Called

by E J Pay

  A movement to my right draws my attention to another person in the room. There stands Kai, still wearing his robe, his eyes more awake this time. He is saying something to me. I cannot understand his words but their meaning is unmistakable. He is encouraging me to take hold of the sphere. I am uneasy and unsure why this man is encouraging me to do something that will lead to my death. Then I hear them. The voices I always hear. Kai’s voice is mixed with theirs. The others are outside the room, far down the hallway, but they are fighting, and not just with words. I hear the dull clinking of metal hitting metal in water. I know a battle has reached this place.

  Then they burst into the room and this time I can see their faces: Celia, my mother, General Samson and others I have seen in the glowing city Ceto leads. I am filled with the need to act. I panic. I know what I have to do, but it frightens me. There is no time to think. I have to act now. I reach my hand forward in a desperate attempt to capture the brilliant stone. At the same time, Kai reaches for it as well. I look into his face to understand what he is doing and as I do, he is no longer Kai. He is Gwen.

  Chapter 25

  I wake with a start. Gwen. How on earth could I lay around and wallow in my own sorrows when Gwen is still here, somewhere in these walls. I know I have to make an attempt to find her. I have to know that she is alright.

  When my guard changes, I try to reach out to his mind. He turns to face me for a brief moment, but does nothing else to return the conversation. When I try using my voice to speak, it comes out raspy and gargled. It’s been too long since I have used my voice. This croaking draws a shudder of laughter from my octopus guard, but no other response. He is not going to engage in any kind of conversation with me. So, when my meal comes, I decide to make the most of it. I eat the unappetizing shrimp and its raw, kelp garnish knowing that I will need strength if I am going to do anything for my situation. I instantly regret eating the food as I feel nausea washing over me. But after sitting still, the feeling passes and I begin to feel more energy. I decide to come up with plans as I sit in silence near my guard.

  Maybe three days drag on this way. I try talking to each new guard, both mentally and vocally, but none of them are willing to speak to me. I eat all that is brought to me and think of my possibilities for escape. It is possible that I can find a way to create a distraction during the changing of my guards. Maybe there is a weakness I can exploit to my advantage. But with none of my guards willing to talk to me, it is difficult to find their vulnerabilities. Periodically, I hear the sounds of other prisoners moving about or calling from their cells. I strain to see through my bars and get a better idea of how the cell block is arranged, but each time my guard moves in front of my face to impede my view. For the most part, the entire hallway is silent. I don’t know how my guards stay awake. I would have been asleep so many times if I weren’t so focused on trying to plan my escape. I try to watch for patterns in their behavior, something that gives away a blind spot or a flaw in their routine, but I have not yet found anything useful. So many of my own sea talents are only useful at or near the surface: tide control, wave control, the air above water. There is little I can use them for so far down. Finally, after days of eating rancid food and regaining strength, I have an incredible stroke of luck. Gus is back as my guard. He brings a heaping plate of cooked seaweed, just like I ate with Ceto. It looks so good I could cry.

  Ceto hear you eating your food and much better prisoner, Gus says with his mind.

  Oh, Gus. I am trying. I am so happy to see you.

  I happy you acting better. You scare Gus when you no talk me. Ceto say you act better, you eat better. He places the food into my cell. I eat ravenously at first, just thrilled to have something other than old shrimp to eat. Once my stomach starts feeling better, I eat slowly and take time to savor each bite. I am aware of Gus watching me. He says nothing while I eat, letting me enjoy my food. I know he was sent to watch and report back to Ceto on how I am doing. This is going to be where I will create a plan. Be a model and repentant prisoner. Try to get back into Ceto’s good graces. And find a way out.

  Thank you so much, Gus, I say as I finish the last of the food. Please tell Ceto that I appreciate her kindness. I feel Gus brighten.

  Oh Ceto be so glad hear you say so, he says. I sure I see you again soon. He takes my plate and goes, leaving a new guard in his place.

