Sprite (Annabelle's Story Part One) (16 page)

I felt my muscles strain as I stretched my arms across my body then straight over my head. The pain in my shoulder had faded considerably. The salt pack had worked wonders.

And even after pushing our minds to the limit yesterday, sleep rejuvenated me. I was surprised considering I used my head so much yesterday to shoot currents at the Trackers and with the tablet.

I wasn’t about to object though. I even woke before Adrian. Reaching over, I tried to shake him awake.

“Five more minutes.”

I grinned, sometimes Adrian seemed like a typical teenage boy. Then just as fast as my grin appeared, I pushed it away. That smile of mine was just a little bit too endearing and felt a little too wrong.

“Come on, Adrian. We gotta get moving. You know we’ve got that whole New Year’s Day deadline looming and all,” I added with a slight edge to my voice.

“Oh crap, so this isn’t all a bad dream?” he said groggily.

“I wish. It’s not like I volunteered to go on this little journey. Pretty sure I was kidnapped.”

He sat upright, a hint of confusion in his eyes. “Sure, but you eventually came around to the idea of helping us, did you not?”

“I suppose. Why don’t we just get started? As luxurious as this rock is, I’d like to get back to Tritonis as soon as possible. Better yet, I’d like to get back to New Jersey.”

 “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everything okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

And felt like a jerk. My snarkiness at Adrian wasn’t because of anything he did. It was solely because I caught myself having a soft moment toward him. I quickly tried to right my wrong and offered a timid smile. “Sorry, just a little anxious.”

“Yeah, so am I. It’s okay. Let me go check to make sure there aren’t any Trackers lurking nearby, and then we can get out of here.”

Within minutes, his silhouette popped back into the opening of the hole. “Coast is clear.”

I figured I didn’t need the salt pack anymore, so I pulled it out from under my bodysuit and left it behind. I hoped I wouldn’t need another one as we continued our mission.

“So, it’s probably safer to avoid the main jet stream as much as possible,” he said. “I don’t know if the Trackers are staked out on it looking for us.”

“That makes sense.”

“We can still use it for short periods to rest.” He studied a map he had pulled from beneath his armor. “Eventually we’ll jump onto this jet stream.”

As he pointed from one line to the other, it reminded me of the subway system of New York City. I wasn’t aware that the system of jet streams down here was so extensive.

Jet streams provided access to various points in the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and even up into the Arctic Ocean; a place I hoped our travels wouldn’t take us.

I pinpointed the one that we’d taken from North America to Europe, to the waters off the coast of Portugal. It also connected to another stream that shot across the Mediterranean Sea. Taking that one would bring us near the southern part of Italy, where Adrian informed me Ortygia was.

As we started the next leg of our journey, I yearned for the jet stream, but I understood why we couldn’t take it. It was just too dangerous, especially in the first few hours of our trip.

The forty-yard bubble of light was somewhat of a blessing in disguise. Sure, I didn’t like not knowing what was around me, but it also helped us to be more discreet as we cut across the Atlantic Ocean.

We decided to stay relatively close to the jet stream though. Not only to help guide us, but also in case we needed it to rest or escape.

At first, we didn’t talk. We were both too on edge scouting for any Trackers. As time passed, we began feeling a little more secure and fell into a natural conversation.

Adrian kept his voice low as he told me about growing up in Tritonis, and even more about his family.

He adored his little sister. Although she’d been gone for years, his protectiveness of her hadn’t faded.

Growing up, the fact that she was a princess was a moot point. Her natural charisma attracted many of the boys in school. Needless to say, he had his hands full trying to block their playful advances.

“What was her name?” I asked?

“Aurelia.”

“It’s a beautiful name.”

“It actually means ‘golden.’ My parents named her Aurelia because of her light hair. Having blonde hair is quite rare for us. In fact, Helen of Troy and Aphrodite are the only Greeks who come to mind who had golden locks.”

“Aphrodite was the goddess of beauty, right?”

“Yes, and my sister is a spitting image of her.”

