Called

by E J Pay

  “I think we are safe now. As long as we stick to the shadows of the wall, we should not be detected. My name is Lachlan.”

  “Hello Lachlan. Where is Gwen? Can you tell me how far away she is? What is the message she has for me? Why do we have to sneak around at night to have this conversation?”

  He continues in his deep bass, “Miss Gwen merely asked that I find you and bring you to her. What she wants to discuss with you is up to her.” He turns around and swims away again, not turning to see if I will follow.

  I pause for just a moment. I know Jack and Lady Pescara are wary of Gwen. But they don’t know her like I do. But I still cannot help but doubt for a moment.

  I do follow and eventually, wishing I had someone else with me. Jack maybe. I decide to not travel far beyond the borders of the city. Any further and Gwen will have to come to me. Lachlan and I come to a place in the wall where a landslide took place some time ago. I wonder if it is the landslide that took my uncle. Rock and debris mound over the wall on both sides, creating a small hill that has also swallowed up several houses. The surrounding area is lifeless and empty, abandoned by a people from long ago. An old fishing boat lays rusting and broken on the ocean floor as if it is trying to reach the city. Lachlan pauses near the hill, darting his head this way and that, checking to make sure the coast is clear. I’m not sure who we should be watching out for in an abandoned part of the city, but when Lachlan says the coast is clear, I follow him back over the wall and into the window of one of the abandoned houses.

  This is the first dwelling besides a tent I have entered in Atlantis. The room we enter is dark but I can see that light is coming from a hallway. Together Lachlan and I swim to the hallway. I hear someone speaking. It is Gwen. Without giving it another thought, I swim by Lachlan and down the hall to the room where her voice is coming from. I enter a doorway on the left and find Gwen speaking to a room full of sea creatures. I see several more creatures like Lachlan in the front row, closest to Gwen and the doorway in which I am framed. There are other creatures, though, and their presence startles me. Several stingrays, eels, and octopi are listening to what Gwen is saying, and in the back of the room standing guard are two sharks.

  I am nervous to see the group and I turn to swim back the way I came, but my route is blocked by a third shark that crept up behind me. I am about to scream when I hear Gwen addressing me, her voice calm and light.

  “Evelyn! I am so glad you came to meet with me. You’ll have to forgive Samuel. He is used to protecting me. That will be all, Samuel. Evelyn is not here to hurt me. We are safe with her here.” The large shark relaxes his tightened jaw muscles, nods to me, and swims back down the hall. I turn to face Gwen and Lachlan darts in front of me.

  “Announcing Miss Evelyn Marin, at your request,” he says in his deep, gravelly voice.

  “Yes, thank you Lachlan. I see that she is here.” Gwen faces her audience in the room. “As I was saying, we have much to hope for and there is much to be done in the days and weeks ahead. May each sea creature do his part. Thank you for meeting here tonight. Your service is invaluable to our cause. This meeting is adjourned.”

  The room becomes a sea of voices as the creatures begin to move about the room, speaking to each other. Several of them look my way and turn to whisper to one another. I have never heard these kinds of sea creatures speaking before. I assume they are all two-worlders who have made a complete transformation into their sea life form. I feel awkward and uncomfortable, unaware of what I have entered into, when Gwen takes me by the hand and leads me into the hallway.

  “I am so glad you have come. I have so much to tell you,” she says.

  I’m glad because I want to know everything she has to tell me. I want to know what she is doing here in this part of Atlantis. I also remember the conversation with Lady Pescara. I want to clarify some of Gwen’s history so I can put those accusations to rest.

  Gwen leads me to a great spiraling staircase so old that most of its steps are crumbling and gone. We swim upward to the top floor of the half-buried house. The entire floor is empty of any kind of furniture, walls, or doors. I see damaged outlines and burn marks of where those things once were, but they have been absent for many years. We move to a corner far from any windows where the hardened rock has overcome that portion of the room.

  “Gwen, what is going on? Who are those sea creatures you were talking to?” She is beaming from ear to ear. She takes me by both hands as she speaks to me in excited tones.

  “Oh, Evelyn! I am so pleased that you are here with me. I was afraid we would never get away from my mother.” I feel satisfaction knowing that she wanted to get away as much as I did. I knew she couldn’t have been involved in Ceto’s plans.

  “I have been playing a part to her for months, Evelyn! It was finally time to make my move.”

  I shake my head like there is air in my ears. “What do you mean months? What are you talking about? I thought you were captured in the battle when I was. Wasn’t that the first time you actually met Ceto?” Gwen lets go of my hands and paces along the rock wall we are by. She turns to face me.

  “Evelyn, I didn’t enter the water when you did. I entered several years ago on a trip with my crazy aunt.”

  “I thought they didn’t let you join them at the beach.”

  “They didn’t. I snuck out at night just to get a feel for what they were all experiencing. I couldn’t swim well. Nobody ever gave me lessons. The waves washed over my head again and again. I thought I was going to drown. Once I realized I could breathe in the waves, I got excited.” I am reminded of my first encounter with water breathing: the fear and the excitement of it. Gwen keeps talking, “Each night I snuck out and went a little further until I reached the drop off area. That’s when two sharks approached me. I would have been scared to death except they didn’t try to attack me. One handed me a scroll for me to read.

