Sprite (Annabelle's Story Part One)

by Leigh Michael

  If I wasn’t trapped in a net, being pulled god knows where, it may actually be soothing. This time, it was different. I wondered if a boat waited or what would happen next. I needed a way to escape. If there was a boat, I’d do whatever it took to avoid it. I just had no clue how.

  The frigid water hit me with the burst of a large wave. Quickly, I shifted my hand within the net to wipe my hair from my face, my hand shaking with each movement.

  I couldn’t fully turn my head to see what waited for me, but oddly enough, one by one I noticed articles of clothing on the beach. His clothing. His hat, his shoes, his shirt, his linen pants.

  My breathing picked up again in terror.

  Why did he take off his clothes?

  What kind of sick freak was he?

  What was going to happen to me?

  Before, my puffs of breath were visible in the cold air, but now as I twisted and turned, a constant stream haunted the air.

  I made a huge mistake not doing everything physically possible to fight this stranger—this stranger who abducted me. I felt stupid. I felt scared. I thought of Mom, Dad, Lindsey, and of Blake, and if I’d ever see them again. Part of me knew I wouldn’t. The other part didn’t want to accept that.

  Tears built in my eyes, mixing with the next wave that hit me. It picked me up off the sand, allowing my abductor’s hands to slip under my arms. I heard him grunt as he pulled me further into the ocean. I kicked; I kicked with everything I had, but it did nothing. The greater depth of the water made my body weightless.

  A moment later, another wave hit my body mid-crash—the type of waves where it was necessary to dive through or it meant getting pummeled into the ground. Needless to say, I got knocked around violently.

  I feared opening my eyes. I knew my back was all that breached the surface. I twisted from side to side, trying to propel myself onto my back. I yearned to suck in air. Fortunately, a smaller wave rocked me onto my side and I used the momentum to turn the rest of the way.

  While I took mouthfuls of the air, my eyes scoured the surface. In jerky movements, I peered to the left, right, and behind me. My abductor was nowhere in sight.

  Escape.

  But before I could react, a dolphin surfaced directly beside me. I didn’t know if I was in awe or in danger.

  The dolphin grabbed the netting and led me—further out to sea. It all happened so quickly. Before I even realized what had happened, another ten maybe twenty yards separated me from the shore

  Then it pulled me under.

  I’d spent my whole life in the water as a swimmer; almost like a second home. But this was different. I didn’t know what to do. My natural buoyancy pushed me upwards, but the dolphin pulled me back away from the surface and I desperately needed air.

  Was this dolphin trying to drown me?

  The panic, the veil of blurriness blocking my vision, was unreal. With the little room I had, I frantically kicked my legs to break the surface in search of air, but it was of no use.

  It was odd; people have always said that life flashed before a person’s eyes before death.

  But mine didn’t. All I thought about was a story I’d heard as a lifeguard—from a guy who drowned and was brought back to life through CPR.

  He said after a few minutes he gradually sunk. It was because little by little all the air had left his lungs. He felt his lungs aching to be replenished, making his heart quicken.

  Then the only thing left for him to do was inhale. He had no choice, his body instinctively breathed. It didn’t matter that he was under water. But after he did, the water burned his throat as it went down, it filled his lungs, and then he died.

  Right on cue, my body forced me to inhale.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  He also said that after his lungs filled with water, a sense of peace preceded his death. It didn’t hurt anymore. His eyes opened. Then he took one last look up at the surface before his life slipped away.

  I was experiencing this moment of peace. I felt weightless, the burning had vanished, and fear no longer consumed me.

  Another thing I noticed was my perfect vision. It was nighttime and I was underwater in the murky waters of the Jersey shore, but none of that mattered. I don’t recall this in the anecdotes I’ve heard, but perhaps every experience was slightly different.

  I just hung there in the water, within my net. I took gulp after gulp of water and wondered which one would be my last. It couldn’t be long now. Not long at all.

  Not long at all…

  Okay, I wasn’t dying.

  I wasn’t dying?

  It felt no different than when I filled my lungs with air. I now breathed normally. The same I would above the water.

  Puzzled, I reconsidered.

  Was I in a weird state of limbo between life and death?

  Was this a dream⎯a really messed up dream?

  Then, a slightly distorted voice came from behind.

  “Annabelle…”

  I jolted at the singsong yet rustic voice. Struggling within the net, I fought against the confines of the net to turn toward the voice of someone else who knew my name – someone with a completely different dialect than the guy who’d kidnapped me. If above ground, I’d have broken a sweat. Being in the water, who knew. Eventually, I positioned myself to set my eyes upon who had spoken to me.

  He hovered just below the surface, shirtless. It was fitting for someone who looked like him. He could’ve been pulled straight from a magazine cover.

  My eyes shifted upwards toward his face. I discerned his age was around my own. His dark hair hung to his shoulders, swaying hypnotically to the current. Brown eyes matched his hair although his skin tone was similar to my own.

  The next detail put my sanity into question. He had a fish tail. From the waist up, he was this gorgeous boy, but from the waist down he resembled a mermaid.

  Um, I mean, merman?

  I shook my head. The effects of swallowing too much salt water.

