by Leesa Birch
“Bu,” was all she managed and she threw her hands over her mouth, shocked at the sound. “Beeee,” she said, a little louder.
“You know, she’ll never shut up now,” Agatha laughed.
I turned the excited girl round in the bath so that her back was to me and began to get the brush moving in her hair. It didn’t take long once the conditioner was doing its job. All the while, the girl was making noises and splashing the water with glee. As we were already in the bath, Agatha passed me the soap and I set about cleaning all the dirt off her.
Rinsing the conditioner out carefully, I pulled the plug, letting the water drain away. Agatha held towels out for me and wrapped the girl in a second one, rubbing her vigorously. Finally, Agatha hugged the child without a fight and asked her what her name was.
The girl thought about it and tried several times before managing to say, “Bea, m…me. Bea.” Bea seemed more settled now that she knew we were like her and that we weren’t trying to rip her hair out with Agatha’s fearful brush.
Bea stood looking at herself in the mirror. She looked like a proper girl now all the dirt was gone and her glossy black hair was tangle free. Agatha had found some suitable clothes for her size and was trying to help her speak whilst dressing her. I was still unsure how old she was; I‘d have guessed her to be a very small twelve year-old. I left them to it, borrowed a bathrobe and made my way back to the cabin.
My stomach turned as I closed the door behind me and Kane twitched in his sleep. I walked over to the bed and sat next to him. He opened one eye and closed it again. “Why are you undressed, Ivy?” he murmured, before pulling me on top of him smiling. Opening my robe, I leant forward and brushed his hair from his face.
“Does it matter?” I teased. Flipping us both over, his gaze smouldering as he kissed me down my body, I closed my eyes and sighed, “I suppose not.”
As he reached my navel, my stomach cramped. Kane stopped what he was doing, blew his hair out of his face and bit his lip in frustration. “Now?” he asked. I didn’t speak. “Ivy, I felt that. Why haven’t you gone to one of the unaffected lakes to cleanse?” He sat up on his knees with his hands on his hips, his eyebrow raised quizzically.
Huffing, I sat myself up, pulling the robe closed. “I forgot about it Kane, that’s all. There’s been too much going on with you and me, both of us getting taken, dead bodies showing up. It hasn’t exactly been a priority,” I stated.
“Fine,” I said as I felt another twinge. “You driving?”
Kane grabbed my ankles, turning me the right way round and pulled me off the bed. “We’ll finish this when we get back,” he said, smacking my backside. Pulling on dry clothes, we climbed into Kane’s truck and headed out to the nearest unaffected lake.
Most of the journey was spent holding my stomach, trying not to wince each time a pulse hit. I was happy that I wasn’t hurting Kane too much. Well, he wasn’t letting on if I was. We passed a coach of people leaving as we arrived. The council had been organising other Lake Dwellers to cleanse and rejuvenate here since the first corpse was found.
Standing by the lake alone while Kane signed us in, I felt nervous. Since all the bad things at our lake had started, I’d been putting this off. The nightmares alone were enough to scare any normal person, let alone the bodies. I pictured Kaya’s face and shuddered.
“You okay, Ivy?” Kane asked, wrapping his arm around my waist and holding me tightly. I nodded; it needed to be done.
“Are you coming in with me?” I felt stupid for asking as there were no Opals here. Turning me round, gently moving my hair behind my ear, Kane kissed me softly.
“Sure thing, sweetheart,” he said, letting go of me and removing his boots. Even though it was only his boots and socks that he removed, I never tired of watching him undress. Clearing my head, my thoughts returned to the lake. I slipped off my shoes and socks, took Kane’s hand and walked slowly into the lake.
The water was still warm here, I was so relieved. As the bus load of visiting Lake Dwellers had left, the lake was pretty quiet. Kane’s eyes had already shifted and he was fully relaxed. Closing my eyes and letting out a long breath, I relaxed my shoulders and felt the silt beneath my toes start to move. I hadn’t realised how much I missed that feeling. Feeling the pull down my arms and through my fingers, the twinges slowly subsided.
