Chapter 10: Watery Grave Secrets
*Happy Newby Year! :D Make a wish yall
**Will contain some graphic scenes as well as some cursing**
I bolted up right, sweat sheathing the outer layer of my skin. It was only a dream, yet it felt more than that. Maybe it was an insight of the future or something? I leaned back, feeling the mattress cave in under the weight of my arms.
'Wait…mattress? When did I ever leave the cave?' I glanced around, realizing that this in fact was someone's house meaning someone found my hiding place and carried me home with them.
'What if it was Blue?' My skin grew cold, an involuntary shiver coursing up my spine. The bedroom looked nothing like the Blue Sky Ranch; then again I never went in their bedrooms. Despite the dim light, the walls appeared to be an eggshell blue bordered with a white wood trim around the bottom. A black wood nightstand sat next to the bed with a simple black stand and white lamp shade lamp. Surprisingly no clothes lingered on the floor; even the shoes were lined up on the other side of the room side by side.
"Huh! So you are finally up," A voice dully mused. I glanced at the doorway, trying hard not to appear like an idiot. Laying in the dim light of the doorway Jamie stood; his slightly sculpted arms crossed his chiseled, six pack abs bare torso. His cowboy hat is missing to reveal a bed head tousle of hair. The only article of clothing on his body is a pair of black and purple plaid pajama bottoms. Needless to say, they did not conceal the member underneath.
"I was beginning to think you were going to run away from our little contest." Jamie pushed off the doorframe, walking over to the bedside with both hands in his pocket, appearing to act like those cool bad boys from the anime I read. He slipped a hand out, resting it gently against the sweaty locks stuck to my forehead. A blush quickly rose to my face, most likely bringing up my temperature with it.
"You have a fever," Jamie mumbled under his breath. A string of curses flew out as well, but nothing I could catch. He walked out of the room without another word, enveloping the room into darkness. Through the door his footsteps could be heard padding down what sounded like a wooden floor into another room. Silence passed for a few seconds and then the sound of a front door closing broke it, but only for that brief second.
I laid back down, allowing my head to sink into the soft plush pillow, encasing my senses with a faint yet familiar smell. It did not last long before sleep overwhelmed all of my senses, dragging me back into the darkness yet again.
I woke up sometime later to shadows hovering over my head and something ice cold pressed to the nape of my neck. Voices murmured through the haze, looking back and forth throughout the conversation. None of that mattered. It is too damn hot.
"It's too damn hot," I voiced my thought, feeling my voice dry up and crack. The first shadow told the second one to do something since it vanished. The first one remained, trying to ask me I think questions, but all the words just seemed to blur together. I tried getting up to shrug the hot blankets off, but they would not let me take them off.
"Take the blanket offff…" I whined the best I could, attempting to shrug it off again. The shadow shook its head, putting yet another blanket on top. It is an inferno. A personal hell. They want to bake me alive like Hansel and Gretel. The second shadow walked in, placing something shockingly cold and wet on my forehead. The cold evaporated instantly, leaving nothing but heat and water. The first shadow said something to the second one, giving a white bag of something to it then walked out of the room. The shadow leaned forward, attempting to push some sort of pill against my lips forcefully. I held them shut, hating the taste and feeling of choking that came with pills. It backed off, mumbling probably curses, but the stupid pill was gone. Now if only the heat could go away…
They came back, but this time it was not their hand shoved in my face. The figure came closer; I could make out the ice blue eyes staring back at me with a blank stare. Then I felt it. Their lips pressed forcefully to mine, prying my lips apart. A rush of water ran into my mouth which I greedily drank down. I wrapped my arms around the shadow dragging them down for an easier access into their mouth. The shadow groaned, quickly retreating away much to my disappointment. It mumbled something, picking its hand up to its face, then quickly ran out the door. I did not think much of it, quickly falling back into the lull of sleep.
Summer approached shortly after the little incident and boy I was not looking forward to it. Sticky, sweaty clothes that practically stuck like a second skin. Constant complaining fuels the air with more moisture saturated heat. And since I live on a farm, that also meant most days working under the boiling sun, sleeping off heat induced migraines by nightfall. A soft rapping echoed through the morning; the sun barely peaking over the mountain tops.
"Come in," I mumbled into the pillow, snuggling closer into the warmth. The door slowly open, the hinges creaking to life startling Avery out of his sleep. He began barking, instantly letting out a happy yelp before running to the person. Noises of slobber and drool quickly filled the small space followed by a male voice laughing hysterically at Avery's antics.
