Three

I fumble with my keys after arriving home from Jax's, trying to jam it into the keyhole. The sooner I get in the sooner I can try and get an explanation of my fathers' cryptic message before I left. The door flies open and my mother is standing there in her bathrobe.

"I thought I heard something at the door " Ren we weren't expecting you home until tomorrow morning," she tells me. I push past her and start running up the stairs.

"Dad's in your room I'm guessing?" I ask, and then stop when she answers.

"No Ren, Dad got called into the Emergency room tonight, one of his patients he's had for years started seizing so they called him in for a consultation." I grown and sink down to sit on the steps, putting a hand over my eyes. I hear her rush up the steps to crouch besides me.

"Honey what is it, is everything okay?" she asks, and I look up at her. She is frowning and looks extremely worried. I realize that with my tearing into the house late at night demanding to speak to my father would be enough to make anyone question my sanity, much less my own mother.

"Everything is…fine, Mom," I say, choosing to lie to her for the time being. She had been the one trying to keep something from me earlier today, while my father had wanted to tell me from the start. If it has anything to do with what happened tonight, he will be the first to know and not her. I abruptly get up and walk up towards my room. I know she would follow, and sure enough a few moments after I shut the door, she knocks softly and enters.

"I didn't say come in," I say shortly as I take off the pendant and nestle it back in its' box. I look back and see the hurt expression on her face. "I didn't mean it like that," I say, and take a seat next to her. She sighs.

"No, I know you didn't. It's been a big day for you honey, is there anything you need before bed?" she asks me. I look at her strangely. I had assumed she came in after me to explain the argument I overheard earlier today; she must know that I was home for part of it. I can tell she is hiding something from me, and I realize that she might just be too scared to talk about it right now.

"Some waffles and hot chocolate in the morning would be great?" I request, and my mother stands up with a smile.

"Of course, anything for you honey. I love you," she says, bending down to kiss my forehead softly. As she leaves, I get up and begin pacing my room. Sleep will not come so easily tonight, and I try to think back to what happened at Jax's. I remember the anger I felt towards Josh, and ball my fists together. It serves him right for crashing my party, who did he think he was? I realize he had been drinking, most likely with Amanda, but where had she been when he decided it was a brilliant idea to try and win his ex-girlfriend back? From the way Josh had been slurring and talking, I think he may have been truthful. For all I know though, it could have been a gigantic prank they had come up with today. I remember how scared he looked after I had hurled him into the bushes with the cyclone.

I stop thinking, and shake my head quickly. I threw him with the cyclone I created? Even I can hear how crazy it sounds in my mind. But it's exactly what happened, and why everyone was staring at me in fear, awe or maybe a little bit of both. What I did was completely unheard of; it is the sort of thing that belongs in a work of fiction, not real life. I notice my hands are shaking and I walk into the bathroom. As I go to turn on the faucet, it sputters to life on its' own. Trying not to cry out I forcefully turn the faucets off and stare at myself in the mirror.

"Get it together," I whisper to myself. My eyes, normally a deep blue, flash brilliantly for a moment, and then return to their original state. I gasp and back out of the bathroom quickly, falling into my bed in the process. I realize that there was no way I could stay here tonight. I pull open the doors to my closet and jump up to get my thermal sleeping bag. I pull on my warmest sweatshirt and sweatpants and heave the bag over my shoulders. I tiptoe down the stairs and to the key rack; I see my father had taken his compact car into the hospital, which means his pickup truck was free to use. I grab those keys and hurry out towards the car, moving swiftly and quietly to not disturb anyone. Once I get to the truck, I through the sleeping bag in the back and hop in. The engine roars to life, and I pause, waiting to see if any lights in my house turn on. Once I am sure my mother has not heard me left, I back out and drive towards my destination.

