The Familiar

by Tatiana G. Roces

  “So, why are you asking about this anyway?” asks Louise dubiously.

  I focus on my hands, twiddling my fingers nervously. Somehow, this doesn’t seem to be the right time or place to reveal the truth to them. “Nothing in particular. I was just reading those library books and wondered. That’s all.”

  Akiko seems satisfied with my response, too distracted by her own woes to give it a second thought. “Anyway, there’s nothing to worry about while we’re here. I’m sure this place is practically impenetrable.”

  “I’m sure you’re right Akiko. I’m just overanalyzing it, I guess,” I remark nonchalantly.

  Samir looks at the large clock on the wall. “We better go. It’s almost time for class.”

  Akiko groans. “Ugh… I hope Brad takes it easy on us.”

  “I hope so, too. I don’t think I can take another adrenaline-filled class right now,” I utter in agreement.

  The rest of the classmates must still be recuperating, because when we get to the dock, Brad’s still by himself, throwing pebbles so they skip across the water repeatedly. “Hey, guys! I heard Ivana’s class was killer!”

  “Well, that’s an understatement,” replies Akiko sarcastically.

  Brad chuckles heartily. “Okay, I’ll make sure to give you guys a break today.”

  Louise smiles at Brad flirtatiously. “That’s what you said the last time and look what happened!”

  “Okay, okay! You got me… I really mean it this time though,” he says, flashing a reassuring smile. The rest of the class finally arrives and Brad hops up on the docks, ready to start.

  “I heard you guys took a beating this morning,” he says, smiling goofily. “So today, I’ll give all of you a free day to swim and explore the lake. Since the effects of the Training Accelerator are still in your systems, I want you to practice swimming both on the surface and underwater with whatever creature your heart’s desire. Experiment, have fun, and be safe. I will, of course, be watching. So, no messing around, okay?”

  Most of our classmates, including us, take their sweet time getting into the water, consoled by the fact that there won’t be any mind numbing challenges to deal with in Brad’s class. Some sit on the beach relaxing and chatting with their friends, while others, casually wade in the shallows. The blazing afternoon sun is beating down, so we climb the dock ladder and walk on the creaky wooden planks till we reach the end, diving off into the crystal blue lake at the same time. I immediately feel refreshed as the water envelops me in thousands of tiny bubbles. When I rise to the surface, Louise, Akiko, and Samir are floating on their backs lazily.

  “You guys wanna explore?” I ask my friends, hoping they’re up for it. Ever since I discovered the underwater world in Safe Harbor, I’ve been eager to do it again, today seems like the opportune moment to test it out again.

  “Hell yeah!” says Samir enthusiastically.

  “Sure,” chimes in Louise.

  Akiko makes her trademark snarky face. “I thought we were just going to play around today?”

  Samir splashes water on her. “Come on, little sister. A little adventure once in a while isn’t gonna kill you…”

  “Gahh, okay, then… What’s the plan?” says Akiko relenting.

  “I’ve always loved dolphins, why don’t we try that?” I suggest.

  Louise shrieks in excitement, “Ooh yes, thumbs up for dolphins! I went to California with my family one summer, and we got to swim with them. They were beyond adorable.”

  “Okay, then it’s settled,” I say with a chuckle, closing my eyes in concentration. I’ve only seen dolphins once when Andy and I spent the day on his dad’s fishing boat. They were so graceful and happy as they leaped out of the ocean in a choreographed dance. I think about that day and imagine myself as one of those seemingly carefree dolphins. The tingling sensation prickles across my body and then the transformation is done. By the time I look over at my friends, they’re all splashing around playfully in dolphin form. It’s funny how I can still distinguish their subtle features. Samir’s dolphin is long and lean with skin that is mottled brown, Akiko’s dolphin is petite, with smooth grayish white skin and a snubbed nose, and Louise’s dolphin is a pale beige color with graceful, proportionate lines.

  Suddenly, I hear Louise’s voice in my head, “This is so awesome! Where to now?” I’m perplexed, not quite understanding how she’s speaking to me.

