This may start out slow but I think the ending is well worth the wait. Thanks Kaattee for putting up with me and my moods during the write.
The Sertori Sisters' Secret
Authors: Kaattee/ParadoxTremors
Chapter 1: It has the short Synopsis of the story, this chapter, and a short bio about each character.
Chapter 10: (Mako Island)
Present day ….
The research vessel Tailspin left the protective harbor of the Gold Coast on a direct heading to Mako Island. She carried Dr. Denman, the minimum crew needed to run the vessel efficiently, and her two VIP passengers.
Heather faith Dangerfield drew her arms around herself as she stood alone at the stern of the boat. Her blonde hair fluttered in the humid cool breeze as the ocean spray hit her when the bow dipped. Their ship was running a slow four knots toward their destination.
'There's something different about the ship.'
She felt a sudden coolness, more of a feeling rather than an actual physical coldness, with it the certain knowledge eyes were on her suddenly. Heather was sure she was not alone in the night. She saw no movement around her and she was unaware of any sound other than the expected sounds of their movement through the saltwater ocean, her own breathing, and her thudding heartbeat; only instinct told her she had company. Heather was not alarmed—in fact a small smile touched her lips. She looked over toward her left expectantly.
"Hello, Cora. I was beginning to wonder when ya would appear." Her "friend" appeared out of the shadows almost as if she were a part of the inky darkness itself. Her color changed gradually from the ebony blackness of the darkness to the ghostly grayish-white of her normal haunting-self. Cora paused a moment, standing there in her vaporous form as if she were thinking before moving up alongside Heather. Her lower extremities beneath the knees slowly faded away into nothingness. The closer the vessel came to the area of her demise, the less corporal her form seemed to hold, "You're okay?"Heather's heart pounded as Cora moved closer to her side. She was use to seeing and interacting with ghosts and spirits, but never, ever had she found a friendship in one like she had with Cora—this was all new to her.
"Yes." The calm murmur came from Cora. Heather shifted her weight to compensate for the slight heel to the starboard side of the boat. It was quiet.
'This was my time to think. Nothing for me to worry about but the moment at hand…' In less than eighteen hours, Holly and she had left Alabama and flown to Sydney, making various stops along the way. They were then picked up by members of Dr. Denman's crew at the airport and arrived in town late in the evening; thirty minutes later they were heading out of the marina.
"You're me, and I'm you, but in different realities." Heather tried to shake loose Cora's mesmerizing eyes, but found she could not. 'Her eyes have the same hypotonic stare as mine do…'
"You're beginning to get it." Cora answered with a quiet giggle.
"The dream, about Dr. Denman and the sinking of the ship a few years back… and I suppose that was Lewis being shot… that really happened for you, didn't it?" Heather asked. Cora nodded, and Heather continued, "The trance ya fell under … the force that took you over, could it have been … me somehow? I mean could I have reached out to you a-and--"
Cora shrugged her shoulders.
"Helped? I don't know… maybe. Even now, I can't be sure of what I did that night. Something did push me to go beyond my abilities when he was shot… Maybe it was the love I had for Lewis that did it, or maybe it was you… or maybe it was both."
"Were we that connected to one another that we could have influenced--?"
"I am here in your reality, haunting you… I guess that means anything is possible."
Heather was uncomfortable. The closer they drew to the island the more her stomach tightened and knotted. She let a hand slip down to her abdomen.
'C'mon, settle down. It's going to be okay ... it's not like I'm pregnant again. There's nothing major to worry about out here. Besides, what could go wrong?'
"I can feel it." The sudden whisper from Holly startled her. Heather turned to face her friend who had walked up behind her. Holly's stealth and uncanny cat-like movement always amazed her—it was a trait she'd learned during their time in the Land of the Lost. Heather smiled.
"Feel what, Cora?"
"Huh?" Holly asked, confused. Heather quickly realized her mistake and her face fell.
"Nothing, Holly … as you were saying?"
"The crystals and the doorway … the closer we get, the more I can feel them." Holly said. Heather took a deep breath. "They're out there, on the island I mean. It's all really going to be there. I can feel it here in my heart." She pointed her hand to her chest.
