“Well?” He whispered, his warm breath tickling my ear.
“Well what?” I tried to sound unimpressed as electricity radiated through me, instead my words came out breathless.
“Are you… excited?” He whispered again in my ear.
“I thought we were talking about your friend.” I managed to sound reasonably in control, on the inside I felt anything but.
“Funny story, I lied.” He ran his lips across my check to my mouth. Any thought of feigning disinterest flew out the window. I reached up wrapping my arms around him, one hand knotted into his soft hair, the other pulling him toward me. Fynn smiled, his lips still pressed against mine, and then he pulled back, only slightly, as I held him in place.
“So, you weren’t excited at all?” He pouted and pulled further away.
“Oh, no, uh…” I stammered.
“No, no, don’t lie to spare my feelings. Clearly, I don’t interest you. I guess I will have to go practice balancing a ball on the tip of my nose.” He heaved a sigh.
“You!” I pushed against his chest.
“Me?” He placed a hand to his heart as if her were offended. His look of shock disappeared, and half of his mouth twitched upward. Fine. I stood up close to him. I reached up on my tiptoes and whispered in his ear.
“Let me know when you learn how to balance that ball on your nose.” I patted him on the chest and turned to walk away. I totally won.
{MISSING SYMBOL}
It took me a little while to calm down that night before I could get to sleep. As I did my thoughts naturally drifted to Fynn, that was, until Ophelia showed up.
“Oh really,” she said with a knowing look at me. She sat on her couch again, comfortably positioned against one side, a blanket covering her legs. “You are almost as good as a soap opera.”
“Ophelia… have you been spying on me?”
“Just checking up on you, dear.” The wrinkles around her eyes deepened as she smiled. “And you seem to have a lot going on, no wonder you were avoiding the dreams. So much exciting stuff going on when you are awake.”
I couldn’t help but blush, awake or not this was a little embarrassing.
“So, I thought I was supposed to just be practicing tonight.” I changed the subject.
“Well yes, you are, but I was testing a few things out, and checking up on you. You are immensely popular, aren’t you?” Again, the mischievous smile crawled across her wrinkled cheeks.
“Ophelia! I have an idea. Can you teach me how to keep nosey people out?” I smiled and raised my eyebrows. I don’t know why, but I felt comfortable enough with Ophelia that I could tease her, especially since she was already teasing me. Ophelia looked off in the distance, thoughtful.
“Actually,” she said, “you have a point. Kick me out Cora.”
“How?” I asked.
“Send me away.”
“How am I supposed to send you away if I don’t even know how you got here?”
“How about this instead, hide from me.” She said.
“Ok.” I turned around and jumped into the pool of water behind me. Logically, I knew I was asleep, and yet I still felt cold, I still felt the water press against me. I swam a little bit only to see Ophelia pop out from behind a dark building.
“Not here silly. Go somewhere else, and don’t walk there, or swim, or fly for that matter. Just be there, without me. Take your time, think about it, visualize it. Then go!” She flicked her hands out, as if shooing me away. I tried to think quickly. I closed my eyes and pictured somewhere else. I pictured the clouds where Ophelia had taken me earlier and slowly the area around me brightened and solidified until I opened my still sleeping eyes and I was there. I looked around a little anxious to be standing midair above the clouds.
“Better,” came Ophelia’s voice from behind me. She floated, sitting mid-air; her feet crossed at the ankles. She pressed one finger to her mouth, thinking. “Next try, I would like you to go somewhere that I haven’t been with you before. It will make it harder for me to find you.” Again, she held her hands out shooing me away.
I felt the memory of the place solidify around me. I felt the sun warm on my face and the rock smooth and firm beneath me. I looked out on the ocean from my spot, seated atop the selkie rocks. The orange stone was warm under my hands. I took a deep breath remembering Fynn, who once sat here with me in my dreams.
“Good evening.” Fynn’s voice was deep and comforting, but it still caught me by surprise.
