Ocean Cove

Lyla had promised me that after I saw the whales I’d feel a lot better about living in East Island and truth was, since then I did. But it wasn’t because of the whale song. What had me feeling better than I could ever remember was Lyla saying that she loved me. That single memory kept my mood lifted for the week that followed.

Every time my mind was free to wander, it drifted to that time, which usually resulted in me breaking out with a big smile for no reason, making my friends and parents ask if I was okay.

Lyla’s admission of her true feelings for me made our friendship a little more tense, as now whenever we were close together, she always avoided eye contact with me, or even being too near me. But I knew she only did that because she was afraid of being closer to me, even though I knew she wanted to be.

Nine days after our excursion with the whales, on the first Monday in August, Mr. Taylor came over to finish his repairs on the shed, and I was extremely surprised when I saw that Kristian had come with him, though I figured from the brooding look on his face that he didn’t have much choice.

As Mr. Taylor was making his way out back, Kristian made to follow him.

“Not so fast,” I said, managing to block him in time. It showed all over his face that he didn’t like the idea of me on the offensive, but as he was at my house, there wasn’t much he could do.

“Why’d you come here? You don’t like me and you had to know I was going to be here, maybe even with Lyla.” I loved seeing his growing agitation and knowing he couldn’t do

anything about it. “Which means you didn’t come to chat with your new buddy, so why did you come over here?”

“You think I came here to see if she was over here?”

“Well, that’s hitting the nail on the head.”

Kristian folded his arms in what I took to be a defensive posture.

“Kim told my dad I haven’t been getting along with you, so it was his idea for me to come here to smooth things out. Well, that’s how he puts it.”

“But you don’t think that’s going to happen,” I said with a slight sneer. I couldn’t help enjoying having the upper hand.

Kristian scolded in response. “Well, I did warn you that being friends with the Morgans would be bad for you, but you just wouldn’t listen, so don’t blame me ’cause we’re not going to be best buddies. You don’t understand what you’re getting into.”

He turned to walk away, but I said, “I know exactly what I’m getting into.”

It was my pride that made me say it, but it wasn’t until after the words were out of my mouth I realized maybe I shouldn’t have said it. Kristian paused, then turned back around, surprised. I walked up to him.

“I know exactly what you’re trying to warn me about.” I took a dramatic pause, in which time Kristian seemed to be holding his breath. Then I said, “I know about the Morgans. I know what they are, and I also know about the Somorians, which also means you.”

Kristian looked unsettled. “She told you. She actually told. I can’t believe it. But why would she… unless I was right and she does plan to turn you.”

I was dumbfounded for a couple seconds. I should have known he would find a way to get back to that. He probably only said it to piss me off.

“I think it’s you who doesn’t know what he’s talking about. After she told me what she was, she admitted she loves me but refuses to be with me because she doesn’t want to hurt me.”

It was Kristian’s turn to wear the patronizing sneer, which infuriated me more.

“Listen to me, they can’t love humans. That’s impossible. She probably only told you that to make you feel closer to her. Listen, you don’t really know anything about this world and the way you’re trying to force yourself into it, you’re only going to end up in trouble and that’s when you are going to be in deep water.”

Kristian walked past me towards the yard, but before he got out of the room, he said:

“Say hi to Lyla for me.”

* * *

It went without saying that Kristian’s comment left me with a burning anger that didn’t let up until the next morning. I was lucky that it did, because I was going out with Dad on the boat and Nikolai and Marcus were coming along and I didn’t want them picking up on the fact that I was upset, because they’d tell Lyla. Then she would somehow find out about Kristian coming over and she’d just use that as an excuse for us to not be together. At least that’s how it played out in my head.

“So what are we going to be doing today?” I was spreading some marmalade on a stack of toast in front of me. It was just Dad and I this morning, as Mom had already left for work at the clinic today.

“We’re going back out to see if we can pick up any more unusual whale activity. We thought it was just the Humpback and Orca, but almost two weeks ago, we picked up an unusually high number of whales in the area.”

“I don’t think it’s so unusual for a couple whales to be in the area,” I said, trying to sound casual as I picked a cup of coffee.

“It is when it’s over ten species together in a few hours,” Dad explained, taking the coffee from me and handing me a cup of cocoa.

“Dad, I’m seventeen. I think I can handle one cup of coffee.”

“You know how your mother feels about you drinking this stuff. If she ever found out, she’d have me by the gonads,” he added into his cup, probably unaware that I heard him.

I really don’t know how we ever thought no one would notice so many whales in one place. In fact, two days after there was a news report about a couple of fishermen who said they spotted some whales never even seen in this part of the world, so of course they’d want to get my dad involved.

