Chapter 15 To love and to cherish till death do us part
Author's note; The gang celebrates Mrs. Wellington's birthday, but Ava has a new scheme; in characters past Dawn and Troy's wedding is threatened by hunters.
Annie was sitting on her bed. It was the first of November and it was no ordinary day. It was Mrs. Wellington's 38th birthday and she was making a present for her.
She had a rock on her bed and was using her water powers lift water in the air and shaping it into the form of two mermaids arm in arm on the rock. She then hardened it into crystal.
Annie went down for breakfast.
"I hope Mrs. Wellington likes the birthday present I made her" said Annie as she ate her breakfast.
"I'm sure she will," said Alex.
When Annie was finished, she and Alex headed out the door.
…
Over at Mrs. Wellington's house, Mrs. Wellington was getting ready to go. Melora came downstairs.
"Happy birthday Dawn!" cried Melora.
"Thanks, Melora" said Mrs. Wellington hugging her sister.
"It's a shame you have to go to work," sighed Melora. "This is the first time we've celebrated your birthday together in years, and I want it to be special."
"Don't worry Melora," assured Mrs. Wellington. "We can spend time together after work."
"And I'm planning a big dinner tonight," said Haru coming out of the kitchen.
"Thank you Haru" said Mrs. Wellington chuckling.
Mrs. wellington got into her car and drove off to Buchanan high. As she sat down at her desk. Annie walked in.
"Happy birthday Mrs. Wellington," said Annie cheerfully. "I got a present for you."
She reached into her backpack and pulled out the rock with the mermaid figurines on it.
"I made it myself," said Annie. "It represents you and Melora."
"Thank you, Annie," said Mrs. Wellington kindly. "I love it."
Just then Irene, Trish, Kelsey, Rachel and Parker came in.
"We have gifts for you too Mrs. Wellington," said Irene in a sweet tone. She held up a gift back with lavender colored wrapping paper. "It's some oils and body products from my mom's store."
Mrs. Wellington thanked Irene and took the bag.
Trish's present was a dress from her mom's boutique. It was an ocean blue taffeta dress with a silk skirt.
Kelsey's was made a painting of the ocean she made in art class.
Rachel's gift was a music box.
And Parker's was a picture frame.
"Thank you everyone," said Mrs. Wellington kindly. "These are all such great gifts."
"And Vivian is making your favourite cake," added Annie. "Banana cake for the party tonight."
Mrs. Wellington beamed upon hearing that.
Just then the bell rang.
"Come on Trish," said Kelsey. "We're gonna be late for art class."
With that the group left the office.
…
Pacific city Oregon, June 1994
Dawn and Susannah were sitting in a dressing room trying on Dawn's wedding dress. When they had graduated from high school two years ago, Troy had proposed to Dawn, and now they had been getting ready for their wedding.
"You look beautiful Dawn," said Susannah. She wore a bluish-green dress with a bubble skirt.
"Thanks for helping me get changed Susannah," said Dawn kindly. "But this is only the rehearsal remember, the wedding is in two days."
"I know," said Susannah excitedly. "But it's the talk about it all over the university."
Dawn looked like a princess in her wedding dress. It was a plain u-neck dress with wide straps and a long white skirt.
Just then Troy walked in wearing a white dress shirt and a black jacket and pants. He starred in awe at the sight of his fiancé.
"You look beautiful Dawn," said Troy speechlessly.
"Thanks," replied Dawn smiling.
Dawn and Troy walked to the venue; they walked down the aisle between the rows of seats for their guests.
"You sure we're not doing this too soon?" asked Dawn. "I mean we're still in college."
"I wanted to get married right away," replied Troy. "I've been wanting to propose to you since you left the pod. And I couldn't wait a minute longer."
Dawn looked away sadly.
"I wish my sister could be here for the wedding," she said softly. "And my family."
"I know Dawn," said Troy sympathetically. "But remember you left the pod because you loved life on the surface. It's not like they can go on land anyway."
"I know," replied Dawn looking at her moon ring. "It's just, I wish things could've turned out better for us."
