“How is Mary?” I asked, trying to take the pressure off Nick.
He didn’t get a chance to answer though, because Nick, who had turned away in embarrassment, was looking at the water.
“Oh, there’s Carley,” he said. He pointed. I turned my head to look, and the air caught in my throat.
Carley was in the water. She was waving happily to the three of us still sitting on land. There were other swimmers around her, but not that many.
Even though the ban on swimming had been lifted, I realized in this moment, seeing Carley in the water, that I didn’t want any of my friends in the ocean, not until more time had passed. According to Samuel, my going in the water was the biggest worry, but I had still hoped to have a chance to talk Carley out of it, or to distract her before she was actually in the water. Too late.
I jumped up, filled with an unspeakable panic.
“Come on, Autumn, let’s go,” said Nick. He had already pulled his shirt off and was dashing towards the waves and Carley.
I looked at Nate, who shrugged. “I’m going to go wait for my friends. I’ll see you guys later.” He got up, dusted the sand off his legs, and trudged back towards the road.
I didn’t bother to watch Nate walk away. I turned towards the water and dashed to catch up with Nick. It was slow going, because I had to dodge around a bunch of little kids building sandcastles.
By the time I reached them, Nick was already in the water with Carley. She was giggling trying to splash him, and he was ducking under the water to avoid her.
I stopped just short of my toes touching the surf. I could feel the wet sand under my feet where the tide had already come in and washed the shore. I knew I shouldn’t do it, I knew Samuel would be mad if he knew, but I didn’t like that Samuel was telling me what to do. He hadn’t actually brought me into the Fairies’ plans to fight the Water Sprite, he had just ordered me around like I was a child. Plus, they’d taken care of the Water Sprite. There was nothing to worry about.
Carley and Nick looked fine, and there were tons of other people in the water. Of all the people there, if a Water Sprite was really going to attack a girl, what were the odds that it would be Carley or me? Slim to none was my guess.
Gingerly, I put my toes in the ocean. It felt wonderful. Freezing cold, but wonderful. It had been weeks since I’d gone swimming.
I put my whole foot in. Since I was so concentrated on heading into the Water Sprite domain, I didn’t see Carley sneaking up on me.
Splash.
Carley had used both her arms to cover me in ice-cold sea surf. I sputtered for a breath, trying to get it out of my face and eyes, while Carley and Nick stood there laughing.
“Don’t be such a baby,” said Carley. “Come on in.”
The water felt great. Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the ocean until it was up to my waist, then dunked myself up to my shoulders, grinning at Carley the whole time.
“This is amazing,” I said.
“It’s refreshing,” Carley added as she bobbed in the water.
Nick swam closer to the two of us, laughing. “Just this morning you didn’t want to go swimming,” he teased. Carley took a handful of water and sprayed Nick. With a shout he dove towards her.
I was about to stand up and get Carley back for splashing me when I felt something icy and slimy wrap around my leg. I checked to see where Nick was, wondering if he had dived under to surprise me, but he was still pelting towards Carley as she giggled.
I looked down at the water around me, but couldn’t see anything but a murky greenish-blue. I jiggled my leg, trying to shake off the seaweed or whatever had latched onto me. But the grip just got tighter. It alarmed me that the word “grip” popped into my head. Seaweed didn’t have a grip. I decided I’d had enough of this particular practical joke and tried to pull my leg up, to get my limb away from whatever was holding it.
Without warning, my feet were yanked out from under me.
Before I had time to scream I was pulled under the cold water. Something that felt like slimy hand wrapped more tightly around my leg, and there was nothing I could do.
In seconds I was being propelled away. Salt water came rushing into my mouth and eyes and I started to gag. I couldn’t see anything; all I could feel was the iron grip on my leg and the rush of water past my body.
