by Kristen Day
I peered out the window into the gardens beyond, when the sound of a door shutting upstairs had me clamping a hand over the scream that was trying to escape my mouth. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths. Some Goddess I was - scared of a door shutting. I rolled my eyes at myself and stood up straight. I had nothing to be afraid of. As I reached for the door handle, I realized it was already ajar. I steeled myself and stepped out into the crisp night air. Click….creeek….click….
A rolling mist had set in and it swirled around the garden in a magical cadence. The savory fragrances of the flowers invaded my senses and the sound of the ocean rushed in my ears, submerging me in its fury; strengthening me. Although there were seven other people inside, I felt completely isolated. The world around me had come alive with energy. It pulsed in every flower, every leaf, and every blade of grass as I walked along the stone path. I sensed their acknowledgement of my presence as clearly as if they had spoken it aloud. The cool mist swirled and settled on my bare skin; initiating me into the ethereal world I had entered. Click….creeek…click….
Now I could tell the sound was coming from along the edge of the gardens, near the side of the house. I circled back, inching my way to the corner of the house. Click…creeek….click….
Holding my breath, I leaned forward to get a better view. Click…creeek….click… I leaned a little farther…and lost my balance.
Sprawled out on the grass, spitting dirt out of my mouth, I looked up into the surprised eyes of Carmen and Ricker. They were sitting (extremely close, by the way) in an old wooden swing, rocking back and forth. As it swung backwards again I heard the creeek of the chains and the click of the hook catching a bent chain link at the top. I scrambled back to my feet and a new wave of embarrassment hit me as I realized my thin shorts had moved much higher during my fall from grace; revealing one very bare cheek.
“Stasia? What are you doing?” Carmen asked; guilt and shame written all over her face.
“I, um, heard a noise and was trying to figure out what it was. But I found it. Along with… ya’ll,” I spit out clumsily. “So I’ll just…um…yea. Good night!” I took off back down the stone path, eager to put as much distance between myself and that awkward encounter as possible. I finally made it back to the fountain and perched on the side of it in an effort to collect myself. I could even feel the frenzy I had caused the plants in the garden with my little stunt. Slowly, the world went back to the calm of several minutes ago and so did my heart beat. I hopped off the fountain and started down the path towards the house when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Probably more terrifying shutting doors and swinging swings, I chuckled at myself, as I turned around to see what it was - and then froze mid-step.
She was standing near a rose bush several meters away. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she gently reached out to touch one of the blooms. As her transparent hand went right through it, she closed her eyes and wept softly. Not daring to chance a breath, I stepped closer. Her eyes flitted upward; meeting mine. A coldness washed over me as she turned and walked towards me.
I couldn’t move. Couldn’t scream. I just watched in horror as she eyed me curiously and came even closer. She had deep green eyes that blended with the lush garden of plants surrounding us. They held a certain warmth; an innocence. She couldn’t have been more than fifteen or sixteen years old. Those green eyes searched my own, pleading with me.
“Hi,” I whispered, so soft I barely heard it. She shifted and faded slightly; her body blurring in response. She stilled and glanced to the right as if she had heard something, giving me an even closer view of her exposed skull, covered with blood and matted blonde hair. Her eyes flickered back to mine and I immediately noticed the glassy fear that had suddenly consumed her.
“Hurry,” she said in a low, urgent voice right before disappearing. The effect her actual voice had on my already frazzled nerves was immediate and crushing. Somehow, my legs carried the rest of my body back inside and up the stairs without incident. Sliding back in between the sheets, I noticed how violently I was shaking. I closed my eyes and rolled into a ball, completely underneath the comforter. My makeshift cocoon began to work as the shaking subsided. Unfortunately, the hollow fear had clawed its way into my soul and I didn’t know if it would ever let go. I had just had a conversation…with a dead girl.
Chapter 8
“I knew it!!” Carmen exclaimed and sat up in a flash, narrowly missing her Orange Crush can. It rested precariously in the sand along with several magazines and a bag of chips. We were lying out in the soothing heat of the sun, while the guys struggled to surf the less than ideal waves crawling toward the shore.
“You did not! None of us did,” Phoebe rolled her eyes and continued to construct a sandcastle with one powerful finger. She was resting on the edge of her towel, wearing an adorable white and black polka dotted bikini; a white scarf wrapped around her unruly hair. She reminded me of a modern Jackie O. With multi-colored hair.
“I did! I swear!” I had filled my roommates in on my reverie-turned-vision as well as what Finn and I had discussed about his destiny. I made sure to clear it with him this morning before I said anything. I didn’t want to betray his trust, but I also needed to talk to my friends about what had happened. Apparently, a good number of people at Lorelei already knew of Finn’s destiny; most of them being close with the Sons, like Liam or long-time girlfriends.
“What about the reverie training? How’d it go?” Willow peered at me from behind her gold aviator sunglasses. They matched her yellow and gold Quicksilver bikini perfectly.
“Not so good. I have a long way to go if I’m going to contact Thetis,” I sighed. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to do it at all.” I wiped some renegade sand off of my leg and readjusted the top of my pink and blue striped bikini.
