“Hold on, you old hag,” he mumbled to himself. “I’m looking.”
“Mace, are they up there or not?”
“No, Suri, they’re not.” He made his way back down the ladder, mumbling something else the Faren couldn’t understand.
Faren listened to their assailants leave. Five minutes turned into ten, and then fifteen. She held still in David’s arms, ashamed of her trembling.
Faren dared to move out. David released her and followed. “What the hell were those things, and why were they chasing us?” His voice was urgent, but he kept it down. “Before I go another step, you have to tell me what’s going on.”
Faren turned to him and looked into his eyes. She put her hands on his arms, still shaking. “I wish I could tell you, but I can’t. I just need you to trust me.”
“I do trust you, but I need answers.” David stared hard at her.
“All right, all right,” she said when it became obvious he wasn’t about to take no for an answer. “They’re called sea demons. They’ve controlled the Bahamas for thousands of years. They kill humans–sea creatures–anything they can get their hands on.”
Faren began to search the tree house for something they could use for self-defense. “We’ve been at war with the sea demons as long as any of us can remember. Until now, it’s been a cold war. That’s all I can tell you. Please don’t ask me any more questions.” She looked back at David. “I never wanted to put you in danger. I’m so sorry.” Faren picked up a tin can and threw it to the side. “I can’t believe there’s nothing here we can use.”
“Sea demons?” he said. David walked to the other side of the room. “Sea demons,” he repeated. He shook his head. “Sorry. I sound like a traumatized parrot.” He rubbed his eyes, as it that could wake him from a nightmare. “Of course there are sea demons. Why wouldn’t there be sea demons… on my vacation?” Then his face reflected another horrifying thought. “What if those things come back? We need to get out of here. We’re sitting ducks if we stay.”
Faren walked back to the window and took a quick look around. “I think they’re gone,” she said. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
David climbed down the ladder and helped Faren to the ground. They snuck back into the wooded canopy.
They wandered around for two hours, looking behind every tree, suspicious of every noise. There was an unsettling sense of the unknown all around them. The trees all looked alike, making it difficult to find the trail that would lead them to the marina.
“Are you sure we’re going the right way? That tree looks familiar,” David said, pointing at the deformed trunk.
He was right. Faren could remember walking past that same tree half an hour ago. She sat down and covered her face with her hands. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “The last thing I wanted was to get you caught up in this mess.”
Thump, snap, crack.
Faren’s head popped up. “Did you hear that?”
She listened for the noise again, but it had stopped. All she heard now was the sounds of the forest.
David knelt down beside Faren. “All we have to do is follow the sun,” he said. “We’ll find a way out, I promise.”
When she refused to look him in the eye, David leaned toward her. “Listen,” he said, turning her face toward him. “I need you right now. You can’t fall apart on me.”
Faren forced a smile. “I wanted everything to be perfect,” she said. “I’m surprised you still want to be around me after what just happened. Those demons ruined everything.”
“Oh, baby, they didn’t ruin anything. I love you. It’s going to take more than a few bloodthirsty monsters to chase me away.”
She leaned against him and smiled when he wrapped his arm around her. “I love you, too.” His body heat warmed her. His soothing musky scent made her feel safe in a tumultuous world.
Snap, whoosh, snap.
They stayed as still as they could, listening for the noise to start again. They could hear snakes in the grass and lizards scurrying up trees… birds overhead… and then nothing. Minute after agonizing minute, they waited for the source of their terror to reveal itself.
Snap, snap–footsteps on leaves. Faren held her breath, and she could tell David was doing the same. She could feel his hand shaking in hers.
When the German Sheppard stepped out into the open, they relaxed. The dog wandered over and licked David’s face, then wagged its tail, enjoying the attention.
Faren let her breath out and laughed a nervous laugh. “He’s so cute,” she said, petting the dog’s head. “I wonder where he came from.”
“I don’t know,” David answered with a sigh, “but he almost gave me a heart attack.”
The dog arched his back and stretched his legs. He circled the couple and perked his ears back.
“Hi, little guy,” David said. “Where did you come from?”
The dog licked his face, but stopped when a noise coming from somewhere in the woods caught his attention. He ran back into the brush, barking.
David started to follow him, but stopped when the animal yelped in pain. Moments later, the dog let out an anguished cry, and the whirring started up again.
Although they fled as fast as they could, it felt to Faren like they were running in slow motion. Her feet pounded the forest floor, and each breath she took echoed in her ears.
Faren looked back to see Mineane lift a small crudely-made blowgun to her lips. She heard a whoosh sound seconds before the dart ripped into her calf with a burning, stinging pain. When she stumbled, David helped her to her feet, all the while staring at the sea demons gaining on them.
“Run!” he shouted. “Run!”
Faren’s injured calf throbbed, but she refused to slow down. She picked up the pace, gasping for air.
The ferry dock appeared in the distance. Tourists flocked the area, either boarding or disembarking from the boat. Children ran wild, ignoring the pleas of their exhausted parents.
Suri reached for the back of David’s shirt… and missed. “Grab him, Mace, you fool!”
