by Leesa Birch
I pulled my lips away, stumbling off him onto the floor. Kane looked confused and severely frustrated. He sat, breathing heavily, holding what was left of my lingerie in one hand. I started to tremble, covering myself with my arms.
Kane quickly realised what was happening to me. He awkwardly got off the couch, slid his arm beneath me and carried my now-shaking body into the bathroom. He lowered me into the tub and turned on the taps; I tried to apologise through chattering teeth. Kane sat on the floor next to me, stroking my hair. Kissing me demandingly, he said – almost as a growl: “I guess I’ll keep these until you get back. You owe me big time, darlin’.”
I smiled as my temperature started to return to normal.
11
After spending most of the night apologising for ruining what was going to be a very good night, Kane explained that we had the rest of our lives together - and that I did, in fact, owe him big time. I lay in bed with my head on his chest, listening to the sound of his heartbeat, wondering what he had in mind.
Kane moaned into my hair as someone knocked on the door. Before either of us could answer, Barrett came waltzing in. “Barrett!” we both yelled at him. He straightened his suit and raised his eyebrows at us.
“What? I knocked,” he said, sitting down and pointing to the door. Was there any point in trying to explain it to him, I thought.
Kane rolled me over and pressed his lips to mine. Not caring that we had company, he slowly moved the kissing along my jawline and down onto my neck. As good as it felt, I patted him to stop. Finishing nuzzling my neck, he looked down at me through black eyes. I frowned at him, motioning to Barrett. He scoffed, shook his head and threw the covers back, climbing out of bed. Feeling thoroughly exposed in my pyjamas, I made myself scarce, shuffling into the bathroom.
Damn it! My eyes were black too. Kane seriously had no shame. Washing my face, I looked around the bathroom for some near-clean clothes. I didn’t know what to expect from our search, but I wasn’t walking back out into the lounge as I was. Grabbing what I could find, I dressed quickly and walked in to see the men laughing. I stopped in my tracks, thinking they were laughing about me.
Kane had at least put some jeans on while I was in the bathroom. He made his way over to the sink and handed me a flask. “Coffee to go,” he said deeply. “And breakfast. Promise you will be careful, Ivy. I want you back in one piece.” He raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer.
I nodded to him. “I’ll do my best to stay out of trouble,” I mumbled to him.
“Good, because I have something special planned for when you get back.” Pulling me in for a hug, he whispered in my ear, “Stay safe, Mrs. Kane.” I almost choked and hoped that Barrett hadn’t heard.
Not wanting to get all mushy in front of our guest, I cupped Kane’s face, quickly kissing him. “Later,” I said and followed Barrett out of the cabin.
Gary drove us to some sort of botanical garden. It was a beautiful place. I would have to remember to bring Sylvia here when this was all over. Slamming the van doors closed, I followed Barrett off into the shrubbery.
“You do know where you’re going?” I asked Barrett, as a tree branch hit me in the face and I stumbled. He walked really fast too; I had trouble keeping up with him. Every now and again, I’d see a flash of white hair through the foliage. “Barrett, slow down,” I called as I tripped and fell into him. “Sorry,” I offered.
We stood in front of a vine-covered wall. Water poured from an angry-looking stone man’s mouth into a pool by our feet. Barrett looked uncomfortable staring at the water. “Are we here?” I asked, looking around for signs of an old one. Not that I knew what an old one looked like.
“We have to go through there.” He pointed at the pool of water. “It’s a gateway of sorts. Very rare and not to be travelled lightly.” I looked at the pool, then at him. “Seriously? You want me to jump in there?” I said, a little shocked. Taking a deep breath and sighing, he turned to me. “Yes, I am serious, Ivy. Go under and come up the other side.”
I was tempted to look around the wall to see what was there, but that would have just been silly. “You’ll have to go first, Ivy, I don’t want to contaminate the water with salt.”
Stepping to the edge of the pool, I looked down. The water was green and smelt stagnant. Well, it was now or never, I supposed. Taking a deep breath, I plunged into the cold, dark water. I felt like I was being pulled and shoved in different directions. Then I saw a light coming at me fast from below. I was projected out of the water, landing several feet away in a heap, coughing.
A few moments later, Barrett came through and landed far more gracefully next to me. “Wow, that was interesting,” I said as he helped me up. Looking around us, the wall had disappeared. In fact, we seemed to be in the middle of a dense forest. It was warm and it smelt of the wild garlic growing by the pool. “I don’t suppose you can tell me where we are?” I asked whilst drying myself. Barrett stepped forward for me to do the same for him. A low buzz and a ‘poof’ later, we were both dry and ready to move on.
“It would take too long to explain, Ivy. I think you would call it another realm.” Barrett said, walking off in front. Realm? We have realms? Why didn’t anyone else know about these things? The same reason they didn’t know about us, the selkie, sirens; this was becoming a little confusing. Trying to clear my head, I picked up my pace and caught up with Barrett. I wasn’t sure how long we’d been walking, but darkness was closing in. I wasn’t worried as I guessed Barrett knew where he was going. I went to ask him how far we had to go when he stopped and held up his hand. “Shhh.”
