by Leesa Birch
Barrett and Gary spoke amongst themselves; I wasn’t really in the mood. I didn’t realise they’d stopped talking until Barrett spoke directly to me.
“You’ve changed,” he said. I looked over at him, confused. “Since I saw you last, Ivy, there’s something different about you. I can’t quite put my finger on it.” I stiffened in my seat. He’s not a mind reader, he doesn’t know, Ivy, I thought to myself, trying to relax.
It was late afternoon before we reached the other lake - as always, off the beaten track. However, their road wasn’t riddled with half as many pot-holes as ours. Gary parked the van outside what I assumed to be their main meeting lodge. As Gary went to open his door I stopped him.
“Why am I here, Gary? It’s not like I’m a forensic pathologist or anything. I don’t know what use I’ll be.” As Barrett exited his side, Gary leant in and spoke quietly.
“Elder Glory wanted you here. She seems to think that you’re connected somehow to problems with the lakes. Maybe she thinks you’ll have some spooky insight to whatever’s happened here.”
I wasn’t reassured. Barrett was greeted with caution; I guess these Lake Dwellers weren’t altogether comfortable with selkie being around. Gary spoke to one of their Elders briefly and motioned for us to follow.
As I went to step forward, a large man stepped in front of me, blocking my way. I almost fell backwards.
“It’s you, isn’t it? They said you’d be coming.” He sounded angry.
“I’m sorry, you have me mixed up with somebody else.” I offered. The large man took a step forward, pushing me back. Barrett stepped between us.
“You may wish to choose your battles more carefully, sir.” Barrett was ever so polite when he was being threatening. Two council guards appeared and struggled to take the large man away.
He fought to break free, yelling, “This is your fault, Water Weaver. You’re the cause of all this!”
Barrett only moved once the large man was out of range.
“Great! What did I do now?” I was more embarrassed than angry. People had started to come out of the lodge to see what the disturbance was. Barrett removed his dark glasses and stared back at them. They couldn’t have shuffled away more quickly.
“Thanks,” I said. I meant it too. This could have turned ugly; we were right by the lake.
Gary stood by the, now embarrassed, Elder.
“You must be the Ivy we have heard so much about.” He reached out to shake my hand.
“I deny everything,” I said, taking the offered hand - trying to make light of the situation. Gary frowned towards me. Elders weren’t known for their sense of humour, Grogan not withstanding.
“Sorry,” I said to the Elder, letting go of his hand.
“Not to worry, child,” he said, placing his arm on my shoulder. “It is I whom should apologise after the welcome you just received. Clay started showing signs of water weaving skills a few weeks ago. He’s having a hard time adjusting, and as you were the first…” He didn’t have to finish the sentence. I knew what I was being blamed for. “Shall we?” said the Elder.
The surrounding woods were denser at this lake. It was almost creepy. Even in the winter and without leaves, our trees and bushes looked like they were waiting for spring to arrive. Here though, the thick, old tree trunks and plant-life surrounding the lake looked almost petrified. Sylvia would be most upset if she saw this. My thoughts wandered. I wasn’t looking forward to our talk later. How could she not tell me that Kane was going to propose? I could have looked ‘happy-surprised’ instead of shocked and terrified all at once.
“Ivy, is something bothering you?” Barrett asked. “You seem otherwise preoccupied.” Impending dead body aside, I wasn’t willing to talk about it.
“I’m fine, really,” I tried, but he wasn’t convinced.
“When you two have finished, we have a body over here.” Gary pointed to a blanket on the ground. My stomach turned. I didn’t think I was ready to see this. I was about to protest but Gary whipped off the covering. I stepped back in shock into Barrett. I would have said sorry but my hand was over my mouth.
“Who is she?” Barrett asked, stepping forward to look more closely at the corpse. The Elder spoke up.
“Her name was Mary; she lived here full time. She went missing almost three days ago.” The Elder was having a hard time seeing her this way. He took a few steps back, leaning on an old, fallen tree.
“Ivy,” Gary said, “Have you ever seen anything like this before?” I took a step closer. The body on the ground was twisted terribly. I couldn’t tell how old she was as the body was cut deeply all over. I could barely make out that she was a girl. Gary must have seen realisation slowly spread across my face, because he stopped examining the torn flesh and stood slowly.
“Ivy, what is it?” I shook my head; it couldn’t be. They were just dreams. Nightmares. My head was spinning with impossible thoughts. My knees went weak on me.
“I need to sit down for a minute,” I said, quietly.
Barrett straightened the poor woman out onto her back and started to cover her over.
“Where’s the blood?” he asked. Gary turned to where Barrett was kneeling.
“You noticed that too? She looks like someone viciously attacked her with a sharp instrument. But there’s no blood on the ground - which means that she wasn’t killed here.” They both stood, looking around the clearing.
Barrett added, “If someone killed this poor being elsewhere and carried her here, there would be footprints, see?” he pointed to where we had walked in. “What could have done this?” They both looked to where I was sat hugging my knees.
