Tetrology Of The Sea - Book 2: Until the Sea🪼

Ten

Arix watched them wheel Jude into the car and drive off in the ambulance. He lifted an eyebrow at them and watched it go down the road. As he watched it, he saw someone sneaking around the area next to the house and narrowed his eyes. He grabbed his coat and walked out, heading for the person.
He went to where the person was hiding and tapped them on the shoulder. They turned around swiftly and Arix made a face.
"What are you doing here? Why are you skulking?"
"I'm not skulking, I'm investigating."
"You look suspicious."
"Yeah, well you're here with me, so now we both look suspicious."
"Why are you here, Jessen? Did you do this?"
He looked at Arix in surprise.
"What?! No way! I would never do something as crazy as this. This is the work of someone else."
"Do you know who?"
"Not yet but... I need to get a look at that body."
He looked at Arix and Arix lifted an eyebrow.
"What makes you think I'll be able to help you?"
"You're Esper Bagery's cousin and she has just been taken to the hospital with a friend. The other body will be there too in the morgue. All you have to do is get me down there so that I can get a better look at the body. I have a funny feeling that it was done by... something..."
"One of your kind?"
"Yeah, but an unorthodox one."
Arix glared at Jessen for a minute but turned.
"The family will be going to the hospital I'm sure. I can unlock the car and you can sneak in the back of it. Then you can explain what you're doing here and where you're from."
"What? You can't just invite me?"
"That would be odd since we are not friends."
He kept walking as Jessen ran after him.

****************

Esper watched the paramedics take Jude to the operating room where they could surgically remove the knife and make sure he didn't die all at the same time. When he was gone, she finally let herself break down even more in the waiting room. Was she too late to make things right with him? Would he even be the same person when he woke up? She'd never seen him go through any sort of tragedy so she had no idea how he would handle it.
Esper suddenly felt someone touch her shoulder and looked up, finding Travis.
"Hey, sweetie..."
Esper grabbed him and he held her close, rocking her softly back and forth. Shana walked in with Kurai and Nemo and went over to Esper as well, making sure she was alright.
Arix walked in with Jessen behind him and they went straight, not stopping at all.
"I do not trust you." Arix mentioned again.
"I'm sure you don't. No one trusts people like me."
"What do you want with Esper?"
"Nothing to be alarmed about."
"That answer makes me afraid."
"Quit your squawking and just follow me down to the morgue so I can have a look at this body."
"What do you suspect you will find?"
"Foul play. This was uncalled for."
"Most murders are."
"No, that's what not I mean. Whoever did this wanted that kid to suffer, not just kill someone. This was a direct approach, a warning. I have a feeling the mom was already dead (or at least dying) before Jude got into any of it. The fact that he was left alive makes me think that he was meant to be left alive or to slowly die."
"And how did you come to that conclusion?"
"I have my ways."
Arix grabbed Jessen and slammed him against the wall, making Jessen dizzy for a second.
"Explain yourself to me now." Arix growled.
Jessen frowned for a second and then sighed.
"I know all about you guys and what you are. I know that Travis Bagery was a seahorse that got turned into a boy and that all the children are seahorses. I know that you're a pipefish that just got turned."
"And what are you?"
Jessen clenched his fist for a second and sighed.
"I'm a seahorse too. I just... don't belong to the Seahorse King."
"Ah, a rogue."
"Not necessarily. I'm the son of a seahorse mob."
Arix lifted an eyebrow. "I thought that was just a myth."
"Nope. My father was the leader of the mob but I didn't want to be a part of it. I knew that if I could get out of the ocean, he would have no way of being able to find me. I didn't like his antics... So... As usual when it comes to any outside magic, I asked the Potion Queen to change me. Unlike using the king, I can never, ever go back to the ocean. I'm a full-fledged human being except for a certain thing."
"Procreation."
"Bingo... I'm like Travis and all you guys. I create children in me, not the other way around. Sometimes genetics is a bitch... but... I'm stuck here unless I can get Esper to notice me and marry me. If she marries me, I can go back to the water."
"So that's why you've been getting in her space."
"Not really. Well, yeah, kind of. But I realized that she's into Jude so I backed off."
"So tell me again why I shouldn't think you're the one who did all this?"
"Because I didn't. I may have been part of a mob before, but I left because I hated that lifestyle. I hated being outcasted from the other mermaids and seahorses and I hated doing what they did. I kill to protect myself, or my family. No, I felt like something bad was going to happen and followed my gut."
Arix threw his hands up in the air.
"I don't get you. I will find out what your angle is and make you pay for it if you try to hurt anyone."
"Go ahead. I give you explicit permission. If we can get to the morgue and take a look at Jude's mother's body then I can give you a clearer understanding of what is going on here and who may have done this."
Arix sighed but continued to the elevator with Jessen in tow.
"I don't like this, especially now that I know you're from the mob."
"Ugh, Arix, give it a rest before I let them know what you have been hiding."
"I'm not hiding anything."
"Oh yeah? Then tell me what this is."
He grabbed a hold of Arix's shirt and lifted it up, pointing at his stomach.
"That would be a stomach."
"That's poochy. You're pregnant. Don't try to deny it."
"I am not pregnant. You're trying to find an excuse to get the attention off of yourself and you keep making me more suspicious."
Jessen rolled his eyes. "Whatever, suit yourself."
He hit the button for the bottom floor and they took the elevator down.

