by Dani Stowe
“Willis. I know he is one of those freaks. He and his friends—all three of them—will pay for what has happened to me, which reminds me...”
He leans over the bed, bringing his nose to nearly touch the tip of mine. His breath reeks. From what I’d previously heard of Bradley, he was a pretty, rich boy type, but it’s obvious he’s completely let himself go. Obsession, evil, revenge—I suspect those things make it easy for a man to rot from the inside out. The smell of his corrupt, decomposing soul is so thick, like a black fog made of pollution.
I cringe when he strokes the top of my head. “That’s why I came in here. I wanted to thank you for everything, Athena. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to put all the clues together. The magical seamen—theirs is quite a tall tale, isn’t it? But without hearing everything from you, Levi would’ve never learned the complete truth and reported back to me about it. I’m still not sure if Levi is a believer just yet in all this merfolk business, but don’t worry.” Bradley smacks my cheek lightly but the shame still stings. “I’ll make sure Levi gets a front row seat when I harpoon your boyfriend and his mates. See, I’ve upgraded from dolphins to whales. It’s all for sport, of course. I enjoy the hunt and although I do make money on whale meat, I’ve found my true trade is with women. I can’t have your boyfriend and his crew of freaks getting in the way of my trade.” Bradley dips his chin to get a better view of me—my body—so I turn my head away. “I’m sure you understand, Athena. Levi says you’re quite the scholar. Too bad you don’t need a brain where you’re going.”
My entire world begins to cave as Bradley exits. Because of me! It’s because of me! I’m the reason we’ve all been captured. If I had not divulged on all those secrets and had done as my mother told since I was a child and kept my imagination to myself, Kumiko, Shelley, and I might not be in this mess. Not to mention, the only people who could’ve gotten us girls out of this would’ve been Willis and the other seamen.
I pull at the binds wrapped tight at my wrists but pause when I hear an engine approaching followed by screaming. It sounds like Shelley!
“Oi,” says a gruff voice. It’s a new voice, perhaps belonging to another crew member. “Let’s go. Your new owner is here.”
I tug harder at the binds. This can’t be happening right now. Surely, this is just a nightmare and I need to wake up! Of course, I’ve read about maritime trade and the existence of slaves at various times in history. The sea is a vessel that makes human trafficking possible. One cannot seem to exist without the other.
Shelley screams again but she is quickly silenced and I clench my eyes shut. I want to scream for her but who will hear me? Once she goes missing she will never, never be heard from again. I wish there was a way to call for help, but how can I communicate an S.O.S?
A pang hits dead center in my chest.
The dead.
The magical dead can hear me.
I call out to Lenora, singing terribly.
Just as Shelley’s Aunt Cora had once mentioned to me in passing when I was a teenager, I remember I should sing a sweet lament that goes quickly sour and off tune in hopes the lack of harmony will irritate the sea witch enough to...
“Athena,” Lenora rattles. Her voice vibrates right at the outer edge of my ear canal.
I turn my head around, searching for the witch. I don’t see her, but I feel her. Her presence looms like a haunting dark cloud but I’m grateful she’s come to me.
“Lenora, we need help.”
“Help?” she laughs, this time with a fading echo.
“Lenora, help us,” I plead. “They’re taking Shelley away.”
“Mmm, yes. I see that. They’re taking Kumiko to the other boat, too, it appears. I think they plan to have a party.”
“If you see, then why don’t you do something!”
Lenora laughs louder. “And what shall I do? Hmm, Athena?”
“Use your powers,” I beg. “Get us out of here. Please! Before they become one of the missing forever.”
“Maybe Shelley and a few others wouldn’t be missing if you’d made those flyers sooner rather than later as the sheriff asked.”
Shit! “I’m sorry. I really am.”
“Well, of course, you’re sorry now,” Lenora scoffs. “You’re about to become one of the missing, yourself, except you won’t really be missing, will you? You know exactly where you’re going.”
“No,” I shake my head.
“Sure, you do.”