“Fynn.”
“Changed your mind then?” He smiled. “Or were you hoping that I had mastered balancing a ball on my nose in three hours?” He scrunched up his nose. “Cause, I haven’t. Which I know will surprise you, given my general awesomeness.” He ran a hand through his hair clearly trying to show off his biceps. I was not above appreciating them.
“Peek-a-boo.” Ophelia peeked out from a rock from behind Fynn. I looked down at the rock and laughed at myself then I looked up at her.
“Congratulations, Ophelia.” I looked back at Fynn, who looked amused if not a little confused. “Sorry,” I patted Fynn on his lovely arm, “you’ll have to keep working on that circus trick for me. I’ve got to run.”
Again, I imagined myself somewhere else. I imagined dark and quiet, and I knew where I was going. I arrived quickly this time, the cold stone solidifying almost as soon as I thought of it. This was my favorite place to visit, a good place to hide. It was still and peaceful and I didn’t associate it with anyone in particular. I listened to water dripping near me in the cave. Looking down into the inky pool I saw only my reflection and the lights reflected from the torches on the walls. I sat in the cave beneath the castle, where I had first heard the merpeople sing. It was a peaceful place. I tried not to think of anyone in particular, not wanting to draw them in accidentally like I had with Fynn. As the quiet stretched out I found my mind wandering. I was tired and while I was sleeping, this exercise wasn’t restful. Slowly, my thoughts began to run together, flowing from one idea to the next. Then I wasn’t in the cave anymore, I was in Ophelia’s living room again and she sat as she had before, a blanket on her knees and tea in her hand.
“I found you.” She smiled. “But in all fairness, you weren’t exactly hiding wandering through your dreams like that. I think this is enough practice for tonight. Your mind needs the rest as much as your body.” She stood up carrying a cup of cocoa that I hadn’t seen until she reached out to hand it to me. “Have a sip and go to sleep.” I took the cup and drank it all, with the last sip I was gone, riding the currents of my dreams.
Dylan
The figure moved smoothly through the black water. Fayre and I followed behind, watching quietly as it made its way to the shore. Breaking the surface of the water, I entirely lost sight of it as the moon and stars glinted off the gentle waves. We’d been following the sea turtle since well before the sun went down, but once it grew dark the turtle had turned for the shore.
Once my feet could reach the sandy shore, I stopped swimming and walked to where the turtle began to dig. Not far behind me, Fayre sat watching from amidst the waves. The turtle seemed undisturbed by our presence. The night was quiet and peaceful. Though as I took the moment to listen, the sounds of insects, frogs, and other creatures of the night echoed through the jungle beyond the shore.
I turned back to Fayre, smiling at the wonder of the moment. She smiled back, but I couldn’t help but see the hint of sadness that touched the edges of her eyes. I saw it there sometimes, whenever we were too close to land. Still, we stayed there, a companionable quiet between us.
Somewhere from within the depths of the jungle a woman’s anguished cry called out, and I jerked my head up, looking into the darkness of the jungle. Looking back to Fayre, her eyes were dark, concern and frustration written plain on her usually placid features.
“I’ll be back.” I called over my shoulder as I took off headlong into the dark jungle. I only briefly saw her reach out a hand as if to hold me back.
When I came out into the clearing, I caught sight of a man looming over the form of a woman, sitting down on the ground. She clawed at her exposed legs and he tossed her a piece of clothing. She spat at him but snatched up the garment anyway.
“You should know better, Amirah.” The familiar male voice spoke.
“Fynn?” I spoke aloud as I neared him, my gaze darting between his and the dark figure on the ground. “What the heck?” Fynn let out a sigh, more inconvenienced than embarrassed. “What happened?” I’m afraid to ask, but I have to know.
“Amirah here,” Fynn gestured to the woman, “is a sea witch, Dylan.” At that I took a step back. My experience with sea witches was not a good one. Still, I eyed them both warily.
