The Secret Lives of Fish - a sequel to The Thirteenth Year

Ch 18 - Cure

The light filtered down through the blue water, casting gossamer curtains that blurred as the dark reaches of the ocean floor pooled upwards. It was beautiful to Sam. She hovered, floating weightless in the halfway world of light and shadow, buoyed up in the warm water. Fish flitted around and coral dressed the sandy floor in arrays of brilliant yellows and orange. It was a little slice of paradise. Ringing laughter drifted to her in the water and she let her body be swayed by the currents. The laughter called to her and she could just make out a figure in the distance, cast in shadow by a light shining from behind. A hand reached for her and she smiled as she reached out in turn.

'Sam...'

Gasping, Sam awoke in her bed, sheets tangled around her and her alarm beeping from somewhere on the floor. She had a bad habit of knocking it off her dresser. Groggy from a fitful night's sleep, she propped herself up against her headboard and tried to rub the sleep from her eyes. The dream had been peaceful. A welcome distraction from reality. Today was going to be a terrible day and it was only seven am.

"Honey?" her mom called through the door, knocking lightly.

"Come in, mom." Sam wiped at her face again.

Her mom, tall and with the same brunette hair, pushed the door open and walked to her daughter's bedside. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

Sam felt her eyes welling with tears before she could even stop them. A sob broke from her throat and her mom held her in her arms within seconds.

"Oh, darling." The older lady stroked her daughter's hair as she sobbed into her shoulder. "It's going to be alright. Everyone is looking for them. It's a small island, they'll find them. I promise."

Hardly listening, Sam continued to cry.

Yesterday had been one of the worst days of her life. First, word of Jess going missing had come in. Then Sean had disappeared. Lastly, almost like clockwork, Cody had also vanished just like the other two. The three missing teenagers had everyone on their island looking. Jess's found bike was the only clue so far, but that seemed to have led nowhere. There was no sign of them. No one had seen anything and no one in the town seemed to know where they could have gone.

The Griffin's were understandably distressed. Sam just as much. The three of them, including Jess's dad, were beginning to suspect that the kidnappings had a more specific purpose behind them. The three boys all had something in common...the secret of what Cody was. Sam was terrified for them and for herself. What if they came after her next? Who could have taken them? Were they alright?

The police were waiting for some sort of ransom note or a clue to be found, but nothing so far. The whole situation was terrible.

Shaking, but finally bringing her tears under control, Sam pulled away from her mom.

"I'm staying home today and I'm not letting you out of this house either," said Sam's mom. After a brief pause, and in a gentle voice she added "I'm going to start making breakfast, alright?"

Sam nodded her head slowly, sliding back down under covers and pulling them up to her chin. Kissing her forehead, her mom left her room, shutting the door behind her.

Slightly calmer, Sam tried to direct her thoughts away from Cody, Jess, and Sean. Her dream drifted into her thoughts and she frowned. Usually when she dreamt of swimming, she was in some sort of pool or at a swim match. Rarely was she in the ocean. And who had that figure been? They had felt so familiar. She had been trying to grab their hand...

She shook her head and pulled her covers over her. After a few moments, exhausted from crying, she drifted back to sleep.

The water was different this time. Still just as gorgeous, but the coral had given way to rocks and sea fans. Under water caves covered in anemones sat on her one side, while a field of sea grass waived in the ocean current on the other. That same, familiar laugh reached out to her. This time, she purposefully pushed herself towards the sound. Was it a sound? She heard it again. Sam couldn't tell if it came to her through the water or if it was simply there, in her mind.