“No, I don’t,” I cry in denial although I know exactly where I’m headed...
To Hell.
“Lenora, please.” I suck up my tears as the engine to a boat outside is revved. If I don’t do something now, I know I’ll never see the others again. “I want to make a trade.”
“What!” shrieks the witch. “And I thought you were the smart one. It would seem as though you’ve learned nothing in your scholarly conquests.”
“Will you trade with me or not?”
“Depends.” She pauses. I wait. I think I can hear her contemplating. “What do you have to trade?”
I take a big breath and purse my lips to exhale slowly before I speak. “My life for Shelley’s.” I nod my head boldly. “A life for a li—”
“No,” Lenora quickly cuts in. “That’s not a good trade.”
Not a good trade? How can she say I’m not a good trade? “What do you mean I’m not a good trade?”
“I mean, how will you pay? What can you give me in exchange for conjuring a spell to make such a swap? And what of the others? Are you just going to leave Kumiko to the pirate? You’re not thinking properly, Athena. You are the Goddess of Wisdom. Think your way out of this.”
I think. The truth is I’m so terrified, I have no idea how to use magic to get my way out of this mess.
But the witch...
She wouldn’t be here if she didn’t want something out of this situation as well.
“What do you want?” I ask her.
“I want Henry,” she replies.
“Henry?” I’m baffled. “What in the world would you want with Henry?”
“I want him dead,” replies Lenora. “I want a dagger pierced straight into his heart.”
I shake my head. “No. There’s no way.”
“No way?” questions Lenora. “And what will Henry think when he finds out you let Shelley get taken. He would gladly trade his life for hers. All you’d have to do is kill him—stab him—when you get the chance after my deed in this plot is done.”
“Kill Henry? I don’t know that I could. And why Henry?” It makes no sense.
“Because I’m tired of listening to him.” Lenora sighs. I can almost feel her invisible hot breath in my ear. “With Orphelius’s powers came the ability to read minds of sea beasts. And there is no beast on this earth that sings a sadder song than Henry. Like a siren, he lures me in and I’m not equipped to help him with his physical ailments. But I can help him to cease with his laments.”
The witch is right. Henry loves Shelley more than anything in all the world. I can’t imagine how he would feel if he knew I let Shelley get taken when I could’ve saved her simply by trading his life for hers.
“And if I agree to ki... I mean, sta...” I swallow. I can’t even say the words of the crime I must commit. “If I agree, what can you give me in return?” I cock my head towards the direction of the room where I know the other girls are being held. “How will you save us?”
“Truth be told, I can’t save any of you,” says Lenora.
“Yes, you can. You have magic,” I remind her.
“No. I have the power to trick, trade, and transform and with that, I obtained the power of the storm and the power to control beasts. I can’t use any of those powers on this ship. Everyone will drown. The women included.”
“Then, why am I even talking to you!” I’m so frustrated.
“If you agree to this deal—one life in exchange for many,” says Lenora, “I can set forth in motion the means for all
of you to be rescued, to set everything right.”
All of us? Rescued?
An inkling of hope sets in. “And how do you plan to set forth a rescue?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Lenora is toying with me now. “Tell me, Athena. If you knew someone was in need of a rescue, what would you do?”
“I...” I can’t think straight. “I honestly don’t know.”
“I’m calling the sheriff,” she replies.
14
Willis
Feet suddenly shuffle above. The women begin whining, fearful of the captors that may be coming to take them... or hurt them.
“Shh.” I try to quiet them so that I may listen to the feet moving about overhead in hopes I can map a layout of the space above. If I somehow end up getting out of these chains, the first thing I’ll need to do after I free the others is head straight towards an exit.
The feet up top, however, seem to be stumbling but softly, as if the person walking about has no clue as to where to go. The feet pace forward and then back and then forward again but more slowly the second time around.
“Henry,” mutters a gruff voice. “Orphelius.”
Henry shakes his chains as Orphelius attempts to shout through the gag in his mouth. I take this as a sign. This must be a friend of theirs.
“We’re down here!” I yell.
