by Kristen Day
“I don’t know if I could ever live anywhere but the beach.” Noah said.
“I like how you can look out over the ocean and see the curvature of the earth.” I pointed out toward the horizon, “It makes you realize just how small and insignificant we really are.”
“I don’t think you’re small and insignificant, Stasia.” He was suddenly closer to me. Goose bumps popped up on my arms, but I couldn’t tell if it was because of the cool wind or his uninvited nearness. I felt his arm wrap around my shoulders and tensed. I knew I should probably relax and lean into him, but something stopped me. I turned away, towards the bonfire.
“I’m getting chilly, I think we should be go back to the fire.” he furrowed his brow in confusion, but followed me back. I got that feeling of being watched again, but still didn’t see anyone watching us. The hairs on my arms rose and my chill bumps started growing chill bumps. I began walking faster.
“Hey there, lovebirds,” grinned Phoebe. I gave her a look that could kill and Willow elbowed her in the ribs. I sat down beside her, suddenly very comforted by the fire and my friends. Noah and Hans began talking about the upcoming football season and I tried to relax. I should have probably found out what their names were instead of calling them Frans and Hans, but decided against it. After a while, I gazed back at the ocean. The urge to be underwater slammed into me again and it became harder to ignore. I could almost feel the water’s soothing touch enveloping my body, sweeping me away with the currents to places I’d never been.
Unable to concentrate on anything else, I informed Phoebe and Willow I was going to take a walk. They gave me a strange look, but warned me to be careful. Being that we were on an island not accessible by cars, I figured the chances of something bad happening were pretty slim. A flash of the dead woman lying on the beach entered my mind, but I pushed it away just as quickly. I walked down the beach and out of the fire’s light. The darkness of night brought a tender smile to my face. I made it to the water’s edge and took in everything around me. The wet sand beneath my feet mirrored the sky above. The water sparkled with the light of the moon. As the waves rushed up to greet me, I stood mesmerized and fought the urge to join them. My thoughts strayed to Finn. The turbulent water reminded me of his stormy blue eyes. I wanted to get lost in them again. I tried not to think about what it would be like to be close to him.
“You really shouldn’t fight it.”
Chapter 12
I jumped as Finn seemingly materialized next to me. I couldn’t tell if he was talking about the ocean or my desire to be close to him. I lost all train of thought as he fixed his blue eyes on me.
“What are you doing here?” I said, a little too spastic.
“Baking cookies,” he smirked at me.
“You shouldn’t tease me like that, it’s dangerous. I take baked goods very seriously.” A slow smile formed on his lips.
“Dangerous happens to be my specialty,” he said in a low voice, taking a step closer to me.
My entire body warmed. He was like my own personal bonfire. “Being afraid reminds us how alive we are. What makes you afraid, Stasia?” I felt my legs get wobbly.
“Nothing scares me,” I said with as much confidence as I could muster. He definitely terrified me, but only because I didn’t trust my body to function correctly around him.
“Nothing at all?” His gaze intensified.
“Nothing at all.” I straightened and held my chin slightly higher to prove it.
“You’re not a good liar.” He leaned in closer and I could feel his breath on my cheeks.
“What makes you afraid?” I whispered. I was having trouble breathing. His answer was another slow smile. If I moved forward even an inch, his mouth would be on mine. Trying not to hyperventilate, I noticed when his eyes glanced down at my lips. His smile disappeared abruptly and he took a step back. As he turned his attention to the water, I tried to figure out what had just happened. My entire body, humming with electricity, was instantly cooled by the distance he’d put between us.
“Come with me.” He took my hand in his, leading me down to the water. It fit perfectly in mine and warmth spread up my arm and into my chest. We stopped once the waves hit our ankles.
“Don’t move your feet.” He grinned down at me as I rolled up my jeans. He raked his fingers through his dark hair and the skull and crossbones trace on his forearm shimmered at me. In the pale light of the moon, it was dangerously alluring.
“I used to do this all the time when I was younger,” he explained with obvious nostalgia. My feet disappeared farther into the wet sand, locking me in place, while the water rushed onto the shore and then back out again.
