Alone in the shadows

Chapter 11

Elaina's POV

        It is finally November break and I can go visit my family again. After telling Lucy where I'll be, I use my bus pass to ride to the beach and find the isolated spot again and jump in, transforming into a mermaid. I am not greeted by dolphins this time and it makes me worried. I told Matthew I'd be back today. I swim to Naridesa and no one is there. I can't see a single soul and it is very scary. "HELLO? IS ANYONE THERE?" I scream hoping someone will hear me. No one answers. I swim to where the castle should be and my childhood home has been destroyed. In it's place there is a single room house and I start to swim up to it but I am stopped by Kai, my house maid. "Don't go near that place!" She blocks me with her arms, "When you left your brother had a breakdown. He is in there now." Her face tells me without words that this is a serious situation. I say back to her, "What happened?" She goes into detail of what happened after I left. My brother, being very young, had no clue how to run the kingdom and went over the edge of insanity. He forced everyone to give him all their food and money and a few died. He captured all the men in the kingdom (so that he'd be the only one) and almost had them killed but Poseidon found out and saved them. He had to destroy the castle to destroy the dungeon that the men were held. He banned him from ever being a leader again in any part of the ocean ever again and locked him in the only room left of the castle. At hearing this I started to cry, Kai pulled me into a hug and we sat there for a while before Kai lead me away from Naridesa, which is now a wasteland. We swim far away and in the distance I see light and a silhouette of lots of buildings I've never seen before. "Elaina, welcome to our new home, Eldorissa." 

        Eldorissa. I think about the name a lot in my head. The more I think it, the more I feel that it is real. I see the people of Naridesa and all the fish and dolphins and my dad. I swim up to him and hug him tightly. We all swim over to the newly built castle. It is bigger and grander than ever. All the houses and buildings are new and clean and I love to look at them. I look down and see the new stone sidewalk. All of the stones are intact and none of them are old, like our ancient sidewalk in Naridesa. I can't stop smiling at all the new, clean things we have now. We enter the castle and I am shown to my new room. At first I am upset because all of my childhood things aren't there but I remind myself I have to let go of the past and focus on the present and future. My dad has taken his role as the king and we've fixed all the past problems with our rules and law system and now everything is going to be perfect with the kingdom, except for one thing, I am being put through and arranged marriage. 

        So apparently my dad and his childhood friend (who I've never met) made a deal when they were young, if their first born were male and female, they would be married to assure that the two families would always be friends. I get that and it's really sweet how they've kept their promise to one another but I want to marry someone I love and not some fish I've never met until now! I'm instructed to get into a nice outfit and make myself look nice to meet my future husband. Ugh. Kai enters my room and she starts getting ready to help me look nice. I open my wardrobe and find many different dresses, none of which catch my eye so far. I rummage through them and one seems to speak to me. I pull it out and see it is the most beautiful dress I've ever seen. It is baby blue with tank-top sleeves and what would be knee length. I quickly pull it on and Kai gasps. It's very pretty and I decide it's perfect without trying any other dress on. Kai messes with my face and hair and I swim to where my dad was when he told me about my "new circumstances" and he's still there with a lot of people around him. "Ah yes! Here she is! Elaina!" He motions me over to stand next to him and the people. "Liam, this is my daughter" Liam is the boy I'm being set up with. "Hi, Liam... Um." I look up at my dad and he continues talking to Liam's parents. He then turns to me and says, "Why don't you and Liam go out somewhere and get to know each other? "Perfect!" Liam says to him, "There is a lot about me that is interesting anyway." Liam then turns to me, puts his arm around my shoulder and says, "Come on babe, you and I have a lot to learn about each other." Ugh. Can he get anymore cocky?! 

****Lucy's POV****

        Taylor and I have been together a lot lately and I think it is making Beth jealous. We really need to set her up with someone. Elaina has been gone for a few hours now and I wonder what she's doing right now. Right now Taylor and I aren't hanging out because I have about four hours of homework to do right now and there is no time for him and I to be together. I get a text from Beth, she wants to meet. The only problem its like two in the morning and we have school tomorrow. Sigh. I get out of my pajamas and summoned the orb and teleported to her location. "Hey Lucy! Meet my friend!"

