Chapter 8

It didn’t take long for us to reach Marisa. We literally jogged there trying to keep up with Loriei and Abi. The sun had sunk hours ago, are at least it seemed like it had. The sky had turned grey and the sunshiny magic of Vixen was left behind us. Sure it was still warm but the air was grey and sticky. The ground was sticky and flooded and the horizon was a mystery thanks to the thick choking mist.

“Maybe we should go around” Jamie advised.

“No, it will only take longer; we go through quickly before the tide comes in.” Loriei ordered and sped off into the thick fog, Abi following her closely.

“Wait!” I called, pulling off my last white shoe, but it was too late.

I turned to Jamie, a little unsure.

“We can’t possibly get lost if we stay together and keep going straight ahead.” he assured me, taking off his trainers and held my hand.

After a good five minutes of walking at the same speed, without turning or slanting to one side, we were completely lost in the mist. Now we couldn’t see five feet ahead or behind us. We walked for another five minutes and then started calling for the others.

“Why didn’t they wait for us?” he growled angrily. “I think we should just wait here and annoy them”

As much as I liked the thought of annoying them both, I knew it wasn’t safe to stay in the mist. For a start I was should I could sense someone watching me, intently. Another thing was that I kept remembering what Loriei had said about the tide coming in.

“Do you think we should speed up?” I asked him, noticing how dark the sky had become.

The mist had eased off a little but now it was too dark to see. A single drop of sweat tickled down my spine. I suddenly felt so cold, so very cold. In the silence a tiny buzzing grew, getting louder and louder. Jamie didn’t seem to hear it. I shivered. Something felt so wrong. I felt like running but I didn’t know why. I ignored my dread and eerie thoughts until the strength of fear caught up with me. I stopped dead in my tracks.

“We have to go” I whispered.

I looked up into Jamie’s eyes. At first they were full of pity and understanding until the buzzing changed into loud crashing thunder, roaring across the sky. I turned around but I couldn’t see anything in the mist.

“The tide?” Jamie stammered.

“It can’t be, doesn’t the tide come in gradually?” I asked over the growing roars of mighty waves. Jamie stood there frozen.

“We have to go now” I whispered, squeezing his hand tighter. “Jamie, we have to go now!”

He snapped into gear and we made a run as fast as we could through the mist, not caring which direction we were going in. The ground was slippery and it wasn’t soon before we lost each others hands. I guess Jamie wasn’t pretending to fall on the sand that night we met on the beach.

“Jamie!” I screamed, searching for him in the mist.

I didn’t really know if he answered me because the sound of the water was too strong. The fear made my mind go blank. The panic caught deep inside my stomach. All I could think of was that time was running out and now I was completely alone. I knew that Jamie was on the ground so I made a dive on the ground and landed a couple of inches away from him. We both knew that we wouldn’t have the chance to get up, so we stayed down. Small droplets of water brushed refreshingly over our skin, making it tingle. Not long now, a split second of thought. We both held each others hands tightly and waited nervously, eyes screwed up as tight as we could.

The water crashed down on us, knocking the air from our small lungs. The immense weight of the water instantly pushed us further into the mud, suffocating us, sinking us. I kicked wildly but the waters strength pulled every muscle and tried ripping each leg apart. I wanted to scream but my body refused to do as I wanted. I couldn’t think. The sudden shock of the icy liquid stabbed me hard in the very centre of my heart. I frantically struggled to across the surface but it was too far away and I was too weak. I opened my eyes to see white foam still gushing in the water and finally floating to the very top. I looked up to see the dim sunlight seeping through the icy waters grasp. I looked for Jamie. He still held tightly on my hand.

“JAMIE!” I remember screaming in my mind but his eyes were tightly closed.

The waters finally calmed enough for me to squirm in the blue waters. My chest felt like it was about to explode and I didn’t know how much longer my body could take the lack of oxygen. I crawled to Jamie’s side and gave him a little nudge. He seemed to be coming round but he too couldn’t hold his breath much longer. I wrapped my arms around his stomach and pulled him, trying to swim to the top. It was a lot easier since we were under water. Finally with a great effort we both broke the surface and entered hell. The water was so choppy; every time we opened our mouths to breathe we got a mouthful of sickly thick water which tasted more like blood. Jamie had come through now and was swimming for his life despite his exhaustion. The water didn’t look a beautiful blue anymore; it was just a grey muddy colour I didn’t even know existed. I gasped deeply, filling my lungs once again. We couldn’t see past the fog AND the waves now. The water felt so scummy and dirty and I swore I felt something in the water. We were pushed down again and again. After a while, I couldn’t even see. Everything was just bright colours. My the pain in my chest was agonizing. I couldn’t feel my legs even though I knew they were still kicking frantically. I felt like curling up in a ball and going to sleep.

“Don’t give up, Riley!” I heard Jamie say as if he was reading my mind.

