Romance: Yes, Stepbrother!

by Annie Valentine

  “I barely recognize you,” Ellie said in between ravenous bites. “I mean,” she stopped there. She was completely speechless. She was worse off than Becca at that point.

  “I know it's weird, but this is the new me.”

  Ellie ran up, nearly dropping her plate and tackled Becca by giving her a long hug. “Oh, Becca,” tears were streaming down her face. “I'm just so glad that you are taking this step.” She sat back down.

  “Let me show you what I got.” Becca ran back to her room to grab the bag filled with new clothes. Just as she was about to leave the room her phone vibrated and she took it out to check what was going on as she made her way into the living room.

  It was a reply to her picture. The notification was nothing more than a profile picture of a full moon and the words, “I'll see you tomorrow night at 6 under the pier. Wear a bathing suit. There was no name, just a mystery that she had to solve. She felt like, after the night before that anything could happen, so the vague nature of the message took on a mystical tone. It was something that she couldn't miss regardless of the danger; that was what made it exciting.

  Ellie jumped up on cue and ran behind her, trying to catch a glimpse of Becca's phone. “What's that? What's going on?” Becca snapped it back in her pocket, but it was too late. “Are you using Venus, Becca? Oh my god,” her face went pale. “Do you know how dangerous that is? You're going to get yourself hurt that way. You need to be more careful.”

  “I know. It was dumb.” Becca didn't like lying, but if she didn't she was never going to be able to take any risks. Besides, Ellie was going to try and shadow her. There was no way she was ever going to be able to dodge her without some sort of deception.

  “Just promise me you won't meet any of those guys. It's all perverts.”

  “I promise Ellie.”

  They sat back down. Becca was a little uncomfortable from all of the attention, and she wasn't sure how to deflect it. She decided that the best thing would be a distraction, something to push her through the end of the day. “Let's go to the pier, Ellie. I want to have some fun today—make things a bit better.”

  “Yaaay!” She got up and washed her plate then they got into Ellie's car. The pier had everything, from fine dining restaurants and dive bars to carnival rides. Those were the main attraction. They had little roller coasters, a Ferris wheel—everything. They had always loved going there when they were younger to escape everything. When they were having trouble in school, or they were depressed it was the one place they could go to get away from everything. Becca was glad she decided to go there, and she wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to bask in her new found freedom.

  The Ferris wheel was looming in the distance, contrasted by the sun setting over the ocean, casting an orange glow over the water. The girls parked and ran out of the car. “Where are we going,” Ellie asked. “I want you to decide what to do first.”

  “I want to try some games,” Becca responded as they headed to one of the stalls.

  There was a man running the water gun stall was short and bald. He looked like he'd just crawled out of his trailer and threw on a tank top. “Come on, Ellie. I want to try to see if I can't win.” She pointed over at a pink unicorn hanging up in the corner.

  “You've been trying to get that thing since middle school, Becca. It's still there.”

  “Yeah, but this time I'm really gonna win.” The man looked at her like she was taking up too much air. “Can I try,” She walked over to the stall.

  “Five dollars a game you have three chances.” The argument was that the game was completely rigged, but people did win sometimes, so it couldn't be that bad. Besides, Becca was feeling kind of lucky. She handed the man a five and grabbed the gun.

  There were twelve fish that went around on a track, just fast enough that they were difficult to shoot. There was some cheesy music on a loud speaker near the roof and the fish came out. All she had to do was shoot two of them, then she could have the little unicorn she'd been trying to get for almost a decade.

  She closed one eye and locked on her target with her finger on the trigger. The trick was to wait for the first one to hit right before the middle. Those things looked like they hadn't touched water in their entire existence, and she was ready to drench them. Her time was coming, and she would shine. IT was almost there, and then she shot. She got one fish.

  “Oh my god!” Ellie jumped up and down with excitement. “You can do it, Becca.” The girl wasn't about to let her concentration waver. She waited until another fish passed and fired the trigger. The shot barely made it.

  “I did it!”

  “Miss!” The girls flanked the man.

  “What do you mean, miss!?” Becca was furious. “I want my unicorn,” she hissed. She was clenching her fists. This man was a complete con artist. She nearly jumped the stall then thought better of it. Instead, she took the gun, aimed and shot the next fish. She stared the man down.

  “I didn't see it,” he laughed. “NEXT!” A black haired man came up. His face was stoic, and the girls backed up. He was just that formidable. His arms were twice the width of Becca's legs.

  “I think you owe the girls something,” the man said softly.

  The stall owner looked upset. “Now don't think you can intimidate me.”

  “I know what I can and can't do.” The man picked up a gun and shot it straight at the man. What came out wasn't water; it was ice. It shot straight into the stall owner’s shoulders and his screams echoed across the entire pier.

  Ellie tried to grab Becca and run, but she stayed put. This was the most amazing thing she'd ever seen, and she couldn't ignore that. The man smiled back at her and jumped over the counter to get her unicorn. He threw it over to her and winked before he vanished over the edge of the pier.