"I'm sure Melora has accepted your choice," said Troy wrapping his arm comfortingly around her. "And I'm sure she'd be happy for you about getting married."
Dawn felt a bit better by her fiancé's words.
But little did they know some people were spying on them from a police cruiser.
…
Mrs. Wellington was working at her desk when Mr. Stowe opened the door.
"Dawn," he said. "You have a visitor."
Mrs. Wellington looked up to see a red-haired woman walking from behind Mr. Stowe. She wore a red shoulder less top, a black pea coat and black skinny jeans. It was a very familiar face.
"Susannah?!" she gasped.
"Happy birthday Dawn," said Susannah.
Mrs. Wellington jumped from her chair and ran to her old friend and hugged her.
"It's so nice to see you again!" cried Mrs. Wellington.
"You too," replied Susannah. "I haven't seen you since you and Troy moved here."
"So, what have you been doing?" asked Mrs. Wellington.
"I've been working in a garden center since we graduated college," said Susannah. "So how have you been doing?"
"I've haven't used my powers much since I moved here," said Mrs. Wellington. "But last year a new student found a moonpool here in Florence and became a mermaid and another girl in this school comes from a family of mermaids so I've been helping them with their powers."
"Have you been reading the book I gave you on your wedding day?" asked Susannah.
"I've read it a lot throughout my life," said Mrs. Wellington. "But we've been using it a lot since Annie became a mermaid. We've been seeing a lot of magic beings since we met."
"What about the supernatural hunters?" asked Susannah.
"We've dealt with them too" admitted Mrs. Wellington.
Just then the bell rang.
"That's the lunch bell," said Mrs. Wellington. "Come on and I'll introduce you to the mermaids in the school."
…
Dawn and Troy walked down the aisle for the wedding rehearsal. Susannah stood at the altar as the bridesmaid.
"Dearly beloved," said the priest. "We are gathered here today to unite the marriage between these two lovers. Mr. Wellington please repeat these words. I Troy Wellington."
"I Troy Wellington."
"Take this woman to be my wife."
"Take this woman to be my wife."
"To have and to hold."
"To have and to hold."
"To love and cherish till death do us part."
"To love and cherish till death do us part."
"Dawn Waters," said the priest. "Do you take this man to be your husband through good times or bad until death do you part?"
"I do" replied Dawn.
"Then I know pronounce you husband and wife," said the priest. "You may kiss the bride."
Troy and Dawn kissed.
"That was great!" cried Susannah running up to them.
"Thanks" said Dawn blushing.
"Just think," sighed Troy. "In a couple days we'll be doing this for real."
Dawn smiled lovingly at her fiancé.
None of them saw a couple walking into the area. The man looked middle aged and wore a police uniform. The girl walking next to him was a lady with curly dirty blond hair wearing a black tank top and skinny jeans.
The police man then shot his gun in the air. "Everybody, get down!" she shouted.
The three young adults ducked down screaming. Troy covered Dawn to protect her against bullets.
The officer pushed Troy off and grabbed Dawn's arm.
"Get up" order the officer picking her up.
"Dawn!" cried Susannah.
The lady pushed Dawn along and the officer walked backwards holding his gun out.
They took Dawn to the officer's cruiser and forced her inside and the drove off.
…
Annie and Rachel were talking in the cafeteria with Jasmine, Muffy, Amelia and Toni when Mrs. Wellington came up to them.
"Annie, Rachel, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure" said Annie dumbfounded. The other girls looked at each other in confusion.
"We'll be right back," said Rachel getting up.
Mrs. Wellington grabbed Irene, Trish and Kelsey too.
"Girls," said Mrs. Wellington. "I'd like you all to meet an old friend of mine." The girls turned to see Susannah.
"This is Susannah Miranda," introduced Mrs. Wellington. "We went to school together when I moved on land. Susannah these are Annie, Irene, Rachel and Trish, the mermaids I told you about."
"You know Mrs. Wellington's a mermaid?" Trish blurted out.
"I'm a witch," explained Susannah chuckling. "Some magic beings have the ability to sense magic on other magic beings. So, I knew she was a mermaid from the moment we met."
