Dark Oceans (Ocean Series Book 1)

by Rhonda Nelson

  "See Christian? I told you he would come back," she said excitedly.

  Kelsie shifted awkwardly on her chair. "Umm...who are you talking too?"

  "Christian! Luke's father," she replied, her eyes shining. Though there was no one else in the room, except for them. "Do you want cookies? Or Brussel sprouts? I still have my garden full of them, just for you Luke...yes...Luke always loved Brussel sprouts," her eyes went distant and she momentarily stopped speaking.

  "Mother?" Luke looked downright terrified. "Are you ok?" Her eyes suddenly flashed a blinding green.

  She jolted out of her chair; her eyes focused on her son. "Beware! Beware of the twists of fate! Our days are limited in this world...beware! Evil threatens to corrupt you must stop it! Beware!" Luke screamed and fell out of his chair, banging his head on the floorboards. He backed away from his mother, his eyes wide with horror and fright.

  All at once, her eyes returned to normal, she slowly sat back down in her seat. "Where was I? Oh...Luke, what are you doing on the floor? Shall I get the cookies?" Kelsie nodded slowly, looking at her like she was a crazy person...which she was.

  "I'll just go and get them," Luke's mother got up and hobbled out of the room.

  Kelsie stared down at Luke who was trembling on the floor, his eyes were glassy. "Luke?" No reply. "Luke? Are you ok?" Luke finally met her eyes; he hugged a cushion in his hands.

  "She's gone mad," he whispered. "It's all my fault."

  "No, of course it isn't," Kelsie scolded him, helping him up off the floor. "You didn't have a choice in any of this."

  "She's mad," Luke repeated, his voice quiet and broken. Kelsie sighed and gripped his hand reassuringly. She could tell just how damaged Luke had become after seeing his own Mother act like this. "What am I going to do?" Luke asked hopelessly. "She's mad."

  "Stay with her," Kelsie said. "She'll get better...maybe you can help her remember who she really is."

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  "Let go of me!" Alyssa yelled over the roar of the crowd. "Get your hands off me."

  "You can't go down there," her bodyguard told her roughly. Alyssa threw a punch in her frustration; it was enough time to run away from him out of the royal box. The sane part of her mind was screaming at her to go back, but she drowned the thoughts out.

  "Ben!" she screamed, trying to shout over the spectators.

  "Get out the arena!" the medics tried to tell her as they rushed over to the two unmoving bodies.

  "Alyssa! Get back here right now!" her father bellowed down at her, standing up in the royal box. She ignored him and rushed down into the middle of the arena, not caring that the crowd was shouting and mocking her as she went on. Why did she even bother? Ben was only wounded...it's not like he was dying. But something in her gut told her differently, she panicked as she ran over to him would she make it in time? She dropped down on her knees next to him, gripping his hand.

  "Ben!" She gazed wildly at the servants that were coming to carry him off. "Hurry up!" Ben's face was deathly pale, the pulse in his wrist was slowing down. Fear overloaded her senses, making her feel dizzy. No! He couldn't be dying; Elves couldn't die by sword wounds. But his pulse was definitely getting slower.

  "Hurry up!" she urged the servants, who were now running over to them. The crowd was cheering and booing at the same time, though they were not sure what to make of all of this.

  "You shouldn't be here," they told her urgently.

  "I don't care," she literally screamed at them. "Until you get him off the arena, I'm staying right where I am." The servants nodded hurriedly and picked Ben up carrying him out of the arena. Alyssa watched in irritation; they were walking to slow. She hurried after them, hoping that he would be alright.

  Her foot suddenly tripped over something metallic on the blood splattered ground. Something gold caught her eye on the floor, she leant down and picked it up. It was a compass shaped object with a chain for hanging around someone's neck. Without thinking of the consequences, she absentmindedly put it over her head.

  "So, you're saying that you got kidnapped, turned into a goblin, got rescued by this girl and went to Alltalos to change back to an elf? And then somehow you found and rescued a mermaid."

  "Uh...yeah..." Kelsie rolled her eyes.

  "Yes, is that too hard to understand?"

  Rowan stared at them both disbelievingly. "You believe what he just said?"

