Sam

Chapter 15

With a three day weekend ahead, Tristan agreed to stay with Sam at her house. But as he climbed the stone stairs to her front door, he couldn't help but shutter at the memory of his last night there. Whatever it was, seemed like a shadow of Sam. Even now as they sat on the dock, Tristan couldn't help but glance back at the house every once and awhile. He felt like he was being watched by something evil, something old.

He knew the others had stayed away, running through the forests of the Ozarks, watching out for the dark creatures that sought their end. From what Tristan understood, three humans had already turned apart from Jake who still remained hidden. No one was able to find him, not even the lycans. He had no scent to follow.

Tristan glanced at the water, weary upon entering. Sam swam happily around, reminding him of a newborn maiden of the water. The lake had a few maidens, but they stayed to themselves on the lake floor. When the humans built the dam, they were trapped inside, unable to make the jump to the river below. They still harbored hatred to the humans, but knew it was best to just leave them be.

Tristan didn't want Sam in the water, but he enjoyed watching her dive down deep and laugh as she popped back up. He couldn't explain why, but Sam was a completely different person when she was near nature. Weaver wouldn't say what happened between them, but remained adamant that she was safer isolated from everyone.

"So what happened?" He pried. She hid half of her face in the water, thinking before she said anything.

"There isn't much I can say." She admitted.

"Try me," he laughed. She launched herself backwards in the water like a dolphin, coming back up to stare in his eyes once again.

"He said I'm not a nymph." She said. Tristan scoffed.

"Well I knew that," he laughed. She thought for a moment.

"How long can you hold your breath?" She asked.

"About five minutes if I'm lucky, but I've never really tried to push it before." He said, she smiled and motioned for him to join her. He sighed, he hated swimming.

He took off his shirt, and took out everything in his pockets. He dived right in, pulling close to her. He noticed her skin felt very different under the water, almost slimy.

"I'm going to show you the world through my eyes. So take a deep breath." She said. He obliged, following her down deep into the depths of the lake.

He could hardly see anything, the murky water barely let him glimpse Sam who he knew was only inches away. Then he heard it, the singing.

It was like a melody, soothing to his ears. It echoed through the water, reaching his ears. He almost let his breath go, but then he felt Sam's lips on his own. It startled him back to reality.

He sensed the maidens of the water nearby, but he could not see them. The water was too murky. Sam grabbed hold of his hand, letting it rest on the lake bottom. He felt the algae, the weeds, and the silt that covered the bottom of the lake. He wasn't sure what he was looking for until he grabbed hold of the old shell of a snail. Sam pressed it to his lips, forcing him to inhale.

Instantly his vision cleared, it was like his lungs freely accepted the water as air. He saw Sam smiling back at him, she took one for her self inhaling. He looked around and saw the familiar creatures of the lake clearly.

He instinctively tried to hold his breath again, but heard the humming of Sam through the water.

"It's okay." She said. He looked at her confused. "You can speak as well."

He didn't. He'd never heard of such magic, the life under the lake was foreign to everyone.

"Why have you brought this creature, child." He heard a voice call. "They are not allowed down here."

"I've come to let him see." He heard Sam say. One of the maidens swam closer.

"These beings do not wish to see, they are blind to their ways. Filled with their own knowledge and unable to see the truth." The creature sang.

"We must try, I cannot protect you from the Baku on the surface." Sam said.

"We can protect ourself!" She snarled. Tristan pulled her close to him.

"Safre," another creature called. "We are bound by duty to help."

"I am not the one who released the darkness on the land creatures!" She cried. "I mind my own, keeping to my own kind as it should be."

"They could not know of the Baku." The other creature snarled. "They will come for us once their kind is all dead."

"Maleh." She spat, swimming off into the darkness. The nice one swam up to Tristan, studying him.

"I can feel your bond with this one." She said. "But what is said down here must never be repeated. Is that understood?" Tristan nodded. "Good."

Back on the surface Tristan took a much needed breath of air. Sam was already making her way to the dock, turning back to make sure he had made it as well. As they climbed back up, he felt a playful tug on his foot. He didn't know what to make of what happened. He couldn't even fathom the curse that they spoke of.

"So you're..." he started, unable to say it.

"Yes." She replied, helping him out of the water. He decided to leave his shirt off, there was no sense in getting it wet.

"How did you learn about the maidens of the lake?" Tristan asked. Sam bit her lip.

"Yesterday, when I ran off, I made it here without realizing it. My feet were burning but I felt compelled to go into the lake." She said. "I hadn't realized Principal Weaver was behind me when I jumped in. He followed me. Before I lost my last breath one of the, maidens as you call them, gave me a snails shell to breath into. They helped Weaver too. They took us to the Seer, and she explained everything to me." She hugged herself, suddenly ashamed at her failed suicide attempt.

Tristan wrapped her in his arms, making her relax. She sighed, but continued. "She explained what the creatures are, and why we couldn't tell anyone else about them. She said that if word got out then your kind would try to recreate them so that they would fight in your wars."

"She wasn't wrong." He said, ashamed of his own kind. "We would try."

"These beings are a part of nature." She said. "And the only way for it to be fixed was if we corrected what was wrong."

Tristan nodded understanding, he looked back towards the down on the other side of the lake. He realized just how many lives would be lost in the coming times.

"So," he said. "Weaver banding everyone together was to make sure no one stopped us."

"Me." She corrected. Tristan looked at her.

"No. Us." He sighed. "We have to destroy the dam."