Blue at Midnight (2 page)

Chapter 4

Blip... blip... blip, what’s that noise? Am I lying down? Where am I? A sudden
rush of panic ran through me. My vision was blurred and my body lay lifeless on
a hard bed, in an unfamiliar room.

“Izzie, can you
hear me? You’re going to be fine. You’re in a hospital.” That was my sister’s
voice, filled with concern. I could tell by the way she spoke each word, as if
it was an instruction. This was exactly how my mum used to sound after she’d
had an argument with my dad. This was the ‘everything is fine’ voice, which I
hated.

Staring at me
with her jet black hair tied back, large silver hoop earrings and my mother’s
green eyes was Naomi. Realising how uncomfortable the hospital bed was I
impatiently started to shuffle so that I could sit upright.
 

“Don’t try to
get up,” Naomi instructed.

“Calm down, I’m
fine. Why am I even here?” I groaned, surprised by the weariness in my voice. I
didn’t understand why and how I’d got here. The last thing I could remember was
walking along the beach.
 
At that moment
the dark blue jacket Naomi was wearing caught my eye. Suddenly, the colour
triggered a surge of flashbacks through my mind. I remembered how my skin
tingled from the cold, before my limbs became almost impossible to move.
 

Suddenly,
reality struck me like a viper, and I remembered what had happened. I had
drowned. Was I dead? If I’m dead then why is Naomi here? Pressing my hands into
the white cotton bed sheets made me realise they were real. I’m in a hospital I
told myself. Through a window I could see nurses hurrying up and down the
corridor.

“What’s the
date?” I asked.

“The
date?”
Naomi
questioned.
 

“Yes, the date!”
I yelled. I needed to make sense of this somehow.

“It’s Friday 17
^th
.”

“September?”
I interrupted.

“Yes. Why what’s
wrong?” snapped back an annoyed Naomi.

Ignoring her
question I heaved a sigh of relief and slowly lay back in the hospital
bed.
 

“Do you need me
to get the nurse? Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s not
that, I’m just a bit tired. Could you get me a cup of tea? I think I just need
some caffeine.” I needed a moment to think without my sister staring at me.
Naomi seemed to have fallen for the excuse and made her way to the hospital
café.

If today is
Friday that means I was rescued last night. It was six p.m. when I left home.
It wasn’t long before the images of the unsettled shore came to the forefront
of my mind. When and how was I rescued? There was a moment while I was drowning
when I realised I wasn’t going to reach the surface, as my limbs had become
numb.

“Here, have some tea.”

“Thanks,” I
smiled, even though I realised I needed something a lot stronger now. Naomi had
even brought me a biscuit to have with it, just like my mother used to. No
matter how stressed and hot-headed she was, deep down I always knew her heart
was in the right place.

“Izzie, can you
remember what happened?”

“I drowned,
didn’t I?” Taken back by my abruptness she paused to think about her response.

“Yeah, but you
were lucky. There was a rescue team on standby because of the storm. Jenny’s
dad said he saw you.”

“Saw me do
what?” At that moment I felt a lump in my throat as I realised what it must
have looked like to anyone who was watching me.

“Well you
weren’t pushed and you didn’t fall.”
 

“What did he say
I did?” I looked her straight in the eyes hoping it would diminish the thought
she had in her mind.

“Maybe it’s best
you speak to Dr Bennet.”

“Dr Bennet! Why
on Earth would I want to speak to her?”

“Don’t make this
difficult for yourself. I’m only trying to help you.”

“Help me with
what? I don’t need help? You think I’d actually commit suicide?” That was the moment
I knew that she’d already chosen her side and it wasn’t mine. This was the
beginning of a nightmare. Once my dad found out he would be exactly the same,
probably even worse, as he’d keep throwing it in my face. All it took was a
daydream with a never-ending trail of thoughts to leave me like this.

I needed to get
out. This place was for the frail and sick, not me. After my mother died in
this hospital, I made sure I stayed well away from this place. Being here was
like waiting in a forgotten room that oozed pain and misery. Plus it wouldn’t
be long before my dad came bursting through those doors. With that pulsing vein
on his forehead desperate to burst, he would be struggling to hold back the
urge to tell me how foolish I had been.
 

