Okay, sorry about the wait. I think this has the promise of being my/our best chapter yet. It's long compare to the rest, but I hope it's enjoyable to read. I want to thank Kaattee again for her help and use of her character "Cora." Also, I want to thank Kaattee, WALIXELA, and rweasley500 for their reviews and read. Thanks for staying around.
A/N: WARNING: Strong violence and blood ahead. If it bothers you, please be aware that you've been warned!
The Setori Sisters' Secret
Authors: Kaattee/ParadoxTremors
**************************
Chapter 1: It has the short Synopsis of this chapter and a short bio about each character.
**************************
Chapter 7: (A Call, An attack, and Marriage)
Cleo made it back to her room after taking her bath. She shut and locked the door then turned, pulling out her cell phone and leaned back against the door. She flipped the phone opened and punched a button, waiting for the desired number to be dialed. In seconds, she heard the other end of the line ringing.
"C'mon, Kimmie, pick up..." Cleo muttered to herself, silently shaking as she waited for an answer. The phone had barely begun to ring again when she noticed the digital clock on the bedside table and saw the time. It wasn't even two o'clock in the afternoon yet, which meant Kim was still in class—she hung up quickly, hoping that the single ring hadn't bothered her. She'd just have to wait another couple of hours and then try again.
Cleo sighed, disappointed. She slid down to the floor keeping her back against the door, closing the phone again and letting her thoughts drift to her little sister.
'We need to talk, Kim. Too much is being asked about your tail for it to simply be a—' Her thoughts died abruptly when a knock sounded on the door. Cleo stood slowly then turned, unlocked the door and opened it. A semi-smile curved her lips at the sight of her friend.
"Cora…?" She gave an unhappy little sigh; company wasn't what she wanted at the moment.
"Can I come in?" Cora asked quietly.
"Uh, well…I was planning to take a quick nap before dinner." Cleo shook her head with a wry expression on her face.
"This won't take long, I promise." Cora gave her friend a hopeful smile and brought her brown eyes up to meet Cleo's green ones. Cleo raised her eyebrows slightly.
"I thought you and Lewis—" She began, but Cora cut her off gently.
"Please, it's important."
Cleo nodded her head and stepped back waving Cora in. Her heart beat wildly. She was afraid that Cora had discovered something about the night Kim got her tail that nobody else knew and was about to spill it to her in private. Cora walked in and stopped for a couple of seconds. A slow frown brushed across her lips before she turned and looked at Cleo again.
"You look so tired and worn out from your trip. It just makes me want to—"
"Everything makes you 'just want to.'" Cleo said with a laugh. Cora raised an eyebrow, confused.
"It does?"
"Yes, and you can't solve all of the world's problems with your empathy abilities." Cleo muttered solemnly, stepping back away from Cora.
"I-I wasn't going to touch you, Cleo," Cora sounded surprised by Cleo's reaction, "I just had some questions to ask you that I thought you might be able to answer, is all."
"Couldn't it have waited?"
"Well… it could have, but I'm in the middle of my research and dinner. If I don't ask now, I might forget the questions later on."
"Okay," Cleo agreed with a sigh, "But you're the smart one, not me. I don't see how I can help you." Cleo sat down on the end of her bed and Cora joined her very cautiously, her mouth twitching into a slight smile before she spoke.
"Trust me, I think you can. You already have, actually."
"How?" Cleo asked.
"Well… you gave me Heather's last name."
"Who's Heather?"
"Heather Faith Dangerfield." Cora paused a moment. Her words were slow and deliberate and Cleo could see that she was trying to find the right ones, "She and her family disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle twelve years ago and were never heard from again."
"The Bermuda what?!"
"It's also known as the 'Devil's Triangle.' It's a region of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean where a huge number of aircrafts and surface vessels have disappeared mysteriously over the years."
"Okay… I take it the area is assumed to have some kind of paranormal activity, then?"
"Yes."
"Then what makes this Heather character any different than all the others who disappeared?"