It was obvious he missed her greatly, and his parents, too. Especially since he still referred to them in present tense. A good time to change the subject, I thought.

“So, did you have any pets growing up?”

As soon as I said it, it just sounded lame. He must’ve seen my face as I chastised myself because he started laughing.

“As a matter of fact, I did.”

“Oh really? Like what?”

“For the longest time, I had a little seahorse that followed me everywhere. He’d just flutter along next to my head. YaYa used to say that he was my shadow.”

I instantly wanted a seahorse. You could say I was an animal lover. I brought home various stray cats and kittens throughout the years, surprising my parents. Fortunately, they let me keep them.

“The island of Ortygia looks a lot like a seahorse,” he continued.

“Oh yeah?”

“That’s what they say. That can be your fun fact of the day.”

I chuckled. “Thanks.”

Just then, my little bubble of light darkened.

“Adrian? What’s going on?”

Looking around, and finally up, Adrian’s body tensed. “Okay, don’t move.”

“What? Why not?”

“I don’t want to alarm you.”

Panic clouded my vision. “I’m already alarmed, Adrian! What is it?”

“There’s a megalodon over top of us.”

“A what?!”

“Shh, it’s a very, very big shark. I don’t know if it saw us. Just try to keep still. And quiet.”

I didn’t dare move an inch. I couldn’t believe how big it was. No wonder it cast complete darkness over top of us. A megalodon was very similar to a great white shark except longer and also a lot wider, almost stockier. Basically, it was huge. This insane fish measured over fifty feet long. That’s like a five story building.

As we hung there frozen in the water, the megalodon continued to swim. Eventually, his dark tail fin completely passed.

“I don’t think he saw us,” Adrian whispered as the shark moved on.

Then, in a blink, we were staring into the eyes of the megalodon. And it came right for us. They weren’t pretty eyes either. It was like looking into endless black holes. His mouth was worse though. It was open and ready for a mid-morning snack. And boy were his teeth big. I swore each tooth measured half a foot long.

“Dive to the left!” Adrian demanded. For good measure, he shoved my body as he kicked in the opposite direction to the right.

The megalodon’s mouth devoured the space left behind. The sound of its teeth colliding froze me in place.

“Try to stay underneath of him! Right beneath his belly.”

I didn’t move.

“Annabelle!”

The sound of my name kicked me into motion. I quickly surged forward toward the white of his underbelly. Adrian met me there, sharing quick fearful looks.

I’ve seen films of large whales. They always seemed to leisurely make their way across the ocean. Although, I remembered how they could accelerate to thirty-five miles per hour if necessary. The thing with the megalodon was that even though it was as big as a whale, its quickness wasn’t just speed, it was also agility.

It thrashed around every which way, striving to align its jaws with our bodies. We tried to stay beneath it in a spot where it couldn’t reach, but the encounters got closer each time.

I screamed in my head, trying to send current after current at it before another attack, but it was just too big and strong to stop. My current simply bounced off and disappeared into the water surrounding the megalodon.

The few times my currents were useful was when its jaws were about to close overtop of us. In those moments, I forced it mouth open while we barely escaped⎯a rather good time for my affinity to be useful.

“Adrian!” I called. “I can’t keep this up for much longer. We need to get out of here!”

I could tell his mind was racing. His eyes darted up, down, left, and right as he tried to find a way out for us. The jet stream wasn’t an option. We’d be a sitting duck for the shark to eat us.

“Do you see that crevice over there between the rocks?”

Quickly, I looked down to my right and saw a small opening between the two formations.

“Yes, yes… I see it!”

“On the count of three, swim as fast as we can to that crevice.”

I nodded frantically.

“All right. One. Two. Three!”

My heart threatened to leap from my chest as I dove downwards toward my right. Adrian went left then circled back up over the megalodon as it reacted to my movement.

The megalodon caught Adrian out of the corner of his eye and corrected his body back upwards.

In this time, Adrian dove down, barely avoiding the crunch of the monster’s teeth.

Within seconds, I made it safely to the crevice. Turning, Adrian was right behind me. But so was the shark.

“Hurry!”

