Forsaken Read online

  “Not unless it has poison in it,” Phoebe made a face normally reserved for spiders or snakes. “I swear they are pure evil.”

  “Definitely evil,” Carmen agreed, “but it was pretty funny when Olivia got pinched by that crab yesterday. It’s bad when the wildlife don’t even like you.” She giggled and raised her dark eyebrows at Phoebe.

  Phoebe put her icing-covered hands up in defense. “I promise I had nothing to do with it. Seriously!”

  Willow grinned, showing her dimples, “Uh huh, likely story, Phoebs.”

  Before I could figure out how in the world Phoebe would be able to make a crab attack someone, a yawn fought its way out of me, and I felt the exhaustion of the day hit me like a sledgehammer.

  “Oh Stasia, I bet you’re exhausted!” Phoebe said sympathetically, “Plus you need to get your sleep. We’re going out to the beach tomorrow. Only two more days until classes start, so we have to take advantage of every minute of freedom.”

  I said goodnight to my new roommates and headed to my unbelievably awesome bedroom. I shut the door and smiled as a renewed sense of hope filled my heart. The House of Lorelei already felt like home.

  ~Ӂ~

  The next morning, I woke to the aroma of sizzling bacon and singing. I didn’t know if I’d call it singing, however, more like nails on a chalkboard. I threw on some sweats and peeked out of my bedroom door. Phoebe was sitting on the couch listening to an IPod with her hands in what could only be described as a portable sandbox. I could tell it was a type of pottery shaped in a square, completely filled with sand. Maybe everyone there was two fries short of a Happy Meal, after all.

  I walked out into the living room and noticed Willow working her magic in the kitchen. The sight of scrambled eggs, bacon, and cheese grits cooking on the stove had my mouth watering. I was going to get spoiled if she kept this up. Right when I sat down at the bar, a very irritated looking Carmen came out of her room and scowled at Phoebe.

  “Somebody find that dying animal and put it out of it’s misery before I jump off the balcony.” She took one of the ear buds out of Phoebe’s ear, “Hey Taylor Swift, give it a rest.” Instead of a witty comeback, Phoebe put the ear bud back in, blew a kiss at her, and started singing louder. Deciding it wasn’t worth it, Carmen took a seat beside me. A couple of minutes and one song later, Phoebe snuck up behind us, planted a kiss on each our cheeks, and then hopped up onto the stool on my other side. She still had a thin layer of sand coating her small hands.

  “Man, I’m starving! Shaping sand really works up an appetite,” she sighed dramatically and propped her elbows up on the bar. Yep, definitely a couple fries short.

  After filling my stomach with a five star breakfast a-la-Willow, I was sporting a light pink bikini beneath a white, cotton cover up and we were on our way down to the beach. I was a little nervous, knowing the whole school would probably be out there, too. But, at least I had three new friends to lessen the anxiety…three very tan and very in-shape new friends, to be exact. Seeing Phoebe’s perfectly sculpted figure in a silver Roxy bikini, I decided I definitely needed to do some shopping. Glancing at Carmen, who resembled a Hawaiian tropic model in her red bikini, I decided some sit ups wouldn’t hurt either.

  Outside the sun was shining and the breeze picked up the smells of the beach as it swirled around us. The aroma of tanning lotion and saltwater assaulted my senses, making me smile. There were people playing beach volleyball, groups of girls laying out, and groups of guys watching the groups of girls laying out. The tide was on the way in and the waves were dotted with surfers. We found a clear spot on the sand and put down a soft cotton blanket that held all four of us.

  “It doesn’t get any better than this,” Willow breathed and slathered some SPF 30 on her pale skin. I was about to agree when a group of guys ran by us carrying surfboards, throwing up sand with their feet on the way to the ocean.

  “Hey! Watch where you’re going!” Carmen shouted and wiped sand out of her dark eyes. They just kept running and I couldn’t help but admire the view. Tan and shirtless, with swim trunks hanging low on their hips, they made it to the water, and immediately jumped on their surfboards and started paddling out. They all had very dark hair. Not one of them had brown or blonde hair. I wondered if they were all related somehow.

