"Luca!" I scream. I vault myself forward, prepared to leap off of the edge.
Something clamps around my bicep, yanking me back. I turn. Brev's uncle's hand is wrapped around my arm. He stands with one leg in front of the other, resisting my pull.
"Let me go!" I screech, yanking body toward the edge. "He's scared of the water, he'll die!"
I arch my neck, trying to find him under the water. All there are are receding ripples.
"So will you," he breathes urgently.
A life preserver plops into the water. I look behind me. Brevity's father is staring at me.
"He'll be alright."
"Let me go!" I burst. "You have to! If you don't, I'll call the cops on you! You'll be arrested! You have to let me go!"
They're quiet for a few moments. Brevity's uncle looks at her father. Kriss clearly didn't think this through.
"Where's the mermaid?" he asks forcefully.
"He ran away," I urge, starting to think I should have given him a false location. But then they might have taken me with them. Then it would defiantly be too late for Luca. I look back at the water, though I can't see where he fell from here. He could still be conscious. My heart beats wildly in fear.
But I also feel a weird sort of calm mixed in. Worry and curiosity, but not panic. I furrow my brow, confused, but then I figure it out.
It's not mine. He's near the boat.
"She's telling the truth, Mick."
Kriss looks at his brother, his expression stony.
"She has to know something."
Sebastian, I think, hoping he's listening, If you're down there, get Luca above water. He can't breathe down there. And get away from this boat. Get away now. Go back to my house and hide.
"Did he say anything?"
I look at him. "What?"
"Did he say anything that could lead us to him?!"
"He can't talk." I look back at the water and swallow.
Don't let them get you.
Just then, something starts beeping toward the steering wheel. A grid on a green tinted screen lit up, and two large shapes, one bigger than the other, move toward the corners of the screen. It's a fish finder.
Mr. Kriss walks over to in incredulously. "It's them."
YOU ARE READING
Beached
FantasyWhen a girl swims out to sea to rescue a figure in distress, she quickly realizes that the reason as to why he was in distress was quite different from the reason she had in mind. He wasn't drowning. Julia finds herself tethered to the mysterious st...
