How the Selkie Steps

a mixture of fantasy, supernatural, myth, etc

How the Selkie Steps

 

       Alex McGregor placed his hands on the shaky, crumbling wood railing. Trusting it a little too much, he leaned and stretched. The wind was cold and harsh in his throat, smelling of a rusty metallic, tang that was unique to the Wrecks. But Alex knew this one was different. Standing straight, he dug the pendant out of his pocket and gazed at the chipped sand-dollar, the last remains of a friend. His sister, Karen, appeared beside him, and the railing whined as she pressed her elbows and worn sweater into the rotting wood.
       "Do you know where they went?"
       "They're squatters. I didn't expect them to hang around." But secretly Alex was hoping that one person in particular would still be haunting the streets of the Wrecks. Skyscrapers reduced to skeletons; the countryside-turned city was abandoned quickly once the businesses fell apart. Another attempt to draw new populations to an empty state. Alex always knew Maine was too cold; it seemed to grow colder every time he returned.
       "You're thinking of someone. Who?"
       "No one in particular."
       Karen brushed her long, blonde curls out of her face and into the breeze, curled tighter into her sweatshirt and laughed. "You're full of crap. I'm your sister; it wouldn't kill you to be honest."
A long string of remarks filtered through his head, but Alex knew how personally Karen took things and now wasn't the time to bring up old issues. Instead, he rubbed his icy nose with a calloused palm and stared at the gray water.
       "C'mon. You have to tell me some time." She gently bumped their shoulders together, noticing for the first time just how tense he was. "God, is it really that bad?"
       "It all depends on how you look at it, I guess. You sure you wanna hear?" He allowed Karen a few seconds of eye contact before he looked away and began to pick at his nails.
       "Yeah. I'm sure."
                                     ***
        Marrim was curious. Curious enough to risk everything. She'd lived with the humans in their fancy houses and long halls, but now she sought something else. Nothing, not even the sea, tempted her like the odd colony of humans living in the remains of the Wrecks.
       Squatters, they were called. The Wrecks were infested with them. Some lived in small family groups where names and history didn't matter; they sought safety from loneliness and violence, common diseases among the homeless. Curiosity caused Marrim to approach the simple-minded woman named Rosy. It didn't take long for her to slip past the woman's instincts and convince her that Marrim was not a threat and that Yes, Rosy would love it if Marrim could help her carry the supplies from the shelter all the way home.
       Mack, the colony's leader was a tall man with dark skin and eyes. He hardly gave Marrim a second look, passing her off as another do-gooder with school sense who wanted to acquire street sense. The other members of the family were Alex, a twelve year old run away, and Fred, a woman with more mouth than punch. She didn't understand why any middle-class brat would want to spend her afternoons with a bunch of squatters. Slick and thin with a nagging voice, she usually avoided Marrim whenever she visited.
       Alex, however, was a different story entirely.
      At twelve, his features were still finely rounded. His shaggy blond curls smelled like shelter soap and his hazel eyes were outlined with creases of dirt. Marrim, like all her kind, was drawn to those who carried stories, hidden deeply within their chests; she could sense them lingering on people, like a sweet body odor. Alex kept his business private; not that Marrim ever gave up.
       There was another man. Gaunt and haunted, Sam appeared every few days with his limbs shaking and his eyes blood shot. He smelled of dark things, like the garbage boats that chased Marrim from her home. Mack seemed to tolerate him, but only to a point. When Marrim started to visit for longer periods of time, Sam would curl up in a corner somewhere, his eyes always focused on Marrim and her unnatural grace.
       Whenever he was there, Marrim could feel his eyes dissecting her back, and it was like a poison, darkening her mood. His eyes were predatory, and Marrim would unconsciously clutch her red scarf, shuddering whenever he came too close. It was much better when he wasn't there, and Marrim would follow Alex around the city. It was hard for her, when they would walk close to the pier and the sea would call to her. Alex noticed her eyes grow more round and her gaze jump erratically.
       One afternoon she sat with Alex outside the old library, the winter wind making their noses red and cold, the old building crusting against their sweaters as they leaned against the brick. Marrim needed his story, and even though she tried to resist, the question still spilled from her lips. Alex was silent.
       "C'mon, Alex. You can trust me."
       Alex snorted and played with his finger nails, "Yeah right. I talk to you, you disappear, and the next thing I know, child services is breathing down my neck. Can't you just drop it?"
Marrim sensed the question in his voice, the hesitation, "It's not like I'm not trying to steal your soul."
        "Why do you care? It doesn't matter!" 
        "Alex, are you saying your history doesn't matter, or you don't matter?"
        He was silent. His eyes scanned the sidewalk and observed the graffiti carefully. Marrim reached out and held his should tightly.
       "Alex, listen to me. Don't you ever, ever think that you-"
       Marrim froze mid sentence when she felt Alex tense. The hair rose on her arm and her skin pickled against the wind. Focusing her eyes across the street, Marrim saw Sam leaning against pole, his eyes unfocused.
       "S**t," Alex hissed, "He's on something."
       Marrim stood, practically dragging Alex up with her. "Alex, she murmured, her grip shaking and her eyes huge, "I need to go. Where can we go?"
       Sam started across the street, his steps uneven. Alex picked up on Marrim's fear. He hesitated.
       "Alex!"
       "There's a ladder down to the beach. On the pier. He can't run in the sand like that."
       Without waiting, Marrim took off at a run. Behind them, Sam stumbled faster and called out, "Why yeh runnin`?"
       Marrim didn't hesitate, but instead pulled them right down the pier. She dragged Alex behind him with an unnatural strength, right passed the ladder. Sam had them cornered now. Alex pushed Marrim behind him. She wasn't stupid, Marrim knew what Sam wanted. Alex took another step forward and put his hands up, "Look Sam, why don't we-"
       "Why'd yeh run," he screamed and made a grab for Marrim. Instinct had Alex pushing back, even when there was no other place to go. One second Alex felt the scratch of Marrim's sweater behind him, the next there was a sickening crack and she was gone. Sam froze, the words died on his lips.
There was no sound, no scream. Alex turned around and saw where the railing had given out. "Marrim!"
       Running as fast as they could, both Sam and Alex kept an eye on the water, looking for the telltale red scarf. When Alex reached the ladder he scrambled down, but Sam kept on running. The air was freezing. The ocean was colder. It was the middle of February and there was a reason why tourists stayed south of Maine in the winter. Searching the waves, it was too dark to see very far. Marrim would be fine; she could swim. She didn't drown.
       Alex's breath caught, his heart almost stopped when he saw her staggering onto the beach a few yards away. He ran over, "Marrim! Damn it Marrim, are you all right?"
       Her scarf was gone. Her entire body shook violently and her lips were blue. "`S c-c-co-cold-d." She fell to her knees and curled tightly around herself, her shoes were gone and her feet were only inches from the waves.
       "What do I do, Marrim? Tell me what I have to do!"
       "L-Le-egs hur-rt-t. T-too mu-u-uch." Marrim curled, hugged her knees as sand bunched in her long black hair. "A-Ale-ex. I co-coul-d-n't hel-lp i-it. I-I'm s-sorr-ry …"
       "Forget it." Alex pulled off his ratty over shirt and instantly felt the hair on his skin rise as he draped it over her body. He was breathing fast and his whole body was shaking, but not from the cold. "I should get help."
       "N-No! St-tay." Her hands gripped his sleeve, clung to the fabric as she began to cough violently. Feeling her skin, Alex bit his lip. He should take her pulse; he should do something.
       "Okay, Marrim. I'll stay." Alex sat next to her and kept them both awake by telling her stories: about Karen, about his mother before she left his dad, about his childhood. He curled closely to her body and tried to keep her warm for just a bit longer. He began to doze off at some point, Marrim's breathing slow and uneven beside him. Before he closed his eyes Marrim whispered something, but Alex didn't hear. He was already asleep.

