“What does she ask for?” Arista asked.
“It depends on your… situation,” Clarissa said cautiously.
“I don’t know what it will be for this but, I guarantee you, it will be steep,” Valerie said.
Everyone sat in silence absorbing the warning. Arista glanced over at Gavin. He had already gone through so much for her and seemed so tired. He caught her eye and offered a smile in return. Arista took a deep breath.
“Is it possible for me to go to the Oracle alone? So she’ll take the price only from me?” she asked.
Valerie shook her head. “It doesn’t work that way. I could go and she could claim the price from me for asking, or she could claim the price from you even if you’re not there since the information will help you. We have no way of knowing and that’s why it’s so dangerous. This Oracle is known for asking major sacrifices in return. You’re asking to go to ensure no one else will be hurt, but the Oracle could decide that the cost affects any of us. We all have to be sure about this before anyone goes — because it could be any of us to pay the price.”
Arista slumped back in her seat, disappointed by the news. Clarissa spoke up next.
“I think this is the best way to get an answer and we’re all in danger now anyway.”
Gavin nodded in agreement. “This sounds like the best option.”
“How is it the best when we haven’t even looked at any other options?” Kellen argued. “This sounds incredibly risky.”
“Do you have another option?” Valerie asked. “I sure as hell don’t. As much as I despise the Oracle, I know of no other way. Not before Salazar finds a way through the barrier or Arista is tortured to death in her sleep.”
Arista flinched at her words and Valerie shrugged. She wasn’t about to apologize for telling the truth. Kellen sullenly squirmed in his seat, with no options to offer but still unwilling to agree to the Oracle.
“You can’t force me back into the water if I’m dead. If you agree, then you’re one step closer to going home,” Arista pleaded.
Kellen sat there fuming with anger. “Fine. Let’s get on with it then.”
˜
{ Chapter 20 }
By early afternoon, no birds had broken through Valerie’s barrier. Taking Clarissa’s suggestion, Valerie worked to align the magical properties of the barrier with the traces of dark magic found in Arista. The two women hoped it would strengthen the defensive powers against Salazar’s unique strand of magic.
While Clarissa and Valerie worked outside on the barrier, the others remained in the kitchen. Kellen, still sullen over the agreement to see the Oracle, sat silently in a corner of the room. Gavin and Arista sat close together at the table, both relishing the temporary feeling of safety.
“How are you doing?” Gavin asked her.
“Exhausted, but I do feel a lot better after being in the water,” she answered.
His concern was visible in his brown eyes as he looked back at her. “Hopefully we can prevent you from sleeping for a while.”
“I hope so, too. I’m terrified of falling asleep now.” She brushed her hair away from her neck and gingerly prodded the wounds from the night before. “I still can’t believe everything that has happened.”
“It wouldn’t have if you hadn’t been out searching for your bitch of a mother,” Kellen grumbled from his corner.
Gavin glared at him and started to stand when Arista tugged him back down to his chair.
“It’s ok, Gavin,” she said softly. “Believe me, I know it’s all my fault.”
“While some of this may have started out that way, it doesn’t matter anymore,” he responded.
“How could it not matter?”
“Was Kyla being tortured your fault? No, in fact, you helped ease her suffering. If you hadn’t been here, Salazar would still be hurting her. If he wasn’t coming after you, maybe he’d be going after someone else — another mermaid even. And maybe they wouldn’t attempt to end to what he’s doing like we are. As much as I hate to say it, it seems Valerie may be one of the few people who can stop him. She wouldn’t be in this fight if it weren’t for you. A lot of good may come out of things being your fault, Arista.”
She looked at him with a renewed passion. “Do you really believe that?”
He nodded. “I’ve been through a lot with you already, and I can say without a doubt I wouldn’t give up any of the good moments to be rid of the bad.”
They smiled at each other and Kellen frowned, unable to take any more.
“We’re not talking about some meaningless mistakes here,” he said angrily. “Arista is a murderer. She took the life of another mermaid. All to follow after her mother, another known killer.” Arista shrunk down in her seat in the face of his hostility.
“You deserve every bad thing that has happened, or will happen, to you. Maybe you even deserve to die.”
This time, she didn’t stop Gavin from jumping out of his seat and lunging for Kellen.
“That’s enough!” he yelled, knocking Kellen to the floor.
The two wrestled for a few minutes before Valerie and Clarissa burst in through the door. Valerie cast out her arms in front of her and a spark of light flew between the two men, knocking them into walls on opposite sides of the room. Arista ran to where Gavin lay crumpled on the floor.
Valerie’s violet eyes flickered to Kellen. “I’ve had enough of you.”
She breezed across the room and, with a finger in the air, lifted Kellen a foot off the ground while pressing his back flat against the wall. “Even for a mermaid, you’re proving to be a giant pain in the ass.”
Kellen glared and spit into her left eye. Valerie screeched and held her right hand in front of his face, appearing to grasp a fistful of air. She whirled away from him and, at first, no one could tell what happened. Kellen fell to the ground with both hands covering his face. Valerie stood in the middle of the room, her breathing heavy and overcome with fury. Clarissa cautiously walked to Kellen and pulled one of his hands away from his face. She gasped and fell to the ground next to him, looking back at the witch with wide eyes.
