“Can we ask her?” Alysa asked.
By the time Mommy finished the story, they’d reached the bottom. Blue water with cliffs above. Rocks as tall as the sky, like Mommy said. Hidden among the gray stone was a small patch of delicate, golden sand.
“We could ask, but we don’t speak Octopus, so we wouldn’t understand what she said, and we might not like the answer. All we can do is bake cakes, gobble them up before they get stale and remember that even the tiny can be powerful.” Mommy tickled Alyx under her ribs. “Enough stories, let’s have our picnic.” They ate mangoes, leftover pancakes and lemonade until they felt they’d burst.
“Now for your present.” Mommy took a velvet box out of her pack. Inside was her necklace. “You’re not wearing it?” Alysa said, eyes wide.
Mommy was never without her octopus necklace, a one-inch golden octopus shaped in an oval with eight legs in the middle and a purple crown on top and bottom. A double chain connected to the top. Two white stones were inset on top, and two white stones on the bottom. The twins had grown up grabbing and admiring it before they knew what jewelry was.
“It’s time,” Mommy said.
She twisted the bottom of the necklace and with a tiny click, one eight-legged octopus became two four-legged half-ovals.
“Two octopuses?” Alyx asked. “It was always two?”
Mommy nodded. “Twins.” The octopuses had been connected together, one upside down, one right side up. Now that they were separated, the white gems looked even more like tiny eyes on an octopus’ body.
“There is no one exactly like you girls. And no other necklaces like these either. Here,” Mommy said. A tiny dab of purple goo flecked with gold sat inside a recessed cup within the head of each octopus. It smelled like the ocean. “Dessert.”
Alyx and Alysa wrinkled their noses, but Mom persisted and soon she coaxed them to eat some. It tasted horrible. Like something dead from the ocean covered in stale marshmallows. Then she separated the chains and hung them around their necks.
After, they swam. The water was calm, but she took them each under one arm.
“We’re going out deeper than normal.”
Alysa remembered nothing after that. Only waking up on the rock, lying next to her sister.
“What happened?” Alyx asked.
“You ate the pudding. But it needs to be our secret,” Mommy replied.
“A secret pudding,” Alysa said.
“A pudding secret!” Alyx added.
“Both and yes,” Mommy laughed.
Late the next day, when they arrived back home, Dad was still angry with Mommy. Even after she baked Dad’s favorite cake. It had birthday sparklers that were impossible to blow out. Three days later, Mommy disappeared, forever.
* * *
My throat and diaphragm contracted, knocking me out of the memory. All my body systems were critical and had one message: Oxygen, now. I looked up and saw how deep I’d gone. Too deep. Ignoring the urge to breathe, I forced myself to ascend, preventing panic or even the idea of panic from overtaking me.
When I reached Paula and Nate at thirty feet, they looked scared. I imagined they thought I’d black out. But I didn’t. I ascended back to the surface, and they followed. When I broke the surface, mouth wide open and sucking air like a fiend, everyone on the boat hung over the rail, watching. I thought I might pass out on the surface. Spots ping-ponged in my eyes. Ivan and Alan still floated in the water. Paula and Nate arrived a second later, both out of breath.
At first I couldn’t read Ivan’s expression. Then he clapped. “This kid went at least 100 feet, maybe 120! The girl can dive!” he shouted up to everyone.
Nial gave an uncomfortable smile and left the railing. But soon everyone else on the boat joined the clapping, even Alan.
“Yeah, Alysa!” Charlie shouted.
I smiled and beamed at her. I had found my tribe. I wished Alyx could have been there.
Chapter Thirteen
Later, Charlie and I hung out on the roof of the boat, just room for the two of us, eating sandwiches and drinking lemonade. I leaned back, shut my eyes and enjoyed the sun on my face.
“So, what do you think?” I asked Charlie.
“Mattie’s cool.”
“Who?”
“Matt, the acrobatic kid. Everyone calls him Mattie.”
