FINNED (The Merworld Water Wars)

by Sutton Shields

  “Okay, but can I place it on the wall this time?”

  Hesitantly, Doctor Tenly nodded. “Oh, all right.”

  Chewing the gum, I had a thought. “What about my mood swings? I remember getting a little rude with you. Sorry about that, by the way.”

  “No need to apologize, since you weren’t really speaking. With your soul tearing and your mind distrusting, your heart fell victim to evil.”

  “You mean, like a demon?” I asked, alarmed.

  “Eh, not a measly demon. Demons I can handle…well, most of them, anyway. Some are rather sticky. No, what transformed your change was part of your being. The poison from the necklace flowed through your blood and created an alternate you. Very, very powerful sorcery.”

  “Is it…I mean, is the alternate me still, uh, part of me?”

  “Not the evil part, no. But I can’t say with certainty that there aren’t elements of its power still in your blood. It may prove useful to you in the future.”

  “How so?”

  “Did you know that all humans—all Normals—have superpowers?”

  “You have got to be kidding me. Superpowers? Like, I’m going to suddenly go all power puffy or something?”

  “You never know. Normals only use about fifteen percent of their brain’s ability, thus superpowers tend to remain dormant. Those who work to discover their hidden abilities won’t be disappointed. Why do you think they’re herding young Normals with special talents into institutions? They see what’s coming, and they want to stop it.”

  “So, you’re saying this alternate me will, what, enhance some latent superpower?” I said, half-joking.

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. And you won’t know when it will surface.”

  “What about my card reading ability? Could that be—”

  “Impressive as that ability is, it isn’t your main power, though it may be connected, possibly even to your Savior status. One of these days, I’ll have to give you a history lesson on readers. Fascinating stuff.”

  “Being of the leg-only species, what exactly is the Siren Savior supposed to do?”

  “Save sirens, I would assume. And merps.”

  “Oh. That would make sense.” Duh. “Well…how?”

  “No idea. All that Savior stuff is a bit blurry. Though I’d love to ponder the possibilities, we have more pressing matters. Any random questions swimming in your cranium?”

  “Always. My mom. She changed at one point…she wasn’t herself,” I started.

  “Let me guess. She treated you poorly, you two had a fight, you said something hurtful, and she returned to her normal self,” he said assuredly.

  “Are you clairvoyant or something?”

  “I know things,” he said, winking.

  “Well, if you’re Mr. Knowledge of All Thingies, do you think someone poisoned her, like Katrina did me?”

  “Nah. Someone poisoned your mom, no question, but it was a simple—and completely reversible—personality poison, nothing extreme,” he said flippantly.

  “Extreme or not, any kind of poison ranks on my list of scary-no thank you.” This was all becoming a little too crazy, even for me. I dropped my head, wondering why all of this was happening.

  “Because the Ravenflames planned to have you here all along.”

  Doctor Tenly just responded to my unspoken thoughts. Oh, he just gets weirder. “You read minds?”

  “Only when they want to be read. You could never have outrun the Ravenflames. They wanted you here for a reason.”

  “What’s the reason? Why did the Ravenflames make bringing Normals here part of the water pact? Does it have something to do with superpowers? Is that why they bring us here from Hambourg’s house of horror?”

  “Nah, not solely, anyway, otherwise they would bring hundreds of thousands of Normals here for their hidden abilities. If my records are correct, which they are, they’ve only brought upwards of eight hundred since signing the pact. No, it must go much deeper,” he said, moving about the room again, rubbing his hands along his unshaven face.

  “Did they suspect I was the Siren Savior?”

  “Don’t think so. Like I said, this is a murky area. The Siren Savior, until now, has been a myth, a legend. Now, it’s real…you’re real. Don’t ask me anything else about your Savior status…I’m still researching.”

  I stared at him, wondering what we would do without him. I clasped my hands together and put them to my lips.

  His eyes narrowed on a tattered notebook. “Not to worry, Marina, you can’t get rid of me that fast,” he said, smirking over his notes.

  “How have you been able to evade the Ravenflames for so long? They must have a special hunt-and-kill-Doctor Tenly Ravenflame assigned to find you.”