"We've found The Land of the Lost again but without the usage of the time doorways. It came to us instead."
Heather lost the smile. Cora had disappeared. Her stomach had eased up settling down. She chewed nervously on her lip, staring off into space but a moment. In the distant, inside her mind, she could hear the faint rhythm sounds of crystals pulsing on a stone matrix table. "It's like a soft, gentle pull …."
"You can feel it too, can't you?" Holly smiled wryly feeling relieved she wasn't going crazy.
Heather nodded. Her psyche pictured a dark cavernous room with glowing, throbbing precious stones arranged neatly inside a granite pedestal. The world in her vision turned gray, colorless, and very depressing. Her dreams were always in color.
"It's like the place is welcoming us back home."
"T-that's not exactly good if it can sense our presence, can it?" Holly couldn't see through the tears forming in her eyes.
"No, I don't think so." Heather answered without a touch of emotion in her voice. She hardly ever had visions of happiness or of birth; instead, they always seemed to be forewarning of tragedy, "It's never good to have a place waiting for you to come back."
"That's why it let us go in the first place. It understood we would have to return to get me back home." Holly blew her nose on a handkerchief she drew out of her back pocket, "It could wait … time was on its side, it always has been."
"Yeah." Heather could see disaster coming; exactly what, she couldn't tell just yet, but all the same, it scared her—the unknown always did.
"Oh, that's just freaking wonderful." Holly gnashed her teeth. "Can't we ever catch a break?"
"We just got to be careful and expect the unexpected." Heather responded, shaking her head. The long blonde hair flowed around her shoulder with her movement. Her face was as unyielding as stone.
"Yeah, right … it's easier said than done."
"You look a little spooked, Holly." There was apprehension in Heather's voice.
"Is it that obvious?"
"Yeah, it is just a bit."
Holly sighed and looked at Heather.
"Are you?"
"Yes." The low whisper came back from Heather. Her heart beat fretfully.
"But you hide it so well."
"It comes with a lot of practice," Heather put her hand to her head, feeling her blood pulse—the sure sign a migraine was coming on.
"Headache?"
Heather smiled. She knew Holly was beginning to know her too well. She rubbed her face vigorously and pushed back her hair.
"Probably a migraine, but hopefully it's not a bad one."
"Yeah, sure, migraines are not always bad, are they." Holly's brow creased in a grimace; her words were spoken sarcastically.
"I mean for me, okay?" Heather snapped, her eyes shooting to Holly's.
"Ohoookay, sorry." Holly replied toward her irritably. Not liking Heather's gaze, heat rose to her cheeks. Heather's face softened.
"Sorry, didn't mean to sound so harsh."
They heard the bridge's door open and a man stepped out. They turned to face the stranger.
"Uh, ladies, Dr. Denman said she's ready down below."
"Okay. We'll be right down." Heather could not make out the man's face, but she knew he was a recent hire. It was strange and it felt a little disconcerting to know that Dr. Denman's first mate, Andy Kinsley, had not made the trip—no word given as to why. She took a deep breath.
'Something has been changed about the ship… or added on," Her mind drifted back to the dream she'd had about Cora and her friends when they escaped their Dr. Denman's ship in a storm, 'It's something about the addition of a secret room?'Her eyes glanced toward Holly and noticed the man's message had made her shoulders tense. Heather reached out with her hand and touched Holly's.
"I'm here," she whispered. "Always will be if God's willing." Holly took Heather's offer and squeezed, hard, holding tight to her. Her eyes returned the glance nervously.
"Thanks." Her voice quivered quietly. "I need for you to be there with me. I don't want to be left alone with her."
"Okay, I won't."
"You promised you wouldn't, remember?"
"I remember." Heather laughed silently feeling the trembling in her friend's hand.
'Something about Elisha unsettles Holly. I wish I knew why and what I could do to calm her nerves…'
"Can I hold your hand till we get below?" Holly asked sheepishly.
"Sure, ya know ya can." Heather answered. Her tone was filled with concern. 'What is it she senses that I don't?' She unexpectedly pulled her other hand back to her abdomen and cringed. It felt as if something inside her had moved.