Dad chuckled and said, “Son, its obvious there’s something going on if so many different species of whales are attracted here. Of course there is the off chance that it was some kind of freak one-time thing.”

“Hmmm.” I was trying to sound vague, but Dad had actually just given me an idea.

“But if something new were to be discovered about whales,” Dad continued, “that could explain such close cross-species interaction on such a high level, and if we were to discover it, that would be amazing.”

I was starting to feel a little bad for Dad, because although he wouldn’t admit it, I knew he really wanted that theory to be true, and if he started chasing it, it wouldn’t be good for his job and I just couldn’t mess up my parents’ lives like that, which made the success of my plan all the more important.

I had to find a way to let Nikolai know he had a very vital part in this plan, without letting Marcus know, because I had a feeling if he knew what was going on, Lyla and Nikolai were going to be in trouble.

After breakfast, the rest of Dad’s team got there within a couple of minutes along with Marcus and Nikolai.

“I wanna show you something,” I said to Nick. “Come up to my room with me.”

“Hmmm, I don’t really need to see that,” he joked, following me anyway.

“Shut up.” I retorted.

When we got up and the door was closed I opened my mouth to speak, but he held up his hand to stop me. His light blue eyes suddenly became unfocused as if he was daydreaming.

“Good. It’s okay,” he revealed, snapping back to his surroundings. “I had to make sure father was engaged so he wouldn’t be listening to us!”

“Why would he care about what we’re talking about?”

“Probably to make sure we’re not planning any more ‘reckless activities’ as he calls it. He knows about the whales, and isn’t very happy about it, especially as Lyla and I called them so close to the island.”

“Wait a minute, he still doesn’t know that I know about you?” I asked surprised.

“Are you mad? He was furious about this; he would probably explode if he knew you knew our secret. Anyway, that’s why he wanted to come on this expedition. He wants to make sure your Dad and the team believe that won’t happen again.”

“That’s great,” I whispered, “Because that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I have an idea of how we can do that, but it would mean you’d have to tell your dad you came up with it if he asks. All you have to do is, get a couple of whales in the area, let them see them and then have the whales swim off back to their own places. Trust me, if Dad doesn’t see them go, he’ll always believe they may always be around, like the Humpback and Orca, which they’re still looking out for by the way.”

“Okay, you don’t have to rub it in, I get it. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure this plan goes out perfectly.”

Nick turned to leave, but I grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Are you and Lyla afraid to tell Marcus about me because he doesn’t like me?”

That was something I had been thinking about all the time, but this was the first time I ever voiced it.

Nikolai sighed deeply---there was something sad about the way he did it---and turned back to me.

“It’s not that he doesn’t like you. He actually doesn’t have anything against you. It’s just that so many humans dislike us. Father just wants to protect us. He’s afraid if any human finds out about us, they will expose our secret and that would cause a lot of trouble for us. It’s happened before. He just doesn’t want it to happen again, so he doesn’t want any human to get too close to us.”

“What do you mean it’s happened before? What happened?”

Nikolai realized he probably said something he shouldn’t have, and that kind of hurt a little, because I wanted to think he trusted me enough to know I wasn’t going to tell anyone what he said.

“Don’t mention that to anyone. In fact, just forget I even said it.”

“Nick, I’m not going to tell anyone. You can trust me.” He nodded, then we headed downstairs.

Whatever happened to the Morgan family must have really shaken them up to do that to Nikolai, but I didn’t think it was such a good idea to press the issue, so I let it go.

When we got downstairs I saw that Justin was waiting for us as well. When Nikolai walked off towards his house, he and Justin merely nodded at each other.

“I still can’t believe you’re friends with the Morgans. They have a few friends at school, but no one from around here and they usually keep to themselves. So are you going to tell me?” Justin asked as we got in the back seat of Dad’s truck.

“Tell you what?” I asked, genuinely puzzled.

“If there’s anything going on between you and Lyla Morgan.”

“Nah, nothing like that. We’re just friends. For now,” I added in an undertone. Justin chuckled. I suddenly remembered about the Aquamuns’ hearing abilities and hoped Marcus wasn’t listening when I said that.

I’d always envisioned Marcus to be one of those fathers who meticulously protected their daughters from everything, even harmless teenage boys.

When we arrived at the harbor the boat was already loaded, so as soon as everyone was onboard, we took off.

“How far out do we have to go?” I asked Dad while we were in the cabin with Gibbons, who was staring.

“We’re going to have to go a couple miles out. It’s going to take just a little time getting there and back,” Dad replied. “I tell you this is one of the strangest things I’ve ever investigated. Actually, anyone in fact. Nothing like this has ever been documented before.”