I stopped dead in my tracks as something howled in the darkness; it sent a shiver down my spine. I clicked on my torch. “Did you hear that?” I whispered. I spun my torch around, desperately hoping I wouldn’t see eyes glowing back at me. I should have hoped harder.
“Don’t move, Ivy. They won’t attack if you don’t run,” he said in a low voice. I was fighting every natural instinct I had not to turn tail and run. My heart beat loudly against my chest; adrenaline had already entered my system. Trying to keep calm, I asked him, “What are they Barrett, have you seen them before?” Barrett was unmoving as stone, glaring back at the night creatures.
“I’ve seen a great many things in my time, Ivy, which is why the council sent me instead of your lover. Plus, you’re too easily distracted.” I frowned at his lack of faith in me.
The creatures skirmished with each other a short distance away. It sounded very violent. “Besides, Ivy, an alliance between Lake Dweller and selkie might impress the fae.” Somehow it sounded as if he didn’t believe the last part.
My feet were numb from standing so still and I had an unbelievable urge to scratch. We hadn’t heard the creatures for a while and I checked around us with the torch. No eyes looked back at us. “Maybe we should light a fire and rest for the night?” Barrett suggested.
Seeing better in the dark than me, Barrett gathered some wood and built a fire in a more open area. I sat down, rubbing my feet back to life. Barrett sat looking at the fire, intrigued by the flames. “Still is very strange to me, fire I mean,” he said. “Hard to light one under the sea.” He laughed. I laughed too, mostly at my ignorance. I still couldn’t imagine living under water. I had so many questions.
“Tell me about the sirens, what are they like?” I asked. “Do you know where they are now Barrett?” I shuffled closer to the fire as I heard something howling not far from us.
“They are not to be trusted,” he said, aggressively. Through gritted teeth, he continued, “They use their voices to lure, manipulate and kill, that is all, And I do not know where they are now, Ivy,” he admitted, poking at the fire.
It wasn’t a lot of help. If anyone knew where they were, I thought it would be a selkie. Maybe he just wasn’t allowed to say. I changed the subject and asked him about his clothes. He liked to talk about the different fabrics and their closeness to his skin. He seemed to relax more, so I settled down and drifted off to t
he sound of his voice.
The fog was lifting slowly from the lake as I waded in. The cold water crept further up my legs as I reached what I was looking at. The floating object bumped into my thighs. The soaked cloth was attached to something under the water. I pulled carefully so as not to rip it. The fine white lace looked familiar somehow. I pulled more and more of the lace out of the water. It was my dress - that’s where I had seen it before. I looked at the ring on my finger as the clouds shifted slightly; the sun shone briefly on it, causing it to sparkle. As the sun disappeared back behind the clouds, I sighed. Then a large lump attached to the dress floated to the surface. My stomach turned, seeing it was a body. I stepped closer to turn it over.
Horror spread through me as I looked down upon myself. Falling backwards into the cold water, I tried to get away from it. More bodies began floating to the surface. All around me, everywhere, all I could see were faces belonging to the people I love. Frantically, I searched for Kane. Please don’t let him be here. Please don’t let him be here.
“Ivy! Wake up; you’re having a bad dream.” Barrett was crouched over me, nudging my side.
“I’m awake! Stop pushing,” I said, a little harshly. I sat up and remembered where I was. Drinking some water, I tried to shake the picture of all those faces from my mind.
“Are you dreams getting worse, Ivy?” Barrett asked politely. I nodded and finished my water.
“Think the old one can help me with them?” I was hoping they could.
“Ivy, when we find the old one - as you put it - remember this; do not make deals with her, she is tricky. Never freely offer her anything, and only agree to something if it is truly necessary. Do you understand?” he warned me. I nodded at his seriousness.
Walking in the morning sun, the birds were singing and I was happy not to be enduring autumn weather.
Barrett didn’t elaborate on the fae being tricksters. In fact, he didn’t talk much at all. He was constantly looking over his shoulder like something bad was going to happen. As the woods became more open, more of the sun broke through the canopy. Looking up at the sheer height of some of the trees, I inadvertently walked into Barrett.
We had stopped in front of a circle of huge stone monoliths. They were overgrown with vines. Stepping forward and brushing some of it aside, I could see that they had pictures and writing carved into them.
I turned to see what Barrett was doing. “Do you know what this says?” He never answered; he was looking straight past me. I followed his line of sight. He was looking at a small dome made of old grey stone, slightly crumbling on one side. “Are you sure you want to do this, Ivy?” he asked, stepping into the ring of stones.
I didn’t really have a choice. Stepping inside the rings felt strange, as if the trees were watching us. There was no forest noise any more, no birds or insects. I stared as a butterfly flew too close to the circle then disappeared. I stood there pointing when Barrett tapped my shoulder. “Let’s do this and get out of here,” he suggested.
Walking over to the dome, I noticed small archways around it. They were around three feet high. Barrett nodded for me to go through. Checking behind himself, he followed me. Inside the small dome, light came from below. There was a square, wooden staircase descending down into the ground.
