Beyond the Sea (22 page)

“Shit, Melia, what are you doing here?”
 
Peter asked, wide eyed. He felt sick from looking at the body. Moonlight cast eerie shadows over the dead boy’s face. Well, what remained of his face. Melia bypassed answering and took Peter’s hand. Her merrow eyes allowed her to see every detail; it looked like algae covered seaweed was wrapped around the boy’s fingers on his outstretched hand.

“We need to call the cops,” Peter mumbled. Jason sputtered about the beer and how everyone was underage. Peter motioned to the body. “He’s something to someone.”

Peter’s words hung heavy in the air.

“Right,” Jason agreed. “Lemme hide the booze.”

“It’ll still look suspicious,” Connor warned. “All of us, up here.”

Peter nodded. “The girls that found the body—they need to stay. Everyone else needs to leave.”

“Right,” Jason uttered again. “Give me ten minutes.”

Melia tiptoed to Peter. He looked sick; Connor did as well. “We don’t have to watch it,” she said quietly. “He’s not going anywhere.”

Connor agreed and turned away. “I feel bad leaving him alone. Is that crazy?”

“No,” Melia assured him, taking his hand and leading him away. She took Peter’s hand in her other hand. “It shows that you are more caring than I thought you were. Though his spirit is gone, the body still symbolizes his life and everything that used to be.”

“Yea.” Connor cleared his throat and gave Melia’s hand a squeeze before letting go. They stopped at the edge of the clearing. Melia was on high alert. She didn’t know what she would do if the gwyrrd attacked, though her first and only plan was to let it take her since she can’t drown. That was one of many holes in her plan. Anxiously, she waited for the others to leave. She needed to keep the small group that remained together. Gwyrrds don’t attack groups. And what about the police officers who will examine the body? Melia knew, from watching numerous shows on solving crimes, that she couldn’t stay when the authorities looked for evidence.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Peter apologized, hugging Melia.

“It’s not the first dead body I’ve seen,” Melia whispered softly. Peter hugger her tighter.

The wait for the cops to arrive was excruciating. Awkward small talk was made, but the fact that there was a dead, rotting body nearby was hard to forget. The girls who had discovered the body were MJ, Nikki and Chloe. They exchanged a few words on fashion with Melia; Chloe complimented her designer boots.

MJ interrupted the silence that fell over the group. “You guys, that boy was probably murdered. What if the killer is still out there?!”

Nikki gripped Jason’s hand.

Melia shook her head. “If I were going to dump a dead body, I’d put it somewhere I’ve never been and wouldn’t come back.
 
Unless I was crazy, then maybe it wouldn’t matter.” Peter looked at her sideways. “Or at least, that is what would happen on crime shows.”

“So,” Nikki spoke. “We either are safe,
ooorrr
we have to watch out for a raging lunatic.”

“Basically,” Connor assured her.

“Do you think they’ll suspect us?” MJ asked.

“I doubt it,” Peter answered, unable to help the red hot flash of fear that flooded his veins.
Would
the cops find it ironic a group of kids innocently went for a walk in the woods and stumbled upon the body?

Melia’s head snapped to the left. Voices. Flashlights bouncing off the trees. Footsteps. The police were finally here.

What seemed like hours later, Melia and Peter got into the Mustang. Peter sighed, looking tired. Melia placed her hand on his.

“Want to go to my house?” she offered.

“Yea.” Peter revved the engine to life. “So much for a fun night, huh?”

“Well, at least it was exciting.” Melia half smiled. Peter laughed. She didn’t like seeing Peter upset. It bothered her more than she expected. She brought up the subject of prom and it seemingly worked to cheer Peter up. They discussed dinner plans; Peter admitted he had assumed they would go with his group of friends. He didn’t say it, but Melia knew he didn’t think Jamie would be going to prom. Connor was taking Courtney, Matthew and Amanda were going together, Nate was taking Hannah, a cheerleader Melia had few interactions with, and Brian was going with Justine, a junior from another school. He didn’t mention anything about Kaitlin or Janet.

