I tried to roll over to get away, but my body wouldn’t listen. My stomach exploded and I instinctively curled into a fetal position. Something hard hit my shoulder. Footsteps walked away and people started yelling in the other room. Still curled into a ball, I took a moment to catch my breath. Oddly enough, the pain had turned to hollow numbness. I guess when pain is too much; your body mutes it for you. It was like a gift. Maybe that was what death felt like. Just never-ending numbness. The sound of glass breaking came from the next room, but as long as they were in there, I was okay. I knew once he came back he’d kill me. There was no way around it. At nine years old, I was no match for him. But then again, the numbness wasn’t so bad. It would be really easy just to let it take me.
Then I wouldn’t have to be scared anymore. I wouldn’t have to feel pain anymore. Too bad I wasn’t good at giving up. Mustering as much energy as I could, I inched toward the living room closet on my stomach. Just a little bit farther… I reached up, turned the door knob and pulled. Pain from the movement erupted in every cell of my body and I fell back to the floor. I took a deep breath, pushed the door open farther and saw it on the third shelf up. I crawled on my hands and knees into the closet, when I heard them both come back into the living room. With adrenaline running through me, I stretched out my arm and pushed myself up. I heard a scream and a thump, but tried to block it out.
He pulled the closet door completely open, right when I grabbed the handle. As I crumpled back onto the floor, he grabbed my left foot and pulled me from the closet. I rolled onto my back and saw a baseball bat in his hand. Through his legs I saw her unmoving body. It was heavy and I couldn’t hold it up with my hurt arm, so I just angled it up towards him. He raised the bat above his head and I pulled the trigger.
I woke, drenched in sweat and sobbing in my bed. I pushed back the covers, pulled up my knees and tried to calm myself down. ‘He can’t hurt you now’, I told myself over and over. And it was true. When I shot him, I hit his right thigh. Enough to stop his attack, but not enough to kill him.
He’d been in prison now for close to eight years. He had killed his wife, my foster mother, when he hit her in the head with the bat and was convicted based upon my testimony. I spent three weeks healing in a hospital and the state found me a new home. But the memories never left me. Neither did the strength I gained from it.
I finally got my breathing under control and changed out of my sweaty clothes. I turned on my IPod, put in my ear buds and lulled myself to back sleep.
Chapter 13
In History the next day, we received our first official assignment. In groups of four, we had to research two specific Nerieds; their strengths, weaknesses, what part they played in history, and write a ten page paper due in a month. Mrs. Leone rattled off the different groups while I crossed my fingers that Willow would be in mine.
“…Rhea, Willow, and Xavier. And the last group will be Lyric, Stasia, Maya, and Lexi. For the last ten minutes of class, you will meet with your group to discuss.” So much for luck. I looked around trying to figure out who Lyric, Maya, or Lexi were when a girl waved at me. Thank goodness.
She had an ethereal glow about her and when she smiled, the goodness radiating from her was enthralling. She had white-blonde hair with blunt cut bangs cascading down to her golden eyes. A wide silver cuff bracelet encrusted with sapphires clung to her wrist. A Siren.
“Hey Stasia, I’m Lyric,” she greeted me and gestured to the girl sitting next to her, “and this is Lexi.”
“Stasia? Isn’t that short for Anastasia?” Lexi glared at me. She had strawberry blonde curly hair and big green eyes. A light dusting of freckles was sprinkled across her cheeks and nose. She reminded me of the Strawberry Shortcake doll I used to have, but without all the ruffles and overpowering strawberry smell.
“Uh, yea.” I couldn’t figure out where her hostility was coming from. Lyric gave her a stern look and she sat back with a huff.
“I’m Maya,” the third girl smiled at me. I was instantly taken aback by her exotic looks. She had a Jamaican accent, rich brown skin and a mass of tiny braids making up her dark brown hair. Tiny turquoise beads were braided in at different places throughout. She had clear blue eyes that were looking at me with warmth.
“I’m a Tyde, like you.” She leaned forward like she was going to tell me a secret, pointed at the other two, and whispered loudly, “They’re sea witches, A.K.A. Sirens.”
“Abracadabra bitches.” Lexi wiggled her finger at us and Maya laughed. Lyric just sighed.
“If I was a witch, I’d turn you both into boogers and flick you across the room.” That only made Maya laugh harder and Lexi almost choked on her Diet Coke.
“Ladies.” We all jumped at Mrs. Leone’s voice. “Your Nerieds will be Kymo and Thetis. I hope you will take this assignment seriously, and I better not find any stickiness on your paper.” She raised an eyebrow at us, but a corner of her mouth threatened to pull up into a smile. Maya put her hand over her mouth trying to muffle her laughter. We nodded our heads and she walked to the next group.
“Thetis? That’ll take forever to write!” Lexi grumbled, and a pout formed on her face.
“It won’t be that bad, at least it won’t be hard to research” Maya had finally composed herself.
“Who’s Thetis?” I asked. Strawberry Shortcake gave me a weird look as if that was the dumbest question of all time. What was her deal?
“She used to be the leader of the Nerieds, so we should be able to find all kinds of information about her,” Lyric assured me. I wondered if I’d ever be able to keep the fifty Nerieds straight. Why couldn’t there just be ten?
Lightness filled my chest when I walked in to 6th period and saw Finn sitting at our table.
Unfortunately, the voice of reason in the back of my mind played Carmen’s warning over and over again. But the second I made eye contact, all thoughts of a curse vanished. Plus, this was the first day I was going to actually do the ‘experience’ part of Oceanic Experience.
“Think you can do this?” Finn asked, once we were given the go ahead to start.
“If you can do it, I can do it,” I countered.
“Then step aside mademoiselle, and let me work my magic.” He tried to step in front of the pool, but I made it there first.
“You don’t think I’m going to let you have all the fun do you?” I raised an eyebrow at him.
“By all means, show me how it’s done,” he stepped back and grinned, “Just remember, you want to keep the water inside the pool.” I just rolled my eyes at him. The chances of me being able to do anything at all were slim to none, so causing a splash wasn’t really on my list of things to avoid.
Creating a whirlpool was just a warm-up to the rest of the class, but considering I had just gotten to Lorelei and this was an advanced class, I was at a slight disadvantage. I had no idea if I was supposed to chant, sing, think happy thoughts, or what. What if I couldn’t do this? I stole a glance over at one of the other students doing it and tried to mimic her. I placed my left hand right above the water, so that only my fingertips were touching. Tiny ripples immediately began spreading out from my fingertips. Maybe I could do this after all. Still touching the water, I pulled my fingertips inward so they were all touching, but also still in the water. Then I began making small circles. At first nothing happened, but then the water began to churn ever so slightly.
Adrenaline shot through me. I was actually doing it! My excitement was a little premature, however. My hand seemed to have a mind of its own and I was having trouble controlling it. The whirlpool continued getting wider and faster with no end in sight. Finn was trying to tell me to calm down and focus, but I barely heard him. The only thing I could hear was the sound of waves crashing and a light melody. It was the same thing I had heard in the bathtub last week. Before I could figure out why I was hearing things, the smell of sea salt and coconut tickled my nose. Completely freaked out, I grabbed the side of the pool to make it stop. Instead, the water spread out towards the four sides of the glass, causing them to crack under the pressure. I squeezed my eyes shut and all at once the water exploded over the sides, soaking everything in a two foot radius. Including me and Finn.