GUYS I'M NOT DEAD LOOK I POSTED. I'm so sorry for the extended delay, things have been incredibly busy! It'd be ideal to post another chapter as a Christmas present, but I may not have the time, so don't hold your breath. However, I COULD write a hypothetical Candi/Gabriel Christmas one-shot if you guys are interested :) Let me know!
Again, I am so sorry for how long this took. Thanks to all who have encouraged me to find the time- it really did motivate me! And thanks for all of you who have reviewed/favorited/followed this story. You guys are great! Enjoy!
Oh and happy holidays! :)
Chapter Fourteen
The day would have been absolute and total hell if it weren't for a special visit.
"Haaaaaaappy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Willy, happy birthday to yoooooouuuu!" Candi held out the last warbling note with the rest of the Jenkin's family and watched as Willy blew out all fifteen candles, leaning forward in his wheelchair. As the thin trails of smoke vanished upwards, Mr. Jenkins patted him on the back, and Mrs. Jenkins pinched his cheek. The other three boys yelled out things like, "What'd you wish for?" or "Can I lick the candles?"
Candi bent down and gave Willy a big hug. "I've got to get back to work now, but happy birthday!" Willy smiled at her, his brown eyes sparkling.
"We're going to the beach after this, if you want to join," he offered.
Candi glanced at Mr. Jenkins for a confirmation. He smiled. "Of course Candi's welcome."
"I'll come right after my shift," she promised. She ruffled Willy's hair and went her rounds, waiting and serving other tables.
She was glad the Jenkins had come to Hickory's to celebrate Willy's fifteenth birthday. It was their way of including her, and this thought made her feel loved. Like she belonged somewhere.
An hour later, she clocked out and headed down to the beach, where tourists crowded around on the coarse sand. She wished she had a present to give Willy—but the free ice cream sundae at Hickory's would just have to do. They understood.
She found them stretching out their towels in the sunlight.
"Have you had time for swimming at all this summer, Candi?" Mr. Jenkins asked pleasantly.
"Once," she replied.
"Ah." He smiled. "Not enough."
She shook her head with a laugh. "Not at all."
"Candi!"
Both Candi and Mr. Jenkins turned to see Jen running up to them. The boy they'd met on the Fourth, Carlos, trailed behind her.
"Hey, I didn't know you'd be at the beach today," Jen said. "I thought you had to work."
"I got an earlier shift today." Candi looked back at Carlos, who hadn't quite made it to them yet. "So you two did hit things off." She smirked. "Liar. You said there was nothing there."
Jen rolled her eyes and turned to Mr. Jenkins. "Hey! How's it going?"
"I'm well, Jen, thank you," he answered her.
"We're celebrating Willy's birthday," Candi said.
Jen gasped and rushed over to Willy, who Candi suspected had an adorable little crush on her. "Happy birthday, dude!" She gave him a high five. "How old are you now?"
Willy straightened in his chair. "Fifteen," he said proudly. Carlos had reached Jen, and his arm wrapped around her waist. He smiled at Willy. "This is Carlos," Jen introduced to the Jenkins family. Handshakes were exchanged, and Candi raised her eyebrows at Jen, who ignored her questioning look and turned back to Carlos. They walked off, arm in arm.
"Looks like Jen's got a boyfriend," Mr. Jenkins observed.
"More like just a summer fling," Candi assumed.
"Ready to get in the water, Will?" Mrs. Jenkins asked. Will nodded, taking his shirt off. Then Mr. Jenkins and one of the boys pulled him out of his wheelchair and carried his thin body to the water, gently setting him down where the waves only came ankle deep.
Candi watched, imagining herself in Willy's place. How would it feel, having to be so dependent of others? Knowing she couldn't do much without the assistance of others? For the rest of her life? A sadness cast a wet blanket over the sunny day, and she walked over to Willy, sitting in the water beside him and his siblings. Willy grinned appreciatively at her and pulled up fistfuls of wet rocky sand. "Couldn't make very good sand castles with this stuff," he said. Candi shook her head, fingering the rocky pebbles underneath her as well.
"This isn't the kind of beach you build sand castles on. But you can find more shells." She picked out tiny shells that looked like they belonged to snails and shook them in her palm. "See?"
Willy shrugged. "They're not very big. Besides, what's so cool about an empty home?"
The waves crashed, and Candi sat in silence as Willy got dumped in cold water by his brothers.
Goosebumps began to form up her arms. She wanted to swim. "Be right back," she said to the Jenkins family, standing shakily to her feet. The sharp rocks and pebbles bit into her feet and stuck between her toes. She waded further into the water. It reached her hips, and now she was shivering, despite the warm sun. She looked back to the shore. Mr. Jenkins had pulled Willy out of the water and was carrying him to his wheelchair. Were they leaving?
She heard something. It was faint, and sounded distant. As it grew louder, she realized it was someone humming. Inside her head.
The waves and wind were too loud. If she only submerged herself in the water, she'd be able to hear the humming. She had to hear the humming.
She thought she heard someone shouting her name, but she ignored it. Slowly, she began to sink under the water.
Something was terribly wrong.