It made sense, Melia knew, for Peter to want to go with his friends. And it would be fun going with a group of people, right?

“My mom wants me to go to New York to find a prom dress,” Melia told Peter.

“Should be fun.”

“Yea, but I don’t like shopping.”

“Really?” Peter glanced over at her.

“It’s fun at first, then I get bored.” She turned to face him.

“You are too good to be true, Melia.”

*

“And you’re sure you know how to get there?” Jamie asked apprehensively.

“Yes.” Melia didn’t look away from the road. She pressed the pedal and the R8 lurched faster. “I paid attention on the way home so I’d remember.”

“Ok, good.” Jamie nervously played with her hair. She was beyond freaked out. She didn’t want to believe such things existed. Melia explained what a gwyrrd was to Jamie as soon as she got to her house the next morning. At first Jamie excitedly agreed to go back to the woods with Melia. It was what she always wanted, right? Adventure, feeling needed, making a difference…

Now fear balled in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to see a gwyrrd….but she did. Jamie couldn’t make up her mind. And they were on their way. Jamie took a deep breath.
There’s no going back. Be brave
, she told herself.

“It’s a crime scene,” Jamie commented.

“I know. We’re gonna have to sneak in around the back. We probably can’t get to the same spot, though I’d imagine they moved the body after they took all the pictures. At least that’s what they do on TV.”

“Ok,” Jamie said and was silent the rest of the way. Melia parked the R8. There were no cop cars in the parking lot nor were there any other cars. News of a dead body travels fast. No one wanted to visit the nature park today. Melia had told Jamie she doubted the gwyrrd would make an attempt to harm them. She was mostly likely hiding since so many humans had trampled her nesting grounds.

But there was still a chance. Jamie wished she had brought a weapon; some warrior she was. The plan was to get in and get out as quickly as possible. Jamie needed to try and pick up on any lasting feelings of the dead boy to be certain a gwyrrd was responsible.

The hike to the stream was a hot one. The sun beat down on them and no breeze offered relief. The bonfire had been reduced to a smoldering pile of ash. Melia hesitated, tempted to feel the heat. She held her head up and pressed forward. She diverted to the left, avoiding the scene of the crime by several yards. She stopped, let out a breath and looked at Jamie.

“Can I do anything to help?”

Jamie shook her head. “I just have to see what I can find.” She closed her eyes and held out her hands. Slowly, she turned, reaching with her mind. She felt anger and a need to prove herself, followed by fear and pain. In her mind she saw the boy. It was night. He dropped his flashlight and spun around. She was upon him in seconds. “It happened fast,” Jamie whispered, her words shaking. Her eyes opened, relieved to see Melia’s pretty face looking back at her. “You didn’t tell me how horrible looking gwyrrds are.”

“You saw one?”

“I think so.” Jamie shook her hands, trying to expel the energy. “She looked like an old hag. From a distance, I guess you could mistake her for an old lady. But up close,” she closed her eyes again. The face of the gwyrrd flashed before her. Quickly, she opened them. “Her hair is like moldy seaweed. Her dress is dripping wet and she smells like old, wet cloth. Her skin—” she shuddered. “I, well, he felt it when she grabbed him. It’s rough, not human like, right?”

Melia nodded. “It’s covered in tiny scales.”

“And her teeth. They are razor sharp.” That was the worst part. Jamie had felt those teeth sink into his shoulder. Gwyrrds bite down to the bone. She shivered and Goosebumps broke out on her arms, despite the warm sun. “I get that they kill, but why exactly—”

Melia grabbed her, cutting off Jamie’s question. “Shhh!” she whispered. Melia inhaled; the stench of rotting earth was growing stronger. The gentle babble of the stream grew so loud it pounded in her ears. “We should go,” she told Jamie, hooking her arm though her best friend’s.

“Not
yeeet
,” a hoarse voice came from behind them. Melia and Jamie spun around. The voice gurgled, as if whoever was speaking was underwater. Jamie’s eyes met Melia’s.

