Beyond the Sea (26 page)

“Yea, his parents were, uh, still are, huge Spiderman fans.”

“Oh.” Lacey nodded. “I don’t remember a Peter Parker at our school.”

“He’s not from our school,” Jamie said, looking at Melia to finish.

“Nope. He’s from New York.” Melia’s smiled faltered. Little whips of magic were hitting her. Jamie picked up on it.

“Well, we better get going. I’ll call you later, Melia.”

“Ok. It was nice meeting you, Lacey!”

*

If I can just make it to Saturday,
Jamie thought as she parked the Jeep in her driveway. She hated lying in general. She especially hated lying to someone she had been so close to. In her panic to get her stories straight, stay calm and deflect the conversation about herself and back to Lacey, she forgot about the amulet hanging in the car.

Things finally started to feel normal again after dinner. Lacey seemed to enjoy talking about her new life and friends. They moved into Jamie’s room, where they reminisced about past adventures. Jamie’s mom softly knocked on the door frame, saying goodnight and reminding Jamie she was working a night shift at the hospital tonight.

“Don’t stay up too late, ok? I’ll be back in the morning. Glad you’re back, Lacey!”

An hour later, Lacey’s mom picked her up. Jamie felt relieved to not have to hold up a front anymore. She changed into her pajamas and settled into bed.

“Jamie!” Jill screeched.

“What?” Jamie answered back, already annoyed.

“My check engine light came on!”

“So?” She heard Jill’s heavy footfalls. She didn’t understand how someone as little as Jill made so much noise when she walked.

“I’m taking care of Heather’s cat while her family’s on vacation and I need to go over and feed it.”

Jamie sighed; it was nine-forty. “Shouldn’t you have done that already?”

“I guess, but it doesn’t matter. Can I take your car? I’ll be right back.”

“Sure. Don’t wreck it, ok?”

“Thanks! I’ll be careful.”

Jamie was sure there was another reason her sister waited so long to take care of the damn cat. The quiet house was peaceful and she settled into bed. She closed her eyes, hoping to fall asleep early. Just as her body relaxed, something tapped on the glass of the front door. Her hand flew to her neck. She wasn’t wearing the amulet!

It was in her car. Her car that just left. And now something was tapping on the door. Coincidence? Yea, right. Had Jill been smart enough to lock the door? Jamie froze, tempted to pull the covers over her head. What should she do? Hide here and hope the gwyrrd goes away? But then her sister and her mom would come home…

Maybe it wasn’t the gwyrrd. The tapping ceased. Jamie exhaled and slowly sat up. She was so glad her room was on the second floor. She grabbed her phone, set on calling Jill and telling her to hurry back. No, telling Jill one thing will probably only make her do the opposite. That’s it. She’ll stay here until Jill gets home. No harm no foul, right?

Jamie watched the minutes tick by. She’d never felt more coward like than she did right now. She wondered how much longer it would be until Jill came home. “Hurry,” she whispered. Athena silently padded into the room and jumped on Jamie’s bed. Jamie hugged her cat and the thought hit her: what if the noise had just been her playful kitten?

“Was that you making that noise?” she asked Athena. Jamie set her down and tiptoed downstairs. Her hand hovered over the doorknob. At least the door had been locked. She wasn’t brave enough to open it. She raced into the kitchen to grab a large knife. “It was just the cat,” she told herself as she walked back to the front door. It took her another minute to find the courage to open the door.

There was no one there. Currently. But the smell of rotting plants and the wet stain on the porch let Jamie know that someone had been there.

-Chapter 10-

Melia ended up having to leave school again on Wednesday. She muffled a shriek of pain when Jamie accidently bumped her during a chemistry lab. By the end of the class she was muttering to herself in her native language, shaking and pulling at her hair.

Jamie didn’t tell her about the incident. She knew what the amulet did to Melia and didn’t want to trouble her even more. She promised herself to call Melia later Wednesday night and explain the whole thing, but Lacey showed up after dinner and insisted they hang out. Melia didn’t attempt to go to school on Thursday. She felt normal again by the time she woke up. The sun was out and the ocean sparkled.