"Easy now boy! Joe laughed, pushing Avery away countless times only to be attacked again. I sat up, stretching the kinks out of my shoulders and back. The bones popped in a loud satisfaction.
"Why are you here so early Joe?" I questioned, laying my feet onto the cold morning floor. Joe smiled an impish grin, pointing to his shorts. Instead of his usual beige shorts, he dressed up in bright summer sky blue bathing trunks lined with white imprints of tropical leaves.
"Today Miss Jinx is the summer festival!" Joe threw his arms into the air excitedly. "This is a day to hang out by the ocean full of fun, food, and games!"
"Isn't that what everyone does every day of the summer?" He rolled his eyes, pointing to the dresser in the corner.
"Hurry up and get dressed. If you are not done in five minutes, I am getting Alex!" Joe slammed the door, taking Avery along with him. I glanced around, feeling a bundle of nerves reach the pit of my stomach. A loud thumping hit my ear drums, taking out any other sound trying to enter. The sound of a whip cracking, slicing the air, screams of the torture. And the blood…splattered along the floors, staining the whip, and his hands.
"I wonder if I can fake an ailment," I mused quietly, walking over to the dresser. Without even having to strip the night shirt off, the pulsing of the scar raged along the lower horizontal path of my back. Despite the years it had to heal, the white disarrayed stripe of flesh remained stuck to my skin. It is very easy to hide, except for now, the dreaded summer time.
With no other choice, I slipped on the only bathing suit that could cover such a monstrous scar. Black short swimming trunks tied with a matching black string. Although a lot of girls like the bikini bottoms, they tend to give bathing suit burn which then scars the inside of a woman's leg. Not to mention extremely painful! Instead of the lime green bikini top I would normally wear, a long over the stomach, blue and black striped top held fast by two black strings over the shoulders.
'At least it will not show the scar.' I thought bitterly, double checking to make sure it was not showing. Exactly five minutes later, Joe busted down the front door once again, Avery happily panting on his heels. He scanned the outfit, giving a disapproving nod.
"Why so old fashioned Jinx? I imagine you being the wild child in swimsuits! And this covers those curves I know you have!" I rolled my eyes, grabbing my special black towel with purple stars as we both walked down towards the beach. The smell of cooked fish covered in thick seasonings hit my nose instantly. They popped and sizzled on the grill, occasionally being flipped or scraped off. Some of the stall owners chatted happily with each other while the residents took place on land or in the sea.
"Yo Kurt!" Joe shouted, waving his hands frantically in the air. A still rather surprisingly spiky headed Kurt turned around from his position on the towel, wiping a bit of sweat off his forehead. He looked irritated at his brother, but the glare instantly softened when he noticed me. I gave an impish wave, still feeling a bit awkward from the walk in. Kurt waved, laying back onto his towel to tan.
"Jinx!" Gwen waved at her spot by the water, her other hand occupied by a much larger one. Joe gave me a wink, practically shredding his shirt off as he bolted to the crystal blue ocean. I walked up to Gwen's spot, laying my towel next to hers.
"Glad you could make it!" She winked, gesturing the guy next to her. "This is Bob! He works part time at Hank's Ranch." Gwen leaned closer until her face nearly touched mine.
"He constantly works out and is extremely hot, but you did not hear that from me!" Bob tilted his head to the side as Gwen retreated. Bob has black hair that practically defied gravity as it stood as straight as a tower. His skin a deep golden color shimmering in the sunlight. There is no trace of a farmer's tan blemishing the skin. Like Gwen said he is ripped beyond repair, but a tad too muscular for me.
"Hey. Gwen talks a lot about you Jinx." His voice rumbled out gruffly. Gwen turned around, her blonde hair pinched perfectly up in a pony tail.
"It sounds like you are jealous Bob," she teased, leaning on his shoulder. I tuned away, watching the villagers scatter about in the waves of the ocean. Joe was the most noticeable, splashing every moving body with a tidal wave of water. Alex stood a couple feet away, dipping his feet into the little laps of waves. Next to him, Dia bore a simple emerald green summer dress, the straps wrapping around her neck. Unlike Alex who enjoyed the nice ocean breeze, Dia seemed to shutter every time a wave bushed up against her polished toes. Even Gina, her pigtail braids ran full throttle into the water, nearly getting knocked over by a wave in the process.
"Alright everyone!" The mayor shouted through a megaphone, causing everyone to turn to his direction.
"Now is the time for the summer swimming contest! For those of us who do not know, each person must touch the four colored buoys laid out in various locations out in the water. The first to touch all four wins! Now it is not as simple as it looks! There will be whirlpools and seaweed grabbing at your legs to keep you from your goal!"
