by Sarah Kleck
“And what shall we two good-looking kids do now?” Felix asked and put on his puppy-dog face. It made me grin. I liked Felix though he sometimes overreacted in strange and rather impulsive ways. He had walked his feet sore today only because I wanted to see beautiful buildings. And, totally unlike Sally, he hadn’t complained once. He just seemed to take delight in me enjoying myself.
“Not a clue,” I said and laughed. “Any suggestions?”
“We’re young—we can do anything we feel like. Be a little creative!” he said and waved his arms.
I thought for a moment. “Okay, then let’s go . . . swimming.” It was the first thing I could think of. But thinking a little more about it, it really was what I most felt like doing. I hadn’t been in the water for a long time and was truly yearning for it.
“Swimming?” Felix said with little enthusiasm and frowned. “Then again . . .” He looked down my body and stopped at my crossed legs. “Why not?”
I raised my right eyebrow and gave him a warning look.
“What? I’m a guy, after all,” he said and smiled. “Let’s go swimming,” he said and put his jacket on.
After we had hurried to our rooms and picked up our swimming gear, we met at the indoor pool of the athletic building. My arms and legs began to tingle with anticipation. I quickly changed and had already swum a lap when Felix emerged from the changing room in his oversized, brightly colored Bermuda shorts.
“Come on, I’ll race you,” I said when he was in the pool and gave him a big grin. The feeling of finally being back in the water almost made me euphoric. I enjoyed every movement as I dove, turned underwater, and surfaced only when I ran out of air.
“Oh man! I was starting to think you’d never come back up again,” Felix said while trying to keep up with my pace. “Are you training for the Olympics or what?” he asked, amazed.
“Nah,” I said smiling, “I just like being in the water.”
“You don’t say! Are you sure you aren’t a mermaid or something?” he joked.
“Pretty sure, yeah,” I said with a laugh. “So, what about it? Are you going to accept my challenge?”
“Of course, my little water sprite!” he said and started swimming as fast as he could. I already knew after the first few strokes that he didn’t stand a chance and slowed the pace somewhat so I wouldn’t bruise his ego too much. But only six laps later Felix pulled himself up on the edge of the pool using the last of his strength. He panted, completely out of breath, “I can’t anymore! No idea how you do it . . . You win! I give up!” I felt a little sorry for him, but I hadn’t had nearly enough. I didn’t feel tired and had the feeling I could swim forever.
“I’ll swim a few more laps, okay?” He lifted his arm and waved weakly. Since I was swimming alone and didn’t have to consider Felix, I really let go. I swam and dove as fast as I could. I loved water. Always had. It was almost as if it charged every cell in my body with pure energy.
Felix had caught his breath again and was watching me from the edge of the pool. I began to feel uncomfortable under his gaze and dove a last time to the bottom of the pool, nestled against the gentle waves that my movements had stirred up in the water, then surfaced again and swam over to Felix.
He was looking at me with disbelief, eyes wide open.
“What?” I asked.
“I . . . I’ve never seen anything like that!” he said and shook his head. “You should be in the Olympics—seriously!”
“Don’t exaggerate,” I said. “I just like being in the water—that’s all.”
“I’ve noticed!” he said. “And what now? Do you want to swim a bit more or should we go for a drink at Berry’s?”
I considered briefly if this might be a date and decided we could have a drink as friends. After all, we’d already spent the entire day together. Why shouldn’t it be okay to do something together with just Felix?
“Okay, why not?” I said and smiled.
After I’d showered and dressed, I went out into the hall and dried my hair under the blow-dryer. I was about to put it in a ponytail as usual, when Felix took the hair band out of my hand.
“Why don’t you leave your hair down today for a change,” he suggested and smiled. “It looks nice.”
“Oh all right,” I said, a little embarrassed, took my bag, and went with Felix to Berry’s. We managed to grab the last bar stools.
