XVIII

I gasped as my head popped out of the water. I swam to the shore. The storm hadn’t cleared up fully. I balled my hands and took in deep breaths. This exercise pulled me into a memory. I was by the dock like the one in Alameda. I remember that it was my seventh birthday. My Mom held my hands as we walked closer to the ocean. “I’m scared” I whined. “You have to be brave, Will”, she said. I closed my eyes to hide the tears and I shook my head fervently, “no! It’s scary!” “Honey, look at me” Mom urged. I opened my eyes slowly to meet hers. She had the biggest smile on her face, “I know it looks scary”, her voice was soothing, “but the water can never hurt you. If love seeing daddy, you need to swim. You belong in the water”. Her voice echoed in whispers as I returned to the real world. I remember that day. That was the very first day I felt peace. I looked at the sky and it was clearing up. Even though the sky was clearly, it still looked a bit dark. How long was I there? I wondered giving the sea a last glance. The beach would be packed with people soon so I had better been going. I entered the car and drove off. I have to go and apologize to Aunt Shelly. She's done so much for me but her lies are hard to forgive. The more I found out about this half of my life, the more I realize that the other half was a lie. But she’s family and we stick together. The house lights were all turned off. “Aunt Shelly?” I called out, “Uncle Martin?” No answer. I called again and again but still no answers. Nothing looked out of place so I know they haven’t been taken. I walked to the kitchen to see if they left any notes. The sound of my footsteps echoed in the empty house. I won't lie but that kinda scares me. To make things worse, my stomach won't stop grumbling. I should expect that ‘cause I haven’t had anything except the sea berry juice I had in Oceania. I saw a note taped to the microwave. “There’s chicken nuggets here and a glass of cider in the refrigerator”, I read the note out loud, “your uncle and I thought it'd be best if we gave you some space. We’ll be back before 11 so don’t bother worrying. We love you and if you’re in a better mood, we have some therapists on a list for you to talk to. We love you very much”. I crumbled the paper and threw it in the trash can. I gobbled up a nugget quickly but it was a bit spicy so I gulped it down with the apple cider. When my eating fiasco was done, I rushed upstairs to wash the salty water off. I packed my hair up as I hit the showers. I felt better after the bath even though I was a bit worried hot water was going to boil me. I might be half-mermaid but that doesn’t mean I want my fish side to cook. A small brown box labelled ‘Wiberly’s' was in the middle of my bed. I looked left and right before moving to the box. There was a note on the fairy wand. “These were the only things we got”. I read. Shelly definitely wrote this. I changed into a black sweatshirt and purple shorts before attending to the box. I remember most of the stuff here. The wand was from my play date with Helen. We had more than fun that day. The frame I picked up next confirmed the wand. I was in a long pink dress while Helen was in a blue dress with red ribbons in her hair. We were playing as Dorothy and the good fairy of the East. We used to be inseparable but these past days have been without her. I wish this was easy to tell her because I really want to. She's my best friend and nothing should get between us. Not even the supernatural part of my life. My phone rang. It was Helen. “Hey, how…” she didn’t let me finish. “Wiberly! Please come! The lights in my room just went out”, her voice was shaky, “I’m freaking out of my freaking mind! I’m too scared to run downstairs. I think someone’s in my closet. Help me!” I carried my keys and rushed to the car. Even after ten years of therapy, Helen wasn’t over her fear of the dark. It took a whole week of sleepovers with me and the girls in the squad before Helen agreed to use a night light. I would normally wave off the ‘someone’s in my closet’ thing but Algris knows about her and he could hurt her to get back at me. “Helen!” I called as I went in. “Up here!” She answered. She sounds like she’s still crying. I opened the fuse box at the end of the hallway. We used to prank her cousins when they came over so I knew my way around it. Her room light was purely turned off. If she was in the room, there was someone else here. I concluded before entering her room. She was hugging a pillow tightly with her knees up while rocking back and forth on the bed. “Will!” I’m so happy to see you”. She jumped to hug me. She pulled away but unexpectedly, she thumped my head. “That’s for taking so long and for ignoring all my other calls”, she said before thumping herself, “and that’s for thumping you. I'm just really upset tonight”. She held my hands as we sat down. “I'm sorry for being MIA lately”, I stared at our hands, “but so many things have been going on”. “That’s why we're best friends”, she smiled, “you come to me with a problem, I give dumb answers till you solve the problem yourself”. “Super helpful”, I chuckled, “but you’re right. I should be honest with you about everything”. “Before you continue, just know that Elise is really mad at you”. “She’ll get over it. Oh! I brought this”, I gave her the wand, “to make you feel better”. “I could never forget this. Thanks”. “As from today, I’ll let you in on whatever is going on”. I hugged her. I dropped the smile once I was my chin was on her shoulder. I'm sorry Helen but this is for the best. I put the smile back on as we left each other. “I still have the ruby slippers”, she laughed, “we could do the play again but this time…” The power went out again. “AH‼” Helen screamed hugging the pillow instead of me. “We’ll be fine” I whispered, “your parents should be back soon, right?” “Yes” she whimpered. Helen covered herself with the blankets and she’s probably sucking her thumb under there. She does it when she’s a nervous wreck. The closet door creaked open slightly. I stood up and crept to the door. I looked at Helen. She was mumbling some things as she was shaking under the cover. I opened the door and stepped inside. Oh My Freaking Gosh!