Forsaken (10 page)

“Hey there
, lovebirds,” grinned Phoebe.  I gave her a look that could kill and Willow elbowed her in the ribs.  I sat down beside her, suddenly very comforted by the fire and my friends.  Noah and Hans began talking about the upcoming football season and I tried to relax.  I should have probably found out what their names were instead of calling them Frans and Hans, but decided against it.  After a while, I gazed back at the ocean.  The urge to be underwater slammed into me again and it became harder to ignore.  I could almost feel the water’s soothing touch enveloping my body, sweeping me away with the currents to places I’d never been. 

Unable
to concentrate on anything else, I informed Phoebe and Willow I was going to take a walk.  They gave me a strange look, but warned me to be careful. Being that we were on an island not accessible by cars, I figured the chances of something bad happening were pretty slim.  A flash of the dead woman lying on the beach entered my mind, but I pushed it away just as quickly.  I walked down the beach and out of the fire’s light.  The darkness of night brought a tender smile to my face.  I made it to the water’s edge and took in everything around me.  The wet sand beneath my feet mirrored the sky above.  The water sparkled with the light of the moon.  As the waves rushed up to greet me, I stood mesmerized and fought the urge to join them.  My thoughts strayed to Finn.  The turbulent water reminded me of his stormy blue eyes.  I wanted to get lost in them again.  I tried not to think about what it would be like to be close to him.

“You
really shouldn’t fight it.”

              I jumped as Finn seemingly materialized next to me.  I couldn’t tell if he was talking about the ocean or my desire to be close to him.  I lost all train of thought as he fixed his blue eyes on me. 

             
“What are you doing here?” I said, a little too spastic.

             
“Baking cookies,” he smirked at me.

             
“You shouldn’t tease me like that, it’s dangerous.  I take baked goods very seriously.”  A slow smile formed on his lips.

             
“Dangerous happens to be my specialty,” he said in a low voice, taking a step closer to me.  My entire body warmed.  He was like my own personal bonfire. “Being afraid reminds us how alive we are.  What makes you afraid, Stasia?”  I felt my legs get wobbly.

             
“Nothing scares me,” I said with as much confidence as I could muster.  He definitely terrified me, but only because I didn’t trust my body to function correctly around him. 

             
“Nothing at all?” His gaze intensified.

             
“Nothing at all.” I straightened and held my chin slightly higher to prove it.

             
“You’re not a good liar.” He leaned in closer and I could feel his breath on my cheeks.

             
“What makes you afraid?” I whispered.  I was having trouble breathing.  His answer was another slow smile.  If I moved forward even an inch, his mouth would be on mine.  Trying not to hyperventilate, I noticed when his eyes glanced down at my lips.  His smile disappeared abruptly and he took a step back.  As he turned his attention to the water, I tried to figure out what had just happened.  My entire body, humming with electricity, was instantly cooled by the distance he’d put between us. 

             
“Come with me.” He took my hand in his, leading me down to the water.  It fit perfectly in mine and warmth spread up my arm and into my chest.  We stopped once the waves hit our ankles. “Don’t move your feet.” He grinned down at me as I rolled up my jeans.  He raked his fingers through his dark hair and the skull and crossbones trace on his forearm shimmered at me.  In the pale light of the moon, it was dangerously alluring.

             
“I used to do this all the time when I was younger,” he explained with obvious nostalgia.  My feet disappeared farther into the wet sand, locking me in place, while the water rushed onto the shore and then back out again.

             
“What happens if we need to go somewhere?” I asked.  I could be buried up to my knees in no time at this rate.

             
“Who says we’re going anywhere?” He held my eyes and put a hand on my shoulder.  Before I could come to grips with the tingling sensation his touch created on my skin, he lightly pushed backward. Too late, it dawned on me.  Once set in motion, however, I had no way of preventing it.  My knees bent and I fell right on my butt onto the wet sand.  The water crashed over my knees, soaking my jeans.  I tried to stand back up and failed miserably.  I glared up at my assailant.

             
“What are you doing way down there?” He looked down at me with mock surprise.  I scooted forward and pushed behind his knees with my hand as hard as I could.  He came crashing down beside me.  “What was that for?” he asked innocently. 

