up. “Please, Sam… Malcolm is still in there.”
The water wasn’t bubbling as much as it had been just moments before. Isabelle was speaking softly. She felt defeated.
“Alex is in there, but there’s Malcolm too. I know there is.”
I looked at Peter. He returned the look, but like before, his expression was telling me — any decision would be up to me.
“How can we separate the two?” I asked Isabelle.
“I don’t know. But we have to save Malcolm,” she replied.
“Wait,” I shouted at the water. I could no longer see Malcolm in the lake. The water was black, and it wasn’t churning anymore. It was growing more and more still, and Malcolm was below the surface.
I knew I said I wanted him to die, but it wouldn’t be worth it if it meant hurting my sister.
“Bring him back,” I shouted.
‘What is it that you wish me to do?’ Cesar asked.
“You have to tear them from each other. You can’t kill him. You can’t kill both of them. We have to save one,” I called out to the lake.
‘Which one shall I save, Samantha?’ I could hear the gentle voice of Cesar speaking to me. It was like a whisper right in my ear even though I could no longer see the golden lights or even his tentacles. I didn’t know where he had gone or if he was even an octopus anymore. He could have been any creature at this point, but the longer we waited, the less time Malcolm had to be saved.
“Malcolm. Save Malcolm,” Isabelle said.
“Are you sure about this?” I looked at her.
“More sure than anything. I love him. The real him. I know he’s still in there. Now please, do something. He’s running out of time.”
The whirlpool returned, but it wasn’t as menacing as it had been before. As the gentle waves swirled around, I could see the bright golden glow of Cesar turning and spinning under the water. Then the water rose higher and higher, forming a waterspout that was at least ten feet tall. I could see a figure in the middle of the water spout. It was Malcolm. He looked unconscious… or worse.
The water spout was lowering itself back into the lake, and as waves formed from the bottom of the spout, Malcolm could be seen. The waves carried him to the shore.
“Malcolm!” my sister shouted. She pried free from Peter’s and my grasp even though we were no longer holding her against her will. Isabelle ran clumsily to the edge of the lake and fell beside Malcolm. She held his head and brought her face close to his. She placed her ear near his mouth to hear if he was breathing.
Her breathing turned into hyperventilation, and she frantically began trying to revive him. She blew into his mouth and pumped his chest. He wasn’t moving. From where I was standing, he didn’t look like he was breathing. I started to cry then. I couldn’t hold it in. If she was right, and if Malcolm really was a separate person from Alex, then I had once again taken someone from my sister. But there would be no way for this one to return to her.
“Malcolm, can you hear me?” Isabelle asked. She held onto his chest and buried her face into him.
“Why isn’t this working? I can save him. I have powers, and I should be able to save him,” she cried. She wasn’t speaking to anyone in particular, but speaking must have brought her comfort. She looked up at me, and I was frozen. I didn’t know what I could do. How could I help?
I took a brave step toward her. If I couldn’t help, the least I could do was to be there for her. I knelt down beside her and Malcolm. Even in the dark night, his skin looked pale and lifeless. His blonde hair was wet and falling away from his face. I wrapped my arms around my sister while her arms were wrapped around Malcolm.
“Please don’t leave me,” she whispered. That made me cry all the more.
“Where would I go?”
“Malcolm?” Isabelle said, jerking her head up. I screamed. I wasn’t expecting that at all.
Malcolm was coughing and spitting water out of his mouth. He sucked in as much air as he could and tried to breathe in a slow and steady way until his breathing pattern could return to normal.
“You’re okay. You’re okay,” Isabelle said with more tears streaming down her face. I moved away from them so that Malcolm could hug her.
“Isabelle?” he asked.
“You know me?”
“I know you through… There was someone else inside my mind. Someone was controlling my life, and…”
“It’s okay. He’s gone now, right?” Isabelle looked over at me.
‘He is gone,’ I heard Cesar say. I nodded at my sister.
“You won’t ever have to worry about him again,” I said. Peter came up from behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I took his hands and enjoyed the way his body felt pressed up against mine.
“I know you don’t really know me. But I think I know you. Was any of what he said and did anything like the real you?” Isabelle asked Malcolm.
“A lot of it was. But I never got a chance to say any of those things. He used my memories and my words, and I couldn’t stop him. It just feels so good to be alone inside my mind now. And it feels good to finally meet you, Isabelle,” Malcolm said. He sat up slowly and took my sister in his arms. She tried not to cry, but I could see her shaking and hear her soft sobs into his chest.
“And what happens now?” Peter asked.
Epilogue
“TanTan, get away from there!”
My cat, Tangerine, was eyeing the tiny goldfish that was swimming around in a bowl in my living room. Her blue eyes followed every motion of the little fish. She had been trying to get to the poor thing since the day I brought it home.
“Time to say goodbye, Tangerine. This little thing is going back to the sea.”
Tangerine mewed softly at me. I had been waiting for the perfect day to release the goldfish. He had asked me to wait a while before I did so. He had to adjust to the way the world was now, and he had to awaken his family.
‘That may take a long time. We have all been asleep for so many years,’ he told me. When he was ready, he said, he was sure to let me know.
It was amazing to me that this urban legend had turned out to be true. There was a creature out there with the ability to do anything for the person that it was bound to, and to think that there was more than one fish out there surprised me even more. I wondered if
there was a chance that I could one day meet the rest of his family.
He had also kept his word about my visions. Alex had slipped me several potions that made it so that I could have pseudo-premonitions while I dreamt, but Cesar had made sure to rid me of any of the toxic substance. The visions that I had were normal now. There was no dizziness or strange quakes within my core, and I soon got used to possessing the power.
Cesar was also right about Alex. He was really gone. He had been swallowed up by the powers of the lake. There was nothing that could awaken him or bring him back to the surface. He would be trapped there for all eternity. I felt a new kind of peace in my heart. I knew I would never have to worry about Alex King ever again.
We were now in the middle of autumn. The grass that lined the entire wall on the outside of my house was now golden and dry, and most of the leaves from all the trees had either turned into browns and yellows and oranges or fallen to the ground.
“Are you ready?” Eli peeked his head into the living room. His left arm was still in a sling. Mr. McLarry said it would take another week or so before he could take it off. After Eli had been shot, Baylee and Delilah had managed to take him to the car where Philomena drove like lightning to Mr. McLarry’s. Apparently, he and Eli had a special bond. Even though Eli was a nurse, he was also a practitioner of alternative medicine. Mr. McLarry had been sneaking out of work to teach Eli so that Eli could help him with the mystical potions that Mr. McLarry did a terrible job of hiding from me. It was Mr. McLarry’s potions and Delilah’s devotion to his recovery that saved him. Thanks to those two, Eli was going to be just fine.
To answer his question, I nodded at him and picked up the fish bowl.
“Are you ready?” I said down at the little fish.
‘I am ready,” I heard him say.
“Okay, let’s go,” Delilah called from the next room.
“We’ll be out in a bit, babe,” Eli called back to her. She stepped into the archway where Eli was standing, and she folded her arms to glare at me. I guess Phil and Baylee were right—it was going to take a long time for Delilah to ever warm up to me.