  Ceto is keeping tabs on me even in the dungeon. My link to my family (and hers) has some kind of value to her. I cannot imagine any other reason why she would check on me. Maybe it is for Kai. Maybe not. Maybe she thinks I know something I don’t. Why else would she have reached out to me in the beginning? I am sure she will see me again if I behave.

  For what feels like several days, I continue my pattern of good behavior. I eat everything I am given, and I make sure to be up and active each day. Although my cell is small, I know laying around in a depressed state won’t garner any favor with my captors. I swim, maneuvering the tricky stances and movements I learned while in battle training. I even play with water temperature control – careful to do nothing that can be seen or felt by my guards. Today, my food is a little too cool for my taste and I use the water to heat it up. I get a little carried away and end up burning some of my seaweed. I eat it quickly, hoping my guard won’t notice. It tastes good, with that burned, smoky flavor added to it. Smoky is something rarely tasted or smelled in my sea quarters. Fire and smoke are obvious land qualities and I find myself missing my home on land, my mom, school, even my roommates.

  As I finish my last bite, a new plate is placed in my cell. A little bowl sits on top and inside is seafoam pudding. When I look up to thank my guard, I see Gus standing in the doorway of my cell.

  You big treat now, Evelyn. Ceto send and say ask if Evelyn friend to Ceto again.

  So, Ceto sent a message. She heard that my behavior has improved and wants to reach out to me. Maybe she thinks I will be more pliable this time. Spending weeks in this watery dungeon should have been enough to break me. But Ceto doesn’t know me well enough. I am going to use this opportunity to my advantage. I have a friend to rescue and a home to return to.

  Yes, Gus, I reply. I am ready and willing to be Ceto’s friend again. Please tell her I am grateful for her generosity.

  Gus’ eyes squint at that last word.

  You tell Ceto yourself, he says, She say you eat pudding, then I can take you to her.

  I am satisfied with how things are working out. I say a little inward prayer of gratitude and eat my pudding like a good prisoner. When I finish, Gus moves out of the doorway so I can follow him. I haven’t been out of that little room for so long, I am surprised by how good it feels to enter a hallway. Finally, a change of scenery. No wonder Ceto thinks I have broken. As Gus scoops me in two of his tentacles, my thoughts turn to Gwen. I can’t help but wonder what her accommodations are. Where has she been this entire time? Is she still alive? Why haven’t I seen her? Has she been turned to Ceto’s side? Maybe Gus knows where she is being held.

  Gus, what has happened with my friend Gwen? Do you know where she is being kept? Has she been taken care of and fed? Is she okay? Is she alone in her cell or with other prisoners? I overwhelm my poor guard with so many questions at once, but I can’t help it. I am concerned for my friend.

  I feel a warm smile and sense of satisfaction coming from Gus. You no need worry, he says, You friend Gwen good girl. She eat good and sleep good.

  That is a relief to me. At least I know she is alive and isn’t being harmed. Thank you, Gus. But where is she being kept? Is she down here where I have been or is she where I was at first or is she somewhere else? If I am going to stage a successful rescue operation, I need to know where she is. But before Gus can answer, we are leaving the lower levels of the prison and are headed toward my first prison block. I see several more two-worlders this time. Perhaps they were also captured in the battle. Perhaps they are from another battle or operation of Ceto’s. At least they are still in the nicer area of the prison.
I search faces for anyone I recognize. Then I see him.

  I turn my gaze ahead again when I see his eyes. My mouth goes dry and my stomach does a strange flip and my heart gets soft and I threaten tears. And yet, when I do look straight into his hazel eyes, I feel embarrassment and anger. I entrusted so much to him and he betrayed me. He was supposed to be my boyfriend and how well had that worked out? But I cannot deny that seeing James, my James, in this prison setting is so unsettling that I can no longer think clearly. How did he get here? I didn’t see him in the battle. I thought I saw him once on my way home for leave. But during my months of training I worked myself to pieces to avoid both him and Gwen completely. He must have been in another group of 50. That is why I never saw him. But why is he here? Was he captured in the same battle I was? My head is swimming. He catches my gaze and is stunned. He is surrounded by a group of guards. Maybe he was recently captured. Maybe he is being transported to a darker cell for misbehavior. I want to call to him and tell him to play along, to bide his time patiently until the right opportunity for force comes along, but the only thing I can do is droop heavily into Gus’ tentacles as he takes me to our Captor.