“Two ginger ales,” Felix ordered, without asking me what I wanted. He remembered what I’d ordered the last few times.
“Cheers,” he toasted me with a smile and raised his glass.
“Cheers,” I returned his toast, clinked my glass against his and took a sip.
“So, confess,” Felix said. “Who in your family is descended from a fish?”
“Ha, very funny!” I said. I was still enjoying the euphoric feeling of swimming. My whole body felt good. It was like . . . the opposite of pain.
Felix and I chatted and joked for a while, and as I slowly became sleepy after another ginger ale, I gratefully accepted his offer to walk me home.
“Here we are,” he said when we arrived at my dorm. “I tried to get a room here once—having your own bathroom, you know—but it didn’t work. Instead I wound up at party central,” he said, annoyed.
“At least you don’t have to go elsewhere if you feel like a bit of company,” I said.
“Hello?” he said with wide eyes. “Own bathroom!” It was the only argument that counted as far as he was concerned.
“Point to you,” I agreed. I would not have traded my bathroom for anything in the world. Except for Jared, I thought and smiled a little at my silly thought.
“Well, how about it?” Felix asked in a casual tone. “Will you show me your bathroom? Just so I know what I’m missing, of course,” he said.
Of course, I repeated the idiotic justification in my thoughts and mulled over how I could make it clear to Felix in a firm but friendly way that I was going upstairs alone.
“Another time, Felix. I’m tired and going right to bed.” For a second, it appeared as if the word bed would be Felix’s cue for another comment. But he gave me a friendly nod and departed, saying, “Then I wish you a good night, Evelyn. Sleep well!” I wished him the same and climbed up the stairs.
That night I slept like a baby and when I woke up on Sunday morning, I was as relaxed and well rested as I’d ever been. I knew that water—especially swimming—was good for me, but I’d never before felt the effect so clearly. I was completely immersed in this pleasant, warm feeling—and I wanted more. Even before I opened my eyes, I resolved that I must get to the swimming pool as fast as possible.
This time I already had the tingling sensation of anticipation when I left the dorm for the athletic building. I could hardly wait to be back in the water. When I arrived at the pool, I changed so quickly into my bikini, which was still wet from the night before, that I almost fell. I tripped over my feet and banged into the walls of the narrow changing room. When I finally stepped to the edge of the short course pool, I was irritated to find I was not the only one here this early on a Sunday morning. A small group of competitive female swimmers had already arrived for training.
Since they didn’t appear to notice me, I jumped from the edge—prohibited—into the water. My movements were soft and flowing despite their speed. I was fully immersed in the experience and swam lap after lap, lost in thought without any awareness of time passing. When I finally looked at the face of the huge, plastic-wrapped wall clock, I found to my astonishment that I’d swum for more than an hour. Suddenly, I remembered that Sally wanted to meet me, and I was more than anxious to find out what she had to say. I promised myself to return soon and swam to the edge of the pool with a heavy heart.
“Hey, Blondie, you swim pretty fast with your skinny legs!” No! It couldn’t be . . . but it was! I recognized her deprecating tone at once. Ma
dison stood at the top of the metal ladder on which I was just climbing out of the pool. She was wearing a tightly cut, black Speedo bathing suit with matching cap and goggles. The three girls next to her were wearing the same outfits, which suggested they were together on one of the university’s swim teams.
“What do you want, Madison?” I asked.
“Nothing. I just wanted to say hello,” she said with a mocking grin, while her three companions broke out giggling.
“Hello,” I said and pressed past them toward the changing rooms.
“You wouldn’t . . .” she started in her overly sweet tone but stopped midsentence. She stared with wide eyes at the blue-green crystal amulet I wore around my neck. I’d never taken it off since Mother gave it to me all those years ago. It had become so much a part of me that I was hardly aware of it. But now Madison was looking at it with such a shocked expression that my hand involuntarily moved to my neck and clasped the triangular ornament.