  I must have looked confused, because next, I hear Samir’s voice in my head, “Just think about your response, Hazel. It’s called telepathic communication. All shape-shifters have this ability while in animal form.”

  “Okay… This is a new one. I didn’t know this was even possible,” I think, trying to project to my answer to them.

  “Just one of the perks of being a shape-shifter,” Akiko explains.

  “Let’s swim to the other side as fast as we can,” I say, pushing my body ahead so I spring into the air and dive gracefully into the water. We instinctively glide and leap, sometimes flying over one another. I don’t feel fear, only the adrenaline rushing through my body. When we reach the other side, we relax, swimming around one another, while checking out the scenery.

  “Let’s see what’s underwater,” suggests Louise before plunging deep. When I dive under after her, it takes a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the bluish-green world. I dive deeper and swim through underwater plants and schools of freshwater fish that dart away quickly when they see us. We reach a clearing where the sun’s rays pierce the water making everything crystalline clear. For a moment, I feel disoriented when I spot a meadow of grass and trees instead of the usual lake bottom. There is a manmade concrete path lined with metal park benches that are covered in slimy green algae. We swim along the cracked path and it becomes obvious that the lake is really a submerged park. There are several statues, some of animals and others of people in various poses. They look eerie, almost as if they’re buried in an underwater graveyard.

  We surface once again to catch our breaths, and when I look around, I notice that we’re pretty far from the dock. From this vantage point, Brad just looks like a spec, a tiny little Lego man giving us a friendly wave.

  “Isn’t it weird that this lake is on top of a park? I wonder what happened here,” I say to my friends.

  “Yeah, it’s creepy… I feel like one of those statues is going to grab me or something,” says Akiko.

  Samir does a dolphin flip in the air. “I got the hang of this. You guys up for shifting into something else?”

  “Yes! How about sharks?” says Louise, projecting the dramatic Jaws shark song into our heads.

  “Sounds good to me!” I reply with a giggle.

  I remember all those times I watched shark week with Mom on TV. They just seemed to be so out of this world, mysterious, even menacing. But the first time I saw a shark in person, it was hanging upside down on a fishing boat arriving at the Safe Harbor docks. I remember feeling sad that it’s death was so undignified.

  This time, I barely feel any tingling as my body transforms. We dive into the water, and take a slower descent, our shark bodies swaying lazily from side to side. It’s bizarre how changing from one animal to another can alter your mood, because I suddenly feel more intimidating, my beady shark eyes intimidating every fish that swims by. While cruising close to the bottom of the lake, it becomes clear to us how expansive the park used to be. Our tour takes us past crumbling fountains, cobblestone paths with reeds growing out of the cracks and enough benches to seat the entire camp population. We reach what must be the center of the lake, and I spot a peculiar looking statue. I swim towards it, and as I get closer, the reflection of the sun glistening on the statue’s golden surface almost blinds me. I hover in front of it, and study the strange sculpture. There’s an oversized fluffy cat curled up, and nestled on top, is a tiny baby, asleep on the cat as if it’s the baby’s crib. I see a plaque in front and swim closer to take a look:

  This park is dedicated to the future generations of Wizards and
Witches of Light, and those who stay loyally by their sides.

  There is a date on the bottom, and upon closer inspection, I see that it’s October 31, 1976, my mom’s birth date. I swim around the statue one more time, then catch-up with my friends. We trudge on until we see the bottom of the dock ahead of us. I surface, and transform back to my human form as Louise, Akiko, and Samir continue gliding in the water, their large dorsal fins going around in circular patterns. I swim towards the dock, and pull myself up the ladder. Brad is already waiting for me with a towel. I wrap myself with it, and settle on the edge next to him. “You guys did great out there.”

  “Thanks, it was fun,” I reply politely.

  As I watch my friends goofing around in the water, I contemplate the cat statue, wondering if it’s appropriate to ask a Brad about it. “Can I ask you something?” I blurt out, my curiosity meddling with my uncertainty.

  “Sure. What’s up?”