He wasn’t going to make it.

The thought was too much to bear…

Adrian wasn’t going to make it.

The megalodon was inches behind.

Mustering up all my mental strength, my mind roared. The strongest current I’ve ever sent went flying out from my hands. The impact stunned the megalodon for a fraction of a second, allowing Adrian to slip into the crevice.

His momentum shot him into me, lodging me deeper into the crack.

When our bodies finally stopped, we were pressed together. His arms were on either side of my body, our faces only inches apart, staring right into each other’s eyes.

Now, my heart pounded for an entirely different reason.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

The feelings that came over me felt wrong. Even thinking of Adrian this way stung like I had cheated on Blake. And Blake didn’t deserve that. He was a wonderful boyfriend who was probably losing sleep over the fact that I was gone.

Over the past few days, Adrian and I had become close. There was no denying that⎯nor did I feel guilty about it⎯but I always tried to refrain from thinking of him as anything other than a friend.

Adrian said that Aurelia had charisma, but he possessed it too. It was hard to not grow fond of him.

The only good thing about this moment was that my close proximity to Adrian helped to ease the panic of the megalodon that currently swam back and forth outside of the rocks.

“Are you okay, Belles?” Adrian said, trying to reposition himself next to me instead of on top of me.

There it was. Adrian had used the nickname that was reserved for Blake. Hearing this made my heart beat even faster. It sounded so good coming from Adrian’s lips, but again, that made it feel wrong.

“Um, yeah.”

“Okay, good,” he said as he took in our surroundings, my reaction leaving him unfazed. “We need to find a way out of here and quickly.”

Focusing on the situation at hand—and not my confusing love life—stated the obvious, but I wasn’t sure how we were going to escape. In one direction, the distance between the rocks narrowed to the point that I doubted we could fit through. The megalodon currently blocked the other side of the rocks and it didn’t look like he was ready to give up any time soon. Every few seconds the monster stopped pacing and snapped at the rock. Each time, a little bit of the façade crumbled.

Sort of like my guard against Adrian…

If the megalodon really wanted, it could chomp through the rocks in a matter of seconds.

Apparently, the shark realized that too.

“Go!” Adrian shouted, pointing tat the other end of the rocks.

I quickly maneuvered myself between the crevices, but it became increasingly tighter and tighter.

Somehow, Adrian’s voice remained level. “I really need you to hurry.”

With a combination of Adrian pushing me, me pulling myself, and the sheer terror of the megalodon right behind us, I finally popped out the other side. I’d have some nice, new bruises in a few hours time.

I wouldn’t generally call myself a lucky person, but right then, I was glad the luck of my Irish ancestors was on my side. My last name was Walsh after all. Right in front of us a herd of wild hippocampus grazed.

Within seconds of emerging from the crevice, the megalodon broke through the final part of the rocks.

I quickly sent a current, singling out a hippocampus to hold in place while Adrian and I raced in its direction.

Just as we reached it, I released the current and we jumped onto its back. I landed behind Adrian and quickly wrapped my arms around his waist while he grabbed hold of its mane and leaned against its neck.

The impact of our bodies sent the hippocampus into a full sprint. And just in the nick of time. We barely escaped the closing of the megalodon’s mouth, the sound of teeth hitting teeth chilling my bones.

Without missing a beat, it stayed right on our tail.

The hippocampus acted instinctively to zigzag across the water. A few times, I nearly slipped off as my body weight flew from one side or the other.

Then, the megalodon stopped. I don’t know if he grew tired or if he simply decided we weren’t worth the effort. Perhaps, it was a combination of both. Whatever the cause, I exhaled; no longer destined to be his snack.

“Well, that was quite a trip,” Adrian said, trying to lighten the mood.

“I’d say so, I can’t believe we got away. I also can’t believe how fast that thing broke through the rocks.”

“Believe it or not, that thing was only a baby.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

With a shake of his head, he responded, “I wish.”

Just then I realized my arms were still tightly wound around Adrian’s body. I snapped them away, my hand self-consciously wiping the hair from across my face. “So, um, what’s next?”