  “I’d like to watch where they’re going for sure,” Phoebe told Carmen and winked a green eye at me. “Carmen, on the other hand, only has eyes for Logan.” She started making kissing noises and Carmen threw a stray seashell at her.

  “Is that your boyfriend?” I asked Carmen.

  “She wishes,” teased Phoebe.

  “Whatever, Logan can’t stop drooling over Cassie long enough to notice anybody else,” Carmen sighed and laid back down. “I’m so over it.”

  “You’re imagining things. He’s definitely into you, not Cassie,” Willow commented, as she put on some light white Wayfarer sunglasses and a straw hat.

  “Yeah, it’s just hard to tell because Cassie throws herself at anything that walks,” agreed Phoebe. She turned her attention to me. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get to meet Cassie soon enough. We have the pleasure of living beside her, Olivia and the other two evil queens.”

  I laughed at her dry tone. “I can’t wait.”

  Chapter 7

  An hour later, we flipped onto our stomachs and ate the ham sandwiches Willow had brought down. Carmen lost herself in a People magazine and Phoebe absently stared at the sand in front of her. As I looked on with curiosity, she flattened her palm just above the sand, and then moved it back and forth slowly. The sand started swirling around beneath her hand. Her fingers wiggled and the sand swirled faster and faster. Mesmerized, I jumped when she smacked her hand down, bounced up and smiled down at me.

  “I need to cool off, wanna go in the water?” A little confused by what I had just seen, all I could do was nod my head and stand up. Not until we had taken several steps towards the ocean did the feeling of unease twist my stomach. I shouldn’t be afraid. I mean, it was just water. Not as clear as a swimming pool, but there couldn’t be anything too dangerous in there, right? Once we reached the water’s edge, the surf raced up the sand and rolled over my feet. I felt like it was teasing me, daring me to venture out farther out into its seductive grip.

  “What are you waiting for? Come on!” Phoebe called to me, as she ran ahead and dove into a cresting wave. Wishing the entire school wasn’t behind me on the beach watching, I forced my feet forward. I jumped and let out a tiny squeal each time a wave hit me. Eventually, the water was up to my waist and I was used to the chilly temperature. It was now or never. Phoebe bobbed effortlessly about fifty feet away from me. I took a deep breath and dove in.

  I kept my eyes squeezed shut, fighting against the movement of the water. I kicked harder and dove a little deeper. My skin started tingling all over, and a surge of adrenaline flowed out from my chest. About to float back up to the surface, I froze when something slimy rubbed against my leg. Another slimy something wrapped around my ankle. Something else started bumping into my back, arms and stomach. I opened my eyes in alarm. An entire school of tiny silver fish had completely surrounded my body, blocking my vision. When I looked down at my legs all I could make out were green blurs swaying against them. My eyes began to burn with a searing pain like I’d never experienced before and I desperately needed oxygen. I wiggled my legs to get them out of the slimy fingers, to no avail. All of the kicking in the world couldn’t free me. As mind numbing panic took over in earnest, the fish darted away suddenly and a pair of eyes swimming towards me took their place. Deep blue eyes. Everything turned fuzzy and I assumed I was hallucinating. I closed my eyes.

  Strong, warm arms that smelled incredibly good carried me with ease. I opened my eyes hesitantly, as I was laid softly on the sand. The blinding sunlight instantly sent more pain pulsing through my already burning eyes. Casting a shadow over my face and restoring my vision, he leaned over me. Time slowed and my heart stopped. He was so clo
se; I could see swirls of gray in his stormy eyes. Those tantalizing blue eyes, only inches away, were gazing down into mine with what looked like wonder. Droplets of water ran down his handsome face and with the sun shining brightly behind him, he resembled a dark angel. His chiseled jaw was doing that flexing thing I’d seen in my dreams and his wet, dark hair clung to his brow. He was mysterious, dangerous, and beautiful all at once. I willed myself to say something, but I couldn’t breathe, nonetheless speak. Suddenly his features hardened and I was blinded by sunlight once again. A shiver went through me as if a part of my soul had left with him. I managed to sit up as a crowd of people swarmed around me.

  “Stasia! Are you okay?! Oh my god!” Phoebe hugged me. “What happened?!”