"Her uncle was a Nobel-prize winning physicist. Rumors had it he was working in secrecy for the U.S. government on a theory that could make time-traveling possible."
"I don't follow you."
"They could use the device to correct any situation that went wrong for the government."
"Oh, like 'Backstep.' I get it now."
"Huh?" Now Cora was the one confused. Cleo giggled.
"Backstep was a show I used to watch on late night reruns with Lewis. There was this alien time machine that the government found and could only use once to step back in time seven days to correct or prevent any disaster." Cleo explained carefully, trying to remember the show. Cora nodded.
"Really? I'm surprised I've never heard of it, that sounds kind of cool—" Cora started excitedly, but then embarrassedly realized that she had momentarily gotten distracted. She had something important to get to, "It's something like that, I guess… but it's the rumors about Heather and her cousin that intrigued me."
"What do you mean?" Cleo asked slowly.
"Well… There's speculation and unconfirmed reports the two of them had paranormal abilities of their own."
"Oh." The word slipped out of Cleo's mouth and she immediately felt her stomach flip. She could feel it as the color draining from her face. She couldn't tell Cora how close to the truth she was about Nike, aka Heather Faith Dangerfield. Cleo didn't want Cora to know that she knew Heather. She and Kim had made the promise of never revealing that they had met her; especially on the night Kim fell into the moon pool.
Cora frowned slightly discouraged by the lack of response.
"All right… well, I'll just ask you my questions and then I'll leave - promise. I still have dinner in the stove!"
"Okay, shoot."
"Uh… Do you know what an Altrusian Lykánthropos Fish might be?"
"No…" Cleo creased her eyebrows together, glancing curiously at her friend. Then realization struck her and her eyes lit up quickly, "Unless you're talking about the Egyptian Lykánthropos Fish."
"I have no idea, I could be – what is that, then?" Cora tilted her head to the side slightly and Cleo smiled at her curiosity, laughing for a moment.
"That's an ancient fish found in children's fables. Legend has it, it carried a magical virus; one that could transform the characteristic of a fish into a human host."
"Did it actually exist?"
"You tell me," Cleo let out a singular flat laugh, "I mean, I didn't believe in the existence of mermaids until Emma, Rikki and I all became one." Cora agreed with a weak smile.
"I see your point." She replied quietly, fidgeting with her hands in her lap. Cleo almost felt bad, so she spoke up and gave her friend a brighter sincere smile.
"What's the next question?" Her voice was more cheerful this time around and she watched as Cora's eyes slid sideways to look at her. She paused for a second and was quiet and still before asking.
"Do you know what a Sleestak is, Cleo?" She asked quietly. A sudden flash of recognition in Cleo's eyes made Cora's eyes widen slightly. Cleo picked up on it and immediately forced a neutral look back onto her face, masking her detection.
"N-no … never heard of it," Cleo stammered quickly and shook her head a second time, lying, "Couldn't even imagine what kind of a creature it could be." Her anxious glance shot around the room, avoiding Cora's eyes directly. Cora nodded once and peered down at her hands again before easing off of the bed gently, standing up and taking a step back from it.
"All right, thanks, Cleo - Sorry about asking such dumb questions," She smiled sadly at her friend and started turning away, "Dinner should be done in about an hour or two if you want to come down after your nap." Cora smiled and started for the door. Cleo let out a quiet unhappy sigh and stood up quickly, reaching out and touching Cora's arm as she started out the door. Her lips moved but nothing came out. Cora stopped walking and turned back to look at her friend, her eyebrows knit together with concern.
"Are you all right, Cleo?"
"I need to ask you something. And I hope it's not too personal… but you can tell me if it is."
"You can ask me anything, Cleo, you know that." Cora replied. Cleo was silent for a moment before letting the words slip out almost silently.
"Are you pregnant?" The whisper was barely audible and Cleo let her eyes close briefly. 'Please, say you're not, Cora... It's so important that you're not, for Kimmie's sake and mine.'