Mace stumbled and fell.
“Hold the boat… hold the boat!” David shouted, throwing his arms in the air. “Hold the boat!”
People chatted about the crazy kids racing from the woods like a couple of screaming hyenas. “Drugs,” Faren heard one woman say.
David and Faren made it to the ferry just as it was pulling away from the dock, leaving the enraged sea demons at the edge of the wood, where they’d had to stop.
“That was close,” the driver announced. “One more minute and you would have been out of luck.” He stopped and stared at Faren as if he recognized her; he didn’t even try to hide his blatant curiosity. He finally motioned for the couple to find empty seats.
They sat toward the back of the boat, too caught up in their own problems to focus on what was going on around them. Even though other tourists were raving on about their island adventures, in the midst of a crowd, Faren felt cut off from the rest of the world. She crumpled against David, relishing the warm tropic air blowing through the flapping fabric of the sides of the water taxi. When she looked back at the forest, Suri was standing in the shadows with her hood drawn.
David interrupted her thoughts. “Let me see your leg,” he whispered.
“No,” she cried when he attempted to pry her hands away. “I can take care of it, David. Give me your shirt.”
“Just let me help you…”
“David, please….” She put her hand out and waited.
Without saying another word, he tore the bottom of his tank top into a thin strip and handed it to her.
Faren bit down on her lower lip and yanked as hard as she could on the wooden dart. With a wet snap, it broke free. The tears poured down her face in streams, but against all odds, she was able to stifle her screams. She hurried to wrap her leg before David could see her wound.
“What is that?” David pointed at the water. “Please tell me it isn’t what I think it is.”
>
The creature swimming next to the ferry stayed just beneath the surface. It was big, but difficult to make out. The dark form hovered near the boat for a few more seconds and was gone. Faren counted down the minutes until they reached land.
* * *
A hooded Suri stepped from the crowd. All around her, tourists strolled by, ignorant of the danger walking among them. She gazed up and down Queen’s Highway, trying to find the couple. She couldn’t believe they had gotten away. Right away, she realized Mineane was right; this mer was stronger than any other she’d encountered in the past. She was faster and determined to protect this man at all costs. The mers and humans had to have joined forces. Why else would she be putting her own life in danger to protect him?
Mace joined her.
“If you weren’t so clumsy, we could have caught them,” Suri hissed, giving him a dirty look. She looked back at the bustling humans and sulked. “Where is Mineane?”
“She went out on her own to scout the north side of the island.”
Suri was surprised Mineane acted without order, but she was pleased nonetheless. “Good. We can cover more ground if we split up.”
“When and where should we meet you?”
Suri thought a moment. “We’ll meet back here when the sun sets lower in the sky. Make sure to bring Mineane with you.”
Suri watched him slip into the crowd before focusing on the tourists. They reminded her of guppies–helpless creatures ready for the slaughter. Then she pictured David and Faren hiding among them.
You can run, but you can’t hide, she thought to herself.
* * *
David and Faren took a side road, leaving the highway behind. They passed numerous markets and small businesses on their way to the beach.
“We’re not going to make it,” David pointed out. His voice sounded strained.
Faren stopped walking. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“We have company.”
As soon as she saw Mineane and Mace, she and David began running. “We need to lose them in the crowd!” Faren shouted over her shoulder.
They ran past more souvenir shops and restaurants, ducking and swerving. Several tourists gave them dirty looks when they bumped into them.
“Watch it!” a woman snapped. “Stupid kids.”
Before they could get very far, Mineane saw them and the chase continued.
“This way!” Faren shouted.
She and David cut across another side street and ducked into a restaurant. Aquatic drawings covered the large windows, and a white sign hung near the door that read: Yes, we’re open!
A bell chimed when they entered, sounding their presence to those inside. The few patrons seated at the booth, and sporadically sitting around the room, looked up from their meals briefly.
“Someone will be right with you,” the woman behind the counter called out to David and Faren as they made their way to a table in the corner. They sat quietly across from each other for many minutes before David broke the silence.
He picked up a salt shaker and turned it over in his hands nervously. “Faren, you need to tell me everything,” he said, leaning closer. “I can’t run from something I don’t understand.”
Before Faren had the chance to answer, a waitress walked up with two menus. “What can I get you?”
David set the shaker back down. “No, thank you,” he replied, waving her away as politely as he could. “We’re fine for now.”
“Just let me know when you’re ready,” she said and walked back to the counter.
Mineane crept up to the window a couple of tables away and pressed her face against the glass. David hopped from his seat and slid into the chair next to Faren, dragging her against the wall, out of the monster’s line of sight. They each held their breath and waited. After a few minutes, the monster gave up and moved on.
“Faren, why are those things stalking us?”
“I have no idea,” she lied, already guessing he was the key to their strange behavior. “I’ve never heard of sea demons pursuing their prey out in the open.”
Faren refused to look him in the eye. Instead, she stared out the window. More than anything, she wanted to tell him her deepest, darkest secrets. She hated keeping things from David, but how would he react if he knew the truth?
