The dark waters| ✓

3. ISLA LYNN

The world around me is a palate of oranges, red and yellow. Each step I take makes a crunching sound on the golden and scarlet blanket of fallen leaves. I have a scarf wrapped around my neck and my hair is open. A cool wind picks up in the distance, blowing across my face, smelling like cell sap and leaves. Smelling like fall. I bring my hand up to tuck a free strand behind my ears when I notice a blue bracelet. My mother's bracelet. It is made up of seashells painted blue and has a blue pearl in the middle. She had gifted it to me on my eleventh birthday. One month before she died.

Eyes prickle the back of my neck. Someone is watching me. I turn around and I see her. She looks as pretty as she did before. Her brown hair seems to blend with the surroundings, enhancing her pale face. Her dark black eyes and eyelashes look beautiful and her freckles seem to have the same colour as the fallen leaves. She smiles at me and I feel happier than I have ever been for the past five years. There's no one around. It's just me and my mom.

"It's so good to see you, honey," she says in her kind, sweet voice.Before I even realise it, I run towards her and I'm in the circle of her arms.

"I've  missed you so much," I say in a muffled voice. "Is this real?"

" Why won't it be?" She says against my ears.

"Why now? Why didn't you talk to me after....why did you wait for five years?"I ask.

"Things have changed. Or have started changing " she says.

"I don't understand..." I say confused pulling away from her.

"You don't have to. Just remember this. cave tenebris aquas. And take this" She says placing a piece of folded paper in my hands. She pulls me into a hug and then turns around to walk away.

"Wait!" I say desperately. "Tell me what it means. Please! Say something "

She stops in her tracks but doesn't turn around.

"You are stronger than you think, Cordelia Lynn. There is a reason behind your name. Your powers are unlimited if you accept them. You are anything but ordinary Leah, anything but ordinary"

She continues walking and I watch her go until she's just a blur of orange and black. I open the folded piece of paper and stare at it.

The daughters of Aegir return to might,
To avenge the ones with the sight,
And when the weeping one brings the fight
We must strive to return the light

Before I can comprehend what is written, my vision begins to blur. The next thing I know is that I am all alone. Floating in a dark black abyss.
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"How is your school going?"Aunt Janet asks me at breakfast.
I make an indistinct hmm and I turn back to poking the pancake with my fork.

"Are you gonna eat or what? What's wrong? You haven't been talking to me properly today. Anyways, funny Lee hasn't come till now."

Suddenly I snap back to my senses and I remember what I saw last night.

"I ... gotta go" saying this, I grab my backpack and I run out of the house. I can hear Janet shouting something behind but I can't worry about that now.

I walk through Lee's perfectly rimmed front yard without being careful of where my foot falls. There are two pots of white roses, that Lee's uncle likes, in front of the front door on the porch.

The door seems to be perfectly fine and doesn't show any signs of being forcibly opened. I ring the bell and knock on the door twice. I wait for some time. No response. I start thumping on the door. I remove my phone and try to call him. It goes straight to voicemail. I bite my lower lip in frustration. I'm about to text him when I hear a low husky voice from behind.

"Looking for someone?"

I freeze. I know who this voice belongs to. I heard it last night. I turn around to see the same guy I saw in the Cascadia and at Lee's home last night. He flashes me a smile that has a cunning glint to it. Hot rage boils within me.

"What have you done to him?" I say sharply.

"Nothing. As of now" he says smiling.

I feel rage spreading through my body. It boils under my skin and takes over my mind. The guy falls down on his knees suddenly, hands gripping both sides of his head.

"What are you doing!" He says through gritted teeth. His voice brings me back to reality.

"What do you mean?" I say.

He slowly brings his hands back down and lifts his head. Sweat shines in the sunlight on his forehead and he breathes heavily. His mouth is tight line of pain. I wonder how he looks so good in pain. I shake my head. I shouldn't be thinking about him.
Focus, Leah, focus.

"You know exactly what I mean," he says in between his breathes.

"Tell me or I'll do it again " I try to sound as confident as possible even though I don't know what I did.

"I know you won't hurt me." He says smiling.

"Really? Is that what you think? Time to prove you wrong" I say moving forward.

"Alright, alright, I'm just kidding. Calm down. Liam is fine. Meet me at the Cascadia at 8:30. Don't even think of getting anyone else."saying this he slowly gets up and starts walking away. I see him walk down the road, his platinum hair looking shining golden in the sunlight. I know I should stop staring, but just like the night before, I can't.

"You know it's cute you're watching me walk away, but it gets creepy after a while." He says turning around. "You know you have to pay a price for rescuing Lee right? It's not that hard really. You just have to help us find a lady named Isla."
He turns around and continues walking, leaving me there, shook, seeing a blue bracelet just like mine shimmering in the sun on his wrist.
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AUTHORS SAYS HELLO

I'm travelling so the next update might take some time. I'm in an amazing country right now, having beautiful places. But the best thing about it is the sea.
The water.
I feel like jumping inside.
But I can't.
MY GOD.
My love for the sea is eternal.

Also, please vote for the chapter even if you find it a tiny bit interesting. This is my first ever book so voting will mean someone other than myself is reading it and give me the motivation to keep writing.
(P.s: I tried to edit this rn, but even as I was reading the first chapter, there were so many things that were simple ANNOYING me. Like the dream scene, it's just a buzzkill isn't it? Now I feel like everything is cliché abt this book)
Bye!