Beyond the Sea (21 page)

“I know, he’s huge!” Elle agreed.

To Jamie’s relief, a conversation broke out about dogs. Jamie’s eyes darted to the window. Though she couldn’t see anything outside since the lights inside were on, she still strained to see the shore.

*

“A
what
?” Jamie asked.

“Kelpie,” Melia repeated. The girls sat on Jamie’s bed. It was after noon on Saturday, and it was the first time they had a chance to talk in private.

“And it’s a?”

“You would call it a ‘mythical creature’, though they sure aren’t myths. They live in water, quite happily, with merrows. They are loyal to us, and really fun, I loved Cordelia greatly. She was fast and we always won—but that’s not the point.” She shook her head. “Kelpies are great if you live underwater. If not, well…” She looked up into Jamie’s eyes. “They will kill you.”

“How?”

“Trick you into riding it. They look like a beautiful horse when they are out of the water. But once a human gets on, they-they become sort of stuck and the kelpie jumps into the water. After they drown a human, they eat them.”

“Oh, what a lovely pet you had, Melia.”

Melia weakly smiled. “We made sure they never got out. Trust me; they were better contained as pets, since we paid so much attention to them. They were well kept and we always knew where they were. They like merrows, and they’re easy to take care of. They become quite fond of you if you feed them regularly.”

“When they’re not eating humans, you mean.”

Melia winced.

“What
do
they eat?” Jamie persisted, more curious than frightened.

“Meat,” Melia answered simply. “They eat small fish in the ocean, but they love land meat. Lana and I used to sneak into a butcher shop in Mexico and steal pieces of beef. Cordelia loves beef.”

“Cordelia is your kelpie,” Jamie repeated to make sure she understood correctly. “And the black one, Rèalta, was your sisters.” Melia nodded.
  
“Cordelia’s a pretty name,” Jamie noted.
“You miss her, don’t you?” Jamie asked gently.

“Yea.”

“What does she look like?”

“Oh, she’s gorgeous! She is brown and white and has blue eyes.”

“If you were with me, could I see her without her trying to eat me?”

“Possibly,” Melia said. She began braiding a tiny fish tail braid in her hair. “It would be like…” She searched for an analogy. “Like if someone raised a wolf. It would like and respect the person who raised it, but you couldn’t expect it to show that same discipline and control to strangers. Especially strangers that are, more or less, a different species.”

“Why do you think Rèalta came to shore?”

Melia sighed. “I don’t know. He always was stubborn. If any kelpie were to break free, it would be him.” Melia frowned. “I think he was looking for Lana.”

Jamie nodded. She jumped when her mom knocked on the door. “Lunch is finally ready,” she told the girls.

“Ok, Mom.” Jamie took a deep breath. “We’ll be right down.”

Jamie was unable to ask Melia any further questions that afternoon before Melia had to leave to let Wolfy out and get ready for her date with Peter. He was taking her to see a movie and then driving a ways up north to go to a bonfire Connor’s cousin invited them to.

Melia double checked the gate before letting Wolfy out. She turned her iPod on, singing and dancing along to Shakira. She carefully braided and curled her hair, ending with an elaborate and pretty half up style. She skimmed over the contents of her closet, decided upon a blue dress with large print, brown flowers. She wanted to wear heels to the movie and change into more casual shoes for the bonfire. She put a pair of brown flat boots into a bag and even remembered a sweater.

“You look amazing,” Peter told her as he eyed her up and down. “Maybe we can skip the movie and just stay here.”

“That does sound tempting,” Melia agreed, breathing in the intoxicating scent of Peter’s cologne. She stuck her hands under his shirt and kissed his neck. Peter gently cupped her face and kissed her. “But you’re just gonna have to wait until after that fire thing. You are still staying the night with me, right?”

“I don’t really want to,” Peter said sarcastically. He kissed her again.
 
Melia looked into Peter’s sky blue eyes. There was something young and innocent behind them. She felt like she could
really
see him when she looked into his eyes. She wondered if he felt the same about her. She looked down, remembering how much he didn’t know.