His voice was muffled and distant. I didn’t know whether it was the drowsiness or the water in my ear. Then suddenly my arm when limp and I floated out of control. A huge wave pushed me under and held me there as I struggled to keep myself from falling. The currents were so strong. The sounds of the roaring waters were almost like a whale call or something. I then realised that I was missing Jamie’s and searched the empty space for him. Nothing.

‘Maybe this is it’ I thought in my head but for some reason my heart was still fighting for life. Gripping the last small threat and pulling the rest of the world with it.

‘I’m going to live’ I thought, getting more excited and finding more energy inside me. ’I’m going to live’

With the last kick of energy, I burst the waters surface, choking and spluttering. Suddenly, I felt warm hands grab me by the shoulder, pull me up a little, get a tighter grip around my waist and lift me out of the water, like a baby. He gently placed him on familiar wooden decks and rolled me on my side. I was still coughing, not caring about who my rescuer was. Finally, I got my breath back and pulled my aching body up. The same bruised feeling I knew so well. The dizzy, tired, sick feeling where every limb feels like it has been swiftly ripped apart. I looked, crawled on all fours and waited for my eyes to focus.

The first thing I saw was the wooden floor boards the big black boots walking towards me. I could see the tips of his long red and gold jacket and his long black trousers. He was wearing a moss green blouse underneath the red jacket and wore a belt full of weapons. He looked so familiar. I looked at his face and tried to focus a little more. As soon as his eyes were in focus I knew who it was.

“Eric?” I gasped my voice scratchy and sore.

He smiled and held out his hand which I used to help me up.

“Welcome back” he smiled.

The door flung open with a good push, making a loud bang. Bloodbeam struggled to find his dignity again since opening a simple door proved too difficult for him. He had forgotten the lock incarnation so he had to knock the door down. The first thing he saw was Lyla’s smug face, grinning at him. He ignored her best he could and sat down in his dusty old chair.

“Don’t you do anything else?” Lyla questioned.

Lupita gave her a heated glare as if to ask what on earth she was doing. If Bloodbeam got one whiff of her locket in here, she could be discovered and put in one of his failing machines.

“Don’t you ever shut up?” he groaned. “It’s too early in the morning”

Bloodbeam looked paler than normal and occasionally screwed up his eyes in pain. Lupita couldn’t help but notice a trickle of blood coming from his left cheek.

Lyla noticed this as well and kept her mouth closed. For a moment she actually felt sorry for him and then remembered where she was.

“I see you’ve met your new cell mate” he grinned, bearing slightly tinged blue teeth.

“Technically, she’s not my room mate until she’s in the same cell as me.” Lyla corrected.

He smiled and rested for a little longer and then got up to check his machines.

“So, a new question then, where’s Riley Marsh” he asked himself out loud, fiddling with a sparkling live wire with no fear.

“Wasn’t that the question in the first place?” Lyla asked.

Lupita was almost amazed about the relationship these too had with each other. Bloodbeam didn’t answer.

“What are you making?” Lupita asked, noticing the way he scratched his head in thought as he studied his machine.

Lupita was good at potions which she was almost certain he was doing. He eyed her up and down.

“I’ve yet to know you” he grunted “Like her, I wouldn’t let her out for a second” referring to Lyla.

Lyla turned to Lupita and gave her a cheeky grin.

“So what’s your big plan then, kidnap the leader of the white realm, trick Riley to come here, get your machine working and then just kill us all” Lyla asked counting the things to do. “How sophisticated”

Bloodbeam mixed a couple of red liquids together until it sparked lime green sparks.

“Quite” Bloodbeam agreed.

“But you’re forgetting one thing.” Lyla smirked “Riley isn’t going to come”

Bloodbeam’s face dropped slightly. He rolled his eyes.

“And why not?”

“Loriei won’t fall for it either. She’ll tell Riley it’s a trick. You see you made a little mistake when you kidnapped me. While you wrote the note I wrote one as well.”

Bloodbeam let out a little chuckle.

“Nice try” he grinned “what if I was to tell you your sister didn’t receive the note?”

Lyla then realised she was out witted but wasn’t quite sure how. She smirked in reply.

“Whatever you have planned, Riley will not fall for it.” Lupita interrupted, not really sure who Riley was.

“Oh great, and I thought putting you together would keep you quiet” Bloodbeam groaned.

“What happened to your face?” Lyla asked.

“What is it with you and questions?” he growled.

“What is it with you and not answering questions” Lyla argued

“You’ll see” he promised once again.

He staggered towards her cell. Lyla remained up close to the cell, determined not to move. Suddenly, he reached out for her hair and cut a few small curls right before her eyes.

“Hey!” she cried out in protest and stroked the missing red ringlets.

Bloodbeam ignored her again and tucked them in a small envelope.

“You’re going to pay for that hair” she warned him. “If it still even, Lupita?”

Melting his stamp over a naked flame and marking the envelope, he answered:

“Where you’ll be soon… you won’t need your hair”

To be continued...