"Susannah's the one who gave me the book," said Mrs. Wellington.
"You mean the spell book?" exclaimed Annie.
Mrs. wellington nodded. "It was a wedding gift" she explained.
"You must be Annie," said Susannah. The witch took note that Annie had red hair like her, only Annie's was a darker shade than hers. "You're the one who discovered the moonpool aren't you?"
"Yes" said Annie.
"Trish and I became mermaids earlier this year too," Rachel jumped in. "Kind of by accident."
Susannah looked at Kelsey.
"I don't sense any magic on you" she said.
"I'm a regular girl," replied Kelsey. "I never fell in the moonpool."
Susannah gave her a sympathetic look.
"It's so nice to finally meet you," she said. "Dawn's been telling me so much about you."
"I hope you'll join us for the party after school," said Annie. "For Mrs. Wellington's birthday."
"Of course, I will," said Susannah cheerfully.
The girls turned and headed back to the cafeteria. Nobody knew that Ava was watching through an image in a pool.
"So, the mermaids have a witch friend?" she said. "This might work out."
…
Troy and Susannah were picking themselves up after the attack. They couldn't believe some police officer would just attack and kidnapped Dawn.
"Susannah," said Troy breathlessly. "Why would that happen? What's going on?"
"I-I don't know," stammered Susannah. "But I think that it's possible those people are hunters."
"Hunters?" said Troy. "What do you mean?"
"My parents warned me about them," said Susannah. "They said that after people stopped executing people for being magic, some people still had their suspicions towards magic. They started to hunt down magic beings and kill them. They've mentioned that they've had trouble with them before."
"You mean they could kill her?!" cried Troy. "We have to find her quickly!"
"We should call the police," suggested Susannah. "They might know this police officer."
…
The policeman and the girl parked the cruiser at an abandoned warehouse at the waterfront. They opened the trunk and pulled Dawn out and dragged her inside.
"What do you want with me?" cried Dawn as they tied her to a chair.
"Shut up mermaid!" snapped the girl kicking her in the leg.
"Jewel" scolded the policeman.
"Jewel and I are supernatural hunters," he said to Dawn. "It's our job to kill supernatural beings like you mermaids."
"My brother and I have hunted many magical creatures," declared Jewel. "It's too easy, they're weak. I once shot a fairy and it turned to ash the minute it got shot."
Dawn glared at the siblings at their insults towards magic.
"I'm not bad" she said softly.
"Like we care," laughed Jewel. "We hunt these beings because they're magic. It's nothing but trouble."
"How do you even know I'm a mermaid?" asked Dawn.
"We've been watching you these past few days," said the policeman. "We've watched you using magic and seeing your tail."
He looked at his sister.
"Keep watching her," he said. "I've got to get back to work."
"Yes Kent," said Jewel.
Kent left the warehouse and went back to his cruiser.
…
At the police station Susannah and Troy were talking with the chief. They told him about Dawn's kidnapping and that they believed that they believed one of them was a policeman.
"Are you sure?" asked the chief.
Susannah described what the man looked like.
"That sounds like Kent Webb," sighed the chief. "He's been a policeman for 16 years, though I always thought something strange about him. The girl who was with him must be his sister Jewel. She's always had a rebellious and rough attitude. He's always been talking about supernatural stuff and accuses some people of being supernatural."
He showed a picture of officer Kent Webb on his computer.
"That's him" confirmed Troy.
"I'll send the forces out" declared the chief.
Troy and Susannah left the police station.
"We can't wait," said Troy. "They're supernatural hunters and they'll kill her if we don't find her soon."
"Yes," agreed Susannah. "We'll have to find her ourselves."
"Where would they take her?" asked Troy.
"We could check the waterfront," suggested Susannah. "They're lots of abandoned buildings there."
And with that they ran as fast as they could across town.
…
Mrs. Wellington and Susannah arrived at Mrs. Wellington's house.
"It's a very nice place Dawn," said Susannah. "You And Troy have really had a good life."
Mrs. Wellington opened the door and Susannah was surprised to see Melora in the living room. Melora turned around in surprise.
"Melora?" said Susannah in surprise. "Is that you?"
