Phantom Love

Chapter 14

       "What was that called?" I ask Kieran. 

       "Dark chocolate and sea salt caramel." He responds with a smile. 

       "It was amazing, thank you." I look at the other two pieces, "What are those?" 

       "That one with the brown powdery stuff on it is a truffle and the other one is a turtle." He explains.

        My eyes go wide, "I don't want to eat a turtle!" 

        Kieran coughs and quickly covers his mouth. When I realize he's hiding a smile my mouth turns downward.

        "Aren't turtles endangered or something? Also chocolate and meat? That seems weird." I say, trying to defend myself. 

        Kieran still can't quite answer me so Em leans forward, "They're not actual turtles, love. This specific kind of chocolate is known as a turtle, that is all." 

        I deflate, "Oh! Well, good." I point at all of them, "I do not want to eat a turtle. Also while we're on the topic of animals I don't want to eat I also refuse to eat any sort of cephalopod." 

        Em's eyebrow goes up, "And why not?"

       "They're crazy intelligent." I tell them, "They along with cats and ravens were the only things that could see me when I was incorporeal. Speaking of which, I need to visit Jim soon." 

        "Who is Jim?" Drazik asks, a slight growl in his tone.

        "He lives near Newfoundland. I used to go swimming with him." I explain, not sure why everybody is tense all of a sudden. 

         A smile crosses my face when I realize why all the guys are tense. They think I'm talking about a person named Jim, not a giant squid that lives almost 1,500 feet under the ocean. I think it was around year 20 that I wandered into an aquatic research center in Nova Scotia. I overheard three of the scientists talking about how fascinating the oceans are and about how so little of them are explored. Since I was both bored out of my mind and also fascinated I decided to explore it myself. I found out quickly that no sea creature could see me, that is until Jim.

        I swam with a manner of creatures and not once did any of them ever take notice of me. It wasn't until I went down into the depths that I met Jim. It became a weekly excursion of mine for a while after that. I would zap myself to Nova Scotia and jump into the water. Jim always seemed to know when I was there and he would come and visit me. I always had a sneaking suspicion that Jim could understand me but could never back up the claim with hard evidence. His intelligent eyes and subtle way of communicating with me as well as all the behavior I've seen from other octupi and the like gave me an understanding I didn't have before. They are intelligent, extremely so, and I won't eat an intelligent creature. 

          It's been almost a month since I've seen him last and I'm about due for another swim. After I started following the guys around our swimming sessions went down to once a month as opposed to every week. He understood of course, someone had to keep these lovable idiots alive and they weren't doing a great job themselves, especially not Kieran. He loves throwing himself into dangerous situations. At my thought of the guys I look around and see that all of them are still tense with jaws clenched and I still have a dopey smile on my face from thinking about my time with Jim.

        "I met him around year 20." I explain, "I used to make weekly trips to swim with him. I think he was lonely before I came around. Every time I've ever spent time with him he was always alone." 

         "And who is this Jim to you?" Forrest asks in his give me answers now voice. 

         "He's a giant squid." I say, causing the guys eyes to go wide and the tension leave their shoulders, "He mainly sticks around Newfoundland but sometimes he'll swim between there and Scandinavia. I think there's better food over there, he just stuck around Newfoundland for me. Speaking of which, I'm almost due for another swim."