“Valerie…” she uttered, but Valerie stormed from the room and out of the house. Arista and Gavin peered under the table where they saw Kellen lying on the floor with his back towards them. He rolled over and they stared in shock as they saw his face for the first time.
His mouth was gone, wiped clean off his face.
…
Clarissa walked outside after Valerie, who had stopped near the edge of the tree line that wound back towards the cemetery. Clarissa watched as she floated a branch off the ground and incinerated it in midair. A pile of ashes fell back to the earth where the branch had once been.
“Letting off some steam?” Clarissa asked.
Valerie didn’t even bother to turn around. “Of everyone here, I trust him the least. He’s a problem. Even your vague psychic abilities should tell you that.”
“I don’t disagree, but, Val, in the short time we’ve been here you’ve already used some dangerous magic.”
“I can handle myself,” she responded. “You were never willing to take the risk.”
Clarissa sighed as she looked at Valerie. It seemed like only yesterday that she and Gavin had taken his little sister out for ice cream or to visit the beach. Valerie was only 17 when Clarissa and Gavin were married. She had always looked forward to hanging out with them — if only because it meant she could enjoy teenage freedoms away from her parents.
All that happiness had been short-lived. The next year Gavin and Valerie’s parents died. Valerie stopped speaking to both Clarissa and Gavin shortly thereafter, blaming the accident on her brother. Clarissa had tried several times to talk to Valerie, even after the divorce, but she was always turned away.
Valerie had since transformed from a rebellious teenager into a powerful witch practicing dangerous magic. Although it had the potential to save them, Clarissa knew better than the others that this kind of magic could backfire
with serious consequences. It was possible they could be in even greater danger.
Valerie turned to face Clarissa. “You know it has to be you and I who go to the Oracle, right?”
Clarissa nodded in agreement. The mermaids needed to stay behind the magical barrier for their own safety, especially Arista. Gavin also needed to remain at the house to help keep them safe. That left Clarissa and Valerie.
“And you have to return him to normal,” Clarissa said quietly as the two women walked back to the house.
Valerie nodded in disgruntled agreement. “I’ll do it before we leave. Although if the other two were smart, they’d lock him in the basement where they don’t have to listen to him.”
“After what just happened, I think everyone will agree with that,” Clarissa said with a sigh.
They walked back into the house and found Gavin and Arista still in the kitchen, talking quietly at the table. The pair fell silent as Valerie entered the room.
“Where’s Kellen?” Clarissa asked.
“He’s been in the bathroom since you left,” Arista answered.
Clarissa nodded. “Ok. We have somewhat of a plan. Val and I are going to see the Oracle.”
Arista opened her mouth to argue, but Clarissa waved away her concerns. “No, you need to remain on this side of the barrier where you’ll be safer. And Gavin, you have to stay with her. Kellen also needs to stay, but you should limit your contact with him. Valerie has agreed to… fix… what she did, but we think it’d be best to keep him in the basement until we return.”
Gavin leaned back in his seat. “You won’t get any arguments from me.” He turned to Arista, who nodded in solemn agreement. They went with Clarissa and Valerie to the bathroom at the back of the house.
Arista cringed when the door opened and she caught sight of Kellen sitting on the ledge of the bathtub. Red and pink blotches from his tears of frustration and anger mottled his face. Valerie swore under her breath when she saw the shattered mirror hanging askew on the wall. Arista didn’t blame him; she was unable to look at the unnatural patch of flesh where his mouth had been without feeling queasy. She couldn’t imagine how horrible it would be to look into the mirror and see one’s own face so mutilated.
Kellen’s face twisted in fear as Valerie stepped forward. She stood in front of him with her arm outstretched and her right hand balled into a fist. As she flung her fingers outward, Kellen rocked backwards against the force of the invisible impact. When he sat up again, his face was back to normal with every feature in its proper place. He slowly opened and shut his mouth, which appeared stiff and dried out. His tongue slipped out to help wet his cracked lips as he glared at Valerie.
Clarissa grabbed Valerie’s elbow and pulled her back into the group, away from Kellen, and stepped into the bathroom in her place.
“Are you alright?” she asked, and waited for him to nod angrily in return. “Good. Valerie and I are leaving for the Oracle. You need to remain here where you’ll be protected by the barrier, but we have to keep you isolated.”
“So, I’m what… your prisoner now?” he retorted, his voice cracking with its first use.
“We need everyone to stay calm and safe until we return from the Oracle,” she explained.
“Whatever,” he said, fixing his glare on Arista. “I just want all this to be over.”
“I’m sorry, Kellen,” Arista said quietly.
“No,” he said, standing up and moving towards the door. “You’re not.”
He pushed past her and continued into the hallway. Clarissa followed close behind and led him to the basement door. The two walked down together while the others returned to the kitchen. From their seats at the table, they heard Clarissa ensure Kellen was settled and comfortable in the basement. Arista glanced at Gavin.
