02 The Moon And The Tide - Marina's Tales (27 page)

“
Help me! Help me!
” I screamed in my
mind, hoping Lorelei would show up. I knew I shouldn’t allow myself
to be dragged ashore and fought desperately to stay in the sea. I
remembered the girl attacked by the coffee shop after my last run
in with the big brute. I realized with absolute certainty that she
was the unlucky target of the rage I had somehow triggered in
him.

The thought produced a powerful surge of
anger, and a clear vision of what I could do. I steeled myself to
take in a deep breath of water. If I transformed I knew he wouldn’t
stand a chance against me. I hesitated, not sure if I was more
afraid of him or of the pain that was sure to come. I wondered how
the melding of my legs would work with a wetsuit was on,
remembering the last time I suffered the excruciating agony of
changing into a mermaid.

I never got the chance to find out as his
feet touched bottom and he wrenched my head out of the water,
allowing me to breathe as he jerked me through the breakers by my
arm. He twisted it behind my back as we stumbled onto the shore,
surfboards washing up behind us. He was close up behind me, panting
heavily in my ear as he struggled to force me further up onto the
rocky beach. He had both of my arms now, and as much as I kicked I
was powerless to stop him from moving me along.

He grabbed my ponytail and snapped my head
back hard, putting an end to my struggles for a moment. I saw
something silver flash by my cheek and realized that he had
produced a knife. He held it to my neck.

“Stop moving or I’ll cut you,” he hissed in
my ear.

I froze, and at that moment his buddy came up
on the beach, board under his arm. Our eyes met, and he looked
freaked out.

“That’s enough Joe... I think you scared her
enough,” he said.

“Get my board,” Joe barked at him as he
reached down to unfasten his leash. The pull on my hair increased
as he bent to quickly slice through my leash line, springing back
up to wave the knife in my face again. It looked sharp. I held
still, my eyes darting around the deserted beach. His friend hauled
his board out of the water, leaving mine rolling in the surf.

“Walk,” he said, pushing me past some
boulders to a spot no longer visible from the bluff.

“C’mon Joe,” his friend called, “Let’s
go...”

Joe turned to him, his face an ugly mask of
hate, “I need to teach this bitch to say please.”

His friend backed away, shaking his head,
“I’m outta here. I didn’t see anything.” He turned and raced up the
trail to the lot at the top of the bluff, leaving us alone.

“Let me go and I swear I’ll never come back,”
I gasped.

He released his grip on my hair and reached
for the back of my wetsuit, pressing the knife to my throat. I
could feel the scratch of the blade as he struggled with the
zipper, tugging hard until it got stuck halfway down. Frustrated,
he moved the knife to my behind me and sliced down the length of my
suit, exposing my bare back. I spun around, catching him by
surprise and attempting a hard kick at his groin, but instead
landing a glancing blow that succeeded in making him drop the
knife. He was disarmed but not disabled, and I only had a split
second to take a step back.

His eyes burned with white hot rage as he
lunged for me, knocking me over backwards onto the rocky beach. He
grabbed my neck with both hands and started choking me, pressing
his thumbs hard into my flesh. I couldn’t breathe; I wondered how
long I had left as time slowed down and my vision started to swirl
with black spots. I thought about Ethan...

He let out a bloodcurdling scream and
released me, staggering backwards. I rolled over to my side,
coughing roughly and struggling to heave great ragged breaths of
air. Looking up, I could see his face contorted in pain. A trio of
enormous sea lions had latched their powerful jaws onto his calf,
thigh and butt. He roared in agony and punched at them but he
couldn’t shake them loose.

I scrambled to my feet and limped over to the
surf. Getting hold of my board, I dove into the ocean and paddled
as hard as I could to get past the breaking waves. When I got far
enough out I sat up on my board and looked back. I could see two or
three figures on the bluff looking down at me but no sign of Joe or
the sea lions on the beach.

I put my head down and swam out to sea using
the last of my strength. I was shaking with fatigue when Lorelei
appeared beside me, the rising sun reflecting in her wide blue
green eyes.