I smiled to myself as I felt the energy returning to my body. It had been a while and the sensation made me a little dizzy.
Feeling Kane’s hands on my hips, I opened my eyes to see him standing very close. “Wanna go home and fool around?” he asked with a grin slowly spreading across his face. Slightly breathless, all I could do was smile. Wading out of the lake, I dried us both and we climbed into the truck and headed home.
“Agatha said we should sneak off and get married, not tell anyone,” I said, breaking the silence. Eager to get back, the journey seemed to take longer. Kane briefly looked at me, then back at the road. “What do you think, Ivy? Because I don’t mind - as long as I get to wake up with you in my arms every mornin’ for the rest of our lives.” I was about to respond when Kane slowed the truck, pulling it off the road.
On the hard shoulder there was a broken down car with someone leaning over the engine. The truck pulled up behind it and Kane slipped out. “Wait here, Ivy, this shouldn’t take long.” He smiled before closing the door and walking towards the car. Looking around for something to do, the sound of yelling caught my attention. Stepping out of the car, I saw a man waving what looked like a gun at Kane.
“Ah, Ivy. At long last I have your undivided attention,” the guy said to me. It was Detective Roberts - he really had lost his mind. He looked nervous and jittery as I approached. “That’s close enough!” he yelled and I stopped, looking to Kane then back to Roberts.
Kane moved suddenly between me and Roberts’ line of fire. “What are you doing, Kane? Get out of the way!” I tried to move him but he wouldn’t budge.
“I’m going to kill her, even if I have to go through you, so you might as well save yourself. Go on! You can go,” Roberts said, waving the gun around. “I lost my job, my wife, and it’s all her fault!” he screamed. He was becoming manic. Kane needed to leave - now.
Whispering to me, Kane said, “Whatever happens, stay behind me.” I shook my head, not that he could see. “Ivy, listen. I can’t heal you but you can heal me,” he explained, grabbing my hands and pushing them up under his shirt. Sudden realisation set in. I stayed behind Kane, masking my eyes as they shifted. I held onto his flesh tightly, knowing this wasn’t going to be good.
A loud bang echoed around us as Roberts shot Kane. He stumbled backwards; I tried to heal him as quickly as I could. I healed the flesh under the bullet, pushing it out slowly and closing the wound. Kane regained his composure as a second then third bullet hit - each one felt like I was being punched hard. I desperately tried to take as much pain as I could from Kane but I was weakening. Feeling this, Kane held my hands in place, knowing this was the only way to get us out of there alive.
More bullets hit as I managed to heal and close off the second and third wound. Kane groaned in pain at the sheer force of the bullets. Breathing heavily, he lifted his head to look Roberts square in the face with defiance. As the last bullet hit, I fell to my knees with exhaustion, knowing the moment I let go, Kane would die.
Roberts was screaming with frustration as Kane wasn’t going down. His gun kept clicking over and over with an empty bullet barrel. I pushed hard at Kane’s flesh to push out the last bullet when Roberts did something unexpected. He threw the empty gun at Kane and ran at us. I didn’t have time to let go. As Roberts hit us, the connection broke and the power exploded from me, knocking us in all directions.
“Ivy! Wake up.” I could barely hear Kane as my ears were ringing. Trying to clear my head, I sat up and looked around. He was nowhere near me. Blinking, to focus a little better, I saw Roberts on the ground. Dragging myself to my feet, I could see that he was lying awkwardly. Stepping c
loser, I put my hand over my mouth in horror. He looked dead. Hurrying over, I knelt down and touched him. He was dead! His neck must have broken as he hit the rocks. I’d killed him.
Stumbling backwards, away from the broken man, Kane coughed by the side of the truck. I turned and ran over to him. His shirt was soaked in his blood. Ripping it open, I couldn’t see how badly he was hurt.
“Would you mind getting the last bullet out, Ivy? It stings a bit,” he laughed, trying to make light of the whole mess before starting to cough again.