  Chapter 26

  When we make it to the palace, Gus lays me on an ottoman in the same room I was in when I first met Ceto. A prickly sensation tickles my arms as they lean against the gold embroidery of the pillows. I open my eyes slowly to find Gus hovering near my head, at attention, two eels twisted together at my side. They are doctor and nurse and are talking together about me. They speak to someone else in the room using zaps of electricity shot into the water. I have never heard an eel speak before, but I think they are announcing that I am awake. Gus looks down at me. When he sees that everything is alright, he goes back to attention. I sense someone coming to my side and look to see Ceto advancing from behind the eels. “Ah, so I see,” she says. “Thank you so much for your care, doctors. We shall watch over her from here.” The two eels zap a reply and slide back to the floor. They exit through another doorway, nearer to the entrance to the kitchen. Ceto turns her attention fully to me.

  “You gave us quite a scare, my dear. Here I thought I would be welcoming a friend to my table again and instead you were brought here no more alert than the swordfish on my plate.”

  I wonder about the fish on her plate. Maybe her subjects are punished that way. The thought makes me ill and I turn my attention back to Ceto.

  “Are you feeling alright, dear? Should I call the doctors back in?” she asks.

  “Thank you, no,” I reply as I try to sit myself up. “The feeling is passing now.” Ceto reaches her hand behind my head to help me sit up, her tentacles rearranging the pillows I am leaning on. “I really feel okay,” I try to assure her, “I don’t know what came over me. Maybe I was moving too fast.” Ceto gives Gus a reproving look and he shrinks lower.

  “Well, you’re here with us now and that is all that matters,” Ceto says. I don’t understand what she means by ‘us.’ Is there someone else whom I am to meet? Maybe it is just Kai again. As I sit up on the ottoman, I stop. There, seated at the table, is Gwen.

  My eyes bulge when I see her and I cry out, “Gwen!” Ceto turns with a smile from me to face my roommate and friend. Gwen rises from the table and makes her way to the ottoman where I lie. Her color looks good, though her eyes have black circles beneath them. She is strong and able bodied, not thin and wasted away as I had feared. There is so much I want to say to her, so much to ask, but we aren’t alone. We are in the castle of the enemy – prisoners to both her kindness and insanity.

  Ceto moves to the head of the ottoman, her hand resting on my shoulder. Gwen sits by my legs. “Evelyn. I am so happy to see you,” Gwen says. She is smiling from ear to ear and I see real happiness shining in her eyes. A wave of relief floods over me as I take her hand. Gwen is alive and she is well.

  Ceto allows us this moment to embrace, watching us with satisfaction. I don’t understand her ulterior motives for treating us this way. But I know I have to play her game until I can find a way out of here. After a few minutes, our meal is brought out.

  “Do you think you are well enough to make it to the table, my dear, or do you prefer eating here at the couch?” Ceto asks.

  “I think I am fine now, thank you,” I reply.

  “Very well then. Gus, will you please help Miss Marin to the table?”

  Gus holds out a tentacle for me and I pushed myself up from the ottoman. He doesn’t wrap a tentacle around me this time. There is nowhere for me to go. I use his tentacle instead as a floating crutch to make my way to where Ceto motions for me to sit. This time I am on her left side, facing both Gwen across the table and the large stone door across the room. Gus stands guard while we eat. Ceto doesn’t trust me fully yet.

  “Thank you for inviting me here and thank you so much for inviting Gwen,” I begin, but Ceto interrupts me.

  “My dear, it was always my intention to take care of you and have you stay with me. Until your unfortunate display, I had thought we were going to be good friends.” I look duly ashamed of my behavior. I know my plans depend on it.

  “I am so sorry for acting like that,” I say. “I think it was just the shock of the day and that particular meeting. So much has changed for me since I moved to Florida.” I keep my eyes on the plate in front of me and do my best to show remorse. I want her to buy into every bit of it. I have a chance to help the war. Maybe I am young and naïve, but I am going to give it everything I have.