  I wrap the towel around me tighter, feeling chilled by the gentle breeze.

  “When we were swimming underwater, we noticed that there used to be a park here?”

  He pauses and smiles awkwardly. “Yeah, actually, the park was named Maven Park, after your mom…Your grandma Celestina had it built in honor of your mom’s birth. I hear it was a really beautiful place at one time.”

  “But what happened to it? How come there’s a lake here now?”

  Brad shrugs. “Well, the trials of Rufus White took a real toll on your mom. She started saying things and rebelling against the Council and your grandma… after she disappeared, your grandma had the lake put on top of the park. She said it was to help the students, give them a place to learn how to shift into water animals, but most people think it was because it was too painful for her to be reminded of your mom.”

  I’m stunned, and now more than ever, I’m curious about what really happened and whether Mom’s theory about Rufus White could possibly be true. Brad stands up and raises his hand to wave as the whistle echoes over the lake. Slowly, my classmates emerge until everyone is accounted for and standing on the beach wrapped in towels.

  “So, that’s it for this week. Hope you guys had fun, but next time, I won’t be taking it so easy on you,” says Brad, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

  We return to our dorm to shower and change. Since we’re not allowed to wander outside of our dorms, I decide to do some sketching, and maybe see if Andy’s around for a chat.

  Louise scampers to the bathroom. “Dibs on the shower!” I relent, happy to have some alone time. Knowing that Louise will be in there for a good twenty minutes, I relax in bed, pulling my sketchbook out of my bag and opening it to a blank page. I pick-out my favorite pencil and begin drawing the statue of Mom and the cat. It flows easily from my memory to the page, and as I’m adding detail, I realize that the cat must be the same one I had seen the other day in the portrait of Celestina.

  Louise finishes up in the bathroom, so I close my sketchbook and put my pencils away. She comes out wrapped in her bathrobe while towel drying her curly, copper flecked blonde hair.

  “It’s all yours!”

  I grab my towel and head to the bathroom, looking forward to a long steamy shower. Before I close the door, I hear Louise shout out, “I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to try and take a nap before dinner. I really need some beauty sleep.”

  “No problem, go ahead. I’ll just read a book or something.” I turn the shower on to the highest temperature my body can take and stand under the hot stream for a while. I think about Mom and how hard it must have been to be rejected not only by her family, but by her peers as well. Not even once did I suspect she was sad or lonely living in Safe Harbor, but knowing what I know now, there must have been times that she felt entrapped and abandoned.

  I see my skin starting to turn pink, so I soap myself thoroughly, wash and condition my hair till everything in the bathroom smells like vanilla. I get out and dry myself while the foggy steam subsides. When I open the bathroom door, Louise is already asleep wearing her usual facemask. I throw on some leggings and an oversized t-shirt, and then run a comb through my long wet hair, managing to undo most of the tangles.

  I tiptoe out of the room, laptop in tow, and head to the mini-lounge down the hallway. Surprisingly, nobody else seems to be around, so I stretch out on the white wicker sofa, and lean back on the soft yellow cushions before opening up my laptop. My heart skips a beat when I see that Andy’s online. I click the “call” icon immediately, and in a couple of seconds his face appears on the screen. He is outdoors again, which doesn’t surprise me since Andy loves anything outdoorsy. As he adjusts his laptop with a crooked grin on his face, I notice that even though he looks pretty much like he always does, something about his face looks different, rougher, although it could just be that he hasn’t shaved for a few days.

  “I was wondering when you were going call me,” he says smiling straight into the camera.

  “I know, I know. I’m sorry. It’s been kind of crazy here. So much to do and learn,” I reply, trying to be as vague as possible. He leans back on the tree, and his hair falls out from behind his ear onto his jaw as he studies my image on his screen.

  “Well, you know I expect you to draw my portrait for me when you get back, right? You’ve owed me one for the longest time,” he teases. I blush, thinking of all the portraits I’ve secretly done over the years but have been too embarrassed to show him.

  “Yeah, I will,” I say, as I run my fingers through my still damp hair. “So, what have you been up to? Have you seen my mom at all?”