****Beth's POV****

        I've been at a blood low for about three days and I've tried my absolute hardest not to lash out on anyone and I luckily haven't yet but if I don't do something right now I might bash in someone's face. It is two in the morning and most humans are asleep at this point. I slip outside and walk to Garfield Park. It brings back hurtful memories of when Johnny tricked me two months ago. I shudder at the thought of him. I wonder if he's still hunting vampires. In the distance I see a figure, as he gets closer I can start to see his features, I know him, and I can't read his mind. It's Justin from the Hot Topic.

        He doesn't see me and I don't want him too yet. I run up to the playground and run up to the highest point and jump to the tree next to it. I see him get closer and closer until he's almost under the tree. I jump off the tree right in front of him. He jumps back and looks startled. "What the fuck?!" Justin looks at me and says, "Wait. I know you. You're the girl from the Hot Topic at the mall! I knew you were a vampire!" He looks really excited to meet someone like him. "What are you doing out?" I say back, "I'm at a blood low. What about you?" "What? You still get blood the old fashioned way? Ha. I switched to Blood Bank years ago! Do you want me to show you?" That sounds much better than attacking people but I'm not stealing. "Sure, but I don't want to steal blood from people." He laughs. "No silly. It's a vampire bank. C'mon. Let's get you signed up in the bank. "Oh that makes a lot more sense" I laugh. "Come on" We go to the blood bank and drink our fill. "Hey Justin, I want you to meet my friends." "Oh. Okay. What are their names?" "Well, my twin brother Taylor probably won't want to come out at three in the morning and Elaina is visiting her family in the ocean and..." "Wait, the ocean" "Yeah she's a mermaid." "Oh. That makes sense. Continue." "My friend Lucy might be the only one awake so I'll text her." I text her and seconds later she appears out of the orb. "Wow! How'd you do that?" Lucy laughs, "I'm a faerie. I can teleport. My name's Lucy!" They shake hands and we walk to the Dairy Queen that's a block away from VBB and we get blizzards and talk and laugh for a while until Lucy starts to get tired. "I think I should get back home. See ya tomorrow Beth! By Justin!" She teleports away and Justin and I exchange numbers and go our separate ways. I fly to my house and up to my window and slide in slowly. "Hey Beth" Taylor said. "AH God damn it Taylor don't do that!" 

****A FEW DAYS LATER****

Elaina's POV

        I am swimming away from Liam as fast as I can. He is so cocky and so full of himself I don't even know what do do. At our "date" yesterday all he talked about was himself, his muscles, and this girl named "Legs." Whoever this legs girl is she has been out of his life for a while but she still has him wrapped around her finger. I can't stand the fact that I might have to fucking marry him in two days because of some agreement that our dads made when they were Matt's age. Matt. My heart sinks at the thought of his name. I miss him so much and it hurts me thinking about him locked inside a room back in Naridesa. I push him out of my head and keep swimming until I reach the castle. "DAD! I am NOT marrying Liam! Even if he is the last fish in the ocean! He is so annoying and cocky and..." "Woah woah woah, slow down angel fish! What is going on? Why can't you marry him?" I hear the door open and I turn around to see Liam, "Elaina! I'm..." I yell at him, "Save it dickhead! I am not dealing with you for the rest of my life! Go back to your precious "Legs" and  stay away from me!" I can tell I hit a nerve because his face lowers full of pain. "I guess you weren't listening to me, I haven't seen her in over ten years." He swims out of the castle and I don't follow him. I turn to my dad. "I'm sorry dad. I can't be with someone I don't love. I really tried hard to keep and open mind but he's just so unkind and selfish and I can't be with him." I can tell Dad is dissapointed but I stand my ground. "Very well." He says, "I guess we will have to say our goodbyes again." We hug and say our goodbyes and turn to leave and remember Matt. "Wait Dad. I have an idea to bring Matt back into the city. My best friend is a faerie and maybe she knows how to bring him back to sanity."