Eyes of the Sea

Chapter 17

The first thing I felt was a throbbing pain in my head. My body was sore, and I just felt tired. I went to rub my temples, but I couldn't. My eyes flew open and I looked around in a panic. Why can't I move?

"Ah, she's awake." Coral stepped into my view. I was lying on the floor, my limbs sprayed in awkward angles. She leaned closer to me. "Hello, Hazel."

"Coral?" I asked, confused. It was a struggle to talk, but my face was the only part of me that could move. A terrible feeling formed inside me. What was happening? "What are you doing?"

She laughed, yet there was no humour in her voice. "You trust too easily, you know that?"

I refused to make eye contact with her. Why was she doing this? I frantically looked around for Will and Heather. From the position I was in, it was hard to see anything but Coral's gloating face.

I struggled and strained, and I could see out of the corner of my eye Heather still tied to her chair, and now Will was tied up too.

Oh my God, I thought, Coral's the bad guy! "It's you! How could you do this? I trusted you!" I seethed. "What about the hunters? What about Cain?"

"Hazel," she paused. "I am the hunter. Cain is my husband, partner in crime, whatever you want to call it."

A wave of hopelessness went through me. Heather and Will both came here because of me, and if anything happened to them, it would be my fault.

The fish I had brought in with me were sensing the tension in the air. They started to swim around faster, causing a bright blur of colours. I had to use that to my advantage if we wanted to escape. And we had to escape.

"So, what?" I asked, finally meeting Coral's gaze. "This was all a lie? Everything you told me, from the start?" My voice choked, and I couldn't go on. I felt my eyes tear up, but I forced them back, refusing to let her see me cry anymore.

"No," Coral said slowly, thoughtfully. "Not all of it. Your dream about your mother was real. The poem was real. She really did send that. In fact, she's locked up in this very building. But be a dear and repeat the poem for the audience, will you? They haven't had the pleasure of hearing it yet."

The audience? I squinted, but it was too dark to see anything. I closed my eyes and let my hearing take over. My senses were better underwater, but not perfect. I heard some deep breathing coming behind Coral, and four men stepped forward into the light, allowing me to see them. They were dressed in all black, completely bald, and they had fins on the side of their heads, making me gag slightly.

"Cain's men?" I thought out loud, before I realized what I was doing and shut my mouth.

"Yes, Cain's men." She paused, enjoying the fear in my eyes. "And my men, too. Now recite the poem for us."

She was insane! How did I not see that before? Why would I do anything for her? I stubbornly glared at her, and she slowly reached into her jacket pocket, not breaking eye contact with me.

She pulled out a knife. My breath caught in my throat. My knife. I was about to yell blasphemy, but before I knew it, Coral knelt by my side and the knife was at my throat.

"Say it," she commanded. I gulped, terrified. This is real. I'm going to die.

I took a deep breath. Just do what she says, and maybe everything will be okay.

I tried to look at Heather, to assure her everything was going to be okay, but Coral grabbed my face and made me look at her. Her eyebrows raised, forcing me on.