  “Are you hurt?” Willow looked me over, searching for scrapes or bruises.

  “Move back you guys and let the girl breathe.” I looked over at Carmen and silently thanked her. Phoebe and Willow moved back all of a millimeter, but continued watching me with concern.

  “I’m okay, I promise,” I reassured them. “I just got…caught on something.” They stared blankly at me. Carmen raised a skeptical eyebrow and taking a silent queue, pushed past the other two. She helped me to my feet, while keeping a supportive arm around my waist.

  “Alright people, show’s over,” she announced to the crowd that had congregated around us. She half carried, half dragged me back to Maren, as Willow and Phoebe gathered our stuff from the beach. I was busy looking over my shoulder to find where my rescuer had disappeared to.

  “You sure you’re okay?”

  “Yea, I promise. I think my legs got stuck in some seaweed or something, it was weird.” She gave me another skeptical look and gasped.

  “Stasia, your eyes!”

  “What about them?”

  “Wow,” she whispered.

  “Wow, what? What’s wrong with them?” She was really starting to freak me out.

  “They’ve….changed colors.”

  “What?” Not exactly what I was expecting to hear.

  “They were regular blue before, but now they’re like a bright teal or turquoise.” She looked closer. “It looks like you have those colored contacts in or something.” Grand. That was excellent news.

  Back upstairs, I made a beeline for the bathroom mirror. I just stood there and stared in disbelief until Phoebe materialized behind me.

  “Wow – look how pretty they are!” She exclaimed, smiling wide.

  “Yea, if by pretty, you mean freakishly weird.” My eyes had in fact changed colors. They were a striking aquamarine hue contrasting against my pale blonde hair. This was going to take some getting used to.

  “I bet it has something to do with your abilities.” She surmised. My abilities?

  “What are you talking about?” I turned to face her.

  “You know, your Tyde abilities.” She looked at me with confusion, which quickly turned to shock. “Oh my god, you don’t know do you? Kira didn’t say anything to you?”

  Now I was the one confused. “About what? What’s a Tyde ability?”

  “Um, you might want to sit down.”

  We gathered in the living room, while Willow fixed us some lemonade and I wondered if things could get any weirder. Unfortunately for me, things could always get weirder.

  My roommates seemed to have trouble beginning the conversation. After a few false starts, Carmen came up with a solution.

  “Phoebs, why don’t you show her your sandbox?” She shrugged her shoulders.

  Phoebe vanished into her room and came back with the bowl I had seen her playing with this morning.

  “Okay. Watch closely,” she instructed me. I leaned forward, not sure what I was watching for. She placed her pointer finger in the sand, slowly making circles. As she peeked up at me to make sure I was still paying attention, she gently lifted her finger. The sand followed. Higher and higher it went, still swirling. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. She had created a mini sand tornado…with her finger. I inspected her face, seeing total concentration as she stared down at the sand. She glanced up again, flashing a mischievous grin in my direction, and then quickly flattened out her hand. The sand stopped spinning and neatly dropped back down into the box. Everyone looked at me.

  As they stared holes in to my head, I could actually feel my entire belief system shift and morph as it widened and made room for things like mini sand tornadoes commanded by a single finger.

  “That is the coolest thing I have ever seen,” I said slowly, “I might need to see that again.” Phoebe’s face lit up in a bright smile and Carmen wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

  “You haven’t seen the half of it,” Her brown eyes danced with excitement.

  “So, what is this place? I thought I was being sent here for blackouts and nightmares?”

  “Maybe that’s just the reason they gave your parents, but things like blackouts wouldn’t really be considered unusual here at Lorelei,” Willow insisted. A sense of relief washed over me, but it was quickly followed by disbelief.

  “So…does everybody here have…” I couldn’t believe what was about to come out of my mouth, “powers?”

  Carmen snickered at my word choice, “Every person at Lorelei is a descendent of a sea god or goddess, including you. We’re part human and,” she paused for dramatic effect, “part sea nymph.”

  “Okay, whoa.” I put a hand up to stop her. “Sea nymphs? If you tell me I’m going to grow a tail and start brushing my hair with a fork, I’m walking out of here right now.” Scenes from The Little Mermaid movie popped into my head.