  "Duh, I was with him," Kelsie scowled at him. His attitude annoyed her; she didn't even know how Luke had made such an irritating friend.

  "You're both crazy," Rowan said finally. He glared at Luke piercingly. "I bet you just went off and spent the last ten years enjoying yourself in rich cities, leaving your mother alone by herself."

  "Shut up, you retard," Kelsie hissed. "All that Luke has said is the truth and if you can't believe that for you own selfish reasons, you're dumber than you look."

  "But it's stupid! How do you expect me to believe that? It's crazy!"

  Luke's eyes flashed. "You don't have to believe me, just trust me, I wouldn't lie to you."

  Rowan snorted. "Right...I'll just leave you to your fantasies, my trust for you left with you when you went away for ten years."

  "I'm telling you the truth," Luke pleaded, his eyes opening wide.

  Kelsie squeezed his hand. "It's not worth it, some people are just too stubborn for their own good." Rowan sneered at her, shadows casting an evil light to his face.

  "Let's go," Kelsie urged, bored with all the sitting down and talking to infuriating people. Luke hesitated.

  "Listen to your girlfriend," Rowan spat. "I don't want you and your lies back in my house again."

  Luke abruptly got up and kicked the chair over, for good measure. He took Kelsie's hand and they hurried out into the afternoon sun. In front of them were a couple that were graphically snogging outside a baker's store, their mouths seemed to be eating each other's faces off. That. Is. Disgusting. There is no way that Kelsie would ever dream of doing that, wouldn't it be unhygienic to kiss someone? What if they left saliva on your lips...ewww.

  Kelsie cringed at the thought. She turned over to Luke to say her final goodbye, but his gaze wasn't on her. Strangely, he was staring wide eyed at the couple ahead. "Enjoying yourself?" Kelsie asked irritably.

  "Madeline..." "Huh?" Luke blinked back what looked like tears.

  "Luke? What's going on?"

  He hung his head, muttering things over and over. "...forgot...knew it...she...never should've...forgot..."

  "Luke," Kelsie said in a softer voice. "It's ok." Her gaze flitted back to the couple in front of them. They hadn't even noticed them... "Luke, I have to go back to Mylvehil," she said gently, her heart breaking at the thought of leaving him. All at once, Luke broke his trance. A sudden spark lit up in his eyes...she noticed one dominant emotion...desperation.

  "You're going? So soon?" he sounded shocked.

  Kelsie nodded, feeling guilty. "I have to get there before it gets dark, my father will be wondering where I am." Luke bit his lip slightly, he looked like he wanted to say something, but didn't. "I'll miss you so much," Kelsie added, hugging him.

  "Me too." They broke apart and Kelsie climbed back onto her horse, picking up her bag of supplies with her.

  "Kelsie...I-I..." he trailed off.

  "Yes?" she said curiously.

  Luke lowered his gaze to the floor. "I just wanted to say..."

  "Yes?"

  He looked back up at her nervously. "It doesn't matter."

  "You sure?" Luke fidgeted on the spot, not meeting her eyes. "Yeah," he finally said. "I'll miss you, Kelsie."

  The pounding in his head woke him up, his head was rested on a feather pillow...an experience that felt alien to him. His chest burned underneath all the white bandages...red liquid was soaking into the fabric. Why wasn't he dead? The thought came to him instantly. He should be dead; he was supposed to be dead. After all, he was a monster...and monsters need to be killed.

  Chapter Thirty
-Five

  "Ben," a soft voice floated into his ears. He tried moving his head, but it hurt at even the slightest movement. He realized that nothing in his body could move at all, like he was completely paralyzed. "You're alive," a familiar face hovered over his, a cascade of blonde curls hung down upon him. Alyssa. It must be. There were tear marks on her usually flawless features, like she had been crying for many hours.

  "Alyssa," he croaked hoarsely. Why wasn't he dead? Why didn't Tristan kill him properly, just like he wanted to.

  "You almost died," Alyssa said, almost crying. "Your pulse was going down...it was stopping Ben, stopping."

  "How am I alive?" he managed to say. Alyssa smiled at him tearfully, though he didn't know why she would cry for him. It's not like they were the best of friends.