                                    ***

       Alex looked at his sister as she rubbing her cheeks red with her sleeve. "What happened to her?"
       "I don't know. When I woke up, she was gone. No body, no footprints. My clothes were wet," he admitted, "I…I guess the tide could've…"
       Karen stood and wrapped him in a hug, their first real hug since she'd left for college one year and three months ago. "Jesus, Alex. Don't ever let me leave you again, ever," she sniffed and muttered into his collar, "What was her name? Do you know?"
       Alex didn't know what stopped him from telling Karen her name. Maybe he still needed some secrets. Maybe it was too soon to share everything. "No. No, I never asked her," noticing she was close to tears, Alex smiled, "So, you never did tell me. How was Ireland?"
        "Beautiful," she laughed through her tears. "Perfect, except for all the rain. And the cold. One of my friends might visit. You'd like her. She's a geek, like you."
       "Really," he grinned, "What's her name?"
       "Marrim."
       Alex jerked away from his sister and gapped silently.
       "What? What's the matter? Is it too soon?"
       "No," Alex murmured. "No, I'd like to meet her. Really."
I'd like to meet anyone who can just disappear, without leaving footprints behind, Alex thought to himself. And together, brother and sister drove out of the Wrecks and went home.
 

Author's Note

a very rough draft - tell me what you think :) be brutal - it's healthy

Reviews

[Dawn Jones]

In the very first paragraphs you switch from having the girl wearing a sweater to having her in a sweatshirt. They are two different images and it confuses the reader.
the hesitation, "It's not like I'm not trying to steal your soul." (?)
and held his should tightly (shoulder?)
Marrim saw Sam leaning against (a?) pole, his eyes unfocused.
behind him(her?) with an unnatural strength

I think those are the only typos that I noticed... of course I got caught up in the story so I might have missed more the closer I got to the end. Good job with this. I really like the way everything turned out in the end... very mysterious. It moves a little fast in the middle when Sam is chasing them and you could probably fill that out more. Otherwise, good job!

[None]

Ooooooooh, I like it!
I think the "It's not like I'm trying to steal your soul" quote is a little random, but other than that, nothing.
Nice work!