  Phoebe collapsed into a fit of giggles and Willow shook her head, laughing. “No dear. No forks and no tails. But, we all have sea nymph blood running through our veins, which means we have a very special connection with the ocean and marine life. We also have abilities that I guess you could call powers, but they’re different depending on which sea god or goddess you’re descended from. We...” She swept her arm in a circle, encompassing all four of us. “…are Tydes, which means we’re descended from one of the fifty Nerieds.” Her eyes held mine, probably hoping I wasn’t about to go screaming from the room.

  “Nerieds?” I wrinkled my nose, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.

  “The Nerieds are the fifty goddesses of the sea, also known as the fifty daughters of the sea.” Willow nodded toward Phoebe. “For example, Phoebe’s descended from the sea goddess Psamanthe. She’s the goddess of sand, hence Phoebe’s abilities to control sand.”

  “I also have a connection with the creatures of the sand, which is pretty cool.” Phoebe told me with pride. I remembered the conversation this morning about the crab. “But our abilities don’t reach their full capacity until we turn eighteen. So while we’re here, we learn how to control and use them.”

  “So what about you guys?” I looked at Willow and Carmen. “Who are you descended from? What are your abilities?”

  “I’m descended from Laneira, so I have the ability to heal,” Willow divulged.

  “Heal?” I asked, surprised, “You mean, you can heal people?”

  “Yep.” She smiled.

  “Wow.” This was getting more unbelievable by the minute.

  Carmen leaned forward, “I’m descended from Oreithyia which is Latin for raging waves,” she grinned wickedly, “so I can control the waves.”

  “Uh. More like the waves control you,” Phoebe laughed, “She hasn’t quite gotten the hang of it yet.”

  “Yes I have! I just need to…practice more.” She glared at Phoebe and continued with slightly less confidence, “At the moment I can only do it when I get mad, but it’s still pretty cool.”

  “We try to stay out of the water when she’s practicing. You never know when a whirlpool will form and swallow you whole,” Willow teased, and Carmen threw a pillow at her. I felt myself getting a little jealous of their amazing abilities, when I realized she included me in that whole ‘We are Tydes’ comment.

  “You wouldn’t happen to
know who I’m descended from would you?” It was worth a shot, but they just shook their heads. I looked down at my hands, “I don’t know what my abilities are or if I even have any.” I rubbed my thumb over my trace. If Kira had one that means…

  “So do you guys have one of these like Kira? Does that mean she’s a Tyde too?” I held up my wrist and more questions than I could ask in one conversation began popping into my head. Carmen took my arm and they all dissected my trace with curiosity.

  “Yep, she’s a Tyde too. Wow! I’ve never seen one like that!” Phoebe squealed.

  “We learned about the different traces in class, but I don’t remember seeing this one in the book.” Willow leaned back in deep thought.

  “So, what do your traces look like?” My eyes did a quick search of Willow’s pale skin.

  “Mine’s an hourglass.” Phoebe piped up and threw her short leg up on the coffee table, showing me the design decorating her ankle. “The sand of an hourglass represents continual change and growth.”

  “Mine represents the power of health.” Willow held up her left palm. I didn’t know why I hadn’t noticed it before. It was a single swirl with a line going through it that hooked at the top. I’d never seen a symbol like that, so I decided to take her word for it.

  “See if you can guess what mine is.” Carmen frowned with contempt, lifted her hair, and pointed. Right below the hairline, behind her left ear, was a little swirl with a tail.

  “A wave?” I guessed.

  “Ding, ding, ding! Tell her what she’s won, Alex,” she laughed darkly, “Not very original, huh?”

  “I think it’s pretty cool, actually. At least you know what yours means. I’ve got no clue about mine. I mean, I’m one big, fat mystery. I don’t know who I’m descended from, I have a trace no one’s ever seen before, and my eyes randomly changed to turquoise.” I shook my head at the ridiculousness of it all.

  “So you don’t know who your real parents are?” asked Willow. I launched into the story about how I was found as a baby, grew up in the foster care system, and then adopted by the Whitmans. They were silent for a minute and my questions started flying again.