  "The physician managed to give you a potion to stop you from dying it was so terrifying, elves aren't supposed to die from sword wounds," her lips trembled from the fear.

  ‘Maybe I'm not fully elf’, Ben wanted to tell her. But he couldn't bring himself to say it, he would lose her trust immediately. There was no way she would want to have anything to do with him after he told her everything.

  "I guess I'm just special."

  "Ben, I'm serious. You were dying." He didn't reply. He couldn't tell her the truth; it would only hurt her. "Ben...if there's anything you need to tell me, just say it," Alyssa pleaded.

  "When will I be fully recovered?" Ben said changing the subject.

  Alyssa sighed at the lack of information. "Elves usually heal fast, so maybe a day?"

  I heal faster than elves, though. Ben thought bitterly, wishing now that he had just died so he wouldn't have to keep this secret from so many people. "Good, then I can get out of here." He wanted to get away...from all of this. He would go back to Rachel and then stay out of everyone's lives.

  "Ben...about the...kiss..." Alyssa shifted uncomfortably.

  "I'm sorry," Ben blurted out.

  "I didn't mean it at all. It was all a mistake." Alyssa suddenly stood up from her seat next to his bed.

  "Right, ok. I'm sorry as well." Without saying anything more, she got up and left him. Ben wondered what had made her so upset...was it something he had said? He mentally groaned. This wasn't what he had originally come for when he signed up for the Millay...and he didn't like it one bit.

  The dead frogs lay in front of her on the chopping board, all in height order. There insides and entrails were currently boiling away in a cauldron. Rachel wondered whether the frog skin would make a nice decoration for her walls, it was a hard decision. She took her scalpel and slickly each frog in half and laid them neatly in front of her. Hmmm...No, they would ruin her precious walls. Somehow, she could make a stew with them, Ben might like them. He always loved her stews. Rachel considered...Ben had visited her in a while, but he would need to since he had to collect more potions to stay completely elf.

  If he didn't drink the potion... Rachel's lips quirked up in a smile. One less mouth to feed... of course he wouldn't die. He would just stop moving completely...like a coma that's what humans sometimes get. Yes...Humans...they seemed to be good to experiment on. They all were weak compared to elves, even the strong ones. It amused her in a way; maybe she should go down to the nearest village and search for some live specimens.

  Bang, bang, bang! Rachel turned slowly around to face the wooden door. Was that Ben? Or was it just another victim that had turned up at her door at such an untimely hour? She sighed in exasperation; she wasn't ready to do any experimenting yet. All her equipment needed a good clean and there was a lot of it.

  Bang! "Rachel!" Rachel froze. She recognized that voice all too well... What on earth was she doing here? Hadn't she died? Great...another hungry mouth to feed. "Rachel! Let me in!" She opened the door slowly, unemotionally. A crying girl stumbled in; she was wearing her usual light dress that swished around her ankles in the evening wind.

  "Rachel," she whispered, clinging onto her as if she were a life saver. Tears soaked into her simple brown dress.

  "There, there," Rachel soothed, patting her back.

  "I was so wrong..." she cried into her shoulder.

  "Come inside," Rachel said comfortingly, shutting the door gently.

  "I should've listened to you, Rachel..." she said curling up in a chair, hugging her knees. Rachel shook her head vaguely.

  "You followed your heart, there's nothing wrong in that. At least you're back now...I've thought you were dead the last sixteen years." The girl shot her head up in shock.

  "It's been sixteen years?" she asked quietly.

  "Yes," Rachel confided gently.

  "But what about Callie? Is she alive as well?" The girl shook her head miserably.

  "The king of Mylvehil killed her...she hadn't done anything wrong; he saw her diving into the ocean and when she came out again..." she trailed off; tears started forming in her eyes.

  "I understand," Rachel watched her cry with a strange feeling of pity...an emotion she rarely encountered.

  "It feels like yesterday when it all began...he took everything from me. My life...my friends...my child..."

  "He's alive," Rachel said, though she wasn't sure if this was the best time to tell her.

  "He's alive?" she said, a new gleam lit up her eyes. "Where is he? Can I see him?" she sounded so desperate.