The town muttered quietly, some already heading towards the water. Gwen tugged at my arm, rather roughly up with her, dragging me to the water. Alex stayed on shore, but Gina, Joe, Kurt, and even Blue joined the ranks in the water. The water began brushing up my warmed body with icy fingers, causing goosebumps to dot my skin.
"You have to participate!" Gwen shouted enthusiastically as if I have a choice in the matter. She was just lucky I knew how to swim.
"Ready swimmers?!" The mayor shouted once we all were treading water. We all shouted in response, lifting one arm in the air.
"At the sound of the fog horn, begin your search!" A loud noise blasted from the shore and everyone dispersed. Some went west towards the docks while others went out further into the ocean. Gwen bolted off to the east, so I decided to head north east. I was the only one treading the water, the shore growing further and further away. Shouts that lingered on the shores were drowned out by the waves as well as the constant noise of my arms. In the distance, a blue ball looking thing bobbed in the waves. A buoy! I tagged it, hearing a light 'ping!' noise shoot out. A digital screen put my picture next to the color, showing the way to the other three buoys for a flash of a second.
'The next one is said to be to the west of here…closer to the little lighthouse thing in the water.'
The contest continued on as I tagged the third buoy, feeling exhaustion starting to set in. Everyone was still looking for the third one, while I searched on for the fourth one. The green buoy. According to the little map, it was the closet one to the shore thank the goddess. I begin swimming forward, willing my arms and legs to go just a little bit more before they die out. All of a sudden, something latches onto my leg, pulling me under. I gasped one big breath, feeling the cool water surrounding my body. My eyes opened into little slits, burning instantly as the salt water brushed up against them. A dark shadow held my leg in place, the rest of the disfigured body hiding in the darker part of the ocean. A scream rose in my throat, but I threw it back down, trying to conserve air. Something began growing up from the fingers, biting into the skin slowly. Talons. I knew instantly who was holding me down.
Daaron's best friend and right hand man Centaur. Just like the rest of us despicable creatures, Centaur was born as one, part man part demon. Although his head always bore small points where his horns lay, when fully enraged they jet out, curling into a beige-yellow two ring spiral. His power he had given himself a few years back was the ability to grow sharp incisor like talons able to pierce even through the toughest bone. When in his battle mode, they black talons begin to glow purple, infusing them with the most lethal poison known to man. Overall, he is a dangers dude.
I struggled against my hold, feeling the points dip deeper and deeper through the bloodstream, through the veins, slowly tearing away the muscle fibers allowing the muscle to render useless. I could feel his fevered golden eyes glowing up at me from the dark, knowing not to hurt me but to render useless for capture. That is when I felt it. A powerful surge rose from the core of my body, traveling and changing every stream into a glowing blue light. Venom rose up into my eyes, burning them for a brief second, and then allowed them to open to see within the water. Centaur looked up wide eyed, throwing his talons out of my leg as if someone had shocked him. Blood swam around my leg and his fingers, darkening with the sickening iron tang. His face, normally a dark chocolate seemed to pale a bit.
"Dicetis domino vestro non revertar," ("Tell your master I will not return" loosely translated) I spoke in Latin tongue, feeling my fangs prod my tongue. Centaur visually shuttered, swimming away with his tail in between his legs.
'The coward! The fool! I shall not return!' A voice echoed in my head with venom practically spitting each word.
The perfect vision began to subside, bringing blurry darkness once again. The need for oxygen slammed against my chest with a full force. I scurried as fast as I could to the top, gasping for air as the water broke. Air. Sweet beautiful air. Water coughed up from my lungs, nearly threatening to push me back under once again. Pain jolted from my left leg where his fingers impaled my leg.
'Got to keep swimming…towards land before I bleed out…' With one leg left, I trudged on as fast as I could towards the shore. Cheers were silent, replaced with frantic chatter. Festivities seemed to draw a black cloud of doom and despair overhead. A sudden jolt of energy passed through my bones once again, giving the strength needed to make it to land.
'Once the power goes, you will faint. It is up to you if you wish to live after that.' The voice whispered tiredly in my head.
'Though finding a new host would be boring, so do me a favor and live hm?'
"Jinx!" A voice rose from the shore line. They ran out, water sloshing around their frantic run. Alex and Joe ran synchronized, each looping an arm under mine.
"Martha! Gina! Get the first aid bag now!" Alex shouted in my ear. Joe gasped as he looked down, untying his bandana, letting go for a second to wrap it around my leg. The friction of the cloth and the salt water in the wound stung greatly, but I bit back a scream. Each boy took careful steps through the ripples of waves, constantly asking me questions. Most likely to make sure I remained conscious.
