Dark Waters

Chapter 9

On the eighth day, things began to change. Aelaria brought Tyler to see me in the afternoon as usual, but my evening meal never came, and although I called out to them, I could neither see nor hear any of my guards. They were gone, but I was still stuck in here. I felt panic rising in the back of my throat and did my best to tamp it down. Was I going to starve here, all alone, trapped behind stone bars? I swam back and forth between the walls, pacing to stay calm.

Two hours later, I was still alone in the room, still hungry, and now beginning to really freak out. Where in hell were my guards? Had everyone disappeared suddenly and left me to rot? I was seriously beginning to consider picking to lock with my fingernail when a group of mermen rounded the corner and faced my cell. They were my guards, and I had never been so relieved to see them.

"Oh, thank goodness," I gasped, darting forward to grasp the bars on my door. "I thought everyone just left me here." A few of the guards smiled, but most remained stoic as one unlocked to door and heaved it open.

"Am I being released?"

"You are earning your freedom," replied the tallest, beefiest one of the mermen. "I'm sure you understand that we are in a... difficult predicament."

"Yes, I've gathered that," I said sharply, annoyed that he was beating around the bush.

"A conclusion has been reached that you are not behind the disappearances."

"Wow," I replied, "the council finally made a decision?"

The guard gave a thin, wry smile, the first I had ever seen on his face. "Not exactly. The remaining council had, up until today, been unable to come to any sort of finality about your fate. But all nine of them have disappeared, leaving a fair bit of chaos that needs fixing. It also leaves a perfect coverup for your release."

"Why? I don't mean to be ungrateful, but why am I being released at all?"

"The vanishings worsen daily. It is our belief," here the guards cast cautious glances around at each other, "that you are the only one who might be able to get to the bottom of this. Perhaps you have some insight, or a skill we don't have. But we are confident that you can solve this problem."

"What does Ra'loreh think about this?" I asked, remembering the hatred on his face, the contempt that couldn't quite reach his glassy eyes.

The young man grimaced. "Our captain has been out of sorts. You must not take anything he says to heart. It is only right that in a time of crisis, his successors acted accordingly and-"

"Point, man. Is there a point here?" My patience was wearing thin.

The guard sighed. "Ra'loreh has been abducted as well."

I shook my head bitterly and said nothing. Not Ra'loreh.

"Find him. Find them all, and find who is responsible for this madness." The guards drew themselves to their full heights, towering pillars of muscle and steel. "You have gotten your freedom. Now earn it."

~~~~~

I was astounded that I remembered the way to Aelaria's house from the council building. It had only been a few times that I had taken the trip, but it already seemed familiar to me. I swam up to her wooden door and knocked, the action seeming inappropriate for the situation. The door cracked open ever so slightly, and a gold-brown eye peered out, before it was flung wide and I was enveloped in yet another fishy hug from Aelaria, so tight that I felt my ribs creak.

"Easy," I wheezed, as she finally let me go. Behind her, I saw Tyler, still in his feety pajamas, standing with his arms folded, a self-satisfied expression on his little face.

"Told you so," he shot at Aelaria. She shook her head in amazement.

"All he would say today was that you were going to be let out. He wouldn't hear any other opinions about it." Tyler nodded with a little hmph! noise and swam over to greet me. Aelaria took me into the house and closed the door.

The first thing I noticed was the quiet. The second thing I noticed was the emptiness. Usually everyone in Aelaria's house was spread out between the three floors, talking at the top of their lungs and lending a homey air to the place. Today the house was all but silent. I stopped short, Tyler in my arms, and took it in.

Aelaria saw my reaction and ran her hands through her hair, upsetting the albone combs that held it out of her face when she was underwater.

"My grandmother," she said with sad eyes. "My uncle, and my brother, the one who was your age."

I shook my head bitterly and lowered my gaze to the floor. What a waste. I didn't pretend to have known Aelaria's family long enough to know her grief, but what a waste.

"We'll get them back," I reassured her. "I'm going to get them back. They released me so I could get to the bottom of this insanity."

Aelaria's warm eyes were full of hope, and I saw her trust in me. I couldn't let her down. I had to find out what was going on and stop it. More than just my fate was riding the tide of my actions.

I was not responsible for this tragedy, yet it was still on my hands for simply arriving.

I would fix what I had started, no matter the cost.

~~~~~

When I opened my eyes in the morning, Minkaa and Soonalar were asleep in their beds. Aelaria's mattress was rumpled, so I assumed she was downstairs for breakfast. I roused the twins and the three of us drifted into the kitchen.

Aelaria's mother was preparing the morning meal, her eyes ringed by dark circles. She was even quieter than she had been before three members of her family had disappeared into the night, and now her only words were to ask us where Aelaria was.

"I thought she was down here," I responded, immediately on edge.

"I thought she was still asleep," said her mother, and we shared a horrified look.

Within an instant we were tearing the house apart, calling her name, looking in every nook and cranny we could find. We searched the yard and the surrounding land, but she was nowhere to be found. We returned to the house with hanging heads and heavy hearts, where the twins had woken the rest of Aelaria's clan. As I looked among them, I saw one other face missing, and the gap where he should have been wrenched my heart into hundreds of tiny pieces.

Aelaria and Tyler had vanished without a trace.