Gabriel shouted at Candi, trying to break her from whatever trance she had fallen into, but she continued to wade further into the water.
He stood just out of the reach of the waves, watching desperately as she grew further away from shore.
"Candi!" he shouted.
Yes, all he had to do was rush into the water and pull her out.
No, he couldn't do it. He'd never do it.
Gabriel wasn't one for being frightened, but just being this close to the deadly waves made his insides clench in anxiety. He remembered Michael, watching ships go down at sea over the centuries, shaking his head with pity for the poor souls. "The sea is a darkness not even angels can reach."
Those words echoed in Gabriel's head now, but he tried to block them out.
The water couldn't hurt him. Not really. But something was ingrained in him, some internal wire that told him that if he were to step foot in that water, he would be utterly defenseless.
He turned in search of someone to charge into the water for him. The family she had been with were packing up their car, too far away to be of any use. He screamed at Candi again.
His salvation came in a pale blue bikini and a brain the size of a mustard seed. "Hey! You're that weirdo that keeps popping up," Candi's friend said, suddenly beside him. "What you yelling at her for?"
Gabriel thrust his finger towards the water, feeling his voice hitch. "Candi's in danger. Get her, quick!"
The playful light in Jen's eyes dimmed, then she rushed out into the water. Candi's head had now disappeared. Gabriel couldn't keep still as he waited, pacing back and forth and ignoring any and all comments from the boy who looked like he had summersaulted out of an Abercrombie and Finch ad. He vaguely remembered him as an acquaintance of Jen's.
Jen had now disappeared as well, searching under the water. Gabriel knew there was no one to pray to, but he prayed anyway. "Don't let her be dead, don't let her be dead," he hissed under his breath, nearly stepping into the water before jumping back.
An endless amount of time passed. Finally, Jen jerked out of the water, dragging a thin body up with her. "Carlos, help me!" The ken doll rushed out to aid her. Gabriel cursed his DNA. Of all the things God made angels afraid of, why large bodies of water?
Candi was barely conscious, dazed and spluttering as she was helped to shore.
But she was okay.
This was his cue to leave.
Coughing to get the water out of her lungs felt like striking a match again and again, the intense sparks of heat ripping her throat. She was laying on her side, Jen patting her back. "Candi, you okay?"
She nodded, trying to lift herself to her knees, but Jen made her stay down a few minutes more. Exhaustion took over, and she would have been content to fall into blissful sleep on the rocky beach.
"What happened?" Jen finally asked.
"Was it a cramp? Had to pull a buddy out for that once," Carlos interjected.
Candi shook her head. "No. No, it was…" What was it? "I don't know. I guess I…" The faint memory of music filling her head made her shudder. "I don't know."
Jen wrapped her up in a towel. "Well. You're all right now, so it doesn't matter. Try standing." Candi did, and got a little light headed, but that soon passed.
"Hey, why don't we have a girl's date tonight?" Jen asked. "You've been working so hard. You deserve it."
"I don't have—"
"I'll cover for ya. Come on. Movie at my place?"
Carlos tugged on a strand of Jen's blonde hair. "I thought we were going to have a movie night?"
She smiled sweetly at him. "My best friend almost drowned. New change of plans." She punched him playfully on the shoulder. "We'll have a movie night tomorrow, sound good?"
He smiled his great big smile that showed all his glistening teeth, but Candi could tell he was a little disappointed, and she felt bad. He lightly kissed Jen's head before turning to Candi. "Take it easy, okay?"
Candi nodded. "Sorry I just stole your movie night."
He ruffled her damp hair. "Not a prob. Catch ya later."
He left after throwing a wink at Jen. Candi remembered something and looked around. "Where did the Jenkins family go?"
Jen shrugged. "I think they left."
"When? They didn't tell me they were leaving."
"You were busy drowning."
"They wouldn't have just left me while I was drowning."
"Maybe they just couldn't find you."
They walked to Jen's car. Jen settled into the driver's seat and buckled up before turning to Candi. "Seriously, though—what happened?"
Candi stared out the window towards the beach. It was getting dark, and all the people down there were only silhouettes—shapes and vague shadows against a dimming sky. "I… I just wanted to swim," she said finally. "Then I heard—" What did she hear? Humming that got louder when she was underwater? Because that didn't sound crazy at all…
"I don't know. I was just out of it, I guess."
Jen started the car, refusing to look at Candi. "Did you… Did you hear your dad?"
Candi swung around in her seat to look at Jen. "What makes you say that?"
She shrugged. "There are legends, you know. Stories. People hear things sometimes. I just figured…" She shook her head and pulled out onto the highway. "Forget it. Sorry."
Candi glanced back at the beach one last time. A figure in white stood amongst the rocks further into shore. She would have thought nothing more of it, then remembered that Gabe wore white like that.
Without warning, she remembered a face looming in front of hers. It was pale, with giant fish-like eyes and no nose. The mouth was a thin slit. Hair like seaweed floated around it. It had touched her. That's when she'd fainted from sheer fright and lack of oxygen. It could have only been a hallucination in her final drowning hours, but Candi screamed silently as Jen, unawares, continued to drive down the highway.