Surface

by Jody Morse

  “Needless to say, we were bound to cross paths, eventually—and when we did, he became completely enchanted by me. It baffled me why Phorcys was one of the only men who was able to live in harmony with me without being lured by my song. I would soon learn it was because he wasn’t a man at all, but a God.” She climbed off her pool float and sunk down into the water.

  Angelica began tiptoeing across the pool, running her hand through the water with her back turned to us. “We had a relationship, Phorcys and I. It was wonderful while it lasted, but then it all came crashing down.” She took a deep breath. “One night, after our relationship was over and he had already moved onto another woman, I lured someone with my song. Her name was Evynne. It was the first time I had ever lured a woman before, so I was confused—but when I felt her slipping away, I did what I could to save her. I kissed her and turned her.

  “It was a mistake,” Angelica continued, turning back to face us. “Evynne was the woman who Phorcys was in love with before he met his wife, Ceto—and now, she was a siren. As it turns out, she was interested in both men and women. Anyway, to make matters worse, Evynne was carrying his unborn child. Their relationship did not work out in the end because Phorcys was unable to watch another woman who he loved—a woman who reminded him of me—lure men and women to their deaths with her song. Contrary to what Greek mythology may say, Phorcys is a kind, wonderful man. Or, he was at least.”

  “And what happened after that?” I whispered, knowing there had to be more to the story. The look on her face had turned cold, and her voice had turned distant. I felt sympathy for her. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to fall in love with a man only to have him push you away just because of who you were.

  “After their son, Adonis, who he shared with Evynne, was born, Phorcys avoided me for many years. About a hundred, to be exact,” Angelica replied, tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “I knew that he always held a grudge for what had happened, but I believe that somewhere, deep down inside, he knew that it wasn’t my fault. He didn’t see me as a monster, like some might. He understood that the song was beyond my control. But Ceto didn’t.

  “When Gabrielle was changed, Phorcys and Ceto came to see me. They told me that the sirens were overpopulating their sea and they wanted to put an end to it. In the past fifty years, they’ve given birth to these children who they’ve turned into monsters. They call them the Phorcydes.” Angelica glanced over at me, and I thought I noticed a nervous look pass through her eyes. “Jasmine doesn’t hate you, but she is afraid that all Hell is about to break loose for us because you were turned. Phorcys and Ceto threatened that they would wage a war against sirens if I—or any of my children—were to create another siren again.”

  Chapter 19

  I stared back at Angelica in disbelief. “But we can’t even die. What difference would it make if Phorcys and Ceto started a war with us?”

  “You’re correct in thinking that we can’t technically die,” Angelica agreed. “But Phorcys and Ceto are planning to do something far worse to us than kill us. When he came to visit us, he showed us what these monsters they’re creating are capable of doing.”

  When she didn’t say anything further, I asked, “What was it?”

  Angelica bit her lip. She looked like she was struggling to find the right words to say. Before she could answer me at all, Scarlett explained, “One of his monster children turned me into stone. After a few moments, he turned me back.”

  “They’re very powerful,” Gabby added. “They can turn us into stone and back to human—well, siren—form, whenever they feel like it. It was so scary to watch when they did it to Scarlett.”

  “And painful. For months after it happened, my entire body felt like what I’d imagine a bad Botox reaction to feel like.” Scarlett shuddered at the memory.

  “So, they’re planning on turning us all into stone if we don’t agree to what they want?” I asked. My head was beginning to hurt with all of the new information that I had learned tonight.

  “Yes. What they will do after that, we don’t know. They could be planning to shatter us all to pieces,” Angelica replied. “I’ve never heard of such a thing happening before, but my best guess is that it would cause our deaths. But that would be the more merciful than leaving us as stone creatures—it seems more their style to leave us rooted in the ground, unable to move or speak, for the rest of eternity.”

  Just thinking about the possibility that I could be stone forever made me feel sick to my stomach. “So, that’s why Jasmine doesn’t like me? Because we might get turned to stone since I was changed?”

