by Dani Stowe
I follow Lenora’s gaze. Athena is standing port side with two other girls, who I assume are other former captives, watching. If I could go to her, I would. I wish to take Athena in my arms and embrace her but now is not the time.
“Help him,” I tell Lenora. “Help Henry before he dies.”
“I can’t help him,” the witch rattles. “I already have his powers and there’s nothing else he can trade that I need.”
“Damn you, witch!” I curse. “Can’t you just help him? For once, can’t you just—”
“Magic doesn’t work that way,” Lenora interjects. “I cannot create something out of nothing or make something happen without a trade.”
I close my eyes and take a breath before I spit out the only trade I can make. “Take my life. Mine for Henry’s.”
“No!” screams Athena from the top of her lungs and to my surprise, she is not the only one in disagreement.
Shelley grabs at my hand. “No, Henry doesn’t want that. Look. Look at him.”
Henry is indeed shaking his head. It’s a small gesture, and I’m thankful he’s alert but I’m his Captain and I will do as I see fit.
The witch, however, likewise shakes her head. “I’m not trading your life for Henry’s. You must complete your end of our bargain, but...”
But? Henry gurgles again. The man is dying! Slowly. He’s leaking as well as choking on his own blood and I can’t believe we are taking our sweet time having this conversation!
“What is it!”
“I could trade one bargain for another.”
“What do you mean?”
“I could swap out the details between two bargains I’ve already made.” The witch is smiling bigger than I’ve ever seen before.
“Whatever it is, I’ll do it,” I say. I don’t need to hear the details. Henry’s life depends on a trade.
“Are you willing to die at the hand of your lover?” The witch pokes her thumb up to Athena.
“Excuse me?” I ask, looking across the narrowing space that rests between our boat and the ship atop which Athena stands. She and I make eye contact but Athena breaks the bond by covering her face with her palms.
Dark thoughts enter my mind. Athena has made her own trade and I put the pieces together. Athena is the reason the sheriff found us. But a lot of this is not Athena’s fault. The witch works mysteriously and to what aim? No one knows.
“What did Athena trade?” I’m afraid to ask.
“Henry’s life,” the witch replies.
“What!” Shelley fires.
“Be quiet, flamethrower,” says Lenora as thunder booms overhead. “Athena traded Henry to save many. Athena’s only task was to take Henry’s life, but it looks as though fate is about to let Athena off easy by letting Henry die of his own free will.”
“No,” Shelley cries, bending over to plant her head in Henry’s chest.
“There is a workaround.” Lenora pops her shoulders up above the surface and we all perk up.
“What is that?” I ask.
“The bargain that you and I struck expires at sunrise. Will your power to control the seas to me now and I will save Henry.”
My heart beats alternating in rhythm between feelings of joy and feelings of dismay. “And what do you want in return?”
Lenora glides closer to the boat. “A life is still owed by morning. Rather than Henry, Athena must take your life, the life of her lover, instead.”
I hesitate, though I shouldn’t. Henry is on the brink! But Athena... is it possible she could kill me on command? She’s not a seaman or a soldier. “And what if she can’t do it?” I ask. “What if Athena chooses not to kill me. Then what?”
“You’ll have to make sure that she does,” replies Lenora. “Or I will have to come to collect her. Her soul.” More thunder echoes. “So, what will it be, Captain? Your life for Henry’s life? Will your powers to me now and everyone will remain alive and free. I’ll even let you keep your eyes since you won’t need them once you’re dead come morning.”
“Done.”
“Willis, no!” wails Athena but it’s beyond her control. The bargain is struck.
Lenora’s head disappears, dunking beneath the surface but I don’t try to keep her in my sights. Henry is making the most uncomfortable noises. When I look to him, his whole body is buckling as he chokes on his own blood and I kneel at his side.
Thunder cracks overhead but not one of us dares to look above. For all we know, the witch could be lying. I’ve already lost claim to the powers once granted to me. I have no idea if the witch truly intends to save Henry or not as this could simply be another one of her tricks.
Henry still looks as if he’s dying. His skin is paling. His scales are wrinkling. We all huddle close to him. Even the sheriff has taken a knee.
The boat sways and the seagulls flying overhead begin to caw. In a screeching chorus, the birds cry louder and louder until we all find ourselves looking up to the sky at the cause of the commotion.
Swirling overhead, the clouds are beginning to spin. Faster and faster, they twirl as our boat gets knocked by a wave. I grab onto Kumiko who nearly falls over.
As the boat gets knocked again I look to the sea and lo and behold a woman’s head, a head shaped by water and the size of a barge, is rising from the depths.
Water splashes from every direction and begins to shower, pouring from above. With the powers I’ve granted, Lenora stands to become a monstrosity. She is the size of a mountain hovering over the boat. The crown of her head nearly touches the clouds to where she reaches, spinning her hand made of seawater and pulling what appears to be a bolt of lightning.
The air between the group of us begins to move. It’s gentle at first but gusts blow. The wind picks up and we are all finding it difficult to stay put. We are in a whirlwind gasping for air.