The feet move swiftly. They seem to be dancing now. The man upstairs is searching.
“We’re underground!” I shout. “Look for the door.”
A crack of light pierces through over the top of the stairwell but no one enters. All I see is the silhouette of a gun.
“This is the sheriff,” the man announces. “Who’s down there?”
“My name is Willis. There are others down here with me. We’ve been taken captive.”
“Well, come on up,” he growls. “But slowly. One by one.”
“We can’t sheriff.” I jiggle my chains. “We are all tied up.”
The sheriff shuffles about at the top of the landing until a light comes on. I see the tip of his gun aimed straight at me and then his eyes glaring from beyond. I show him my chains.
Satisfied I’m of no harm to him, he looks around. Taking notice of Henry and Orphelius in the corner, he puts his gun in his holster and skips down the steps.
“Jesus,” he says when he sees two young, practically naked girls crouched as close as they can get together but barely touching one another as they are also gagged and chained.
The sheriff attempts to free the girls, but they cry with his failed attempts. They cry harder when he disappears up the stairwell, afraid he’s left them. But the cries become screams of joy when the sheriff returns with a key, unlocking them both.
The lawman instructs the girls to head upstairs and outside where he says his deputy is waiting. The sheriff speaks into a black box and instructs the deputy to take the girls to the hospital. Taking a step towards the stairwell, it appears the sheriff plans to leave.
I shout, “Aye, what about us?”
The sheriff looks me over with a rub of his chin. “I don’t know you.” He looks over to Orphelius and Henry and points. “But I know them. Clearly, someone likes them a lot less than I do. Are you one of them? One of those merfreaks?”
I’m not sure what to say. I’d forgotten for a moment the sheriff is the one who shot Henry. I shouldn’t be surprised the sheriff would be content to just leave Henry and anyone like him down here. I need to say whatever I must to get myself out of these chains and get to Athena.
“No, I’m not.”
“That’s too bad,” replies the sheriff as he hikes up the stairs.
My chest rises and falls quickly but heavily in a panic. I can’t believe the sheriff is going to leave us here!
“Sheriff!” I shout towards the door he’s left open. “Damn you. Let us out,” I cry, yanking on the chains. “Shelley, Athena, Kumiko—they’ve been taken. They need our help. Come back here, you fucking bootlicker! If I was back to being that damn freak you hate so much, I’d fucking drown you.” I come to standing, pulling at the chains, feeling the cold clamp of restraint at my wrists. “SHERIIIIIF!”
“Be quiet, you big oaf,” he grumbles, careering down the stairwell. “Your locks are different from the girls. I had to get a different key.”
He heads over to Orphelius, setting him free and then Henry. The sheriff continues to eyeball me suspiciously, looking up to me, as he unlocks my chains. “So, what’s your superpower? You a fish? Or octopus, like the swordsman?” He chuckles. “Would be interesting if one of you was a shark. Hmm?” He raises a brow with a smirk, waiting for an answer.
I rub my freed wrists. “When I’m not human, I’m made of water.”
“That’s... uh...” The sheriff shakes his head. “Not very interesting. To think, I was just beginning to find your kind fascinating. This town, my town, has a way of always keeping me on my toes but then you had to go and bore me.”
“I could wipe out your entire town as a single wall of water in the form of a tidal wave.”
The sheriff gulps. “Like I said, fascinating.”
Orphelius groans as he attempts to pick up Henry. Both the sheriff and I go over to help.
Once out of the building, which looks like an abandoned home, we all hop into the sheriff’s mechanical carriage. I get in the back with Henry while Orphelius takes the front seat. We are all ears, curious as to how the sheriff discovered us. He says he got a tip from a random phone call.
We are also curious as to the sheriff’s plan to rescue the girls, but when the sheriff says he can’t use our help due to the danger of the situation, I give Orphelius a quick nod.
It feels good to be working with my sea mates again. As Orphelius grabs the wheel to steer and I headlock the sheriff from behind, it’s Henry who is able to remove the sheriff’s gun.