“Are you still going to try it tonight?” Carmen asked.
“I have to at least try, even if I fail miserably. There’s too much riding on this not to.”
Phoebe abandoned her sandcastle and flipped over onto her stomach. “Did you guys hear anything weird last night?” Carmen’s eyes immediately darted toward me. “I thought I heard talking and then I thought I heard some creaking sound. I could have been dreaming though…”
“I didn’t hear anything. Slept like a baby,” Carmen declared a little too quickly, silently pleading with me through her dark eyes.
“Nope, didn’t hear a thing,” I supplemented, reaching for the chips nonchalantly.
“Huh. I guess I was just hearing things,” Phoebe chuckled and shrugged her shoulders.
“Was it the voices again? You know they aren’t real, right?” Carmen joked with her.
“They aren’t?” Phoebe played along; eyes growing wide with feigned disbelief. “I guess I won’t have to shave your head and smother you with a pillow like they told me to.”
As they continued to bicker over the different ways to kill each other, I thought about my eerie encounter last night with the ghost of childhood past.
“Do you guys believe in ghosts?” I asked them as off-handedly as I could.
“Ohhh, I love ghost stories!” Phoebe cooed.
“I think she meant actual ghosts, Phoebs,” Carmen corrected her and then regarded me. “Of course ghosts exist, silly.”
“How can you be so sure?” I contended.
“It’s a proven fact. They’re the souls that have no place in the Underworld. They’re cursed to roam Earth forever,” Willow explained ominously. I know I stared at her a little too long, as a similar comment from Finn bounced around in my head. Maybe he wouldn’t laugh at me after all.
“Finn should know all about ghosts if he’s destined to be the Prime,” Carmen replied. “You should ask him what he thinks.” Phoebe must have recalled my strange comments from yesterday because she perked up with excitement.
“Did you see her again?” she looked at me, “You know - the girl you said you saw yesterday?”
I brushed my finger over my
trace and squinted up at her with loathing. “Yeah. Last night.”
“Awesome!” Phoebe rejoiced.
“It was about as awesome as a razor burn,” I protested with disgust. “She looked normal enough from the front, but when she turned around I could see her bloody skull and slashes in her skin.”
“Who is she?” Willow asked quietly.
“I have no idea. But she actually said something to me last night.” Their jaws dropped as they fervently waited for me to continue. “She seemed scared of something, but then just said
‘Hurry’.” I shrugged my shoulders. Did all ghosts talk in one word fragments? It would be next year before I got a complete sentence out of her at this rate.
“Hurry?” Carmen slathered more tanning lotion on her legs as she spoke. “Hurry and do what?”
“I wish I knew.”
“Maybe she knows you’re going to try to contact Thetis, but she wants you to hurry for some reason?” Phoebe suggested.
“We should see if we can find some history about the island. If she was young, there’s got to be a story about how she died,” Willow analyzed. I wasn’t so sure that I wanted to attach a name or specific story to the ghost. That would make her more real. I was more comfortable with the possibility of her being a rare side effect of heat stroke.
I averted my gaze to the ocean. The guys were sitting on their surfboards talking, occasionally scanning the water for a surfable wave. Finn, shirtless and god-like, ran his hand through his wet hair and my pulse immediately quickened. How was it possible to look that good? The muscles of his chest and shoulders glistened in the sun as it shone down on his wet skin. My body ached to touch him. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and get lost in those soft lips. Suddenly, I got an idea. I smiled slyly and rested my hand on top of the sand next to my towel. I didn’t know if it would work, but I had to give it a try.
I gathered up all of my energy, centered it and focused it down my arm and into the sand. I pulled from my love for Finn, my leftover fear from last night, and my anxiety about contacting my mother; channeling all of it into the feathery sand beneath my fingertips. As I watched on apprehensively, the waves became more frequent and slightly larger. I concentrated harder, blocking out everything else except the waves and the energy flowing out of my fingers. Higher and higher the waves rose, becoming more and more powerful. Finn met my gaze as the other guys cheered at the suddenly larger waves.
A sense of pride filled me when a glowing smile broke out across Finn’s face before he began to paddle out with the other guys. The longer I did it, the easier it was to muster up the energy and channel it. Adrenaline pumped through me each time one of them caught a massive wave and called out to one another in excitement.
“Stasia!”
My name startled me and I instinctively lifted my hand from the sand. The rush of energy that slammed into me knocked the breath out of me and I collapsed into a heap on my towel; reeling with dizziness and panting. I’d forgotten about that unfortunate aftereffect. Several woozy seconds later, I propped myself up on my elbows and tried to focus my eyes on something stable. At the moment the world was spinning at a dangerous pace.
“If you tell me you were making those waves from the beach, I’m going to piss myself,” Carmen growled at me, crossing her arms.
“Okay, I wasn’t making those waves,” I rubbed my temples and smirked at her.
“I can’t even do it in the water, but you can do it from the freaking beach? Unbelievable,” she muttered, clearly displeased with herself.