A dreamy look came over Dad’s face again and my guilt returned. I knew he was thinking about the accreditation they’d receive if they did find something, but it was best to take that dream away. They’d have him chasing nothing but lies.

“Dad, maybe you shouldn’t get too excited about this, because like you said, it could be

one-time thing.”

He froze and looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“If I didn’t know any better, and I do, I would say you don’t want me to find out what’s going on here.”

“Weird things happen all the time. I just don’t want you to set yourself up for disappointment.”

That was what I replied with, but somehow I thought of saying: “Well Dad, of course I don’t want you to know what’s going on.”

Dad merely smiled kindly at me and returned to his work. But just as I was about to leave the cabin, one of the monitors started beeping madly.

“It’s one of our boys. One of the whales we tagged.” Hoggie said after he ran into the cabin to check the screen. I didn’t fail to notice how his eyes popped open with glee.

“And it looks like he’s got company. I don’t believe it. I looks like a baleen and a sperm whale!” Hoggie shouted. Chris was already on deck, holding a video camera and tracking the whales’ movements.

“We could really do with some underwater shots,” he said over his com while trying to get angles.

“Already on it!” Dad shouted, coming out of a small changing room inside the cabin with Marcus. Both of them were wearing wet suits.

I began thinking this was really getting out of hand fast, but then I saw Marcus look at Nikolai and he, in turn, nodded to his father.

“What was that about?” I asked Nick.

“Just letting my dad know I did have a plan.”

“Come on,” Justin called to us from the deck, “Get up here or you guys will miss everything.”

With everything that was going on, the others paid no attention to Justin, Nick and me, who were gazing intently out to sea, trying to spot the whales, though Nick obviously knew where they were.

Suddenly the three whales rose to the surface again, but began thrashing about madly, not like they were being aggressive, but more like they were putting on a show, like they wanted all attention on them. Nikolai was putting the plan into action.

Dad and the others were completely mystified, but very intrigued. But before they could ready a little more of their equipment, the three animals split up to swim in different directions and departed, much to the dismay of everyone on board, excepting Marcus, Nick and myself.

“What should we do?” Chris asked hurriedly. Everyone was looking towards my dad, who took one look at me and chuckled sadly.

“Look,” he said, indicating the directions of the whales, “they’re returning to their own territories. We can try to find out what got them here in the first place, but for some reason I just don’t think we’re going to find anything. We’ll just document what happened, but this can just be passed off as a one-time thing.”

Dad turned to walked back into the cabin, but stopped by me first.

“This is a very strange place, but I still like it here,” he said, then continued on his way and, one by one, the others followed him with Marcus bringing up the rear. When he passed Nikolai, he gave him a pat on shoulder.

“Can you believe it?” Justin said, leaning on the rail and looking out towards the ocean, as if hoping to spot one last whale. “It’s like they were waiting on us, just to do that.”

Nick and I looked at each other and laughed quietly.

“I’m just glad it’s all sorted,” I said. Nikolai and Justin soon followed everyone else into the cabin, but I decided to stay out on the deck. I rested on the rail and just enjoyed the breeze on my skin.

We hadn’t moved yet, but we were about to set out for home when all of a sudden, the boat shook violently as if one of the whales had rammed into us. The boat shook so intensely that I was caught off guard and, to my great surprise, I fell overboard.

Unbelievably, after I fell into the water, the first thing that entered my mind wasn’t fear, surprise or even anger. It was embarrassment. Of everyone on the boat, it had to be me that fell overboard.

Feeling slightly stupid, I swam towards the surface, readying myself for ridicule from Justin and Nikolai, when I realized something strange. I couldn’t get through the surface of the water. At first I thought maybe I was just a little disoriented from the fall, but after two more tries and not being able to penetrate the surface, I started to panic.

Every time I made for the surface it was as if I was touching some kind of soft solid I couldn’t get through, no matter how hard I pushed against the water. When I fell it was such a surprise to me that I didn’t have time to take in much air, so my lungs were already starting to burn and my brain was screaming at me to open my mouth.

Through the crystal clear water I noticed everyone on the boat was frantically scanning the water, as if they weren’t seeing what they were looking for. Then, even though my thoughts were starting to move to slowly, it came to me. They were looking for me.

Suddenly, through the fog that was starting to cloud my mind, I heard something familiar. Something wonderful that made the pain in my lungs and my head seem to disappear, or at least made me put them out of my mind.