  “The scroll said that my mother had been waiting my entire life for me to enter the ocean to be with her. It explained who my mother was – the leader of an underwater seadom, destined to be the queen of all the ocean. She wanted me to go to her to train. But I was only 15 and this was the first I had ever heard of my mother. I told the sharks in no uncertain terms that I would come when I was ready. I left them there and didn’t return until earlier this year when I entered FIU.”

  “Did Ceto try to reach out to you again?” I ask. “Did you have any kind of communication with her?”

  “No,” Gwen replies, “not a single word. She maintained the same radio silence she had for years. I was hurt and angry for a year or two, but then I started to come up with a plan of my own.” Her eyes grow dark, any trace of a smile completely gone. She speaks in a low voice.

  “I was determined to use my relationship with her to hurt her the way she hurt me. I was sure I could work my way into her home and find all I needed to in order to hurt her the most.”

  I can’t believe what I am hearing. I know Gwen had a rough upbringing, but I have never known her to be vengeful or mean. She uses her experiences to drive her forward, to do amazing things despite her circumstances. This long-held hatred and plan for revenge aren’t normal for her.

  “It didn’t take long for me to see that she was absolutely crazy,” she says, “– that turning into an octopus bit by bit was really affecting her brain. You may have noticed that the octopi aren’t the quickest set in the ocean.” I nod, remembering how my own attempts at sea communication had only reached one octopus, Gus.

  “She told me all about her crazy plan to rule the world by flooding it. She really thought that was the way to get people everywhere to care at all about what she did. But she could have had ME, Evelyn. She could have loved ME and I could have loved her. But it wasn’t enough. She never really wanted love, Evelyn, all she wanted was power.”

  Gwen is so angry, and I get it. She feels she has been abandoned and betrayed her entire life. But I’m not sure what she is planning on doing about it.

 
“So,” she continues, “once I fully understood her plans, I started making plans of my own. I started reaching out to some of the more vulnerable sea creatures in Ceto’s city. I purposely sought out those who were outcasts; I knew they would be lonely and looking for acceptance. You saw some of them here tonight. I convinced them that together we could take over the entire ocean, both Atlantis and my mother’s realm. I told them they could all be valued just like any other sea creature or two-worlder was.”

  “How are you planning on making that happen, Gwen?” Even though at first glance Gwen’s mission sounds noble, I am beginning to understand the reality that she never was a part of Atlantis. I suspect that she was at the battle because she was fighting, not with Atlantis, but against it. Her protective embrace was actually a restraint to hold me until I was a prisoner. I guess that capturing me was “playing a part” to her mother. A pit enters my stomach as I realize I am speaking face-to-face with another enemy.

  “Well, let’s just say that my mother’s plans, senile as they may seem, actually have some merit. Using the Atlantis power source could increase our own sea powers like never before. We could freeze oceans, melt ice caps, create tidal waves over entire continents. Everyone would have to accept us as the new order.” Her plans sound exactly like Ceto’s, except she wants the power all to herself.

  “What would be the purpose in that, though? Would you try to flood the world? Think of all the people you would kill.” Gwen narrows her eyes at me.

  “What have people ever done for me, Evelyn? For years, I’ve had to watch people who should have cared about me trample me under their feet, while my ‘friends’ like you had all the love you ever needed.” My face burns at her words. Yes, I have been loved, but I have also had hard things to deal with in my life. Everyone does. Gwen can only see her experiences. Her pain.

  “Nobody escapes life without troubles and trials, Gwen. The point is to make good things out of it, not to let it turn you into something you weren’t destined to be.”

  “What do you know about my destiny?” She retorts. “Maybe it is my destiny to rule the world underwater. Maybe it is my destiny to claim it all for myself and for the lowest of the low! Just think of the possibilities, Evelyn. Didn’t you see us coming together in our meeting? Couldn’t you hear the voices of those cast out sea creatures as they planned and worked together?” she asks.

  “Yes, Gwen. I heard them.”

  “How do you think they were even able to speak? You know that their kind don’t use words like you and I do.”

  “How is it possible, Gwen?”

  “The stories of an Atlantis power source hidden in the Bermuda Triangle aren’t just myths, Evelyn. I have found it. We are practically on top of it right now. That’s how those sea creatures could speak. With the Atlantis power source, they have the power to do so many things. So do I. And so do you.”

  I’m getting goosebumps. Gwen is trying to lure me in with promises of power. It’s alluring and it’s frightening.

  “How can you be certain, Gwen? Have you seen the power source? Has anyone else seen it? How do you know what it is capable of?”

  “Oh, it can crush worlds, Evelyn,” she says with incredible pride and pleasure. “Why do you think Atlantis even ended up at the bottom of the ocean? It was a large and thriving port town on the other side of the Atlantic ocean.” She is pacing again excitedly. “The people didn’t respect the power source or understand what it could do for them. It wasn’t until the two-worlders started to appear that the power source made its move.”