'Maybe she senses the truth about Dr Denman...' The familiar voice of Cora filtered into Heather's mind.
'Cora!' Heather hissed irritably inside her head, 'Elisha is not your Dr. Denman; she's different.'
'I wouldn't be so sure, Heather. I've seen the things that you haven't.'
'Cora, until you can prove otherwise, I don't want to hear any more of your nonsense about Elisha. She's a good friend. She helped deliver Noël.'
'Of course she did – what better way to learn about mermaids?'
"Heather?"
The sound of her name on Holly's lips sent a cold shiver down her spine.
"What? Oh, sorry…"
"I think you spaced out on me for a second or two."
"I-I think I did." Heather sighed in annoyance. The pain in her lower stomach had slipped away once more. Her hand nervously tugging Eric's game jersey that she wore. Her eyes met Holly's. "Let's get this done and over with shall we?"
Holly nodded and they both moved toward the stranger and into the opened door as a bright flash of lightning lit the entire sky momentarily. Thunder rumbled angrily across the heavens. Heather shivered, not so much from cold air, but from a sense of uneasiness. She caught Holly's eyes. They appeared black, like onyx mirrors, catching the flash of the lightning and gleamed unnaturally. Then she turned her head—Heather sighed.
'I hope the storm's not forewarning of any coming trouble.'
Holly began the descent down the stairs, grimacing, fighting the terror building in her. Her heart beat rabbit-fast and cold sweat broke over her body.
"I-I can't do this."
She stopped feeling Heather's hand squeezing hers. "It's okay. I'm right here. Nothing's going to happen to you."
Holly looked back over her shoulder toward Heather. She smiled, forcing down the rising panic, concentrating on her breathing until she felt less shaky.
"Why am I acting like this?"
"It's probably because you've never changed in front of anybody other than me; not even in front of Stephen, Eric, or much less your brother Will." Heather tried to give her a reassuring smile, "Dr. Denman will be the first to ever witness you changing."
Holly frowned.
"Just great - a peep show. That's going to be so weird."
"How so?" A slight look of confusion dipped across Heather's face.
"I mean, we're always careful not to let anyone see us with our tail and now I'm going to change on purpose in front of someone."
"Not someone, Holly, it is Dr. Denman."
"Yeah, just the person I wanted to change in front of for the first time."
Heather sighed.
"Look, if you're that unnerved about this I can tell her not to worry about it, and she won't do it."
Holly shook her head.
"No, it's okay. It's important we do it. She might be able to figure out why I keep having this constant buzzing in the back of my head since the change took us."
"Maybe? I can't promise that she can."
Holly nodded, stepped off the steps onto the bottom floor, and then glanced back at Heather; a worried look on her face.
"Let's get this over with … I need my beauty sleep," she muttered the last part in a whisper half-jokingly, hoping to disguise her fear.
She turned, tightening her grip on Heather's hands. In a few seconds they made it to Dr. Denman's lab. Holly knocked—her hand was shaking. She took a deep breath. Her chest ached, "I'm not telling her about my ability with electricity … or my trick of releasing locks."
"Okay."
Holly wouldn't turn around to stare at Heather when she replied.
"Do you understand what I'm saying?" She asked. Heather remained quiet, "You don't have to come in with me."
"I won't let ya go alone." Heather answered politely, but the undertone of her voice was distinctly forceful.
"Yes, you can. I'll be fine."
"I made a promise. I won't let ya go inside alone."
"DON'T!" Anger spilt from Holly for a moment. She turned to Heather. "Please—"
"Holly, I can't. I don't go back on my promises." Holly looked at her friend with a hard frown. Heather reached out, touching her on the side of the face. Next, Heather let her other hand touched the wooden door. Holly felt a strange, mild tingling shock to her temple. Her eyes widened for a split-second. Puzzlement then understanding shot through her eyes as the whisper of a subliminal song danced through her mind. Heather removed her hand from Holly's face, "Forget...forget about what I just did." Holly's face crumpled. Her hand shook for a few seconds. She let her hand reach up and touch where Heather's fingers had been.
"Heather?"
"I'll explain later. But for now ya must forget this moment. Erase it from your memory. It's important to our survival … and returning you to your family and time."
