Whispers Beneath The Waves (Boy x Boy) [Shortlisted for The Wattys 2018!]

Chapter 19 - Black Magic

Hi guys! Thank you so much for your patience with this story - we are getting to the final handful of chapters now and I' can't believe I'm finally going to finish haha! Hope you enjoy this dramatic new chapter!

I AM REALLY SORRY but the formatting of the line spacing has messed up during the first half of this chapter. I have no idea why, but it's seemingly because I wrote this part on a different computer and I cannot for the life of me seem to fix it.  Hope it's not too annoying, I'll try to work out how to change it...!

EDIT: I think it's fixed now... Any probs let me know though XD

Let me know what you think :D <3

Becky xx

Chapter 19

Black Magic

Keiko's house wasn't far from ours, but the ten-minute journey felt endless. Mrs. Kobayashi led the way, spilling out a stream of worry as she hurried down the familiar narrow pathways between our homes.

"We've been too hard on her. We should have let her have more fun and stop putting all this pressure on her. We just wanted the best for our daughter, we didn't think it would affect her like this... Shouting, screaming, behaving like a wild animal. This isn't my Keiko."

She was right. It wasn't her Keiko. It was a dark, supernatural force that no human could comprehend let alone fight against. I tried to block out the voice in my head telling me how stupid I was not to have camped out last night. If only I'd been there first, I could have stopped Maryssa in her tracks the second she came out of hiding.

"You two have been friends for so many years. We may have curfews and rules, but we know how much you care for our Keiko. I was certain we could count on you."

No, I had done the right thing. I was rested and refreshed. I was ready to fight Maryssa and stop her twisted game.

"Of course you can count on me. On all of us. We'll fix this Mrs. Kobayashi. We'll help her." We weren't too late. We could still rescue her from this hypnotised state. We had to try.

As we rounded the corner to the house, I noticed both Mum and Kye raise their heads in unison, almost as though they had just heard a noise made only for them. They exchanged a worried glance.

"I sense her," Mum murmured under her breath.

"Me too," Kye whispered back. "She's somewhere close. It's like she's taunting us to come and find her."

I clenched my fist so hard that my fingernails dug painfully into my own palm. She was brazenly mocking us, daring us to make the next move. I couldn't help but feel like we were playing into her hands, but there was no way I was leaving Keiko alone. If only I could have dragged Maryssa from her hiding place and thrown her back into the ocean with my own bare hands.