My hands slipping in the greasy blood; I managed to make enough skin contact to find and push out the last bullet. Feeling woozy, I sat back, staring at my hands in my lap. “You stood in front of a gun for me,” I said, not quite believing it. Kane took off his shirt and started wiping away the blood. I stayed sat on the ground as Kane retrieved two bottles of water from the truck. Opening them, he handed me one, then proceeded to pour his water all over his torso, washing the rest of the blood off. Sitting with my mouth agape, I watched the water run down his chest in slow motion. I almost heard music playing.
“Ivy, we should go.” Kane interrupted my train of thought. He helped me into the truck and put Roberts in the trunk of his car, driving it round the rocks and out of sight. “I’ll tell the council to come and clear that up once we get back, okay?” I nodded; I was still a little dazed.
Parking in front of the lodge, Kane helped me down from the truck and went to go and talk to Gary. I had drunk two bottles of water on the way back and was still feeling a little weak. Seeing Barrett over by the lake, I made my way over to talk to him.
About halfway around the lake I stumbled over something - or at least I thought I did. Pain shot up my leg as something grabbed my ankle. I screamed in agony as I was forced off my feet. Landing hard and rolling over, blood was slowly covering the ground where I lay. My blood! “Help!” I screamed, as an onslaught of deep cuts tore at my legs. Water, shaped like a hand, started to drag me into the lake. I struggled as pain ripped through my legs. I saw Barrett running towards me as I was pulled under the water.
I struggled, trying to push off a hand that I couldn’t grasp. The lake around me reddened with my blood. A gloved hand from the surface tried to grab me. I reached for it but it was too slippery. The hand withdrew and returned without the glove. I grabbed it firmly. The hand was hot and started to burn. Looking down, I saw a sinister toothed grin beneath me.
I reached up, grabbing the arm with my other hand as it began to pull me free from the lake. Barrett, with his selkie strength, managed to drag me free from the Opal’s grasp, far from the water’s edge.
He let go immediately, knowing how badly he was burning my hands. “Ivy, I’m sorry,” he said, out of breath. I just sat there, looking at the blood running from my ankles. Kane ran, taking his jacket off and threw it over my legs. He nodded briefly to Barrett and picked me up, carrying me into the hall. “Someone fetch Grogan!” Kane ordered. Placing me on the floor, he carefully moved his jacket to see the extent of my wounds. He tried to put pressure over them but there were too many.
With a tear running down my cheek, I tried to reassure him. “It’s okay, Kane, they don’t hurt anymore,” I said, looking at my hands. I hoped Grogan would get there fast. Agatha’s nephew, Lewis, who was already in the hall, began to stop the bleeding. It took all he had; he wasn’t as strong as an Elder but I appreciated his help.
I was sitting on one of the chairs as Grogan arrived, breathless from running. The hall was also filling with worried Lake Dwellers. “Let me see, Ivy,” Grogan managed. I took Kane’s jacket from my legs. They were heavily scarred but Lewis had stopped most of the bleeding. Grogan gripped my ankles as his eyes changed to black. He worked hard and managed to get the wounds down to faint lines. “Let me see your hands, Ivy,” he asked, slowly. There were gasps as I showed them to him. They were heavily blistered and because Barrett had caused them, they would be difficult to heal.
Grogan stood in front of Barrett and waited for an explanation. Barrett lowered his head slightly in shame. “I tried to pull her from the lake but the gloves were too slippery. I had to take them off to grip her hands. You don’t know how bad I feel about hurting her, Elder,” he said through gritted teeth. He then turned to apologise to Kane. Kane held up his hands. “You saved her life, man. You don’t need to say anything to me.”
Grogan began healing my burns until Glory arrived and took over. Several Elders I’d never met before also took their turns until the pain had dissipated, leaving only red marks. The doors to the hall flew open as Monty rushed in. Everyone turned to see what was happening.
“I translated the rest of the runes. You’re not going to believe this,” he said excitedly.