"Home?"
"Yes."
"But—"
"I've never had anyone to resist my power of suggestion as you are doing; but ya must trust me, believe I am doing what is best in our interest … and the world. If not, Enik's and my world will be destroyed."
Holly looked shocked.
"The Land of the Lost, destroyed?"
"I promise to explain it all to ya when this is over."
"You promise?"
"Yes." Heather promised. Holly closed her eyes.
"Okay … I trust you with all my heart, y'know."
Heather touched Holly's temple once more.
"When you open your eyes again, you will not remember what I have done here. Erase the memory and keep your voice low until we enter Dr. Denman's office."
"Erase the memory." Holly's voice trembled in a low, scared and soft voice.
"Yes. And when you open your eyes, you will not remember this conversation. You will forget. We will pick back up about my keeping my promises." Heather pulled back her hand.
"Open your eyes."
Holly opened her eyes and for an instant confusion shot across her face—it took her a few moments before she could speak.
"Heather, I can handle this. You don't have to go in with me. I'm fine. Honest."
"You know me. I can't. It's not in me." Heather shrugged nonchalant. "I promised my mom once, before she died, to never break any of my promises to anyone—that includes you."
They stared at each other a moment and remained quiet. Holly turned away and banged harder on the door. Heather could tell by Holly's eyes she was fighting a battle quietly on the inside
Didn't my suggestion take root?'
Holly shook her head in frustration to clear it of the background chatter.
"C'mon, doc, you can't be deaf." She banged harder. In that moment, the door opened with Dr. Elisha Denman standing on the other side ….
-
Dr. Elisha Denman stood looking out watching as twilight drifting down over Mako Island. A crescent moon hung above the ragged cone of the dead volcano. Storm clouds were gathering in the east like an ominous dark blight. Lightning flashed fiercely lighting up the horizon.
She heard the first knock and started to turn—then paused. Her eyes went blank for a second; something whispered to her to forget about the knock.
Just watch the island, the voice spoke in her mind. Forget the first knock.
Elisha turned back to Mako. Something about the majestic beauty of the island calmed her; brought a sense of peace to her. But the second rapping brought her out of her thoughts. She sighed, turning, and started toward the door. Her mind cleared as if it had been in a fog.
'Finally,' she thought. 'What took them so long? Just knock the door down why don't you…' She pulled the door open and waved the two girls in. The one named Holly came into the room from the hall first followed by Heather—they left the door stand open behind them. Heather spoke first.
"Are you using the scrambler?"
Dr. Denman walked back to her desk and laid her notes down and smiled.
"Yes. We can't run the risk of the government detecting our tests." She stepped passed the girls and shut the door. "That's why we can't slip up and leave the door open." She caught the look Holly shot Heather before looking at her. "The government runs routine checks for PSI or magical energies with their low orbital satellites. Although they officially deny the existence of such nonsense they do search for it in hope of gaining a tactical advantage over their perceived enemies."
Holly looked nauseatingly back to Heather.
"They … they can detect our psychic energies?"
"In a manner of speaking, Holly; if the instruments are adjusted and set for the right weather and atmospheric conditions they can detect the lowest emission of such power." Heather expression was impassively cold. "But it's more of a crapshoot for them—there have been a million more failures than there ever been successful hits."
"Have they ever--?"
Dr. Denman nodded. "Once, back in 1979, '80, we believe they made a find. It was rumored the U.S. Government held a father and his child. The father was a drunk who had lost his abilities but the child … they called her a fire-starter."
"What happened?"
"The experiments got out of control."
"Out of control, how?"
"Holly," Heather spoke soberly. "The official government account was the child, Charlie, lost control over her powers when her father died in a freak riding accident. She went crazy and burnt the whole place down to the ground. She killed everybody including herself."
"I-I don't believe that." Holly shook her head. "H-how old was Charlie?"
"We believe she was seven or eight." Heather sighed. "I think they were trying to escape their captivity. Her father was killed and in protecting herself, Charlie might've lost control of her powers."
"Things were so much simpler in my times." Holly mumbled unable to speak above a whisper.
"Yes, your world still had their innocence."
"Yeah, it would seem."
