Dark Waters

by Shannon Mayer

  There was a text message from Sheila; they’d found my mother’s rental car in a deserted parking lot at the beach, with nothing around for miles. The police were suspecting foul play.

  Tremors racked my body, my heart squeezing painfully with each beat. I walked to the window and looked over the edge at the ocean. I tried calling my mother’s cell phone again, on the off chance that Sheila was wrong, and my mom had just turned the phone off—that the police were wrong, and she’d just taken a left hand turn when she should have gone right.

  The voicemail picked up. “Hello, you’ve reached Darcy Lorcan, please leave a message. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Maybe sooner if I like you lots.” Her words trailed off with a laugh and the beep sounded. I hung up and called again, just to hear her, just to let her laughter wash over me. Tears streamed down my face as I redialled the number over and over. As much as I wanted to push her situation out of my head, I couldn’t. She was my mom and I loved her as much as I loved Ashling. How was I supposed to choose which one of them to go after?

  Finally I left a message after the seventh or eighth time I called her number. “Mom, it’s me. I . . . please call me as soon as you get this . . .there’s something bad I have to tell you.” I choked up, caught my breath and went on, my voice barely above a whisper. “Please don’t be missing. I love you.” I hit the end button and put the phone on the desk.

  This far away from where my mother had disappeared there was nothing I could do about it. I closed my eyes, pinched them shut tight and held my breath for a count of ten. I couldn’t help Ashling if I was worrying about Mom. I let my breath out slowly and with it the thought that I could save them both. I was here; Ashling was closest and I would focus on her. Nothing had changed.

  “I’m sorry Mom,” I whispered to the quiet room.

  The room’s phone rang, startling me. I picked it up. “Hello?”

  “Ms. Lorcan, this is Constable Pollett. I came by to speak with you at the hotel today but you were out.” Finally I left a message after the seventh or eighth time I called her number. “Mom, it’s me. I . . . please call me as soon as you get this . . .there’s something bad I have to tell you.” I choked up, caught my breath and went on, my voice barely above a whisper. “Please don’t be missing. I love you.” I hit the end button and put the phone on the desk.

  This far away from where my mother had disappeared there was nothing I could do about it. I closed my eyes, pinched them shut tight and held my breath for a count of ten. I couldn’t help Ashling if I was worrying about Mom. I let my breath out slowly and with it the thought that I could save them both. I was here; Ashling was closest and I would focus on her. Nothing had changed.

  “I’m sorry Mom,” I whispered to the quiet room.

  The room’s phone rang, startling me. I picked it up. “Hello?”

  “Ms. Lorcan, this is Constable Pollett. I came by to speak with you at the hotel today but you were out.”

  The conversation didn’t last long. They wanted to be sure that I was firm on my belief that it wasn’t a killer whale that took Ashling. I assured them it wasn’t and we hung up, conversation over.

  Darkness was starting to fall and with it my hopes of finding Ashling tonight. Maybe the police were right, maybe it had been a killer whale. I found myself in the bathroom staring into the mirror. Ashling and I were alike in build and riotous curls, and if I squinted my eyes, fuzzing my vision, I could convince myself that indeed I was looking at my little sister. I wanted it so badly that for a moment I believed I could make it happen.

  The power I’d felt inside me, that answered Luke’s lips, surged upwards once more. I felt it move through me, tightening every muscle as it seemed to seek a way out, my skin feeling as if it was filling, stretching. On an instinct I didn’t realize I had until that moment, I coaxed the power down my arms and to the tips of my fingers where it tingled and seemed to dance just at the edges of my body. I let out a slow breath, and opened my eyes.

  The room dimmed as the hotel shook with another—what I had to assume was small—earthquake. I put my hands against the mirror to steady myself. It was a nauseating feeling, to know the ground was so unsteady below my feet, as if my legs didn’t want to hold me up.

  As the lights continued to flicker, I glanced up. The mirror seemed to be dancing with blue lights that appeared to be coming from my fingertips. I couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped my lips as the gleaming surface cleared. No longer was the image in the mirror showing the shower behind me with beautiful white and gold hand-laid tiles.