If whatever did this was the thing from my dreams, how did the body get over here? Surely it wasn’t real, I thought. Then bad feelings flooded my mind. What if it was? What if it could leave the lake somehow? Surely it wasn’t strong enough to throw her from there? No, it wasn’t real.
Some lunatic cut her up and somehow and left her here without leaving any tracks.
Realising that I wasn’t going to talk in front of the other Elder, Gary shook his hand and told him that we’d be in touch once we had found something. Other community members set about retrieving the body, ready to bury it. Not standard practice for a Lake Dweller, but until we knew what was going on, the rites of the poor girl would have to wait.
The tension in the van was unbearable. Barrett and Gary were talking like I wasn’t there.
“She’ll talk when she’s ready,” said one of them, followed by, “That’s if she knows anything; she could have gone queasy because of the lacerated body. She may not know anything at all.”
“Enough!” I shouted. “I wasn’t going to say anything. I mean, it’s not possible.” I was trying to work out how to tell them without sounding like a crazy person. “I’ve been having horrible dreams. Nothing new, I know. In them, there’s a thing in the water - I can’t quite see it properly, it’s almost invisible. It claws at you, viciously, with a sinister grin on its face. Not that it has a face. I’m not explaining this very well…they were just dreams, you guys. Not real!” I sat back and let them take in my ramblings. Neither of them spoke the rest of the way.
We didn’t arrive back at the lake until past midnight. Sylvia would have to wait till tomorrow. Glad that Gary had stopped on the way back for food, I took my bag of goodies and said goodnight to the boys.
Closing the cabin door behind me, I leant against it and slid down onto the floor. It had been a long day and I had come home to an empty cabin. I wished that I could use the water to call Kane. I wished that technology didn’t die around me so I could own a cell phone. I managed to drag myself to the couch to eat my hardening doughnuts. I stared at the now seemingly large and empty bed. I couldn’t face sleeping in it alone that night, so I pulled some of the throws over me and slept in my clothes where I lay.
Having left the heating on full all night, a dehydration headache woke me. It was better than a nightmare, I supposed. My body was stiff fr
om the couch. I let out a slight whimper as I tried to move. Making my way slowly to the sink, I drank heavily. A shower was definitely in order this morning. It was early too. Putting my glass away, I headed into the bathroom.
The water soothed my aching muscles as it slid down my back. I have to say I cheated a little with the massage part, using my water weaving for something nice for a change. I concentrated, making whirling spheres of hot steam. Pressing them against every part that ached, my muscles started to relax - a little too much as my leg gave way, hitting my elbow as I tried to stay upright. I thought that was enough cheating for one day.
Several layers of clean clothes later, and a blow dry, I headed out to see Sylvia. I hadn’t reached the lake before I was stopped by Gary. Sylvia was with him.
“Morning, Ivy.” Sylvia sounded too happy for this time in the morning. She held out a flask of coffee. “Your favourite.” She enticingly shook the container in my direction. I looked at Gary.
“New, and exciting, council business for you, Ivy. For some reason Sylvia wants to go with you, so here she is, all chipper.” He was right, Sylvia was way too chipper, always was.
“No dead bodies today, I hope,” I said, rubbing my neck. I shouldn’t sleep on the couch anymore, it didn’t agree with me. Gary shook his head as we approached the van. “I’ll sit in the back with Sylvia, if you don’t mind, Gary.” He seemed pleased. Sylvia and I climbed into the back as far away from Gary’s ears as possible.
After we headed out and I had drunk most of the coffee she had given me, I leant in.
“Why didn’t you tell me that Kane was going to propose?”
“He what!” she yelled in surprise. She looked as confused as I felt. “He proposed to you?” Sylvia said, a little too loudly. If Gary had heard, he didn’t let on. I shushed her and looked at Gary. He kept his eyes on the road.
“Of course he did, and don’t act surprised. You could have said something. Prepared me a little.” I searched her face; she was wearing nothing but shock. “You didn’t know?” I asked her.
“I can’t believe he did that, Ivy. It wasn’t what he was supposed to tell you.” She shook her head in disbelief. After a minute of silence, she held my hand as if someone had just died.
“So, what did you say to him?” I think she thought I’d told him ‘no’, because that’s what any sane Lake Dweller would have done.
“I was shocked, ranted on about it not being the done thing. I think I hurt his feelings, I panicked. Pipes were rattling behind me; it was a mess, Sylvia. Then he left. Not left, left - he went to work and told me to think about it. You really had no idea?”
We sat in silence for a while; Sylvia in shock and me with more unanswered questions. What was I supposed to say? I did love him after all. I hadn’t managed to scare him off. And that still left what was bothering him in the first place.
“When you ladies have finished gossiping, we’re here.” Gary pulled the van over in front of a large library - the city’s central library. The streets were busy as we stepped out of the van. It was a cool but sunny autumn day; the last leaves were falling from the trees.