---

One of the best parts about the town I live in is the tiny beach just ten minutes down the road from my house. When I was younger my parents would bring me down here and we would camp out on the shores, roasting marshmallows and singing silly campfire songs. Lately, mostly during the warmer months, my father would lend me his truck and I would park along the sand and fall asleep under the stars, listening to the peaceful ocean waves. It is this place that I drive to tonight, the only place I can think of where I can maybe get out of my own head for a few hours. I shut off the engine after packing into a space near the sand and hop out of the car. I stand in the sand for a minute, wiggling my bare toes through the grainy surface. I walk around and hop up into the bed of the truck and make myself a comfortable nest. I am thankful that tonight still holds some of the warm air of the day, and that the night is a clear one. I look up at the stars twinkling above me. I see a shooting star whiz across the sky and sigh. I had wished after all that this birthday would be different from the rest of them, but I hadn't thought it would be this different. I look down at the shoreline where the waves are softly lapping at the sand. I should have looked up when the tide would be coming in, but for some reason I just know it won't be any time soon. This thought soothes me and I nestle into my sleeping bag, my eyes slowly closing and my breathing becoming even.

Perhaps I am more tired than I originally thought, because I suddenly find myself swimming in the dark depths of a watery abyss. I hear a watery sound, and I spin to see a sperm whale propelling itself downwards. I notice he is after a giant squid, which he successfully captures and propels himself back up to where I am, swallowing his dinner with a gulp. He notices me, but instead of swimming away or attacking, emits another musical sound and swims lower so I am floating above him. I realize he intends me to hold on for a ride. Grinning widely, I grab onto his rubbery skin and he swims deep down, taking me with him. I never have felt so free in my life. He takes me up and down, as if my own personal underwater roller coaster. I find myself laughing, thousands of bubbles escaping my mouth. He makes a satisfied sound, then dives down into the murky shadows of the lower depths. Suddenly, the whale stops and I let go after giving him a friendly pat. I swim away with a wave towards the schools of fish floating near a long abandoned shipwreck. I realize that this must be where the whale wants me to go, as I hear him make a final noise of farewell as he begins to swim away. I find that I can breathe in this ocean world, and the first breath smells like the briny, salty ocean smell I love so much. I take a second and dive deeper towards the wreck.

A flash of light to my left catches my eye, and I paddle around to see where it is coming from. I swim closer to the shipwreck and see trails of bubbles coming from a square opening in the deck of the ship. Swimming closer, I look down into the dark and find a room, and find that I am not the only human in this underwater world. I see a woman, beautifully dark and alluring, dressed in tattered rags, swimming around in circles humming a faint song to herself. I recognize the tune, as though it is a faint memory from long ago.

"Hello?" I call, but only bubbles form out of my mouth. She seems to sense my presence and stops what she is doing; jerking her head towards my direction, she looks directly at me, her mouth parting in surprise. I am taken aback as well; the woman has startlingly blue eyes; no, she has my eyes.

"You shouldn't be here, my darling," she whispers. Her voice seems to echo through the water, surrounding me. She sounds so familiar, as if from a long lost dream. A dream; I realize that she has been in my dreams before. She is the woman who comforts me during the thunderstorm in the recurring nightmare I've had since I was a small child. I swim down to get closer, but I find an invisible barrier blocking me from entering the sunken room and I can only pitifully look down.
"Who are you?" I mouth to her.
"They took you from me, they took all of you," she whispers melodically. "They took you, my babies, my joys, and locked me down here, and killed him. He is dead," she says, hanging her head in despair.
"Who is dead?" I ask, the panic rising in my chest. I remember there was a man in my nightmare with golden hair and a kind face. I wonder if this is the 'him' she is referring to. My heart aches; I feel a connection to this woman, and feel the agony of the loss she has suffered.
"My one true love, my heart, my light, my Lux," she says dreamily. "They killed him and took my children away, then brought me here to rot for the rest of my pitiful life. I was so blissfully happy making my own way in life, and they just couldn't leave us be!" Her voice has risen to a pitiful wail, and I feel the urge to help her.

"How can I help you?" I ask, but she is too busy sobbing to herself to hear my request. Suddenly, her head snaps up and she looks at me again in wonder.

"Could it…could it really be you?" she whispers. She tries to swim closer to me, but is pulled short and I notice she is bound to the ground with chains. She reaches up, her fingers nearly brushing the top of the hole. I find myself reaching down and nearly touching her through the invisible barrier. She smiles, and I believe she is lucid for the first time since I saw her.

