Forsaken

stopped hopping around and drifted in my direction. It watched me for a second and slowly floated downward, touching down on my palm softly.

A tiny electrical shock went through my hand when it landed. It was the same sensation I had felt with the sea turtles, but that didn’t make sense. I had an affinity for sea turtles, not sea horses. Or dolphins. I thought back to my earlier experience with the dolphins. How many affinities could one person have? A suffocating fear abruptly hit me from every direction. How could I be afraid of sea horses? Then I realized what was happening. I was actually feeling the sea horses’ emotions! And they were downright terrified. They darted off in every direction and I spun around, looking for the source of their fear. All I could see was infinite blackness. Then I felt a shadow pass above me. I looked up and my eyes fell on something much more terrifying than a simple shadow. A massive great white shark emerged from the darkness, paralyzing me with the same fear I felt in the sea horses. But this time it was my own terror slicing through my heart. I was locked in its cold, dark eyes and it was bearing down on me at warp speed.

I stayed as still as humanly possible as it began circling me. I tried to make myself relax. I didn’t know if they could smell fear like dogs, but I didn’t want to find out. After several deep breaths and three minor heart attacks, my heart slowed and a new feeling took hold of me. The shark. I could feel her. It was definitely a her. And she was happy, almost excited. She radiated a staggering amount of wisdom and confidence and the feeling I got from her was actually calming. She wasn’t here to tear me to pieces or take a chunk out of my leg. She just wanted to meet me! In a momentary lapse of sanity, I did something no normal person should ever do. I moved closer and touched her side.

Her skin was rubbery beneath my fingers and I actually felt her shiver beneath my touch.

Everything I felt from her before was amplified and my heart sang with renewed strength. With the flip of her tail, she disappeared from sight. Something off to the right caught my attention but when I looked, nothing was there. A prickle of fear ran down my spine and I actually wanted the shark to come back.

Out of nowhere a strong arm wrapped around my throat, cutting off my breathing. An enchanting sound filled my ears and wrapped around me. It was so beautiful, I instantly relaxed and listened. It filled my senses and I felt like I was floating. Then reality came crashing back to me.

One word played over and over in my mind. Siren. She was singing. Just like at the candlelight vigil, I concentrated as much as I could with my airway blocked and tried to push the sound out of my mind. It was easier than I expected, and once I could think again, I bit down on her arm until I tasted blood. Her grip lessened slightly, allowing me to twist around. I came face to face with a beautiful woman I didn’t recognize. She had dark brown hair and blue eyes that were broadcasting her shock.

Apparently she wasn’t expecting me to overcome her song. I narrowed my eyes at her and with all of my strength, kicked her in the stomach. She winced in pain and flew backwards, just as a dark ominous shape appeared nearby.

I felt her anger, sensed her urge to kill and froze as I watched the shark barreling towards me.

Before I could move or uselessly defend myself, her enormous body shot past me in a fit of rage that overwhelmed my nervous system. My skin sizzled with her anger as she barely missed me and attacked the Siren. Never having a chance against the massive killing machine, the Siren was caught in her massive jaws full of razor sharp teeth. I turned away as they disappeared in to the deep.

Someone grabbed my arms from behind.

“Get off me!” I screamed and struggled to get out of their grip. But they just held on tighter, locking my arms behind me. “Let. Me. Go.”

Maybe it was the rage leftover from the shark or adrenaline, but suddenly I was able to release myself from the grip easily. I swung my arm around and made contact with Olivia’s cheek.

Unfortunately it didn’t seem to hurt her. She glared at me, pointed up and I followed her to the surface.

“What the hell were you doing?” I yelled at her as we swam toward the yacht. Surprisingly it was only a couple feet away.

“What was I doing?!” Olivia lifted herself up the ladder, ignoring the towel Willow held out for her and turned to face me as I climbed up. “What were you doing?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“No. I was trying to go for a swim. The sea was calling to me.”

“The sea was calling to you,” she said dryly and rolled her eyes, “Drop the Lifetime movie bullshit, Stasia. You can’t just go for a swim in the middle of the ocean at night by yourself because you feel like it!! You almost got killed! If it weren’t for me, you’d be dead right now!” She stepped closer to me as I tried to dry off. I handed the towel to Phoebe and stood up straight, meeting her dark eyes, flashing with anger.

“You didn’t do a damn thing, Olivia! The shark saved me! Whoever that was is definitely dead! I felt what the shark was feeling and she knew exactly what she was doing!” I saw Phoebe and Carmen’s jaws drop.

“I’m done looking out for your ass,” she mumbled as she stomped off. I followed her in to the yacht, up the stairs and in to the living room with my roommates trailing us.

“Looking out for me?! Seriously?! Nobody asked you to look out for me. I don’t need a babysitter! Especially not you!”

“Obviously you do,” she said in a deadpan voice and turned to face me again.

“Why do you even care?”

“Open your eyes Anastasia, ” she put emphasis on my name and smirked at me, “I’m beginning to think Mom was wrong about you.”

“Mom?”

“My mom.” She raised her chin with indignation, “My full name is Olivia Noel Campbell.”

My jaw dropped. Olivia was Dr. Campbell’s daughter? That couldn’t possibly be true! Dr.

Campbell was so caring and understanding. Olivia was so…not. Speechless, I sat down in one of the oversized leather chairs facing the couch. Phoebe, Carmen, and Willow all sat down too, completely engrossed in our conversation. Olivia remained standing and glared down at me. I looked up at her in shock.

“Dr. Campbell’s your mom?” I saw Phoebe ask Carmen who Dr. Campbell was but she just shrugged her shoulders and they kept listening intently.

“She told me to look out for you, and believe me I’ve tried. But if you are so hell bent on getting yourself killed, then who am I to stop you?” She counted on her fingers, “Almost drowning, saving some dumb sea turtle eggs in the middle of a hurricane, swimming alone with Finn Morrison in the middle of the night which is the last person you should be hanging out with, and now swimming alone with sharks at midnight?!” She threw her arms up in frustration and I stood up suddenly irate.

“You’ve been spying on me!?” I was so angry my hands were shaking, and I could feel tears burning my eyes. All those times I felt like I was being watched… “Why won’t you just leave me alone!?”

Instead of yelling back, she pointed at me and said, “I’d love to. Unfortunately everyone thinks you’re part of that stupid Legend. And if that’s true, which I’m beginning to seriously doubt, every Siren on the planet will want you dead before your eighteenth birthday. So don’t come crying to me when the shit hits the fan.” She waved her hand at me like I was a piece of gum she had pulled off of her shoe and headed for the stairs, “I’m done.”

I was too stunned to produce a comeback for her rant. Legend? That woman in the water was definitely a Siren. I sat back down on the leather chair and stared blankly at my roommates.

“Will someone please tell me what she was rambling about?” I asked them wearily. They exchanged looks and their eyes hit the floor in shame. Willow spoke first.

“We didn’t want to tell you yet. We didn’t want to scare you.”

“I didn’t want you to freak out and leave,” Phoebe whispered.

“Plus we have no way of knowing if it’s true yet,” Carmen shrugged her shoulders and looked back down at her feet. I rubbed my temples, trying to figure out what was going on. I didn’t understand why everything had to be such a secret. Finn wouldn’t answer any of my questions, no one had told me what to expect here at this school, and now my roommates have been keeping things from me. Who was I supposed to trust? I let out a loud sigh and tried to reign in my anger.

“Just tell me,” I pinched the bridge of my nose, but my head was already pounding.

“There’s a Legend. A very old Legend, ” Willow began hesitantly, “Back in the day, the leader of the Nerieds,