All sound around me had somehow disappeared and the only one I could hear, the only one I was concerned with was the sound in my head. Lyla’s song. Hearing it put me at ease. I wasn’t even concerned with getting out of the water anymore. I just wanted to let the sound consume me in its beauty.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I noticed a strange darkness rising from the sea floor. Whether it was because of my lack of oxygen or something more sinister, I didn’t know or

care, just as long as I could hear that angelic sound in my head. Then I realized the song wasn’t just in my head, it was also coming from within the darkness. Somehow, that darkness held something I wanted… peace.

The fact that I was so close to drowning no longer mattered to me, all I cared about was reaching the source of Lyla’s sweet voice and that was in the heart of the cold darkness.

By now my limbs were starting to get weak and vision was starting to blur, but nothing was going to be enough to stop me from getting to that voice which was beating so loudly in my ears. But as soon as I started to swim down, a pair of strong arms enclosed around my chest and began pulling me to the surface. I didn’t fight like mad to get away from this person because as soon as they touched me my senses returned to me, completely pushing the Aquamun song away, and making me feel like my chest was about to explode.

Before I knew it we broke through the surface of the water and I gulped in as much air as I could.

“Marcus. Is he all right?” Dad shouted in a panicked voice.

“I believe he is fine!” Marcus shouted, but then he lowered his head to my ear and whispered, “We will talk later.” And he didn’t sound too happy.

As soon as we were back on the boat I was thrown onto a bed in the cabin and Dad wrapped me tightly in a very thick blanket.

“Son, are you alright? Don’t worry, we’re heading back to the harbor now. I’m going to get you to a hospital.”

“Dad, I’m fine,” I said, trying to ignore the fact that everyone onboard was watching. “I’m not even cold so I really don’t need this.”

I tried to take off the blanket, but he wouldn’t let me, and I quickly stopped when I saw his face. He looked as though he was at a complete loss for words and I got the feeling he was close to tears.

“I’m okay Dad, really. Nothing to worry about.”

He nodded slowly, turned and thanked Marcus again for saving me, then everyone left the cabin so I could get some rest, which I really didn’t need.

Sitting there alone, of all the things I could be thinking about after what just happened, the first thing that came to mind was Marcus. I couldn’t stop trying to guess what he wanted to talk about. From the tone of his voice I knew it wasn’t anything good. I sensed it had something to do with what happened underwater, but I would have to wait to find that out.

We soon reached the harbor. The trip back didn’t feel nearly as long as the one out.

From the moment we docked, Dad insisted on my seeing a doctor, despite the number of times I told him I felt fine. To add to the horror, Mom appeared out of nowhere looking panicked, and ran to me, almost crying when she caught sight of me.

According to Justin, when everyone left me in the cabin, Dad had called my mother to tell her what happened and, just like Dad, she was demanding that I see a doctor.

After I convinced them that all I needed was rest, they agreed that I wouldn’t have to see a doctor if I promised to go straight home and get to bed, which I promised. Well… with my fingers crossed. I did have more pressing matters, anyway.

Needless to say, the trip home was a silent one. On the entire drive home my accident kept replaying itself in my mind, increasing my feelings of embarrassment. Sure, I was fine, but it wasn’t anything to laugh about, and for it to be me who fell over…

I kept shaking my head every time I thought of it.

Another thing I really couldn’t stop thinking about was how I wasn’t able to get through the surface of the water. I would never forget how it felt to be pushing against the water but still not be able to break through with air leaving my lungs by the second. And then there was the boat itself in the first place. How it rocked so hard so suddenly when there wasn’t anything in the area and the sea was flat.

I looked through the front seat window as Dad was driving me home, looking at the trees blur past but not really seeing them. My mind was too busy coping with what happened to be concerned with the scenery.

That wasn’t any accident. It was another attack. I had to admit that I was amazed at how they were able to manipulate the sea like that. I guess I really wasn’t safe on land or at sea.

I risked a glance over at Dad. It was just me and him in the truck as he was going to join the others after dropping me home. I got the feeling he was concentrating so hard on the road because he didn’t want to look me, and I knew it was because he was afraid to look at the son he almost lost. He didn’t know how to confront that.

Trying to kill me was one thing, but to do it in front of my father? The very thought of it sent powerful ripples of anger through my body. Whoever it was obviously didn’t care what it would have done to my Dad to see me die like that.

Knowing that someone was using magic to kill me, and that I was unable to defend myself should have left me scared, up the wall with fear even. But I wasn’t. I mean, sure, when the attacks are occurring I’m terrified, but I didn’t walk around looking over my shoulder panicking about when the next attack would come. And I really hoped it pissed this guy off if he knew that. But right now, I wasn’t calm. All I could think about was getting back at this person, letting them know I was still alive and fine after all their efforts.