“What happens if we need to go somewhere?” I asked. I could be buried up to my knees in no time at this rate.
“Who says we’re going anywhere?” He held my eyes and put a hand on my shoulder. Before I could come to grips with the tingling sensation his touch created on my skin, he lightly pushed backward. Too late, it dawned on me. Once set in motion, however, I had no way of preventing it. My knees bent and I fell right on my butt onto the wet sand. The water crashed over my knees, soaking my jeans. I tried to stand back up and failed miserably. I glared up at my assailant.
“What are you doing way down there?” He looked down at me with mock surprise. I scooted forward and pushed behind his knees with my hand as hard as I could. He came crashing down beside me. “What was that for?” he asked innocently.
“I told you I can be dangerous. Bad things happen to people who try to push me around.” If he only knew how true that was. I shook the thought and smiled at him. A piece of leather peeking out of the sand caught my attention. Wrapped around his ankle, it held four small black beads shining in the moonlight. I had a good guess as to which type of stones they were.
“If that’s all you’ve got, I’m not too worried,” he taunted me. I dipped my hand in the wet sand, grabbing a handful. I slowly raised it above his head threatening to release it. Before I even noticed, he caught my wrist and pulled it back down. Holding my eyes, he delicately threaded his fingers through mine, while the wet sand squished out. The gesture was somehow very intimate and a shiver ran down my spine. The wet sand ran down my arm but I didn’t even notice. We stayed like that, hand in hand, facing the ocean for what seemed like hours.
I had a million more questions waiting in the wings, but decided this wasn’t the time to open up that can of worms. So, I settled for the least complicated one.
“Why weren’t you in class today?”
“There was somewhere I had to be,” he answered simply.
“You missed a very important lesson. It was life altering.” I teased him.
“The only thing I really missed was sitting next to one very extraordinary girl.” I didn’t think I was breathing anymore.
“She sounds wonderful.” I tried some humor to shake off my nervousness.
“You have no idea.”
Someone laughed in the distance and I pulled my eyes away from his. I realized my roommates were probably getting worried about me.
“I should be getting back to the bonfire. They’re going to think I’ve been kidnapped.” He pulled me toward him in one quick motion.
“Kidnapped insinuates some sort of struggle.” He said in a low voice with a sexy grin. “You’d enjoy being captured by me.” My heart jumped in my throat, but I tried to remain cool.
“I’d like to see you try,” I threw back at him, “but first you’ll have to escape your own sandy death trap” I wiggled my feet out of the sand, stood up and washed my hands off in the water. He followed my every move with curious eyes.
“Sweet dreams, Anastasia.” I wasn’t sure if there was an underlying meaning to his words.
“Sweet dreams, Finn,” I responded, breathlessly.
Halfway back to the bonfire, I looked over my shoulder at him, but he was gone. Seriously, how did he do that?
“Stasia! What happened to you? You’re soaked!” Phoebe ran up
to me in a panic.
“Just got a little too close to the water and a wave got me. I’m fine, I promise” I assured her.
Carmen watched me with skeptical eyes and I got the feeling she had seen what really happened to my jeans. When I got back to the fire, I rotated gradually, drying myself off.
“That wave sure was tall, dark, and handsome,” Carmen raised an eyebrow at me. “Who’s the mystery boy?”
“It’s nothing, really,” I tried to convince her. Her face told me she wasn’t buying it. “Okay, okay his name’s Finn. He’s in my 6th period,” I admitted. Her face paled.
“Finn? The Finn that’s a Son of Daimon?”
“As far as I know. I mean I haven’t asked him which Order he’s in but I saw four…” she grabbed my arm, interrupting me.
“Stay away from him, Stasia,” she said with urgency. I could hear an undercurrent of fear in her voice.
“What? Why?”
“He’s cursed,” she whispered. Cursed?