  Becca turned back to talk to Ellie, but the girl was gone, so she raced back to the car where she knew she'd be waiting for her. When she climbed into the passenger seat, it was clear that Ellie had gone into a mild state of shock. She was staring past the windshield at nothing in particular and her entire body was pale and clammy.

  “Ellie,” Becca screamed. She slapped her friend in the face, but the only thing Ellie did was rub her cheek mindlessly. Becca ran out of the car and to the other side. She had to get her friend home so she could let her rest and digest what she saw. She pulled as hard as she could, and Ellie slowly let her pull her out and lead her to the passenger seat.

  The entire drive Ellie was mumbling something to herself. Becca wasn't sure what was happening, but she didn't like it. This wasn't the kind of thing a hospital could treat. This was a mental disorder, and she would have to snap herself out of it. She'd heard of people going into a coma from shock, losing their minds and everything else. She couldn't let that happen, but she wasn't sure what to do.

  When they got back to Becca's house, she picked her up, with inhuman strength and ran her inside. She was burning up, and Becca wasn't sure how to handle that except pulling off all of Ellie's clothes and placing her on the couch covered by a sheet. She got a rag and drenched it in cold water to wipe off some of the sweat. She wasn't sure if she was doing the right thing, and Ellie was starting to shake.

  Becca was exhausted, and she knew that there was nothing she could do. She sat down and waited. What was that man? Was he human? Was he something paranormal? She had visions of strange sights, and places where magic existed. She wasn't sure what that creature, or person, had done, but she had to know. She felt bad, but she wanted to investigate. If she went her entire life without knowing what had happened, she would never be able to live with herself. This was something that could change her view of the world, and what is possible for the rest of her life.

  The pier was the secret, and she had somebody telling her to go there. Whether Ellie was sick or not, she would have to meet that man. Maybe it was the same person. Maybe it was a dead end—she didn't know. The only thing she did know was that it might be something.

  Chapter 5

/>   Becca woke up on the chair to an empty house. Ellie was gone and the sheet was folded nicely. She must not have wanted to disturb Becca. There was a note on the sheet thanking her for her help and telling her to call as soon as she woke up. Becca almost did, but something stopped her. Since Ellie was OK, she could handle things freely without her tying her down.

  Ellie would want to get together and talk things through, cautioning Becca, and telling her how afraid she was. She would want Becca to stay with her to give her some comfort, which she should probably do, but talking and huddling up with Ellie wasn't going to satisfy her need. She had a burning desire, stronger than anything she'd ever wanted. She had to know what that was, and she wouldn't be able to rest until she did.

  Instead of sitting around and waiting, Ellie decided to investigate. She decided to do some research. She figured that since the internet knows everything, and she had seen the phenomenon, she might be able to find something on it. She turned on her computer, and sat down on the couch, tapping her feet while it went through the various start-up functions. She was too restless. She had to be thorough, but if she was impatient, her mind would be bogged down and she wouldn't be able to do an objective investigation. She closed her eyes and breathed, but instead of relief what she saw was that face. He was tan with a hooked nose and pitch black hair. He reminded Ellie of somebody from the Mediterranean, but he didn't have an accent. Those thoughts were completely fruitless, but his eyes meant something. Instead of being black or dark brown like they should've been, they were an icy blue.

  That did mean something. He wasn't like everyone else. He had either gone through some sort of transformation, or he was born different. This didn't seem like something a person could learn.

  The computer was done, and she wasn't going to get any calmer after what she'd seen. She decided to open her browser and begin. She started with men who turn water into ice, but all she got was dumb cartoons and videos about freezing things. She went past the front page on her search engine and looked over the other results. Nothing was relevant, and she couldn't think of anything else. She tried rephrasing it, but nothing worked. She even tried lore and mythology, searching for any sign of a creature that had power over water like that, but all she got were the simple water gods, and none of them, so far as she could tell turned water into ice. It had to be something new, or a secret that hadn't gotten out. Maybe it was a government experiment.

  It didn't make sense. Becca was a pragmatist. She had to think beyond the boundaries of what she understood to be real. There was nothing that could make a man do such a thing—nothing that men understand.

  Maybe Ellie saw something she didn't. She picked up her phone and dialed her number, but there wasn't any answer. She must be sleeping.

  Becca was tired too. She decided that the best thing would be to wait till that evening, and get some rest. She'd been through a lot, and her back was aching from sleeping on the chair.

  She wasn't in shock. In fact, what she saw didn't seem strange at all, but she was drained. She'd spent so much energy thinking about things and dwelling on what had happened that she felt herself drifting off almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

  By the time she woke up it was already 4 o'clock. She went to go call Ellie back, like she always did, but there were no missed calls. She wondered if she could go check on her, but there was no way she could possibly do it because there wasn't any time. She would have to get ready and leave right away. She hopped into a simple, tight black one-piece suit, and some khaki shorts and a white shirt. She brought a thin white hair tie, but she left it undone. She didn't want to swim without it tied back, but if she kept it down, she would look better.