"Susannah?!" gasped Melora.
"What's your sister doing here?" whispered Susannah.
"Annie and Irene met her in the oceanic realm and brought her back to Florence," explained Mrs. Wellington. "And she's come to accept my choices."
"I know we didn't get off to a great start when we first met," said Melora awkwardly. "But I hope we can start over."
Susannah shook Melora's hand acceptingly.
A knock came on the door. Mrs. Wellington looked to see Annie and her parents standing at the door. Vivian was carrying the banana cake she had baked. It was three layers and frosted with vanilla icing and colorful candles on the top layer.
"Vivian, it looks delicious," said Mrs. Wellington. "You've done yourself good at cooking as usual."
"Why thank you Dawn," laughed Vivian.
Rachel, Parker, Irene, Trish, Kelsey arrived not long later with Sean and Celina. Haru had cooked lots of seafood. It looked like seafood out of a nice restaurant.
When everybody had eaten, Vivian lit up the candles on the cake and Mrs. Wellington blew them out.
As they had the cake, Mrs. Wellington looked over at the picture of her and Troy on their wedding day. She wished he could've been there with them.
She set down her plate and walked upstairs, Susannah seemed to notice her walking upstairs and went to follow her.
"What's wrong Dawn?" asked Susannah.
"Nothing," said Mrs. Wellington. "It's just, I'm kind of missing Troy. Since we moved here, I used the tailless potion to help me around. When I met Annie, I decided to start using my powers again knowing as a new mermaid she'd need help."
"I miss Troy too," sighed Susannah. "I've known him longer than you did you know. We've been friends since we were kids. It was quite sad when I got the news that he passed away."
"He hasn't left us," declared Mrs. Wellington. "He's still here. He always was a devoted boyfriend. He stayed with me when he discovered I was a mermaid, always protected me against those who'd be dangerous and kept the existence of mermaids a secret."
"He did love you for you," said Susannah. "And I always helped you get by on land."
"I don't think I would've made it without you," said Mrs. Wellington softly. "It's just with my sister being back in my life, I wish he could've been here now that she's accepted things."
"Mrs. Wellington," called Rachel's voice. "Someone's here to see you."
"You go ahead," said Susannah. "I'm just gonna use the bathroom."
Mrs. Wellington nodded and went back downstairs, when she got down, she could see a girl with blond hair and wearing a pink gown.
"You must be Dawn Wellington," she said. "I'm Forget me not, princess of Avalon. My father sent me to bring you a gift."
The sidhe princess opened a box to reveal a gold medallion.
"It's so beautiful Forget me not" said Mrs. Wellington kindly.
Just then the lights started flickering around the house. Everyone looked around worriedly. The lights then stopped flickering and everything was calm again.
"What was that?" asked Parker.
"I don't know," said Mrs. Wellington. "I'd better check on Susannah."
Mrs. Wellington ran upstairs to the bathroom, but no one was there.
"Susannah?" called Mrs. Wellington.
Just then an image appeared in the mirror. Mrs. Wellington starred in horror as she saw Ava in the mirror.
"Ava!" cried Mrs. Wellington.
"You must be the mermaid's teacher," taunted Ava. "I have a friend of yours."
"Susannah!" gasped Mrs. Wellington.
Ava chuckled evilly.
"If you want your friend back," she instructed. "Then bring me the sidhe princess and met us in the belltower at the church near the cemetery."
Then she disappeared.
…
Kent came rushing into the storage room much to the surprise of Jewel.
"Kent!" she cried. "What's wrong."
"I heard on my walkie-talkie that the police have sent a hunt out on me!" cried Kent. "They know we kidnapped the mermaid."
"Her friends told them," said Jewel in realization. "I told you we should've killed them!"
"Go look around" ordered Kent.
Jewel grabbed her gun and they split up.
Susannah and Troy came up to the warehouse. They could see a police cruiser parked in front of the building.
"That must be their hideout" whispered Troy.
They walked closer and hid behind the police car.
"I'll go in the side door," whispered Susannah. "You stay here and keep watch."
