Part of Your Nightmare

by Vera Strange

  Enrique caught up. Without thinking, he reached out to grab the trident—but she batted his hand away just in time. A bolt of electricity shot out from the trident, nearly zapping him.

  “Let me,” she said, and somehow her voice rang out clear as day through the water.

  He nodded.

  Suddenly, warning voices sounded.

  “Don’t trust her—she lies!”

  But then she looked down at her feet, which were fully turning into fins now, and over at Enrique, remembering the sea witch’s threat to turn him into one of her writhing creatures. She had to reverse the curse. She had to help the sea witch.

  She grasped the trident.

  Though it seemed to be wedged in the sand, at her touch it came loose with surprising ease.

  No electric shocks zapped her.

  Then, all at once, the barnacles fell away, revealing a gleaming, golden weapon.

  She felt great power emanating from the ancient weapon, but also danger.

  Suddenly, alarms sounded. Removing the trident must have triggered them. They had to get out of there before the police came. Enrique gave her a startled look. Together, they swam upward. But his oxygen line got snagged on the pirate ship—and came unplugged. He struggled to free himself, unable to breathe. Then, suddenly, the reef shark darted toward Shelly.

  The shark looked agitated, too. Like something had gotten into him. An unnatural emerald light flashed in the shark’s eyes. Part of the enchantment to protect the trident?

  The shark cracked open its jaws and zeroed in on the trident.

  Shelly tried to swim away to help get Enrique to the surface, but the shark latched on to the trident with its huge jaws. It began to wrench it from her hand as she fought to drive it away. Meanwhile, Enrique struggled toward the surface, but Shelly feared he wouldn’t make it without her help. She could let go of the trident and save Enrique—but then the curse would last forever.

  She gripped the trident harder. Please help me, she thought.

  Suddenly, she felt power emanate through the trident and explode in a blast of green light that blew the shark back through the water. But the shark recovered—and darted for Enrique.

  Shelly pivoted and swam toward Enrique, snatching him just as the shark snapped at his torso and missed. But they weren’t out of danger yet. The shark darted around to attack again.

  Shelly felt something slip out of her pocket; it was the nautilus. It drifted to the bottom of the exhibit, where it settled in the sand next to the treasure chest. She started to swim for it, but the shark charged at them again. Without wasting another second, Shelly hooked her arm around Enrique and swam fast for the surface. She saw his eyes were closed. He needed oxygen right away. The shark was right on her heels and starting to close in on them.

  Shelly tried to swim faster, but even with her fish abilities, Enrique and the trident were slowing her down. She kicked harder, feeling her fins claw against the water. Finally, she burst through the surface and up the ladder, dragging Enrique onto the catwalk with her last remaining strength. At that moment, the shark’s open mouth broke the surface, missing his dangling leg by inches.

  The trident clattered down on the catwalk with a metallic rattle.

  The alarms continued blaring, along with the emergency lights flashing overhead.

  Shelly turned her attention back toward Enrique. “Come on! Wake up!” she yelled, shaking Enrique. He had once saved her. She couldn’t fail him.

  He coughed, then flipped over and spat out salt water. He gasped for air and breathed deeply.

  “Oh, thank the seven seas,” Shelly said with a rush of relief. “You scared me!”

  He coughed again. “Did you get it?” he asked.

  “Yes. But us being here after hours must have triggered the alarms. We have to get out of here!”

  She helped Enrique to his feet, and he staggered unsteadily on the catwalk.

  While the alarms kept blaring, they hurried back to the entrance, but when they got there, the doors wouldn’t open. Shelly tried the keys and the security card. Nothing worked.

  “We’re trapped. It must be a security measure,” Enrique said. “It’s probably alerting the authorities.”

  She swallowed hard. “Or my parents.” Shelly felt their time ticking away. Her lungs screamed for oxygen now that she was out of the tank. It was getting worse fast. She couldn’t risk getting trapped or caught by her parents. They didn’t have much time left to take the trident to Ursula’s lair.

  Any second they’d be busted. And then it would be too late.