“Stasia! Carmen! Come on, we’re leaving!” Willow ran over and took our hands, literally pulling us out of our conversation. Once we drug our tired feet back up to our suite, I said goodnight, fell onto my bed, and closed my eyes. I could still hear his voice and see his crooked smile in my mind. It should be illegal to be that hot. Carmen’s warning disrupted my delirium. Cursed? People couldn’t really be cursed, could they? What was he cursed with? Devastating good looks and a dark, sexy smile? She couldn’t be serious. That’s just not possible. Of course, two weeks ago I wouldn’t have imagined any of this could be possible; yet here I was. Images from previous reveries flashed into my mind. His bloodied and beaten face, swinging an axe down on someone’s neck, standing by as a woman was killed on the beach. With a sense dread creeping down my spine, I had to admit, it was very, very possible.
* * *
The world was blurry when I opened my eyes, but I could see movement coming towards me.
I tried to roll over to get away, but my body wouldn’t listen. My stomach exploded and I instinctively curled into a fetal position. Something hard hit my shoulder. Footsteps walked away and people started yelling in the other room. Still curled into a ball, I took a moment to catch my breath. Oddly enough, the pain had turned to hollow numbness. I guess when pain is too much; your body mutes it for you. It was like a gift. Maybe that was what death felt like. Just never-ending numbness. The sound of glass breaking came from the next room, but as long as they were in there, I was okay. I knew once he came back he’d kill me. There was no way around it. At nine years old, I was no match for him. But then again, the numbness wasn’t so bad. It would be really easy just to let it take me.
Then I wouldn’t have to be scared anymore. I wouldn’t have to feel pain anymore. Too bad I wasn’t good at giving up. Mustering as much energy as I could, I inched toward the living room closet on my stomach. Just a little bit farther… I reached up, turned the door knob and pulled. Pain from the movement erupted in every cell of my body and I fell back to the floor. I took a deep breath, pushed the door open farther and saw it on the third shelf up. I crawled on my hands and knees into the closet, when I heard them both come back into the living room. With adrenaline running through me, I stretched out my arm and pushed myself up. I heard a scream and a thump, but tried to block it out.
He pulled the closet door completely open, right when I grabbed the handle. As I crumpled back onto the floor, he grabbed my left foot and pulled me from the closet. I rolled onto my back and saw a baseball bat in his hand. Through his legs I saw her unmoving body. It was heavy and I couldn’t hold it up with my hurt arm, so I just angled it up towards him. He raised the bat above his head and I pulled the trigger.
I woke, drenched in sweat and sobbing in my bed. I pushed back the covers, pulled up my knees and tried to calm myself down. ‘He can’t hurt you now’, I told myself over and over. And it was true. When I shot him, I hit his right thigh. Enough to stop his attack, but not enough to kill him.
He’d been in prison now for close to eight years. He had killed his wife, my foster mother, when he hit her in the head with the bat and was convicted based upon my testimony. I spent three weeks healing in a hospital and the state found me a new home. But the memories never left me. Neither did the strength I gained from it.
I finally got my breathing under control and changed out of my sweaty clothes. I turned on my IPod, put in my ear buds and lulled myself to back sleep.
Chapter 13
In History the next day, we received our first official assignment. In groups of four, we had to research two specific Nerieds; their strengths, weaknesses, what part they played in history, and write a ten page paper due in a month. Mrs. Leone rattled off the different groups while I crossed my fingers that Willow would be in mine.
“…Rhea, Willow, and Xavier. And the last group will be Lyric, Stasia, Maya, and Lexi. For the last ten minutes of class, you will meet with your group to discuss.” So much for luck. I looked around trying to figure out who Lyric, Maya, or Lexi were when a girl waved at me. Thank goodness.
She had an ethereal glow about her and when she smiled, the goodness radiating from her was enthralling. She had white-blonde hair with blunt cut bangs cascading down to her golden eyes. A wide silver cuff bracelet encrusted with sapphires clung to her wrist. A Siren.
“Hey Stasia, I’m Lyric,” she greeted me and gestured to the girl sitting next to her, “and this is Lexi.”
“Stasia? Isn’t that short for Anastasia?” Lexi glared at me. She had strawberry blonde curly hair and big green eyes. A light dusting of freckles was sprinkled across her cheeks and nose. She reminded me of the Strawberry Shortcake doll I used to have, but without all the ruffles and overpowering strawberry smell.