“Oh yeah? Mutual?”
“Yes, but he likes boys, so not mutual mutual.”
“Ivan told me they have room on their ship this summer,” I said.
“No way. Would you go?”
“I dunno, but that’s what he said. It could be fun, right?” I said.
“Room for you, but not me.”
“Maybe both of us.”
“You’re joking, right? That would be crazy, even for you Alysa Grey. They’re college students.”
“Only one is in college. And we graduate this spring.”
“Okay, they’re college dropouts, probably druggies.”
“You sound like your dad. They don’t drink or smoke and I like them. Already I’ve dove deeper than I ever have before.”
“Did you hear Alyx?”
I nodded. “She sent a memory.”
Charlie sighed and bit her lip.
“But that’s not the only reason. They’re… different.”
“It’s only been a day… I mean, c’mon, major honeymoon here.”
“Not really.”
“And you have the hots for Ivan and Nate.” Charlie batted her long lashes at me.
“Noooo. He’s too old. Ivan’s more your type,” I told her.
“Well, he’s kind of sexy, I hafta admit, but they love you, Alysa. You’re one of them. I’m not. I mean, it’s not my thing, ya know.”
My heart drooped. Charlie was my best friend, and I wanted this day to be as amazing for her as it was for me.
“Is there space for one more?” Paula came halfway up the ladder.
“Sure,” I said, even though there wasn’t. We sat cross-legged and made it work. At first, no one said anything. Paula ate her sandwich, looking out at the water. The silence wouldn’t have been awkward except that we sat so close. I could smell a healthy tang of sweat from her body. She had a relaxed confidence that probably came naturally. I wanted to ask Paula if she was Nate’s girlfriend. But I didn’t have the guts.
“Where did you learn to free-dive so deep?” Paula asked.
“I’ve always done it, I dunno,” I replied.
“You’ve never had training?”
I shook my head.
“Impressive. I bet you could teach me some stuff.”
Considering I didn’t know how I did what I did or when I learned it, that seemed unlikely.
“Um, yeah sure. So, you’re like a marine biologist?” I asked, wanting to change the subject.
Paula smiled. “Hmm. Well, I work at the college, but that’s not my passion.”
“No?”
“I study ancient civilizations.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially.
“What, like Atlantis?” Charlie asked.
Paula laughed. “Atlantis is the best known, but not the oldest. My specialty is Lemuria, also known as Mu. It’s the origin of all the ancient civilizations, including Atlantis.”
“Even Egypt?” Charlie said.
“Much older.”
“Where is it?” I asked.
“Somewhere in the Pacific. It’s different than the others. Atlantis was a land city that sunk beneath the ocean after a catastrophe. But I’ve discovered that Mu was a sacred city built underwater intentionally.”
“Why would they do that?” Charlie asked.
“According to stories, secret passages led between Mu and seven sacred power centers. Atlantis was one of them. My theory is that they were hiding from someone… or something. An underwater city was the best place to seek refuge. Civilization is much older and more mysterious than historians realize.”
Down below, Mattie, Ivan and a girl named Lia came up from their div
e. Lia wore a light green bathing suit, which looked beautiful against her brown skin. She waved up at us, and I waved back.
“We know more about the moon than the world beneath our oceans,” Paula continued. “We’ve explored less than five percent. To most researchers, this is all fantasy, legends, stories for kids. We’ve lost touch with the magic of our past. Even though it’s where we came from.”
Charlie shifted on the decking, and I could tell she was getting restless with Paula’s lecture.
“You and my mom would have gotten along,” I said to Paula. “She dug that kind of stuff, too, told us stories.”
“I’m gonna grab some water,” Charlie said.
“Does your mom still work in the field?” Paula asked.
“She left when my sister and I were five,” I said. It was an embarrassing memory to tell Paula, as if Mom left us because of something I did. But it felt good to relay a memory. To not have to hide how broken I felt for a change.
