by C. S Luis
The only words that could come out from my mouth were, “You’re a…you’re a….”
And then nothing else.
I felt stupid, immediately putting my hand over my mouth to stop me from speaking.
“Sorry I scared you, miss,” she softly whispered. “But I just had to come to see you,” she said, overly excited. Then she yelled back to no one I could see, “It is she!”
I stared at her curious and confused, unable to move back. Behind us from a distance, a few heads appeared out of the blue water to gawk at me.
“To see me?” I whispered, and just like that, something seemed to frighten her, and she jumped into the water and disappeared.
“Wait!” I called out to her; she emerged again, but not because of me. Quentin hovered above us. He startled me as he came down, nearly standing on the water. In fact, he was kneeling down in a sitting pose, motioning the woman back.
“Say hello, Selena,” he whispered to the mermaid, and she lowered her head, but it was not her whom he was referring to. I soon realized it when another woman emerged behind the red-haired one. She was very beautiful. She rose from the waters and her long blonde hair covered her neckline. She smiled and bowed to Quentin with great respect.
“Greetings, mighty one,” she said to him and then looked at me, examining me in an unusual manner.
“Say hello, Selena,” Quentin firmly repeated.
“Greetings, miss; it is an honor to finally meet you.” She bowed her head to me as she did her companion, and many others emerged and bowed as well. Mesmerized, I looked about unable to speak.
“We’ve heard—” She started to say before Quentin cut her off.
“So, what do you think?” Quentin asked her with a clever smirk on his face.
“She is beautiful, mighty one,” Selena answered Quentin, glaring at me with eyes so angry one could sense the hate in them. I blushed at her words and all their stares. Why did it matter what they thought?
“You found her just as you said you would.” she whispered again but looked slightly disappointed.
Quentin merely laughed, and her growl seemed to go unnoticed by him.
“This is unbelievable,” I uttered like a foolish child.
“Not in my world,” Quentin said, staring deeply into my eyes. I felt he was enjoying my curiosity but more so my innocence.
“They’re so beautiful,” I whispered in reference to the many women glaring at us. The blonde mermaid called Selena wrinkled a frown as she boldly came forward.
“You’re beautiful,” Quentin said with a smile, reaching down to caress my wet cheek. My lips trembled and I felt a breeze hit my back as the wind shifted the water. The wet strands of my hair were sticking to my face, and Quentin reached down to push them away.
“The Spider Queen has inquired regarding your return, mighty one,” Selena suddenly said, watching as Quentin’s attention seemed directed mostly to me. I had a strange feeling that she didn’t like me.
“I’m not interested in her,” Quentin firmly said, glancing over at her; his gentle hand was still caressing my cheek.
“But she has prepared a great feast in your honor,” Selena argued back to him.
Quentin redirected his eyes at her furiously. “I said I’m not interested!” He snapped, and she pushed back frightened, bowing and suddenly apologizing.
“Forgive me, mighty one,” she said again. “I only thought—”
“You thought what?” Quentin wickedly interrupted. “I take a moment of my precious time to allow you the honor of seeing my beautiful Pet-tricia, to be the first to see me triumph over my suffering—” he voiced. “—And you speak of nothing else but HER!”
“Forgive me…but I only thought that then she can see that you have found her. Found what you sought to find for so long.” Selena softly said.
“And that you are victorious…where the others have failed to be.”
Quentin fell silent, considering her words, and soon, a smile appeared on his face. He rose from his pose with his hands on his hips, appearing almost arrogant again. But why did it matter what this Queen thought? I wondered.
“What she thinks makes no difference to me.” Apparently so did Quentin from his harsh words in response.
“But, your brother, mighty one.” she said suddenly, Quentin turned at once to look at her. And she suddenly fell silent at those words.
“He knows—but he doesn’t believe…” He merely whispered in response to her words. I had no idea what all this meant. Brother? Knows what? I wondered.
“But he soon will,” he said again, now turning to me.
Quentin extended a hand for me to take and pulled me out of the water when he realized I was shivering. I did take his hand, simply forgetting what was said as he lifted me out and beside him with ease.
“How will you make him believe?” Selena bravely asked as Quentin glared back over at her, his lips spreading into a wide smile as I pondered what she meant. She was quite brave it seemed. It didn’t appear that anyone ever challenged or questioned Quentin.
Quentin gazed over at me, his hand found my cheek and he stroked a portion of my hair back.
“My Pet-tricia must awaken from within---only then will he realize he was wrong,” Quentin said.
“Only then will he realize his mistake.” A strange smile spread over his face, he seemed lost in his thought. What was he considering?
“But all in due time.”
“For now, I must do what I can to make her remember me,”
Selena seemed disappointed by his words, but she said nothing in response, glaring at me as she moved back. I had no idea what their words meant. Who was this Pet-tricia? Did they mean me? Did he have me confused for someone else?
“Whom do you speak of?” I uttered breathlessly as Quentin held me closer to him.
“No one,” he softly answered with a smile.