Once he’d heard what
had happened from Naomi he would take the opportunity to add more house rules,
allowing him to take full control of my life. He just couldn’t understand that
his children had grown up and were independent. Instead he saw it as a threat
that was constantly challenging his ways. We were raised by our mother. Our dad
spent all his time working and when he decided to get to know us it was too
late. We didn’t share much of a bond.

Sick of my mind
being bombarded with all these sad memories I decided to get up and get out of
here.
 
Better than lying here feeling
sorry for myself waiting for that time bomb to enter through those hospital
doors. Pulling my strength together I pushed myself up and out of the bed, only
to find myself feeling a little light-headed. Slowly, I walked towards the ugly
orange chair sitting on the left side of the room, next to the side table, and
grabbed my coat. Even though I was wearing my blue and white pyjamas, I still
thought if I kept my head down I’d have a good chance of walking out. Naomi had
taken all of my clothes to her car as they must have smelt awful after being
drenched in that murky sea-water. Carefully I turned the squeaky door handle
moving my ear towards the opening, listening for the hospital staff.

“What the hell was
she thinking? Is she stupid?” shouted a highly frustrated man. This could only
be one person.
 

“Calm down Mr
Hibbs. You must understand that Isabelle is in a very fragile state of mind
right now,” explained Dr Bennet. As usual my dad wasn’t paying any attention to
the doctor’s advice.

“Look, you need
to go in there and find out if she’s going to do it again because I don’t think
she’s right in the head. I mean she was always distant when her mother was
alive but since then I feel like I don’t even know her anymore.”

 
“I understand your concern but this is not the
right approach Mr Hibbs,” replied the patient doctor.

“Well at home,
every time I walk into the room she walks out and when I ask her something she
either gives me a vague answer or sits there with her headphones in, so forgive
me if I’m losing patience doctor!” It was obvious my dad was trying to indicate
that the distance between us was due to there being a problem with my mental
state. According to him, I couldn’t cope with the daily stresses of life and
losing my mother threw me over the edge. I was shocked that he would use my
mother’s death as an excuse. She passed away due to ill health three years ago.
Even though it was the hardest time of my life it made me realise how short,
unexpected and fragile life could be.
 
My
blood was boiling from listening to my dad’s ridiculous comments and what made
it even worse was that it was behind my back, to a stranger, after I’d nearly
died.
 

Suddenly their
voices started to get louder which indicated that they were making their way to
the hospital room I was in. Like a mad woman I ripped my coat off my back and
flung it across the room. It bounced off the hideous pea-coloured wall and
landed perfectly on the orange, wooden chair. As they entered they saw me
leaning casually on the bed, half sitting, with a tissue over my face,
pretending to wipe my nose.

“Hello Isabelle,
I’m Dr Bennet.” He smiled and looked straight through me as if he knew exactly
what type of patient I was. Quietly, like nothing had happened, my dad walked
in, followed by Naomi.

“So when do you
think I’ll be discharged?” I was sick of waiting.

“Well that
depends on how you’re feeling. Have you eaten something?”

I explained that
I was feeling fine and that being in hospital was a bit extreme as I could
easily recover at home. After answering a few questions about what I was doing
at the beach and how I felt about being rescued, the doctor decided to
discharge me. Thankfully, after a chest X-ray and a disgusting hospital lunch I
was free. Throughout the past two hours my dad barely spoke. I suppose he said
all he had to say outside, behind my back. This explained his annoying,
hovering, fly-like behaviour; he couldn’t wait to leave as this visit was not
on his priority list.

Chapter 5

“What happened to you? Have you suddenly remembered that the elders have
set us a task which we must complete?”

Christian tried
to avoid eye contact; he couldn’t find the courage to look at his brother after
what he’d just done. All he kept thinking about was whether someone had seen
him. His actions would be seen as an insult to their world. Saving a human was
forbidden.

    
Trying to block the guilt, he
started to shift large rocks on the sea-bed, to create the pathway to the Room
of Rituals. Maybe if he kept himself busy this whole episode would just be
forgotten, leaving him to focus on his task. Little did he know that Cale had
been observing him since he’d returned and sensed that he was
different.
 