  “It could be the end for us—and for the rest of the sirens in the world. And, ultimately, it’s Jasmine’s fault. She is the one who changed you. The truth is, she should probably be mad at Scarlett if she’s going to be mad at anyone. If it weren’t for Scar, Jasmine probably wouldn’t have turned you at all. She would have just allowed you to drown,” Angelica explained.

  “She just feels guilty,” Gabby explained. “She’ll get over it and get used to you in time. She has to. You’re our sister now. We’re all in this together—war or no war.”

  “No, that’s where you’re wrong,” a voice from behind us said. I turned around to find Jasmine standing in front of the French doors that led to the patio. She came closer to us, her flip flops squeaking against the wet pavement. “I’m not gonna just let this go. I don’t like that ungrateful bitch, and I probably never will. Not for the next decade, at least.” Without saying another word, Jasmine turned on her heel and stormed into the house.

  “She’s lying,” Scarlett said quietly. “She doesn’t like you right now, but she’ll get used to you. She has to, really. You’re going to be living here soon.”

  “Umm, about that . . . I don’t think I’m ready to live here,” I admitted.

  “Why ever not?” Angelica asked politely, but I could see that her eyes had glazed over with what looked like sadness.

  “I’m just not ready for my life to change that drastically. I’m a sophomore in high school. I was planning to go off to college in a few more years. I guess now I’ll have to find a school that’s closer to the beach, but I still want to get an education. I want to keep my life as normal as I can.”

  “I see,” Angelica said, turning over to float on her back, her blonde hair sprawling out in the water around her. “I do agree that it’s important for you to get an education. Otherwise, you’ll be lost in this world. It’s important for you to find your place. Jasmine went to college, you know. She studied art.” From the tone in her voice, I could tell that she didn’t approve of the major that Jasmine had chosen.

  “So, it’s okay for me to go to school, then?” I asked, ignoring the reference to Jasmine. As much as I didn’t hate what I’d become (yet), I really didn’t want to miss out on the college experience.

  “As long as you promise not to be a party girl,” Angelica replied. “At least, not until we see how you respond to alcohol.”

  “What does alcohol have to do with anything?”

  “Alcohol has a huge effect on our moods—an even greater effect than it has on humans. If it makes you feel depressed or angry, it might trigger you to lure someone. It’s best to just stay away from it whenever you can.” Angelica smiled. “I’m sure you’ll have no problem with this, though. If anything, it will just help you to be more successful with your studies. After college, we hope that you will come to live with us.”

  I let out a loud sigh. “I don’t even know how Gram will handle it.” I paused and glanced over at Scarlett, who didn’t make eye contact with me. “I’m the only family she has. It would mean that I’d be leaving her all by herself.”

  “But weren’t you planning to do that anyway?” Angelica questioned. “Once you were finished with college, you weren’t going to go back home and live with her, were you?”

  I shrugged. “It’s hard to tell what the future will bring. It would have been nice to have my own place, but who
knows if I would have found a job right after college.”

  “There’s only so long you can hide this from your grandmother, Felicia,” Angelica said, her voice taking on its soothing tone, which calmed my nerves a little. “You’re an immortal now. You will never age past eighteen. Eventually, your grandmother will have realized that. It will be easier to just cut ties with her now before you’re any more attached than you already are.” With that, she kicked off the steps and climbed out of the pool. She didn’t leave a trail of water behind.

  *

  After we all got out of the pool, Scarlett walked me home. It was a long walk and, even though there was still plenty of catching up to do, we were quiet most of the way.

  When we reached the boardwalk, I turned to her and asked, “What am I supposed to tell Gram? When I start visiting you guys at the house more often, she’s going to begin to suspect something.”

  “Just lie,” Scarlett replied. “Tell her that you’re hanging out with your new friend, Gabrielle. In fact, we could even arrange to have Gabby meet her. Gram won’t even question it because Gabby is so nice.”