  Doctor Tenly laughed. “A special Ravenflame? Try an entire team! If you ever get near Zale’s kingdom, you’ll see wanted posters with my handsome mug plastered over every flat surface. Don’t worry. I have abilities they couldn’t fathom.”

  “But, this house…surely they wonder about its owner.”

  “Not really,” he said, smiling a knowing grin.

  “Ya gotta elaborate on that one, Tenly.”

  “Let’s just say any curiosity of Hambury’s owner magically lifts from their heads the second they avert their eyes from the house.”

  “No wonder Treeva likes you. You are friggin’ brilliant! By the way, Hambourg-Hambury. Any relation?”

  “Apart from a love of ham, none that I know of. And, I’m glad you approve of me,” he smiled, grabbing a cylinder tube filled with green liquid. “Tree is special.”

  “Is Tree your secret messenger?”

  He eyed me carefully. “One of them.”

  “I won’t say anything. Just think of me as your keeper of secrets,” I quickly added.

  “Ah, but that didn’t end so well for one bespectacled boy’s parents, did it?” he said with a smirk.

  “So you do speak blockbuster.”

  “Well, I mean, really…who doesn’t? I trust you, Marina. You have a good soul,” he said, dropping a few drops of the green fluid on a rock.

  “That reminds me…after Katrina stabbed me, she looked upset, almost like whatever was supposed to happen, didn’t,” I said.

  “Ah, yes, well she expected your soul to immediately detach from your body. When it didn’t, she was probably a little frightened at just how formidable you may be. Now, I’ve been working on something here, and I need you to tell me if it’s the same color as the stone Katrina used to stab you,” he said, handing me a perfectly red rock.

  “Yes! Wow! Exactly this color!” I said, rolling the rock in my hands.

  “Prehendo Animus,” he sighed.

  Dear God, is he speaking in tongues now? “I can’t possibly emphasize the ‘huh’ enough.”

  “Prehendo Animus is a rare poison encased in an ocean-made jewel. It’s also known as the soul snatcher.”

  “Soul snatcher,” I repeated dazedly.

  “I haven’t seen one in many years. Poseidon destroyed them all prior to the Pacific Water War of 1709. Apparently, some of it survived. It only takes a sliver, after all,” he said, staring at the air.

  1709. Seventeen. Trey’s note. “Doctor?”

  “Marina, I need to know how many pieces you have seen that resemble this rock,” he said, clasping his hands around mine.

  “Oh, I suck at math. Okay, um, let me think. The necklace is the biggest piece. Katrina also has a ring and bracelet to match. So, that’s three. Uh, let’s see. Oh! There was one embedded in the frame of a porthole thingy in Zale’s mansion. I saw it Halloween night.” I decided not to mention the ghostly faces.

  “Four pieces,” he said, rubbing his temples. “Marina, I need you to get me that piece in the porthole.”

  “What is this? Gone with the Sanity?”

  “Well, tomorrow is another day.”

  “You want me, a Normal, to waltz into the Zale’s highly guarded mansion, destroy a porthole, grab a red ston
e, and pirouette out?”

  “Of course not. I want you to break in, break the porthole, steal the stone, and run out.”

  “Oh, yeah, no problem! Why don’t I just sign my ticket to jail while I’m at it?”

  “In all fairness, they’d probably just send you to juvenile detention.”

  “Comforting.”

  “It has to be you, Marina. Any merperson with clean hands cannot physically touch even an inch of a Prehendo Animus without their bodies becoming riddled with sores. The sores would then send a signal to King Zale that he has a traitor. I needn’t tell you what Zale’s reaction would be.”

  “Well, then, just don’t wash your hands before you go get it!” I said incredulously. From the look on his face, I must have said something profoundly stupid.

  “Not literal, Marina, figurative. Clean hands, meaning pure of choice, pure of soul.”

  “Oh. Yeah, of course.” I’m such a giant butt-wipe.

  “You have friends. Certain Ravenflames will help you.”

  “Like you,” I said, folding my arms.