I’d just started to relax a little when I felt a surge of white hot anger course through my body, and considering my own anger was nowhere as strong, there was only one explanation about where it came from, one I’d been turning over in my mind for a while. At first I thought it was ridiculous, but after everything that had happened… well it seemed a lot more possible to me now.

Somehow, at times I was able to pick up on Lyla’s emotions. I didn’t know how, or even exactly when it started, but I knew I was right. That’s what it is. All those alien feelings I’d been having, the ones that sometimes contradicted what I felt, they were coming from Lyla.

What’s happening to my life? I thought to myself. For the two months I’ve been here, I’ve almost died, found out about magic and mermaids, become the intended victim of a possible murderer and now I learn I can pick up on people’s feelings, or at least Lyla’s anyway.

It was enough to make anyone’s head spin, but after a few seconds of introspection I found I was able to cope with it. Maybe I was suited to this life. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or not.

Before long, Dad dropped me off at home.

“Dad, wait,” I said before I got out. and finally he looked at me. “Dad, I’m fine. Yeah I almost drowned today, and I get that that isn’t something you can just shake off, but I’m not in a coma or anything. I don’t even have to see a doctor. I’m fine. So knowing that should make you happy.”

My dad merely looked at me for a couple seconds then ruffled my hair and gave a hug. “Thanks Chase. You really are a good kid, you know that?”

He told me Mom would be leaving work early to spend the evening with me, then he left. I wasn’t happy to hear that. I wasn’t too happy about where I had to go next, come to think about it.

Marcus and Nikolai had driven up behind us, so as Mom was going to be home soon, I figured now would be a good time to go see Marcus.

I walked over to the Morgans as quickly as I could because I was afraid if I took my time, I would be able to talk myself out of going and that wouldn’t be good. I have to admit I was a little frightened of Marcus and preferred not to have him come looking for me.

When I got to their front door, I knocked with my hand shaking slightly and when Marcus answered, I had to force myself to stand my ground.

“Come in,” he said softly. It was almost a whisper, but there was no mistaking the anger in his voice.

I followed him into the living room where the rest of the family was seated, each of their expressions unreadable. Now would have been a good time to get some kind of emotional reading or whatever from Lyla, but predictably, nothing came.

“Sit,” Marcus said, pointing to the empty arm chair across from the others.

“What do you know about us?” He asked. Well, that was getting to the point.

It took me by surprise. And I wasn’t alone. Everyone else looked towards Marcus, shocked, though Lyla and Nikolai betrayed a little hint of guilt on their faces. I wasn’t sure if anyone else noticed this.

From the moment Marcus said he wanted to see me, I started coming up with responses to that very question, but none of them would pass because I was certain he didn’t know for sure what I knew. He probably felt something when he saved me.

Everyone had now turned expectantly towards me for my reply, but I focused on Lyla. Because even though her face was once again unreadable, I found that looking at her calmed me. I opened my mouth to finally respond, but Lyla suddenly blurted out:

“I told him everything.”

Marcus, Salathia and Michael looked more shocked still.

“Lyla, how could you?” Salathia said.

Marcus stood up. There was a mixture of worry and anger on his face.

“Lyla, how could you do that without even consulting me first?”

“Father, if I’d asked you, you would have said no.”

“Of course I would have. Do you know the kind of danger we’re in now?”

“I’m not stupid you know, father,” Lyla retorted with a slight note of anger in her voice. “His life was in danger and I saved him. I didn’t have a choice. What was I to tell him, that I was pumped up on drugs?”

“If you had to, yes,” Marcus replied, “at least we can deal with that.”

“Marcus, calm down,” Salathia said. “Lyla, why haven’t you told us this?”

“Because I knew you both would respond this way. Chase–”

“Wait a minute,” Salathia said, cutting across Lyla. She then turned her sky blue eyes to her youngest son, who seemed to shrink down into his chair under her gaze. I could see on her face that she was putting the pieces together, like she was solving some long forgotten puzzle.

“Chase is the boy that saw you, wasn’t he? That’s why you were so friendly with him at first, you wanted to see how much he knew.” She was good.

Nikolai looked like he wanted to sink into his chair as far as possible.

“I explained about that already and that one isolated incident has nothing to do with Chase finding out about us.”

Considering that the Morgans were acting like I was some kind of liability, I did have the right to be indignant. I stood up, and even though I knew they would have heard me even at a whisper, I still spoke loud enough for humans to hear if they were in the room.

“Stop, all of you. Lyla and Nikolai didn’t do anything wrong. And no one is in any danger. Look, Lyla has saved my life more than once now, and if she hadn’t told me your secret, I would’ve probably found out on my own.” Which wasn’t true at all. “Now I know how important secrecy is for you guys, so when I promised Lyla I wasn’t going to tell anyone and I meant it. That’s a promise I intend to keep.”