“Lenora!” I cry out as the wind, spinning violently, pushes us all away from Henry. The wind is so strong it feels as though it is about to pick us up and toss us overboard when...
Henry is lifted. In a funnel, like a cyclone, the merman rises, levitating to a magnificent height. Blood is allowed to drain from him, getting caught up in the whirlwind spinning around him.
“Lenora!” I screech. She said she would save him! She’s killing him!
A fine stream of water shoots up out of the sea. The single stream arches over us, shooting into the top of the funnel and appears to pierce Henry’s wounded flesh. Lightning held in the giant hand of the witch comes to a fine point and also cuts through the merman.
The light is so bright I reluctantly look away. I can hear the others, especially Shelley, calling Henry’s name. When I look back briefly, I see Lenora has completely opened Henry up. At both the front and the back, she has spliced the man—gutted him! Like a fish! From his waist up to his neck, I see his innards. His own blood is still spinning around him. And he is becoming increasingly more aware. My poor friend! His eyes are rolling, and his tail is twitching.
Be still Henry, says Lenora, forcing the merman to become motionless with her power to control sea beasts. I find it strange hearing her speak to him in my mind.
Lenora finally appears to be closing Henry’s wounds, except he seems to be choking again. The slits—his gills—on his chest come to a close and his fin begins to shrivel.
He’s transforming.
Henry’s tail splits down the middle to become legs as he is lowered, planted face down on the deck.
All the blood once encircling him has been returned to him. I see no sign that Henry is in any danger. I see only scars.
And legs.
And breathing.
The clouds disperse as Lenora quickly reshapes herself into a human form to stand among us. Walking her bare feet towards Henry, she stands, hovering—admiring her handiwork.
“How do you feel?” she asks as the rest of us remain silent and in awe.
Henry takes a long breath, coming up on one hand and his knees. The fist he’s been making comes open and
my heart soars when I see a bullet in his palm.
Could it be? Is that the bullet that was in his back?
The sheriff topples over, falling onto his arse. I suspect he is happy considering the look of bewildering relief on his face.
Lenora seems proud. “Well,” she says to Henry. “Do you have anything to say?”
Henry cocks his head up, searching. His head spins but stops when he sees Shelley.
“I love you,” he says exasperated with a smile.
Shelley wails and she is instantly in front of him, kissing him, grabbing him, holding him, groping him...
The witch appears to be irritated as she sighs. “I meant to me,” she interrupts their magical moment. “Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
Shelley reluctantly lets go of Henry as he pushes his lover away so that he may come to standing. He turns with a slight wobble and walks to Lenora to give her a big hug. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Henry squeezes Lenora tighter. “I’ve been wishing to speak again so badly but I have no idea what to say to you to express my gratitude.”
Lenora forces a cough. “That’s enough. You’re naked. It’s uncomfortable that you’re holding me naked and your woman is watching anyway.”
Henry laughs, letting go to get wrapped back up in Shelley’s arms again.
Of course, I am overjoyed at this moment but as the sun slips below the horizon, joy seems to be going with it.
I turn my head to see Athena on the ship across the way.
She too slips.
She ducks her head down to hide behind the ship’s rails where I can no longer see her.
As a boy, I remember wondering where the sun went when it sunk. I wondered what treasures lay guarded by monsters in the deep beyond. My curiosity was the reason I became a seaman.
As Lenora slips back into her ocean domain and the sheriff starts up the boat’s engine so that we may collect the others, I take a moment to consider my final plot. I have one last night left to live and, in this night, I must convince my lover to send me to where the sun shall never rise again.
Athena must kill me.
If she doesn’t, she will lose her soul and I could never live with myself knowing she would be lost to oblivion for eternity.
I’m not that kind of man or a monster.
17
Athena
I can’t do it.
I won’t.
I refuse to kill Willis.
I should’ve taken all that treasure he lay at my feet and ran with it! To think, I could be sunbathing poolside atop my million-dollar deck alongside my million-dollar mansion on a white sanded coast while listening to Lady Gaga and being served by my hot pool guy named Alejandro.
I plant my butt on my bed and drop my face in my hands. The sheriff was nice enough to drop me off at home after we left the other girls at the hospital. I could tell he also wanted to talk, to clarify his understanding of everything that happened earlier. Pike did most of the talking and he seemed to understand the complexity of the situation, which all boils down to the fact that I either kill Willis or end up without my soul.
The sheriff, however, doesn’t seem worried in the least with the possibility that I might commit murder. As he walked me up the staircase to my door, he said there was no way I’d ever kill anyone. Sure, I helped bust Henry out of jail but the sheriff claimed he knew I was not the type who could ever take another’s life. Of course, that didn’t stop him from separating Willis and I and also inspecting my apartment and taking every knife and sharp object that could be used as a weapon when he left.
Pike also put the deputy on overnight duty, ordering his subordinate to keep watch at the beach house where the others were left to also monitor Willis, whom the sheriff placed under house arrest.
I lay down, plopping the back of my head firm into my super soft pillow and rubbing my forehead. I begin to wonder what Hell is going to be like. Because I’m sure that’s where my soul is going...
To Hell.