  Right?

  I’ve heard of mermaids and such. I’ve seen the movies; I’ve read the books. But, come on, this was real-life (as spoken from the girl who currently breathed underwater).

  It also struck me as odd that his tail was split in two. Instead of legs, fins covered in green scales created his bottom half. All the fictional merfolk…

  I guess that was what they were called

  … I’ve seen generally had one tail. The only exception I recalled was the logo from my favorite coffee brand, which had two fins.

  As I stared at him he remained unmoving in the water about five yards away, his arms stretched out in front of him with his palms raised. It was a mixture of an “I come in peace” with a “please don’t freak out” kind of stance. I saw his lips move, then stop before any words escaped. I took the time to make sense of what I saw.

  Finally, he broke the silence, his voice sounding muffled in the water. “I know this is a lot to handle at once, but we need to hurry.”

  I spoke in barely a whisper, my own voice sounding foreign once more. “Who are you? What’s going on?”

  “My name is Adrian. I don’t have time to explain right now. We just need to get you out of here before the Trackers find us. I don’t think they were far behind you.”

  With that, I instinctively craned my head to look back. God knew what I was even looking for, but I think this merman was right. Something or someone was behind me. In fact, three shadows approached from the distance.

  My voice raised an octave in my response. “What are those?”

  “The Trackers.”

  “And what are you?”

  “I’m a Guardian and I really need to get you out of here.”

  With that, he grabbed the top of my net, forcing me onto my side. His actions caught me off guard. The suddenness of it slowed my reaction time. Kicking out, I tried to free myself from my second abduction in one day.

  “I need you to stop. I’m trying to help you.”

  “What? This can’t be real.�
��

  “It’s very real and very dangerous. You need to trust me.”

  My mind raced as he took his first stroke in the opposite direction from the figures described as Trackers. From my position, I further pieced together the shapes of the shadows. My mind questioned the validity of this—but I knew it to be true. There were two seals and a dolphin in fast pursuit of us. And they were gaining quickly.

  My weight and the bent angle the merman swam slowed his progress, a mixture of panic and his struggle written all over his face. Each second allowed the Trackers to get closer and closer. Within a minute, one seal was right behind us.

  Suddenly, the seal snapped his teeth and took hold of the net by my feet. I tried to kick at him, but his bite was too strong and wouldn’t budge. Before I knew it, there was an Annabelle tug-of-war. The merman pulled with all his might from one end and the seal from the other.

  In the middle, my head rocked back and forth between the two. I really couldn’t believe it. Just this morning, I got ready for school. I had an honors Calculus exam. I had my championships for swim. Now, I was stuck in a net, waiting to see if a merman or a seal would be the victor.

  Out of nowhere, a dolphin slammed into the side of the seal and knocked me loose from his teeth. With no one tugging from the other side, the merman flew backwards, landing on a sandbar. In the net, I waited.

  The merman frantically raced back toward me after he landed hard against the sand. His apprehension toward the situation pulsed from his body as he grabbed back onto the net.

  Then as if things weren’t crazy enough, a whole pod of dolphins formed and created a circle around the Trackers. In a fast pace, they swam a circle formation. While doing so, they banged their tails against the sandbar. I’d seen it once before on a show about animals, but in real-life it was even more amazing. By slapping their tails, massive amount of sand was kicked up, creating a barrier. The three Trackers were trapped inside.

  The Guardian didn’t waste any time. Taking advantage of the situation, he yanked my net and me away from the ring of sand. It was back to the races.

  Half turning around, he slipped a shell through the netting. “Try to cut through the ropes,” he demanded.

  With a shaking hand, I reached out and took it. I wouldn’t waste an opportunity to better my situation. Being inside of this net provided little chance to escape.

  As he pulled me, I sawed away at the rope in short, choppy strokes. To cut through something wet was definitely easier, and in no time, I had created a hole big enough to climb through.

  Without a word, he reached back and stripped the net from my body. As soon as I was out, he turned to swim again. Just like that.

  This was my chance to flee. I quickly searched in all directions to figure out an exit plan. The surface of the water looked dark and uninviting. Tears built again behind my eyes. And then, I stopped. My life that I once knew had changed in an instant. This Guardian was the only one who could help me figure out what was going on. Based on the circumstances, I’d hedge my bets with someone called a “Guardian” than those who were referred to as “Trackers.”

  My mom always said that my guardian angel worked overtime because I was an adventure seeker. So, why couldn’t my guardian angel be a merman who was known as a Guardian? It was insane. And I knew it. My hand rubbed over my forehead as my head slowly shook.

  Realizing I wasn’t by his side, the Guardian took a few strokes back toward me. “Come on!”

  It was do or die time. I had to make a move one-way or the other. A lot of times when I wasn’t sure what to do, I’d count down from three. When I hit three, the rule was to make an instant decision.

  I closed my eyes and let my mind count down.

  Three, two, one… Guardian.

  Trusting my instincts I took my first free stride toward him and prayed I hadn’t made a mistake. My muscles ached from being in a fetal position for so long, but I continued in the direction where I hoped answers waited.