Cora's face was stunned, her face pale. She bit her lip and immediately drew her eyes down to the floor, avoiding Cleo's gaze.
"No… I'm not." Came the quiet reply from Cora before she turned quickly and hurried out of the room. Cleo's cheeks turned red from embarrassment and she took a couple of steps out into the hallway and paused, watching her friend take off down the stairs. She sighed and leaned against the doorframe and shut her eyes, defeated.
'No, don't go after her. You've upset her with the question. Let her calm down then apologize after dinner when Lewis isn't around.' Cleo thought to herself before stepping back inside her room, closing the door behind her. Her eyes glanced over to the bed. A smile touched her lips as the thought of the comfort and rest it promised.
*
Two and a half hours later Cleo awoke and sat up in her bed. She stretched and looked down at the alarm clock, smiling. Her hand reached out and turned on the lamp, then picked up the phone. She opened the cover and punched the redial button.
"Please answer, Kimmie." Cleo listened to the ringtone. She pulled up her knees to let her chin rest on them and her free hand wrapped around her legs as a nervous reflex.
"Hello?" Kim's voice broke the ringing, sounding out of breath.
"Kimmie!"
"Cleo," Kim laughed, "I was just about to call to see if you three had made it back yet."
"What are you doing?"
"I'm over at a friend's house." Kim replied simply. Cleo could almost feel the smile radiating out from her sister through the phone—then she heard a noise in the background that unnerved her.
"It sounds like you're near water."
"I'm poolside with some friends."
"Um, Kimmie… don't you remember your water allergy?"
"Duh, yeah, I remember - I'm not stupid, Cleo. But everything's okay. I'm fine. Nothing's going to happen."
"That's what I said about the pool party I went to a few years ago when I was in high school. If it wasn't for Lewis, Em, and Rikki coming to my rescue---"
"--Your little secret would've been out of the bag and in the open," Kim groaned, having heard this story a million times, "But that's you, Cleo. I'm more careful than you ever could be."
"Kim!" She grimaced when she felt the anger rising up to her cheeks, "Okay, I'm not calling to start an argument with you."
"Good, I would've hung up if you had."
The silence hung in the air uneasy and thick for a few seconds.
"We need to talk. Everybody's asking questions again about your … your condition."
"My condition? What condition?" Nervousness suddenly flowed into Kim's words, "You're talking about my cancer from—?"
"No," Cleo replied frustrated. "Your other condition, the one with water; the one you have to constantly be on guard about."
"Oh, that …" Kim's voice had lowered to a calm whisper, "You had me worried for a second."
"You need to come home this weekend. We have to talk. Something's up," Cleo heaved a troubled groan, "I think Cora has figured out that we lied about your tail."
"How? Oh my God, is she pregnant?!" Panic rose in Kim's voice.
"NO!" Cleo screamed, "And don't think that, okay. It's impossible - She and Lewis may sleep together, but Lewis wouldn't… you know."
"What? Have sex with her because they're not married? Get real, Cleo! This is the twenty-first century we're living in."
"Kimmie!" Cleo's face turned a bright red.
"Just because you and Lewis never—"
Cleo screamed in frustration, closed her phone and chucked it across the room. She stood up out of bed, agitated.
"Why do you have to push my buttons, Kimmie?!" She shifted impatiently, closing her eyes. Her hands rand down her face, "Calm down. That's what she wants from you, to get you pissed off." Cleo let her breath slowly out and reopened her eyes.
'Forget about it. It's not happening. Cora isn't pregnant and the year's not up yet anyway. We're safe for another two, maybe three months.' She thought, reassuring herself. She sighed deeply again and straightened, walking to the window. Tugging the blinds opened, she peered out over the water. Her eyes looked in the general direction of Mako Island. The full moon was beginning its slow ascent into the heavens. Another few hours and it would start to shine its magical radiance over the world and all mermaids would go into hiding until morning.