"Jinx!" A familiar voice shouted. My body went rigid instantly; fear running up and down my spine. Everywhere I looked, avoiding looking straight on at the face that would break me down.
"Not now Blue," Alex growled as we reached the shores. People were running frantically, gathering up the materials needed as Alex called them out. Gwen ran over, propping a few towels down, and then backed away as I was laid onto them. Alex continued to shout commands, examining the wound now that it was visible.
"Shit," he mumbled, carefully prodding my leg. "What the hell did you fight with a shark?"
"Jinx I swear I need to get you a beeping collar or something so I know when you need help," Joe tried joking, his smile not reaching his eyes.
"Jinx…" a voice whispered in fear. Blue hovered over my face, blocking the sun's hateful rays. His hair created an umbrella like curtain around his face, casting a dark shadow over it. His eyes wavered uneasily, glancing between the wound and my expression. Something brushed over my fingers, interlacing them into warmth. The warmth squeezed reassuringly as if I was the lifeline. Darkness swam in my vision; Blue's face splotching away into black spots.
"Blue move! Come on Jinx stay with me now!" Alex shouted, entering what remaining vision could be seen. The world embraced the darkness and the sound of the waves lulled my body into a restful sleep.
If you were to ask anyone what it is like to pass out, they would tell you the last thing they remember. Then there is darkness and the dull beat of the heart, struggling to pump blood through. There is a breath forcing itself out of the lungs, making it so you have to breathe. And bam! You end up on the floor wondering how the hell you got there. This darkness however, is sinister, spine chilling, a foreboding feel of death and coldness. The darkness rocked like a rapid sea, stealing away time and direction. I walked through it, wondering if land would appear anytime soon.
'That is what happens when you lose too much blood.' A white ball of light appeared, slowly taking shape of a familiar person. She is roughly my height, roughly an inch shorter. Her white hair reached her midback, swaying lightly as if a breeze pushed it along. Her skin a slightly translucent tan-pale color, but I could see right through her. Her eyes…a livid brown shining with her knowledge and events she had witnessed. Athena, my little sister who was captured along with me by my ex. Tears sprung from my eyes as I embraced her, surprisingly finding her warm as if she was still alive.
Athena is one of the experiments that did not survive their treatment. She convulsed and struggled against her restraints during the transformation, screaming for death to take her. My ex made me watch her struggle, holding my head in place so I got a good look at her closed eyes and clammy skin. She let out one more animalistic scream, and then her body fell flat on the table. Athena gave one last breath of life, and then her body shut down allowing peace to find her face for the last time. Daaron never told me what he did with the body after I practically fought him and his friends to be close to my sister. She most likely burned with the rest of the failed experiments in the pit in the basement.
"Jinx my rebellious sister who would chase me into the bathroom is crying? I think the world is ending!"Athena giggled, wrapping her arms around my waist. "But yes I am glad to see you too."
I took a step back, wiping the stray tears out of my face. She smiled her cocky infamous smirk, putting her hands on her hips.
"So what are you doing here Athena? What did Daaron do with your body? Why did you give up?"
Athena shook her head, most likely feeling whiplash from the line of questioning.
"First off," she pointed to the background."This is a drab, overdramatic scene! Let's change it tosomething more comfortable."
In a blinding white light, the scene changed to an inside of a cottage we use to live at as children. The floor dusted with dirt from the various shoes walking around on it, but the copper color still stood out despite the age. Two old time forest green arm chairs angled themselves in front of a grey stone fireplace. Embers bounced happily through the orange blaze of the fire, creating a yellow glow. In between the two chairs, a light pine colored square shaped end table sat holding our mother's porcelain white tea pot adorned with matching tea cups crimped at the top in small waves. Each cup held a faint smell of hot chocolate with a small dip of caramel.
Athena gestured to a chair; magically changing her pure white robes into her favorite panda faced tee shirt and purple fuzzy pants. When I looked down, I smiled at the outfit she chose for me. My favorite baby blue spaghetti strap top draping down to my hips, continuing under it is my black and white plaid pajama bottoms. I took a seat on the right, taking one of the cups. Heat radiated off of the fire and the cup, embracing me as it did as a child.
"See isn't this much better?" She smiled from her chair on the left, giving an impish grin.
"Our old house huh? I cannot believe I still remember this place." I took a sip from the cup, smiling instantly as the warm cocoa and caramel danced across my tongue.
"Just like mom use to make." Athena nodded, turning her gaze to the fire.