“We should probably get going,” she suggested. Peter took her hand and led the way to the car. Since Melia picked the last movie, it was Peter’s pick today. He wanted to see a new action movie, but told Melia, more than once, that they could see something else if she wanted. The movie was in 3D and Melia didn’t know what that was. She took the glasses that came with her ticket, confused about what she was supposed to do with them and why humans would wear colored lens in a dark theater. She put them on while waiting in line for popcorn, made a silly face, which caused Peter to laugh.

“Well, well, well,” a female voice flowed from behind them. “Lookie here.”

Peter and Melia turned to see Janet, looking smug, standing with one foot forward and a hand on her hip. Next to her was Troy, the guy she used to cheat on Peter.

“Janet,” Peter muttered. “Hi.”

Melia, who was still wearing the glasses, tipped her head up to peer under the frames. “Hi, Janet.”

“Melia,” Janet said curtly. “This is Troy.” She yanked Troy’s hand forward.

“Hi, Troy,” Melia said and waved. She held her head up even higher to see Troy. She wrinkled her nose and took the glasses off. “That’s better.”

“Troy, you remember Peter, don’t you?” Janet asked, flipping her short hair. Of course Troy remembered Peter. It’s hard not to forget the guy who caught you having sex with his girlfriend. Troy nodded.

“I think we’re seeing the same movie,” Melia said, noticing the glasses in Janet’s hand.

“Good observation,” Janet sneered.

Troy eyed Melia like she was candy. “I’m sorry, do I know you?” he asked with fake charm.

Peter spoke. “This is my girlfriend, Melia.”

“Nice.” Troy nodded again.

Peter didn’t want to cause a scene. He didn’t want to start an argument. But he would have loved to kick Troy’s ass. And he knew he could; it would be easy. The line moved. He turned, taking Melia’s hand, trying to focus on what was in front of him.

“Why do we need these?” Melia asked, holding up the glasses.

“The movie’s in 3D,” Peter explained, shaking his hand from hers and putting it around her waist. Melia bit her lip. Peter answered her tactfully, as always, but she could tell from his tone that she asked an odd question.

“Three-dee?” she questioned.

“Oh, my God,” Janet’s voice was boisterous. “She doesn’t know what 3D is!”

“Yes she does,” Peter snapped.

“Yea,” Melia agreed. She wanted to text Jamie and ask. The lined moved again. With her face reddening from fear of a slip-up, Melia moved closer to Peter, holding onto his arm. They ordered their popcorn and drinks, walking quickly into the theater. “I don’t want to sit by her,” Melia told Peter.

“I don’t either. Look—there’s two seats up there.”

Melia leaned on Peter, munching on popcorn. She had never seen a movie in 3D and was intrigued by the process. She couldn’t wait to get home and do some research on it. Melia used the bathroom after the movie. While Peter waited in the lobby for her, Janet strutted up, Troy trailing behind.

“Peter,” she said, trying to convey a sweet and innocent smile. “Are you going to Kaitlin’s party?”

Peter shook his head. “Nope.”

“Oh. Well, you should. It’s invitation only, but I can get you in. Fish Girl, on the other hand…well, there’s no hope.”

“Don’t call her that.”

Janet laughed. “Oh come on, Peter.” She put her hand on his arm. He yanked it away. “Don’t tell me you don’t think she’s weird.” She turned to Troy. “I’m telling you, the girl’s a total freak show!”

“You sound so pathetic trying to insult her, Janet. And the fact that Melia is different than girls like you is just one of the things I love about her.”

“You-you love her?” Janet’s face fell.

“Yes, I do. Do me a favor and don’t talk to me again.” Peter turned, with perfect timing, as Melia came out of the bathroom. They walked hand in hand out of the theater.

They got into the car without speaking. “You seem mad,” Melia said quietly.

“I’m just annoyed,” he assured her. “It’s not worth getting upset over.” Peter put the top down on the Mustang and backed out of the spot.
 