Just before midnight, under the full moon….
In desperate reaction to yet another troubling episode of sleepwalking, Cora Reagan Dean fled to the study. She had caught herself reaching for the patio door to go out by the pool. Frozen in place momentarily from the fear of seeing the moon, she had thought of calling for Lewis—but that wasn't her. She didn't want him to lose out on his sleep, too – one of them was enough. The plastic covering over the door's glass shielded her eyes from glimpsing the mystical white orb. She shivered and knew what she had to do. Her legs carried her to the bathroom; she then looked closely at herself in the mirror. Her warm brown skin had gone pale. Her mind did not like the haunted look in her eyes.
A tingling shot of discomfort flared in both of her hands.
'That's strange...' She looked down and flexed both hands a few times, 'My battle scars, you guys haven't talked to me in years. What's up?' She smirked softly, feeling her leftover bitterness from the attack seep into her thoughts. The minor disfigurements left behind were a constant reminder to her and her friends about the importance of keeping their secrets. One slip and payment could be hideously excruciating. The betrayal she had suffered was an unforgivable sin. Neither she, Lewis, nor the other girls would ever forgive Zane. He was outcast from their close-knit family; shunned even by Rikki.
'I'm glad Lewis and I weren't connected by our minds like our hearts are. I'm pretty sure the pain would've made him kill Zane that night for his mistake…' Cora sighed heavily, looking back up to the mirror, 'But, the past is the past.'
"I nearly blew it. Why would I tempt fate by going out by the pool tonight? Good going, Cora, you're losing it." She said to her reflection She turned and went into her sanctuary, the study: the room that had become her favorite on the nights of a full moon. It had been designed with no windows and placed in the center of the bottom floor beneath the stairs. The moon's hypotonic reflection could not reach her there through any accident of their making. There, she couldn't feel the sinister strength of the moon pressing against the house as if it was a living creature that wanted to get in at her, to make her its unwilling slave.
"Think happy thoughts. Think… think about Lewis." She smiled settling into the desk's comfortable chair, drawing her legs up to her chest.
'Lewis is so charming in an awkward way. He's so adorable without meaning to be, he's sweet, smart and goofy in the best way…' Cora felt an odd sensation behind her eyes that she couldn't figure out at first, and then she smiled at the warmth rising in her heart—sleep found her again.
In the next moment, she woke. Cora wasn't sure what had awakened her, but she was back in bed, alert and tense. She blinked her eyes open and spotted the dark shape above her. Someone stood at the side of the bed, looming over her like death. Her hand felt around her neck and realization hit her: the necklace she'd been wearing had been removed. A collar with a black crystal dangling from it had replaced the cherished heirloom. The thought had barely formed in her mind when the dark shape flipped two knifes in his hands delicately, smirking as he caught them by the hilt.
'Oh, shit!' The memories of a previous attack years ago hit her hard. Without a bit of hesitation, the man drove the knives down. Recognizing the threat, Cora reacted instinctively, rolling abruptly to the empty side of the bed as the monster's arms started their downward swing. She heard the weapons slash the mattress just before she fell off the bed. Cora landed with a soft thump finding herself tangled in the sheets. The man cursed out in frustration and anger. Glancing up, she saw her attacker jumping across the bed, knives slashing wildly toward her. She'd raised her open hand toward the intruder—nothing. Her powers were gone, neutralized.
Cora moved, lunging to her feet. She felt pain burning across the backside of her arm and back. His weapon had grazed her. She screamed, stumbling, forgetting about the sheets tangled around her legs. She fell with a thud, hitting the floor. She rolled before staring up at her attacker for almost a full minute, then tore her eyes away to look for Lewis—he was nowhere to be found. Her heart pounded and she felt a wave of panic rise within her. She stood, turning away from her assailant. A blow from behind caught her. Searing pain shot through her and her body began to pitch forward—but a hand grabbed her silky dark mane, jerking her backward onto the bed. A knife slit her side as she fell onto the bed.
