02 The Moon And The Tide - Marina's Tales (26 page)

“Two birds with one stone!” smiled Evie,
“I’ll make the arrangements.”

Cruz agreed to bring Shayla up to the city in
two weeks for some photo shoots featuring his clothes. I could see
the gears turning in his head as he contemplated what he’d put her
in. I was surprised that smoke wasn’t pouring out of his ears.

“So it’s settled, you can drive Marina to the
airport and bring Shayla here afterwards!” said Evie. “I’ll make
some arrangements.”

“Can I?” Cruz asked me. I had planned on
having Ethan drop me off but Cruz was so excited I agreed. He was
practically boiling over with inspiration and his enthusiasm was
contagious. Shayla was rendered speechless by all of the attention
and could only nod mutely, stunned by Evie’s charm offensive.

As I watched this display I couldn’t help but
wonder if Evie was taking a genuine interest in Shayla or using her
to manipulate me. I knew what Ethan would say, but I also knew how
generous Evie could be. I was coming to understand the pleasure she
took in helping someone realize their potential. Evie made dreams
come true, and that was something truly priceless; something
impossible to accomplish with money alone.

“That was probably the trippiest day of my
life,” Shayla announced, shaking her head as I drove out of the
city and back to Aptos.

“Evie is a lot to process in one sitting,” I
said sympathetically.

“You’re so lucky to have her... I mean she
would obviously do anything for you.”

I thought about the vacation; there was no
way I could go two months without seeing Ethan. I started chewing
my lip in frustration, wondering how I could make Evie see what a
great person he really was.

“Yeah,” I said with a trace of bitterness,
“just about.”

“Why doesn’t she like Ethan?” Shayla
asked.

I was taken aback. She had astutely picked up
on more than I gave her credit for.

“I don’t know... I guess she doesn’t think he
can make me happy,” I said sadly, “They just kinda clashed when
they met; they don’t seem to like each other.” I paused, and then
my irritation spilled out, “She’s trying to come between us and
it’s driving me crazy.”

Shayla looked at me shrewdly, “She wants you
to be with a rich guy, right?”

She hit the mark again. “I suppose so,” I
said morosely.

“You know, Ethan really loves you. I can
tell.”

I couldn’t stifle a smile, “How?” I
asked.

“The way he looks at you,” she said.

An image of his blue eyes in the morning
flashed in my mind. Thinking about him made me blush.

“I can tell you love him too,” she added.

“And how’s that?” I smirked at her.

“Because you turned down a big fancy vacation
to stay in Aptos!” We both had a good laugh until Cruz snorted with
disgust in the back seat. Then we had an even better laugh.

When we got home Shayla changed into her
clothes and thanked us.

“I need to get home and check on my mom,” she
said.

“Alright, we’ll see you at school,” I
said.

“Could you please keep the shoes here for
me?” she asked, “My mom will never believe me...”

“Sure,” I said, “Do you want a ride?”

“No, I really feel like walking,” Shayla said
with a smile. I knew she wanted some time alone to think about her
day, to savor the experience. I could see how running up against
Evie for the first time would do that to you.

She gave me a quick hug and skipped out of
the house. It was the first time I’d ever known her to hug
anyone.

Megan came over and ushered me into my
room.

“Spill the beans,” she said, “You’ve been
hanging out with the mermaid, haven’t you?”

“Yeah,” I said with a shrug, relieved to be
able to say it, “She’s family.”

“What do you do with her?” she asked.

“She takes me places to surf... dangerous
places,” I confessed that I was afraid of what might happen.

Megan looked alarmed, “What are you thinking?
Stop going with her!”

“That’s the problem... I can’t, I mean I
don’t want to.
I ask her
to take me to the biggest surf she
can. I crave it, and Megan, I’m really good at it– a whole lot
better than I should be. It makes me feel awesome. Just happy, I
mean,
really
happy.” I paused to take a deep breath, “I
think I have a problem.”

“Does Ethan know?” she asked.