"With the situation as it is at our end," Dr. Denman started, "I took the precaution of arranging the tests to coincide with the approaching storm instead of waiting till the early morning hours of tomorrow."
Holly paced, stopped after a few steps, put her hands in her cut-offs pockets, and then took them out again.
"This room smells."
Dr. Denman watched Heather laugh for a few seconds.
"Sorry, Holly, your comment just caught me off guard."
Holly's cheeks flashed with a tinge of red as she looked irritably at her friend.
"I will need blood and urine sample first." Dr. Denman broke the uncomfortable silence.
"You have to?" Holly asked a vague trace of anxiety in her voice. Elisha nodded.
"I'm afraid there's more. I have to have blood samples both before and after the transformation."
Holly's eyes widened as she looked questionably to Heather.
"You didn't say… I hate needles."
"It's okay."
"Heather?" Holly's eyes begging.
"I went through the same tests. She won't perform anything on ya she didn't do on me. The blood work is just routine procedure."
"What did she find?" Heather bit her lower lip. Impatiently, she added. "I suppose nothing was found."
"No, she discovered no abnormalities in my workup. Nothing to suggest I can metaphor into a mermaid. Nothing to suggest I am an oddity."
Dr. Denman handed Holly a small jar.
"If you please, I will need for you to go into the bathroom there and collect me a little of your urine."
Holly nodded her head, taking the plastic container.
"Okay."
Denman watched as Holly went into the bathroom closing the door behind. Heather sat on a high, white stool at the head of the examination table, and hooked one of her heels on the single rung. She could tell a million and one question was racing through the girl's head.
"Heather, I have one question for you while we wait." She spoke, not sure if she was overstepping her place. Heather looked up. Somber, almost reverent, she spoke.
"Yes?"
"You used the Ring before coming here, correct?"
"Yes." Heather lifted her eyes questionably toward her. "And …?"
"No tsunami occurred like the first time."
"Oh, that …" Heather paused letting a weak smile momentarily flash across her lips. "There were several abnormalities happening when we first tested the machine that didn't exist this last time."
"Abnormalities?"
Heather laughed for a few moments.
"Yes, but this is neither the place nor the time to discuss this matter."
Elisha opened her mouth but closed it as Holly came out of the restroom. She held up the half-filled container. A look of disgust hung on her face.
"Here's your bottle of pee, Dr. Denman." Holly handed her the warm bottle.
"Holly!" Heather's face turned bright red bringing out the few freckles sprinkled across her cheeks. Holly turned looking back at her friend.
"What? Did I do something wrong?"
"No, but I think you've been hanging out in my time for far too long."
It hit Holly then on how she had phrased her last statement.
"Phat rat, daddy would've been mad with my choice of words I think."
Heather and Holly laughed for a few seconds as if it was their own private little joke. Dr. Denman shook her head and set the specimen inside a refrigerator unit and turned back to the two girls.
"I need for you to hop up on the examination table, Ms. Marshall."
"It's Holly; call me Holly… please."
She caught the smile flashing across Heather's face. Heather's reaction gave her the inkling Holly didn't usually let strangers call her by her first name.
"Okay, Holly, please sit up on the table so we can begin. I will draw out some blood first and then Heather will help me attach some sensors across your body. If at any time you become uncomfortable or want us to stop just give me the word and we will stop."
Holly nodded visibly uncomfortably, turned and sat as instructed. Dr. Denman came over and very careful swabbed Holly's arm before pricking her with a needle. She quickly withdrew three small tubes of blood, removed the needle, and then labeled the blood samples. Once more she went back to the refrigerator unit and set the blood inside a holding case.
"If you will lie down on your back Heather and I can attach the sensors to your body."
Holly's eyes flashed toward Heather.
"It's okay, Holly. She needs to record the readings of your body during the change."
Holly nodded. Heather and Dr. Denman started the slow task of placing the wires and sensors around her body. Heather unbuttoned Holly's shirt and spread it opened to begin the process of attaching the wires to her abdomen and chest area. Elisha smiled.
"You're doing fine. Your respiration and pulse are a bit elevated, but that's expected with the nervousness."
Holly laughed timidly.
"When do I change?"