Madison swallowed hard. “Where did you get that?” she asked, emphasizing every word. She looked as if she was about to bite off her tongue.
“What makes you think that’s any of your business?” I said, outraged.
With that, I left for the changing room, grabbed my towel and apple blossom shampoo, which I had packed the night before, and went to the shower. While I soaped myself, I hoped Madison would finally leave me alone. I didn’t know what her problem with me was. She had a big crush on Jared, I knew that, but I wasn’t with Jared, nor was there any sign that I ever would be. So, what was this all about? I closed my eyes and let the water roll over my face when I suddenly sensed movement behind me—somebody was there. I started to turn around but my head was suddenly slammed with full force against the wall. The blow hit me so unexpectedly I didn’t have the slightest chance to react. Completely disoriented, I fell in the narrow shower stall and tried to see something—anything—with my suddenly blurry vision. As if this wasn’t enough, the shampoo burned my eyes, robbing me of even more of my sight. Then I felt fingernails claw into my throat and rip the amulet from my neck with a forceful pull. Still numb from the blow to my head, I flailed and tried to strike my attacker. But my hands connected with nothing. My clouded vision cleared up seconds later and I barged out of the stall. Enraged, I pushed all the shower stalls open, ran along the aisles of the changing rooms and then back to the pool, and searched every corner of the whole damned building, but the assailant—most likely female—was nowhere to be found. Madison, I thought and felt a burning rage rise inside me. She had stolen my amulet and tried to seriously hurt me.
I felt my throbbing forehead. It was swollen and sticky. I needed to clean the wound right away. Back in the shower, I looked down and saw that the water running down my body was tinged with red. Although I was almost boiling over with rage, I took a moment to carefully wash out the wound until the bleeding stopped. Then I turned the water off and headed into the changing room. A small mirror was installed there and I was able to take a closer look. My forehead was swollen, but I could tell this was just a surface wound. The bleeding had completely stopped. It almost looked as if my forehead had not bled at all. It was as if the water had closed the wound. I’d noticed this phenomenon a few times before—which is why I made a habit of thoroughly washing any injury with water. I knew this had always worked better for me and Zara than anyone else we knew, but none of my injuries had ever healed this fast before. Nevertheless, I’d have a bruise for the next few days. The deep claw marks on my throat had already turned into nothing more than light-red scratches. When I’d finished looking over my injuries, I had an eerie feeling and reached for my neck. My amulet, I thought and found it difficult to hold back my tears. It was a gift from my mother. She had said it would always protect me and I should never take it off. And I never did—I’d worn it all these years, day after day.
You’ll pay for this, Madison!
“Heavens, what happened to your head?” Sally said when we met up. As we had agreed, I was waiting for her in the small café in town where we had warmed up after yesterday’s sightseeing tour. I took a quick glance into my little pocket mirror. The bruise on my forehead was already sporting all the colors of the rainbow. I sighed deeply and after she had sat down at the table, I told her as calmly as possible what had happened.
“What the hell does that stupid cow want your necklace for?” Sally asked, horrified.
“You’ll have to ask her that,” I said.
“Do you want to report her to the police? I’ll come along if you want.”
“No. I can’t even prove it was her.”
“Screw proof! We know it was her! You can’t let these snobs walk all over you!” Sally was really angry.
“I have no intention of letting that happen. But there isn’t much the police can do without proof—even if they wanted to. I’d have a lot of paperwork to fill out and that’d be all!”
“Fine, but what do you intend on doing?”
“Very simple: I’m getting my amulet back!” That was the only logical answer as far as I was concerned.
An unholy grin spread across Sally’s face, which reminded me of the evil smile of the Grinch. “Do you already have a plan?” She left no doubt that she would stand by my side no matter what.
“Not yet. I think I’ll decide that in the spur of the moment.”