She screamed.
Cora knew she had to do something, to throw herself off the bed, to escape the room—but it was too late. Agony spread through her body. Her attacker jumped on her pinning her arms to her sides. The razor-edged knife in the man's right hand hovered above her—her blood covered the blade.
"No." she begged. Her word no more than a weak plea and as it died, the knife began to descend.
For the next few seconds Cora watched from high above, free from the pain. Again and again the steel flashed down, slashing, and cutting at the corpse that now lay still upon the bed.
"That's enough. She's gone. This one is no longer a problem for us. We have her daughter and that's all we ever needed." Cora turned her head to the newcomer who had entered the bedroom. She'd recognized the familiar voice. Her spirit shivered as she saw Dr. Denman standing in the doorway, a smile plastered across her face.
The man sighed and slid backed off the body, standing straight again.
"I love this job..." He muttered with a dark grin. Cora turned back to the bed and gasped at whose body she saw.
'Heather …? Dear, God, no—'
"You have the artifact I presume?" Dr. Denman asked softly. The man nodded and pulled a choker out of his pocket, grinning from ear to ear.
"It was like taking candy from a baby."
"Is it damaged?" She questioned. The man looked at the raised jewelry before turning back to the doctor.
"No, it's—" His eyes widened at the gun Dr. Denman pointed at his head. The gun barked sending the projectile spiraling between his eyes. He fell instantly; dropping the choker into Dr Denman's outstretched hand.
"There, as I told you before this started, if you succeeded in eliminating our host, you wouldn't have another thing to ever worry about." Her voice came out cold and emotionless. She moved over to side of the bed. Denman's eyes fell upon Heather's lifeless body and she smirked, "Your major flaw my friend is your blind trust in others." She knelt placing the gun into Heather's hand, next she removed the collar. "I may need to use this lapel to neutralize another Psi or Mermaid's powers."
Cora eyes widened. Her hands clasped together over her mouth.
'No. Dr. Denman's dead. It's not possible. The dead can't come back to life…'
Dr. Denman stood and held up the trinket.
"Now, with your necklace in my possession, the playing field is level."
Cora felt hands grabbing her shoulders, shaking her. She felt her awareness returning to the present. She came out of her daze sitting on the floor of the study looking up at Lewis, who was staring down at her, worry in his eyes.
"What happened?" He asked, staring into her eyes carefully. Confusion spread across her face and she said nothing, but glanced around the room dazedly for a moment. Lewis continued, "Are you hurt?" He caught her by the chin and tipped her face and to the side so he could get a better looked at her neck. After a moment or two, he released her with a soft curse.
"What is it?" she asked as he took her by the arm and helped her up.
"You've got a nasty bruise around your neck." He frowned, "It must've happened when you fell out of the chair." Cora looked over and found the chair tipped over lying on the floor.
"Must have," she replied calmly. Her adrenaline was still pumping but she paused briefly, her gaze moving around the room.
"What happened, Cora?" Lewis asked again. Cora was quiet for a minute; she truthfully could not be sure of what she had seen just yet, but there was no sense in sharing it until she knew what it was. She smiled softly and shook her head once to shrug off the dream.
"I guess I leaned too far out of the chair in my sleep." Cora found herself watching Lewis. His expression was grim, his eyes alert and worried.
"Okay, I'll buy that for now." Lewis sighed softly and kissed the top of her head, walking with her back to their bedroom, "But later, I want to know everything that's been going on in your little head. Something's up, and you're afraid… I can tell. And no more of this dancing around evading the questions anymore; we have to trust that together we can change what you've seen – whatever you've seen. The future is never set in stone. We've learned that time after time."
Cora settled into Lewis's embrace when they were settled back in bed. Her mind drifted back to the previous Christmas when she and Lewis both decided to take a trip back to her old hometown in California. It had been years since she'd been back.