As we began our journey down, the smell of burning herbs wafted up from below. The stairs were old and creaked with every step. The light grew brighter and brighter until we reached the bottom and a small door.
Barrett put his hand on my shoulder, took a reassuring breath and knocked. The old wooden door swung inwards, revealing a large fire-lit room. A short, old lady was standing next to the fire, grinning widely.
“Barrett, how nice to see you again. Have you come to pay your debt?” Barrett shifted uncomfortably where he stood. “Axia,” he said, bowing to the old lady. I couldn’t believe it; I couldn’t believe I was in the presence of an old one. I tried to regain my composure and stepped forward to introduce myself. Barrett put his arm out, stopping me, shaking his head slightly.
“Is this a present?” the old one asked. “Hmm, a Lake Dweller. I remember those. But you’re a little different.” She stepped towards me, sniffing the air. I didn’t know how she could smell anything over the herbs in there. “A water weaver!” She sounded a little too excited at this fact. “That would make you Ivy. I knew you’d come, but I wasn’t expecting you for some time yet.” Barrett looked worried at me.
Axia went about her business, stirring and opening pots to look for things. Then she turned as if she’d just remembered something. “If you want my help, you’ll have to find me first.” She started to cackle. Barrett lunged for her as she vanished before us. Too late, she’d gone.
“Now what?” I asked him. “And what did she mean, she was expecting me? I don’t understand, Barrett. Also, at some point I’d like to know why you owe her something.”
Barrett searched the room, mumbling under his breath. He stopped, looked over at the chair and went over to it. Picking it up and throwing it across the room revealed a doorway. He motioned for me to follow him. The door opened up into a large, torch-lit, round-bricked room full of chests.
“Firstly, Ivy, never trust anything she says. She is full of half-truths. I don’t know why she wants us to play her game and my debt is my own,” he said, looking at the boxes. “I guess we should open one then, but which one?”
Oh, it’s one of those tests, I thought to myself while looking for clues.
“How about that one?” Barrett pointed to a blue, glass box.
“Are you kidding me? It’s glowing. I’m not opening a glowing box. You open it, then when it explodes, I’ll heal you,” I suggested.
With a grin widening across his face, Barrett sniggered, “I’d like to see you put your hands on me and try, Ivy.” Frowning at my stupid statement, what with him being selkie and all, I went to look at the other chests. Careful not to touch any of them, I looked at their markings. I remembered the charm that had fallen out of the painting. Pulling out of my pocket, I checked the markings on both.
“How about this one, Barrett? They both have the same markings.” Holding it out for him to see, I added, “I wasn’t sure if it meant anything, so I brought it anyway.”
Barrett thought about it and nodded in agreement. Pocketing the charm, I reached out and carefully lifted the lid to the chest. Stepping back quickly in case it exploded, I waited. Nothing happened. We both looked at each other and laughed at our expectations. “I guess it’s not this one then,” I said and went to look at some of the others.
As I stepped away from Barrett the floor rumbled and a stone wall sprung up between us, knocking me back. “Ivy!” yelled Barrett, just as the wall hit the ceiling with a thud. Dust and bits of ceiling fell, chocking me. After picking myself up from the floor, I felt along the wall for a hidden exit of some sort. Nothing.
I couldn’t hear Barrett’s voice anymore but I could hear him pounding against the wall. More stone shot off it as the selkie hit it hard from his side. Don’t panic, Ivy, he’ll break through that easily, I thought to myself. Better give him some room though. As I stepped back, my foot caught on something. I looked down; a wooden panel beneath my feet gave way and I fell.
Screaming, I fell down a long chute into some water. After righting myself, I look up to see if Barrett had broken through yet. I couldn’t see anything. The panel had closed above me.
Looking around the dimly lit tunnel, there wasn’t much to see only smooth, grey stone and slimy, fetid water. Forwards or backwards were my only two choices. I waited for a short while, just in case Barrett did break through and find the trap door.
Something moved between my legs before swimming away. My heart pounded in my chest after the recent dreams I’d been having. I actually thought the water was getting smellier. Waist deep in foul water, I waded ahead in hope of being found. Finally finding some steps, I climbed them heavily. The amount of wading had really taken it out of my legs.
&nbs
p; I stopped at the top of what was maybe thirty steps and sat down, leaning against the crumbling walls. “Ow!” My voice echoed through the tunnel as I looked at my hand. There was a small bump where it looked as though something had bitten me. Checking around me for spiders, my eyes grew heavy. Then I was blinded by a white light.
I knew this place; this was my house; or rather the house from my dream. Kane was outside, lying on an old blanket with our daughter asleep on his stomach. Jaxson ran past me, almost knocking me down.
“Hey, you mind your mama!” He laughed at my mock horror. Cherokee Rose squirmed on Kane as she woke up. He moved her hair out of her face and pretended to steal her nose. She giggled and tried to find it in his hand. I walked over to where they lay and sat down on the corner of the old blanket.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he whispered to Cherokee. “Why don’t you run along and give me and your mama some grown-up time?” Checking that her nose was safely where it should be, she jumped up, threw her arms around me, knocking me over, kissed me then ran off. As I laughed at her running away, Kane leant over me.