  Ceto regards me with wary, but gentle eyes. She is silent for a moment, her hands laced just below her chin. “Yes,” she finally says as she lowers her green and greying hands, “I’m sure it has been a very confusing time for you, my dear. It has been an unlucky few weeks. Shall we let bygones be bygones?”

  A few weeks?! Is that how long I have been in the dungeon? What happened during that time? How is the Atlantean army? How is my mother? These thoughts and questions race through my mind as I calmly answer. “Yes, please let’s let bygones be bygones. Thank you for your understanding.”

  Ceto places her hand on mine and gives it a squeeze. “Now, I’m sure you would like to talk with Gwen. How about you two catch up during the meal and you and I can talk after?” I love the idea until I realize that Ceto plans to stay seated at the table with Gwen and me. We can talk, but we will be heard.

  “Thank you, Ceto,” I say.

  “Aunt Ceto, my dear. Remember, we are relations.”

  “Of course,” I smile, “Aunt Ceto.” She is pleased and turns her attention to her meal, her ears open, listening eagerly. I look across the table to face Gwen.

  “Gwen, I am so happy to see you. I have been so worried about you.” Gwen’s face is placid as she hides her emotions from Ceto.

  “I am okay, Evelyn,” She says with confidence. “I have been taken care of. I am so happy to have you here with us this evening.” But she makes it sound so casual, as if this were not the first time she has dined with Ceto. Maybe Ceto has been grooming Gwen for my return, eating lavish meals together, making sure she is well cared for. She wants Gwen on her side – any Atlantean on her side in dealing with me – whatever it is she wants me for.

  “I’m glad too,” I keep away from asking about her stay in Ceto’s prison. That conversation would get the wrong kind of attention from Ceto. So, I to stick to the several weeks beforehand where we hardly saw each other. “How are your classes going?” Gwen gives a chuckle and shakes her head like she is trying to clear something out of it; trying to think back that far.

  “They are going well enough, I suppose. I spent a lot of time at the library, studying. My history class was pretty boring. Mr. Halcyon took a leave of absence so we were stuck with a fill-in teacher who is barely older than I am.” Mr. Halcyon was the merman I saw with mom the day I came out of the ocean and found her at the water’s edge. He has been teaching in Atlantis. Gwen should know that’s why he had a land replacement. Wasn’t she taking the classes in Atlantis? Something prickles in
my stomach as I look at Gwen. Something isn’t right. Maybe Ceto has turned her after all. We continue to make small talk about classes until we finish our meal. Seafoam pudding is brought out for dessert. I wonder if Ceto eats it at all of her meals.

  “Well, ladies,” she says with satisfaction, “I have enjoyed listening to the two of you get acquainted again. I hope I’m not being too insufferable by reinserting myself into the conversation.”

  “No, of course not,” I say.

  “Not at all,” Gwen says.

  “Well, that pleases me,” Ceto says with a smile. “Gwen, you are welcome to stay if that is preferable to Evelyn.”

  “I would love to have Gwen with us,” I say. I don’t want to lose Gwen again.

  “I thought as much,” is Ceto’s reply. “Shall we adjourn to a more comfortable seating area?”

  We leave our seats and follow Ceto to the couches. Her six tentacles roll along the floor as they propel her forward. It looks like the movement of a lavish skirt.

  The couches are all white. The same octopus chandelier sconces by the table line the walls where we sit down. I wondered if Ceto revels in her future as an octopus or if it frightens her. Is she using this décor as a show to mask her fear? Ceto sits first in a large, white chair with golden armrests and legs and motions for Gwen and me to sit. Gwen takes the ottoman and I take the couch on the other side of Ceto.

  “You know, I envy you girls,” Ceto says. “You are just starting out your life in the sea. And you have such good relationships with those about you. You have me, of course, and I am here to lead you and guide you in this new life. I think we are going to get along so nicely.” This is my opening to get Ceto talking about herself and her plans again.