'Too many, maybe…' She had thought. It was both wonderful and strange to be back and to have Lewis by her side—the boyfriend she thought she'd never have. They visited her family's cemetery plots, and she'd introduced him to her parents first, and then to Mattie. A smile caught on her lips as she closed her eyes and sank deeper into the covers.
'Mattie liked him. She's happy for me and… finally at peace after seeing me happy, I can feel it.' She paused in her thinking letting everything settle in her mind, 'Lewis held me close when I broke down and cried. He didn't fuss or bicker with me, even when I felt stupid. He wanted me to get it out. Just having him there anchored my emotions- kept me level.' She felt her smile falter sadly for a second. He had been so good to her these past four years and he deserved nothing but perfection. Cora smiled a little and pulled back from Lewis.
"Lewis…Do you ever regret--" She began to speak but her voice trailed off. A frown appeared across his face.
"Regret, what?"
"Regret our… you know, our decision. Especially since now… well… the problems getting pregnant that I'm having…" She bit her lip sadly and flicked her eyes away from his briefly, ashamed. Lewis squeezed her gently and gave her a reassuring smile.
"We'll have children when the time's right."
"Yeah…" Her voice trailed off quietly, feeling a pang of guilt flood her body. She paused, glancing into his eyes. He saw her fright reflecting back, "But do you regret our getting… married? I mean—"
"Cora, I love you. I've never regretted our marriage; never once. I loved the chapel we exchanged our vows in. I loved the fact it was the same place your parents had gotten married at, hell I even loved how immediate it was."
"But—"
"No, 'buts'. I love you, Cora. I wouldn't have gotten down on my knees to propose if I didn't love you."
"I know, and I wouldn't have said yes if I didn't love you," She smirked and felt a smile spread across her face, happy to see one on Lewis's as well, "But, what about the girls? I mean Emma, Rikki, Cleo and Kim…"
"It was a spur of the moment thing, Cora. We didn't have the time to call much less wait. We weren't thinking about anybody but our happiness, for once. It was the right thing for us to have done, then, and now." He smiled down at her and the side of her mouth twitched up into a half smirk as she stared into space contently.
"You're right…" The words were barely out of her mouth before her smile fell dead from her face, her thoughts starting to take order in her head. Something hit her. There was one thing from her dreams of which she felt certain about her troubling dreams. Death was stalking someone she knew, "Lewis—"
He had opened his mouth and then closed it, shaking his head.
"What?" He asked. She pushed herself up in bed, sitting up straight and looking at him; Lewis followed suite.
"I think… I think I know how to tell you what I've been seeing in these visions… dreams… whatever they are. Somebody's going to die ... and I think we're running out of time." She leaned forward, letting her hands run through her hair. She bent her head down for a moment. Lewis's startled eyes moved to her face. He felt his heart thud, though at this point he shouldn't be surprised. Cora's visions always depicted trouble or disasters after disasters for one of them. They had learned to listen and trust what she had to say and to do what they had to in order to avoid the disasters. So far, so good and luckily they had prevented most of her visions from becoming reality and had survived intact for the most part.
Cora raised her gaze to Lewis to find him staring at her. She narrowed her eyes peering deep into his biting down on her lip, nervous.
'He might think I'm crazy, but if he hasn't labeled me a nut-job yet then I'll take my chances.' She tried to give him a comfortable smile.
"Lewis…You will have to trust me. Just remember I'm only telling you what I know that I saw. I can't answer the 'what, how, or when.' I don't know how it's even possible, but this… this is going to happen unless we do something."
"Okay …" Lewis's voice shook, uncertainty shone in his eyes, "What's so bad that it has you this terrified?"
For the first few moments she couldn't bring her lips to say what needed to be said—then an image flashed back across her mind. A disturbing sight she could not forget: Heather lying dead in her own blood.
"Dr. Denman is back."
~~OOOOooo~o0o~End of Chapter 7~o0o~oooOOOO~~
Troubling vision of the future has Cora terrified. Could Dr. Denman be back as Cora seen it, if so, how?