“How do we know you will?” Michael asked, speaking for the first time.

I glanced over at Lyla for a second before I replied.

“Because I’ve gotten to know Lyla and Nikolai, and I can tell this is a nice family and I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. Besides, I owe Lyla anyway, for saving me.”

I knew I didn’t need to convince Lyla and Nikolai of my sincerity… it was the rest of the family that didn’t seem too sure.

Marcus suddenly announced: “Thia, Michael, Nikolai, may we have a moment alone?” He indicated me, Lyla and himself.

Michael and Nick got up without a word and instead of going into another room, they left the house as though they sensed oncoming tensions that they wanted to escape.

“I haven’t known you very long, but for some reason I trust you. I do believe you when you say you will keep our secret. But just keep in mind, for your own safety, knowing about us may put you in danger.”

Salathia got up and touched my shoulder as she left. Marcus then went back to his seat and I did the same.

“I asked the others to leave because what I am going to ask you may upset Salathia. I don’t want to worry her unnecessarily.”

Marcus leaned forward in his chair and said, “Tell me… are you hearing Lyla’s song?”

The question was meant for me, but Lyla was the one who answered. She gasped loudly as if she’d been stung by something.

“Of course not father, there’s no way. I would know such a thing. Even if it did happen, Chase would’ve told me straight away, wouldn’t you?”

Lyla looked placatingly at me. As I gazed into those ocean blue, crystal like eyes, I realized she wasn’t asking if it happened. Somehow she already knew it did, but it was as though she was holding out on the off chance that it didn’t. Unfortunately, my prolonged silence was enough of a confirmation.

My chest started burning with disbelief. I didn’t know you could even count that as an emotion, but it was so strong it clouded everything else I felt, even my own feelings. That’s when I realized this was what Lyla was feeling. Oh yeah, now it had to kick in.

Marcus stood up again, this time not with anger, but there was a look of great concern on his young face. He looked like a twenty-eight year old man with all the trouble in the world.

“We have to stop this before it gets any further.”

Lyla pulled her gaze away from mine and slowly stood up, as though she already had a plan fully formulated. Something told me I wasn’t going to like it.

“You’re right father. This has to be stopped now, but I will be the one to do it. I won’t let the whole family pay for my mistake. We all shouldn’t have to move.”

“Whoa, whoa whoa,” I said, getting up and shaking my head and hands like I was trying to rid myself of something. “Why are you talking about moving? So I heard the song a couple times. It’s not like I’m losing my mind or anything.”

Lyla opened her mouth to speak, but Marcus spoke first.

“Tell me this, are you infatuated with my daughter?”

“I won’t deny that I’m in love with her. But that has nothing to do with her being an Aquamun.”

“Look, Chase,” Lyla said, “I’m sorry but we can’t be friends anymore. This is one of the things I wanted to avoid in the first place. From the moment I met you, I just got this feeling that I was going to put you in danger. For a while I really did believe we could have made this work, but it’s just too dangerous for the both of us. You won’t see me again after today. I’m so sorry.”

When she was finished, she walked past me without a word, but touched the back of my hand. She wanted to hold it, but changed her mind and went out the door. All this time my body felt so out of my control that I wasn’t able to walk, or even talk. The second I heard the

door close I snapped back to my senses. It was too late. When I ran outside, ignoring Marcus, Lyla was already gone from sight.

* * *

All through the week that followed I found myself suffering from more heartbreak than I ever had in my entire life. Every other kind of pain I’d experienced in my life was nothing compared to this. It was the absolute worst.

As depressed as I was feeling, however, I was able to hide it very well from my parents and friends, as they didn’t suspect a thing. I just didn’t want everyone thinking I deserved their pity because the most desirable girl on the island had rejected me.

The only person who had any idea of how I really felt was Nikolai. It was funny, but for some reason I didn’t mind him being around me as I did everyone else, though that was probably because I saw him as my link to Lyla.

From the day Lyla stopped speaking to me altogether nothing strange happened to me-- -whoever was attacking me just suddenly decided to stop, as though Lyla was the reason they were after me in the first place. If that was true, I just hoped she wouldn’t find out, because if there was any chance of us being any kind of friends again, Lyla confirming that suspicion would certainly crush that.

Even though she told me we were never going to be friends again, I didn’t entirely believe that, because the connection between us that allowed us to feel each other’s feelings was still working pretty well and with it I felt a huge amount of agony coming from her. It was so strong that I found it very difficult to block, and sometimes when it got mixed up with my emotions, I felt as if even breathing was causing me pain. This feeling, however, still lifted my spirits a little, because the only thing that could have Lyla feeling so horrible was the fact that she couldn’t see me anymore.