             
“I told you I can be dangerous. Bad things happen to people who try to push me around.”  If he only knew how true that was.  I shook the thought and smiled at him.  A piece of leather peeking out of the sand caught my attention.  Wrapped around his ankle, it held four small black beads shining in the moonlight.  I had a good guess as to which type of stones they were. 

             
“If that’s all you’ve got, I’m not too worried,” he taunted me.  I dipped my hand in the wet sand, grabbing a handful.  I slowly raised it above his head threatening to release it.  Before I even noticed, he caught my wrist and pulled it back down.  Holding my eyes, he delicately threaded his fingers through mine, while the wet sand squished out.  The gesture was somehow very intimate and a shiver ran down my spine.  The wet sand ran down my arm but I didn’t even notice.  We stayed like that, hand in hand, facing the ocean for what seemed like hours. 

             
I had a million more questions waiting in the wings, but decided this wasn’t the time to open up that can of worms.  So, I settled for the least complicated one.

             
“Why weren’t you in class today?”

             
“There was somewhere I had to be,” he answered simply.

             
“You missed a very important lesson.  It was life altering.” I teased him.

             
“The only thing I really missed was sitting next to one very extraordinary girl.” I didn’t think I was breathing anymore.

             
“She sounds wonderful.” I tried some humor to shake off my nervousness.

             
“You have no idea.”

S
omeone laughed in the distance and I pulled my eyes away from his.  I realized my roommates were probably getting worried about me. 

             
“I should be getting back to the bonfire.  They’re going to think I’ve been kidnapped.” He pulled me toward him in one quick motion.

“
Kidnapped insinuates some sort of struggle.” He said in a low voice with a sexy grin. “You’d enjoy being captured by me.” My heart jumped in my throat, but I tried to remain cool.

             
“I’d like to see you try,” I threw back at him, “but first you’ll have to escape your own sandy death trap” I wiggled my feet out of the sand, stood up and washed my hands off in the water.  He followed my every move with curious eyes.

             
“Sweet dreams, Anastasia.” I wasn’t sure if there was an underlying meaning to his words.

             
“Sweet dreams, Finn,” I responded, breathlessly.

Halfway
back to the bonfire, I looked over my shoulder at him, but he was gone. Seriously, how did he do that?

             
“Stasia!  What happened to you?  You’re soaked!”  Phoebe ran up to me in a panic.

             
“Just got a little too close to the water and a wave got me.  I’m fine, I promise” I assured her.  Carmen watched me with skeptical eyes and I got the feeling she had seen what really happened to my jeans.  When I got back to the fire, I rotated gradually, drying myself off.

             
“That wave sure was tall, dark, and handsome,” Carmen raised an eyebrow at me. “Who’s the mystery boy?”

             
“It’s nothing, really,” I tried to convince her.  Her face told me she wasn’t buying it.  “Okay, okay his name’s Finn.  He’s in my 6
th
period,” I admitted.  Her face paled.

             
“Finn?  The Finn that’s a Son of Daimon?” 

             
“As far as I know.  I mean I haven’t asked him which Order he’s in but I saw four…” she grabbed my arm, interrupting me.

“Stay
away from him, Stasia,” she said with urgency.  I could hear an undercurrent of fear in her voice.

“What?  Why?”

“He’s cursed,” she whispered.  Cursed?

“Stasia!  Carmen!  Come
on, we’re leaving!” Willow ran over and took our hands, literally pulling us out of our conversation.  Once we drug our tired feet back up to our suite, I said goodnight, fell onto my bed, and closed my eyes.  I could still hear his voice and see his crooked smile in my mind.  It should be illegal to be that hot. Carmen’s warning disrupted my delirium.  Cursed?  People couldn’t really be cursed, could they?  What was he cursed with?  Devastating good looks and a dark, sexy smile?  She couldn’t be serious.  That’s just not possible.  Of course, two weeks ago I wouldn’t have imagined any of this could be possible; yet here I was.  Images from previous reveries flashed into my mind.  His bloodied and beaten face, swinging an axe down on someone’s neck, standing by as a woman was killed on the beach.  With a sense dread creeping down my spine, I had to admit, it was very, very possible.