“That’s what you call talent,” Phoebe applauded my experiment; making me smile.
“I didn’t know if it’d work…” I admitted shyly.
“Hey, who hit the off switch on the wave machine?” Cage sprinted up to our towels and tumbled down with the grace of a two ton elephant. I noticed a small black ring on his pinky finger that had to be black onyx as he shook his curly hair; spraying cold water all over Phoebe and Carmen.
“What are you? A cocker spaniel?” Carmen scowled in his direction. As you might expect, that only prompted him to do it again while she scrambled to her feet to avoid the water. A cooling shadow fell over me and squinted up to see Finn gazing down at me. The sun was at his back, making him look like a dark angel - just like the first time I had seen him; providing evidence that he wasn’t only in my dreams. My heart quivered at the thought. He held out his strong hand to me and yanked me up from my towel so quick my feet left the ground, and then he caught me securely around the waist. The sudden feel of his skin against mine was magnified by the warmth of my skin contrasting with the cool feel of the water dripping off of him. His eyes swirled with shades of dark and light blue, culminating into one breathtaking color that had me hypnotized. I swept the dark, wet hair back from his brow and pressed my lips to his. He tasted like the salt water rolling down his skin, and my insides turned to mush as he kissed me back with urgency. With our audience groaning and yelling at us to get a room, he released his grip and set me down gently; arms still draped around my waist.
“You become more amazing every day,” his eyes smiled at me, but his features softened with sadness. I furrowed my brow in concern, but it was gone before I could say anything. That was also the exact moment Phoebe fell in love.
“Oh my God. You guys…” She stood calmly; eyes transfixed on something down the beach.
We followed her star struck gaze and my mouth dropped open. Four golden brown horses with blonde manes were trotting down by the water’s edge in our direction. A smaller colt trailed behind precariously on his lanky legs. They were slightly smaller than the horses I’d seen and there were no saddles, no tags; no sign of ownership.
“I can feel them…” Phoebe marveled with fascination, “But I don’t get it. They aren’t connected to sand.”
“These horses would be,” Ian beamed down at her.
“They’re Shackleford ponies. Wild horses,” Liam informed everyone.
“Wild?” I gawked at Liam in disbelief.
“They’re the descendents of horses that survived various shipwrecks or were left for dead.
They were originally brought over on Spanish ships in the 1600’s,” he educated us further.
“Descendents…” Phoebe whispered, completely enthralled in the horses, “just like us…” She began to walk, as if in a trance, towards the horses. Feeling her presence, they all glanced up at the same time; stopping them in their tracks. The colt bumped into the larger horse in front and teeter-tottered on two scraggly legs before regaining his balance. Carmen giggled behind me. After a moment of simply observing Phoebe, the horses changed course and headed directly for her.
“Phoebe-“ Ian warned, before she held up a hand to let him know it was okay. He remained where he was, but I knew he was ready to protect her at a moment’s notice. Feet glued in place, we watched in awe as the horses reached her. A tense silence ensued as Phoebe and the horses stared at one another for what seemed like several minutes before we saw any sign of movement. With unabated love she began to stroke the lead horse’s mane as he nuzzled up against her shoulder. As if on cue, each subsequent horse allowed the same as they each nuzzled her in an endearing display of respect. It reminded me of how the sea turtles had reacted to my presence so many weeks ago. It’s as if each one wanted to acknowledge her presence individually. As the last horse trotted back down the beach, Phoebe turned and raced back to up to where we still stood frozen in suspense.
“That was the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to me!” she bounced up and down with exuberance. “Did you guys see that?! They were so…innocent. They were pretty confused about me at first, because I wasn’t a horse but they could still sense me. After they got over that, they opened up a little more.” She placed a hand over her heart, “They’re so happy here.”
“They aren’t the only ones,” Finn whispered to me; hugging me tight. My heart soared as I wrapped my arms around him; never wanting to leave his side.
; Chapter 9
The sun was just beginning to sink below the horizon as Finn and I made our way down to the beach for my second lesson. A bubble of anxiety had lodged itself in my throat and I wasn’t sure if I could go through with it. What if I had another vision? What if the ghost girl somehow showed up?
And what was she scared of? I mean she’s a ghost; besides glimpsing her reflection in a mirror, I couldn’t think of anything she could possibly be scared of.
“Do you believe in ghosts?” I questioned Finn on our way down the boardwalk. He shot me a curious sideways glance before answering.
“Of course. Ghosts are as real as you or me. Like I was telling you back on the boat, they’re just souls that have no resting place in the Underworld.”
“So, what’s wrong with them? Why don’t they have a place in the Underworld?” I began to wonder why the ghost girl wouldn’t have been allowed entrance.
“When a person dies, their soul is given admittance to the Underworld by Persephone. If she deems them broken or not at peace; she sends them away. The only place they have to go, is back to this realm.”
“I saw one yesterday,” I blurted out carelessly.
“A ghost?”
“She was a young girl with blonde hair.” I scrunched my nose, “But her head and back were all gory. It wasn’t a pretty sight.” He chuckled at my repulsion.