  “Like me,” he said cheerily, whipping around to grab a ragged book off one of the many bookshelves. “There ya go! Did my part to aid the cause.”

  “It’s a book.”

  “You’re a smart one.”

  “Care to tell me how a mangy book is supposed to help me?”

  “Nah, not really,” he said smiling. “Now, you won’t be able to do this until the last night in June.”

  “Why is that?” Not that I’m complaining. The longer I can put it off, the better.

  “Because that’s the night of the underwater festival. Happens every year on the last night in June. Strange. Figured Troy might’ve mentioned something.”

  Trying not to sound pissed, I said, “I must’ve forgotten or something.”

  “Marina, do me a favor. Do not tell Troy about your mission. Can you do that for me?”

  “Sure, but why? You tell Treeva things.” I didn’t mean it to sound as accusatory as it did.

  “I’m asking you not just for me, but for Treeva as well.”

  “Treeva? Treeva asked you to make sure I didn’t tell her brother anything?”

  “Yes. Please ask no more questions, Marina. I couldn’t answer them anyway. She won’t tell me everything.”

  Doctor Tenly, the remarkably brilliant merdoctor, sat down next to me, the ultimate gagger. We couldn’t be more different if we tried. Yet, at this moment, we both had the same lost, sad, empty feeling created by two hearts of the same family.

  “Don’t forget about your gum. It must be well-chewed by now,” he said, breaking the gloomy silence.

  “Let’s get this over with,” I grumbled, taking the gum from my mouth and walking for the gum-covered wall. “There are no words in the entire dictionary to explain to you how disgusting this is.”

  Feeling like a vandal, I stuck my gum against the wall and—Good God Almighty—every single piece of half-chewed gum sparked and transformed into a butterfly.

  “Intriguing. Very intriguing,” said Doctor Tenly, eyeing the butterflies before resting his curious gaze upon me.

  “Uh, well, neat trick, Doc,” I said, inching my way out.

  “Not my trick, Marina Valentine,” he said, studying me. “Not my trick.”

  “Uh-huh, oh, well…”

  Taking my tatty book, I hurried for the car. The doctor’s driver took me home before sunset. According to him, darkness was a very bad time to be a Normal. Yeah, I kind of figured that one out on my own.

  He dropped me in front of my house, and I casually sauntered through the front door to find my mom tapping her foot.

  “Marina Jayne Valentine. Where have you been?” My mom looked frazzled, no doubt worried I had fallen off the sane wagon and reentered scare the crap out of mom mode.

  The smell of spicy meatballs made my mouth water. “Oh, Mom, you cooked! It smells so good!”

  Softening a bit, she said, “I felt bad the meeting carried on as long as it did, so I rushed home to cook you a proper meal, only to find you not home. Now, I’ll ask you once more, where have—oh! Were you at the library?” she said, spotting the book in my hands.

  “Uh, yeah, the library.”

  “That’s my little studious girl,” she said proudly, twisting around the counter to add some garlic to the meat sauce.

  “How was your meeting?” I asked, climbing on a bar stool.

  “Oh, long and boring. There was one bit of news I thought might interest you.”

  “Is it about Meikle?” I asked anxiously.

  “Sure is. I’ve hated not having anything to tell you, so I decided to get some answers.”

  “Way to go, Mom! What’d they say?”

  “The hospital here has done everything they can for her. They’re transferring her to Baylor, up in Dallas, as soon as they feel she’s stable enough to be moved. I will miss her mother. She’s been a good friend.”

  “Can we see her before she leaves?”

  Mom shook her head. “She’s still in quarantine.”

  “Makes me wonder about the medical practices in Saxet Shores…among other things.”

  “I did feel a little insecure about the quality of medical care around here,” said Mom. “But—and I know you don’t like him—Mr. Anderson assured me that her situation is very rare. He appeared quite concerned.”

  “What else did Mr. Anderson say?”

  “He fears Meikle may have contracted some mutant strain of flu. I guess it can sometimes travel in local fish. If she has a compromised immune system, this particular flu can apparently mutate into something that attacks her from the inside. He had a name for it, but I can’t for the life of me remember what he called it.”