We shot back into the sky suddenly, leaving the mermaids below; some waved, and others, especially Selena, merely disappeared into the ocean uninterested.
We flew over a landscape of beautiful scenery as I tightly held onto Quentin, flying fairly close to the great mountain range where snow was thick and white and plentiful from all directions.
“It’s incredible,” I gasped; there was a smile on his face when I said that. Alongside us, a group of women or what seemed to be witches appeared, flying on broomsticks.
“Are they real?” I asked as the women dressed in long glittering gowns with flowing long dark hair, dazzling with jewels and gems smiled and giggled and sped away ahead of us.
“That’s amazing!” I exclaimed, waving back at them.
We flew into the sky and broke through the clouds and over the oceans where sea creatures emerged and disappeared into the deep blue water. Over the vast forest landscapes, a grand city and civilization of people gazed up towards us. Staring, motionless, they almost seemed panicked as we sped past. I lost their images as we moved away, flying in and through the forest’s tallest trees where strange animals leaped through tree branches alongside us. The forest opened for us as we rose high into the sky and far ahead into a vortex; a sort of doorway of blue beautiful colors appeared in the pastel skies, and we sped toward it. I soon realized we were back in the real world I knew so well.
Quentin carefully brought me down through the open window of my room. In the darkness, we stood; it was quiet, the night as peaceful as when we had left. It hadn’t even seemed like we were gone for long. Quentin nearly collapsed against me; he seemed to be overwhelmed. I was paralyzed by his handsome stature, and I didn’t move or pull away.
“That was amazing. I can’t believe it. Yet I was there. The ocean, the greenery, the beauty…it was just unbelievable!”
I froze, feeling he hadn’t moved and found his eyes gazing down on me. The smile on his lips spread, and his eyes examined me very deeply; it simply made me flush. And then I sensed it: his will again holding me without touch and without force.
It wa
s in the moment, I knew I wanted to be with him no matter what and that whatever he would ask of me I would find hard to resist.
“I’m glad you liked it,” Quentin said.
“Why did you show me this?” I asked.
“Because I wanted you to see my home,” Quentin answered, the smile reappearing on his pale face.
“Why did you come here?” I whispered softly, hypnotized by his dark eyes.
“Why, to find you.” Quentin came closer; I could feel his breath against my face, and it seemed he would kiss me. But at the same time, he resisted.
“Me? I don’t understand. Why me? I’m no one,” I said under his spell. He gazed deeply into my brown eyes.
“You’re something to me and more important than you realize.” His hand caressed a portion of my hair as he leaned forward, and I closed my eyes, longing for his lips to touch mine. But when I didn’t feel them, I opened my eyes, and he was gone.
I rushed to the open bedroom window; the curtain was flapping the side of the ledge, and I leaned my head out but only saw the yellow moon perched in the endless night sky. My rescuer was gone. Again.
That night, I could barely sleep. My dreams were of mermaids and witches darting through the dark skies and of blue oceans with plentiful sea serpents.
31
The Morning After
Michael’s voice awoke me from the other side of my bedroom door; I stirred from on the bedroom floor, realizing my longing had kept me up for most of the night near the open window. I sat there for a moment wondering if I would ever see him again. I had no doubt about it for some strange reason. But the desire was driving me insane. Why did I feel this way? Was I so unable to control myself? It wasn’t like me. Disappointed, I rose to get ready for school.
At breakfast, Michael looked over at me as I sat quietly at the kitchen table. He worried often; it was like he was my father or a nagging babysitter.
“You okay?” He asked.
I must have appeared zombie-like, just sitting there poking at my eggs, when I realized he was talking to me. He poured himself some orange juice when I looked up at him, suddenly aware that he was staring right at me.
“Oh yeah,” I said, trying not to stir concerns.
“Are you sure? You haven’t touched your breakfast. I hope you like the eggs. I wasn’t sure how you liked them,” he added, trying to smile. Sometimes he could be such a dork, but he was an adult, so how else was he supposed to behave?
“Oh no, they’re fine. I’m just tired,” I managed which was the honest truth, recalling my trip to Quentin’s world. Just thinking of him made me smile.
“Oh, did you have trouble sleeping last night? Bad dreams?” He continued, taking a drink from his orange juice. I immediately regretted stirring up ideas that weren’t there. It was just the lack of sleep, and I surely couldn’t tell him about Quentin.
“Yeah,” I looked up at him with a smile. “I guess you can say that.” I fully regretted that I had said anything.
“Well, don’t forget I’m always here if you need to talk to someone. Okay?” He said, picking up his plate and walking over to the sink.
“Okay,” I answered, hoping he would say nothing else about it.
I finished my breakfast and took the plate and placed it in the dishwasher. When I turned, he was packing his lunch and taking a brown bag out of the refrigerator for me.
“I made you a little something,” Michael added proudly. I tried to smile, realizing I would have to take it if I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.
“I know how foul that food in the cafeteria can be,” he added. He was right about that.
