When the people of Arabella heard the news they were devastated and when the New King was asked what had happened he said, “We were leaving and then two members of the Teasers gang, we must of missed when we did the city search, came out of the forest, I don’t know how they knew we were there must have been that applause for the entertainment, and they followed the noise and snuck in with masks on. They stabbed both of the smiths parents in the chest, the king and a little girl and then threw them in the ocean. I followed them across and threw them over also. Then I went home.”
The people yelled questions, “why didn’t you say anything straight away?!”
“I didn’t want to frighten anyone.”
And when Hayden came over later in the day he was gutted. “But, but, what happened?! Where is she?” he yelled and his chin began to quiver, he bit down on his bottom lip as his eyes turned red and filled at the rims with tears.
“Well after she was cut slits began to open on either sides of her ribs and then she ran and dived into the pool at the bottom of the waterfall. I don’t think she’s dead. She is there somewhere... in a mermaid’s body.” Angus said. B looked down at her feet her eyes full of sadness and almost shame. “Maybe she will realise if you try to talk to her...” she said in a nervous voice.
“Yeah ok, maybe...” He walked over to the water and sat down cross legged. He breathed in and exhaled slowly. Both of the sisters looked away but decided to go inside and give him some privacy. “Hey… Charlie, I uhh,” he bit his lip and shook his head looking up to the sky, “I need you, I mean without you I’m…lost. I need you.” He whispered the last words exasperatedly. “Please, Charlie please.” A girls head slowly emerged from the water, her hair no longer the dark colour it once was but blonde, straight and sticking to her body, then came her eyes, those beautiful aqua eyes, hadn’t changed at all, and looked straight into his, her strawberry lips were partly open and water from her hair dripped onto them and her shoulders, she came up only enough for him to see her gills. They made eye contact and she quickly turned, her shoulder blades replaced her collar bones, she pulled her hair around one shoulder and turned her face to the side, “Hayden leave.”
“No.”
She turned around whipping her hair, and as quick as a click of the fingers appeared right in front of him, “Now.”
His eyes like a flash changed from hope to sadness and he creased his eyebrows and said, “Ok.” She sunk down under the water while watching him stand up, he stood for a couple more seconds staring at the water where she had disappeared then walked off.
As he entered their lounge room he shook his head, “Fuck!” he murmured under his breath and looked at Angus and B in despair. He fell to the ground when there was no response and back against the wall, pulled his knees up to his chest and his face in his hands. “Fuck.”
“We can make it through this,” B says with her usual determined attitude. “We have all the money we need to buy the necessities and maybe even extra.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t matter. Charlie is gone!! She’s gone and I don’t know what to do.” He almost yells.
“We will all figure this out, it will be ok.” Angus tries to reassure him.
Charlie sat on the rock next to the waterfall. She sat there for hours every day, occasionally sliding of the rock in the cool water. Hayden called Mrs Parina and asked to stay over the Smiths house. Mrs Parina heard the news and was worried sick about her little boy.
They all sat at the table and ate the dinnerB had prepared. Hayden poked at the lettuce in the salad and didn’t make a sound at the table. “Hayden, eat something please.” B begged. He looked up at her and said, “Really I’m not hungry. Please don’t worry about me.” That night Hayden rolled on Charlie’s bed, but only occasionally drifted off to sleep. It was a silly mistake going to sleep in her bed; the smell of her hair in her pillow, suffocated him. Every single detail of their house reminded him of her.