She hadn’t gone swimming in fear that being under the amulet’s power would make her never return. She was positive the magic wasn’t currently affecting her. She gave Wolfy a treat and ran into the water. It felt so good to be free, to be herself. Melia zipped along the ocean. It was as if she forgotten how beautiful everything was.

The colors, the life that surrounded her. It was quiet, it was peaceful. It was home. She swam faster and farther than she had in a long time. After several hours she stopped to rest. A sudden feeling of forlorn washed upon her. Melia spun around, expecting to see someone behind her. Instead she saw nothing.

Her body tingled with the need to flee. She couldn’t explain the feeling but she knew enough to trust her instincts. She swam a few miles deeper, hoping to run into her old friends. But there was nothing. No merrows, no sharks and barely any fish.

Something wasn’t right.

Melia could tell by the position of the sun that it was after four. And Peter was coming over at five. She swam nonstop back to her house. Exhausted from her long swim, Melia looked convincingly sick. She was never one to like being fussed over, but the way Peter attended to her needs was, well, nice.
 
She felt guilty for lying to him. It was better than knowing the truth, right?

Melia was tired and Peter had homework ,so he left after only staying for two and a half hours. She fell asleep and dreamed about the empty ocean. She was swimming through dark water, searching for her friends. The water was murky but she persisted forward. Then it became hard to breathe. Whatever was in the water clogged her lungs. She sped to the surface. Under the full moonlight, Melia could see she was covered in blood.

Her phone rang just in time to wake her from her nightmare. She grabbed it without looking at who was calling, assuming it was Peter.

“Hello?” she said, her voice a bit shaky.

“Hey,” Jamie replied.

“Oh, Jamie. How are you?”

“Uh, ok. Melia, I have to tell you something. Please don’t be mad I didn’t tell you before. I just didn’t want to because—”

“What is it?” Melia asked, her voice too demanding for her liking.

“I-I think the gwyrrd was at my house.”

“What? Oh, no, Jamie! Tell me what happened.”

Jamie recanted the story. When Melia hung up, she knew what she had to do.

*

Jamie came up with the idea that she stay home from school Friday and have Melia go. That way people wouldn’t think Melia was on her deathbed having missed an entire week of school. It didn’t take much to convince her mother either; Jamie told her that she would be hanging out with Lacey all day. Melia was happy to be back at school. Peter protectively put his arms around her in the morning, worried she should have stayed home.

“I promise I feel better,” she told him.

“Ok,” he sighed and kissed her. “You do look better.”

“Thanks.” She had to lie about the ugly scab on her leg. She should have worn pants again to cover it up, but Melia absolutely hated her legs being encased in fabric. The thought of wearing a long dress hadn’t occurred to her either. She also had to lie her way through the day. At least she could blame the faraway looks on being sick.

Jamie’s words haunted her. The gwyrrd knew where she lived. And Melia knew that Jamie couldn’t rely on the amulet forever…

Peter opened the Mustang’s passenger door for Melia at the end of the day. She got in silently, folding her hands on her lap. She stared out the window.

“You ok?” Peter asked, looking from Melia to the road and back again.

“Yea. I’m a little tired I guess,” she lied.

“Oh.” It wasn’t that Peter didn’t believe her. It was just that he thought there was more to it. Melia had acted distant all day. She didn’t hug him back as enthusiastically as she had before. She didn’t meet his eyes. It was difficult to keep a conversation going with her. He wanted to believe it was just because she didn’t feel well. But in the back of his mind he worried that she was getting bored with him. “I don’t have to come over then. I’ll just drop you off and you can take a nap,” he suggested, hoping she would object.

“I want you to come over.” She looked at Peter and smiled. He felt a bit of relief. “I asked Charles to make us enchiladas, since you said you like them.”