“Oh, that was nice of you,” I managed to say, taking the bag from his hand. He looked proud, almost too proud, and I think he thought he had this father bit figured out. And that very thought I could sense in his mind.
“Well, I guess we better get going,” Michael said while cleaning up the table.
Outside, I heard a car horn and realized that Alex had just arrived to pick me up. Usually I rode with Michael to school, but Alex had insisted on giving me a ride since she didn’t live far from us.
“I wonder who that could be?” Michael said as he peered out the window. The expression on his face indicated he had no idea whose car it was sitting on his driveway. And why would he? I had forgotten to tell him.
“Oh, that’s for me,” I said, grabbing my school bag from the kitchen corner.
“I hope it’s alright, Michael. I forgot to tell you. It’s this girl from school who offered to give me a ride.”
Michael looked outside again and saw Alex putting on her lipstick. As she noticed him, she waved back. He nearly returned the wave until he realized who she was and whom I meant.
“Alex Burton? You’re friends with Alex Burton?” He uttered in disbelief, recognizing the gothic girl in the driver’s seat.
“Yeah, is that okay?”
I could see that it wasn’t to him; Alex was nothing but trouble. Michael wasn’t hard to read. And she was nothing but bad news in his thoughts.
It surprised me when he said it was fine, although I knew it wasn’t.
“Yeah, go ahead,” he managed to say again as I grabbed the brown lunch bag.
“Are you sure?” I asked again as I turned to look at him standing and looking pitifully by the dishwasher. I was beginning to regret leaving him.
“Of course. You need to make friends. I’ll see you in school. Just be careful,” Michael said, walking me to the door. I looked back at him as he smiled, and I raced to Alex’s old mustang as he stepped out to the front of the house.
“You guys should be careful,” Michael added like a very concerned father. His round blue eyes examined Alex’s old beat up car from top to bottom. I could sense he was trying to see if the tires had air and whether she had done the expiration sticker. I think he would have asked if given the chance.
“Don’t worry, Mr. McClellan. I'll get her to school in one piece," Alex said as she peeled out. I tried hard to smile as the concern on his face became one of regret, but by then, it was too late. We were far from his reach when I noticed him take a step off the front porch as if to stop us.
As we drove off, I scolded Alex. “Did you really have to do that?”
“I couldn’t resist sorry,” she very plainly said with a smile. I doubted she was sorry.
“Why did you do that? He already doesn't like that I'm hanging out with you,” I informed her, but that only made her laugh.
"Oh really?" She foolishly said.
“Yeah, you want to give him another reason?" I angrily said while still trying to enjoy the ride to school.
"So, have you asked yet?” Alex suddenly said quickly changing the topic as she drove through a stop sign.
"What are you doing?” I yelled.
"Relax. I looked before I went,” she answered, rolling her eyes like I was overreacting.
"Well?" Alex asked as I looked out the window trying to pretend I wasn’t going to hear it from Michael when I got home or to school. I could already imagine his discussion. He would never let me ride in the car with her again. I just knew it.
“Well what?” I asked, turning to her as she ran through a yellow light.
“What do you mean what? Did you ask about the party yet?” She said again while glancing over at me. Then I realized what she meant. The party was this weekend and I hadn’t even said anything to Michael about it. I just had a feeling he wasn’t going to let me go. He especially wouldn’t let me go now that he knew I was hanging out with Alex Burton.
"Not yet?” I managed to say as Alex spun her head sideways in my direction immediately.
"What? Claudia, the party is in two days. You have to ask,” she insisted, driving like a madman down Broadway. We stopped at a stoplight with a sudden halt; we were merely a turn away from the school.
"I know," I said nervously, glaring at her. Her driving was making me nauseated; you’d think this was her first time driving. And not to mention, s
he had an old fast car, a 1969-year-old Mustang. It wasn’t in the best condition, but it was a red convertible and a fixer upper.
"Afraid he's not gonna let you go?” Alex asked, looking over at me from the driver’s seat.
"Maybe," I admitted while looking down at my brown bag and shamefully stuffing it into the school bag.
“He made you a lunch bag? What a dork.”
I frowned at her.
“Sorry,” she uttered, popping her bubblegum.
"Look, just sneak out," Alex suggested with a wink. “It’s the best option,” she uttered, licking the lipstick from her lips. “I don’t see what the problem is.”
"I can't do that!” I exclaimed.
"Why not? I do it all the time. Piece of cake. It's quite easy, and I'll pick you up.”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Ok, so what's the problem then? Is everything okay with you and old man McClellan?" She asked.
I was silent for a moment, and then said, “It's not that.”
“Well, what is it then?” Alex asked.
The light finally turned green, and she sped off, nearly running down two guys as she sped into the parking lot. She honked at them as she drove around looking for a space, but there didn’t seem to be one left, so she drove back around. I thought she was heading back into the street to find a place to park when she just drove into one of the teacher’s spaces and shut off the engine.
“Wait, you can’t park here,” I told her.
“Why not?” She asked, rolling her eyes and reaching to the back seat for her school bag. Again, she looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror, checking her makeup.