  He yawns, and as he raises his hand to cover his mouth, I notice his arms look more muscle-y than normal.

  “Things have been kind of lame without you around,” he says, his eyes twinkling as he speaks.

  “I haven’t actually seen your mom much… I suspect she’s holed herself up in her studio again.” I must have frowned, because Andy immediately adds, “Don’t worry. I’m sure she’s just in one of her frenzied painting moods. We both know how she gets sometimes.”

  “You’re probably right,” I say half-heartedly. I hear a girl’s voice calling Andy off-screen, and I flinch. He looks up, startled by the interruption.

  “Andy! Come on!” the female voice says. He seems flustered and fumbles with his laptop.

  “Sorry, I have to go… I’ll check online later and see if you’re still on,” he says hastily. Then he disconnects even before I have a chance to say goodbye.

  My heart sinks, and for the first time, I feel jealous at the thought of Andy with another girl. I don’t know if I’m panicking, but this sudden rush of emotion is making me feel sick to my stomach. I close my laptop, and sit quietly, too stunned to do anything else.

  20

  The next morning that queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach is lingering. I’m not really sure if it’s because I went to sleep without eating dinner, or if the Andy situation still has me tied up in knots.

  Louise sits up in bed, and pulls her facemask up on top of her head. She frowns when she sees the pained look on my face.

  “Hazel, you look awful.”

  I check my reflection in the mirror. Besides my hair being a complete mess, I have dark circles under my eyes, and my face looks pale and puffy.

  “Ugh… You’re right.”

  “Do you think you’ve come down with something? Because when I couldn’t wake you up for dinner last night, I was kind of worried,” she says.

  I plop myself back on the bed. “No. I think it’s something else…”

  “Like what?” Louise asks looking more concerned now.

  I lay across my bed silently, debating whether I should open up to Louise about the emotions I’m having. The panic sets in, and I feel like I might explode unless I tell someone.

  “It’s Andy.”

  Louise’s face perks up. “Please tell me you’re finally admitting you have feelings for him!” she exclaims dramatically.

  I grab a pillow and throw it at her
violently.

  “Okay… Maybe,” I concede, my shoulders slumping dejectedly. Louise jumps up off the bed in excitement.

  “I knew it!” she shouts out, pointing her finger at me while dancing and chanting around the room, “I knew it… I knew it… I knew it!”

  I roll my eyes and cover my ears. “If I thought you were going to torture me like this, I wouldn’t have told you.”

  Louise sits back down on her bed with a straight face. “I’m so sorry, you’re right. I shouldn’t be joking at a time like this… So, fill me in… What happened?”

  I roll over to face Louise. “Well… I was chatting with him last night. Everything seemed pretty normal, except I noticed there was something kind of different about him. I don’t know how to explain it. But anyway, while we were talking, I heard some girl call out his name. And after that he got all flustered and just said goodbye and pretty much hung up on me.”

  I must have looked upset because Louise sidles next to me, putting her arm around me consolingly. “Oh, hon, I’m sorry. I don’t really know why he’d do that you, but try not to jump to conclusions, okay? There’s probably an explanation. He’s your best friend, right? I don’t think he’d try to hurt you on purpose, Hazel.”

  “I know. It’s just that this is all so unexpected. I have no idea why I feel this way all of the sudden,” I say pathetically. I feel the tears well up and I sigh, frustrated that Andy has this power over me.

  Louise rubs her hand on my back.

  “There’s a reason why they call it being lovesick, Hazel. It just comes out of nowhere, and makes you feel like complete crap.”

  I wipe my eyes while Louise pulls me off the bed.

  “Right now though, you’ve just got to snap out of it. I promise we can drown in your sorrows over the weekend, okay?”

  I take a deep breath. “You’re right, you’re right. I know. Okay, I need to focus now. I can do this,” I say, trying to cheer myself up. We get dressed and head over to the dining hall for some breakfast. When we get there, Samir and Akiko are almost done eating, their empty dishes piled up on the trays in front of them.