  Breathing heavily, I said, “Prehendo Animus.”

  “Yes! How on earth did you know that? All that research in the library paying off, eh?”

  “Something like that.”

  My gaze fell upon the book Doctor Tenly gave me.

  Beneath The Surface Rests Truth…Above It, Lies & Magic, by Razzanne Rain.

  Truer words have never been written.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Invisible Transportation, Familiar Faces, and One Red Stone

  June: Bye-bye, school! Hurray! Hello, life of crime and near death. Boo.

  Monthly Life Caption: It Can Always Get Worse…Believe It.

  Mood: Nervous

  Eating: Copious amounts of salt & vinegar chips

  Music: Country—I need to feel empowered

  Dear end of the year exams: I don’t like you. You’ve demanded all of my spare time—time I could’ve used grilling (no pun intended) Troy on this fish festival…a festival he has yet to mention. Oh, but that’s not the only reason I hate you. Not only do you cruelly challenge my overworked, overly stuffed brain, but you mark the end of life as I know it. Once, I was a sweet, albeit bullheaded, sometimes cranky girl; now, I’m destined to become a morally corrupt criminal. The night I’ve been dreading was finally here. Tonight, I will break the law, break the rules, turn my back on nearly every moral principle my mom taught me, lie to my boyfriend, and force my dear friend, Airianna, to be my accomplice. I just hope God considers my motives. I am trying to stop some evil stuff from possibly happening. That must be good enough for God. I hope. Otherwise, I’m going to spend eternity in a blisteringly hot climate…and I can’t tan.

  Oh well, I haven’t the time to think about my potential reign as a demon princess. Right now, I must go over my checklist for tonight.

  My Night of Crime Checklist:

  Accomplice: Airianna (poor thing)—check!

  Lookout person: Bobby (hope his allergies don’t act up)—check!

  Way into the Zale’s mansion: Underground tunnels via the map hidden in the book Doctor Tenly gave me (too bad I spent hours mulling over the pages before finding a map tucked in the middle. Note to self: Enough with the ‘let’s not scare the merps’ crap. It’s time to ask the doctor about this del
iverer monster…especially after what I read about it in this book.)—check!

  Tools to get us in/out: Thanks to Mrs. Waterberry, we have two lumclaires (a curvy, bronze apparatus, which casts a light for only the eyes of its user); three diamond soar-spheres (tiny, sparkly globes that blast purple brainless powder clouds, rendering whoever walks through them temporarily mindless); three of Harriet Hazee’s Hazyfy cookies (allows one to convincingly evade pointed questions. Note to self: Only use if caught; they can cause incoherent babble and uncontrollable flight)—check!

  Tools to get the stone: Um, a mermaid hammer. Other than being gold and encrusted with emeralds, I have no idea how it’s any different from a human hammer—check!

  Escape vehicle: Bobby will have a car parked halfway up the side street…until then, we run—check!

  Backpack: Yes, and packed—check!

  Guess I’m all set, apart from wanting to hurl on my feet.

  8:45: Crime time. Once outside my window, something started nudging my feet.

  “Hey there little guy! Been a while,” I said, scratching the fuzzy little head of my baby seal friend.

  As before, he brought with him a note tied around his neck.

  “Trey’s next clue! Finally.” I untied the little ribbon, retrieved the note, and once again found Trey’s familiar handwriting: Floorboards, key, drop. “Floorboards? I have my little hermit crab key thingy, but what does he mean by floorboards? What floorboards?” I asked the seal, who stared at me. “Floorboards…maybe Trey’s house?” The seal snorted and nodded. “His room?” This time the little seal hopped, snorted, and nodded. “Okay, then. I’ll make a trip to Trey’s tonight after I take care of something.” The seal kind of smiled—or he just had gas—and scurried off.

  “What do you have to take care of?”

  “Oh! Troy. You scared me. What are you doing here anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be at the underwater festivities you conveniently forgot to mention?”

  “I was just stopping by to tell you about them. How did you find out?” he asked.

  “Does it matter?”

  “Not really. What do you have to take care of?”