  “You make it sound like it’s a living thing,” I say.

  “Oh, it’s a living thing alright. Alive as either you or I are. It thinks and breathes and lives and moves. When the ridiculous humans of the port town proved that they would not change, the power source took matters into its own hands. It created an energy explosion so powerful that it buried the city in the sea in a single day. Every single person was killed and Atlantis was finally in a world where it belonged.”

  “How did the city end up so close to North America, then?” I ask.

  “For centuries the power source has been driving the city across the ocean floor. As more and more two-worlders began to come into the ocean on the American continent, it was like the power source was trying to get to them. It finally did, only to be ignored once again. Now, I am going to make sure that it is never ignored again, just like me.”

  Gwen is acting like I have never seen her before. I can’t understand what is driving her to speak this way. It sounds like the Lord of the Rings and how nobody could resist the power of the ring. It had to be destroyed. I know I have to play my cards right if I am ever going to figure out Gwen’s plans.

  “Can I see the power source for myself?” I ask. Gwen looks at me with a hint of skepticism. She isn’t so willing to put her secret in danger just yet.

  “Not yet, Evelyn. It isn’t time for the unveiling. Come back tomorrow night and I will take you.” She pauses then turns to face me. “You could be a part of my new order, you know. If I can trust you, you can follow me anywhere.” Gwen pauses and considers my face for a moment. She wants to tell me something more, but isn’t sure if she should. I look her straight in the eyes, mentally willing her to speak to me.

  “There’s something else I think you should know,” she finally says and I brace myself for more of her world domination speech. “There is someone else you know who is following me.”

  No. Please don’t say it.

  “James has been serving my cause since he arrived at FIU.”

  She said it. No. No. No. No. No.

  “When he first began testing some of his abilities at Corpus Christi, some of my scouts reached out to him. The promise of something more was alluring to James so he came here to learn more and join my army. Of course, he intended to bring you with him, but you weren’t ready yet.”

  Gwen clears her throat before continuing, “When you saw us that day…Well, you weren’t paying attention to him…We were spending so much time together…” She clears her throat again. “I’m sorry about your relationship with James, Evelyn. You just ignored him so much and we were spending so much time together. I hope you will understand.”

  Understand? Understand that my former boyfriend has fallen for my favorite roommate? Understand that the allure of power was so great he didn’t care about us? Understand that he is a jerk and she is losing her mind? Yes, I understand. And you can have him.

  “Gwen,” I say as I take her hand and look her in the eye, “I am happy for you. I really feel like you two are perfect together. You don’t need to worry about me.” Because you are crazy and I don’t want any part of it.

  Gwen squeezes my hand and lets it go before continuing to speak. “Well, I’m glad to hear it. Thank you so much, Evelyn. I hope we will all be able to work together.”

  “Thank you for telling me, Gwen.”

  “Well,” she says, “I have several things I need to do, Evelyn. If you meet me back here again tomorrow, I will take you to the power source myself. Until then, think about this decision. Think of what we could do.” She pauses and straightens her shoulders, her chin lifted with pride. “Lachlan will take you back to your quarters.” She turns to leave and I follow. She stops and faces me. “Speak of this to no one, Evelyn. Your life and future depend on it.” I nod my assent and follow her out the door until we make it to Lachlan who has been waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

  “Take Miss Marin home, Lachlan. Make sure she is neither seen nor heard.”

  “Yes, My Queen.” And the little creature bows to her.

  Chapter 31

  I follow Lachlan along the same path we took before. Once we are a good distance from Gwen’s meeting house, Lachlan ducks beneath a tumbled down section of bridge. It is a detour from where I thought we should be heading and I follow him with hesitance.

  “Why are we going this way,” I ask.

  “Because it is free from prying ears,” he responds. L
achlan has something he wants to tell me. He stops in a shadowy area surrounded on three sides by wall and rock, looking hesitantly out the opening of the little cave. Then he turns to face me.

  “I feel that I can trust you,” he says, “There are not many trustworthy two-worlders in the sea, Miss Evelyn, but I was friends with your sentry at Ceto’s palace, Gus.” I am caught off guard by this revelation.

  “I am so sorry, Lachlan,” I say, “I wanted Gus to be safe. I tried to help him be safe.”

  “I’m sure you did,” he replies, “Gus spent quite a bit of time telling me about you. I know you reached out to him with your mind. That is something that Ceto cannot do and that I have not told Miss Gwen that you can do. Her own sea talents are lacking. All she can do is control water temperature and currents, and even those she does not do very well.

  “Gus told me that you were kind to him and that you had a good heart,” Lachlan continues. “He may have been a bit slow in the head, but Gus was a good judge of character. He said he wanted to be your friend and that he felt he was close to becoming that. Friendship is something that sea creatures like us rarely have with two-worlders. We are treated as though we are second-class citizens incapable of making useful decisions or being a benefit to society. We are usually the grunt workers.”

  “I know and I am sorry Lachlan. I wish things were different,” I say.