Happy Thoughts || Peter Pan

Chapter 24

The first thing Avery noticed when she came to her senses was the cold that had a hold on her entire body. She was freezing from head to toe, her clothes soaked and her hair sticking to her face. It was dark and cold around her. It was dead silent except for faint dripping in the distance. Was she in a cave with water? At her feet, inky black water slapped against the rock she was sitting on. Only now did she realise that everything around her was made of water. Looking up, she could see the faint glow of the moon shining through the cracks and holes of the cave wall. Suddenly she knew where she was: the Dead Man's Cave.

Avery pushed herself upright and shivered as her cold clothes stuck to her back. At least she was still alive. She just had no idea how. Everything was so vague. She looked at her legs and saw the deep scratches from the nails running down her calves to her ankles. Even her arms were covered in deep pulls. The salt water must have rinsed them well and they had stopped bleeding by now. Although there was a kind of red haze of blood over a large part of her skin. 

Avery scanned the surroundings. Once the tide turned she was bound to be siren fodder. Ahead of her was a pillar sticking out of the water, with a flat stone protruding just above the water's surface. Maybe she could jump over there and climb onto the pillar for a better view. She got on her feet and jumped across the water to the flat stone. She quickly wrapped her hands around the pillar to keep her balance and looked around at the water to see if there were any tails or fins to be seen. She put her foot in a crack in the pillar and pushed herself up. She managed to get a metre off the ground before she made a misstep and slid down again. One leg sank back into the water, causing a splash to reverberate through the cave. So that wasn't going to work. Perhaps there was another way. She climbed back onto the flat rock and looked around.

Suddenly, Avery heard a soft, ghostly clicking echoing through the Deadman's Cave. A few metres away from her, a head appeared above the water. Not one of the horrendous faces she had seen last night: her skin was pale like Avery's, with long dark hair and beautifull eyes. Slowly she moved in her direction, ripples on the water following in her wake. Avery recoiled, preventing the siren from grabbing her ankles. Just before the rock, the siren remained bobbing in the water, looking at her with her green eyes.

'What do you want?' asked Avery gruffly, but her trembling voice betrayed fear.

The siren held up her hand.

Avery shook her head. 'I won't be drowned so easily,' she said and the mermaid smiled, silently shaking her head. Avery looked from her hand, to her face and frowned. 'I was sent by Tigerlilly.'

The siren extended her hand even further towards her and her smile grew wider.

Avery stared at her hand and then looked at her face again. Something inside her told her that this mermaid didn't mean her any harm, but still.... Hesitantly, she shuffled over the rock to the water's edge and grabbed the icy hand. She was startled by a voice that suddenly echoed through her head.

'I am Korafay.' It was a sweet and soft sound and, above all, friendly.

Avery looked at her in surprise. 'Can't you speak?' she said aloud.

'This is how I speak,' she replied without opening her mouth. 'You took my hand. Now our minds are connected.'

'Did you save me?' asked Avery and Korafay nodded. 'No one ventures to the sirens without a good reason, but I saw you flying with Pan. When my sisters heard his flute and saw it wasn't him, the Moon took control of their emotions. I got you out just in time. Why did you go looking for us?'

'Tigerlilly needs help to locate Jacob's ship. I assume you know what happened to the fairies?'

Korafay nodded sadly.

'Do you think they are still alive?'

Korafay looked at her. 'I don't know...' Her gaze changed. 'But we can find out. I can take you there and get you on board. The pirates sleep at night and they are a lot less vigilant now that they haven't had to watch Pan for quite some time. We've always suspected that the fairies are just on board.'

'Me? Boarding that ship?'

Korafay nodded. 'Some of my sisters have been captured. I want to know if they are still alive. If I take you there, you owe me. This is my only condition. Tigerlilly will know the location of the ship when I know if my sisters are still alive.'

'You want me to infiltrate his ship? What if I get caught?' She ran a hand through her wet hair. 'I belong with Peter. Jacob will kill me.'

'He won't do anything to you. Not if you play his game. And if anything happens I'll make sure help comes.' She pushed herself up out of the water and grabbed Avery's hand. 'Please. I need to know if my sisters are still alive.'

Avery looked at her and saw the pain in her eyes. She had never had a sister, but for sirens, sisterhood was the most important thing in their lives, that was their family. Besides, Tigerlilly needed the information. Maybe there was no chance of finding out if the fairies were still alive, but surely the sirens.. Could be possible..

Avery sighed. 'I'll help you, but how do I get to the ship in one piece? I could never stay underwater that long to get there unseen, let alone that the other mermaids won't want me for lunch.'

Korafay laughed and a clicking sound came from her throat as she did so. 'I'll help you with that.' She put her hands on the rock, pressed up and kissed Avery. Overwhelmed, she shuffled backwards and looked at the siren with wide eyes. 'What are you doing?'

Korafay smiled. 'So you can breathe underwater. Come.' She held out her hand and Avery accepted it. She dropped back into the icy water. The water almost seemed warm. Had she been that cold? Hopefully she wasn't already hypothermic. Avery held Korafay's hand tightly. It was pitch black underwater and she did not want to stray away from the mermaid. Korafay, however, waved her tail. Points of light spread from her hips to the tips of her tail, illuminating all the water around her. It looked like a dress of silk, with fireflies dancing across it. Korafay looked at her. 'Breathe,' she said, 'trust me.'

Her lungs were burning terribly, but she didn't dare. Was she still near the surface? Could she still swim up? But Korafay put her hands on Avery's shoulders and Avery looked at her. Then she opened her mouth and breathed. Water poured into her mouth and Avery was afraid she would suffocate. Yet this did not happen, but she did feel something tickling her neck. Carefully, she felt around her neck with her fingers and instead of her smooth skin, there were four protruding slices of skin, as if she had four deep cuts on her neck.

'Gills,' Korafay explained. 'Now, hurry up. My sisters are waiting.'