“Some of it. He tries to surf with me as much
as he can to keep me from going with her. Being with Ethan is
pretty much the only thing that helps me control it,” I said.

“So you need to spend as much time as you can
with him,” she said.

“That just leads to other problems...” I
said, blushing.

“You know,” she said, “I might be taking a
trip to the women’s clinic sometime soon. If you guys are getting
serious you should think about getting some protection. Just say
the word and I’ll go with you.”

“Why does everybody seem to think I’m gonna
end up like Abby?” I said, exasperated.

“We’re not blind! Everyone can see how you
two are together.”

“Sheesh!” I said, “Is it that obvious?”

Megan just rolled her eyes at me. Point
taken.

Over the next few days the waxing moon grew
rounder and rounder in the night sky. When it appeared over the
horizon I could only think of one thing, and I started to plan my
life around sneaking out to surf. It wasn’t so bad when it was
obscured by fog, but when it glowed brightly in the night sky the
lure was impossible to resist. By the middle of the week it was
full, amplifying the tides and drawing me towards the
inevitable.

Going surfing on full moon nights was
especially exciting. I remembered the irresistible pull of the moon
on my body when I was forced to transform, and wondered if it had
somehow changed me. Lorelei always appeared instantly, more joyous
and effervescent than usual, and I think she looked forward to
moonlit surfing as much as I did. I thought about Megan’s advice to
use Ethan as a substitute and it seemed silly when it was so
obvious that we were just having a little fun once in a while.

Lorelei seemed to relax and let her guard
down a little during our nocturnal surfing, and I realized the toll
it must take on her to constantly be on the lookout for human
witnesses. She must really be afraid, I thought, wondering what had
become of the missing mermaid. We didn’t talk about it; we just
shared the ethereal experience of gliding along with the dark and
mysterious night waves.

The next week flew by in a daze of nighttime
surfing and daytime studies. Nodding off in my classes, I was more
tired than usual, but made up for it by being blissfully happy. I
had Ethan at my side by day and on the weekends. I had Lorelei to
take me to the wild waves at night. I slept or painted in short
bursts after school and in the early morning. I was feeling a
little self-righteous about how well I was managing my dual lives,
and I started to convince myself I could have my cake and eat it
too.

Ethan noticed the change in me but wasn’t
overly suspicious about my sudden tired contentment. He worried
that the time I spent painting was cutting into my sleep, but the
fact I was leaving for Greece in a few days seemed to bother him
more than anything. I’d be flying out Saturday; we made plans to
spend Friday together. That left Thursday as my last chance for a
moonlit surfing session until I got home, and there was no way I
was going to pass it up. I was excited as I stole down the deserted
street in the dead of the night.

I had my routine down to a science, from
getting up and creeping silently out into the hushed darkness of
midnight, to squirming into my wetsuit in the Range Rover and
sprinting down to the beach. I changed again before sneaking back
in the house in the dawn’s faintest glow, collapsing in exhaustion
for a few hours before school.

The only soul I’d ever encountered was a drug
addled homeless man shambling along the pier. The irony of the
situation wasn’t lost on me; we were both in the grips of
addictions and compulsions we seemed powerless against.

Thursday night was alternately dark and
light, with black clouds pushed by high altitude winds racing
across the moon. It felt as though the whole world was rushing by,
in a hurry like I was. I paddled out, summoning Lorelei with my
thoughts. She didn’t make me wait.

“
Marina!
” she glowed eerily in the
swirling darkness. I was glad for the light she cast, eager to get
going.

“
Surf’s up!
” I said with glee.

She laughed her musical laugh. “
Up
where?
”

I smiled with amusement. Communication was
not our strong suit– sometimes she didn’t understand very much at
all of what I said.

“
Hey Lorelei, how about we go to the point
tonight?
”

I wouldn’t be able to surf for a few weeks
and I wanted to ride the biggest waves possible. I’d been thinking
about this all week… this was going to have to last me for a
while.

“
Hold on!
” she said, gripping my board
with one hand as she powered us through the black night sea.