"Just be patient with us, Holly. We have to make sure everything is connected properly. If it's not, the reading would come out wrong and inaccurate."
"No, we wouldn't want that would we." Holly's smile dissipated almost immediately. She hated that she had agreed to do this.
"Tell me what happened. Sometimes, by talking we can relieve our fears a bit."Denman placed a hand on Holly's shoulder. Holly pushed her hand away.
"No, what good will it do? It happened. We're stuck as mermaids. Nothing can change that."
Heather stood taking one of Holly's hands into hers.
"Tell it to me, please. You've never told me the story. I was unconscious during most of that time when we were first cursed with the disease."
Holly shook her head.
"There's nothing to tell. We were turned into mermaids. We were lucky we both didn't drown, end of story."
"Please. I need to hear it."
"N-no … I don't want to talk about it. Not now, not ever." But her mouth kept moving and she began to talk despite her determination not to.
Dr. Denman understood what was happening. Holly replayed those awful moments again and again in her mind not realizing she was actually telling them every detail of the event. Holly saw Heather and herself being drawn back down into the swimming hole by the Sleestaks in The Land of the Lost. She told of the frustration and rage that filled her in fighting against the creatures, struggling for her and Heather's freedom—then the sudden surprise of being released only to be attacked by what they learned later was called the Altrusian Lykánthropos Fish. The small school of fish somehow magically transferred some of their characteristics into the girls, changing them into mermaids with various abilities and talents.
Holly paused, looking toward Heather, her face becoming slightly paler.
"She got most of the gifts. I suppose because she's been a psychic most of her life. Me, I was normal and ordinary, I was given only a touch of the possibilities that might've been obtainable."
Dr. Denman smiled, glancing a second at Heather before drawing her eyes back to Holly. When Holly had spoke, she sounded stiffer, a slight glaze look fell over her eyes.
"Holly?"
Holly blinked.
"Huh?"
"You sounded as if you'd …." Dr. Denman's voice drifted off.
"As if I'd what?" Holly looked genuinely baffled.
"Sad. Upset the whole thing had happened." Denman lied. 'It sounds like you've been programmed with that little speech my precious little Merbitch…'
Holly titled her head and looked down a few seconds.
"I just want a normal life... to be back with my dad and Will. I want to belong; to be normal again."
She understood Holly was homesick; scared. And despite the continuous reassurance from Heather, she was feeling very alone and cut off from everything she knew …
… And this knowledge brought a hidden smile to Dr. Denman. Perhaps this was the seed she could use to tear them apart.
The Next Day ….
At five-thirty Saturday morning, Heather Faith Dangerfield and Holly Marshall stepped foot on the beach of Mako Island for the first time. Both felt a strange sense of relief. They stood on opposite sides of the skiff and looked at each other—in the instant their eyes met Holly suffered a panic attack.
Holly was overcome by a sense of dread so severe she felt the plummeting sensation of falling from a great height into a bottomless pit. She screamed, afraid. Not hearing Heather come running to her side.
"Holly! Holly!"
Her sense of falling did not abate.
"Daddy, daddy, I'm falling. I'm falling!"
"No no no no."Heather grabbed and held her. "You're not falling. It's okay. I got ya."
Holly struggled blindly not realizing it was her friend that held her.
"Daddy, daddy, the Sleestaks … they have me. Help, daddy!"
"No no no, I got ya, Holly." Heather struggled to hold on. Holly was now fully panicking. "It's okay. It's me, Heather."
"No, let go of me."
In that moment Heather's heart thumped hard with fright. She understood Holly's struggling was carrying them backward toward the water's edge.
"Holly, don't, you'll make us go into the water. If you submerge us fully, we'll have our tails."
Holly didn't listen. They fell into the water but did not go completely under. Heather stood dragging Holly back to her feet pausing—It was then that she heard an unwelcome noise. Heather panicked; drawing upon her powers she shoved, throwing Holly ashore and turned acting instinctively calling upon her psychic energies.
Her power crackled, popping, changing, and pulling into physical forms of twin translucent black energy blades of razor-sharpness. They gave the impression of pulsing in and out of existence in a slow, wavering, and disturbing way--she could feel the exhilarating surge of power. Feel the extension of her psychic force flowing out to form into the sharp edges.