“Should we run?” she asked. Before Melia could reply, cold, wet, and slimy fingers reached from the damp weeds and grabbed Jamie’s ankle. She screamed when it yanked, pulling her to the ground. Tiny drops of water collected on the ground, fast, filling an invisible mold until the outline of an old lady could be seen. Slowly, the figure gained color.

“Visitors!” the gwyrrd cried. “It’s been so long since I’ve had visitors! Please don’t go, we can have so much fun together!”

Jamie thrashed, terrified. The gwyrrd began dragging her backwards. Jamie desperately reached out to cling to anything that would slow her down. She forgot any and all self defense moves she had been taught in Tae Bo.

Melia hadn’t. She kicked the gwyrrd so hard in the face it broke the old hag’s nose. The gwyrrd cried out, snatching her hand back from Jamie’s ankle, her razor sharp nails slicing through Jamie’s skin as she did.

Melia scrambled over to Jamie, helping her up. The gwyrrd recoiled. Shaking her head, she straightened. Melia watched as the gwyrrd sniffed the blood on
her
fingers.

“What are you, dear,” the gwyrrd asked Jamie. “Your blood is sweeter than the others’.”

Melia yanked her keys out of her pocket. “Go to the car, now!”

“No, I don’t want to leave you,” Jamie protested.

“You can drown,” Melia reminded her, leaving ‘I can’t’ unsaid but very much implied. “I’ll catch up to you. Start the car—go!”

Feeling a burning ball of horrible remorse fall heavy in her soul, Jamie sprang up. She fumbled and tripped the entire way to the car.

Melia faced the gwyrrd, still stunned from her kick. Melia looked around; she grabbed an apple sized rock, ready to strike. “Leave my friend alone,” she threatened.

“Granny wants more,” the gwyrrd cooed, licking the rest of Jamie’s blood from her fingers. “And granny
always
gets what she wants.” Quickly, the gwyrrd was back on her feet.

“Not this time,” Melia promised. She swung. The rock connected with the gwyrrd’s head in a sickening crack. Melia knew bones had been broken. The gwyrrd yelped and fell backward. She hit the ground and exploded into a million little water drops.

She was gone, but not dead.

Melia dropped the rock and ran. Jamie had just reached the car when Melia emerged from the woods. She screamed when she heard Melia’s footsteps suddenly behind her. Frantically, she opened the door and jumped in the driver’s side. Melia was in the passenger seat by the time Jamie started the car.

She had never driven the R8 and pushed way too hard on the gas. The tires squealed and they were off.

Melia waited until they were a safe distance away from the gwyrrd to speak. “Jamie, she has a taste for your blood.”

“Mm-hm,” was the only response Jamie was able to muster. The scratches on her ankle suddenly burned.

“We need to keep you safe. I know a spell.”

“You know a spell?” Jamie asked incredulously.

“Know
of
a spell,” Melia corrected. “I saw it in one if my mother’s books. Lana and I used to sneak looks at it. We got caught once and—it doesn’t matter.”

 
“Ok, good. Wait, how do you have a
book
when you lived underwater?”

“On my mom’s side. Oceanids don’t live under the sea,” Melia reminded her.

“Oh, ok, right. What do we need for the spell?”

“I don’t know. I’ve only skimmed over it. I remember seeing a charm about making amulets.
 
And a spell that should help.”

“Ok,” Jamie said again as if on auto pilot. “And what is the spell exactly?”

“A spell to repel waterfolk.”

Jamie cast a sideways glance at Melia. “Won’t that do…something to you?”

“Yes.”

“Then we can’t do it.”

“Jamie, you have to. Until I can get Actassi to handle the gwyrrd situation, you
have
to ward her off. Gwyrrds are stronger than you think. And they can leave their streams.”

The impact didn’t hit Jamie until she turned onto the highway. “Wait, back up. You mean she might come looking for me? And who is Actassi?”

“Yes, they can leave.” Melia said gravely. “I’m so sorry, Jamie. I should never have asked you to come. This is all my fault.”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Jamie responded. “Who’s Actassi?” she repeated.

“I would call him a king but that’s not the right word. He’s the King of our part of the ocean, but it’s not run like a kingdom; it’s more like a democracy, I suppose.”