The Equinox (16 page)

I watch her face scrunch up as she
realizes how odd it all sounds. “I suppose that does sound strange but it makes
sense to me. He’s doomed for eternity; our light attracts him because we
possess what he wants, but he’ll never have it.”

We’ve reached the beach and I watch
Arabella as she looks around, ensuring that no one is looking. She pulls off
her top revealing her white bathing suit, then she shuffles out of her shorts
and throws everything into a net bag with a rope drawstring that she wraps
around her wrist.

“Here,” she hands me a bathing suit. Does
she expect me to change right here?

Arabella rolls her eyes and sighs. “Kat,
I’ll cloak you. Just change.”

I do as she says, knowing full well that
she’s the boss. I change into a sparkly blue bikini that miraculously fits me
perfectly. Arabella is already sticking her feet into the water. She bends over
and searches for something in the sand.

Did Johnny think Arabella was hot? Is
that why he was nice to me back there? Nice is a strong word for Johnny, I
know, but how else am I to describe him? Reserved? I laugh out loud at the
thought.

“Come on!” Arabella is calling to me
impatiently by the water’s edge. Her feet are submerged into the sand,
underwater. Shouldn’t she have grown a tail by now since her feet are wet? Or
is that not how it works?

As I approach her I notice her giggling,
as if she’s about to achieve something momentous. “Are you ready to experience
life as a mermaid?”

My eyes grow wide. So this is what she
meant. “But how?”

She opens her hand, palms up and smiles,
revealing a sea shell filled with a white glitter substance. It reminds me of
the night Rose, Charlotte and I cast magic together on the balcony overlooking
the bay. Rose taught me how powerful we were together, and Charlotte showed me
what our energy looked like as we released it into the air; microscopic
particles of shimmering vapor. It was beautiful.

And now, Arabella holds out something
similar to me. “You just need a pinch. Put it on your tongue and you’ll
transform once you’re in the water.”

I scrunch my face up. “Is that pixie
dust?”

She giggles again, making herself appear
younger than she is. “Something like that. You can find it all over the bay
floor if you know what to look for. We call it sea sprinkle.

Staring down at the substance, I hesitate
only vaguely before taking a large pinch of sea sprinkle. The second the
elements touch my tongue I am surprised at how easily it dissolves, like sugar.
I expected a sandy, grainy experience.

I feel a spark ignite through my body, like
I’ve just taken a hit of energy from the moon, one of my strongest energy
sourcing substance. My bare toes touch the water and tingles race around my
body in circular motions, not knowing what to expect next.

Arabella is almost knee deep by the time
I get close to her. With a flick of her body she dives, completely submerging
herself in the water. Right before I’m ready to join her, a giggle escapes me. The
unknown is all a bit exhilarating. Am I really about to turn into a mermaid?

My dive into the water is not as graceful
as Arabella’s but she’s waiting for me once I’m in and swimming away from
shore.

It happens so fast that I barely realize my
legs are transforming from two stems to one fish tail. I struggle with my
movements as I find my muscles where my legs once were, working differently
now. I’m forced to move them with limited variation; side-to-side, up and down.

Arabella smiles at me as I try out my new
tail. “You don’t have to move your torso. Just your tail,” she tells me with
encouragement.

“Do you like it? I thought blue would be
perfect for you.” She asks with excitement and I realize she’s talking about my
tail.

“Yeah, it’s nice.” But I’m still
concentrating on how to move this thing around. I’m sure I look pretty funny
bobbing my head up and down in the water as I propel myself forward. I do as
she says and hold my body in place while only moving my long, sparkly blue
tail.

I spend so much time concentrating on my
tail that I completely forget that I’m breathing underwater, naturally. You’d
think with my mouth open I would have tried to swallow mouthfuls by now, but
it’s the complete opposite. It isn’t much different than being surrounded by
air, except on land I can swallow air if I want to.

I turn my head again to search for
Arabella. Her white tail practically glowing in front of me.

“You ready to start looking?” She speaks
to me underwater without moving her lips. I can hear her clearly in my head.

I’m unsure of how my own thoughts will
speak back to her, so I move my head instead.

“How
could I hear you under water?” I attempt to speak back to her—with only
thoughts.

“Mermaids
communicate with each other under water. So I suppose you can do the same since
you were born with magic too.”

“How
many of you are there?” I ask, unable to hide my interest.

“There
are roughly three thousand mermaids in our community. Only a few hundred live
in the spring. There are more in the Gulf.”

She
swims off and I follow, quickly adjusting to my movements by mimicking hers.