Chapter Twelve
I flailed, but nothing happened. I tried to kick with my free foot at the slime holding my leg, but I only felt the water swirling around me. It was as if nothing really solid was there. I was still being whisked away from shore at a very fast pace, and very soon I was going to black our from lack of oxygen or from hitting my head on some massive rock I couldn’t see and couldn’t stop myself from smashing into.
I didn’t know how far away I had already been pulled, but I knew I was moving quickly and I knew I didn’t have much time. It looked like I would drown before I could free myself, but even if I managed to get free, pretty soon I would be so far out in the ocean that I would never make it back to shore alive.
In the midst of my panic I only had one thought: Fairies. Their light and strength, speed and power. They would fight this thing, even if it was too late for me. Even if the Water Sprite had won this particular battle, it would never win a war against the Fairies. They would avenge me. If this Water Sprite killed me, I knew that Samuel and Holt wouldn’t rest until they had killed it.
A sudden calm settled over me. I had done my best. I had fought. As the water rushed around me, and as it became harder and harder for me to concentrate on anything real, my mind latched onto Holt. Maybe he would come back now. Maybe with me gone all his troubles would be gone too. It was a nice thought.
Just then, when I was about gone, the darkness around me was slammed with light. Something zipped past my cheek, and a second later whatever was holding my leg loosened its grip, then let go altogether. I tried to look around, but I couldn’t open my eyes in the salt water. I tried to swim, and I knew I needed to get air, but my arms wouldn’t work properly. Helpless, I started to sink down into the depths of the ocean. Then there was nothing but darkness.
I opened my eyes to the bright blue sky overhead. I was no longer in the water, and I could feel the sand cushioning my shoulders, hips, and heels.
I coughed, tried to speak, coughed again. All I could see were blurry blobs of color.
“Where am I?” I asked, still coughing. “Did you know that blue and white look good together? Whoever made the decision to have clouds be white was pretty smart.”
“Yeah, she’s definitely lost it,” said a male voice close to my ear. I recognized the voice, but couldn’t be bothered to place it.
A face swam into view above me. I squinted. It looked like a blurry pale oval to my eyes. “You look familiar,” I said.
“How would you know, since you can’t see properly?” Holt’s voice asked me.
“Hey, why are you talking in Holt’s voice?” I asked, indignant. “It’s one voice per person.”
I think the face above me grinned. “You really need some rest.”
“She sounds drunk,” said another voice nearby.
“Okay,” I said, and closed my eyes. “I wish Holt was here, not just his voice,” I murmured. I felt someone take my hand and squeeze it, but I was too tired to squeeze it back.
When I woke up the next time I was in my own bed at Carley’s. I was irritated, because I’d been having such a nice dream about talking to Holt. At least now my eyes were working properly and I could see, even though my room was dimly lit. I felt warm and safe, with the covers tucked all the way up to my chin, and luckily my hair was now dry, so it wasn’t annoying me by getting my pillow wet.
Carley was sitting in my chair, reading a book. When she saw that I was awake she slammed the book closed and said, “How are you feeling? Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” I croaked out. My voice was hoarse.
Carley rushed to get me a glass of water, and I fumbled my hand out from my
blankets so I could take it and drink. I wondered what had happened. I tried to remember how I had come to be there, in bed, with Carley reading in my room. I couldn’t.
“What happened?” I asked between sips of water.
“Well,” said Carley, sitting forward in the chair and preparing to use her hands for emphasis. “Actually…I have no idea, but you’re okay, so that’s good. We were swimming and I think you just lost your footing and got pulled out by the tide. That’s what Holt said, anyway. But….” She chewed her lip.
“Wait, what?” I asked. “Rewind. What did you just say?”
“Holt saved you,” said Carley. “You know that. You talked to him for a minute on the beach. He said you’d be fine, you just needed to sleep it off, and you were probably scared from the whole getting whooshed out to sea and all. At least, he looked really scared. He came running to the water so fast.”
“Holt saved me?” I asked. I sat up so fast I almost spilled the water that was still in my cup.
