Shadow in the Water

Chapter 4

I woke up Saturday morning groaning, bleary eyed, still wearing the same clothes I had worn to the bonfire last night and feeling as though I'd been hit by a truck. My mouth felt like it was full of cotton, my tongue felt like sandpaper, and I desperately needed to drink some water. There was a dull throbbing pain just behind my eyes, pulsing in time with my heartbeat. I felt... gross. Grimey. My stomach rumbled, protesting the lack of food inside of it.

None of it was motivation enough for me to move right away.

I rolled my head to the side and looked out one of the big windows. The sky was an overcast light gray. Raindrops streaked the glass before being joined into the little streams of water running down the window. Today was one of those days where I'd like to just curl up on my window seat under that big window, wrap up in an electric blanket and read.

"Good plan. Shower first," I muttered, then sat up. It took more effort than I'd like to admit.

I dragged myself to the staircase that ran up the inside of the tower to my personal bathroom for a shower. The granite tile and golden light fixtures created a pleasantly warm atmosphere for my still-tired eyes. I stood in front of the mirror that hung above the double-sink counter and attacked my hair with a comb. It felt gritty with sand and a little dried salt, and it was tangled from being in a haphazard braid while I'd slept. When I was finally satisfied that it wouldn't turn into a tangled mess the second I got it wet, I opened the glass door on the standing shower and turned the hot water on to full blast. Steam quickly began drifting through the room, fogging up the mirrors as I removed my dirty clothes and threw them into the laundry basket in the corner that was close to overflowing. As my jeans fell from the pile on top of the basket, a curious looking item fell out of the left pocket and I heard a solid thunk.

I frowned at it for a long moment before my memories caught up with me. It was the necklace that I'd nearly flung into the ocean last night. I picked it up and peered at it closely. The grime I'd noticed in the dark wasn't as bad as I'd guessed, but it did need a wash. I dug through a drawer to find a fingernail scrub brush, took it and the necklace into the shower with me, dabbed a generous blob of shampoo onto it and started scrubbing. Either the grime wasn't as solidified as I'd expected or my shampoo was an extremely good jewelry cleaner, because after only a minute or two it began to shine. As I rinsed it off, it literally began to shine. As the suds were rinsed away I could see, caged in the intricate metal work, a bright blue stone that was emitting a mild glow. I pulled it from under the stream of water to get a closer look, and the light gently faded away.

I blinked several times and rubbed my eyes, then placed the pendant back under the water to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. Just as delicately as the light had faded away, it began glowing again, turning the entire shower a brilliant shade of aquamarine. The filigree encasing the stone cast shadows on the tiles around me, making it appear as if I were in some underwater paradise without actually being under said water. It was... breathtaking.

"What in the world...?" I removed it from the water again and watched the light fade away once more. I was definitely not hallucinating. What sorts of stones glowed under water? I'd heard of bioluminescent clams, was that what was caught inside of this metal teardrop?

I hung the necklace on the shower handle and left it be while I showered. After a little while I simply stood there and let the hot water relax my muscles that were sore from sleeping in an awkward position. I splashed water onto the necklace and watched how it reacted; it began to glow before fading again as the water came and went. My mind went back to the stories about Fey Archway, how it was a supposed magical place and how I'd found the necklace underneath it. I remembered that the Tuatha De had supposedly gifted certain clans of humans with mystical items in return for their fervent worship.