RULE 89: IF YOU FIND YOURSELF RATIONALIZING THE OUTSIDE WORLD, THEN YOU ARE OBLIGATED TO CAST YOURSELF OUT OF THE BORDERLANDS.
✷ C H A P T E R T W E N T Y - S E V E N ✷
"I don't know how to swim!" I squealed, my heart thudding so loud in my chest that Theo would be able to hear each rhythmic beat.
Despite my panicked state, Theo pulled me further to the shoreline. My feet touched the water, the frigid temperature almost as cold as ice. A prickling sensation radiated throughout my feet, traveling up my legs. I wriggled my toes, afraid my knees would buckle out from underneath me.
Theo laughed as he continued to lead me. I yelped the further we got into the water, trying frantically to run back to safety. However, I was happy I still had my shorts and tank top on instead of a swimsuit, not that I had much of a choice in the matter. Once I was waist-deep in the water, Theo twirled me around to face him, my hands gripping his forearms for support.
I tried to kick my legs around to no avail; I had no earthly clue how to swim, and I didn't want to embarrass myself by trying to learn right now.
"Relax," Theo smirked. The water was now up to our necks; Theo had to crouch down to be on the same level as me. "I've got you."
"You better," I exclaimed, purposefully hardening my grip. "You're the one who brought me out here! You might be more reckless than me."
Theo grunted, "no one can be more reckless than you, Sage. You jumped out of a window."
Theo then proceeded to unlatch a hand from me, still holding onto me with his other hand in order to splash water at me. The water landed on my face, and I tried to spit out the water that had made its way into my mouth. It tasted like polluted salt. Making sure I had an iron grip on Theo, I splashed him back.
He didn't seem to mind being splashed, and, with one hand on my forearm, he submerged himself briefly underwater before coming back up for air. His curls hung around the sides of his face, becoming tighter ringlets. He still had a dark gray shirt on; it clung to his body, very much, in the same manner, my hand grasped at his biceps.
My feet were no longer touching the soggy sand below. Instead, I was treading water, my nerves increasing at the thought of not being able to see what was swimming alongside me. The water was murky, holding a brown tint that made seeing anything deeper than an inch impossible.
"Now, this is where you kill me, right?" I asked, still clinging tightly to Theo, the tips of my fingers wrinkling from overexposure to the water.
Theo was near rolling his eyes, his green eyes pointed upwards. "We've already been over this today, Sage: I am not going to murder you."
I nodded my head but scowled. "That's exactly what someone who would murder me would say."
"Only time will tell," he floated on his back, still acting as my own personal anchor.
Raising up a brow, I took a deep breath in and then released my tight grip on Theo. I tried to run as best as I could, but my body was not moving — I was too short to touch the ground and I could not swim. Instead, I quickly went under the water until my feet had touched the sand below. Then I ran for it.
The water was pushing against me, making it hard to get very far. I could hear Theo splashing around behind me. He called my name, but I kept trucking on. The water was just past my waist when Theo's hand latched onto mine.
He twirled me around to face him. "Now, I think you're the one trying to murder yourself."
I used my free hand to splash Theo with water. "You wouldn't have let that happen."
He tilted his head, his curls already almost dried from the sunlight. "You learn quicker than you run."
"It's not fair," I started saying, "you're freakishly fast."
"I can change that," Theo splashed some water back at me.
"What?"
"With a bite," he said so casually as my eyes almost popped out of my head, his running over his sharp teeth. I tried to back up, but Theo's grip on me prevented that from happening to me. I was trapped. "One bite and you could be a Werewolf."
Theo flashed his sharp incisors, and I managed to break free of his grip, stumbling over my feet as I ran over to Mina and Heath who looked to be bickering with each other still, not having noticed Theo and I were in the water. I could hear the heavy, wet footsteps of Theo behind me.
"Theo's unhinged," I hollered as my voice came out in pants. I plopped down on the chair I had sat in earlier. My skin was almost completely dried off by the time I melted into the chair.
"I am not unhinged. It was a joke," Theo responded, taking a seat beside me.
"Oh," Mina whined out. "Theo, it is best if you don't make jokes."
"I have to agree," Heath jumped in, looking apologetic. "Leave the jokes up to me."
"Easy for you to do, I guess," Mina taunted Heath. "Since your whole life is a joke."
"Theo! Theo! Theo!" Heath half exalted. "We need to kick Mina out of the pack immediately."
Theo narrowed his eyes and then cleared his throat, choosing to ignore Heath's recommendation. Not liking the silence that was falling over us, Heath did not waste a second to move on and ask, "anyone up for a game of beach volleyball?"
In just about two minutes, Heath somehow convinced all of us to play volleyball with him. Mina and I were on a team while Heath and Theo were on a team. Mina moaned about how the teams were unfair — I was a human and she hated sports. However, Heath said he had to be on Theo's team. The last time they played together, they were on opposite teams and Theo hit the ball so hard, it gave Heath a concussion.