****************

After a few hours, the doctor walked out and Travis looked up at him. He moved Esper over to Shana and stood up to meet him.
"Are you the guardian of the patient?"
"I... Yes... I am."
"Come with me please, there's a lot to discuss."
Travis followed the doctor to another part of the hallway.
"He's in critical condition but he should pull through with lots of pain killer and support. The knife went in very deep, as you saw, all the way to the hilt. It messed up some of his intestines, small and large, so he may have some issues with going to the bathroom. That's neither here nor there. The physical wound will heal and although it'll be hard, it won't be harder than dealing with the mental and psychological issues he will have to endure."
"I understand."
"I don't think you do. I've seen these victims, victims of crime, and their recovery is a hard road. I don't doubt your expertise, sir, but do you believe you can handle the obstacles of this? This boy just lost his mother in a brutal way and was caught in the middle of it. Everyone responds to this type of thing differently but all end up doing the same thing in the end: breaking. It's handling everything in between the initial recovery and the breaking that will be hard. Do you believe you can handle that?"
"And if I said no? What would you do?" Travis said, crossing his arms. "How I handle this issue is none of your business, Doctor. I appreciate it but no one will ever know how to handle someone until it happens. I will try the best that I can for him. It's all I can do... Is he available for visitors?"
"We're closing him up and we'll have to get him into a room but as soon as we do, you can see him."
Travis nodded and went back to the waiting room.
Shana stood up and went to him as he came back.
"What did he say?"
"He said he should be fine, although he may have some bathroom issues due to the knife severing some of his intestines but he'll recover. He warned me about the psychological damage that could come but that's it."
"And what did he say about the psychological damage?"
"He just said that no matter what happens, how he deals with it or whatever, that people always end up doing the same thing and that's breaking."
"Oh dear..."
Shana's phone suddenly rang and she answered it. She frowned and then handed the phone to Travis.
"Hello?"
"Travis Bagery?"
"Yeah, this is he."
"This is Jude's father. I just got a call that he's in the hospital and that Gwendolyn was murdered? What the hell, Bagery?"
"Well I'm not the one that killed her, Robert. What the hell do you want? I thought I told your ass to get out of town the last time we saw each other."
"I am out of town but I'm still listed as Jude's emergency contact. I told Gwendolyn she could have the little shit but she couldn't keep everything away. If he got hurt, I wanted to be there."
"So you could hurt him more. What do you want, Robert?"
"I just wanted to say that I'm going to come and see him and you can't do anything about it. I'm on the emergency paperwork, hence why they called, so you can't keep me from seeing my son. The restraining order is off, considering it was on just Gwendolyn."
Travis gripped the phone tightly. "If you think you're going to take Jude now, you're crazy."
"Well, you don't have any authority. Jude was never under that restraining order and in our divorce, we had joint custody. Gwen is dead, so that means that he belongs to me now and you can't do anything to stop it, Mr. Hero."
"You're living in a fantasy, Robert. You only have one year left to claim that joint custody and then Jude is free from it. He'll leave you. And believe me, I'll do everything I can to stop him from going to you. I have proof-"
"That was years ago, Bagery. I'm a whole different man now. You can't prove anything."
He hung up and Travis glared at the phone.
"Travis?"
"Robert is going to try and get Jude back."
Shana gasped. "But..."
"We can't think of that right now. We have to just make sure Jude is fine and recovers as best as he can. We'll deal with Robert when the time comes."