We didn’t stand around though - Gary opened the door as we entered inside. The library was full of students; it wasn’t as quiet as I thought it would be. A sloppily-dressed man walked over to us, pushing his glasses more comfortably on his nose. With jet-black hair and bright green eyes, it wasn’t difficult to see he was a Lake Dweller.
“Ivy, Sylvia, meet Monty. He runs the serious archives for the council.” Monty held out his hand; we both shook it.
“I’ll leave them in your hands, Monty - watch this one though, she’s trouble.” I stared at Gary, mouth agape. Monty laughed loudly and was shushed by an elderly lady.
We followed Monty through the library. The corridors were quieter; everyone was near the front of the library apart from a few stragglers. This end of the building was empty. We made our way through Art then Philosophy. Near the back was a small door; you wouldn’t have noticed it unless you were looking for it. I checked that no one was watching then followed Monty as he put a large key into the lock and turned it slowly. There was a quiet clunk as the door unlocked. Checking behind us again, we slipped through the door onto a cold, spiral staircase.
Sylvia’s shoes made a lot of noise as we climbed the staircase. She liked shoes more than I did and I hoped nobody would hear us. Sylvia didn’t do trainers. As most of my time was spent running for my life, heels weren’t an option for me - special occasions only.
As we reached the top of the stairs, I could smell old books before I saw them. Entering the room, I could see that most of the books were untouched and a lot of them probably hadn’t been seen by the general public.
The sun shone directly onto the desk in the middle of the room. I could see dust particles floating around in the light. There was a beautiful stained glass window up here. It was huge, with hardly any wear on it, even bigger than the arched one in my old apartment.
Walking over to it, I looked outside. I could see most the surrounding streets from here. From below when I looked up, all I could see was the remainder of an old clock tower. I don’t think the clock was working, however, which is probably why it was so quiet up here.
“Over here, ladies, are our scrolls. Very old indeed, please do not over-handle them. Your guard has asked me to look for creatures that live in the lakes.” He laughed at the very idea and straightened his glasses again.
“Monty, why do you wear those?” I pointed to his face. “I could fix your eyes if you like?” Monty removed his glasses and stared at me. Oh, so that’s why he wore them. The glasses appeared unusually tinted and concealed most of his green eye colour. They were really bright.
“Oh,” I said, “Sorry.” After putting his glasses back on, I asked him, “What do you know about sirens?” Sylvia gasped at my mentioning of them.
“You’re going to get us in trouble, Ivy, the council refuse to believe you on that.” True, I didn’t want to get Monty in trouble.
I was about to tell him not to bother answering when he turned and headed for the scrolls.
“I’m sure there was something in one of these about sirens though I could be wrong. I heard about you and the siren girl - Waylena, was it? Don’t look surprised. I hear and know everything.” He carried on searching while I went to stand by Sylvia.
“So, what do you think I should do about Kane?” I asked.
Sylvia wrapped her arm around my waist.
“Just because no one has done it before, doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t. I think you should wait before giving him an answer though.” She didn’t finish what she was about to say. This was really frustrating.
“Okay, so we has us Lake Dwellers and selkie, but they live in the sea,mostly. There are some old folk stories about swamp guardians and Rusalki. Rusalki are from Slavic mythology, mostly female water nymph, or succubus if you will. They live in waterways, or at the bottom of rivers. Legend says they come onto the embankments at night, find themselves handsome men,” he pointed at himself, “They would sing and dance, mesmerising the men before leading them to the river bottom to live with them. Doesn’t say anything about shredding them though.” Monty carried on searching through old dusty books and scrolls.
I think Sylvia was getting bored. We’d been here for hours. I wasn’t sure what time Gary was coming back and I didn’t think Monty was aware of the time. He was completely immersed in the task at hand – a pencil behind his ear and one in his hand, cross referencing old maps, sheets of old papers and stacks of books.
“Monty, this looks like it’s going to take a very long time. Do we need to be here? It’s getting late.” He looked over the top of his glasses at us. His eyes really were bright; it was almost a shame that he had to hide them.
“Oh, sorry…no, you don’t need to be here for this. I’ll let the council know if I find anything.” As we turned towards the wooden door at the end of the room, he called out, “Ivy, if I find anyth
ing about the sirens I’ll let you know somehow. The Elders refuse to see what’s right in front of them sometimes.” He scoffed at the blatant disrespect of the council he just showed.
We made our way back down the stone spiral staircase carefully, waiting at the bottom - checking for sounds of people on the other side of the small door. When we were sure it was safe, we crept out into the library, carefully closing the door behind us.
Gary was reading a paper in the van. We startled him as we opened the rear of the vehicle.
“You sure took your time, I was almost bored.” He tried to cover up his embarrassment at being caught unawares. He failed miserably.
“Monty may be researching for a long time. He seemed to be enjoying himself though, Gary.” We made ourselves comfortable for the ride back to the lake. I almost felt homesick for the city as we drove through town. The street lights were on already, giving off a warming glow. Normal people, completely unaware of the terrible things going on around them, were walking their dogs, chatting in coffee shops and playing happy families.