Cerulean Found

Chapter 34 - Party Time

The sun has started to set by the time we arrive back at the villa. It has been a very long day spent touring the Fort and exploring the city of Kingsmet and I am exhausted. As my family heads to the pool to cool off, I sneak back to my room to relax alone.

There is something I have been wanting to do all day. Ever since I heard that the chief doctor's daughter went missing, I was reminded of Audrey Larson and how she supposedly vanished too. I need to finish reading her journal.

I walk over to the bookshelf, grab the leather bound journal and then plop myself down in the large oversized yellow armchair. I open the old book and begin to read where I had left off.

As I read, I roll my eyes. It is more of the same. Sleep-overs, friendship bracelets, her dislike for her dad's fishing passion, books she was reading and how she missed her mother.

That was something new. She hadn't mentioned her mother much before. I continue to read.

Today marks three years since mom left. The pain of missing her hasn't subsided at all. It's only grown greater. Dad still feeds me the story of her falling in love with the pool boy and the two of them running off to start a new life together. I know she wouldn't have done that, regardless that the evidence seemed to prove otherwise. Both mom and Greg, the pool boy in question, disappeared at the same time. I know mom wouldn't leave me. She just wouldn't. That is why for the past three years I have searched for the answer as to what really happened. I've researched and questioned everything and everyone. S was a big help. Her connections to the Melleiro provided me with the most knowledge. I am confident that due to their help, I have found the answers I have been searching for.

Dad was right. She did run off with the pool boy, only he wasn't just a pool boy. He was a guide helping her with her transformation. She had no choice but to leave.

"Camila, come and eat."

I jump as Justin calls to me from the hallway, dropping the journal on the floor. I reach down to pick it up and as it dangles from my fingers something falls out.

It's a photograph.

I examine the image. It looks familiar. I know I've seen it before.

It is an image of two young girls, one tanned and the other pale with red hair eating ice cream. I turned the picture over and read. Written across the back is Audrey and Sabra BFF.

I gasp. I can't believe what I have discovered. Audrey's best friend, the one she has referred to in her journal as S, is none other than Sabra! It makes complete sense. They lived next door to each other and they both had the same weird fascination with the sea and mermaids.

I am now even more intrigued by the mysterious disappearances than ever before. I can't wait for Josh to come over tomorrow so that I can tell him all about my recent discovery.

****

The morning light streams in from my window. I let out a giggle. I can't contain my happiness. It is my seventeenth birthday and I am going to see Josh! I immediately jump out of bed and start to get ready.

After showering, brushing my hair, applying some makeup, and getting dressed in a floral sundress, I go to the main building to enjoy some breakfast with my family. I spend the rest of the morning and afternoon lounging on the covered terrace. I can hear my brothers swimming in the pool below, while I read magazines and wait for Josh to arrive. I actually have no idea what time he will be coming and I am beginning to get anxious.

In order to get my mind off of him, I venture inside and watch TV for a bit. I turn it to the weather channel and notice that the depression Josh was tracking the other day has turned into a strong storm. They predict that it will turn into a hurricane in the next few hours. If it continues along its current path, it will swipe over Jalukka in the next week as a category 3 storm. Judging by the way the weathermen are talking, I can tell that a category 3 means it will be a major storm! Even though it is still only a tropical storm, and a lot can happen to weaken its force, I start to get slightly scared.

I flip the channel, as an attempt to ease my nerves, and stop when I come across something light and carefree. It's a mind numbing reality show about rich girls living in Miami Beach. The show is filled with gorgeous exotic looking twenty something year-olds who all look like supermodels. They are tall, tan and flawless. I now see why Justin is seriously thinking about applying to colleges down there.

"What are you doing?" Abbo asks as he enters the living room.

"Watching TV," I answer.

"No granddaughter of mine is going to spend her birthday cooped up inside watching TV," he states.

"I don't mind. Really," I reply truthfully.

"Come outside, I'm going to play dominoes with your parents and we need an extra player!" he shouts as he heads out onto the terrace.

I reluctantly agree.

"Leave the TV on Mila. I kind of got into that show you were watching," Gram calls out from the kitchen. I let out a laugh.

By the time we finish playing dominoes, it's nearly 6:00 p.m.. Gram is setting the table for dinner and Josh still hasn't shown up. I keep telling myself that he will come, but as the hours pass by, I start to really wonder if he will actually show up.

My family keeps asking me where he is, and I have to tell them the truth, which is that I have no idea. They assure me that he's probably busy with his dad or got caught up with a work related task, but for some reason I don't buy that.

When dinner is ready, we all sit outside on the terrace and eat my birthday feast, which consists of bbq hamburgers, corn on the cob and baked beans. In between bites and the chatter of my family, loud music can be heard echoing through the bay. It is coming from the hotel and I know why.

Amber's party. Is that where Josh is?