Maybe it’s not that bad. It can’t be worse than this. All this anxiety pent up...
...the anticipation...
...the waiting...
My conscious is already on fire. It’s driving me crazy! I wonder if I should head over to the beach to get it over with and let Lenora take me now.
There’s a knock at the door. Well, it’s not really a knock. It sounds like Pike’s close-fisted pound-on-wood routine.
Of course! I’m contemplating the line between life and death, Heaven and Hell as my soul is at stake and Pike still needs something from me.
I plant my fists at my side. “What do you want?”
“Open the door,” says a low gravelly voice, which makes me tuck my head under the pillow.
I don’t say anything. Maybe if I manage to keep quiet long enough, Willis will just go away.
“Athena,” he shouts. “Open the door before I break it down.”
I look at the hinges, the doorknob, and the bolt. Everything looks strong and intact. If it’s made to keep out burglars, I’m sure the hardware can keep out the tough guy who’s survived magic, a shootout, and an era before antibiotics.
Willis wiggles the doorknob and pounds with a heavier fist this time. “Athena!”
I swing my legs out of the bed. He just shook the whole building, making my knick-knacks of seashells and sea glass chime with a warning. The building is old, built in the 1800s. I trust the hinges, but I’m not so sure I can trust the building’s infrastructure.
Walking up to the door, I speak through the crack. “What do you want?”
I know what he wants. He wants me to kill him.
Not. Happening.
“Let me in,” he says. I can tell he’s leaned his mouth against the opposite side of the crack as well.
“How did you get here? The sheriff says you weren’t supposed to leave the beach house until he could collect more details for his case. He’s going to have to come up with a story for all those dead bodies that doesn’t include monsters. He gave you specific instructions to stay put. You’re supposed to be under house arrest.”
Willis laughs haughtily. “Come now. The deputy was no match for my mates and me, and the sheriff still judges us poorly. Why in the world the sheriff would think Henry and Orphelius would take orders from a lawman is quite baffling. My mates still consider me their captain. They only take orders from me. Now...” He wiggles the knob. “Do as I say and open the door.”
“You’re not my captain. I don’t take orders from you.”
“Damn, girl,” he curses. “You’re making me angry.”
“I don’t care if you’re angry and I’m not a girl, so don’t talk down to me. Now go away.”
“Athena, open. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
A pang hits my chest and my eyes water. “I can’t do it,” I say, leaning into the door. “Please let me spend my last few hours in peace and go away.”
His voice vibrates through me from the opposite side of the wood slab. “I don’t understand. You were willing to trade Henry—take his life—to save the others, but you won’t take mine to save yourself.”
Willis has me all wrong. Like the sheriff said, I’m not a killer.
I bow my head. My eyes are getting hot. “I would never have hurt Henry.” I wipe the tear away that runs down my cheek.
I think back. I’m not exactly sure that I even agreed to the bargain and the mess I’m in now. I did not verbally say anything. The witch said she was going to call the sheriff and then she was gone. I admit, however, that I was relieved knowing she was going to get help, and I did not call out to stop her.
“So, was it your intention all along to fall short on your end of the bargain?” Willis asks. “You, the scholar, should know you can’t mess with magic like that. You should’ve known you’d have to follow through.”
“I would never hurt Henry,” I repeat myself. “I could never hurt you.”
; “Then open the door for me, Athena. I’m aching to be with you right now. In all my years, not for centuries, have I ever hurt so badly. Appease me. Let me in. Let me hold you until your time comes.”
I suck up a sniffle. He hurts, he says. That was the last thing I would’ve ever wanted for him. I open the door.
A big sigh blows from the pouty lips coming into view. I don’t even get to look Willis in the eye before his large hand is pushing on the door, forcing me to step back. The next thing I know, those pouty lips are all over me. They press into my mouth as big biceps wrap around my shoulders, squeezing and lifting me from the floor. My feet dangle as Willis, a mass of solid muscle, moves us both backward and I’m thrown.
I land flat on my back on my bed and I quickly sit up, leaning on my hands. I want to resist this. I want to resist him. I know what he’s doing. He thinks he’s going to make love to me and seduce me and get me to bend to the power of his will and do what he asks. But it’s not going to happen. I need to resist him because it will be easier to let go. Let him go. He is not going to get me to...
He takes off his shirt. Every fine muscle over his ribs and abdomen is rippling as he breathes. He’s breathing so heavy.
He unbuttons his fly. The zipper comes down and I feel hot, ashamed, because I can’t keep my eyes from turning away.
His erection springs out as he drops his pants and I blush. I remember the thick, elongated mysterious mass that has an upward curve.
I recall the first time I saw his length while we were on the boat and I’m still intrigued. Is that how it’s supposed to be? I thought those things were supposed to be straight. That thing still looks like it’s made to gut and carve me from the inside out.
Willis wraps one hand around the front of his shaft and fists himself. He rakes his bleached hair back from his eyes with his other set of fingers.
He’s staring at me now. Our eyes are locked as he strokes himself.
Willis, the man once made of water, seems to be preparing himself, checking to be sure his weapon is fully pumped, hard, and ready to take on its next great conquest.