The Twins from the Sea

Chapter VII

The Murray Sisters spent the rest of their day watching movies, eating popcorn and cleaning the house. About an hour and a half before their Aunt and Uncle were to return, they took their bikes out of the cluttered garage and went out for a beachside ride. They stopped at Jamie's for dinner and ice cream, and parked their bikes on a rack to spend some time on the beach.

"Where d'you think that book leads?" Lana asked her sister.

"God knows, Lana," Ophelia said, in an angry voice. When Lana frowned, Ophelia looked at her quickly.

"I didn't mean it like that. I'm just saying... I have no idea, Lana," Ophelia said, sadly. Lana nodded, knowingly, and kneeled down in the gentle waves. She started muttering to herself. Ophelia knew immediately not do disturb Lana's when she was saying her "ocean prayers," as Ophelia had named them. Lana never spoke about them, and never said them in front of anyone, save Ophelia. In them she said prayers to no one in particular, and about nothing in particular, the only thing that was consistent in them was that they were only said in the ocean.

"And please..." Lana said, a little louder than before. "Help us figure this out. Please, please, help..." her eyes were still closed. "Help." Lana stayed completely still and silent for a while, then she stood up. Ophelia picked a seashell up from the sand, and was about to throw it into the tide when she gasped and dropped the shell. Lana jumped.

"What?!" Lana said, but her sister stayed silent. Lana bent down and picked up the shell, and gasped too. Imprinted on the shell was letters in the same text that TB was written in!

"Opheliaaaaa!" Lana said excitedly.

"The book..." It looked like she was in deep thought. "The cover!" Ophelia looked at Lana, but she didn't understand. "There is an imprint on the cover! In the shape of a shell... I didn't even think about that!"

Lana's eyes widened. She stuffed the shell in her front pocket and sprinted back to the bike racks. Ophelia followed close behind. The usually quick ride home seemed to drag on for hours as the anticipation of what the shell could do rose. As they pulled into the driveway, Lana checked her watch. 5:47. No way! Only ten minutes until Aunt Kelly and Uncle Lawrence return! She thought. When they entered the house, Ophelia skidded around the corner and was almost to the stairs when she froze. Lana crashed into her from behind.

Standing at the table was Lawrence and Kelly.

"Where have you girls been?" Lawrence boomed.

"You're early!" Lana said, shocked.

"Where were you?" Kelly repeated, ignoring Lana's comment.

"We went to Jamie's for dinner, then stopped at the beach." Ophelia said, calmly.

"6:47." Kelly said slowly. Lana tilted her head, confused.

"We've been home for almost an hour and you haven't!" Lawrence chimed in.

"My... My watch must be wrong. I... I'm sorry," Lana said, looking at her toes, which were still covered in sand.

Lawrence looked as if he wanted to explode, but Kelly interrupted him. "You girls promise all you did was go to the beach?"

"Yes," Ophelia and Lana said.

"Well... I guess it's alright if you didn't know. But, I must ask... What's the rush? You both ran in like the boogie man was chasing you," Kelly said.

Ophelia and Lana looked at each other, and Lana gave her clever sister a pleading look.

"We..." Ophelia began. "We... I... I really have to go to the bathroom."

Lawrence raised an eyebrow but Kelly seemed to fall for it. "Well, I won't keep you waiting, then."

Ophelia breathed a sigh of relief, and sprinted back up the stairs with Lana right on her tail.