Under The Sea

Chapter Forty-Two

I woke with a start, breathing hard with wide eyes. Poseidon, another gods damned nightmare. This one was just as gut wrenching as the others, full of blood and death and agony. I shook my hands out to keep them from shaking and tried not to think about what might be happening under the sea. Mushy balls of questions were smashing up against the sides of my skull creating pools of mixed emotions. Like a crescendo in my head.

I couldn't think straight because my thoughts were jumbled and my face was crumbling from the emotions attacking my heart. I felt fear and paranoia, and . . . heat. The room was too hot, much too hot, and dark, and scary. My mind warped the darkness into the monsters from my dreams and suddenly, I was surrounded by my biggest fears. Crawling around Aran, I slipped from the bed and dashed through the house as steady as a mouse, until I was one foot out the front door. My skin was sticky with light sweat under the grey moon and the cold air. I stepped farther out into the dense forest, feeling every texture of the earth dig into my bare feet. I could taste the cold in the air, and I was grateful for it as I felt my body slowly cool down.

I walked forward, making sure to keep the house in sight. The forest was wonderful in the dead of night. The trees stood like long drawn shadows with billowing bodies, gnarled and wrinkled yet strong and sturdy. The moonlight cast a grey glow across the tops of the earth to make everything look blanketed in a sheer silver glow. There were no creatures out at this hour, perhaps a few crickets could be heard, but there were no chirping birds, or random butterflies. There was only silence and the rustling of my feet against the earth floor, nothing but darkness and grey moonlight pooled around me. Just the glimmer of the stars and the shadows of the forest.

Far, I could smell the salt in the air, it was light and more sweet than salty on my lips. I wanted to taste the water on my lips, the taste of home. But I was not foolish enough to leave, so I stood and allowed myself to be lost in my head and my body to cool in the cold air.

From corner of my eye a silhouette was approaching me. I jerked up, balling my fists and moving away with a pounding heart.

"It's just me, Forest." James took long strides towards me with the humorous expression he always wore. He looked entirely relaxed, as if he was always out and about, stumbling upon girls in the dead for night.

"James? What are you doing out right now?" He shrugged.

"I could ask you the same thing." His eyes met mine and as I stared curiously into his face, I noticed him for the first time. I looked at him for the first time. He looked so much like the night sky, with eyes like stars and hair that blended with the darkness of the sky. His skin was the color of the moonlight. There was something like devastation in his eyes, a haunted look that sparkled when no one was looking. James was a young fellow; tall and strong yet, completely breakable and frail. He was a body of ashes, underneath tough armor and an indifferent mask.

I averted my eyes and shrugged back. "Couldn't sleep."

"I was making rounds, checking up on night guards and the border patrol."

"At this hour?" I asked incredulously keeping my eyes from focusing on those haunted blue eyes of his.

His lips quirked. "Couldn't sleep."

He was silent for a few moments before I felt his gaze on me. "Aren't you cold?"

I shook my head glancing down at my thin sweater and leggings and at his dark clothing that only added to his cold exterior. I was still warm from the fear of my nightmare. My courage piped. "Why did you taunt me that day? Was it some type of test? Did you mean to drive me away?"

He looked at me again, with a raised brow. "I wanted to see how you react wgen you're angry. I was just, curious."

Curious? "Did you know I could do that? With water, I mean."