Each weapon pulsed rhythmically in sync with her heart. The cold cobalt beauty of their blades held perfect balance. Their design lay conceived and composed surreptitiously in her soul. Ancient like-runes lie etched into the spiritual energies of each sword's surface. An ebony-blue swirling haze shimmered entwining within each symbol and character. It moved like blood through veins.
Heather felt a sudden single paper-thin scratch cut across her forearm—she reacted. Her weapons found flesh as she sidestepped the attacking shark at the last possible moment. Heather bit back the scream, watching as death claimed the animal. One of her corporeal blades had decapitated its head—blood and organs spilt everywhere.
Seconds passed. Silence.
Unconsciously Heather stuck out a finger and traced the intricate delicate vapors of the sword in the other hand. Her finger lingered over the complex masterful micro-cords that laced together to form the protective barrier that held the energy together. It never ceased to amaze her how well her psychic powers had developed over the years under the tutelage of her husband and his sister, Lila.
In the next heartbeat a second monster surfaced.
"No no no, this can't be happening;" she shrieked in disbelief. "Sharks don't attack mermaids."
Her heart pumped hard. She could almost feel the building fury of the animal within her mind. A poignant smile flickered at the corner of her mouth.
'I won't die like the others—' images of Cora's lifeless body lying on the beach plagued her mind for an instant, 'It won't happen to me or Holly.'
The animal bit at her and she dodged managing to snap off a one-two routine down the animal's side. The swords sliced deep, killing it instantly, spilling the shark's inners into the warm waters of the Pacific—she could feel the uneasy awareness of her weapons drinking in the spiritual essence of the animal's soul as it died.
Predators for miles around smelt the offering of an easy prey. Heather screamed. Her face was livid. The unbearable throbbing of her head made her lose conscious thought for a moment—her weapons disappeared, imploding inward, shattering into the nothing it came from. She could sense the approach of other predators. She moved, fast; hitting the shore screaming, grabbing the startled Holly and carried her further on to the safety of the beachhead. They both fell into the sand, each moving to watch the violent frenzy.
Holly buried her head into Heather's neck.
"Make it stop. Make it stop, Heather!"
"I-I can't. It's out of my control." Her voice came out tight and low. Her eyes stayed glued to the bloodbath before widening in terror—she shook her head in horrifying disbelief. One of the mammoth sharks turned from the feeding frenzy and leapt out of the water toward the beach. In mid-flight, it twisted, shook, and transformed into a man landing and falling to a knee. He looked up. An angry scowl of hatred marred his face as he stood, staring at the two of them.
"NO FREAKING WAY!" Heather turned, shaking Holly hard. "Get to the jungle and hide. I'll meet you there after I've dealt with our guest."
Holly looked up red-eyed seeing the stranger.
"It's a Demonhunter. Here on Mako? What the freak for?!"
"I don't know." Heather grabbed Holly dragging her up to her feet, "You have to go, NOW!"
Holly staggered back from Heather's push. She sucked in her breath and put her hand over her heart, feeling as if she would faint. This was all too incredibly to believe.
"Run, Holly!" Heather screamed. Holly obeyed and turned, stumbling, racing for the imaginary protection of the tropical forest. Heather turned, slipping in the sand, and falling to a knee.
'Damn.' She looked up, surprised. He was on her, attacking.
Heather met the attack of the Demonhunter. Her mystical blades formed the instant she understood the danger. She crisscrossed the two swords, stopping the giant battleaxe of the intruder's inches above her head ….
~~OOOOooo~o0o~End of Chapter 10~o0o~oooOOOO~~
I had to end it there. If I didn't this might've stretched out another 2 or 3,000 words. A lot of information stuffed in. Some good, some not so—It seems Heather is trying to manipulate people and their actions for reasons yet unexplained.
Love to hear comments, thoughts, or whatever—writers love to hear what people think of their work. We LOVE reviews.
I got a great surprise for those of you who love Kaattee's writing. I have convinced her to write a scene for us in an upcoming chapter, you DON'T want to miss it! It's incredibly good.
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