“That’s where it’s going to get tricky. You have to take the journey before you turn eighteen, right? So we need to know which of those days falls before your birthday. Those are the ones we’ll have to choose from.”
“Well my birthday’s in April so…” my words faded quickly as understanding hit me like a sledgehammer. I gaped up at him with dread and whispered slowly, “I don’t know my true birthday.”
I put all of my attention into inspecting a rogue string on my comforter as the gravity of the situation sunk in. When I was found on the police station doorstep as a baby, there were no records of my birth, no documentation to confirm my birth date or true age, so the doctors could only guess at my age and therefore my birthday. April 17 th had been decided upon as a stand-in date, but my true birthday would forever remain a mystery. Or so I had thought.
“The next two days you could go are in November and February,” he continued.
“But it’s the second week of October - November’s too soon!” I pleaded, searching his eyes with paralyzing panic. The fear that immediately clutched my chest at the thought of taking the journey so soon had me hoping my true birthday was indeed after February. “What’s so special about those four days?”
“They’re the only days of the year when the veil between the two realms is thin enough.” He watched me carefully to make sure I was following along before he continued, “So, in order to know when you’ll go to the Underworld, we have to find out when your real birthday is. If it’s before February, and you’re forced to go next month, we’ll have to start preparing you now.”
An idea occurred to me and my eyes lit up. “The Isle! If I was born there, there’s got to be a birth certificate somewhere, right?” My excitement was replaced with disappointment when he averted his eyes and his lips pressed into a straight line.
“Unfortunately being born on the Isle means you definitely do not have a birth certificate.”
“So you don’t have one either?”
“Birth certificates are only useful for government records. No one knows the Fortunate Isle exists except for our kind. And even that number is low because of its secrecy. Same thing goes for social security numbers. I don’t have one of those either.”
“So there really are no records to show I was ever born,” I concluded, disheartened.
“Records are only kept for those who can’t or won’t remember,” he supported my hand in his.
“I think I know how we can find out when your true birthday is. But we can’t do it here. I have a feeling the Sirens are all watching you pretty closely.” He raised an eyebrow and beamed with excitement, “So we’ll need to go somewhere remote to practice.”
“Practice what?” His answer was a slow smile.
“You’ll see. But first you need to tell your roommates to get packed. We’re all going on a little trip for Fall Break.”
Chapter 3
“So, let me get this straight. Fall Break on the Outer Banks in a massive beach house?”
Carmen’s eyebrows shot up, “Why are we still sitting here?!”
She sprinted out of the kitchen mid-bite to pack her clothes. Phoebe had returned from her date with Ian and we were perched on the bar stools sampling Willow’s newest recipe for white chocolate brownies topped with macadamia nuts; or according to Carmen: the best thing since Channing Tatum. I peered at my other roommates hoping they’d agree to go just as easily.
“You had me at ‘Ian’,” Phoebe sighed and pretended to fan herself, but the big, goofy grin on her face was anything but forced.
“What other guys are going besides Ian and Finn?” Willow asked apprehensively, “This isn’t a couples-thing is it?”
“I think he’s bringing his other roommates Ricker and Cage, along with another guy, but I don’t know his name. He said it’s a big house-“
“More like a mansion - the Sons’ beach house is crazy big!” Carmen yelled from her room.
“-so there’ll be plenty of room and it’s definitely not a couples’ thing, I promise,” I finished.
“Did you say Ricker?” Carmen had reappeared.
“Do you know him?”
“Unfortunately,” she muttered and disappeared again. I looked at Phoebe with a question mark in my eyes.
“There’s major history there,” she whispered, “But don’t ask her about it, she’ll bite your head off.”
“What kind of history?” I asked, intrigued.
“It’s kind of a love-hate relationship, but somehow they always find their way back to each other,” Phoebe explained in a low voice.
“It’s a hate relationship, end of story,” Carmen bellowed from her room.
“See? She’s a little touchy about it,” Phoebe warned me with a giggle.
“This could be entertaining. I’m in,” Willow finally conceded. Phoebe squealed, wrapped her in a hug, and then ran off to her room to pack, too. Following their lead, we finished off our brownies and retired to our rooms. The plan was to meet Finn and the rest of the guys at the marina in the morning. The Sons’ beach house was located near Cape Lookout, which was at the southern corner of the Outer Banks, north of Lorelei and Bald Head Island; only a six hour boat ride on the Sons’ yacht.
Long after I had gone to bed, I still lay awake staring intently at the ceiling above. I was secretly hoping the answers I needed would magically present themselves across its smooth surface, but after examining it for more than an hour, I raised the proverbial white flag in defeat. The only thing I had succeeded in identifying was the white paint peering back at me with the same blank stare I felt on my own face. The incident with Nadia had been pushed to the bottom of my priority list in lieu of this new development in my journey. Unfortunately, the number of the questions far exceeded my number of answers. Trepidation had begun to outweigh most of the excitement I felt about the long weekend ahead. What did Finn mean by ‘practice’? And how did he plan on figuring out my birthday on a remote island on the Outer banks? Unless the answer was hidden away in a buried chest, I wasn’t too sure how this was going to work. What happened if we discovered my birthday was before the November date, as well? Or even yesterday? Would I just be out of time and out of luck?
No wonder I couldn’t sleep. The weight of the world was growing pretty heavy on my slim shoulders. Giving up on any chance of rest, I rolled out of bed and ambled across my room. I softly touched the twelve dried black roses still hanging beside my mirror and couldn’t stop the unexpected smile that fought its way onto my face. A glowing heat spread through my chest, and the simple fact that I wasn’t going to have to do this alone immediately lightened the intense pressure on my shoulders. Finn would be with me the whole time. I didn’t know if I could do this, but maybe
