Forsaken

“The ocean,” his face brightened, “reaching out to you. Not everyone can hear it. It only embraces the pure of heart,” he said, sounding wiser than his years. He lifted our hands and the sound began to fade as the water took on its silvery quality once again.

“I’ve heard it before; I just didn’t know what it was.”

“It was calling to you,” he smiled knowingly.

On the way back up the beach, I began to feel slightly overwhelmed with all of the information I’d digested. “There’s so much I don’t know. So much I still have to learn.”

“It comes with time,” he looked at me with a sudden seriousness, “but right now we have a bigger issue.”

“What’s that?” I didn’t know if I could handle any more earth shattering revelations tonight.

“Why you have sand all over you.”

“I don’t have….” Before I could finish, he swept my legs out from under me and caught me mid-fall. He lowered me onto my back on the sand. Not one to give up on a good fight, I caught him off balance and yanked him down beside me. Seeing my opportunity, I scrambled back to my feet and started up the beach to our sitting spot near the dunes. Suddenly, he easily picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.

“I win.” he declared, as he lowered me down in front of the dunes.

“Well, enjoy it now because this’ll be the last time I let that happen. I want a rematch.”

His blue eyes lit up and a deliberate grin appeared, “Anytime you want to wrestle, I’m game.”

I rolled my eyes at him and pushed his shoulder playfully. He smiled and wrapped me up in his arms. I could smell his woodsy scent mixed in with the sand and the sea, as I breathed him in and closed my eyes. He smelled like a warm summer breeze.

“I’ve dreamt about you,” I blurted out for no apparent reason. I felt the need to explain further, “I mean…I see you sometimes, in my dreams. Carmen told me they could be reveries.”

“Is that how you do it?” he asked. I looked up in surprise at his words.

“You can…you actually do see me?” I whispered in disbelief.

“Your soul shouldn’t be visible to anyone in reveries, even me.” His dark blue eyes brightened as he watched me closely. “But you’ve always just…appeared. Then poof, you’re gone again.”

As my real world and my dream world suddenly collided, I felt slightly off-kilter. And not in a good way.

“I thought you recognized me the first day I was here, but I wasn’t sure. And you saved me….” I wasn’t sure how to finish. He probably knew I could breathe under water then too. Why did he go to all that trouble if he knew I wouldn’t die? “Why’d you save me if you knew I could breathe under water?”

“You didn’t know you could breathe under water, plus I knew you were scared.” he grinned at me, amused by my question.

“I wasn’t scared,” I retorted.

“I must have imagined that look of sheer panic on your face then,” he mocked me and I thought about how many looks of sheer panic he’d seen on my face in my reveries. No wonder he recognized it so quickly. How humiliating.

“The seaweed wrapped around my legs and wouldn’t let go! Then all the fish…” I noticed how hard he was trying not to laugh. I sat up and put my hands on my hips, “I hope some seaweed attacks you someday so you know how it feels.”

“I’ll be sure to keep my seaweed machete on me at all times,” he laughed.

“Not funny. You are officially banned from my reveries.” I suppressed a giggle. I mean, who gets attacked by seaweed? Me, that’s who.

He watched me for a moment, thoughtful. “Did you have one today?”

“No…” I recalled the entire day. No dreams. No blackouts. “Why?”

“Just wondering how frequent they are.” But something told me that wasn’t why he wanted to know. He looked at the ocean in deep thought.

“I don’t understand how we could see each other in my reveries before we even met,” I said, willing him to share his thoughts with me.

Instead, he stood and pulled me up with him, tucking me in his arms. No matter how many times he touched me, it always felt like the first time. His skin sizzled against mine.

“The first time I saw you, I knew I would never be the same.” He leaned down, lips inches from mine, “I didn’t know if you were real. But then I touched you. Felt that you were really here and I knew you’d finally come back.”

“Come back?” I whispered as he leaned down to kiss me. My question was lost to me as my entire body caught fire.

Chapter 16

I listened to my phone beep for close to ten minutes, hoping I’d be able to tune it out and go back to sleep. I finally gave up and reached for it on my nightstand. Kira had texted me wanting me to call her. I threw the covers back over my head and stretched my legs, still smiling from last night.

I had probably slept with a big goofy grin on my face too. Good thing I didn’t share a room with anyone. Finn had walked me back to Maren and then walked the short distance to Rostrum, right next door. Knowing he was so close brought another smile to my face. My heart pounded as I pictured him lying in bed sleeping; covers gathered around his waist, bare chest, messy hair…

A loud bang in the kitchen made me sit straight up in bed. I opened my door and saw Carmen bending over, cleaning the floor as curse words flew from her mouth.

“Shhh! You’re going to wake up Stasia!” Phoebe shushed her from the living room.

“It’s okay, Stasia’s already awake,” I smiled as I sat down on the couch.

“How’re you feeling? You missed an awesome movie last night!”

“Worst. Movie. Ever.” Carmen muttered from the kitchen.

“Actually, I started feeling better after you guys left and I went down to the beach.”

“By yourself?” Carmen looked up from her mess.

“Well…” I hesitated.

“You were with Finn weren’t you?” she accused me.

“Finn?” Phoebe squeaked, “As in Finn? Like, THE Finn?”

“Yes Phoebe, THE Finn. And he’s not cursed, you guys, he’s Chosen.” I began to back pedal.

I knew this wouldn’t go well.

“Chosen or not Chosen, he’s cursed. I heard that anyone who gets involved with him will lose their soul.” Phoebe whispered, her eyes wide.

“They won’t lose their soul, it’s held captive in the Underworld,” Carmen corrected her, “and their body will stay here, never to be reunited.”

“Just an empty body, not really dead, but not really alive either,” Phoebe added, grimacing.

“I seriously doubt that’s true, you guys.” I shook my head at them. They were starting to sound like a bad sci-fi movie.

Willow’s bedroom door swung open and we all turned to say good morning, but stopped short when we saw the defeated look on her face. Her eyes were red and tears were streaming down her cheeks.

“Willow! What is it? What’s wrong?” Phoebe ran over to her.

“She’s gone.” She stared at us blankly.

“Who’s gone?” Carmen handed her a tissue.

“Nicolet. She’s gone.”

“What? How do you know? What happened!?” Phoebe cried.

“Who’s Nicolet?” I asked. Willow’s watery eyes shifted to me and her tears began to flow steadily.

“She’s a graduate student here,” her face crumpled, “was a graduate student here. I…I just met with her two days ago. I didn’t hear from her yesterday, but I thought…I just thought….” Her sobs took over and Phoebe held her tightly, gesturing for Carmen to get more tissues.