Eyes of the Sea

Chapter 3

The first thing I did was scream; I couldn't help it. A supposedly dead girl was standing right in front of me. But judging by the strange looks people were giving me in the hall, no one else could see her. Being in a high school, with teenage hormones all over the place, it wasn't uncommon to hear a scream of frustration or a cry. So common, that no one bothered to check up on me to see if I was okay. Useless, I thought.

It was only then when I remembered the fight in the bathroom, and how this girl had wanted to kill me. I started to pull out the knife from my boot, which I had kept with me for the past week, when I noticed that she wasn't in an aggressive stance. She didn't look like she wanted to fight.

Not wanting to start a fight in the middle of school as well, I slowly started to walk away. She followed me, but at a distance. She gestured between us like she wanted to talk.

She wanted to talk to me? I rubbed my temples, too confused to do anything else. Fine, talking is better than fighting at least. I nodded and began to walk away without looking back to see if she would follow me.

As I made my way outside, my heart was pounding. She could attack me at any time and I had my back to her so I was defenseless. I took a deep breath and tried to see her out of the corner of my eye. I was unable to see her, but I could see her shadow and I kept my eyes on that the whole time, watching for any sudden movements.

I didn't know what to make of this situation. Why show up now after a week of silence? What did this girl want from me?

I went outside into the parking lot where the only people were a few pedestrians taking a stroll on the other side of the road. I took out my phone and held it up to my ear, so anyone watching wouldn't think I was talking to myself. Apparently, this girl was invisible too.

I turned to the girl and raised my eyebrows, not sure what to do next. Maybe I'd finally get some explanations of what was happening. I took the time to really look at her, the girl who had turned my life upside down. She was dressed casually with a plain shirt and jeans. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, and she seemed unarmed. Her eyes were a deep golden colour that twinkled in the sunlight. She definitely didn't look scary like she did in my bathroom the other day. It seemed awfully like she was trying to look too casual.

"So, I guess you want some explanations, huh?" The girl said, cutting off my train of thought. Her voice surprised me, it wasn't menacing in any way. It was soft and melodic; peaceful. Something about her voice reminded me of the soft waves of the ocean. I nodded, so she continued. "I'm Coral and I was sent here by your mother."

ˇM-my mother?" I whispered, "What?"

"I know this may seem bizarre," Coral said sympathetically, "but you have to believe me when I say I'm on your side. Your mother was keeping a secret from you, a secret that even your father didn't know of."

As soon as she mentioned my mother, I was on high alert. Suddenly, this girl had a personal connection with me and I needed to know answers. Now. I was starting to get tired of all these vague statements.

"Just tell me what you mean, without all the vagueness, okay?" Just then a thought occurred to me. "And how dare you say you're on my side when you tried to kill me last week? Remember that? Because I do."

"All in due time, Hazel. Let me finish explaining. Your mother was from the sea. She wasn't a regular human. We call ourselves the daughters of the sea." Upon seeing my confused expression, Coral added, "You'll learn more about that after. As I was saying, when your mother passed away, her spirit came back to the sea and found me. We were very close, your mother and I. She requested that I go up to the human world to train and prepare you for what's next."

"Hold on, hold on! Prepare me for what?" By this time, school already started but I didn't care. I was finally getting some answers, but they were definitely not what I was expecting. Who did this girl think she was, thinking that I'd just believe her right away?

"Let me ask you a question, Hazel. Have you been having nightmares recently where you heard a voice?" That was what happened the day of the attack. I cautiously nodded. "Good. The voice you heard was your mother warning you of what's to come. What did you hear in your dream?"

I took out the poem I wrote down from my pocket. I guess I put it in there without realizing it. I gave it to her. Coral read it and pursed her lips. I held my breath, not sure what to do. At last, she looked up from the page and met my nervous gaze. She offered a small smile that was meant to comfort me, yet somehow did just the opposite.

"Your mother is a wise one. She's warning you of your death. Drowning," Coral shuddered, "To die in the place where you came from. How ironic."

"What do you mean 'where I came from'? What are you talking about?" I started to put two and two together. "Do you mean... I'm a daughter of the sea too?"

Coral nodded. "You don't have to understand everything now. Just know that you're in danger but I'm here to help."

"But how are you here to help if you tried to kill me?" I asked again, remembering how she avoided my question earlier.

Coral chuckled lightly. "I wasn't trying to kill you! I was just testing your strength. I wanted to see how well you reacted when you were surprised. And you did just fine, might I add. In case you haven't noticed, your eyes changed colour, didn't they?" I nodded slowly, wondering where she was going with this. "Good. Don't you remember when we were fighting, how fast and agile you were? Almost too fast and agile?"

"Now that I think about it, I do. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"The gold around your eyes represents the power your mother gave to you. After she sent you the dream, she knew that you were going to need some help to change your destiny. By giving you her strength and agility, because she no longer needs it anymore, you are now twice as powerful as you used to be. That's why you easily beat me in our fight last week." Coral explained.

I took a moment to take it all in. If what Coral said was correct - something I don't know for sure - then my mother was a daughter of the sea. Some sort of mythical being that lived underwater. Apparently daughters of the sea have powers, and my mother gave hers to me after she died, which could explain the gold addition to my eyes. But some things didn't add up.

"So I have my mom's power too?" I asked. When Coral nodded, I continued, "And my eyes changed because of that. What about other people with gold ringed eyes? It's not that rare, you know."

"Every daughter of the sea can transfer their power to someone, if they choose. It could be their family, a friend or anyone really. But it has to be a girl, hence the name 'daughters of the sea'. Boys with gold eyes are just that, boys with gold eyes."

I nodded, taking in all of the new information as best as I could. It was hard to believe my life could change so quickly. "What does this all mean, though? And how did my mother know that I was going to die?"

Coral took a deep breath. "Your mother knew because she's the one that's going to kill you."  

Hey! I hope you're enjoying the book so far! Please click the vote button because every vote means a lot to me. The suspense is real, huh? :)

-Bookworm9173