~Ӂ~

    The world was blurry when I opened my eyes, but I could see movement coming towards me.  I tried to roll over to get away, but my body wouldn’t listen.  My stomach exploded and I instinctively curled into a fetal position.  Something hard hit my shoulder.  Footsteps walked away and people started yelling in the other room.  Still curled into a ball, I took a moment to catch my breath.  Oddly enough, the pain had turned to hollow numbness.  I guess when pain is too much; your body mutes it for you.  It was like a gift.  Maybe that was what death felt like.  Just never-ending numbness.  The sound of glass breaking came from the next room, but as long as they were in there, I was okay.  I knew once he came back he’d kill me.  There was no way around it.  At nine years old, I was no match for him.  But then again, the numbness wasn’t so bad.  It would be really easy just to let it take me.  Then I wouldn’t have to be scared anymore.  I wouldn’t have to feel pain anymore.  Too bad I wasn’t good at giving up.  Mustering as much energy as I could, I inched toward the living room closet on my stomach.  Just a little bit farther…  I reached up, turned the door knob and pulled.  Pain from the movement erupted in every cell of my body and I fell back to the floor.  I took a deep breath, pushed the door open farther and saw it on the third shelf up.  I crawled on my hands and knees into the closet, when I heard them both come back into the living room.  With adrenaline running through me, I stretched out my arm and pushed myself up.  I heard a scream and a thump, but tried to block it out.  He pulled the closet door completely open, right when I grabbed the handle.  As I crumpled back onto the floor, he grabbed my left foot and pulled me from the closet.  I rolled onto my back and saw a baseball bat in his hand.  Through his legs I saw her unmoving body.  It was heavy and I couldn’t hold it up with my hurt arm, so I just angled it up towards him.  He raised the bat above his head and I pulled the trigger.

             
I woke, drenched in sweat and sobbing in my bed.  I pushed back the covers, pulled up my knees and tried to calm myself down.  ‘He can’t hurt you now’, I told myself over and over.  And it was true.  When I shot him, I hit his right thigh.  Enough to stop his attack, but not enough to kill him.  He’d been in prison now for close to eight years.  He had killed his wife, my foster mother, when he hit her in the head with the bat and was convicted based upon my testimony.  I spent three weeks healing in a hospital and the state found me a new home.  But the memories never left me.  Neither did the strength I gained from it.

             
I finally got my breathing under control and changed out of my sweaty clothes.  I turned on my IPod, put in my ear buds and lulled myself to back sleep.

              In History the next day, we received our first official assignment.  In groups of four, we had to research two specific Nerieds; their strengths, weaknesses, what part they played in history, and write a ten page paper due in a month.  Mrs. Leone rattled off the different groups while I crossed my fingers that Willow would be in mine.

“…Rhea, Willow, and Xavier.  And the last
group will be Lyric, Stasia, Maya, and Lexi.  For the last ten minutes of class, you will meet with your group to discuss.”  So much for luck.  I looked around trying to figure out who Lyric, Maya, or Lexi were when a girl waved at me. Thank goodness.  She had an ethereal glow about her and when she smiled, the goodness radiating from her was enthralling.  She had white-blonde hair with blunt cut bangs cascading down to her golden eyes. A wide silver cuff bracelet encrusted with sapphires clung to her wrist.  A Siren. 

“Hey Stasia, I’m Lyric
,” she greeted me and gestured to the girl sitting next to her, “and this is Lexi.”

“
Stasia?  Isn’t that short for Anastasia?” Lexi glared at me.  She had strawberry blonde curly hair and big green eyes.  A light dusting of freckles was sprinkled across her cheeks and nose.  She reminded me of the Strawberry Shortcake doll I used to have, but without all the ruffles and overpowering strawberry smell.     

“Uh,
yea.” I couldn’t figure out where her hostility was coming from.  Lyric gave her a stern look and she sat back with a huff.

“
I’m Maya,” the third girl smiled at me.  I was instantly taken aback by her exotic looks.  She had a Jamaican accent, rich brown skin and a mass of tiny braids making up her dark brown hair.  Tiny turquoise beads were braided in at different places throughout.  She had clear blue eyes that were looking at me with warmth.