It was as bad for her as it was for me. That made me feel good because I figured she wouldn’t be able to stay away very long. But then again, Lyla had a lot more willpower than I did, which meant she would not come knocking on my front door any time soon.

I still couldn’t ignore what I felt, from either of us. So I decided to take the situation into my own hands.

“I don’t know if this is such a good idea,” Nikolai said one day as he sat at our living room table, “because for one it’s not like you can surprise Lyla, she will know you’re coming and two, when she finds out I helped you out, it really won’t end good for me.”

He took an apple from the bowl of fruits on the table and bit into it.

“What?” Nikolai asked unapologetically as I stared at him.

“You look like you’re really enjoying that,” I simply said.

“So?” He said, raising his eyebrows. He took another huge bite.

“Well, it’s just that Lyla told me you don’t need to eat or can’t even taste food for that matter. So, I’m wondering, why is it that you like to eat?”

Nikolai stopped chewing and looked at the apple as if it contained some kind of important news, then suddenly he just shrugged and continued eating it.

“Just ’cause I don’t need to eat doesn’t mean I don’t like to.”

“But… but you can’t even taste anything,” I argued. Nick just shrugged again.

“That’s a small issue.”

I simply shook my head and dropped it. “Anyway, you don’t have anything to worry about it because I won’t tell her you told me she will be home alone today.”

“You’re going over there now?” Nikolai asked, surprised when I got out my seat.

“Yeah. No time like the present. You can hang out here if you want.”

“No thanks. I’m going for a swim. I don’t want to be anywhere around here if your little talk doesn’t work, because that will just put Lyla in a worse mood. If she wants to find me, she’ll have to catch me first. Good luck to you though.”

Nick left the house with me, but went down to the beach as I crossed over to the Morgan side of the cliff.

As the Morgans’ house came into view, I started to get more nervous about seeing Lyla, because as Nikolai said, if she rejected me again---well, I didn’t want to think about it. Their house seemed to be getting immensely bigger the closer I got, I had to take huge breath to calm down and stop myself from turning and running back home.

I was sure that by now Lyla knew I was coming. I rang the door bell and knocked as loudly as I could and waited for five minutes, but no answer came. I slid down the door and sat on the front steps for a couple minutes. Leaning against the door and knowing she could hear me, I said:

“Lyla, please, let me in. I just want to explain to you. At least allow me that much, the chance to give you an explanation.”

Even though I knew she could hear me, I wasn’t expecting anything to happen, so I was very surprised when she pulled open the front door. I stood up quickly, happy to see her for the first time in over a week. I couldn’t help smiling at her.

“Hi.”

“Hi,” she replied in a mostly indifferent voice, but deep down I detected a note of guilty pleasure. As usual she was dressed casually in jeans and a shirt, but she somehow made it seem like she was rocking designer clothes.

“Lyla, may I come in, please? We need to talk.”

Lyla’s eyes gazed past me and swept the area behind me as though she was looking for something, then after about two seconds, she looked back at me.

“How did you know I was home today?”

“I just guessed. I figured you would want some time alone to yourself.”

She folded her hands, cocked her head in disbelief, and looked me straight in the eyes as if she was trying to see my thoughts. I was pretty sure Aquamuns couldn’t do that, but still I got that feeling again, as if Lyla’s eyes could see the truth anywhere. But even thinking this, I couldn’t look away. I’d missed seeing those beautiful eyes so much.

“Hmm, he’ll pay for this,” she whispered, then stepped back and motioned for me to come in. I followed her into the living room where we sat opposite each other.

I took a deep, steadying breath before I started.

“Lyla–” Before I could say any more, she said:

“Why, Chase? Why didn’t you tell me you were hearing the song? You know how dangerous it was and you didn’t say a thing to me.”

“Because I didn’t want to worry you.” I said quickly.

“That’s not true.” I was taken aback at that response.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m sure you really didn’t want to worry me, but be honest. The real reason you didn’t tell me you were hearing the song was because you were afraid I would stop seeing you, isn’t that true?”

I wanted so badly to contradict her. In fact, I’d even opened my mouth to do so, but not a word came out. I knew that lying wasn’t the best option right now, and the fact that she brought it up meant that if I had any shot at making this right, I would have to start there.

“Yeah, it’s true,” I admitted, “I knew if I told you, you would have run in the opposite direction before I would even have a chance to say anything.”

“You don’t know that.” She said forcefully.

“Yes I do,” I replied just as forcefully, “and why are you even arguing it when that’s exactly what you did?”

“Honestly I don’t know why I am, I guess I just want any excuse to shout at you,” she said reproachfully.