“But she’s got legs?” At my words, the woman snarled and threw a rock at Fynn, he dodged it easily.
“Now she does. But she didn’t a few minutes ago.”
“You… changed her? Is she safe to be around?”
“I wouldn’t call her safe, but she won’t be a problem to you so long as you stay over there.”
“How did you do it?”
“With some help from… from someone with more power than me. She attacked a selkie.” At that the woman smiled, a wicked grin. “This is her punishment.” Fynn looked away from the woman and out to me. “Where did you come from?”
“I was out with Fayre. Crap! I’ve got to get back.” Fynn nodded as I turned to run with more caution this time into the jungle, making my way back to Fayre.
She sat still in the water; our turtle friend long gone.
“Are you alright?” She spoke in panicked tones. “What happened?”
I told her what I had seen and what Fynn had said while she listened intently.
“But he didn’t say how?”
“Just that he had help.”
She had nodded thoughtfully but didn’t say another word that night as we swam back and went our separate ways.
Cora
The time for avoiding it was over, alone in my room I sipped the last of the tea laced with enough of some herbs I had gotten off Ophelia in order to induce a quick sleep. I wasn’t going to wait to do this anymore.
Pressing my will against the dream, I tried to call up the idea of Blake, wherever he was. If he was even asleep at all. Even knowing it was a dream I couldn’t help the spike of panic and the wild beating of my pulse. Had my pulse always sounded so loud? Surely anyone in this dream would hear it.
While Fynn had assured me that Blake had amnesia, that was no guarantee that he was suddenly innocuous. I needed to stay calm here and project an image that wouldn’t put me in danger. I had no doubt that Blake would be suspicious of my presence. He was awful, but he wasn’t an idiot.
Here in this dream, I could do anything, be anything. So, for this moment, I would not be me. I would be Naida. I pictured how she had looked the one time I had met her. Her white wings flecked through with brown feathers. Her wild brown hair and the intensity burning in her eyes. Those eyes had been dulled the last time I had seen her in my dreams.
A footstep echoed down the dark alley of Blake’s dream. This place was his creation. I willed the sun to come up, or a streetlight to come on, anything to take away the ominous feel of this place.
One by one, my attempts failed. I could not change the world of his dream. Leaning against the graffiti covered brick of the alley, I held my head high, trying to portray a sense of confidence that I did not feel.
A bulky shadow emerged through a billow of steam. I wasn’t sure if he was aware of me yet, if his dramatic entrance was for my benefit or his own ego.
“Naida.” Blake cooed. “I haven’t given you permission to go out. You haven’t been behaving.” He clicked his tongue and twirled a lock of my—Naida’s hair between his fingers.
His proximity had my knees locking into place. Memories of the attack on me were threatening my tenuous hold on projecting myself as Naida. I wasn’t ready for this. This was a stupid plan. But stupid or not, I was here, and I was determined to make the most of this awful experience.
“What do you want from me?”
Naida’s voice on my lips was more musical than my true voice could ever be. But even so, some of my own nerves seeped into the words. Blake smiled, seeming to enjoy my apparent discomfort.
“I’ll start with your undying obedience and then… a crown.”
A crown? I wanted to ask more, but I also didn’t want him to become suspicious of me or this dream. I could hardly keep my anxiety at bay, there would be no more questions tonight.
Now I was left wondering how to smoothly fade out of this dream. How to leave and be free of his abrasive presence without setting off any alarms in his mind.
Abruptly, as I thought of going, I was gone. Lying in my own bed in my own room. So much for subtle. I prayed he wouldn’t think too much of it.
{MISSING SYMBOL}
Fynn left the next day. While we were supposed to be more open with what was going on now, he decided in this case it was better if I didn’t know the details. I tried not to be annoyed. Still, I was eager to get around and see Ophelia; I was excited to have some control over what I could do. I got ready quickly, throwing on a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt, it didn’t matter much what I wore, I knew I would change when I got there.