Arabella is fluid and quick, moving as
stealthy as a snake. She’s mesmerizing to watch.

I look back and arch my waist to see the
tail that is now attached to my body. This. Is. So. Cool.

I giggle underwater, creating a series of
tiny bubbles that escape my mouth.

Seeing as I’m getting more comfortable,
there probably isn’t a better time to ask questions. “So is this all you do to
turn into a mermaid? Use sea sprinkle? Can anyone use sea sprinkle?”

Arabella shakes her head before she
speaks. “No. Mermaids don’t need it unless we’re hungry. Sometimes we eat it,
but we have been preserving it as of late, but not everyone can use sea
sprinkle.” She continues to roam around the water, taking me down along the bay
floor, deeper as we go further away from shore. “Only those who possess powers
already can be affected by its magic.”

“What about Followers? Do they share any
of our magic?” I should probably be helping Arabella search for my pendant but
I’m too hyped up and curious to do much good now.

“No, Followers are great secret keepers
but they don’t possess magic—that’s what makes them such loyal Followers.
They have become essential to us as we cohabitate with Normals. They act as the
bridge that ties us together.”

I turn my search downward toward the bay
floor. I can see how that makes sense. They balance us all out.

“You’re lucky, you know.” Arabella’s tone
changes. There’s a mix of seriousness and sadness that I detect. “Enchanters and
Normals have evolved together and things have changed significantly for you all
since the beginning of our time. You can fall in love and marry a Normal and
you can share your secrets with them. It makes life a lot easier.”

“Can’t mermaids do the same? You live on
land too. You’re not much different than me,” I say this confidently but
Arabella knows far more than I do.

“I dated a Normal once,” she says in a
dreamy tone. “We were in love, but once my dad found out he forbade us to be
together. He’s very strict with my sisters and me about dating within our race.
He’d disown me if he found me dating another Normal. He’d turn me into a
permanent Normal and I’d never see my family again. At least those would be his
demands but I’m not sure if my sisters would really stay away from me.”

Forbidden love. “Wow. I didn’t realize
your father was such a jerk.”

Arabella glares at me. “Don’t call him
that. I may not agree with him but I love him. I love him enough to do as he
asks. Except, I know I’ll never love another as much as I loved my Normal.”

For some reason her story of lost love
brings back memories of Alec and the events that went down last week. I haven’t
thought much about it but the pain hasn’t gone away. I feel like I’ve lost
someone, even if Alec was only meant to be a friend to me, I don’t even have
that anymore.

“How old were you?”

She sighs. “Twelve. He was Fourteen. He’s
probably off to college now.” I hold back a smile. By the way she talks about
this love it’s as if it’s recent, but I suppose love can blossom at the age of
twelve. I wouldn’t know.

“Why do you think your dad is so against dating
outside of your—species?”

Arabella smiles lightly. “Because he
wants us all to have the same life he had with my mom.”

“What was your mom’s name?”

“Queen Marlena,” Arabella says, her voice
filling with pride.

I want to ask her more about this love of
hers. Maybe Isaac will change his mind one day. Maybe it’s not too late to find
her love again and work things out…I’m obviously daydreaming while she moves
on.

Arabella swims off in another direction,
frantically reaching into a bed of wild green plants.

“Come.” She’s waving to me now without
looking in my direction, her eyes are transfixed on something.

I move toward her, wondering if she’s
actually spotted my pendant. I’m not so easily convinced.

Arabella points to something. “Look, in
the turtle grass.”

“The what?” It’s impossible for me to
stop asking questions. Arabella’s world is fascinating.

She giggles. “It’s a type of seagrass. We
call it turtle grass because turtles feed on it.” She turns to me. “Just as
trees keep your air clean in your world, seagrass helps us improve our water
clarity, which keeps underwater life healthy. After the disaster a decade ago
the seagrass was steadily dying. We were sure that it would be gone by now and
our time was limited. We put a lot of work into purifying the waters and things
quickly improved. It’s been thriving ever since. Now the water in this area is
purer than it’s ever been.”

Her strong shoulders, confident tone, and
matter-of-fact expression gives me the understanding that she’s proud of her
contributions—and she should be. It must feel amazing to play such a
vital role in the environment.

“All of that pollution, that was all
because of the Equinox?” It seems hard to believe that anyone would try so hard
to poison innocent life.

Arabella frowns. “They were the catalyst
of it all, yes, but there are many things that Normals bring into the world
that work against us too. The growth in population alone works against us; more
garbage, sewage, and air pollution, from those wretched cars you drive.”