  I immediately felt awkward. I started to kick my legs one at a time. Left, right, left, right. My progress was slow and the merman…

  um… Adrian

  … got further and further ahead.

  Then I copied the kick from the butterfly, my favorite stroke. Fortunately, this dolphin kick worked better, and as I watched Adrian, he did a variation of the same movement. His kick just looked more graceful.

  “Slow down!” I called. “I can’t keep up.”

  I can’t believe I admitted this, but I almost wished to be back in the net. When Adrian pulled me through the water, I actually moved faster.

  His paced slowed. “Almost there, Annabelle. Just a little further.”

  “How do you know my name?”

  “I just do. Now, come on.”

  Wrong answer. “Look, if you don’t answer me, I’m not going any further.”

  “I’ll explain later. Right now we need to keep moving.”

  This wasn’t acceptable. “No, tell me now.”

  “It’s not the time. I need to make sure you’re safe. I promise you that all your questions will be answered.”

  I didn’t like this. Not one bit. The last few minutes still danced in my head. Being chased. The struggle over me. His concern of my well-being. But if I was going to try to trust Adrian… try as the operative word… I needed to give him a chance.

  I scrubbed my hands over my face. Adrian intently stared at me as I pulled them away. “Fine. Where are we going?”

  “To Tritonis. We’ll be safe there, and we can figure out our next steps.”

  He came to a stop, pointing. “Right in front of us is a jet stream⎯basically a strong current that runs through the water. Just roll into it and it’ll sweep you up. It’s easy. Follow my lead, okay?”

  “I guess so.”

  “All right, good. Oh and another thing. We’re going to be in there for a while. So feel free to get some sleep if you want. I’ll keep watch.”

  Adrian must’ve enjoyed the startled look on my face because he chuckled before he turned towards the jet stream. He swam a little bit forward and then, demonstrating fire safety, he rolled to his right in a full revolution, and then another, before he disappeared into the current.

  All right. I couldn’t turn back now. I could do this.

  It looked simple enough. Before, it was hard to pinpoint the jet stream, but now that I knew it was there I easily saw it. The deep blue sparkled slightly where the current cut across the water.

  I started in the same exact spot Adrian had and rolled. I even grunted to ensure my roll was extra fierce.

  And whoosh!

  I was inside, but with too much momentum. Instead of a controlled entrance, I shot forward within the jet stream and spiraled out of control, flying out on the other side of the stream. Twisting and turning I finally stopped about ten yards outside of it.

  When I struggled swimming, I was embarrassed. Now, I was mortified. I only hoped Adrian hadn’t seen me. I don’t know why it mattered. I wasn’t trying to impress him. But still, I didn’t want to not impress him either. Determined, I approached the jet stream again. This time, I rolled at a more even pace, and more importantly, I stayed inside.

  Looking up ahead, Adrian strained to slow himself in the stream. Once he saw me, relief washed over his face.

  So much for him not seeing me mess up my grand entrance.

  The ring of sand the dolphins created was cool, but this was even cooler. As I examined the jet stream, it reminded me of a half-pipe that a surfer rode a board through. Except this one didn’t test my speed and agility to make it through the wave before it collapsed. In this insane, newfound world, the stream maintained the shape of a tunnel.

  I couldn’t help it. I reached my hand towards the side of the stream. My fingertips left a trail behind in the wall. I remembered how when I was younger, I’d put my hand out of the car window while my mom drove. I always made this sort of wave motion. I liked the pressure of the wind as it pushed my hand up as I fo
ught to keep it still. Now in the jet stream, I tested my limits, going beyond my fingertips. The water left a familiar sensation.

  I played around with the wall for a few more moments, watching the patterns that trailed behind. Unfortunately, I got a little too confident. Without realizing it, my arm shot through the wall, almost pulling the rest of my body with it.

  “Annabelle!” Adrian shouted back at me. “You can’t draw attention to us right now. If anyone was outside the jet stream, they’d be able to pinpoint where we are.”

  “Sorry,” I said sheepishly.

  “Try to make yourself as straight as possible. You’ll go faster and you can catch up.” His head tuned back to face forward. “That way I can keep a better eye on you.”

  “Happy?” I said with a bitter undertone as I pulled up along side him.

  This time he smiled. “Very.”

  And, wow, what a smile. Immediately I chastised myself for the flutter in my stomach. I was spoken for. Blake was back in Jersey, probably worried sick.

  I knew my parents worried too. The thought didn’t dawn on me until now. They must be out of their minds with fear, wondering where I was and if I was safe. By now, we would’ve cut into my birthday cake. My heart ached for them and I mentally sent them a message that I was okay.

  I hoped they heard it.

  At this point in time, I was convinced anything was possible.

  Then before I knew it, the events of the day caught up with me and I drifted off to sleep.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “Annabelle. Wake up. Annabelle, we’re almost there.”

  “Huh?” I said groggily.

  Adrian shook me again. “It’s almost time to roll out of here. I want you to be ready.”

  I opened my eyes to study my surroundings.

  So, this really wasn’t a dream.

  I was now awake, in the presence of a merman, breathing underwater, in this unreal jet stream.

  “How long was I sleeping?” I asked. For whatever reason, the most logical question at the time.