  “What do we do?” she gasped. They couldn’t escape the way they came in. It was getting harder for her to breathe by the second. Her mind felt sluggish. She clutched the trident tightly.

  “What about the shell?” asked Enrique. “The one that takes you to Ursula’s lair?”

  “I dropped it in the exhibit, when the shark came after you.”

  They both turned to look. The shark was circling the shell. They couldn’t risk going back into the tank—the shark would attack them again. And this time, they might not be so lucky. Shelly met Enrique’s eyes. She could tell that they were both thinking the same thing.

  What now?

  The alarms continued to blare in the aquarium.

  Shelly glanced over at Enrique; he looked afraid. Desperately, she tried to think of another way out—but they were trapped.

  Cackling laughter tore through the aquarium, accompanied by the sea witch’s voice.

  “My dearie, don’t fail me! Your time is almost up! Now, fork it over!”

  Shelly saw a flash of Enrique again as a sea polyp. “No!” she yelled. That’s when Shelly had a wild idea. She grabbed Enrique’s hand while still clutching the trident with her other. She could feel power surging through the weapon. “To the sundeck! It’s the only way out!”

  They ran the other way, bolted up the stairs, and emerged onto the sundeck. Wind whipped off the ocean. The dolphins circled in their exhibit. They knew something was wrong.

  Overhead, a storm was brewing—and not just any storm—an unnatural storm. Bright lightning pulsed in the dark sky, lighting up the clouds, while the ocean grew turbulent. In the distance, Shelly saw the two yellow eyes of the sea eels blink open in the dark water. They swam in opposite directions. The sea witch was watching them.

  “Come on,” she said, leading Enrique to the catwalk over the open ocean. It was the same spot where she had littered, dropping the plastic cup at her friends’ urging. It was also where the giant wave had snatched her.

  I made a mistake by littering, she thought. I’m sorry.

  She’d learned her lesson. More than learned it. Littering in the ocean was wrong. If only she’d done the right thing and hadn’t bent to peer pressure, then none of this would be happening. She just hoped she still had time to make it right.

  The waves sloshed up onto the catwalk, spritzing them with seawater. She tasted it on her tongue and breathed it into her lungs. She held the trident in her hand and peered into the dark ocean, filled with angry whitecaps. The wind whipped up, making the sea churn faster. Shelly could feel the power of the trident flowing through her body. She remembered what it had done to the shark.

  “Hurry, dive in!” Enrique said, standing next to her on the catwalk. Rain and wind pelted his face and body. “Swim to her lair. Take her the trident. That’s the only way to stop this.”

  Shelly wanted to . . . but something was stopping her. “No, it’s too dangerous,” she said. “I can’t give her the trident.”

  Fear flashed in his eyes. “What do you mean? You don’t have a choice!”

  “Did you see what it did to the shark?” she replied while the wind whipped at her. “If we give the trident to Ursula, then she could use it to do bad things . . . terrible things to everyone.”

  Enrique glanced out over Triton Bay—the only place they’d ever called home, with all the people who lived there—then met Shelly’s gaze. He looked grim. “You’
re right . . . but if you don’t do it, then there’s no way to reverse the curse. You’ll turn into a fish for good.”

  Fear tore through Shelly. The thought of turning into a fish forever, of leaving her family and friends, terrified her and made her heart ache. But if she gave the trident to the sea witch, then the witch would have the power to hurt everybody she loved—her mom and dad; Dawson; Enrique and his brother, Miguel; Mr. Aquino; Attina and Alana. Even Kendall and Judy Weisberg.

  She couldn’t let that happen. She’d made a mistake before—she’d done the wrong thing by littering in the ocean, by letting other people make decisions for her—but now she could make a better choice, even if it cost her everything.

  This was her chance to make it right.

  Shelly stepped down from the catwalk and backed away from the water, trident in hand.

  “I can’t give it to her!” she yelled over the wind and rain. “I have to do the right thing and protect Triton Bay, like my parents. I was selfish before. I can’t make that same mistake again.”

