I sprung up and squinted.
“What…” I hissed through my teeth staring off at a point in the water, hoping to see it again.
There! There it was again. Breaking through the inky black waves was something. A shadow. A light. I would have said it was some sort of fish but did fish glow like that?
It was too far.
Quickly, I sprinted off the porch and towards the cliffside, breaking through the undisturbed snow. Coming closer to the drop-off, I skidded to a halt and crouched low as if that would help me see it better.
I scanned the water near where I had seen the odd glowing shadow but there was nothing, only inky blackness calmly swaying with the currents. Until I saw the weird luminance out of the corner of my eye and flicked my site in that direction. I watched as a massive tail surfaced through the water, the webbed spine along its back lined with light. Before it went back under, I caught a glimpse of its backend. A tail fin positioned horizontal with the body, and like the spine, it was bioluminescent.
No sea creature I knew had a tail like that one.
I sat back, my mouth agape. “Holy Nessy. There are sea monsters in Argos.”
Chapter Two
Atalanta
“I’m telling you Cal, I saw it!”
“You probably saw a whale, Atty.”
I shook my head. “Far too small to be a whale, and have you ever heard of a whale that glowed?
She shrugged. “Mutation. With all the crap they dump in our oceans nowadays?”
“Maybe, but I’m gonna stick with sea monster till I’m proven wrong. It’s more fun that way,” I chirped and leaned back into the seat.
The town of Argos was a sea shanty of a town. It was small, everything consisting of faded paint and cracked wood, with only one, maybe two of everything: one bar, one diner, two whole clothing stores. Though, for some odd reason, there were four different tourist shops sporting mermaids out front. I didn’t even know small towns like this had tourists.
“Do you actually know where we're going?” I asked looking over at Cal, who was squinting at the street sign.
“No idea,” She said slowly. “but only one way to find out.”
Cal slowed the truck to a stop in front of a shop that displayed the logo of a needle and thread on its window. Outside, two older women were sitting on a bench, bundled up together in what looked to be a handmade quilt, sipping something out of mugs.
Cal rolled down my window and leaned over the bench seat of the truck across me to pop her head out of it. “Excuse me! Do you happen to know the way to the library?”
The two women popped their heads up from their conversation and looked at us wide eyed for a moment before smiling.
“Why hello, new to town?” one of the women asked.
“Just moved here.” Cal said with a friendly smile.
“Well, welcome! My name is Charlotte, and this is Mona,” She said gesturing to herself and the woman next to her.
“Hi, I’m Cal and this is my sister Atty.”
And so there I sat, uncomfortably, for several minutes as the woman chatted with Cal before finally telling us how to get to the library. Down the road, make a left at Doogle’s and up the hill. It’s the building on the right, you can’t miss it.
We followed the directions and eventually came upon two buildings. They were right, we couldn’t miss it. It was bigger than I expected, a solid two stories, and looked much newer than the rest of the town. A modern building made of concrete instead of the rest of the town’s wood and brick, painted a deep blue. There were multiple murals running along the side of the building. The biggest one at the front was a quill scrolling itself across a piece of parchment, and on that parchment were the beginning lines to a poem.
I read them aloud as we walked up to the doors of the library, each carrying a box of books.
“That’s a poem by Edgar Allen Poe, right?” Cal asked as she bumped her butt against the handicap button, automatically opening the doors for us to walk through.
“Yeah,” I said following behind her. “It's about jealousy and lost love.”
“Weird poem to put on the side of the library.”
I nodded. “Maybe. But Poe is also a famous poet. So that could be why.”
The inside wasn’t as brightly lit as expected. It wasn’t dark per se, but much more of a soft warm light than most libraries I had been to in the past. I could see that it was a very spacious library though, with an open second floor lined with bookshelves. The air was crisp with only hints of that musty book smell wafting towards us as the fan blades hanging from the high vaulted ceilings turned. I spied plenty of little nooks and comfy chairs that would be perfect for huddling into for a good read.
“Whoa,” I breathed.
Cal chuckled next to me. “I think I see a little drool there, sis.”
“This library is far too nice for a town like this,” I murmured.
“I’ll take that as a compliment then.”
Looking to our left, I saw there was a large wooden counter behind which was a man far too attractive for his own good. He had dark curly hair which was partially pulled back into a ponytail, as some of it fell forward to frame a clean shaven sharp jaw. Flawless lips, straight nose, and dark brown eyes were framed by the thick black glasses he wore.
He wasn’t staring at me but at the computer screen in front of him as he typed away. Though, seeing as he was the only person around besides Cal and I, I had to assume he was the one who had spoken.
Heaving the box of books up to a better position I stepped closer to the counter. “Do you work here? Well, I mean, of course you work here. What I meant to say was…um…hi.”
He glanced up from his computer for a total of three seconds, his gaze cold and assessing before going back to the glow of the screen.
I bit the bottom of my lip and shot a pleading look to Cal, begging for her to take it from here, but she just gave me that stern sister look. The one that said to suck it up and put on my big girl pants or else she would purposefully embarrass me to make me regret it.
Taking a deep breath, I rigidly inched closer to the counter only to be shoved from behind by Cal’s boot on my ass, causing me to slam the box of books down a lot more forcefully than intended to catch myself.
I scrambled to apologize only to notice the guy hadn’t even flinched. He was looking at me now though, one thin dark eyebrow raised.
Not knowing what to do, I decided to roll with it. “My sister and I have come to donate some books to your library.”
I watched as a small cocky smile tugged at the corner of his lips before he said, “Our young adult romance section is pretty slim.”
“Why would you assume that they would be YA Romance?” I asked, unable to help myself.
He stared at me for a moment before answering, like he was thinking far too deeply on his answer which was somewhat annoying.
“Because you’re a teenage girl. Don’t all teenage girls read that garbage?”
I scoffed and put my hands on my hips. “First off, not all of it is garbage. Second, I’m slightly offended you would assume that’s what’s actually in that box.”