I suspect Henry and Orphelius feel the same as I do. These are just like old times and we are reveling in our abilities to overpower the sheriff, take over his carriage, and leave the lawman to curse us from the side of the road. Henry, however, is not thrilled to be holding the weapon that has crippled him, so he tosses the gun out of the window.
We agree to go to the marina. We need a fast ship with large sails and I recall seeing such a magnificent well-kept beauty in the bay.
Luckily, on arrival, the wind has picked up. Henry signals with his fingers overhead. I don’t know the type of talk he makes with his hands, but I understand exactly what he’s saying.
There’s a storm coming.
Over the horizon, a few spirals of dark gray clouds loom low under a layer of fast—speeding—feathery clouds higher above. The atmosphere has gotten thick, despite the cool breeze blowing. Blue skies have disappeared, and lightning, it feels, could easily spark at any moment.
I look at the sea. Beyond the bay, waves are tumbling, rolling about in swells. I scratch my head. Now would not be a good time to take a boat out.
Orphelius gives me a hand to help Henry out of the car. I don’t have to say in which direction we are going. The others have already spied the sailboat we have silently and without words agreed to steal.
Within minutes, I start the engine and we are at sea. With Henry seated at the helm, steering, as he’d always wanted for himself, Orphelius and I are quick to raise the sails and shut the engine off.
We sail straight into the horizon over rolling hills made of ocean waves and towards the flashing center of the storm. Like a sign, the storm beckons us and I know it is the sea witch who is helping us, showing us the way.
She needs me. Lenora needs me to rescue Athena so that the bargain Lenora and I struck will come to fruition granting the witch all three powers of the seas. I could not keep my powers for these two days. That was not part of the deal and I dare not think of what the witch will do once she possesses such magic. The power of the storm, the power of beasts, and the power to control water— it’s unfathomable to think how she plans to use Poseidon’s Trident. I only
pray that once I get Athena back, Lenora does not intend to seek revenge and kill us all right away.
Up! Goes the bow of the boat and my stomach floats.
Yes! I feel as though we are flying.
Down! The bow crashes and I revel in the strength of my back, my thighs, and my knees absorbing all the energy of the sea.
The waves become taller as the wind on our backs blows with gusto into the sails. If my heart were not so consumed with impatience in getting Athena back, I daresay I would greatly be enjoying this. The sound of the wind—rumbling—is music in my ears. And the smell of salted air, a scent I’d longed to sniff, makes me feel at home.
Water sprays in mists and globs as we crash straight ahead into wave after cresting wave. I turn to spy Henry up at the helm to make sure he is all right. He straightens his spine, giving me a salute and a wink. Cocky capable bastard.
I look to Orphelius, who’s leaning over the edge and cheering. He claps his hands as one dolphin after another leaps into the air. It appears an entire family of oversized air-breathing fish is following us at our side.
“Friends of yours?” I shout.
“Ah, yes!” Orphelius shouts with a nod back.
“Perhaps you should tell them to get lost, especially the smaller one. There’s only danger ahead.”
“These creatures are no longer under my command. And if they were, I’d let them do as they please. Nothing pleases me more than to see them free.”
Waves have managed to breach over the sides of the boat dropping a few small fish on the deck. Orphelius picks one up by its silvery tail and tosses the wiggler into the air.
Dolphins are apparently not the only creatures trailing us. A seagull with its own family in tow manages to catch and guzzle Orphelius’s tossed fish down whole.
Rain falls now. Small, tiny drops splatter coolly over my arms.
I look once more towards the horizon and, in the distance, I see a black dot...
But it’s a blur. Rain pours more heavily. Cold droplets are getting thicker as we get closer towards flashing lightning.
I take a breath. The last time the three of us decided to take on slavers, we nearly died and were transformed. I turn around to get a glimpse of my fellow seamen. They seem more eager than before to fight the battle ahead. Mystics, gods, monsters—it doesn’t matter who or what you are—I would not want to be the entity keeping these men from the thing they cherish the most—the women they love.
