No Hope In Dawn

Chapter 4: Fish Out of Water

Jaime sits on one of the bleachers, her head resting on her knees. She is still trying to understand what was going on. Ryan paces along the side of the pool, checking his phone every now and then for the time. While Selena, the girl in the pool, is just staying underwater, popping her head out of the water to check on them.

"So is this normal for you?" Selena asks Ryan when she popped her head out. Jaime raises her head to listen to his answer.

"Not really," Ryan answers blankly, "But this is pretty normal for my friend."

"So this is normal?" Jaime snaps, "What kind of friend do you have?" She stands up and stares at Ryan, "Am I really supposed to believe that magic and that kind of shit is real?"

Ryan shrugs and points to Selena, "Well isn't she proof?"

"For all I know she could just be a trick or whatever." Jaime says.

There was silence while Jaime and Ryan stared at each other. Ryan with sad eyes, he's been through this too many times. Jaime with eyes filled with anger, masking her terror. It was pretty normal for normal people to not understand, and their usual reactions are either skepticism or anger.

"Can your friend really help me?" Selena asks in a whisper.

Before Ryan could answer, Jaime says, "What you need is a psychiatrist, because you're all crazy."

"I know a good psychiatrist." A voice from the low wall announces. They all turn to look at the origin of the voice, it was Phi. He was sitting on the wall with a stupid grin on his face and a cigarette between his lips. He was wearing jeans and dark blue polo with the sleeves rolled up sloppily, a silver tie hangs loosely around his neck. He blows a cloud of smoke before continuing, "But then again he got sent into an asylum."

Ryan smiles and says, "I heard you were the one who put him in there."

"Maybe it was." Phi says with another smile, as if it was just an old joke to him. He jumps down and goes to the side of the pool and studies Selena. He offers a hand to Selena to shake, and says, "My name is Phi, like the Greek letter. How are you feeling?"

"I'm Selena," Selena shakes his hand and answers, "I'm feeling better. Can you really help me?"

Phi plays with the cigarette, rolling it between his fingers while studying her face. He grins like a certain cat from a classic psychedelic children's cartoon about going down the rabbit hole, then with confidence he says, "Let's find out."

"Woah there," Jaime says getting in between Selena and Phi. "I don't know who you are, but prancing around here, with your happy go lucky bull..."

Her words were cut short as Phi starts to hum. Its a simple tune, it was light and slow. Jaime felt nice and calm, her worries before started to shrink away. It reminded her of waves crashing gently on an untouched beach, while the water tickles her toes and the sea breeze gently cools her face. She didnt have the courage to say another word for fear it will make the euphoric feeling go away.

A smirk appears on Ryan's face, he remembers the first time he heard Phi hum this tune. He would often wonder if this is what it felt like to be high, but he never got the answer because he was afraid it would mess with him badly, and god knows he's already a mess now.

The humming stops and Jaime starts to say something again, but Phi goes first, "I want you to keep quiet first, please." He then turns to Ryan then says, "Can you do me a favor and keep calming her down and bring her home?"

Ryan looks surprised but manages to confirm, "Are you sure?"

Phi just nods. Ryan lets out a sigh before facing Jaime; he moves close to her and interlocks his hands behind her neck. She starts to protest, but he stares in to her eyes and begins to speak in a monotone, "Nothing happened here. We're going home. We had a good time at the pool and that's all you'll remember."

Jaime blinks, but then closes her eyes again as if trying to remember something, but when she opens them again, all she could see is Ryan holding her close. She blushes and tries to push him away, "It's getting late." She looks down, trying to hide her smile. "I had fun."

They start to go towards the low wall. Ryan gives Phi a nod as he climbs over, disappearing in to the darkness on the other side.

"How did you guys do that?" Selena asks with mixed wonder and concern.

"Well, it's simple really." Phi starts to answer, "There are factors to it, but that's not the issue right now." He starts to rummage through his pockets, taking out pen caps, small vials, old bus tickets, some coins, and a lighter. He curses under his breath, and continues looking.

"Found it." He exclaims as he hold out a ring with a tear drop design, "It's perfect actually." He says with a smile. He gets on his knees in front of Selena and asks her to extend her hands. He cups the ring in their hands.

With his eyes closed, he starts to mumble something that sounded a mix of either Latin or German, and gurgling sounds.

Blue light starts to glow through the cracks of their fingers, while water got sucked in through the same cracks. The light begins to dim and the water drip from their fingers.

Phi picks up the ring and gives it to Selena, "There that should do it." She takes it and wears it on her pointer finger.

A look of concern and fear is all over her face, but Phi assures her that it'll be fine. She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, and then pulls herself out of the pool. She then opens her eyes with delight, there's no burning sensation anymore and she could breathe normally again. Without thinking, she hugs Phi so tight while repeatedly saying "thank you", before realizing how soaking wet she was, and how soaking wet Phi is now.

He just smiles at her and pulls out a card from his wallet and hands it to her. "The ring is only a temporary solution, I don't think you'll be able to wear that ring all the time." He explains, "You should go to this place as soon as possible, look for an old man named Jonah, he'll know what to do."

The card was all black with gold lettering. It read:

Tomes and Teas Bookshop

3rd floor, Varias Building

"You should get dressed now, so we can go." Phi says, "I'll wait for you at the wall."

Phi starts to walk towards the wall and pulls out another cigarette, when Selena states, "You look familiar Phi, I feel like I know you."

He turns back to face her, another huge grin on his face, "Maybe you do," he says as he lights the cigarette, "but maybe you just forgot."

---

After dressing up, and whole lot more good-byes, Selena finally goes home. Ryan shows up after a few minutes and asks how things went.

"Everything's fine now." Phi answers, and then asks, "How about your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend anymore." Ryan answers with a sigh, "I thought about our deal. With my gift, I can have anyone I want, but what's the point." He continues with a bitter smile and tone, "What's ironic is she's the first girl I had in a long time I didn't screw up with, without also using my gift. So when I used it on her earlier, I felt really down. Because it might trigger a relapse or whatever, and I don't want that anymore."

Phi keeps silent for a while, "You've come a long way man, I'm sorry you had to do that, you didn't have to. I allowed you to do it. I know you wouldn't take advantage of her."

"I know, but I remembered how easy it was." He explains, "It was tempting."

Phi gives him a pat on the back then comforts him, "Don't worry about it." He says with a smile, "I won't let you screw up ever again. Anyways, I have to go. I need to talk to the old man about some stuff."

Ryan just nods while Phi walks away, disappearing again into the darkness.