Swim Away (Mermaid)

Chapter Twenty-Four

The last thing I knew was that Noah was pressed against the wall, on the floor. His eyes were closed and I wasn't sure if he was conscious. I couldn't get myself to go and check if he was alright, so, I just stood there, hoping he would wake up.

What had I done?

It was out of my control.

What if I walked over to him and something else happened?

I hid my face in my hair and took couple more steps back. Maybe I should leave. But I knew I couldn't leave him like this. I got down on my knees and faced the floor.

"Noah?" I said, my voice scratching. "Please be alright."

I heard him moan from where he sat, and I looked at him through my hair. His eyes were open. "Lara?" he whispered. He wasn't afraid to approach me. He crawled over to me and sat. Noah moved the hair from my face and placed his hand under my chin, making me face him. "I'm fine, but are you?"

He wanted me to admit. He wanted me to tell him that something was wrong. I knew that I had to say it in order to know the problem was really there. But I didn't even know what the problem was exactly.

It had to be the flame in me. The first time it appeared I was ready to hurt Selena, and the second time I did hurt Noah, but nothing too bad. I hoped.

I moved away from him and sat against the couch. "I want to be." But I didn't look at him, I chose to stare at the floor instead.

"Lara..." he whispered. I felt his hand on top of mine. I remembered when Asher couldn't handle the heat. I pulled away, not letting Noah leave his hand on mine. I didn't want to hurt him. He sighed, folding his arms. This was the first time I saw him lose his patience. It was clear on his face that he was trying to contain himself. 

"You can't cure me." I could feel the heat in me getting stronger. Did emotion change the level of the heat? 

I didn't want to sit here anymore, I needed a place to cool off. I got up, and the whole time Noah was watching me. I went by him, my arm sliding against the plant placed by the wall. It instantly died. I jumped back, staring at my arm. 

Noah grabbed my arm. He pulled me toward him. "It doesn't affect me." 

"How?" I asked, staring at his hand. He tightened his grip to prove the heat had no affect on him. His hand felt cool, actually. "Wait, you can't tell me how, right? Or I'm supposed to know but according to you I'm not ready, right? I'm right, aren't I?"

"Right." I wanted to shove him. It wasn't fair that I was left in the dark. This was about me, I had a right to know. "But, I think it's time you read the rest of the journal. I don't want you to, but things have changed and in order to protect you, you need to know the truth."

A chill went through me. He sounded unemotional, like he was a programmed robot. This truly was something he didn't want me to know. 

"Everything you'll read is true." 

"Okay.." Why would my family's journal lie? 

"You might question, that's why." His stare was strong, I could feel how the information might've affected him and I was starting to understand why he felt that I wasn't prepared for such knowledge. "But first, we should rid of what's burning inside you. The fire you feel in you is explained in the journal and I am the only one who can get rid of it. The how and the why are also in there. So, don't ask me anything until you've read it all." 

Noah closed his eyes, pulling me close. When he opened his eyes, he kept them on mine and slowly I could feel the flame disappearing. 

Once it disappeared, he let go. He began to walk up the stairs, but when he saw that I was still in place, he stopped and turned. He reached for my hand, "come on." 

"You were right. I don't know if I'm ready."

He lightly laughed, "I didn't think I'd have to get you to read it. You wanted the information more than you wanted anything else." He sighed, talking more seriously now, "I'm here with you every step of the way. You won't deal with any of it alone, I promise." 

I grabbed his hand as we walked up the stairs and into my room. He let go, taking the journal from its hiding place. I walked out to the balcony, watching a few people walk along the shore. The girl walking along side the guy shoved him and started laughing. Then he started to run after her while both of them were laughing. 

"Here," Noah said, handing the journal to me. I turned away, my back facing those people now. I grabbed the book, looking up at Noah. Both of us were holding the book and it started to glow. 

"So, it's time for me to finally know." I whispered, keeping my eyes on the journal. 

"That's not why it glows. It's our energies unlocking the information inside." 

"So, that time at the beach..." I thought back to when the messenger bottle and journal both were glowing in my backpack. 

Noah nodded, "our energies unlocked the message and the journal." 

"You knew the whole time?"

"Actually, I didn't. The information was unlocked for me as well. That's how I knew everything, it all came to me at that moment." 

"And all I got was a piece of magical paper, which didn't tell me anything. It was counting down to something and then, bam, I became a mermaid."

He chuckled, "that's what was supposed to happen." I sighed, then smiled and Noah smiled back. He let go of the journal and walked inside. I followed him, closing the balcony doors and sitting on my bed, beside him. 

I started to feel the journal, my fingers following the pattern like it was a wave. 

Before I opened the journal I looked at Noah, who nodded at me.