“Well of course; who else, dummy?” she asked. “It’s pretty weird, though. I was really freaked out, because of, you know, Katie and Mary. Seriously not cool. And they had told us it was okay to go back in the water, so if it wasn’t they really should have said something.”
I nodded, but my mind was racing. “So Holt’s back?” I couldn’t keep the eagerness out of my voice.
“Apparently,” said Carley dismissively. “He said he had to go because he hadn’t even been home yet, but that he would stop by later. He was completely panicked when he pulled you out of the water. I’ve never seen anyone so upset, but he said you didn’t need to go to the hospital or anything. I still don’t know what he was doing there.” She shrugged.
I realized that Holt must have used Glamour or something on her and Nick, otherwise they would have insisted I go to the hospital and stay there for a week.
I was about to ask when Holt was coming back when there was a frantic knock on the door. Before Carley or I could move, Samuel burst into the room. Now that Holt was back, seeing Samuel was different, not as exhilarating as before. His eyes were panicked.
“Autumn, are you alright?” he demanded, dashing over to the bed when he saw that I was awake. “Why can’t you listen, just for once?” He came over and sat on the edge of my bed.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said. I ignored his jibe. I had gone swimming, which he had told me not to do. I hadn’t listened, and I had almost died. Again.
“I told you not to go in the water,” he murmured. “Silly girl. I told you. Why can’t you ever listen?” I could feel his lips curve in a smile against my hair as he pulled me towards him. I was so surprised I didn’t even push him away.
“I’m fine,” I said. “How did you hear so quickly?”
“Nick texted him,” Carley piped up. “He thought Samuel should know that one of his best friends almost drowned today.”
I wanted to point out that I was not one of Samuel’s best friends, but I didn’t.
Samuel frowned, but he sat back further on the bed, giving me a little room.
“Did Nick tell you what happened?” Carley asked.
“Yeah, when I got his text I called him. Susan and the girls went to the water,” he said to me. Of course, Samuel didn’t need to be told what had happened. He must have already known.
“Why would they do that?” Carley interrupted.
“Just to…check stuff out,” said Samuel. He had started to look right at Carley.
“Oh, okay,” she said. “I think I’m going to get dinner. Autumn, I’ll bring yours up.”
She pushed out of her chair like it was on fire and headed towards the door. I felt the need to call after her, “I’m not an invalid, you know!”
Carley turned. Her eyes were a little larger than normal. “Of course not, but you need your rest.”
“I have work in the morning,” I pointed out.
“So skip it,” she said. “You’ve never canceled on Mrs. Fritter before. She’s due for one. Plus, that old bat will be in a complete tether with the news that Holt’s come back.”
“No way,” I said. “Mrs. Fritters has been in such a bad mood recently I’m not going to give her any other reason to hate me.”
Once Carley had left Samuel said, “Why did you go in the water? How could you?” He shot off the bed and started pacing, his footsteps falling fast over the floor.
I tried to calm him down. “I thought it would be fine. You said that Lydia and Leslie had caught the thing.”
“Yeah! And I also said to stay out of the water for now just to be safe. Now you know why!”
I could feel my face flushing with embarrassment and anger. I hated being yelled at, particularly when it was justified.
“I wanted to go swimming without a babysitter! My friends were going and there were people everywhere. How was I supposed to know I’d be the one who got attacked?”
“You were supposed to know because I told you,” Samuel shot back. “The Water Sprite could tell you were important. He was excited when you got in the water!”
“Why was he still even there? You said Lydia and Leslie got him!”
“They were wrong! They feel terrible about it,” said Samuel. Some of the anger deflated out of him. “When they heard what happened to you, they dashed right to the water to go after the Sprite again.”
“Yeah, well, they were way too late,” I said. “If Holt hadn’t come along.…” I cringed at the thought of being dragged along by that slimy hand.
Samuel massaged the back of his neck. “Yeah, that’s my point. If he hadn’t come along we probably wouldn’t have been able to save you! And he was in danger too. He challenged a Water Sprite alone just to protect you! Maybe you don’t realize how hard fighting a Water Sprite is, but if it was easy we would have gotten rid of it a long time ago.”