“Maybe you’ll follow in her footsteps?”
“Nah. I’m not that interested in history and stuff like that. No offense.”
We climbed down the ladder and joined the group. Alan pulled himself up onto the deck, water streaming off his body.
“How far did you get down, hot shot?” Alan asked Mattie.
Lia and Mattie turned to each other and gave each other awkward smiles as they dried themselves off.
“Gorgeous jelly fish down there,” Mattie said.
Alan chuckled to himself, as if vindicated.
“And look at this!” Mattie held up a lovely half-shell.
I left the cluster and walked up to the front of the boat. I sat alone on the bow and stared down at the water, feeling let down. Today hadn’t been what I had expected. But what had I expected? For Alyx to tell me exactly where to find her? That Nate and I would fall for each other? Without realizing it, I guess I’d hoped for all that, as hard as it was to admit.
Motion in the water caught my eye. It looked like a dolphin or other large fish. I leaned over the rail. I saw the white flash of a leg. My breath quickened. I leaned further. Strands of hair floating and a face, wavy and murky.
“Alyx?” I whispered to the ocean. She gave a cheeky grin and flitted away. I snapped my goggles back over my face and, without thinking, jumped into the ocean.
Shaping myself into a slim projectile, I kicked hard. Twenty, thirty, then fifty feet. Peace washed over me. The ocean surrounded me like a firm glove, and the deeper I went, the harder the ocean squeezed. It was like swimming in a liquid hug. But I found… nothing. A school of jellyfish, the red ones that Mattie had spotted, hovered thirty feet below me. Below that was the shelf of coral and the black/blue mouth hundreds of feet down that led into the real deep.
At some point, a warning bell rang. No one knew I was down here. How deep was I? With the rope gone and no dive watch, it was impossible to know for certain. I looked up. Which is when I saw Alan twenty feet above me. He was in big trouble.
Chapter Fourteen
I rocketed up. Calm down, you need air for two now.
I grabbed hold of Alan beneath his arms and struggled against the natural pull of the deep, desperately trying to get closer to the surface. Foot by foot, I made progress, while my body yearned for oxygen. My thigh muscles cramped and screamed in pain. My chest heaved and convulsed. We both would drown. Or I could leave Alan and swim for my life.
I held tight to him. I must have blacked out near the surface but only briefly. When I came to, I was on deck. Alan was still out cold, a mix of frothy blood oozing out from around his lips.
“Hey, hey, you okay?” Nate cradled my head, and I looked up into his eyes. My chest still heaved, but I breathed air and Nate was nearby. I felt wonderful, blissful even.
“He got squeezed bad,” Paula commented, as Ivan did chest compressions on Alan.
“Get the oxygen, now!”
Mattie ran and brought Ivan back a tank of oxygen.
“What were they doing? The dives were over,” Ivan said. “And Alan is a total newbie. No way he should have gone for another dive so soon after the last.”
“I jumped in. For one last dive. I’m sorry,” I admitted, my voice hoarse.
“The dude jumped in after her,” Charlie said, her voice shaking. “I noticed Alysa was gone and ran to get you.”
“He’s not coming around,” Mattie warned.
Ivan leapt up, and the engine rumbled to life beneath me. Soon we pounded back toward the shore. As the boat rattled my body, the feeling of bliss faded. Nate turned to Alan. Uncomfortable feelings collected in my gut.
Charlie sat braced against the motion of the boat, her face streaked with tears. I sat upright and put my arm around her.
“I thought you were dead. Why did you do that?” she asked me.
“I… I saw Alyx,” I whispered in her ear.
She nodded and buried her face in my chest and cried.
“You scared me. Let’s go home now.” Tears streaked her face, and she looked much younger than seventeen. Paula met my eyes. A sympathetic smile crossed her face, as if she knew something I didn’t. I looked away quickly, sweat breaking out on my brow.