I looked at her for a couple seconds, then chuckled. But she didn’t seem to find any humour in it. She stood up quickly, looking half-stern, half-hurt.

“It’s not funny Chase. You know how afraid I am of hurting anyone like that, especially you, and you didn’t tell me it was happening. You didn’t even stop to think what it would do to my family if we were switched. We would be split apart because I wouldn’t be able to live with them, and you, you would have to leave your family. Did you even think of how much it would hurt your parents if you just left home and didn’t come back? And I know you didn’t have my best interest in mind, because if you did, you would have thought about how it would have destroyed me if you were to be cursed like that because of me.”

Lyla covered her eyes as if she wanted to hide tears she was fighting to hold back.

“You know what? It doesn’t even matter now. You can just go.”

She turned and made to head up the stairs, but before she moved off the spot, I grabbed her wrist to stop her. As my hand slid down into hers, she turned back around to face me. Her hand still in mine, I closed the space between us.

I felt so warm from the moment my hand touched her, and now her scent seemed to be casting some kind of spell on me, but I didn’t fight it. I’d missed it too much.

“That’s not true, so please don’t say that,” I took hold of her other hand, which seemed to surprise her from the sharp intake of breath she just took. “Look, you’re right. I didn’t tell you I was hearing your song because I didn’t want to give you a reason to leave. It was wrong of

me, and had this gone wrong, it could have caused a lot of trouble. But I was so scared that you were going to leave if you found out, I just didn’t want that to happen.”

“But, Chase, you should still have told me.”

She sighed and looked down for a couple seconds, then looked back at me. “We can’t be close to each other now, not when the risk of me hurting you is so much greater.”

“Does it feel like you’re gonna hurt me right now?” I asked softly, staring her right in the eyes. It was the first time I ever noticed that I was a few inches taller than Lyla.

“I – I – I don’t really trust my feelings right now,” she whispered back. “Chase, don’t.”

She said this because I was now leaning towards her, but she made no movement to stop me. In fact, it was as if she couldn’t resist some charm I was casting on her, so she closed the space between us and kissed me.

It was even better than the first kiss. I still felt like I was the luckiest, most carefree person in the world. Every one of my troubles and fears were gone, but that’s not what made it good. The kiss itself, having Lyla so close to me, was what made it feel so amazing.

After a few seconds, Lyla pulled away forcefully from me.

“Why did you do that? And why are you looking at me like that?” She said angrily, though she made no attempt to pull out of my hands.

“Well, that was amazing,” I said, feeling just a little shy. I was still trying to catch my breath as the after-effects of the kiss were still upon me.

“That’s why I’m so angry. You are always ready to take risk without even thinking of the consequences.”

“Lyla, if you’d just take a minute, you’d realize that I just kissed you after being able to hear your song and nothing happened,” I said triumphantly. Shock took over her look of rage.

“But… I don’t understand. How is this possible? What’s happening? What is it that’s so different about us?”

She pondered all at once. I was sure she wasn’t asking me these questions so much as thinking out loud, but I still responded.

“I have no idea. But don’t you know what it means?”

When she continued to stare at me questioningly, I went on.

“It means… I’m somehow immune to your power. You can’t turn me, even if you wanted

to.”

“Immune? Chase, that’s impossible,” she said defiantly.

“We just proved it, Lyla,” I argued, “and that means there is no reason for us not to be together. Lyla, I love you and I know you love me, I can literally feel it. There is nothing stopping us from being together now and I hope you forgive me for saying this, but now that you can’t use that as an excuse for us to not be together, you refusing to be with me just makes you stubborn.”

Lyla pulled herself from my hands and turned around. For a second I was afraid she was going to reject me again, that she was going to say she could never be with me. But after adjusting her hair, she just told me:

“My father isn’t going to like this.”

“Isn’t going to like what, Lyla?” My heart was starting to beat faster.

“It’s not that he doesn’t like you,” she continued, ignoring my question, “it’s just he doesn’t want me to get hurt if someone were to find out our secret. He just wants to keep us safe.”

I gently took hold of Lyla’s shoulders and pulled her closer to me.

“Lyla, believe me, I won’t hurt in any way. And yeah, I know your father won’t like us being together. Neither will Kristian or Hilda for that matter, but I’m not going to let other people’s feelings get in our way. If you just give me a chance, I can’t promise you it will be perfect, but I can promise you I will try my best to be all you will ever need.”

I was feeling so nervous that I was sure Lyla could hear it in my voice, even using normal human hearing. She turned back to face me and for the first time she leaned in to kiss me.

“The truth is Chase,” she said, when we broke apart, “I’m tired of fighting it. I love you and I want to be with you.”