I could feel tears start to form at the bottoms of my eyes, and I turned my head up slightly so that they wouldn’t spill out. I was just tired. I would not cry.
Samuel could see I was upset and tried to relax. “Autumn, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. You just scared me. Nothing can happen to you.” He came over to the bed again and sat down.
“What do you mean ‘nothing can happen to me’? Wouldn’t it be easier for everyone involved if I just wasn’t around?” I demanded. “You don’t even like me.”
Samuel shook his head. “Just because something’s easier doesn’t mean it’s best.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but he didn’t.
“Just leave me alone,” I said. “I’m really tired.”
“Susan said she’d come and stay with you tonight. Just to be safe,” he said. I could tell he was angry, but I didn’t care. We stared at each other for a moment, neither of us ready to give an inch.
“Goodnight,” he said finally, in a soft voice. Then he opened the door and was gone.
Once he’d left I couldn’t keep the tears from coming. I curled up on my side and grabbed a pillow to snuggle with, wanting the reassurance. When Carley brought dinner I managed to temper the waterworks, but once she was gone I felt miserable again.
I hadn’t realized how much trouble I’d been to my friends. It was one thing to want to go swimming, but I’d ended up terrifying everyone and forcing Holt to put his life in danger to save me. Sure, I hadn’t known that he was even around to put himself in danger, but still. Samuel was right. I’d been reckless, and for what? A little fun in the water.
First thing in the morning I was going to go see Holt. It almost made me cry just thinking about the fact that he hadn’t been there when I woke up. But he was just back, after all, and had probably gotten caught up in family stuff. I’d see him in the morning.
My other problem didn’t upset me, it made me furious. Lydia and Leslie had said that they caught the Water Sprite, but had they? I’d never seen any proof of it, and Samuel had never mentioned proof that they’d actually killed the thing. I couldn’t see what they would have to gain from lying, but then aga
in who knew why Lydia and Leslie did what they did.
Of course, I couldn’t say any of that to Samuel. He wouldn’t have believed me about their confronting me in the dress shop earlier in the summer, let alone entertain the idea of their putting innocent lives at risk for their own sick ends.
I was just drifting off to sleep when there was a soft tap on my door. I didn’t really feel like talking to Carley any more tonight, so I ignored it. The soft tap came again, a little louder this time. Growling about being tired and needing my beauty rest, I rolled over and flicked on the light next to my bed back.
“Come in,” I called softly.
The door opened cautiously and there, framed in the doorway, was Holt. I gave a cry of joy and sat up, but I guess my head wasn’t prepared for that, because I instantly felt queasy.
Holt laughed softly and came over to the bed. “How are you feeling?” he asked. He was dressed in a t-shirt and workout shorts. He kicked his sandals off by my door.
“I’m fine,” I said, lying back on my pillow. “How’d you get past Mrs. Hightower?”
“Who? Oh, Carley’s mom,” he said. “Just a little talking to her did the trick.”
I knew that translated to him using Glamour, but I didn’t even care, I was just happy to see him.
“Thanks for saving me today,” I said.
He reached out and took my hand. I could see the faint traces of the lines underneath his skin grow stronger when he touched me. I smiled.
“I’ll always be there to save you,” he said. “I’m just sorry I didn’t show up sooner.”
“You left,” I said, trying to keep the bitterness out of my voice.
“I had to,” said Holt. “Let’s talk about it in the morning.”
I wanted to reply that he certainly hadn’t had to, that in fact my going in the water had been a monumentally stupid thing to do. But I was too tired to go into it. Instead I said, “Where’s Susan?”
Holt grinned. “I gave her the night off.” Carefully, very carefully, he eased himself next to me, wrapping one arm around my waist. I gave him just enough room on the bed, then turned my face into his chest, breathing in the faint smell of plants.
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