Susannah ran as quietly as ran to the side of the building and went inside. She ran through the back hall. She peered around a corner to see if either of them came along. When she didn't see anyone, she rounded the corner running.
"Hold it right there!" called a voice.
Susannah froze and turned around to see Jewel holding her gun out.
"Who are you?" said Jewel demandingly.
"Where's my friend!" snapped Susannah.
"You're one of the mermaid's friends," said Jewel recognizing Susannah. "What are you?"
"I'm a witch, supernatural hunter" said Susannah bravely.
"Our father was a hunter," taunted Jewel proudly. "He raised me and my brother to hate magic. He'd be proud of me to kill a mermaid, a very rare kill for us hunters."
She aimed her gun and shot it, but Susannah held her hand out in a stop position and the bullet froze in midair much to Jewel's surprise. Then Susannah made the bullet turn around and fly back.
Susannah held her hand out, a purple beam of ligh shot out and hit Jewel. Jewel flew back screaming and landed on the floor.
"Earthquake" cried Susannah.
Jewel picked herself up and felt the ground beneath her crumbling. Earth shot everywhere making her fall backwards. Susannah ran off.
Susannah ran down the hall and into the office and found Dawn tied up in the chair.
"Susannah!" cried Dawn happy to see her friend.
"Dawn" said Susannah in relief. She quickly began to untie the ropes. Once they were untied, she helped Dawn up and they began to run for the door. When Jewel burst in and threw water from a bottle and it hit Dawn on the arm.
Dawn transformed into mermaid form and collapsed to the ground.
Kent then entered the office and stood in front of the hostages.
"What was all that noise?" he asked holding his gun out.
"The mermaid's friend is a witch!" cried Jewel.
Kent glared at Susannah and was ready to shoot her.
"Hey get away from my fiancé!"
They turned around to see Troy standing in the doorway with a gun.
"Put the gun down!" he ordered.
Kent scoffed and pointed his own gun at Troy.
"Stay out of this kid" he said unimpressed.
"Let them go!" snapped Troy.
"Kid I'm gonna need you to back down!" Kent snapped furiously.
Troy and Kent shot their guns. Kent's gunshot grazed Troy, but Troy's shot got Kent between the eyes and landed right on his back. The girl's mouths dropped wide open in surprise and their eyes were opened as wide as they could go.
"Kent!" cried Jewel. "No!"
Jewel got off of Dawn and ran over to her brother's body and leaned over, checking him. He was dead.
Jewel got up furiously, her pale blue eyes blazing. She hit Troy on the head with her gun knocking him to the floor.
"You couldn't leave well enough alone!" she snapped.
"I'll show you what dead looks like!" called Susannah.
Jewel turned to look at Susannah. Susannah had her hand in a fist form and swung her arm and Jewel's neck twisted with a sickening crack. Jewel's lifeless body fell to the ground next to her brother.
The three friends all exchanged looks and breathed a sigh of relief.
…
Mrs. Wellington told everyone about what Ava and that she kidnapped Susannah in exchange for Forget me not.
"What are we gonna do?" asked Trish.
"We can go with Mrs. Wellington and Forget me not to the church and fight Ava," said Annie. "We'll outnumber her and stop her for good."
"It'd be dangerous" Kelsey pointed out.
"I have to help protect Avalon," Forget me not spoke up. "If we don't stop Ava, she'll take over Avalon and who knows what she'll do next. We should try Annie's plan."
"Okay," said Annie. "The other mermaids and I will go with Mrs. Wellington and Forget me not to the church."
"I'm coming too," said Parker. "I'm not letting that sidhe hurt you, Annie."
"I'm coming too," added Kelsey. "I may not be a mermaid but I need to be there for my friends."
Irene and Trish smiled at their friend and got up arm in arm.
…
Mrs. Wellington, Melora, the mermaids/humans and Forget me not ran across to the other side of town where the church was. It was in a clearing near a wooded area with a small cemetery next to it.
The gang stood at the edge of the walkway and looked up at the church. Trish's family went to the church, but to her it looked gloomy in the evening setting. Taking a deep breath, they walked across the walkway and up to the door.