“
Sister! Marina! Are you hurt?
” she
asked, looking at my torn wetsuit with terrified eyes as I
struggled to keep from falling off my surfboard.

“
Please take me home,
” I gasped. I was
too tired to do anything but cling to the board as she towed me
back to Aptos.

Lorelei looked at me with fearfully when we
arrived at the cement boat, “
Those were the bad people,
” she
said in a quavering voice.

“
Yes... yes they were,
” I coughed out,
managing a weak smile, “
Thanks for sending the sea
lions.
”

I struggled out of the ocean and staggered
home in the early morning light, creeping into my room to see a
face in the mirror pale with fatigue. I had ugly finger shaped
bruises rising on my neck, crossed with a red scratch from the
knife blade. I peeled off my torn wetsuit and tossed it by the
bedside. I gasped with horror when I realized the chain was no
longer around my neck.

My aquamarine! It must have come off in the
struggle. Bitter tears filled my eyes and spilled out onto my
cheeks. I felt like I was being punished for my reckless behavior.
I should have listened to Ethan and stopped surfing with Lorelei
before something bad happened. I threw myself down on the bed and
sobbed into my pillow. Today was supposed to be a special day; one
last day with Ethan before I left for Greece. Now I didn’t even
know how I’d be able to look him in the eye. I was overcome with
remorse and anger, first at the beast who’d attacked me and then at
myself for being reckless enough to get caught by him.

I knew I had to do something about the
monster that was Joe. If I called the police to report the attack I
could never explain how I got there or how I got back. I hoped
those sea lions taught him a serious lesson. My stomach churned
when I thought about the other girl he attacked. I had to figure
out a way to stop him from hurting anyone else.

I lay in bed, tormented by my thoughts as the
morning wore on. There was a knock on the door.

“Yes?” I called out hoarsely.

“Are you decent?” Cruz asked.

I pulled the blankets up around me.

“Come in.”

Cruz poked his head in the door, “Get up!
We’re gonna be late!”

“I’m staying home today,” I croaked, “I’m
sick.”

Cruz looked skeptical, “Are you alright? Can
I get you anything?”

“I just need some rest,” I said with a forced
smile, waving him off. He turned to go.

“Cruz?” I called after him, trying to sound
normal.

“Would you please tell Ethan... tell him I’m
sick and I need to stay in bed for the day.”

“You sound terrible,” he said, “Take it
easy.”

He left me to grapple with my guilt as I
tossed and turned. A few minutes later Abby checked on me before
she left for the yoga studio. I assured her worried eyes that I was
fine, I just had a sore throat and ought to get some some rest. I
promised to call her if I needed anything.

Grabbing a robe, I went for a hot shower to
try and wash it all away. I don’t know how long I stood there, but
when the water turned cold it snapped me back to reality. Aside
from the marks on my neck and a bruised scrape on my hip I had
emerged remarkably unscathed. I was incredibly lucky he didn’t
catch me that day at the surf shop, I thought. When I stepped out
of the bathroom I could hear a loud banging on the front door.

Wrapping my robe around me, I crept into the
hall to peek out at the door. Ethan’s truck was parked out front; I
could see his shadow through the colored glass by the door. I was
torn between an impulse to run and hide and the strong urge to
throw my arms around him for some comfort. I pulled the collar up
around my neck and opened the door.

“What happened?” he asked anxiously, “Cruz
said you couldn’t get out of bed.” My eyes met his, confessing
everything. I felt like he could see right through me and knew I’d
have to tell him everything. I was about to burst into tears but I
swallowed hard.

“I need to get dressed,” I said, realizing my
voice sounded terrible, “Come in and sit down.”

“Marina?” he called after me as I hurried
down the hall to my room without looking back. I slipped into a
pair of jeans and a sweater, wrapping a cashmere scarf around my
swollen neck. Returning to see Ethan standing by the couch, I made
a bee-line for him and hugged him close, sighing with relief. Just
touching him soothed me.

“What happened?” he asked again. I pressed my
face into his chest.

He walked me over to the couch and sat me
down so I had to face him.

“Talk to me,” he demanded, taking both my
hands.

“I... I’ve been going surfing with Lorelei,”
I said finally.

