Betrayal 2012

by Amber Garr

  “Okay, let’s see.” I did my best to block out all background noises and focused in on one of the few fathers who braved the playground scene today. It wasn’t like I could find his mind per se, but that’s what I was trying to do. The more I practiced, the easier it was for me to visualize every individual’s consciousness. I directed my power towards the jumble of thoughts that I figured belonged to the man and pushed the music into his head along with the command to dance. A wave of confusion swept over his face and he stopped fiddling with his daughter’s coat. He stood up and began to sway from side to side.

  “It’s working!” Daniel squealed. The man smiled down at his daughter and brought his hands up to his ribs. Flapping his elbows up and down like a bird, he began the chicken dance. I was so excited, I continued to push the command out towards him without realizing that I touched a few other minds as well. Nearly twenty parents and their children began dancing the choreographed steps and I totally lost my concentration.

  “Oh crap,” I moaned. Kain and Daniel laughed beside me and I elbowed them both. “Humans are too easy.” I was learning that the power of suggestion on a human’s mind was way more potent than I could handle at this point. Pushing out one command to one person with a little too much force indirectly affected all of those around him. Now half of the playground was wiggling and twisting to an inaudible tune, and Daniel was in hysterics.

  “Keep going. This is too good,” he sputtered out in between giggles. I ignored him and yelled Stop! in my head to erase their urge to continue dancing.

  Within a few seconds, everyone stopped and looked around in confusion. My friends were laughing loudly and several parents glanced in our direction. But they soon went back to their normal business as though they hadn’t just been part of a flash mob. Mermaid compulsion: got to love it.

  “Oh, you’re no fun,” Daniel chided.

  I rolled my eyes at him and slumped back against the bench. Sipping the latte we grabbed on the way to the park, I looked around the rest of the scenery and tried to think about nothing. Not an easy task.

  “You try it,” Daniel said. At first I thought he was talking to me, but was surprised to see him looking at Kain.

  “I don’t think so,” Kain said with an edge.

  “No, he’s right. You need to practice too,” I added. Kain had the ability as well, although for some reason mine had jumped from zero to extreme in one evening. His power repertoire was building slowly but he still had the skills necessary to manipulate minds.

  “You’re the one they want to see demonstrate,” Kain reminded me.

  “So? You’re a leader, too and the more control you have, the more people will respect you.”

  He scoffed at that comment even though he knew it was true. We were young and people doubted us. I watched as he looked toward the running path. A young woman jogger appeared from behind the trees so we now had a clear view of her. When she reached the flat terrain, she suddenly stopped and began doing a bunch of really fast jumping jacks. They were followed by a suite of high knees, butt kickers, and calf stretches. Then she turned away from us to face the water and bent over to grab her toes. There was no mistaking the intent as she stretched from side to side, flashing us a rather personal view of her rear.

  I punched Kain in the arm. “You are such a pig!” He was laughing more than I’d seen in a while and I couldn’t help but smile on the inside. It was nice to hear.

  “Hey, if I have these powers, I’m going to use them to my advantage.” He spoke to me but his eyes never left the women’s backside. She continued to push all of her glory up into the air, oblivious that he commanded her to do so. I punched him again.

  “Stop it. Look at what you’re doing.” Several men in the nearby area where now casually trying to check her out too. And by ‘casually’ I meant ‘blatantly gawking’. Kain kept laughing but when the women eventually stood and continued on her jog, I breathed a sigh of relief. “Men,” I grumbled.

  “Now, if you would do that with him, then I would be your best friend forever.” Daniel’s eyes were fixed on a young man pulling a kayak up onto the edge of the pond. He was a twenty-something tall, athletic, and tanned skin guy wearing a farmer john type wetsuit that graciously highlighted his muscular arms. Something about him reminded me of Brendan and I lost all sense of amusement. He still had not responded to my email and I was beginning to worry that he never wanted to see me again.

  “No way, man. Sorry. He’s not my type,” Kain said while shaking his head.