On shore, an ambulance waited. Two paramedics rushed onboard and Ivan herded us off to give them space to do what they needed to do. Please don’t die. If I hadn’t gone in, this would have never happened. I felt partly responsible. I stood with Charlie on the dock. The others clustered together, talking in low tones.
“Can we go now?” Charlie said.
“Alysa, come here a minute?” Ivan’s speech had a slight military quality. As if disobeying wouldn’t be an option.
We walked well away from the dock, and I felt eyes on us as we continued through a parking lot to a small grove of trees where we’d be hidden from sight. Ivan sat down on a boulder and motioned for me to join him. He had the massive arms of a wrestler or pro bodybuilder, not a diver. Again, I noticed that his face had a familiar quality.
“You okay?”
I nodded.
“Listen, you shouldn’t have jumped off and dove today when the dives were over. When a captain makes an order, you don’t disobey, ever. Understood?”
I nodded, and tears threatened, but I scrunched them back.
“Hey.” He took my chin in his hand gently and raised my head. “But it’s not your fault. That dude is an idiot. With me?”
I nodded, embarrassed.
“I’m sorry this happened. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
“I know,” I sniffled.
“I want you to dive with us again. But only family. No strangers.”
“Family?”
“Yeah.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant. It felt like he was including me as part of everything I had stumbled into.
“But I don’t have a car and I don’t think Charlie’ll wanna come back.”
No point in hiding anything anymore. I might as well have been naked in front of him. Tears streaked my face, and it didn’t matter; it was a relief.
“I’ll pick you up. Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“You can swing it?”
“Maybe, I don’t know.”
“Okay. Here’s my number. You text me when you decide.”
He reached out and gave me a hug. My body melted into his huge form. All muscle. I had never hugged anyone that much bigger than me. He could have squeezed and crushed every ounce of life out of me if he wanted. But he was gentle. We walked back together. Nate looked over and maybe I imagined a twinge of jealousy in his eyes.
Two paramedics wheeled Alan into the ambulance.
“How is he?” Ivan asked Nial.
“Unconscious, but stabilized. Taking him to Mahina.”
Ivan sighed and nodded.
Charlie came and pulled me to her. “What’s going on?”
“He wanted to talk.”
“Can we go now? This day has been super weird.”
We said our goodby
es. It was awkward. Nate gave me a forced smile. Paula stood on the other side of the dock, talking on her phone. The others barely noticed us.
Soon we were back in Charlie’s car. We drove in silence at first, radio off, neither of us speaking.
“You’re going back there again, aren’t you?” Charlie finally said.
I leaned my head on the window and watched the road blur past. “Yeah. How can I not? Ivan asked me, and…”
“What did he say to you?”
“That it wasn’t my fault, what happened to Alan.”
“Of course, it wasn’t your fault! That idiot was showing off. I watched him dive in after you. He’d be dead if not for you. You’re a hero.”
“I feel so confused.” I reached across and took Charlie’s free hand. “Can we listen to the radio?”
Charlie laughed. But there were tears in her eyes. “Yeah, crank it.”
We blasted the radio and sang along to bad ‘90s music all the way back to Mahina.
Chapter Fifteen
It was dinnertime when I got back. Someone had spray painted FREAK!! in big green letters on our garage door. Welcome back to my life. Inside, glass shards covered the kitchen floor.
“Dad?” I called nervously.
The entire contents of the cupboards had been emptied; all the spices, breakfast cereals, bags of flour…everything. Smoke billowed from the stovetop.
“Careful! I broke a glass. Had to throw the first batch away!” Dad said as he ran back to the oven. “I’m making us dinner. And dessert.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“Got in over my head.” He grinned.
“Did you see the garage?”
“I’ve been inside all day,” he said. “What’s going on with the garage?”
Glass crunched beneath my sneaker. I grabbed the broom and swept.
“It’s…well…never mind, it doesn’t matter.”
I dumped the glass into the overflowing wastebasket.
“What are you trying to make?”
The Atlantis Twins Page 6