  “That’s a good idea,” I replied. “We’ll go with that. But . . .” I trailed off, knowing that what I was about to say would open a can of worms. “Don’t you ever wonder about Gram? And Mom? Don’t you want to see them and let them know that you’re still alive?”

  Scarlett glanced down at the ground and kicked up sand with her flip flop. “Of course I want to.” She turned to me, a look of hurt flashing through her tear-flooded green eyes. “I think about it every day, Felly! I want so badly to tell them that I’m fine and alive and that they don’t have to worry, but how can I? How can I say that what you see right now is what you’ll see forever? Because I’m always going to look like this. I’m never going to grow older, and it’s not easy for humans to understand that. It’s not always easy for me to understand that. You’d think that being able to live forever would be such a wonderful thing, but quite frankly, it sucks.”

  “That part does suck,” I agreed. “There’s a difference between you and me, though. You could live without seeing Mom or Gram again. But I can’t do that. At least, not without seeing Gram. She’s done so much for me since you left. I can’t just lie to her and never speak to her again.”

  Scarlett didn’t say anything. Instead, she pointed her chin over her shoulder. “I miss the smell of those nuts,” she said, and I realized she was talking about the boardwalk shop that sold sugar-coated pecans. For the first time since I’d found out I was a siren, I realized I didn’t notice their scent, either.

  “I miss the smell of the beach and the flavor of orange Gatorade. I miss so many things about being human,” Scarlett continued. “But the thing is, I only miss them when I really think about them. But I do miss Mom . . . and Gram. And I missed you, too. All the time.” She turned to me. “I understand why you don’t want to hurt Gram, Felly. This has to be hard for you, and unlike me, you actually have a choice. You don’t have to cut her out of your life.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked. “Angelica didn’t let you make the decision on your own?”

  Scarlett shook her head. “No, she told me I couldn’t see my family. I mean, I had the body of a teenager overnight. I agree now that it would have freaked everyone out. You guys might not have even believed me. But even more recently, she still didn’t want me to go back home.” She paused, as though she were considering it. “I think she was afraid that I would choose my blood family over my siren family.”

  Just hearing my sister admit this to me made me resent Angelica. If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have blamed myself for Scarlett’s death all these years. We would have been reunited long before now, since she had wanted to come back to us, too.

  “Why haven’t I seen you around?” I asked. “I mean, not until recently. Shouldn’t I have seen you before now?”

  Scarlett glanced at the ground. “You passed by me once. It only happened once. I was on the boardwalk, and you were with Gram getting a cotton candy. You didn’t see me, but you were only eleven at the time. Even if you had seen me, you probably wouldn’t have put two and two together because of how much older I looked. ” She paused. “After the day we saw you on the boardwalk, Angelica moved us to Seaport for a while, but we recently moved back to her house in Ocean Grove. I was sort of surprised when you did recognize me that night on the boardwalk. I think we all assumed you would have forgotten about me by now or that you’d still never recognize me even if you did see me.” Seaport was a beach town about two hours away from Ocean Grove.

  “I wish I could tell Gram you were still alive,” I admitted. “I hate keeping this secret from her.”

  “Well, you can’t,” Scarlett said, her light green eyes flitting over at me. “Promise me that you won’t say anything, Felly.”

  “I don’t like it, but I promise.” I sighed. As we approached the street that led to Gram’s, I said, “I guess I should go home now, then. I’ll see you soon, I guess.”

  Scarlett nodded. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” she said, before turning and walking away, leaving me alone on the dimly lit street.

  As I began walking up the driveway that led to Gram’s house, a figure stepped out of the shadows. “I’ve been waiting for you,” a male’s voice said.

  Chapter 20

  Remembering that Carrie had told Donnie where I lived, I began to panic. “Don’t come any closer to me! I have pepper spray,” I threatened.