“I feel bad that we’re forcing him to stay down there,” she said.
Gavin frowned. “Do you trust him?” She hesitated to answer. “Unless you can say with one hundred percent certainty that you trust him, then this is the way it has to be. At least until we know more.”
Arista sighed and nodded. She hated that instead of trying to understand and help her, Kellen had become so disruptive and hostile.
“Do you want me to strengthen the lock on the door?” Valerie asked Gavin.
He paused for a moment before shaking his head. “This should be fine. I don’t think anything will happen. He’s not actively trying to cause trouble.”
“If you say so,” Valerie said with a shrug.
Clarissa appeared at the top of the stairs and she shut the door behind her, turning the lock above the door handle.
“So far, it seems the barrier is holding up against the birds. Hopefully that remains the case while we’re gone,” Valerie said to break the silence.
Gavin nodded thoughtfully. “And if any do get through?”
“Run.”
˜
{ Chapter 21 }
Except for Kellen locked in the basement, Gavin and Arista were alone in the house. They had abandoned the kitchen for the adjoining living room. A small maroon sofa was against the far wall, and the room was only large enough to also hold a low table and a small bookcase with a television sitting on top.
Arista made herself comfortable on one side of the couch while Gavin looked at the movies stacked on the shelves of the bookcase.
“It’s a limited selection, but she does have a few good movies,” he remarked.
With a puzzled expression on her face, Arista leaned forward for a better look. “What are those?”
“I forget there’s still a lot you haven’t experienced yet. I guess TVs and DVDs don’t work underwater,” he said with a laugh. He scanned the movies again until finally sliding one out from the shelf.
“The Wizard of Oz. When Valerie and I were kids, she’d always beg to stay up late and watch this movie. We watched this countless times as a family.”
He cracked open the case and slid the disc into the player. He sat next to Arista and dropped the case on the table. The colorful cover fascinated Arista and she stared at it curiously, unsure of what was going to happen — that is, until the lion roared. She gazed at the television with unparalleled astonishment as the black-and-white MGM lion faded into the background and the sepia-toned images of Kansas flooded the screen.
Gavin was more interested in watching how entranced Arista was with the movie than actually paying attention to it himself. He tried to remember what it was like to see his first movie, but he had been so young it was difficult to recall. Arista’s childlike wonder was so contagious he found himself enjoying the film as though it were his first time — from her delight at the first sight of Munchkinland to her worry when the Wicked Witch captured Dorothy. She curled up close against him and clutched his shirt during the final confrontation, and shed tears when Dorothy finally returned home.
“Did you like that?” Gavin asked when the movie ended.
Arista nodded and tried to smile, but she burst into more tears instead. “It was so beautiful. I can’t believe you get to see movies like this all the time, or that people made all those amazing things. I know you don’t like to believe in magic, but that’s absolutely what it is. But it also broke my heart,” she said, with a renewed sense of anguish.
“I’ll never have that. I can never go back home again like Dorothy, I’d never be happy there. And I don’t understand how she can be happy to go home either. Why wouldn’t she want to stay where everything is so beautiful in Oz? Am I that awful and terrible for thinking that I would rather stay?”
“No,” he answered, stroking her hair. “You’re not terrible at all.”
“I know I’m here to find my mother, but part of me thinks that even without her here, I still would have chosen to come to the surface. Chosen to leave my home and everything else behind me.”
“You’re not wrong for feeling that way. Everyone wants to have an adventure in their life. I think this is going to be all the adventure both of us will ever ne
ed,” he said with a chuckle. “We all make mistakes; the only thing we can do is learn from them and become better as a result. If you come out of this whole ordeal better than you were the day you left, then it will have all turned out okay.”
Arista nodded as she contemplated what he said. “Maybe when I find my mother we can both stay. Maybe she’s had her adventure and she’s become better for it, too.”
“I hope so,” he answered. “We still have some time before they return from the Oracle. Do you want to watch another movie?”
Arista looked up at him, her eyes wide with excitement. “How many more are there?”
…
Kellen paced across the cold stone floor of the basement. He was furious over the way everything had unfolded since he’d come to the surface. The more he thought about it, the more upset he became.
Just a few days earlier, he was in the northern part of the lake, where a wrecked boat was rumored to be. He had only explored the area for a day or so when his father tracked him down. His father explained that Arista had disappeared and they needed him to help find her. He couldn’t believe Arista was actually gone, although he wasn’t too surprised.
She hadn’t been herself for weeks. He’d frequently find her swimming alone and she had been so quiet and despondent. It wasn’t like her to avoid talking about her troubles. He knew something was wrong, but had no idea it would end with her vanishing.
On their way home, he and his father found several mermaids who explained that a mermaid fitting Arista’s description had come their way. They also told them that after she stopped there, one of their boys disappeared.
When they returned home, Kellen’s mother was horrified. She had lived most of her life in the north and was familiar with the stories of Morena the witch. She shared her suspicion that Morena performed a spell that required a life — a spell rumored to transform a mermaid for the surface.
Tangled Ripples: Book One: The Morrigan Prophecies Page 13