  “Spoil sport,” Daniel muttered with a sigh. He continued to shamelessly stare at the man until even I felt uncomfortable.

  “Let’s go for a walk,” I said while I stood, letting them know that this wasn’t a suggestion. I needed to clear my head and Daniel needed some air.

  We made our way along one of the less traversed paths that led deep into the woods. I knew that our protectors lurked somewhere behind us, but for a few moments it seemed as though we were alone. About halfway through the trek, we sensed another small pond that was hidden somewhere from the trail. We could all recognize nearby water like a homing beacon, a gift from our heritage. With a reassurance to the protectors that they could stay slightly behind, we walked off the path and headed towards the shoreline.

  It wasn’t a large body of water and the impeding forest probably made it seem smaller. But it was secluded and peaceful and I instantly felt at ease. I sat and fell back against the mossy ground. Closing my eyes, I let the warmth of the sun radiate through my skin. I could hear Kain and Daniel walk up beside me but neither sat down. They weren’t speaking either so I had a few moments of welcomed silence.

  I thought about my three human friends who were still in the hospital recovering from their gunshot wounds. They had all been downgraded to a less serious condition but they probably wouldn’t be able to return to school this year since there were only a few weeks left. Two of them had been shot in the leg and one in the shoulder.

  I remembered Lucian’s note. Not fatal. Justin could have very easily killed them with a bullet to the head or the heart, but he had purposely avoided a lethal shot. This is a warning. Lucian had directed him not to kill and he didn’t. But next time would be different.

  Kain’s grumbling pulled me from my thoughts. I sat up to see him swatting at something flying around his head; cursing each time he missed. “Get…away…from…me,” he said in frustration. Daniel and I stared. What Kain must have thought was a large insect was in fact just water.

  “Kain?” I questioned.

  “What? Do you see that?”

  “Um…yeah. Do you?” He stopped swatting the air and looked at me then at the golf ball sized water droplet hanging in front of his face. We stared at it for a few moments before the droplet suddenly took off and disappeared into the pond.

  “What the hell…” Kain began to speak but was interrupted when a splash erupted from the surface and shot up into the air like a geyser. Water streamed nearly twenty feet high and I quickly looked around to see if anyone human was nearby. This would be rather hard to explain.

  A figure appeared in the center of the column and the rest of the water fell back to the earth revealing a human sized creature with a jacket and a bowler’s hat. He had a solid liquid body with very little coloring to hide his transparent nature. “Good to see ye again, lassie,” a thick Scottish accented voice greeted me.

  I jumped to my feet. “Abhainn!” The water sprite I’d saved from a crazy merman was somehow in this pond before us. “Where did you come from?” I saw our protectors lurking nearby, but a quick wave of my hand sent them away. Abhainn smiled.

  “Around.”

  “Well, how did you get here?”

  “I ‘ave my ways,” he replied evasively. “I think the better question would be what is yer friend here hiding?” He looked at Kain with something disconcerting written all over his liquid face. When we didn’t say anything, Abhainn continued. “I thought I’d play a little trick on ye but he wa
s able to stop me.”

  “What?” Kain finally asked. “The water ball?”

  As Abhainn continued to float above the water’s surface, he threw his hands up in the air in frustration. “Yes the water ball ye arse! When did ye learn to control it?”

  “What?” we asked together. He looked back and forth between each of us several times.

  “Oh, ye ignorant syrenkas,” Abhainn huffed. “Controlling water? Manipulating moisture? Any of this sound familiar to ye?” We shook our heads and Abhainn laughed. “Well then, seems as if it’s time fer a lesson.”

  “I can control water?” Kain asked in disbelief.

  “Ye all can. Some more than others, but aye. How else do ye think I was captured?” He directed that last question to me. I always wondered how Jeremiah had imprisoned the sprite in his decorative water fountain. My silence was met with another snort. “It’s what makes ye so dangerous for those of us who live in the water. Well, that and the mind control.”