“Uh, yea.” I couldn’t figure out where her hostility was coming from. Lyric gave her a stern look and she sat back with a huff.
“I’m Maya,” the third girl smiled at me. I was instantly taken aback by her exotic looks. She had a Jamaican accent, rich brown skin and a mass of tiny braids making up her dark brown hair. Tiny turquoise beads were braided in at different places throughout. She had clear blue eyes that were looking at me with warmth.
“I’m a Tyde, like you.” She leaned forward like she was going to tell me a secret, pointed at the other two, and whispered loudly, “They’re sea witches, A.K.A. Sirens.”
“Abracadabra bitches.” Lexi wiggled her finger at us and Maya laughed. Lyric just sighed.
“If I was a witch, I’d turn you both into boogers and flick you across the room.” That only made Maya laugh harder and Lexi almost choked on her Diet Coke.
“Ladies.” We all jumped at Mrs. Leone’s voice. “Your Nerieds will be Kymo and Thetis. I hope you will take this assignment seriously, and I better not find any stickiness on your paper.” She raised an eyebrow at us, but a corner of her mouth threatened to pull up into a smile. Maya put her hand over her mouth trying to muffle her laughter. We nodded our heads and she walked to the next group.
“Thetis? That’ll take forever to write!” Lexi grumbled, and a pout formed on her face.
“It won’t be that bad, at least it won’t be hard to research” Maya had finally composed herself.
“Who’s Thetis?” I asked. Strawberry Shortcake gave me a weird look as if that was the dumbest question of all time. What was her deal?
“She used to be the leader of the Nerieds, so we should be able to find all kinds of information about her,” Lyric assured me. I wondered if I’d ever be able to keep the fifty Nerieds straight. Why couldn’t there just be ten?
Lightness filled my chest when I walked in to 6th period and saw Finn sitting at our table.
Unfortunately, the voice of reason in the back of my mind played Carmen’s warning over and over again. But the second I made eye contact, all thoughts of a curse vanished. Plus, this was the first day I was going to actually do the ‘experience’ part of Oceanic Experience.
“Think you can do this?” Finn asked
, once we were given the go ahead to start.
“If you can do it, I can do it,” I countered.
“Then step aside mademoiselle, and let me work my magic.” He tried to step in front of the pool, but I made it there first.
“You don’t think I’m going to let you have all the fun do you?” I raised an eyebrow at him.
“By all means, show me how it’s done,” he stepped back and grinned, “Just remember, you want to keep the water inside the pool.” I just rolled my eyes at him. The chances of me being able to do anything at all were slim to none, so causing a splash wasn’t really on my list of things to avoid.
Creating a whirlpool was just a warm-up to the rest of the class, but considering I had just gotten to Lorelei and this was an advanced class, I was at a slight disadvantage. I had no idea if I was supposed to chant, sing, think happy thoughts, or what. What if I couldn’t do this? I stole a glance over at one of the other students doing it and tried to mimic her. I placed my left hand right above the water, so that only my fingertips were touching. Tiny ripples immediately began spreading out from my fingertips. Maybe I could do this after all. Still touching the water, I pulled my fingertips inward so they were all touching, but also still in the water. Then I began making small circles. At first nothing happened, but then the water began to churn ever so slightly.
Adrenaline shot through me. I was actually doing it! My excitement was a little premature, however. My hand seemed to have a mind of its own and I was having trouble controlling it. The whirlpool continued getting wider and faster with no end in sight. Finn was trying to tell me to calm down and focus, but I barely heard him. The only thing I could hear was the sound of waves crashing and a light melody. It was the same thing I had heard in the bathtub last week. Before I could figure out why I was hearing things, the smell of sea salt and coconut tickled my nose. Completely freaked out, I grabbed the side of the pool to make it stop. Instead, the water spread out towards the four sides of the glass, causing them to crack under the pressure. I squeezed my eyes shut and all at once the water exploded over the sides, soaking everything in a two foot radius. Including me and Finn.