“
I’m a Tyde, like you.” She leaned forward like she was going to tell me a secret, pointed at the other two, and whispered loudly, “They’re sea witches, A.K.A. Sirens.” 

“
Abracadabra bitches.” Lexi wiggled her finger at us and Maya laughed.  Lyric just sighed.

“If I
was
a witch, I’d turn you both into boogers and flick you across the room.” That only made Maya laugh harder and Lexi almost choked on her Diet Coke.

“Ladies.” We
all jumped at Mrs. Leone’s voice. “Your Nerieds will be Kymo and Thetis.  I hope you will take this assignment seriously, and I better not find any
stickiness
on your paper.” She raised an eyebrow at us, but a corner of her mouth threatened to pull up into a smile.  Maya put her hand over her mouth trying to muffle her laughter.  We nodded our heads and she walked to the next group. 

“Thetis? 
That’ll take forever to write!” Lexi grumbled, and a pout formed on her face.

“It won’t be that bad, at
least it won’t be hard to research” Maya had finally composed herself.

“Who’s Thetis?”
I asked. Strawberry Shortcake gave me a weird look as if that was the dumbest question of all time.  What was her deal?

“She used to be the leader of the Nerieds, so we should be
able to find all kinds of information about her,” Lyric assured me. I wondered if I’d ever be able to keep the fifty Nerieds straight.  Why couldn’t there just be ten?

Lightness
filled my chest when I walked in to 6
th
period and saw Finn sitting at our table.  Unfortunately, the voice of reason in the back of my mind played Carmen’s warning over and over again.  But the second I made eye contact, all thoughts of a curse vanished. Plus, this was the first day I was going to actually do the ‘experience’ part of Oceanic Experience. 

             
“Think you can do this?” Finn asked, once we were given the go ahead to start.

             
“If you can do it, I can do it,” I countered.

             
“Then step aside mademoiselle, and let me work my magic.” He tried to step in front of the pool, but I made it there first.

             
“You don’t think I’m going to let you have all the fun do you?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

             
“By all means, show me how it’s done,” he stepped back and grinned, “Just remember, you want to keep the water
inside
the pool.” I just rolled my eyes at him.  The chances of me being able to do anything at all were slim to none, so causing a splash wasn’t really on my list of things to avoid.

Creating a whirlpool was
just a warm-up to the rest of the class, but considering I had just gotten to Lorelei and this was an advanced class, I was at a slight disadvantage.  I had no idea if I was supposed to chant, sing, think happy thoughts, or what. What if I couldn’t do this? I stole a glance over at one of the other students doing it and tried to mimic her.  I placed my left hand right above the water, so that only my fingertips were touching.  Tiny ripples immediately began spreading out from my fingertips.  Maybe I could do this after all.  Still touching the water, I pulled my fingertips inward so they were all touching, but also still in the water.  Then I began making small circles.  At first nothing happened, but then the water began to churn ever so slightly. 

A
drenaline shot through me. I was actually doing it!  My excitement was a little premature, however.   My hand seemed to have a mind of its own and I was having trouble controlling it. The whirlpool continued getting wider and faster with no end in sight.  Finn was trying to tell me to calm down and focus, but I barely heard him.  The only thing I could hear was the sound of waves crashing and a light melody.  It was the same thing I had heard in the bathtub last week.  Before I could figure out why I was hearing things, the smell of sea salt and coconut tickled my nose.  Completely freaked out, I grabbed the side of the pool to make it stop.  Instead, the water spread out towards the four sides of the glass, causing them to crack under the pressure.  I squeezed my eyes shut and all at once the water exploded over the sides, soaking everything in a two foot radius.  Including me and Finn. 

             
There was a full moment of silence while everyone stared at us with their mouths gaping open.  I glanced down at my drenched outfit and frowned.  Finn, who was equally soaked, was now beaming at me with pride.

             
“So, what were you saying about keeping the water
inside
the pool?” I asked him sheepishly.  Everyone moved at once; mopping up the floor, the desk, making sure the glass wasn’t broken, and trying to dry us off. Fifteen minutes later our clothes were still damp, but the catastrophe had been cleaned up and we were back at it.  Well, Finn was back at it.  I was watching.  Unfortunately for my wounded pride, he was extremely good at it. 