I saw Zoya and Shea in the dining room, sitting at the table with their heads close together as they spoke in whispers. I was happy to see the light in her eyes again. I was also glad that I had something to do with my time, because clearly hanging out with Zoya was going to be out of the question for a little while. Her bubbly laugh drifted over to me while I grabbed a muffin out of a deep bowl set on one end of the table. I ate the muffin while I walked, leaving Zoya to her happy moment. Turning out of the dining room and into the hall I ran headfirst into Oran.
I mumbled an apology around my bite of muffin while I looked up into his eyes. He held my shoulders in what felt like an attempt to steady me, looking confused at the sight of me.
“Don’t worry about it.” Oran said briskly as he dropped his hands and walked past me. He and I had never had anything resembling a normal relationship, and I was beginning to wonder if our relationship would be anything other than awkward. “Cora.” Oran’s spoke I turned around to see him, standing closer than I anticipated.
“Yes.” I tried to smile, an attempt to make our conversation less awkward.
“Has Ophelia been able to help?” His open face seemed sincere.
“Yes,” I smiled more genuinely, “I think so.”
Oran nodded and turned in a smooth motion, walking away. I tried not to think about him, or what was going on with him as I walked to the stairs that led down into the cave. I dove in the pool and adjusted quickly to breathing the salty water. It was coming increasingly naturally, I didn’t have to think about it now, and it only stung a little bit now as I fully adjusted to water filling my lungs.
I swam deeper toward the shimmer of the underwater city. Rays of sunshine danced across the castle. The closer I got the more I could make out the moving shapes of mer and the occasional selkie. The light from above glittered across mermaid tails and hair. Spires like great stalagmites rose out of the center of the city. Most of the windows were open holes in the face of the buildings, occasionally one window would be closed off by a colorful panel of stained-glass blinking in the sunshine that danced in waves across the buildings.
Coral grew in patches, unhindered. Here and there I could see what looked like a garden of coral, laid out and orderly in an open space between the homes that looked like they too grew out of the rock taking every shape and size.
The mermen didn’t stare at me like they used to, when I was new to this world. I had lost some of my c
uriosity factor I guessed. Still, I would catch some here and there, staring at me with open interest.
A group of mermaid children played in an open coral garden as I swam by. I watched as they swam back and forth laughing and screaming as they dodged a jelly fish. The jellyfish seemed oblivious, for a jellyfish, to the children who swam as close as they could and before they would turn, abruptly swimming away, laughing giddily when they avoided getting stung.
The children had caught me by surprise when I first saw them, and even now it seemed odd to me to see them living comfortably in this fairytale world. Today, a little girl with flowing lavender hair and a gleaming silver-gray tail caught my attention, she held still in the middle of her group of friends as she stared at me. Her wide eyes were a light gray-blue and she intently held my gaze. Slowly she raised her hands, covering her eyes as she closed them. She stayed that way for a moment and before she pulled her hands away, her brow furrowed with a frustrated look on her angelic face. Hesitantly she looked away from me and back to her friends who continued to play, oblivious to her odd behavior.
I swam on, and quickly forgot about her as I looked around and realized I wasn’t entirely sure where Ophelia lived. When Oran had brought me, the night was dark, and Ophelia’s home had stood out as the only light on her edge of the city. Now in the full morning light I was unsure which way to go.
There was still so much of the city that I was unfamiliar with. I turned in a circle, my hair swirling around my face as I looked for a familiar starting point.
When I turned around again, I saw the girl staring at me, and she pointed off to her left with a smile, tapping at the water directing me. I looked in the direction she pointed, and I thought that it looked vaguely familiar, so I began swimming again. Ophelia’s home stood out to me as I swam closer. I wondered how the girl had known where I was going. Swimming under the edge of the house I came up into the pool in her living room. Ophelia stood at the edge of the pool holding a towel in her arms.
Then We Fly Page 6