Glory called a meeting after speaking with Monty. Whilst the room filled, Monty came to talk to me. “I have good and bad news,” he said. “I found proof of the sirens, Ivy. But my research showed that they left here a long time ago. Sorry, Ivy, I wish I could have been more help.”
Glory called the room to order. She conveyed all the information about the Opals she had been given. I was waiting to hear what Monty had found out, but she never said. At the end of the meeting, she dismissed nearly every one. Everyone accept me, Kane, Barrett and Monty. A few Elders, including Grogan, hung around, as did Gary, as she approached.
Rising out of our seats as she drew near, she took a long look at all of us. “Monty managed to interpret the rest of the runes. He believes they say that there is no way to kill an Opal, as it is a non-corporeal being. Also, that only an old one knows how to get rid of one.”
Barrett raised his eyebrows as the rest of us looked at each other, shrugging. “She means fae,” Barrett said spoke out.
“Fae, as in fairy or magical folk of old?” I said, trying to keep a straight face. Barrett didn’t laugh. He was being serious. “Fae still exist?” I asked. Apart from when the great divide occurred, no one had heard of an old one still being around. No one knew where they went after dividing the selkie into us and them. This was ridiculous. How was anyone meant to find a fae?
“Barrett, your government has given you permission to help us find an old one,” Glory said to him.
Barrett bowed his head to Glory. “As you wish.”
“Ivy, I need for you to go with him if you are well en...” Kane interrupted her.
“Don’t you think she’s been through enough?” he said, a little too familiarly. I stood with my hand over my mouth in shock at his outburst. Grogan just shook his head.
“If I may finish,” she spoke softly to Kane, trying to calm him. “Ivy is connected to the lake, she has to go. You, however, must stay behind on this. You would be too much of a distraction.”
She wasn’t wrong about Kane being distracting. I nodded in agreement as Glory turned back to Barrett. “You will keep her safe.” It wasn’t a question. “You will leave in the morning then. Good luck to you both,” she said, then turned and walked away.
Kane gave Barrett a warning look as we turned to leave. I frowned at him. Barrett would never purposely harm me.
As it was our last evening alone before the big quest, I decided this was now our romantic night. After visiting Sylvia briefly, I brought back the things I had asked her to get for me from town.
Standing in front of the bathroom mirror alone, I looked at myself in my new sexy lingerie. Shaking my head at the absurdity of it, I fiddled with the lace. “Ivy, are you coming out or what?” called Kane. Taking one more look at myself, I took a deep breath. “Are you sitting down? Okay, but don’t laugh.” I don’t know why I let Sylvia talk me into wearing this. The search for the fae would be dangerous; this could prove to be my last night with him.
“I promise I won’t laugh,” Kane said eagerly.
Straightening the back of the knickers, I open the door slowly and stepped into the lounge.
Kane immediately stiffened in his seat. He parted his lips to speak but I held up my hand. “No talking,” I said. The candle
s flickered as I moved past them, stopping right in front of Kane. “You like?” I asked, slowly running my fingers over the lace. He raised an eyebrow and grinned wickedly.
Taking the hand he offered, I slid myself carefully into his lap, wrapping my legs around him. My eyes shifted as his hands moved slowly up my thighs and onto my body. Closing them, I arched my back with pleasure as warm lips touched my skin. I let out a small moan as his mouth found my breast.
Looking down at him, Kane was watching my reaction through smouldering black eyes. The moment I felt teeth, I pushed him back against the couch tearing open his shirt. This was so unlike me but I couldn’t stop myself. Seeing the need in his eyes, I grabbed his hair and covered his mouth with my own. Slowly teasing his tongue, Kane moaned into my mouth as I ground my hips against him.
Feeling him move beneath me, I delved my tongue deeper. The heat emanating from him was intense, or was I getting colder? He thumbed open my bra and slid the straps off my shoulders. As his hands moved lower down my back, I felt my temperature dropping. Not now, I thought, please, not now. I shuddered as he whipped off his belt, throwing it across the room in one easy movement.