"Oh my darling, it really is you!" she exclaims, and I see that even through the murky water she is crying. "Oh I know you are only dreaming darling, but this is wonderful news! You're still alive, you must be close to eighteen now aren't you?" she asks me eagerly. I am taken aback but find my voice is finally able to be heard underwater.

"Today, as a matter of fact. Why?" She nods and begins pacing the best she can in her prison, her hands wringing.

"That means they'll be coming for you soon, my dear you must find your protector, he'll show you everything you need to know, and you'll be safe," she instructs me. I don't quite know how to respond, and find that I don't have the time to; for suddenly this woman's' face changes to a look of panic and fear.

"She's coming! She's coming to see that I'm behaving properly. Oh, Aquaria my darling, you must go. If she reaches out and touches you, even in your dreams, she'll know where to find you right away," she says frantically. I look at her, feeling a sense of alarm by her words.

"Who is coming? Why...did you just call me Aquaria?" I start to ask, but a chilled stream of water jets past my side and I am rendered speechless.

"Aquaria..." another woman's voice hisses. It sounds similar to the woman in front of me, but with none of the warmth and all of the menace to make the hair on my arms stand up straight.

"Aquaria, GO NOW!" the imprisoned woman shouts. I turn and see the second voices' owner gliding towards me in the distance. Enchanting and terrifying at the same time, she looks at me with a haunting hunger in her dark, cold eyes. Her face I remember from my nightmare; those eyes are the reason I wake up screaming in the middle of the night, covered in a fine coat of sweat.

"Aquaria...at last!" she shrieks, and lets out a shrill cackle. I am knocked to my senses and turn, swimming as hard and as fast as I can ever remember doing. I try not to look back as I propel towards the surface, but can feel the woman gaining on me. Not all of the swim training in the world would give me the agility that this woman appears to have. As I can see the surface, I make the mistake of turning around. The woman is within inches of my feet. Smiling manically, she reaches out to grab my ankle, her long nails mere centimeters away...

---

I bolt awake, stuffing the sleeping back into my mouth to stifle back the screams. My breaths come in short ragged spurts; I look around the shoreline to remind myself that it was all just a dream and that I am safe in the bed of my father's pickup truck.

I frown, thinking the dream over in my head. It had seemed so real to me. The woman in chains was definitely familiar from the nicer part of my nightmare. The word mother flashes through my mind but I shake that off immediately. My mother doesn't have long dark hair or startlingly blue eyes, and she is definitely not chained to the bottom of the ocean in a shipwreck. Besides, I was breathing like I do on land, and that's definitely impossible. Yet I still feel my curiosity pulling me, so I untangle myself from the truck and hitch up my sweatpants. I walk down towards the sea line and allow the cool ocean water to rush over my feet. I smile to myself; while I do feel like a fish out of water sometimes, I know that actually breathing underwater was simply impossible.

My thoughts then settle on the other woman, the one who had chased me from the shipwreck and had almost grabbed hold of my ankle before I awoke. I shudder involuntarily and look out on the horizon. The sun is barely beginning to peak over the ocean, its' rays casting the sky into a brilliant shade of pink. The stars begin to wink out of sight, and I make my way back up to the truck to drive home.

I creep back into my house just as I hear my mother moving around her room. I hope she hasn't come to check on me yet; I hurry up the stairs as lightly as possible and jump into my bed, pulling the covers over my head. Five minutes later, she cracks open the door and I focus on evening out my breathing to that of a sleeping person so she won't come in any further. I seem to satisfy her, for she closes the door with a snap. I lift my head from under the covers and notice I had left my phone on my nightstand. I check my messages; two from Jax making sure I was alright, and then a third from a number I didn't recognize. Curious, I open up the message and it reads It is beginning, be on alert. My eyebrows furrow together as I reread the text several times. I don't even recognize the area code from which it was sent from.

I suddenly feel exhausted, and realize that I had been up for most of the night with only a few hours of fitful sleep. I settle back in my pillows decide to deal with the aftermath of tonight later on in the day. I close my eyes and am quickly ushered into a dreamless sleep.