  No, now it showed me a dark cell with stone walls that dripped with water and slime. And huddled in the corner of the cell was Ashling.

  ~~

  8

  I threw myself at the mirror. “Ashling!”

  Her head jerked around and she leapt to her feet, scrambling across the stone floor to reach me. Our hands, though not touching, were pressed against both sides of the mirror. I smiled a stupid goofy grin. She was alive! I knew it!

  “Quinn! How the . . .what’s going on?” She asked, her voice distorted and echoing in the stone chamber.

  “I can’t get to the beach, something, a type of invisible wall is stopping me. Did they hurt you?” I asked.

  “No, they just threw me in this cell and locked the door. I haven’t seen any of them since they dragged me down here.”

  “But you’re okay? They didn’t try to hurt you?”

  “No. They just left me alone,” she said, shaking her head, curls bouncing.

  I didn’t want to tell her about Mom; she didn’t need that right now. As soon as I got Ashling back, I would tell her then. Not a second before. I opened my mouth to speak, but she beat me to it.

  “They got Mom too,” she whispered. A pit opened up in the center of my stomach. It was almost worse than if Mom had been taken by humans. At least the police would have had a chance in finding her then. As it was they were both depending on me to save them. Mother of God help us all.

  “I’m so afraid Quinn. Please, please don’t leave me here.”

  I wanted to close my eyes but didn’t dare, for fear that if I did Ashling would disappear. “I won’t, you have to know that I won’t. But I can’t figure out what’s going on.”

  “It’s like Grandpa’s stories. The ones about the monsters. I thought he was crazy,” she whispered. “I wish I’d believed him.” Her green eyes spilled over with tears.

  “I know. Me too. Do you remember him talking about Fomorii or Tuatha?” I asked.

  Her eyes brightened and she dashed the tears away. “Yes! They battled over Ireland. The Tuatha were bright and beautiful and kind.”

  “Like Luke,” I said, my voice soft. Her mouth dropped open.

  “He’s one of them?”

  I nodded. “Yes, but keep going, I don’t remember these stories of Grandpa’s.”

  “He never told them to you,” she said. “Grandpa told me that it would be my job to tell them to you one day, when it was time for you to know . . .” Her eyes were wide, and I felt my own face mirror her expression.

  “Ashling, tell me everything Grandpa said. I don’t think we have much time.”

  She spun the tale as fast as she could. The two races, the Fomorii and the Tuatha de Daanan fought over Ireland. The Fomorii were cruel and tyrannical; they oppressed the people of Ireland for hundreds of years. When the Tuatha arrived they battled with the Fomorii, rescued Ireland from their clutches and restored peace to the land.

  “Both races have great strength, speed, healing and powers with illusions. That’s all I can remember right now Quinn,” she said. Her eyes were their usual pristine emerald tones, but had bags under them, dark circles that attested to the stress she was under. I wanted to wipe them clean, take it all away from her.

  “Why are they here?” I asked.

  “I don’t know Quinn.” Her eyes sparkled with tears. “I just want to come home.”

  A wave of exhaustion swept over me. I wavered, my one h
and slipping from the mirror. Ashling shimmered and, for a moment, I saw my amber eyes instead of her green ones.

  “Quinn. Don’t leave me!” she cried out.

  “I’m here,” I whispered, fighting the fatigue that was pushing me down. “Wait, there is one more thing. A prophecy. Do you remember Grandpa speaking a prophecy to you?”

  She nodded. “Yes, it went like this.” She paused, a frown creasing her brow with concentration, before she began:

  “The line of the snake will bring forth a saving light at the darkest hour. Binding all the realms as one—her sword will strike down the evil that haunts the land and she shall lead the Fae to victory. Filled with compassion, her heart will remain pure, loving only the Shining One. Through their union, peace shall reign and the world will know the Fae for all that they are and her sword will forever be at her side.” Ashling let out a small breath. “I think that’s it, pretty close anyway.”