“I know,” he said grimly.

“I’ve been going out at night.”

“At night? Are you serious?”

“Yes, because it’s really so much better…
There’s nobody around to see, and we have it all to ourselves.” I
realized how irrational I sounded as it spilled out.

“Are you okay? What happened to your voice?”
he asked.

“Last night… I just wanted to go out with her
one more time before I left–” my lip started to shake. I looked
down and kept going, “We went to the point, and it was so great! It
started to get light and I had to take just one more wave...”

“You’ve been going to the point? At night? In
the dark?” he looked incredulous.

I looked up and nodded, “Lorelei is always
careful to keep me off the rocks. Well, until that last wave. Some
guys showed up… and I wiped out… and she disappeared.”

I told him how the mermaids were on strict
orders not to be seen; they were being hunted and one had gone
missing, I explained how Lorelei was afraid.

Ethan’s eyes flickered with recognition, “Go
on.”

“The guy that showed up... he was there the
day Shayla took me... he was hassling me about Evie’s car. Kimo and
his friends chased him off.” I paused, “He was really angry, and I
think I made it worse when he saw me at the surf shop later.”

I told him about my encounter with the big
bully and how insanely enraged he looked when I slipped away. I
explained how I thought he was the one that attacked the girl by
the coffee shop.

“What happened when he showed up?” Ethan
asked angrily.

“There were two of them, and I saw them
coming. I tried to swim away but the one guy caught me...”

I looked up into his eyes and blurted it all
out. When I got to the part about the knife his jaw clenched and
his eyes opened wide. I looked down and finished, telling him about
the sea lions saving me and my long swim to get back out to
Lorelei.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” my eyes
filled with tears, “And I lost my necklace,” I choked out as they
spilled onto my cheeks.

I threw my arms around him and hugged him
tightly.

He pushed me back and reached over to take
off my scarf. My hand shot up to stop him but he gently pushed it
back down. He unwound the scarf and sucked in a sharp breath. I’d
never seen him look so angry as he pushed back my damp hair to
inspect my bruised neck.

“Oh my God,” he said in a low, shaken voice.
He traced the knife scratch with his fingertips.

I squeezed his knee reassuringly as I wiped
my eyes, “It’s okay, I’m sure he’s in a lot more pain than I am
right now.” I started thinking out loud, “I just need to figure out
how to stop him from going after anyone else. If I call the police
they’ll ask too many questions... I know some people saw me swim
away from there...”

“I’ll kill him,” he said, his voice thick
with anger.

“Don’t talk like that,” I said, stroking his
arm. I leaned over to rest my head on his chest. He put his arms
around me and I nestled into him on the couch.

“I knew something bad would happen if you
kept surfing with her,” he muttered.

“It wasn’t her fault,” I protested, “You
should have seen how scared she was.”

“She took you there,” he said.

“I asked her to.”

“She’s dangerous.”

“You don’t understand,” I said quietly. I
explained in a whisper how she glowed inside the wave like a beacon
and always protected me from the rocks. I told him how beautiful
the moonlight was on the water, and how surreal it could be on a
dark foggy night.

“I knew she was gonna get you into
trouble.”

“You can’t blame her for something that...
that...
he
did.” I couldn’t bring myself to say his name. I
could feel Ethan tense up with anger again.

“She let him get you! I thought you said she
kept you safe!”

I shuddered, “I guess they caught us both by
surprise.”

“You have to stay away from her,” he said
firmly.

“I thought I found the perfect solution,” I
whispered, “She means no harm.” I suddenly realized how much the
time I spent with Lorelei really meant to me.

“At least you’ll be away from here from a few
weeks,” he said darkly.

“Are you that eager to get rid of me?” I said
teasingly, trying to get him to lighten up a bit. It wasn’t
working. His jaw flexed again.

“You need to get some rest,” he said, pulling
away abruptly.

I sighed, “You should go back to school.”

He stood and pulled me up from the couch,
giving me a cursory hug and promising to come by later in the day.
He left in a hurry. I watched him drive off through the window with
a little ache in my stomach. I couldn’t blame him for being
disappointed in me, I never listened to his advice.