wrath of the Sea Queen (215 page)

After loosening his muscles in the warm shower, Ben was brushing his teeth when he heard a soft knock on the bathroom door.  Salma pee
p
ed in asking if he would like breakfast.  She told him that she was going to rummage through the kitchen and find something simple.  Her stomach was a bit unsettled this morning, most likely the result of eating too much at dinner the night before.  She promised to find him something tasty.  Of course, the
quest for food
required that Salma be out of Ben's sight for five minutes
.  He ag
reed
to loosen the constraints on her protective custody
since she
took
the time to let him know where she was going
and the kitchen was only the next room over
.  S
alma
closed the
bathroom
door and walked away.  Ben heard the bedroom door open and then close.  He
hurried to finish up so that he could
catch up with Salma
in the kitchen
.

A loud banging on the
bedroom
door roused Ben.  He found himself sitting uncomfortably on the bathroom floor. 
Had h
e passed out
?

"Well, that's odd."

Ben
got up quickly, but the sudden movement caused
him
a moment of lightheadedness. 
He
held on
to the sink until
the feeling passed
.  After regaining his balance, Ben looked at his watch.  It was nearly eight o'clock.  He
ha
d been out for almost two hours.  Why hadn't Salma found him?  Ben knew the answer even before he ran out into the
ir
empty room.  He rushed to the outer door, throwing it open. 
M
aku st
ood
in front of Ben, concern clearly etched on his face and evident in his
nervous
manner.  Maku
repeatedly clinch
ed
and releas
ed
his fists
as he spoke.

"
Ben, have you seen Pete this morning?  I can't find him anywhere,
"
Maku almost looked frantic.

"
No, have you seen my wife?  I think I passed out, and
now
she's
gone
,
"
Ben replied as calmly as he could under the circumstances. 
So
mething was wrong.  Salma would not have
been
gone
for so long
without telling him, and Ben
had
never
once
in his life passed out without
a
readily
known
cause.

"
Have you talked to anyone else?
"
  Maku asked
Ben
.

"
Not yet.  Perhaps
Salma
is
looking in
on
C
a
eli
and lost track of the time
.  I
wi
ll go
and check
.  You
should see if Pete might be visiting with
Apela and Max.
"
  The two men ru
shed off in opposite directions, neither one believing he was headed
down the right path
.

CHAPTER
48

C
a
eli woke suddenly, heart racing, fear holding her motionless where she lay.  She was in bed.  The room was dark, and Vin slep
t
beside her.  She did not feel right, though she did
n
o
t
yet
know what was wrong. 
C
a
eli
was afraid
;
of what
she
didn't know
. 
Was it the lingering images of
her
unending
bad dreams?  She recalled the details vividly and images from her dream swam through her mind as she lay there.

She found herself on a small island
not too far off
shore from Apela's hotel
. 
C
a
eli
could not remember
how she got there, but she was not alone. 
A
house-like dwelling made of palm leaves, branches, and
earthy
materials
sat
thirty feet further inland.  She walked up to it hoping to find
another person within.

As C
a
eli glanced cautiously inside
the single room structure
, she
observed
that its only furnishings were a s
mall
bed, a round, wooden table with two chairs, and a wooden toy chest at the foot of the bed.  The
sand covering almost everything made the
place look as if it
may have
stood unused for a
very
long time.
  There was something disturbingly familiar
about it
.

C
a
eli turned as she heard someone approaching from behind. 
A
lady emerged from the water, and C
a
eli was stunned to recognize the dark-haired figure.  Yet,
the woman was not herself.  She seemed to be a combination of
two people.  C
a
eli understood.  It was the same struggle she faced herself.  Unfortunately, it seemed that this woman
was
either
not able to resist
or had allowed the
transition
, and
Rika
was in
complete
control.  C
a
eli's heart filled with
great sadness for the woman
she
once called her friend
.

"
Do not pity her,
"
Rika's voice
answered C
a
eli's unspoken thoughts.

"I pity anyone who has to endure your presence,"
C
a
eli
replied out loud.  She would not grant Rika the satisfaction of opening her mind further to her intrusiveness.

"
Why have you brought me here?
"
  C
a
eli demanded.

"
To collect your payment,
"
Rika replied using the lady's voice this time.

"
What payment?
"
 
C
a
eli
,
in he
r
dream
,
was as
confused
as when she was awake
.

C
a
eli watched herself back away from the woman and come up against the man in black.  He grabbed her
and
struggled
to hold her still
.  C
a
eli fought with all her strength and received numerous injuries for her troubles. 
A
solid
punch to her jaw sent her reeling
.
  She blocked the next attack with her left hand and forearm taking the brunt of the damage instead.
  A
n unavoidable
strike
to her ribs
,
delivered with a large tree branch,
left her gasping
for air
.  This
fight
continued for several minutes. 
A
t last, C
a
eli seemed to give up
as the man captured her in his
unyielding grasp
yet again
.

The woman approached and placed her hand on C
a
eli's stomach.  With one final surge of strength, C
a
eli kicked the lady, broke free, and ran
toward
the water.  She
tried to swim
, but the pain
of her injuries
hampered her efforts
.  C
a
eli called up her gift and let the water carry her
away
.  It splashed her out somewhere deep inside what she believed was
Max's
cave. 
But
,
s
he was not safe there.  The man in black
had
follow
ed
her
.

H
e
did not try to capture her. 
This time, a
ll he want
ed
to do was hurt her.  She endured a
lengthy
beating
.  C
a
eli was
barely able to defend herself because
of
the
toll
recent events had
already
taken
,
putting her at a disadvantage from the start
.  I
n
he
r
already
weakened
state
, she knew she could not prevail
.
  Her only hope was to get away.