“We need to keep moving,” she said, never taking her eyes off the street. “I think she’s gone.”
They slipped from the cafe, back into the crowd where they did their best to blend in. As they walked past a jewelry stand, set up on the side of the road, the woman seated behind the counter caught Faren’s arm.
“I need to speak to you,” the dark woman said in a thick Bahamian accent. “Please, may I have a moment?”
Faren sensed the desperation in her voice. She saw the pleading in her gaze. “Of course.” She gestured for David to wait for her.
“What’s going on?” he asked. “Where are you going?”
Faren didn’t have the chance to answer him before the woman pulled her to the side. She seized a small black box from under the counter and handed it to her. “Please, keep this close to you. Never let it out of your sight.”
Faren opened the box. Inside, the quartz-encrusted ring glistened. Tiny gold nuggets surrounded the temple engraved in its center.
“I believe this belongs to your ancestors,” the woman said. “My son found it on the beach last summer, and even though Timothy’s gone, I know he would have wanted you to have it. I want you to have it.”
“What is it?” Faren drew the ring out and turned it over in her fingers.
“I don’t know much about it,” the woman admitted, “but there’s a woman living on the island who can help you. Madame Isadora knows more about your underwater cities than anyone else in the Bahamas.”
Faren had no idea why the ring was so important; it was just a ring. But the woman’s genuine concern raised her curiosity.
“Where can I find her?”
“She lives along Queen’s Highway, number twenty-five, near the outskirts of town. You can’t miss it. Tell her Gretchen sent you.”
“All right,” Faren replied, watching the crowded street. “Thank you.”
Gretchen smiled. “It’s been an honor to finally meet someone I’ve been dreaming of since I was a little girl.”
Faren thanked her again and joined David by the side of the road.
“Who was that?”
Faren looked both ways before crossing the street. “That was Gretchen.”
“Gretchen who? What did she want?”
“Mistaken identity.”
David whirled her around. “Sea demons,” he said, pointing at Mace and Mineane. The robed beasts were a hundred feet away, weaving in and out of the crowd. Even though they were getting strange looks every now and then, for the most part, the tourists ignored them.
Faren and David ran around the side of a building and hid among the trashcans minutes before the beasts came around the corner. Faren closed her eyes tight, praying they would go away.
“Mace, they’re gone,” Mineane exclaimed. “We can’t walk around in the open like this any longer. The humans are getting suspicious.”
He ignored her warning. “I’d like to know why the mers are protecting a human. What are they planning?”
“Leave it for another day,” Mineane said, raising her voice. “The eleven thousand years is almost over. We need to be ready for Furia to wake up.”
Mace scooted around the edge of the trashcans. “I want to find them!” he exclaimed, slamming down one of the lids.
Faren jumped and covered her mouth with both hands. She could feel David’s grip on her arm tighten.
“We need to find out why that human is so important,” Mace spat hatefully.
“Let Suri decide our next move,” Mineane said. “She is the one we follow after all.”
When it grew quiet again, David stood and peeked around the corner. “This isn’t happening,” he said. “It can’t be happening, becaus
e this stuff doesn’t exist. I’m going nuts–that’s what it is.”
Faren remained quiet. She couldn’t say anything to ease David’s mind; that possibility had evaporated long ago.
David swung around and looked at her. “Am I going nuts?” he asked with wide eyes. “Who’s Furia?”
Faren covered her face with her hands and cried for what she was about to do.
“Please tell me what’s happening,” he begged her again.
“I can’t! All I can tell you is that you need to leave the islands now. You’re not safe here.”
“I don’t want to leave you. I won’t leave.” David shouted, taking her by the shoulders.
Faren tore free. “You have no idea what you would be up against if you stayed here–no idea. It would kill me if something happened to you.” Her voice took on a faraway tone. “I can’t tell you the truth. I’m sorry if you don’t understand that, but you have no choice. You…”
“Faren,” David drew her gently back. “Please listen to me. I don’t care about that. I care about you.” He cupped her face, trying to get her to meet his eyes. “I’d rather live in fear than live without you.”
“You’re leaving anyway,” Faren cried through her tears. “When your vacation ends, you’ll be gone. I’m giving you a free pass to end this with no hurt feelings, so please take it.”
When she walked away, David stopped her again. “No hurt feelings?” he repeated, taking her arm. “Does this look like there are no hurt feelings?” He spun her around, forcing her to look him in the eye. “I’m not going anywhere. I love you.”
Faren stared at him with a blank expression.
“Did you hear me? I said I love you. Despite all this, I do,” he declared. “I’ve… I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you. I don’t know what brought us together, but it happened, and I believe it happened for a reason.”
Faren could tell he was getting desperate, but she couldn’t focus on that now. David’s safety was the most important thing.
He let go of Faren’s arms and looked away when she didn’t back down from her decision. She could see he was trying his hardest to hide the pain so obvious in his eyes.
“It’s that easy, huh? It’s that easy for you to leave me. Is that what you’re saying?”
Mythos Page 7
