The Island Curse

Deja Vu

"Isla. Isla...Baby girl please look at me."

"Daddy," I croaked, cracking open my eyes to see my father leaning over me, his skin blanched and his lips pursed. A woman stood on the other side of me, writing something down in a chart.

"Oh thank god," he gasped, gathering me in his arms and pulling me against his chest. His shirt grew damp where my wet face pressed into the material, but he only held me tighter, his body trembling as we rocked.

"Dad, where's Mama?"

"The paramedics are working on her now. They're on the way to the hospital."

I struggled to pull away. "I need to see her."

"Relax," the woman said, pushing me back down on the stretcher. It was only then that I understood we were in the back of an ambulance. "How do you feel? Does your head hurt?"

"I'm fine. I didn't hit my head."

"Yer mother is going to be okay. They got her breathing," he replied. He grabbed me by the hand, and when I returned my frantic gaze to his face, he looked as though he'd aged thirty years since this morning. "You were breathing when we pulled you out, but you were unconscious. Yer mother... she's breathing now. That's what's important."

The paramedic put a blood pressure cuff around my arm, and Dad patted my hand while offering me a weak smile. My eyelids started to feel heavy, but I didn't want to close them. To see it again- that moment she went below and didn't come back up. I had to stay awake. Just. Stay. Awake...

"Isla! Isla, wake up!"

A hand was splayed over my forehead, pressing gently to tilt my head back. Another hand cupped my chin, the thumb pulling down on my lower lip to open my mouth. I was aware of all of this but could say nothing.

I was frozen.

Warm lips touched cold lips, and something triggered in my brain. A signal to defrost. A spark carried on the air breathed into my lungs, igniting my broken senses and forcing me to sit up with a shuddering gasp.

"Oh thank god." Deja vu swamped me as strong arms pulled me into an embrace. Fingers burrowed into my tangled hair, and I could hear the thrumming of a nervous heart.

"Kieran?" My tongue struggled to form his name out of the raspy sound produced by my raw, burning throat.

He separated from me and moved his eyes across my body. There was no desire in that searching look, just desperation. And whatever he found soothed it away enough that he released me and rested on his knees in the sand.

We were on the shore of Shipwreck Cove. Far enough away from the ocean that brambles and grass shot up through the sand. My coat was a sodden, ragged lump to the left. Shoes and socks were tossed on top. Overhead the skies were peach and pink, while the menacing clouds dissipated across the horizon.  I searched the sea for glowing eyes or fins, but only white caps and sun sparkles greeted my roving gaze. 

"Isla, are you okay?"

"I-I don't understand how I ended up here." I blinked slowly and that evil, turquoise light filled the darkness. My eyes snapped open as my throat constricted. I wasn't there anymore. I was okay. She-it- couldn't reach me here.

Kieran's jaw tightened and he looked out to sea as he drew in a deep breath through his nose. When he spoke, his hands clenched and unclenched. "You weren't at yer house when I got there. You were supposed to be waiting for me."

"I only stopped to look at the beach, to see the Mermaid Tears." It had been my original intention.

"But you went into the caves? Why?"

I shivered as the wind picked up, my clothes doing nothing to restore warmth to my frigid limbs. Kieran had to be freezing as well. He'd changed out of his school uniform before coming over, and his sweater was dripping with sea water. But unlike me, he appeared unaffected- the only thing cold was his eyes as he waited for my answer.

"I was curious." It sounded dumb even to my ears.

"Curious!" He erupted, jumping to his feet. "Don't you Americans know the saying curiosity killed the cat? You could've died, Isla. I thought you were dead."

"I couldn't have known-" I stopped myself. How could I explain what happened in those caves without sounding crazy? How did I know that was even real? What if I'd imagined it all? Come see. Come see. The sweet, sing song sound made my skin crawl.

"What? What couldn't you have known? That it was dangerous to climb across a ledge during a freak storm, or that you shouldn't go into sea caves at high tide?"

"Are you listening to what you're saying?" I demanded as I stood up. With my arms wrapped around my body in a vain attempt to control the shivering, I marched over to him. "A freak storm. It came up out of nowhere. It was too late to turn back. I didn't plan this."

Kieran snorted and gave me a disgusted look. "You didn't want to turn back."

"I don't need this from you. You could've just been honest about the cave from the get go, and I would've never been so damned interested in it."

"Well, excuse me," Kieran shouted, throwing his hands up in the air, "I didn't know I was dealing with a child."

I couldn't hold back the tears any longer. They fell over my lashes and spilled across my cheeks. Spinning away from him, I wiped at them, hoping he hadn't seen them. But from the tortured groan sounding behind me, I'd not moved fast enough.

"Ach, please don't cry."

"Then don't yell at me!"

"I don't know what else to do! Yer stubborn as a donkey-"

"This is not making me cry less." I said around hiccups. 

 "Listen for just a minute," Kieran insisted, stepping in front of me so he could put his hands on my shoulders. His thumb moved through the tears on my face, and with a loud exhale, he tugged me back to his chest and rested his chin on my head.

"I was heading back to my house, right pissed, when I decided to check the shore. Something urged me to look, and my heart about stopped when I saw you draped across the lookout rock. By the time I reached you, the waves had pulled you down, and I thought I'd never find you. You weren't breathing, and yer lips were blue."

"Kieran-"

"Let me finish. You should no be here. You were out too long. I don't know how yer alive." He squeezed me, then grabbed my hand and pulled me up the hill. "We need to both get inside and get in some warm, dry clothes."

"Kieran."

"Yes?" He looked down at me, his face tired, his voice rough but not unkind.

"The other day, we promised no more secrets."

"Aye." Now he sounded resigned, and his grip on my hand tightened.

"I saw something in those caves. I didn't almost drown because of the storm."

"No." Hazel eyes disappeared behind his hand as he covered his face.

"Do you know what that was?"

"Not a what," he whispered, "a who."

Heart drumming in my chest, I stopped him and pulled his hand away so I could see his eyes when he answered my next question. The sadness in them stole my breath. "Do you know who it was?"

"Aye." He swallowed hard. "She's a sea witch, and she's the reason we need yer help."