  Enrique met her eyes and held her gaze once again. He looked troubled, but he managed a weak smile. Shelly could see that he knew she was right, even if it cost him something important, too.

  “I always knew you were special—” he started.

  But then a black tentacle shot out of the ocean and wrapped around his chest. His eyes widened with fear, and then the tentacle yanked him off the catwalk and dragged him into the ocean.

  Before he vanished beneath the waves, he locked eyes with Shelly and yelped.

  And then he was gone.

  Shelly reached out for Enrique, but she was too late.

  The tentacle had jerked him underwater. Ursula.

  Shelly dove after him. She had to save him. As she hit the water, her gills pulled it in, drinking it up gratefully. Adrenaline pumped through her veins while her heart hammered in her chest. The image of Enrique turning into a poor unfortunate soul flashed through her head.

  She couldn’t let the sea witch hurt her friend. She was the one who had made the mistake. Enrique was just trying to help. Through the murky water, she could make out two glowing yellow eyes—the sea eels. She couldn’t let them out of her sight. With any luck, they’d lead her right to Ursula’s lair. She just hoped she wasn’t too late to save Enrique.

  Clutching the trident, she swam fast after the sea eels, plunging deeper and deeper into the frigid water. Her webbed hands and feet propelled her while her gills processed the oxygen and kept her breathing. Her brain kept replaying Enrique being seized by the black tentacle and whipped underwater. He wasn’t like her. He couldn’t breathe down there.

  Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she spotted the entrance to Ursula’s lair: the bony exoskeleton of some sort of mammoth sea creature with a gaping mouth full of sharp teeth.

  She swam through the entrance, ignoring the protests of those eerie voices again.

  “Don’t give her the trident!” they wailed. “She’ll become too powerful!”

  Something grabbed her legs, but Shelly kicked it away and kept swimming. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, not knowing who she was speaking to, or if there was even anyone there. “I have to save my friend.”

  When she emerged in the shadowy lair, her eyes became fixed on the crystal ball. Enrique was collapsed inside of it. At first, she was worried that he was dead. He wasn’t moving at all.

  She swam over to the crystal ball and pounded on the outside. The glass was too strong. She couldn’t crack it open, nor did she want to. The crystal ball was filled with air, not water.

  “Enrique, wake up!” She pounded on the glass harder. “Don’t die on me!”

  He lay there, not breathing.

  But then his chest moved slightly.

  He was starting to breathe again.

  But he was trapped—a prisoner.

  “Ursula, I’m here!” Shelly yelled. She whipped around, trying to locate the sea witch. “I did what you wanted. I got the trident for you! Now come and get it—and keep your promise.”

  She held up the ancient weapon, feeling a bolt of electricity run down it. The trident was infused with great power, ancient power, dangerous power. But Shelly had to save her friend.

  This was the only way.

  Slowly, a huge form rose out of the shadows and slunk into the lair, illuminated by the light from the crystal ball. The sea witch finally revealed herself in her full glory. Her head and torso were human, but her lower body was the tentacles of a black octopus. They undulated around her, giving her a menacing appearance. She grinned, displaying all her glittering teeth. Her lips were glossy with bloodred lipstick, and she had spiky white hair. “My dear, you succeeded,” she said with a cackle. “I had a feeling you had it in you.”

  Shelly plunged the trident into the sand in front of the sea witch. “There, it’s all yours! Just like you wanted. Now take it—and keep your promise to me. Change me back, and let my friend go! He doesn’t have anything to do with this. He’s innocent!”

  Ursula grinned, snatching the trident. As soon as her clawed hand touched the weapon, a bolt of electricity shot down her arm and through her body. Her eyes glowed with yellow light while electrical zaps fizzled through her.

  She cackled with glee. “The protection spell is broken! Now it’s mine—all mine!”

  The ocean current grew stronger, churning through the lair. Shelly had to brace herself against it. Bolts of electricity flickered, running down the length of the golden trident.

  “Hurry!” Shelly yelled. “Reverse the curse! And let my friend go!”

  Ursula aimed the trident at her. “As you wish, my dear!”

