Chapter 33

Jay was devastated by the loss of Odie's portal shifter. The young genius guaranteed he could fix it, only it would take time. Time was something they didn't have much of. December was just about to begin. Soon the year would creep to a close. Instead of attending school Jay organized the group to take another look out on the water for the storm creating dragon. It hadn't seemed to be causing much more trouble, its storms had stayed far off shore, but Jay needed to do something to keep himself occupied.

They had been out for hours. Jay could tell his friends were starting to get a little irritable. He was just about to call it quits and turn back when he spotted the churning of black storm clouds. He pointed and hollered, with one command from their leader they were off towards it. The closer they got to the storm, the more serious the issue became. There was an assembly of fishing boats in amongst the white caps.

Jay barked orders from the steering wheel, navigating them into the downpour. With skill Jay steered them from ship to ship collecting fishermen up in his boat. They came up to the last blinking dot on the radar Odie had set into his PMR. The ship was demolished, men struggling in the waves to keep their heads above water. On what remained of the bow was a coiled serpent. Its suction mouth attached to the hull. Its bugging eyes shifted to Jay's boat, with a sharp screech it let go of the destroyed fishing vessel, turning to lunge through the water for the sailboat. The disk mouth of the serpent that had been attached to the fishing boat was full of hooked teeth. Jay's memory jogged, his constant review of his textbooks paid off. Only one sea monster had a mouth full of teeth, Charybdis.

"Archie," Jay screamed and instantly his whip was around the neck of the monster, digging into its blue skin. It pulled back against the restraint and screeched. It dove deep into the ocean, but Archie's whip held tight. The monster pulled him off balance. Terror gripped him as the water rushed closer. He snapped his eyes shut and held his breath, waiting for the grip of the ocean to claim him entirely. His body was jarred to a stop and he was yanked back to the solid floor of the boat.

Gasping deep Archie opened his eyes to find one of Herry's hand wrapped around both of his on his whip, the other he could feel wrapped up in the back of his sweater. The fabric pulled at his arms, biting into his skin, the hard pressure of Herry's fist pressed on his spine. Archie let out a relieved laugh, the pain of Herry's firm hold on his clothing only furthering the since he was safe. Without Herry's added strength Archie was sure his whip would have ripped from his grasp, instead the metal snagged the beast in place.

"Hold it there guys," Atlanta announced. She launched herself from the side of the boat, onto Charybdis. The beast thrashed against its bonds, splashing up salty sprays of ocean water, drenching the boat and all its inhabitants. With quick agility Atlanta scaled her way up the back of the serpent, climbing her way to its head. She aimed her crossbow for its eye, just about to pull the trigger and burry a bolt in its scull when its tail snapped up. Atlanta fired but it bounced of the beast's brow as she was yanked away and under the ocean surface, Charybdis' tail holding her in a firm grip.

"No, Atlanta," Archie screamed and dropped the whip, leaving it all in Herry's control. He jumped off the boat in a dive before anyone could stop him. The air whooshed in his ears as he fell faster and faster. He punctured through the water, its buoyancy quickly halting his descent. He opened his eyes to the blue, suspended in the ocean. He let out a sudden scream as fright gripped him, precious bubble of air escaping his lungs. He spotted Atlanta, pushing against Charybdis' constricting tail and put aside his fear. He pumped his muscles to push through the water. Reaching Atlanta he wrapped his arms around the monster, planted his feet on its side to help her pry. His lungs were beginning to burn when he felt the slight give. It was enough for Atlanta to wiggle free. She grabbed his wrist and pushed off.

The surface seemed so far away, there were black dots starting to spot his vision, a fire in his chest. Just when he thought he couldn't hold on any longer they burst through from beneath the water. Archie gasped in a deep breath of air, it flooded his lungs, doused the flames there. The two clung to one another as they panted.

"You," Atlanta said as soon as she could grasp the air to spare, "You came in the water."

"You needed me," he said.

"Herry," Jay's yelling pulled them back to their surroundings, "pull it down here." Herry obliged to Jay's request, once its head was in arms reach he punctured his sword through Charybdis' brain. The beast went limp and slouched into the water. Its shimmering blue body melted into the water and merged in with the ocean. The clouds in the sky settled and the sunshine beamed down on the water beginning to smooth out.

Jay retracted his sword and set into motion, scanning the area for his overboard friends. Atlanta yelled for his attention, within instants they were both back on the sailboat. The team's next task was to rescue the remainder of the sailors. Jay maneuvered his ship with skill to the men in the water, quickly accumulating a gaggle of them.

Having acquired a vast number, cramming them into every crevice on his vessel he yelled to the men on his sailboat, "Is everyone here."

"The captain," one of the crew members said, "He was knocked out and fell in."