We played volleyball for a while. By the time things were dwindling down, the sun was setting and my body felt achy from all the physical activity. I could tell Theo was going easy on us the entire time since he did not even come close to giving either Mina or me a concussion. Mina taunted him about this fact. Taunting was the only thing our team was good at. We lost every game we played by a landslide.
Once the sun had set, Theo made the collective decision to head back to the packhouse. We packed up all the chairs and then Theo and I parted ways with Mina and Heath. Theo insisted on driving me back even though he did not live in the packhouse.
The car ride back went by fast as my body was fighting off the urge to fall into a deep sleep. Theo had to nudge me awake when we arrived back at the packhouse. Max greeted us on our arrival, ready to act as my ever-present guard again. Theo walked me to my bedroom door before turning towards me.
"Today was nice," Theo smiled. "I'm sorry for the other day. I know today couldn't make up for that. But, meet me at eight am in my office tomorrow."
"Why?"
"We're going to start looking for your mom," and with that Theo left.
My heart rate accelerated at the thought of finding my Ma, but my brain was too hazy to process anything but a dull tinge of excitement. Lazily, I trudged over to my bathroom, quickly showering off the saltwater from my skin. The water burned, pressing into me like tiny little pellets.
My body was bright red when I exited the shower, my skin still tingling. I looked like a lobster, my nose shining brightest. I had forgotten to reapply sunscreen today. Scowling, I made my way back to my bed and carefully got in. I tried to prepare myself for tomorrow, but I had fallen asleep before I could complete the thought.
The glaring sun woke me up hours later. Yawning, I rubbed my eyes before slowly thrusting my white comforter off my body to freshen up. All I did was brush my hair and teeth, splash some water on my face, and then put on a loose-fitting shirt and shorts before yawning again. Once ready, I made the trek over to Theo's office.
My footsteps resounded loudly in the hallways I walked in, my bare feet pounding into the wooden floors. The sound almost disguised the much softer footsteps of Max behind me.
When I finally reached the door to the room that housed Theo's office, the door was already open. I stepped inside and then knocked on Theo's office door, not wanting to barge in unlike in the past. A moment later, Theo told me to enter. The door creaked slowly as I walked over to one of the velvet chairs and took a seat.
"Good morning," Theo murmured, taking a sip of coffee.
Theo looked well put together this morning. His curls were slicked back and he had on a half-quarter zip-up. His face was freshly shaven, and I could smell a hint of evergreen radiating off his body.
"Any progress?" I greeted Theo, eager to see if he had found out anything yet.
"Slow your roll," Theo raked a hand through his hair before taking out a yellow notepad and fancy ballpoint pen. "Tell me everything you remember about your mom."
"Her name is Lianna Whitmore. She looks like what I drew in the sketch I gave you the other day, and she, uh, was dragged over the Border twelve years ago," I began, twiddling my thumbs. I tried to recall all the defining information about Ma, but my mind was drawing a blank. I was lucky I even got her name out.
It hit me that I could really find out what happened to Ma, and I hated to admit I was scared the truth would make me retreat further to the Borderlands. What horrors could have happened to Ma? Surely, nothing good if there had been no news articles about her coming into the Outside.
You're being too pessimistic, I told myself, but I couldn't fully believe my attempt at reassurance.
Theo's hand moved slowly as he started to write down the details I told him; there wasn't much for him to write, but when he looked up, he tilted his head.
"I wish I could know what you're thinking," he mulled over before looking back at his notes, pulling out the sketch I drew from a drawer and taking notes from the sketch. "What do you think happened to your mom all this time?"
"Uh," I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. "I thought she was dead — I mean, I think she is dead."
He looked up, "you don't think there's a possibility she escaped and got away?"
I shook my head. "Ma would never. She would never just leave her family behind. She was dragged over the Border. It's no secret the Border's strength is waning, so, somehow, someone managed to drag her over. There was no evidence, but — wait, I think Pa said there was a sign of a struggle. Ma didn't want to leave."
"Can anyone else confirm there was a struggle?" Theo asked, tapping his pen lightly on the paper.
"I'm not sure. I was only eight when it happened. Pa never let me go near the place Ma disappeared, but it's not like we can exactly ask anyone else right now since they're, you know, inside the Border," I responded while I leaned over to try and see what Theo had written on his notepad.
"Interesting," he mused, his licks slightly puckering. "Truthfully, I'm not convinced she was dragged over."
"How could you come to that conclusion?" I countered, crossing my arms over my chest.
"If your mom put up a fight, there is no way there was not some record of her disappearance. You said you couldn't find anything from the newspapers and from a quick name search I did earlier, nothing came up either. I'm just saying you might need to be open to the idea that your mom left out of her own free will," Theo looked me in the eye, and I gulped, bracing myself on the chair.