  Great. Another creature that mermaids had power over. They really needed to update our history lessons. It seemed as if our kind liked to wait until we became leaders before divulging all of our dirty secrets. I was certainly getting a crash course now.

  “Here, catch,” Abhainn said right as he threw three balls of water towards Kain. In a knee-jerk reaction, Kain held up his hand and swatted them away. But they didn’t fly back towards Abhainn. Instead they hovered in the air somewhere between the sprite and the merman. Kain’s eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning and he just saw the presents under the tree for the first time. He flicked his hand back and forth and with each move, the water balls mimicked him. Moving one finger in a circular motion, he made the three globules spin around each other in an intricate dance. The smile on his face grew as he continued to manipulate the water.

  “I want to try,” Daniel whispered and without hesitation Abhainn threw another group of droplets his way. Using the same “hand in the air” technique, Daniel was able to stop them in mid flight and force them to do his bidding. He had them joining together, moving apart, and then reforming into one larger one again. The two guys played with their water like it was the coolest thing in the world. Like kittens with a new toy.

  “Abhainn, give me some,” I said wanting to try too. The sprite tossed another stream of water in my direction and I held up both hands to try and force control over the particles. I didn’t know what I was doing, but it seemed to come naturally to Kain and Daniel. So I stood there, with my eyes focused, concentrating on stopping this water. But nothing happened and within a split second, I was soaked from head to toe.

  I gasped. “What? What’s wrong?” All of the guys were laughing at me while I stood there with my long hair matted to my face and the claustrophobic feeling of wet clothes clinging to me. “What did I do?”

  “Apparently nothing,” Kain replied dead pan. I glared at him.

  “No’ everyone can do it well,” Abhainn added with a shrug.

  “Here, take mine,” Daniel said and he gently tossed me the three water balls that were circling his head. Trying to focus, I willed them to land in my outstretched hand. They floated over to me but once they were a few inches above my hand, each one fell to the ground with a splat.

  “Ugh,” I huffed in frustration.

  “Practice makes perfect, Eviana,” Kain teased as his water continued to dance around in front of him. I threw my arm in his direction and the water soared back out over the pond and slammed into Abhainn. I smiled in satisfaction.

  “Hey!” Kain yelled. “Don’t be jealous. We can’t all be perfect.” I wanted to punch him again, but I’d already been childish enough for the day.

  “Well, I have better mind control,” I blurted. So much for maturity.

  “Hey, maybe that’s why.” Daniel looked back and forth between the two of us. “You’re a natural with the compulsion, but he’s better with the water control thingy.”

  “Thingy?” I asked.

  Daniel waved his hand. “You know what I mean. Maybe you aren’t supposed to excel at every power we can supposedly acquire.”

  “I think the young laddie has a point,” Abhainn added. “There aren’t many of your kind that can wield enough control to capture one of us. Therefore, it would seem that most have limited abilities.”

  “Well, we should practice,” I declared, determined to master this skill.

  “Yes, let’s,” Kain said with an air of arrogance.

  “Oh, it’s on,” I challenged.

  “Deal,” he replied as another stream of water leapt from the pond and landed in my face. “This is going to be so much fun!”

  “And ye all may learn something useful,” Abhainn added.

  We spent the next several hours working with Abhainn like we were in a batting cage. He would toss stream after stream of water at us, expecting some response. Daniel was good at swatting them away, Kain had enough control to toss them back at Abhainn, and I just got soaked. It was incredibly frustrating and as much as it would strain my brain from concentrating so hard, I simply couldn’t get the hang of it.

  It seemed as though I was at the bottom of the group when it came to the water manipulation abilities. I needed another practice session at the playground in order to mend my bruised ego.

  The sun was beginning to fade behind the surrounding forest casting dark shadows around the edges and bringing a chill to the air. Abhainn told us that it was time for him to leave, but that was all right. Even though I was wet from head to toe, the day had been fun. Plus, Daniel and Kain weren’t totally dry either since I had my revenge during our water battles.

