Hart of the Sea

Chapter 18

I had no way to keep track of the time that was crawling by, except for the sun's position in the sky. When Talia left to meet Oliver at her father's lab, the sun was just above the horizon, flirting with the possibility of dusk. Now, it was halfway submerged in the sea, its light almost extinguished, the sky bleeding the sun's deep orange blood as it slowly seeped into the clouds.

I had to wait there alone. Before I'd even finished talking with Oliver, Peitha had said something about being needed at the castle and swam back towards the villages. I didn't blame her. She barely knew Calliope and Oriel, and humans made her uncomfortable. Remora went back to The Outskirts to gather supplies for Calli and Oriel for when they got back to the water, things like flax fiber blankets and whatever food scraps she could find. And so, I was stuck waiting at the dock alone, stewing in my distressed thoughts about every terrible thing that could, and may very well, happen. To Oliver, to Talia, to Calli, to Oriel. Everything was up in the air now.

Tracy had told Talia that her dad chose the quickest flight back to Astoria, so our time was slipping away quickly. What was taking everyone so long? I only grew more anxious with every inch the sun crept below the horizon, and it wasn't a feeling I wanted to get used to.

"Hart!" A voice shrieked suddenly. Talia! "We're coming!" I saw her head sticking out the side of what must have been Oliver's truck: a large rectangular box, dark green in color, with circular moving objects attached to the bottom. It was going backwards down a large path on the other side of the dock from me; a path that slanted directly into the water. In the back of the truck, I saw a large blue, shiny fabric covering what must have been Calli and Oriel's tank.

All at once I felt adrenaline kick in as I swam towards them at full speed. Whether I was screaming their names, or just an incoherent mess, I couldn't really tell. But as the back of the truck finally touched the water's surface, I reached out for them, ready to pull them back into the ocean. Back into their rightful home.

"No!" Talia screamed. I thought that was directed at me, so I hesitated near the back of the truck. "Don't you dare!" She screamed again, throwing the truck's door open and running back up the steep path, away from the water. Away from me. It wasn't until I saw him that I realized...

She wasn't screaming at me. She was screaming at her father. He'd followed Oliver's truck to the beach. He'd shoved his own daughter to the ground to get her out of his way, so he could take back the two living beings that he only saw as his property.

Oliver backed the truck further into the water now, the edges of the blue fabric floating on the surface. "Caspian! Get the tarp off of them and help them into the water! Now!" He yelled, continuing to inch the truck into the water until the whole back end was submerged.

I grabbed the corner of the blue fabric and ripped it off of the truck, letting it land in the water on the other side. The sight of Calli and Oriel made me freeze on the spot. They weren't dead, but they might as well have been. Their bodies were thin and bony. Their tails were nothing more than a collection of tendons wrapped together under thin layers of scales.

The back of the truck was deep enough that the water level was even with the top of their tank. All I had to do was pull them out and away from the shore, and they'd be rescued. But I couldn't move. Time seemed to creep by in slow motion as I watched Darren leave Talia on the ground and set his sights on me. An indescribable rage burned in his eyes as he marched right into the water, his hands outstretched towards me. I still couldn't move. My eyes darted back and forth between him and my emaciated friends, who were still unconscious. Were they dead?

"Caspian!" I heard Oliver yell as I felt Darren's large hands close around my neck. How did he reach me so fast?

The last thing I saw before it all went dark was Darren's cruel face grinning down at me like a great white shark preparing to feast.