  “Oh, come on. I know I’m not your most favorite person in the world, but pepper spray? You wouldn’t use that on me.” This time, I recognized the deep voice when he spoke. I breathed a partial sigh of relief; I was glad that it wasn’t Donnie, but I had no idea why Jackson would be standing outside my house waiting for me.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, louder than I meant to. “You scared the crap out of me!”

  “Carrie told me this was where you lived,” Jackson replied with a shrug, his face still partially covered in shadows.

  “She seems to be doing that a lot lately,” I said, sighing. “So you just sat around waiting for me in the dark?”

  “I’ve only been here for a few minutes, actually,” Jackson replied. “I was just about to ring the doorbell when I saw you and that girl walking down the street.”

  I wanted to tell him that he couldn’t mention to anyone that he had seen me with Scarlett, but I knew that would just draw more attention to the fact that I was with her. So, instead, I asked, “Why didn’t Carrie just give you my phone number?”

  “She thought this would be more spontaneous of me,” Jackson replied. From the tone of his voice, I understood what he meant: Carrie was trying to play matchmaker again.

  I rolled my eyes. “Well, just cut to the chase. Why are you here?”

  “Now, now, don’t get feisty. I need to know something for my own safety, first. Do you really have pepper spray?” Jackson asked.

  “No, I lied,” I admitted. “I just thought it would make me sound scarier. Would it have intimidated you if you had been planning to attack me or something?”

  “Pepper spray? Absolutely. Your stubbornness, on the other hand . . .” Jackson trailed off.

  “Anyway, get to the point. Why are you here? You haven’t been at work lately.” I realized it was the first time I had seen him at all since the incident with Nora.

  “I just wanted to thank you,” Jackson said. “If it weren’t for you, my sister would have fired me for good. Instead, she gave me a three week suspension. And that was just for calling her a bitch.”

  I smiled. “I’m happy for you.” I started to walk past him to go into the house, but he held his hands up in the air to stop me.

  “Wait, that’s not all,” he went on. “I was wondering . . .” He hesitated. “Would you like to go out with me sometime?”

  I opened my mouth and quickly closed it, speechless. Did I want to go out with him? I wasn’t sure. There was something that drew me to those gorgeo
us blue eyes. But . . . I had Tyler.

  Now, I wasn’t so sure if Tyler was such a good idea. Since I had become a siren, I had been thinking that maybe it was best if I left him—and any other guy—alone. At least for now.

  Meeting Jackson’s gaze, I said, “I don’t know. I’m busy for the next week, but maybe sometime after then.” I figured that would keep him satisfied for at least a few days—and it would give me enough time to figure this whole thing out. Even if I didn’t date Tyler or Jackson, I still wanted to be their friend. So, turning to Jackson, I said, “Give me your phone.”

  Jackson pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to me with a confused look on his face. Once I had it in my hands, I opened his address book and added my phone number. “There, now you can call me instead of showing up randomly at my house.”

  Jackson flashed me a cocky grin. “Okay, I will. And I’m sorry I scared you tonight. I didn’t mean to make you threaten me with pepper spray.”

  I laughed. “It’s okay.”

  Jackson lingered for a moment longer, and I was positive that he was going to say something else, but all he said was, “Goodnight, Felicia.”

  “Goodnight, Jackson,” I replied, smiling as I walked to the front door. Little did I know, the night ahead of me was going to be far from good.

  *

  As soon as I got inside, I texted Tyler. Hey. I need to talk to u. Think we can get together tomorrow night? As much as I didn’t want to, I knew I should tell him I wanted to go on a break for now, at least until I talked to Angelica to find out if dating was safe or not.

  I waited a long while for him to respond to me. When I was sure that I wasn’t going to hear back from him tonight at all, I rolled onto my side and closed my eyes.

  Just as I was about to fall asleep, I heard the bleeping sound alerting me that I had a new text message.

  I’m busy tomorrow night. Sorry.

  I was expecting Tyler to suggest another time when we could hang out, but he didn’t. Is everything okay? I pressed.