Jay jumped back to the wheel and began sweeping the area. Face down in the water he spotted the flash of a yellow rain jacket on a man. Quickly he brought his boat beside the body and reached down to haul him in, several of the fishermen jumped up to help. Jay yelled for Herry to take over the navigation. Dropping to his knees he flipped over the man and began performing CPR. There was something about his blonde hair peppered gray that looked familiar, but he couldn't recall from where. Perhaps he had been one of the fishermen Theresa had investigated when the first boat was hit. It didn't matter right now. Keeping his heart pumping blood was all that mattered.

Opal was down by the harbor waiting for her father's boat to get in. They were going out for dinner once he got off work. She was excited for dinner; she loved spending time with him and this would be a much needed distraction from all the things she had just learned the night prior. She watched the water through her binoculars, scanning the surface of the ocean for the ships, but none of them were in sight. That was odd, usually at this time in the afternoon she could spot them heading back in. Finally a boat emerged on the horizon, as it got closer she realized it wasn't a fishing boat, it was a sailboat. She huffed in irritation and was about to shift her binoculars away when she spotted the mob of fishermen sitting on the bow.

Confused with the image she ran to the edge of the dock, and took another look. Faces started to come into focus as the boat came closer. She knew the men sitting there, all soaked through. Her breathing caught when she spotted the little redhead hop onto the bow and begin maneuvering the sail there. It was already concerning enough to see the fishermen without their ships, but this was worse. This meant there was some impossible explanation.

The sailboat came up to the neighboring dock of the one she watched from. Quickly Opal ran down the wooden structure, water sloshing under the fixture with each step. She weaved her way through the fishermen filing off the boat, scanning each face for her father's.

"Herry," she yelled when she spotted him kneeled on the dock, tying off the rope attached to the sailboat. He jerked his head towards his name, when his eyes met hers they darkened and his lips pulled down in a frown. She started running for him, the second she did he jumped to his feet and lurched towards her. He grabbed her arms in his fists, stopping her mid run.

"I'm so sorry," he said, shaking his head, "Opal, you're dad."

"What about my dad?" she demanded, her lungs trying to breathe under the sudden pressure constricting her chest.

"He's not breathing," he said.

"No," she ripped herself out of his grip, tears springing into her eyes. She stared at him unbelieving for a long moment, sneering at him as if he had suddenly transformed into some hideous monster. With hesitant movements she stepped around him and she found her father. She heard the sirens of an ambulance swarm up behind. Her father was lying on the floor of the boat, motionless as Jay pulsed the palms of his hand into his chest.

"No," she clasped her hands over her mouth and took a staggering step forward.

"Opal," Herry reached out a hand to place on her shoulder in effort to offer her some comfort.

"Dad," she ignored him and screamed. Tears were flowing in steady steams as she jumped aboard and dropped to her knees, gathering her father's limp hand up in both of hers to press against her cheek.

Medics pushed onto the boat with a defibrillator. The professionals relieved Jay of his duty and wrestled Opal away from her father. Herry stepped to the side of the dock and leaned over to catch Opal under her armpits and lifted her out of the boat while the medics ripped open John's shirt to stick the charges of the defibrillator to.

"Let me go," she squirmed suspended in the air and reached for her dad, bursting into hysterics when the first surge of electricity jarred through her father's chest.

"Opal, it's me," he set her down, spun her around and trapped her in a hug. She held fast to him, gathering the fabric of his shirt to ball into her tiny fists and buried her head in his chest. He rested his chin on top of her head and rubbed her back. There was nothing he could do for her. His stomach sank when the paramedics sat back on their heels, heads bowed. Opal struggled to get free of his embrace and he let her go. She dropped onto her father's chest and balled into the crook of his neck, her shoulders shaking in hysteria.

"I'm sorry buddy," Jay clasped his hand down on Herry's shoulder.

He sighed and said, "Don't apologize to me." The medics tore Opal away from her father to take his body away. A scream ripped from her throat, her face soaked with tears, both arms reaching for him. She fell to the floor of the sailboat when the doors of the ambulance closed and pounded her fists against the white laminate. Herry sucked in a deep breath and stepped down into the boat. He dropped to his knees and took Opal's wrists, the sides of her hands already blossoming with the purple of bruises.

She struggled to rip her hands free from his grip, but she was hardly stronger than a mouse. He pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. She shook in his embrace, clawing at his back, the tears coursing down her face hot on his neck.

"Herry," she hiccuped his name with a strangled voice, "Those stories, they're all real aren't they?"

"What stories?" he asked.

"The legends, Orpheus was real, he really did go to the underworld to get his wife," she said, "I can do the same for my dad."

"Oh," he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, he hunched his shoulders and leaned back to pull her away from his shoulder. He cupped her tear sticky face in his hands and said, "Opal, the underworld is a very dangerous place."

She scrunched her eyes closed as another wave of tears ran down her face. She gasped a sharp breath into fire filled lungs to say, "Please, he's my dad."

"I'm sorry, I can't promise anything," he squeezed his eyes shut and leaned his head forward to rest against hers. He hated to have to shatter her hope. She sniffled as she took in a shaky breath and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him in for another hug. He returned it. He'd hold her for as long as she needed him to.