With the dark water all around and no point
of reference it was a hallucinatory experience, like flying through
outer space. I was on a magic carpet ride, heading to surfing
nirvana. Once I stood up on my board I forgot everything but the
huge heavy waves, and all my niggling doubts and troublesome
thoughts were washed away into saltwater oblivion.

Spring storms on a distant sea had generated
mountains of water that arrived here from half a world away; the
sea didn’t disappoint that night. I dropped down on wave after inky
wave, writing my name on smooth walls of black water with my board.
I narrowly missed getting pulverized on the rocks time after time,
rescued at the last possible moment by Lorelei’s firm grip on my
arm.

The sky lightened a little, going from black
to gray. Frustrated by how fast the time flew by, I was loathe to
leave, resting on my board in between sets of waves. As euphoric as
I was from the night of surfing, I was getting worn out, and I knew
it had to come to an end.

I closed my eyes and could feel a
particularly beautiful glassy wall of water begin to form. I
couldn’t resist one more, paddling out to drop down onto the best
wave I’d seen all night. I was flying on the water, etching a foamy
path like a snake across the smooth surface. With the first light
of dawn I could just barely make out the jagged rocks rushing
towards me.

I wasn’t afraid as I casually turned,
expecting to feel Lorelei’s hand on my arm, but she wasn’t there!
My board slammed into the sharp rocks, tossing me into the foamy
surf. I felt my hip graze something hard and I surfaced, gasping
for air only to have the violently churning surf claim me again.
After what seemed an interminable amount of time forced down under
the heavy water I finally broke through the surface again and
gained control of my board, fighting past the waves to the
lineup.

“
Lorelei!
” I called as I looked around
frantically. A sickening sense of dread came over me... where could
she have gone? I rubbed my sore hip and felt icy water rushing in
where my wetsuit had torn, snagged on a jagged rock. There was a
big gouge in my board and an even bigger lump in my throat.

“
Lorelei?
” I called, fear strangling
my voice.

I turned to shore to see two figures coming
my way on surfboards. I could either go in and be stranded at the
point or head out into the open ocean and hope to find Lorelei. I
decided to take my chances with the water and started to paddle out
to sea as fast as my tired arms could go. I realized that I wasn’t
fast enough when I suddenly jerked to a halt and was thrown off my
board.

“Look what I caught!” a familiar voice called
out. He had a tight grip on my board as I struggled to pull myself
out of the water, attached by the leash. I looked up into his cold,
triumphant eyes.

“Do you think I’m scary now?” he asked.

This time I did.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Attack

I had been caught alone at the point, and was
flailing helplessly in the water looking up into a familiar pair of
malevolent eyes. I could see he was amused by my struggle to escape
as he pulled me towards him using my surfboard leash. He was a
vicious bully, I had crossed him, and now he had the upper hand. I
looked to his friend in desperation to see him laughing at me.
There would be no help coming from that direction.

I pulled myself onto my board only to have
him jerk it away again, tossing me backwards into the water. I
surfaced and reached down, desperately fumbling with the leash
attachment. If I could just get away I might be able to swim out
and find Lorelei. I knew she would never show herself as long as I
was anywhere near the two men.

“Should we give this little rich bitch a
lesson ’bout respect?” he asked his companion with a sneer.

He yanked my leash cord, dragging me towards
him before I was able to unhook myself. He clamped onto my wrist
and pulled me up close to him. I could see the cold brutality and
determination in his eyes and I started thrashing around with all
my might, trying to break his grip. I managed to kick off against
his board, knocking him into the water where the struggle
continued.

His arm locked around my neck, forcing my
head underwater. I was reminded of the time Shayla nearly drowned
me as I struggled to free myself in vain. He was much stronger than
me, and it was clear that resistance was futile. I stopped fighting
and the grip on my neck loosened enough to let me to catch a single
breath before I was plunged back under the water. He kept me in a
headlock as he swam to shore, our boards trailing behind us.