  "He's has been competing in a tournament in Mylvehil...he hasn't been back here for over a week."

  "Is he all right? He's really alive," she gave Rachel a teary smile, though her expression held a certain sadness to it.

  "Whether he's alive now...I'm not sure. I probably should've warned him that Elfish blades are deadly to him..."

  "What! He could be dead," she said panicking, getting up from her seat, forgetting her past troubles. "He won't be. He's the best fighter the world has ever known."

  "But even the greatest warriors can fall," the girl motioned to go out of the door.

  "Remember to disguise yourself like I taught you before," Rachel instructed. She got up and gave her a small bottle of a glowing liquid.

  "Just like the old times." She smiled back at her and took the bottle from Rachel's hands.

  "Thanks for everything Rachel." Rachel nodded in response, silently trying to figure out where to go from now. The girl opened the door and waved back at Rachel, a new sense of hope entering her eyes. The wooden door shut with a slight bang, leaving Rachel alone with her cauldron of frog intestines.

  A feeling a dread filled her as she watched the mermaid out of the window. Danger was on its way...something dangerous...bad omens for the times ahead. She shook her head; for once the future was unclear to her. Maybe the past had muddled her mind, or she hadn't been practicing soothsaying much. Chills crept into her heart...the days suddenly seemed limited, though she wasn't sure why.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  "Hey Leo," the black-haired girl entered his room, her eyes were unusually dull. "How are you doing?"

  "I'm fine..." Leo mumbled, but his mind was on other things. Something familiar was nagging at the back of his mind...something was coming, he was sure of it. He looked back up at the girl, her aura looked sort of marked...as if touched by a supernatural being.

  "Omens," he said, though he wasn't sure if he was saying it out loud or in his head. "Omens...I hate them..."

  "Uh...Leo?"

  "Yes?"

  Kelsie stared at him with those piercing blue eyes, that kind of creeped him out. She seemed to be in a low mood today...not her usual infuriated mood...but a sad sort of mood.

  "You don't seem happy today," he said, resting his head back on the pillow, staring up at the dark timbers on the ceiling.

  Kelsie looked down. "Said goodbye to Luke today...bad things are happening down where he is. His mother went a bit crazy from all the years he was away..." It was Leo's fault and he knew it. But then, everyone has a story...a past. Even him.

  "The past, Kelsie," he told her, though he didn't care if she didn't listen. "Tw
isted fates that cannot be undone..."

  "What are you talking about?" at least, that's what Leo thought she said.

  "The past of the kingdom..."

  "What about your past?" Leo didn't respond. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that," she said almost too quickly. Leo chuckled, even though he didn't feel particularly happy.

  "My past...nothing special about my past..."

  "Tell me," Kelsie said gently, in a voice that made him feel safe. She had the same voice as...as... "Callie...she was called Callie, I remember now," Leo said, but he was mainly talking to himself. "She was my friend...maybe more...but she died. She's dead. I saw it." The girl didn't reply, but Leo didn't mind. It felt like a relief to say that to her. A great weight had been lifted off his shoulders, he smiled a small smile. The seconds ticked on...one...two...three...

  "Is there any way I can cure your mind?" Kelsie asked quietly, almost as if she were scared of what he might say. But that wasn't Leo's intention; he never did want to make people scared of him. He tried to remember the time when he was sane...normal. Just like everyone else.

  "Just like everyone else..." Leo muttered. He wished that he could be normal again. But he couldn't...not now. Not ever.

  "You can't help me."

  "Why not?" the girl seemed to be getting irritated, it made him feel slightly ashamed.

  "Don't you want to be cured? Don't you want to at least try?" There was no way she could help him...there was no way that she could make him better. He didn't want to be better...even if he did; he'd just go back to how he was.

  "It wouldn't work..."

  "There must be a way," the girl stared down at him, her eyes were pleading. Her face suddenly seemed to shift into a more recognizable one...caramel hair, a more slender looking face...she was suddenly smiling at him, and she was leaning in ever so slightly.

  "No!" he scooted back from her, not wanting to see any more illusions.

  "Leo? Are you ok," her face momentarily changed back to Kelsie's.