  We left Abhainn with his promise that we’d see him again sometime soon and made our way back to the park entrance. Our protectors stared but didn’t make any comments when we emerged from the woods soaking wet and giggling like school girls. Let them think what they want. They already thought we were too young to rule the clans, why enlighten them to our newfound powers.

  Well, Kain and Daniel’s new powers. It didn’t seem like I had much ability with the water control. I’d improved a little bit by the end of the day but Kain was the real star. It was as natural for him as compulsion was for me, and that made me realize even more that we were a great team. It was also something I told him he should show the Council. He disagreed, of course, but said that if the situation called for it, he would be willing. What that meant exactly, I didn’t know. I’d just have to wait and see how things went tomorrow.

  And speaking of tomorrow, there was an email waiting for me when I got home. Brendan agreed to meet and I could barely control my happiness. I read the message at least a dozen times before replying with a plan. I told him which hotel we were staying at and he’d suggested a nearby coffee shop. We were going to get together after my meeting with the Council. A rush of nervousness streamed though my body. I was excited to see him but also scared. What if he’d decided that he didn’t want to be with me anymore? Were we even really together now?

  There were too many unanswered questions. Tomorrow, I was going to have to prove my strength to a bunch of people who could control the fate of our species with one decision. Plus, I was going to have to face my biggest fear; rejection. I needed to prepare myself for the worst in case nothing went the way I wanted it to with Brendan. The Council’s decisions were out of my hands, but I still felt like I could have a say with Brendan.

  Tomorrow was going to be a long day. Tomorrow was going to dictate how the rest of my life would play out.

  Four

  We arrived in Seattle after a short flight and a mixture of Kain’s calming concoction. I still hated to fly, so I begged him to make me another milk and whatever drink to keep my nerves under control. He had tricked me when we flew to Florida for Cotillion earlier this year, but this time I requested it. It wasn’t the flying that I was so terrified about. It was more like the crashing and burning. And that supposed fact that we were much safer in a car and such? Well, that really didn’t matter whe
n I was up in the air bouncing around at thirty thousand feet.

  The driver dropped us off in front of a swanky hotel right in the heart of the downtown waterfront district. The marble building and elaborate chandeliers hanging in the lobby was just a taste of the extravagance that awaited us. Being a clan leader certainly had its perks when it came to travelling. There were four protectors with us, one of them being Palmer, and although Daniel and Marisol wanted to come, we had to leave them behind. When it came to dealing with the Council, you didn’t show up uninvited.

  After checking in, we headed upstairs. Our group of suites was almost on the top floor and when I walked in the room, I was momentarily taken aback by the view. It was almost like we were above the clouds. Surprisingly, it wasn’t raining and the late afternoon sunlight cast shards of orange, pink, and blue over the water and surrounding cityscape.

  “I’m going to get cleaned up,” Kain said while lifting his suitcase. We were in a two bedroom suite with my bed in one room and his in another.

  I looked at my watch. “Guess I’ll see you in two hours then,” I teased. Kain had a tendency to take three times as long getting ready than any girl would. I still didn’t know what he did to primp himself. It was an ongoing joke between us. I would often tell him that I needed him an hour earlier to make sure that he’d ‘clean up’ in time.

  “Ha, ha. Very funny,” he replied before closing the door to his room. I smiled and thought about the time we’d spent together at Cotillion. Since we were playing a happily engaged couple, we were given a cottage with one bed. It had been an interesting situation to say the least, but we made it work. Then his dad died. And then I left him at the altar. I really hadn’t been a good person to Kain and thinking about it now made me feel even worse.

  I told him about my planned meeting with Brendan tonight and he listened without comment. Perhaps there was a part of him that was curious to know how it would work out as much as me. There was friction between Kain and me, and Brendan’s presence was always a silent thorn in our cohesive ruling relationship. It was our unspoken problem. The topic we avoided like the plague. Maybe after tonight, I would have a better understanding about what was going on between Brendan and me. Then Kain and I could move our professional relationship beyond this.