  A blast of electricity shot out of the forked end and hit Shelly square in the chest. She felt pain surge through her entire body, then recede. A great feeling of relief swept through her.

  The sea witch had kept her promise.

  Shelly looked down at her hands, waiting for the spell to take effect. But they remained fins. Her gills were still there. She could feel them flaring and sucking in the water. Then something horrible happened. She felt her legs seal together, fully becoming a tail.

  Ursula peered at her with a fierce grin, an eel wrapped around each arm. “You belong to me now!” she cackled at Shelly, waving the trident in her hand.

  “But we had a deal,” Shelly managed to say. Her voice came out shrill.

  Ursula laughed heartily, looking down on her with pity. The whites of her eyes shone in the darkness. “Oh, my dear, it’s not a deal unless you sign a contract. Otherwise, it’s up for negotiation.”

  “What do you mean?” Shelly sputtered. Her voice sounded like Mr. Bubbles’s.

  “No contract—no deal.”

  “You’re a liar! You tricked me!”

  “Oh, my dear, it’s not a lie—it’s just sea business,” Ursula said with a wink. She unfurled the contract. Shelly’s signature glinted in gold. “You’re the fastest swimmer now . . . forever.”

  Shelly opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out.

  The last thing she remembered was Ursula holding up the trident and grinning down at her. “Oh, don’t worry, my dear,” Ursula said in a smug voice. “You did prove your usefulness.”

  Shelly wanted to scream, but only bubbles came out.

  “I’ve got something very special in mind for you,” Ursula said.

  TRITON BAY TRIBUNE

  NEW AQUARIUM EXHIBIT OPENS IN LOVING MEMORY OF SHELLY ANDERSON

  It’s been six months since local middle schooler Shelly Anderson went missing on the day of the aquarium break-in. The reason for her disappearance remains a mystery, though the police believe the two events must be connected.

  MISSING signs, weather-beaten and yellowing, can still be seen posted to telephone poles and buildings throughout Triton Bay. Even the promise of a $10,000 reward hasn’t turned up any leads on Shelly Anderson’s whereabouts.

  This week, her disappearance was officially filed in the state of Califo
rnia as a cold case.

  But somehow, in all this, Shelly’s family’s aquarium has endured, perched above the ocean like a castle. Today a special occasion drew in a crowd.

  Her parents, the owners of the aquarium, stood before the main exhibit with their young son, Dawson. They all clutched an oversize pair of scissors. Behind them, a turquoise ribbon with a big knotted bow stretched across the front of the massive tank, which was draped with a curtain.

  While today was a day of remembrance for their missing daughter, it was also a celebration of what’s in store.

  “Welcome to the unveiling of our newly refurbished main attraction,” Mr. Anderson said with a smile to the crowd. He gave his wife’s hand a gentle squeeze.

  Ms. Anderson spoke next. “While we are saddened over the disappearance of our daughter, we remain hopeful that she will return one day.”

  “An anonymous donor funded this new exhibit,” said Mr. Anderson. “Today, we dedicate it to Shelly. We love you, honey. We’ll always love you. We hope you come home.”

  The somber crowd cheered. The emotion in the room was palpable. Some of the local schoolgirls, presumably friends of Shelly’s, cried and dabbed at their eyes with tissues.

  One girl, Kendall Terran, later stated, “She was my very best friend.” After sobbing for several seconds, she asked, “You got that? Like hashtag BFF. By the way, I’m also the captain of the swim team.”

  Meanwhile, another friend, a boy named Enrique, stood with his older brother. Upon being questioned, he couldn’t remember much from that fateful night. He was discovered washed up on the beach. It was almost like his memory was stolen.

  He just knows his friend is gone.

  “Without further ado . . .” Mr. Anderson said, and then together, as a family, they cut the ribbon.

  The curtain fell away.

  Behind them, in the exhibit, a bronze statue of Shelly stood where the trident once was. A small green fish darted around the statue’s face, then swam up to the glass.

  The fish bumped up against the glass, drawing the attention of the boy, Dawson.