  I licked my lips and tried to cement the words in my head. If this prophecy was supposedly for me, then I wanted to know it inside and out.

  “Quinn, do you think you can pull me through?” She asked. It had been the question I’d been avoiding because my gut told me I didn’t have the strength—that I didn’t have the knowledge—and if it went wrong . . .

  “I don’t think so, what would happen if . . .” I didn’t get to finish my sentence.

  The door to her cell opened and a three-legged, monstrous beast crept in, its mouth of teeth all too familiar, its single eye glaring at me through the mirror.

  “Forbidden!” It screamed and launched itself at me. Where Ashling hadn’t been able to penetrate the glass, the monster—the Fomorii—did easily. Its arms shot through; its clawed fingertips wrapped themselves around my throat, squeezing tight.

  Like I hadn’t been strangled enough lately. I let go of the mirror, using both hands to pry at the thing that had me in its vice-like grip. I could hear Ashling screaming, though I could no longer see her. The monster’s arms were dark green, almost black, and slick with some sort of slime. The ooze made grasping it impossible. I floundered, my vision slipping in and out as spots appeared in front of me. At the last moment I wished for my knife; if I had it I could at least damage the thing that held my life in its hands.

  The cool bone handle was suddenly in my right hand. I didn’t think about how it got there, just used it to slash at the beast in the mirror. The blade cut into the Fomorii’s right arm, slicing through it as if it were soft, slimy green butter.

  The Fomorii let out a howl, and the last of my own powers burst out of me uncontrolled, shattering the mirror. The shards of the mirror cut through the Fomorii’s arms, amputating them at the elbows. The two limbs fell into the sink with a spurt of blood. I pried the fingers off my throat and drew in a lungful of air. The cool tang of the ocean had never tasted so good on my tongue. I took another breath and felt it flood my body with oxygen.

  I gripped the handle of my knife and leaned on the counter. Where had the blade come from? I shook my head and looked around the bathroom. There were spatters of blood and shards of mirror all over the counter and the floor. I didn’t care. Ashling was alive, there was no doubt in me now, and that knowledge fuelled me for the next hour while I cleaned the bathroom. The mirror went into the wastebasket; I would have to pay for that no doubt. I held up the dark green, slimy appendages. “What the hell am I supposed to do with these?” I muttered.

  I found a black plastic bag under the sink, and I slipped the arms into it, grimacing each time I had to touch them. Disgusting. I stuffed the bag into the back of the closet. I would have to get them out at some point, but all I wanted right then was to shower and go to bed. I was beyond exhausted.

  As the water sluiced over me I went over the next few steps in my mind. The monster in the water—the Fomorii that had grabbed me—what had it said?

  “Can you hear me little Tuatha? I wonder if you know me deep in your soul? We are coming for you.”

  Wringing my hair out, I quickly braided it; the tip ended in the middle of my back. Bres and Luke were Tuatha and they said I was too. Which meant that Ashling was as well; that would explain why Luke was so sure they would kill her. She was their enemy, as was I. Slipping into an oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts, I curled up in the bed. My eyelids drooped and I struggled to stay awake. Though my heart and spirit were willing, my body was done in by the day’s events. I would be no good to Ashling if I was stumbling around sleep deprived.

  Tomorrow I would start hunting for a way through the Barrier.

  ~~

  9

  I woke in the middle of the night, the moon shining on the water and reflecting in through my windows. A tingle of awareness tickled along the edge of my skin. A soft intake of breath was all I heard before a body glided forward in the moonlit night.

  I sat up and scrambled away from the figure, my mind still foggy with sleep.

  “Get out of here!” I yelled, an image of the Fomorii coming for his lopped off appendages filling my mind. Damn, where was my knife? It slid into my hand as if beckoned, and I gripped the handle, not even questioning the how of it.

  The lights flicked on, though they were muted as if the power was low. A tall figure stood at the foot of my bed, a dark cape shrouding him from head to foot. I caught the flash of his violet tinged eyes as he tipped his head.

