Drowning Beneath The Waves

Chapter 17

When I hear his voice, I freeze. He sounds so sad, so vulnerable that tears spring to my eyes. "Faye... please." Almost positive that I've imagined it, I shake it off and continue swimming. My heart is pounding loudly in my ears; I can hardly breathe. I'm approaching the outskirts of Nepptheas when I hear it again.

"Where are you? I need you." My breath catches in my chest, and I nearly choke. It sounds like Jonah, and yet a tiny voice in the very back of my head warns me that it isn't.

Chest heaving, I blink the tears away, shaking my head. "No," I whisper, my heart breaking as the word leaves my mouth. "You don't. Because you're not here."

When I hear the ghostly whisper, I freeze. "You're right. Jonah's not here—because you killed him." Depression settles over me like a fog, clouding my mind and draining my resolve.

The ghosts' words are sharp and brutal, like tiny daggers. "He's dead because of you." "How does it feel knowing that you killed him?" "You should be ashamed of yourself." A choked sob escapes my lips as hoplessness joins forces with depression.

I sink through the water until my tail brushes the seafloor. Sobs wrack my body, chest heaving as I try to breathe. All I can manage, however, is a tiny wheeze.

His voice plays on a loop in my head. "Faye, please. Where are you? I need you."

My body suddenly jerked as my eyes flew open. The ghosts were gone. Jonah was gone. I was alone.

For a heartbeat, I panicked when I looked around, not recognizing my surroundings. Then, in a flash, it all came back to me. Setting off to find Jonah, leaving Pelathas, my weary swim to Aegrem, where I finally gave in to my body's need for rest. Cautiously, I shrugged off the cloaks and swam to the cave's mouth.

It was early the following day, and the sun had just risen over the water, staining the surface bright yellow. My stomach suddenly growled, the sound loud in the silence, reminding me that it'd been a while since I'd eaten. I grabbed one of the lobsters, devouring it in seconds. Moving quickly, I stuffed the cloaks back into my bag and packed up my remaining food.

I needed to keep moving. I still had more ground to cover, and I intended to keep my promise to Merrick. My hands clutched the bag strap as I left the cave, wincing at the bright sunlight streaming down from the surface. Every time I started to falter, I heard Jonah's voice in my head, the desperation in his words.

I spoke to almost every mermaid or merman I passed, asking if they'd seen a merman matching Jonah's description. Unsurprisingly, most of them said no. It wasn't until another day had nearly passed that I was starting to lose hope. I finally paused near the outskirts of Aegrem, despair and hopelessness swirling around inside me.

When I heard the voice behind me, I froze. "Faye? Is that you?"

With my heart in my throat, I slowly turned around, meeting two pairs of worried eyes. Uncle Jay and Aunt Nerissa looked at me with concern, so much so that I nearly came undone then and there. "Are you okay?" The former's voice was soft. The latter swam to me, putting a gentle arm around me.

Her touch broke me. I crumpled, covering my face with my hands. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Jonah. Heard his voice as he begged me to find him. I was shaking when I felt arms come around me.

"Take deep breaths, honey. I've got you." I knew Uncle Jay's words were supposed to be comforting, but they just made me cry harder.

When the tears finally subsided, I took ragged breaths. "He needs me. I—I have to find him." At this point, I knew I had to be on the verge of hysteria. I felt more than saw Uncle Jay exchange a concerned glance with Aunt Nerissa.

"Where are your parents?" Uncle Jay asked, never letting me go. His eyes narrowed as they fell on the messenger bag slung over my shoulder. "Are you going somewhere?"

That's when I heard it again—or thought I did. Honestly, considering the exhaustion, fear, and anxiety that had been plaguing me for the past couple of days, I really shouldn't have been surprised. "'Faye, please. Where are you? I need you.'"

I stifled a sob, faltering—then promptly stiffened as I felt Uncle Jay's grip tighten around me. My body immediately tensed, every sense on high alert. It wasn't until I heard Uncle Jay's voice, calm but edged with panic, that I finally looked up. "Faye." 

All the strength left my body in a rush as I glimpsed the merman floating a few feet in front of me, propped up between two mermaids. Waverly and her mother both had concerned expressions on their faces as they glanced from face to face. Jonah moaned, but didn't move, nor did he open his eyes. A sob rose in my throat as I rushed towards him, stopping inches away.

I glanced at Waverly, panicked questions in my eyes. Her own softened as she exchanged a glance with her mother, then looked back at me. "We were coming by the palace to see if you and your parents wanted to meet us for dinner. That's when we found him. Faye..." When her voice trailed off, my heart stopped dead in my chest. "It's bad. I don't know what happened, but..." She swallowed, her throat bobbing. "It's bad."

Jonah's eyes suddenly fluttered open as he moaned again. A heartbeat later, I was at his side. He blinked hard, then took a breath. "F-Faye?" His voice was barely a whisper. He sounded so weak.

Tears gushed down my cheeks at his voice. With shaking hands, I carefully opened his shirt, exposing smooth skin. Blood gushed from a dozen tiny wounds, all of them undetectable. He winced as he took a breath. "Either a broken rib or a collapsed lung. Maybe both." I tried my hardest to keep my voice steady and calm.

I turned to Aunt Nerissa and Uncle Jay. "He needs medical attention. I'll go with you to the infirmary." They nodded.

Turning back to my oldest friend and her mother, I took a shaky breath. "I promise I will explain everything when this is over, but for now, I need you to do something for me. I need you to go to Pelathas and inform my parents about what's happened. They think I'm staying with you, Waverly, but I can't lie to them anymore." My voice broke on the last word and I swiped tears from my cheeks.

She squeezed my hand, her grip warm. "Ok. Be careful, Faye. Please." When I glimpsed the tears in Waverly's eyes, something cracked inside me.

I turned away before she could spot the tears in my own. With a heavy heart, I swam with Aunt Nerissa and Uncle Jay to the infirmary, Jonah propped up between them. I never took my eyes off Jonah, monitoring every hitched breath, the rise and fall of his chest. When we finally arrived, it took everything in me not to scream for a doctor. Uncle Jay shook his head, swimming to the front desk.

I collapsed into a chair, the full weight of what had happened hitting me head-on. I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them wide, trying to stave off the exhaustion tugging at me. Aunt Nerissa noticed, putting a gentle hand on my arm. It's okay to sleep. Jay will let us know the second he hears anything. It's going to be okay, Faye.

As I slowly drifted to sleep, I couldn't decide what scared me more: the fact that Aunt Nerissa had just lied to me, or that she looked like she almost believed her words.

Read and review!