Melia put her hand on his thigh. Peter relaxed almost instantly at her touch. He turned on the radio to a station Melia liked and smiled at her. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

*

Melia was fascinated with fire. She had never seen one this big and was a little wary at first. She stayed close to Peter, not wanting to get too close but unable to resist moving toward the flickering heat. She wanted to throw something into it, or get a big stick and poke at the fire. She sat, completely transfixed by the dancing flames. They were in the middle of a forest and had to walk a rather long and winding trail to get to the party. The bonfire was in the center of a small clearing; logs and lawn chairs encircled it. Music played in the background, floating through the trees. People talked and laughed and some were throwing a little white ball back and forth into plastic cups. When the ball landed in one of the cups, it had to be drunk. Melia didn’t understand that game.

Peter was talking to Connor and two boys Melia didn’t know or recognize. The call of the crackling fire was stronger than that of the nearby stream, and Melia released Peter’s hand and stepped closer to the flames. She sat on a log feeling happily rustic, becoming hypnotized by the dancing fire.

After turning down yet another offer for a drink, Melia slowly rose and strode over to Peter. He put his arm around her and kissed her forehead. The guys were talking about sports and complaining about the bugs.

“Are you getting eaten alive?” Unknown Boy #1 asked, waving an unseen bug away.

Melia had to recall the not so literal sense of the phrase. “No, I haven’t gotten bitten yet.”

“Really?” Peter asked, slapping a mosquito from his arm.

“Yea.” Melia shrugged. “I guess bugs don’t like me.” She smiled innocently. Mosquitoes didn’t like merrow blood; it was too salty.
 

“That’s—” Unknown Boy #2’s voice got cut off by a high pitched scream. There was a moment’s pause followed by more screaming. Three girls fumbled through the woods in a tumultuous and desperate escape, crying out frantically about a dead body.

At first no one believed them. The small crowd of partiers waited for a “Hah! Gottcha!” But when one of the girls began to cry, a chill echoed through the air. Eyes fell upon Unknown Boy #1, who apparently was hosting the party. “Where?” he asked the girls, his voice weak.

“Not too far,” the calmest answered. She pointed in the direction they had run from. “By the stream.”

Familiarity slid a cold finger down Melia’s spine. She gripped Peter’s hand and took a deep breath. Though it was extremely faint, the rotting smell of water slimed grass lingered in the air.

“Jason,” Connor called to the boy, who Melia figured was his cousin—they did have the same eyes. “I’ll come with.”

“Me too,” Peter said and gently removed Melia’s hand. “Stay here,” he instructed, getting out his phone to use as a flash light. Melia waited until he, Jason and Connor were a few paces ahead before falling in step behind. She didn’t understand why Peter was acting protective. The body was already dead; it could do her no harm.

The gentle babbling of a stream is oddly serene when it houses a rotting corpse. The smell alone alerted the boys the body had been here for more than a few days. Laying face up in the shallow water, birds or bugs ate away at the dead boy’s eyes. His skin was pale and crinkled, and the flesh around his mouth was ragged and torn.

The smell was stronger here. Melia had smelled it before. She shivered at the memory. It was one of the few she had of her father. He had taken her and Lana to a rocky shore to watch the sun sink into the ocean. Being a full merrow and unable to transform into human shape, he stayed in the water, keeping a close eye on his daughters. Of course, Lana didn’t listen to his requests to stay nearby. She beckoned Melia to follow her and led her to a river that dumped into the sea. Melia remembered being hit with the pungent smell of decomposing plants.

Then the woman appeared. Not being familiar with humans, neither Lana nor Melia knew she was dangerous. In a flash, she grabbed the girls and dragged them under the water in an attempt to drown them. Of course that didn’t work, and Melia’s father swam to save them. He stabbed the woman, whom Melia later overheard him call a ‘gwyrrd’, in the heart with a trident made of silver. Melia also overheard that the only way to kill a gwyrrd was by staking them in the heart with silver.

Since that day, Melia had learned more about the gwyrrds. She couldn’t be certain. She stepped closer to get a better look. A twig snapped under her foot and caused all three boys to jump.