  “Bres, what the hell are you doing here?” I said, my fear quickly turning to anger as I lowered my knife. How had he gotten in anyway?

  The dim light illuminated his face, and I realized my mistake. It wasn’t Bres.

  The stranger lifted his hand and pointed a finger at me. I froze, suddenly unable to move. He took two strides and, before I could even attempt get out of his way, he had me pinned up against the wall. A sharp pinch of my wrist between his fingers and my knife dropped to the floor.

  “Ah Quinn, so like your mother, if one can look past those eyes of yours.” He breathed out the words and they caressed my skin, leaving behind a trail of frost on my cheeks. I stared into his face; he had the same violet eyes as Bres, the same dark hair. He looked as if he could be an older version of Bres, which was disturbing. The only true difference was the pointed teeth that glinted out from between his lips as he spoke.

  “Don’t you hurt her!” I yelled at him, struggling in his grip. My instincts were screaming at me to run, fight, so something. Though he didn’t look it, I had no doubt the stranger was one of the Fomorii.

  He let out a grunt. “I would never hurt your mother.” He tipped his head and stared at me, one eyebrow raised. “You have the look of your father too. That is a pity. I wonder, do you carry other traits of his? Are you a fool?”

  I’d never met our father, never knew him at all. Our mother wouldn’t even tell us his name. But that didn’t mean I would allow some stranger to bad mouth him. “You have no right to speak of him, you don’t know him.”

  He laughed and my legs went weak. “I know him better than you do, his daughter.” He let out a sigh. “I won’t enjoy this. But it’s necessary, for Ashling’s sake.”

  “You have her, don’t you? And Mom. Please let them go.”

  “You don’t deserve them. They’re mine. I am keeping them—Ashling especially—where they’re safe from you and your Tuatha treachery.”

  “NO. I would never hurt her! I love Ashling, she’s my baby sister.”

  The stranger snorted. “You know the prophecy, all of it?”

  “Enough, I know enough, not that it matters. I don’t believe in this stupid prophecy,” I said.

  “Then how do you explain me? Hmm. How do you explain the Fomorii you saw with your own eyes, the Barrier that now stands between you and the ocean. How do you explain the power that even now I can sense rippling through your body?”

  “I don’t know,” I whispered.

  The stranger loomed over me. “I should kill you now, but I can’t. Even I am not that cold, even I believe that there is power in each of us to change our d
estiny. Not to mention, a promise, is a promise.” He lifted his hand to my face and caught a tear on the tip of his finger.

  I couldn’t move, spellbound, his words confusing me. What promise was he talking about? “Please give her back. I’d do anything to have her back.”

  “No. You will leave her and become a pawn of the Councils,” he said, his purple eyes delving into my own. “I will not have that for her. She has too much beauty, she is too much like her mother. I will keep her for my own.”

  The room darkened and I could feel him—there is no other way to describe it—begin to draw on his power and it was a dark and fearsome thing. I did the only thing I could think of.

  “LUKE!” I screamed.

  The stranger’s eyes snapped away from mine as the door was kicked in. Bres, sword bared, stood in the doorway.

  The stranger looked from me to Bres and back. A slow smile spread across his face. He locked eyes with me once again.

  “You are trespassing on my lands. I will give you until midnight tomorrow to leave. If you are still here I will consider it an attack on me, and your life will be forfeit.” A crack like the sound of thunder filled the room and in a swirl of darkness, he was gone. The lights dimmed and went back out.

  Bres was suddenly in front of me, his eyes hard and his jaw twitching. “Did he hurt you badly?”

  I shook my head. “No, he didn’t hurt me. He was starting to draw on his power—what was he going to do?”

  Bres gave me a sharp nod. “You did ta right thing Quinn. He was preparing to wipe your memory. It would be a sure way to end any role you would play in ta prophecy without killing you.”

  A lump formed in my throat. I didn’t doubt him, not for an instant. If Bres had been a second later . . . I shivered at the thought of all my memories being wiped like a dry erase board.

  Luke appeared in the doorway, a sword in his hand. “You can leave now Bres, I will take it from here.”