“Well, okay,” she said. “We’ll have the element of surprise on our side.” We? Our? Sally was really ready to take up my cause. I could see that she was in the process of hatching a plan to get back at Madison and retrieve my amulet. She would not hesitate to take her on—for my sake. Although we hadn’t known each other very long, everything felt familiar with her. At that moment, I was grateful for having found Sally. I gave way to my inner impulse, leaned across the table, and gave her a firm hug.
“What was that for?” she asked, confused, after I’d let her go.
“Thank you for being there for me,” I said.
“Well, we’re friends, aren’t we?” She looked just as moved as I was, averted her eyes, and traced the pattern on the wooden table. “We’re there for each other.” For a moment neither of us said anything.
“So . . .” I wanted to change topics to prevent any more blushing. “Tell me what Colin said. Why does he think I need watching over? And what is this debriefing?”
“Colin didn’t say as much as I hoped. So I can’t reveal any details.”
“Okay. What exactly did he tell you?”
“Colin feels he shouldn’t talk about it at all.”
Where had I heard that before? “He already said that at the party.” I urged her on, eager to find out more.
“Anyway, he told me there are people who don’t like seeing you near Jared.”
“Madison,” I said.
“Hmm . . . I think it goes a bit deeper than that. From what I can read between the lines, Madison is only a dim light. What did he call her?” Sally thought for a moment. “Oh yes, pain in the butt! He said Madison was a little pain in the butt.” Her eyes flitted to my bruised forehead. “A pain in the butt that has clearly gone too far!”
“What do you mean ‘a bit deeper’?” I asked.
“I can’t tell you in detail, but I believe somebody is planning to do something to get you to stay away from Jared.”
I thought about my encounter with the man in the dark wool coat. Get away or I’ll no longer be able to do anything for you. I swallowed.
“And who’s behind it all?” I asked.
“He didn’t say. But in Colin’s phone call there was talk of Jared, Aiden, and Karen Mayflower. It must have something to do with these people.”
“Did Colin say why I’m supposed to keep away from Jared? After all, he’s the one keeping away from me. So, what’s this all about?”
“He only repeated what he already told you at the party . . .”
“. .
. that Jared is under a rotten influence,” I finished the sentence for Sally.
“Yes, exactly. Whatever that means.”
Thoughts bounced around in my head and theories sprang up. I tried to make a sensible whole from the snippets of conversations and comments I’d gleaned. Someone had persuaded Jared that what he desired would kill him, but what was it he desired? Why did someone want to keep me away from him? That was insane! What he desired would kill him. It echoed in my head. Did he desire me? Would someone want to harm me because I represented a danger to Jared? That was completely absurd!
“What exactly is going on there? Between Calmburry and you, I mean,” Sally said, interrupting my chaotic thoughts. Her forehead became deeply furrowed.
I snorted. “I wish I knew!”
“Do you like him?” she asked.
“Yes,” I answered and looked at my hands. Sally didn’t ask anything else.
Strange. That someone would seriously try to harm me—in whatever way—left me completely unmoved. After all that had happened to me, I was not even afraid of death. On the contrary: there had been days when I would have welcomed it with open arms. I was not particularly attached to my life. What bothered me about the whole thing—what almost drove me crazy—was this tormenting uncertainty. The unsolvable riddle. Then I suddenly thought of something I had forgotten to ask Sally.
“So, who did the debriefing come from?”
“Colin says that some High Council has decided not to do anything for the time being. About you, I mean. He says you’re safe for now and don’t need to worry.”
“High Council?” I repeated in disbelief. “That sounds like something out of a movie about the Middle Ages.” I was frustrated even though this ought to be good news. I had had much higher hopes for this conversation, but instead everything had become even more complicated. Sally couldn’t help it because she had already told me everything she knew. I really had to be careful not to dump my frustration on her. Better to say nothing than say something I’d regret later. So we sat silently across from each other for a few minutes, shifting our eyes back and forth between our hands and the ceiling. I only got a hold of myself when the waiter approached and asked if we wanted to order something.