The Lost Heir (Book I)- The Violet City

Fun House

Isabella dipped back into the water and swam. Everything was so clear. She plunged further into the water, trying to spot him. Wait. Down there. A pair of legs scissored the water several yards in front of her. She continued closer to them for another minute. Air. Kicking her feet and scooping her arms, she swam upward fluidly, passing water-resistant cutouts of Marilyn Monroe in her famous billowing, white halter dress, Charlie Chaplin in his black bowler, Lena Horne clutching a mic, and Judy Garland with a ratty little terrier in a wicker basket. False impressions of her great-grandparents stood at the center. A realization hit her. Her eyes did not sting in this water, but she couldn't understand why. She had clearly smelled chlorine during her ride down the tube, but this pool seemed different. Something magical was present again.

She heard a muffled shout above the water just before her head parted the surface and her lungs filled with thick, warm air. "Se-th," she coughed, struggling to orient herself to his direction but to no avail. Pitch-black loomed above the water, so all she could see was her body treading below and blurred images of what lay beneath.

"IZZY! IZZY!" Seth's voice seemed farther away. He must have spotted an exit to this freakish fun-house pool.

Her mouth clammed open and shut. After several healthy gulps of air, she cried out, "I'm coming!" Before she started to swim, something swooped down above her head and then back up again. She listened and thought she heard a bird tweet. Birds get themselves into the craziest places. As if she could throw stones. She had just started to swim again when a loud cranking sound from beneath the water filled her ears. She dipped down to see some kind of boat emerging from a rock cave behind her. As it surfaced, she saw that it was no bigger than a dingy. It approached her. A small light shone from the top of the dingy. When it reached her, she grabbed onto the side of the boat, breathing heavily.

"Please climb onto the vessel and keep your hands inside as we pass through the tunnel," said a voice that sounded much like the one she'd heard in Renee and Sinclair's speakeasy room. She hoisted herself into the boat, but quickly realized there was no paddle. She stuck her hands into the water and tried rowing it in the direction of Seth's voice, but for some reason, it would not budge. "We will now continue to our destination."

"Isabella!" Seth cried again in the distance.

"No!" She realized the boat was moving in the opposite direction from Seth.

What was she going to do? Jump back into that freak show? The boat continued. What if this crazy place was bouncing Seth's voice all around? She had no idea what to do. The dingy lurched forward, and Isabella gulped. She had no choice but to trust the one thing she did not really believe in-her instincts. She jumped from the boat just before it reached the mouth of the cave's tunnel and swam as fast as she could in the direction of Seth's voice. A surge of courage pumped in her veins. This was right. It had to be.

Before long, however, weariness pushed down on her shoulders, forcing her to stop and tread water. What direction had his voice come from? "Seth!" He did not reply.

"SETH!" She coughed as water seeped into her mouth. Without knowing what else to do, she pushed up for one last gulp of oxygen and then dipped below the surface to gather her bearings. Beyond a few rocks carved into the shape of the old downtown Los Angeles skyline, she soon spotted several ladders side by side on her far right. She swam toward them, popping above the surface to breathe every so often before returning to the light below. She made it.

Rung by rung, she pulled herself up from the depths of the bizarre lagoon and onto a rubbery floor. Before she had a chance to fathom relief, a gust of icy wind whipped around her body and then disappeared in the opposite direction. A sudden fit of raucous coughs consumed her as she shivered. "Seth?" she muttered, eyes falling shut. She tried walking, but her wobbly legs collapsed and sent her to the rubber floor.