  She wasn't altogether sure what she was doing. She had no idea who she was meeting, or whether or not he had anything to do with the man at the pier, but it was strange. She knew that she had to be careful. She could get hacked to pieces, so she reached under her bed before she left and pulled out a thick lead safe in the shape of a cube. She typed in a code on the little metal keypad and pulled out a pistol, a pack of bullets and a credit card. She'd never used either of those things before, but she wasn't going to take any chances. The man's message was too weird. It could get bad.

  She grabbed her keys and a light white jacket that she knew she could swim in so she could carry the pistol and bullets on her. Then she walked out the door and into her car. Her heart was beating too fast. She'd psyched herself up. It was probably just a weird guy who she'd have a five-minute awkward conversation with. It wasn't a shootout.

  When she got to the pier, she decided to leave the gun and credit card in the car. She didn't want him to see the gun. There was a narrow patch of sand that the water never touched that traveled to the other side of the pier. The bottom of the pier was simple steel reinforced arches held up by concrete pillars. She would underneath a narrow portion about 15-20 feet high near the foot of the pier.

  When she went under the pier, she could hear sand crunching on the ground echoing throughout the chamber. It scared her so she stopped walking and looked around. She didn't see anyone there, so she went to leave. When she turned around, she saw him walking up the beach. He had blond hair with long curls flowing down to his ears. He reminded her of a life guard, with soft features but piercing eyes. He was tall, more than six feet, but his features were proportionate so that far away he seemed normal size.

  She began walking over to where he was standing on the beach. He caught her eye started walking closer. When they met he just stared down at her. He seemed shy.

  “Hi,” Becca waved sweetly. “I'm Becca.”

  “I'm Dylan.”

  “So you say I should wear something to swim in?” Becca looked at him inquisitively.

  “Yeah.” He jumped up excitedly. “Let's swim. You want to?” He cocked his eyebrows and she tried to stifle a giggle.

  “Let's sit down for a bit,” she pointed over at the rocks near the edge of the pier entrance. He followed her to a place near the bottom of the boulders where they could rest their feet in the sand. He looked like he could've made the journey in half the time. He was nimble, masculine. It was like he was more beast than man. He was the outdoorsy type, a guy who could fall asleep at a bonfire on the beach better than in a hotel suite. She had to struggle to keep up with him.

  Becca was noticing all of these things about him. She probably shouldn't be studying him so much. She didn't want him to notice, but she was worried he did. Sometimes she'd see him turn back coyly to have a glance at her. One he even cocked his lip up to the side and gave her a wide grin that said quite a bit.

  She gave it her all and pushed through to match his pace, which was already too fast. Once they reached the boulders at the bottom, she was tired and he looked invigorated. He sat down next to her on a boulder, and let her take a moment to catch her breath. “Geez, Dylan.”

  He grunted oddly. “I work out.” He had his head low with a sly grin on his face.

  “Well, tell me about yourself.” Becca let her eyes roam around him.

  “My name is Dylan. I was born in San Francisco and moved down here with my parents when I was 9.”

  “Oh. Well, tell me something interesting I guess.”

  He sat silently, as if he were thinking then looked out into the water. “I love the ocean and when I swim I feel at home.” She liked that.

  “I feel the same way.”

  “I'm not surprised. Your ad said you were a mermaid,” the boy chided.

  “Well you didn't say anything,” she stood up to get in front of him. “All I know is your name, and that you like the ocean.” She moved just out of his reach, swung her hip out to the side and put her hand on it. “Are you sure you're not going to kill me?”

  “No.” He stared straight at her.

  “What?” She stood stark still and gave Dylan a sharp look.

  “I'm quite an adventurer.” He pulled her into his grasp and she fell head first into his chest. He was lukewarm, not like othe
r people who were quite a bit warmer. He was the same temperature as the water.

  Becca wrenched herself from his grasp and stared at him suspiciously. He didn't return her gaze. Instead, he was watching the water behind. “Let's swim.” His whole face was beaming.

  “OK.”

  He ran at the water with inhuman speed dove headfirst as soon as he was deep enough. He disappeared and left Bella alone in the heavy waves. She fought to make her way out, but it wasn't working. He popped his head up more than a few hundred yards away. The waves were just too strong, and she was going to get knocked off balance hit her head on a rock.

  Just as the sand was starting to erode from the force of the waves, she felt warm hands around her waist pulling her deep into Dylan. He surfaced with her in her arms and held her in a floating position above his outstretched arms. He was staring down at her with his eyes roaming over her chest.

  “You don't seem injured.” He reached back and pulled out what looked like a square of plastic, which he stuck to Becca's face. It snapped into shape, covering every corner then it began to grow her entire head, encasing everything from the neck up in what proved to be a soft, pliable material.

  She felt like she was surrounded by air. It took her a moment to realize that she was breathing underwater. She had to ride the wave and find out where it was going to take her. When life throws something like this at you, you go along and beg for more. Becca would've followed this man to the ends of the earth and beyond.

  As soon as she saw that, she gained her freedom and began to swim with him. The water was cold, but it was alright. She held onto his feet and watched his fish like movements as he propelled himself expertly. She tried to copy the way his feet moved, but she could never get it right. She just ended up having to hold on tight and bend with the movements of the water.