Occasionally,
Christian would redo what he had done. Something was distracting him. Cale had
hoped that Sebastian’s visit would have encouraged his brother to pull himself
together. However, he seemed more unlike himself and that was dangerous in
Orsa, as being distracted was a sign of weakness for a Rourke (soldier of
Orsa). Under no circumstances was Cale going to let his brother affect the
completion of this task. This was Cale’s chance to show the elders that he was
stronger, which would convince them to grant him permission to enter onto the
land and redeem his soul.

Not all Children of Orsa chose this
path,
however redeeming your soul was risky as you would need a human to fall in love
with you. This was the soul you would sacrifice, so under no circumstances
should you fall in love with this human otherwise you would be taken back to
the waters by an elder and punished.
 
You
would be destroyed, killed during the ritual of forgiveness, which would be
performed by the elders, also known as the first ones: Estran, Sebastian and
August.

Once the human
life had been sacrificed, the empty shell of a body would be left somewhere on
the land.
 
A group of Rourkes would make
it look like some sort of an accident. Only then can a child of Orsa live as a
human with no one to rule over them: they would be free. A child of Orsa had a
month to build this bond with a human otherwise after a month they would start
to age rapidly and within a year they would be facing death. Either they died
like this or they’d go back to Orsa, where failure was not accepted. It was their
duty to uphold the numbers and Cale knew Christian understood that.
  

The temperature
started to drop considerably and the night sky formed a blanket of darkness,
pierced by the twinkling of stars. Three hours before midnight.
  
Midnight was the hour of life as this was
the moment a sacrificed human would lose their soul and a child of Orsa would
redeem theirs.
 

It was now time to eat, otherwise known as ‘savoc’. It was a custom to
eat together, and if any of their kind were travelling through the area they
would join a local group for savoc. Savoc took place in the most colourful part
of the sea-bed where the magical colours of the coral reef swayed in
harmony.
 
Delicately the reef surrounded
the various sizes of natural stone, which had been carved and positioned to
form a vast dining space. In addition to this, you would be entertained by
music played on stringed instruments (the last remains of the damned
souls).
  
Myths of beautiful mer songs
sung by mer people were created by humans but the reality was the opposite. The
music was only fuelled by Orsa to spread harmony and tranquillity amongst their
world.
  
Amongst all the serenity Cale’s
patience with Christian was wearing thin.

“What’s wrong? Why
aren’t you eating?” Christian was shocked. He wasn’t aware that Cale had been
watching him. Just how long had he been observing he thought? Paranoia followed
by panic was starting to crawl upon him like a deadly rash.
 

“The barsa fish
doesn’t taste like it usually does,” he responded, staring at his plate,
avoiding Cale’s stare. Before Cale had the chance to respond, he walked off,
agitated.

Moving swiftly,
he tried to blend in with the others. As he was about to leave savoc he a felt
sudden chill as a heavy hand pressed into his shoulder. Even from behind, it
had the power to stop him cold. Taking a deep breath he composed his expression
then turned slowly, only to lock eyes with a tall, muscular man with a strong
jaw line, wearing a wooden expression and piercing emerald eyes.

“In
a hurry
Christian?” asked Sebastian.

“No.
Just not hungry.”
Sebastian glared at Christian suspiciously
before taking a step back and smiling.

“Good, I would
like to introduce you to Lameer... an explorer from the easterly waters.” In
front of Christian stood a lean, slender Rourke, skin like sand and hair the
colour of chestnut, holding a strong posture, just like a typical soldier
thought Christian.
 
His movement was very
agile as he stepped forward and held his hand out to Christian.

“Good to meet
you Christian.” Even though he seemed harmless Christian was confused by the
unnecessary force Lameer applied to the handshake. It almost seemed as if he
was challenging him. The two Rourkes stared deviously at each other before
Sebastian interrupted, ordering that a space for three be cleared for savoc.

“I really should
leave; I need to get back to completing the Room of Rituals,” explained
Christian sternly. Sebastian would never let a soldier interrupt him and get
off so lightly but as it was for a task he had set, he nodded gently and
dismissed him. Rapidly, Christian walked off feeling a little wary. As he
looked behind curiously, his eyes caught a glimpse of Lameer who just happened
to be looking straight at him with a curious expression. Clearly there was more
to Lameer than meets the eye.