"When he took us that night, I just remember being in the dark and wondering if we were ever going to go home. I knew that we were not, but despite that, I found it reassuring you were there with me as crude as that sounds." Her gaze drifted off into a distant time, recalling her events.
Athena and Jinx held hands with each other in the painful steel wool feeling sack, praying that each other would get out okay. They were constantly thrown against walls, dragged across rocks, and tossed carelessly from person to person. Blindfolds sat on each face so the location could not be known during the travel. Their hands bound tightly with thick knotting rope, scraping roughly against their wrists until they bled. Once they arrived at the location of unknown origin, Athena and Jinx were dragged down a hallway; their knees skinning against the rugged rocks in refusal to cooperate. Still blindfolded, the person threw them into a holding cell, locking the door behind them to await their doom.
"Athena? Are you okay?" Jinx asked, slightly wincing at the pain in her legs. Athena nodded, wincing herself as she felt the blood seep out of the wounds.
"Jinxie? What do you think will happen to us?" Athena's shaken voice trembled against the cell walls. Jinx shifted towards the voice of her sister, leaning her head on her shoulder.
"No matter what happens, I will do what I can to protect you Athena. I promise. I…" Jinx swallowed a lump forming in her throat as tears threatened to fall. "I am sorry Athena. This is my fault."
Athena leaned her head atop of her sisters, letting out a shaken, tired breath. "We cannot chose who we fall in love with Jinx. Do not for a second think this is your fault."
The sister waited in silence, keeping their moral up with light conversations about childhood, about their parents, and about what they were to do when they grow up. The door screeched to life, startling the two out of their wits. Muscular arms latched onto each of their arms, dragging them to some unknown place.
"I love you dear sister," Jinx whispered, bringing her foot up to tap her sisters. Athena mimicked the action affectionately, feeling her impending doom coming.
"I love you too my dear sister."
Another door screamed to life, but this time the unmistaken hospital bright light shinned even though the blindfolds. Their feet separated, one set of hands passing Jinx to another set of hands while the other placed Athena on a cold, metallic table, cutting her wrists free only to bind them down to thick steal against the table. They mimicked the actions with her feet and latching the last one around her neck.
"Well, well, well… the nightmare sisters have finally been captured at long last. Dear Athena, you will be able to test out this formula first so I can save your precious sister." A snake like voice hissed from behind Jinx, giving instruction in Latin to the people in the room. Athena could not tell what was going on, the only thing she knew was the table was ice cold and the light was maddening blinding.
"Now hold still," a gruff said as he shoved a thick tipped needle into Athena's neck. It plunged straight through her skin, puncturing her bloodstream lifeline, and probed close to her windpipe. A think liquid began entering her body full of a burning fire as if the body was being burned alive. Athena shrieked, feeling the under skin fire scorching her insides, burning them to instantaneous blackened crisps. Another needle injected itself into her chest, breaking right through the ribcage directly through the valves of her heart. This liquid stained a bitter ice cold, so frozen it practically froze her heart up as it battled with the fire. Athena screamed and thrashed, her body confused and on edge from these foreign substances taking over everything.
She knew this was it; her body was deteriorating and losing this battle. It was not strong enough for the viruses he had injected into her. She turned her head to her sister's pleaded screams, giving one last tearful smile as her last scream ripped through the air. She fell dead on the table, her spirit rising from its imprisonment. She watched her sister struggle against Daaron's hold, pleading for her to come back. Daaron told someone to get her out of here while he disposed of the body. Jinx flailed against the guy carrying her out, leaving Daaron alone with the body. Athena watched in amazement as Daaron unlocked the body from the restraints and threw it carelessly into the furnace in the far corner of the room. He smiled as the body burned, the smell of burning flesh and blood tainting the air with its bitterness.
"After that, I searched around for your cell, hanging around as much as I could. When he said you were next, I knew this was the only chance I had at contacting you again. As your body took the injections, it was stronger than mine, absorbing them as if it were nothing. I took that chance to enter your body, absorbing into it so whenever you needed me, I could be there."
She smiled over at me, her fingertip tracing the outer rim of the cup.
"Although at moments you were a bitchy sister, I am happy at least that you live and escaped."
"For now," I sighed, glancing at the fire. From the corner of my eye, Athena nodded, turning her gaze back to the fire.
"Yes. I feel his presence lingering around the island as well. You know you will have to kill him."
"I know…"
"Now," she put her cup down, clasping her hands together. "You can always contact me through your dreams or thoughts." Athena stood up, placing a hand delicately against the top of mine as if I were a precious gem.
"I do believe it is time for you to wake up my dear sister."