Seabound

Chapter 1: Set Sail

Venture not in the woods, young one
For a Beast therein lies,
Born of darkness, smoke and stone,
Ever watching with deathly eyes.
In the shadows it lies in wait,
Forsaken, solitary, now do you see?
It's gaze burning with hunger and hate,
From it's lair beneath the forests sea-

Another pea sized wad of paper pinged the back of my head, getting caught in my blonde hair, breaking my concentration on the book in my lap. The overcrowded school bus hit yet another bump in the road that made everyone slam into one another, I sighed inwardly as the guy next to me didn't even try to brace himself and crushed me against the window. When everyone had resettled I pulled the piece of paper out of my hair and put it in my pocket, did they really have nothing better to do? Was it such a crime to want to read? Pinching the bridge of my nose in frusteration, I gave up and slid my book back into my bag. We were going to a heritage village, my entire grade, and if that wasn't enough to make me want to hop off the bus and run for my life, you had to wear the clothes of the era, something like the 18th century. I swear if anyone came near me with anything that I even thought looked like a corset I was going to die. My history teacher, Mr. Walters, had planned this week long torture session, and my opinion of him was dropping ever lower as the bus ride went on. We'd been driving for three hours now, and I hadn't seen a house for at least thirty minutes, the idea of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with my blissful classmates making my stomach turn.
Suck it up Buttercup, I thought tiredly, There's nothing you can do about it.
The only promising thing about this trip was that the Village boasted an exquisite library of original books from the time period it was founded. The thought of it almost made me think the trip was worthwhile. Almost.
Leaning my head against the window I watched as countless trees blurred past in a stunning kaleidoscope of greens. Despite myself I smiled, I loved the woods, and through the open bus windows I could smell the sea salt on the air. It reminded me of my childhood home on the eastern shore of Nova Scotia, carrying all the pleasant memories on the breeze. Thoughts of playing in the ocean waves, my feet in the sand, running along the giant rocks at the end of the beach. My mother used to joke that I would eventually just go into the sea and never come back.
The tree line broke to a blinding explosion of evening sunlight. Blinking, I let out a small gasp as the water glittered and sparkled in the dying light, no one else was paying attention to the stunning view, they were too busy on their phones and gossip. There it was, my sea. The thought warmed me inside.
Maybe this won't be quite so bad.
Thwack!
Maybe.

I stared at the large full body mirror in front of me, at the frilly white cotton nightgown that the staff at the Village had given me. It had a modest neckline, which was nice, the shoulders had extra material that puffed up and the buttons were small and wooden. It draped from my shoulders down to the middle of my calves. Conclusion: I looked ridiculous. Sighing I chose to be happy about the fact that I got to bunk alone, since all the cliques had rushed to room together I was left to my own company at the very end of the hall. My room was nice, small but cozy.  The blue walls met wooden floor, a small single bed resting beside a small nightstand, where I had placed my books in a neat pile. The white curtains swayed in the sea breeze, I'd left the window open because it overlooked the small garden that banked at the shore just behind the lodge. Walking over I leaned out and took a breath. I'd missed this smell. The moon glowed high up in the twinkling sky, the waves lapped gently on the sandy cove.
"The Village is special." I remembered one of the staff had said to our class. "It's believed that sailors once said they found mermaids on our cove." Of course everyone had chuckled and giggled it off, but the man became very serious. "It's said the currents are so strong here because the mermaids that lived here didn't want to be discovered, so if you fell into the water, you'd be dragged out to sea. So no getting any bright ideas about going for a midnight swim alright? You might not make it back to shore."
The gas lamp on the side table glowed a warm orange, offering the light necessary to see the garden. I was sure everyone was asleep now, I hadn't heard anything for a while aside from the old building creaking and moaning. But everyone knew that old houses liked to talk at night. Reaching out to close the window, my eyes caught on something moving down on the shore. Narrowing my eyes in the dim light, I tried to make out who it was. It was definitely a person, and from their build they seemed to be around my age. I watched as the person walked calmly out onto the dock, coming to a stop at it's end.
My stomach twisted in knots, I was frozen, somehow I just knew that this was wrong. Something bad was going to happen. My mother had always told me to trust my instincts. I turned and ran out of my room, heading straight for the green door a little ways up the hall. I knocked quickly.
"Mr. Walters? I think there's someone on the dock, Mr. Walters?" I called.
Silence.
Groaning I turned again and ran down the hall to the stairs, raced through the foyer and outside to the cold night air. It wrapped around me, chilling me to the bone, causing gooseflesh to ripple along my arms and legs. My heart stopped as I heard a loud splash. I raced around to the back yard, my bare feet sliding over the dew-covered grass until I could see the dock, now bare in the moonlight. I ran down till I was at the wooden dock, slowing down so I wouldn't fall off. The warf went a ways into the cove, and if what the man had said earlier about the currents was true, I didn't want to risk being hauled out to sea. I crouched down at the edge of the dock, scanning the black water below me for any sign that the person had fallen. A head broke the surface of the ink-black water and made me jump out of my skin. It was a guy, with dark hair slicked to his head, he was gasping and struggling to stay above the waves. The wind had picked up, raising the water till it slammed into the dock, making it tremble with the strength of the sea. I reached down, grabbing at his shoulder. My eyes widened as I saw a massive red fin break surface behind him, it's crimson scales glinting in the starlight. With a fish that big and him flailing around, I wouldn't put it past an animals nature to lash out and bite him.
"Take my hand!" I called, extending my arm till it hurt. "I'll pull you out!"
He reached up, our hands trying to grab each other, only to lose grip because his arm was wet. I groaned and leaned as far as I could. Finally I caught ahold of him. "I got you, don't worry, I'm going to get you out!" I pulled upwards with all my strength and suddenly the stranger was right in front of me, his free hand pressed gently against my cheek, our faces only a few inches apart. His eyes were a dark blue, glowing in despair under the moonlight.
"Renee," He said, his voice was deep and sad, little over a whisper. "Save me."
I cried out as I was pulled off the dock and crashed into the water. It was freezing, making me exhale as soon as I hit it. I was engulfed in icy darkness, the salty water dragging me further down, further away. The problem with ocean water, with currents, especially at night, was that in all the confusion and without the sun to show you the sky, it was nigh impossible to determine which was was up. My body burned from lack of oxygen as I tumbled through the water. Echoing in my mind I could still hear his voice, desperate, begging.
Renee, save me.
Suddenly, light exploded above me. Whirling around I pushed myself frantically upwards, thinking someone must've heard the splashes and came to save us. Just as I was about to pass out, my head broke the surface.
Coughing, I heaved breaths into my lungs, treading water to stay above the surface. The light was blinding, I blinked to get my eyes to adjust, immediately I discovered that I was losing my mind.
  The sun was high in the sky, the waters no longer black but a sparkling blue, and the stranger was nowhere to be found. I spluttered water as I swam deftly towards the shore. Once I got there, confusion made my head spin. The beautiful garden wasn't there, it was all long grass and trees, neither was the old lodge, nor the warf. Turning back to the cove, my jaw dropped. Two colossal ships were in facing each other, I could see people on the decks, scrambling about and shouting at one another. Awe turning to terror, panels on the side of the ships were raised to reveal black cannons.
The explosions boomed so loud that I fell to my knees, clutching my head.
What on earth is going on?!