“Thanks.” Peter put his hand on her thigh. “What else do you want to do?”

“Oh, I didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?” Panic rose in his chest.

“That I’m staying with Jamie tonight. Her friend is visiting and we’re all having a girl night.”

“Oh,” he sighed, pushing the panic down. “When are you going there?”

“Uh, like eight-ish.”

“Ok. Do you want me to stay until then?”

“Of course.” She put her hand on his. She was jumpy, quiet and anxious the rest of the night. Charles noticed her odd behavior too. He and Peter took turns looking quizzically at Melia throughout dinner. Melia kept thinking about the gwyrrd. The last time she faced one she narrowly escaped. And she hadn’t been alone. Her chances of survival were looking slimmer and slimmer the more she thought about it.

But did she have a choice? There were no merrows to be found yesterday. No human would believe her, let alone be able to help her. She told Charles to enjoy his Friday night and not worry about cleaning up the dishes. Charles raised his eyebrows, looked at Peter and smiled, assuming Melia was rushing him out to be alone with Peter.

And she was. She took Peter’s hand and led him up to her room. She threw her arms around him, wondering if this could be the last time she was able to. Peter put one arm around her and ran his fingers through her hair. He gently kissed her forehead.

Melia looked into his eyes, sky blue outlined in a navy ring. She put her hand against his cheek, admiring his strong jaw and lips. She kissed him. In a fury of passion, they kissed again and again, each one deeper than the last. Tangled in each other, they somehow made it to the balcony. Peter picked Melia up, her legs wrapped around his waist, and they fell back onto a lounge chair.

“I love you, Peter,” she whispered. “Really. I really do.”

Peter mistook the desperation in her voice. He smiled, feeling rather desperate himself. “And I love you, Melia. You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Melia closed her eyes, forcing back tears. She kissed Peter again, pushing him back until he was laying down. She wished they could stay here, up on the balcony where it was safe and where the only thing that mattered was each other. With the sun setting behind them, after Peter’s sweet words, Melia knew it was too good to be true. She settled into Peter’s embrace, hoping this wouldn’t be their last time.

She didn’t let his last kiss linger on her lips; now wasn’t the time for romantic feelings. She needed to harden her state of mind. She thought of Lana. Of finding her lifeless body drifting through shallow water. Of the seaweed she had to untangle from her sister’s neck. The memory of carrying the body back to her home, of carefully taking off Lana’s treasured pink shell necklace, of the torn flesh, seeing her mother cry…

The gwyrrd didn’t kill Lana. But it would feel like revenge. Melia took a deep breath and walked downstairs and into the vault. She wasn’t going to let Jamie get hurt. She couldn’t stand to lose her. And Jamie hadn’t done anything to anyone; the whole thing was unjust. She ran a finger over the weapons.

“Silver,” she whispered to herself. She had found over a dozen ornate, decorative battle weapons, no doubt having seen their fair share of death and war. They were more than instruments of death; they were works of art. She picked up a several centuries old sword, admiring the Celtic knots engraved in the blade. Beautiful, yes, but the blade was made out of some sort of steel.
 
The light glinted off a polished metal handle. It had a plain black sheath, devoid of anything remotely pretty and only five inches long. Melia slowly pulled the blade out, inspecting the metal. “Yes,” she spoke to the knife. “You will work.”

She let Wolfy in, and he followed her upstairs as if he could sense something was about to happen. At the last minute Melia decided her dress wasn’t the most practical thing to wear. As if her brain was trying to put off impending death, she rationalized that she needed to change. She walked into her closet, remembering what humans in movies wore on such occasions, and emerged wearing tight black pants, lace up black boots, and a black shirt with a black leather jacket over it. She slipped the dagger insider her boot and frowned at how unstable it was. She didn’t have any black ribbon. Deciding navy blue was close enough, she tied the sheath around her leg. She shook her foot and, satisfied that the dagger would stay in place, she picked up her keys and got into her car. She didn’t turn on the radio. She just drove.