             
Casually stepping in front of the pool, he barely had his hand above the water when it started swirling in a perfect whirlpool, then he made it swirl in the other direction just as easily.

             
“Show off,” I crossed my arms and tried not to smile.  That only resulted in more tricks.  He put both hands above the water, keeping two whirlpools.  Then a third one appeared, and then a fourth.  They converged in the middle to become one.

             
“Just wait until I get good at this, my whirlpools will run laps around your whirlpools,” I threatened him.

             
“I have no doubt about that,” he said with a crooked grin.

~Ӂ~

              “I am officially the worst Tyde of all time,” I shook my head as we left the building, “I can’t believe that just happened.”

             
“I had the same problem when I first started,” Finn reassured me.

“So you knew that would happen
?”

He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and faced me. “When your essence is that powerful, you have to learn how to harness your abilities and control them.”

             
“My essence?” Wasn’t that a brand of shampoo?

             
“The part of your soul that’s tied to the sea.  Think of it as a glass of water – most of the people here have glasses that are about 25% of the way full.  The more essence you have, the greater your abilities.  We’re born with our essence, but the gods and goddesses have the power to give us more.  You could say their glasses are about 200% full.  If they choose you, they give you a part of their own essence.” He smiled at his own metaphor.

             
My mind went back to the conversation with my roommates. “What about direct descendents?” I squinted in the sunlight and remembered my sunglasses that were still in my bedroom.

             
“They’re born with their glass around 90% full.  The gods and goddesses don’t have to give you more essence, unless they’ve chosen you for something that requires 100% essence, which also makes you immortal.” That caught my attention.

             
“Immortal?  That can really happen?” No way.

             
“Well even if you’re immortal there are still things that can end your life.  It’s just harder to die.”  I caught the ghost of a smile on his lips.

             
“How can you tell how much essence I have?” I asked him, wondering if it shows somehow.

             
“I just know.” His features hardened and he looked away. “There are a lot of things you don’t know about me.”  I felt the hair on my arms lift as trepidation pushed its way into my mind. 

             
“So tell me.” I pleaded with him, wanting to comfort him and bring his smile back.  One side of me was scared of what he might admit, but the other side longed to know who he was and what secrets he carried.   The more time I spent with him, the more I wanted to know about him.  It didn’t matter to me what skeletons he had in the closet.  Curse or no curse.

             
“That’s not an option.” His voice was low and rough all of a sudden.  Anger flashed in his eyes and he met my gaze with conviction. “Meet me at the Cape, Friday night at 8:30.  You need to practice.”  He took my hand, threaded his fingers through mine like he did on the beach the night before, and walked away leaving me standing by myself, confused.

             
When I got back to Maren, Kira was sitting on the couch talking to Phoebe and Carmen.  She jumped up when she saw me walk in.

             
“Hey Stasia!”

             
“How are you?” I asked her as she gave me a big hug.

             
“I’m good! I can’t stay long, but I wanted to bring you something.” She reached into her Roxy beach bag.

             
“This is for you.” She handed me a wooden box with what looked like waves etched into its sides. Taking off the lid, my breath caught at what I found inside.  It was a silver bracelet made up of beautiful blue stones.  Turquoise.  I looked up at Kira in surprise.  Carmen and Phoebe ran over to get a closer look.

             
“Kira, this is amazing!” I could feel my eyes getting moist as I took it out of the box. 

             
“Oh my god, it’s gorgeous!” Phoebe squealed.

             
“It was given to me by my mom when I started at Lorelei.  I want you to have it.” She smiled and put the bracelet on me.  Not having a Tyde mother there with me, a big sister was the next best thing.

             
“I don’t know what to say,” I gave her another hug and admired it.

             
“Just seeing it on you is all the thanks I need,” she said, “Turquoise is the stone that represents us.  It protects the wearer from negative energy and brings good fortune.  Ship captains used to wear it to ensure safe passage.”

             
“If only it could help me pass biology safely,” Carmen muttered.  Phoebe poked her in the ribs.

             
“I’ve got to run, but you girls let me know if you need something.” She locked in on me, “We’ll talk soon.  Keep your phone on.”