Celina used her telekinesis powers to unlock the doors and opened them and they walked inside.
They looked around. The church was dark and quiet, the lines of wooden seats empty lined up to the altar.
"She said to meet her in the belltower" explained Mrs. Wellington.
Trish led them to a door on the right side of the altar. They went through the door and up a winding staircase to the room in the tower where the bell was kept.
There were old barrels and boxes scattered around, but they couldn't see Ava at all.
"So," said a voice. "You decided to come."
They looked up to see Ava in sidhe form flying above them. Ava floated down and transformed into human form.
"We brought you the princess Ava," said Rachel firmly. "Now where's Susannah?"
Ava lifted her hand up. She was holding Susannah in the air.
"Now hand over the princess," demanded Ava. "And I'll give you the witch."
"This stops now Ava!" declared Annie stepping up. She held her hand out. A gust of wind blew Ava back, she almost lost her grip on Susannah, but regain it.
Rachel, Trish and Celina attempted to use their telekinetic powers to pull Susannah to the ground, but Ava's magic was battling against it.
Parker charged forward with his sword, but Ava used her other hand to throw him to the side.
Kelsey then knocked over a barrel and rolled it towards Ava. It hit her and she fell over, losing her grip on Susannah. Susannah went flying out the window screaming and flew down to the ground.
Everyone looked out the shattered window and saw Susannah had been impaled by a spike pole.
Ava transformed back into sidhe form and flew away. They all quickly ran downstairs, to the awful sight.
Sean held Irene comforting. Trish's stomach threatened to bring up her dinner and cake. Kelsey wrinkled her face in disgust. Mrs. Wellington starred horrifically, tears in her eyes.
"Susannah" she breathed.
Susannah's eyes were still open in shock. The spike had went back first through her body, her expression motionless.
Mrs. Wellington lifted Susannah's hand and held it tightly.
…
A couple days had passed since the incident with the hunters. The wedding was about to begin. Guests were arriving and taking their seats. Dawn had changed into her wedding dress.
"You excited?" asked Susannah stepping in.
"I'm still a little shaken from the kidnapping," admitted Dawn. "But I am still excited this is happening."
Susannah held up a present. It was wrapped in light pink wrapping paper with a pattern of purple and blue seashells.
"It's my wedding gift to you," explained Susannah. "And I want you to open it now."
Dawn took the present and quickly unwrapped it. It was a book.
"It's a book of magic spells and magical sea creatures," explained Susannah. "I though it might come in handy someday."
"I love it," said Dawn happily. "I'm sure it might come in handy."
"It's almost time for the ceremony," said Susannah. "I'd better join the others."
Dawn looked at the book for a moment and set it down and followed Susannah outside.
…
Portland Oregon
A week had gone by since Susannah's death. The gang joined Mrs. Wellington, Melora and Haru for Susannah's funeral. Alex and Vivian joined too. Family members and old friends of Susannah had gathered at the cemetery.
A tree was surrounded by three headstones. Susannah's parents explained that their ancestors planted that tree years ago as a memorial and a headstone was on three sides of the tree. Annie looked at the headstone on the left side of the tree that had been made for Susannah.
Susannah Elizabeth Miranda
Feb 27th 1981-Nov 1st 2016
"I'm sorry your birthday turned out like this Dawn" said Annie sympathetically.
Mrs. Wellington nodded acceptingly.
She then walked over to Susannah's parents.
"I am sorry about Susannah," she said. "I didn't mean for her to die."
"It's okay," said Mrs. Miranda. "It's no one's fault."
"I am very appreciative for you letting me stay with you when I left the ocean," Dawn added. "She helped me get used to living on land."
"We were delighted," said Mr. Miranda.
Meanwhile Annie was talking with Parker and Rachel.
"We really have to stop Ava now," said Annie. "She's caused a lot of trouble."
"It's not going to be easy" sighed Rachel.
"Nobody in Florence will be safe until we stop Ava," said Parker. "And it's only a matter of time before she goes for us."
"It won't be easy," said Annie determinedly. "But we will defeat Ava."
Author's note; This chapter similar to the episode of Once upon a time: The queen's dead.