The Fate of the Muse

chapter TWENTYFOUR

THE FIRE





I was swimming in the warm water of Hawaii, the motion of the waves rocking me and soothing away all my pain. The turquoise waters gradually darkened, and a spinning whirlpool formed all around me. I struggled desperately to escape the powerful force, but it pulled me in, whirling me around and around, forming a funnel that reached all the way down to the bottom of the sea. “No!” I cried, fighting against the irresistible pull of the water,“Nooo!”





I opened my eyes, struggling to lift my head. The sharp smell of unwashed man hit my nostrils and I fought to focus on the shadowy figure looming over me. My head started spinning and I turned aside, coughing and retching. A hand brushed the hair out of my face and I flopped back down weakly, trying to make sense out of the blurry shapes and fuzzy images that swam before my eyes.

“Wherum I?” I croaked, my voice hollow and slurred, “Whoer you?”

The shadowy figure stirred, leaving and returning to cup the back of my head and lift a plastic bottle to my lips. I was parched, and I took a sip of cool water, squeezing my eyes shut and swallowing. I concentrated, my eyelids flickered open, and I focused on a familiar face looking down at me, smiling with a dreamy, glazed look in his coffee colored eyes.

I shrank back in shock as I recognized the curly black hair, dark eyes and thick neck. His nose had been flattened by many crushing blows; his skin was criss-crossed with the scars of past battles. It was a face straight out my nightmares, but I was pretty sure I was awake. Peter’s enormous brutish guard had me alone and helpless, completely at his mercy.

“Curly,” I whispered in terror.

He raised his enormous paw to my face and I flinched, quivering as he traced his fingers down the side of my cheek. I tried to sit up, but my limbs were unresponsive, still leaden from whatever they’d given me. I closed my eyes, trying to make sense of what had just happened, recalling images of Barbara and her muse-proof guards being hurled around the library as though they were weightless. Clearly, Curly wasn’t working for them.

I felt something brush my lips, lifting my heavy lids to see that he had bent down to kiss me, upon which my eyes flew open in shock. The adrenalin rush gave me the strength to scoot away, clawing my way backwards through a tangle of blankets like a crab until I came up against a camouflage green tarp that was staked into the ground

“Mah-rhi-na,” he said, grabbing me by the ankle.

I cast my eyes about in the dim light, my head reeling. I could smell plants and dirt, and I realized I was in some kind of makeshift tent. It was dusky outside, and I figured that I’d probably been knocked out cold for at least an hour. It would be night soon, and the thought of being there in the dark with him was terrifying. There was only one way out, and it was just past the enormous giant that had a hold of my bare foot. What had happened to my shoes?

“Please,” I spoke with trembling lips, “let me go.”

He smiled, and pulled me towards him, his eyes like black coals in his rugged face. I clawed at the ground frantically, unable to grab hold of anything, and finally froze, rigid with fear. He lifted me into his arms, cradling me like I was a baby and stroking my hair. I was afraid to breathe, afraid to move. He bent down to kiss me again, and when I cringed away with a whimper he stopped, his brow wrinkled in uncertainty.

“Is okay,” he said softly.

He seemed surprised by my fear, and it dawned on me that I was very different from the girl he thought I was. I had been a defiant captive, seemingly calm and in control. He remembered a smiling seductress, casting him come-hither looks and purposefully flirting with him. I’d intentionally drawn him to me; hoping that I could convince him to release me and Lorelei.

It had very nearly backfired on me, but luck was on my side that day, and his lack of resistance to my muse powers had turned out to be our salvation. I had clouded his mind, fanning the flames of his attraction to me until it rapidly developed into a full-blown obsession, which finally led to his downfall. I’d stumbled upon what Evie and the muse council already knew– how easy it was to manipulate the vulnerable. It never occurred to me that it would come back to haunt me.

But now the tables were turned, and I was under his control.

As the fog in my head slowly cleared, I panicked, struggling to break free, afraid of what he might do next. He placed me back down on the pile of blankets, looking at me adoringly and stroking my forehead. He took my hand, and I winced as he inspected the torn skin on my wrist, murmuring gently to try and calm me.

It reminded me of how Ethan had spoken to the horse, and I thought of him getting back from his day on the boat, expecting to hear about my time surfing...

“Cruz!” I gasped, my heart pounding. Everything came flooding back to me at once.

I sat up, swaying, overcome with a terrible sense of dread. There was a metallic taste of fear in the back of my throat, and I started shaking. I had to find him before Barbara had a chance to carry out her diabolical plans.

I looked up at Curly’s rugged face, “I have to help my cousin!” I cried, meeting his confused eyes.

“Yuri,” he said slowly, pointing to himself.

My eyes flooded with tears, and I dropped my face into my hands. I was weakened, tired, and dizzy. I gave in to despair, and started sobbing, overcome with fatigue and emotion. If something happened to Cruz I could never live with myself.

I felt his hand on my back and I flinched, looking up to see him offering me water again. I hiccupped and took it, drinking too fast and coughing. He patted my back gingerly, his eyes increasingly nervous. My crying was clearly making him uncomfortable, and it stopped him from looking like he wanted to kiss me again. I took that as a sign to keep it up.

“Is okay,” he said nervously.

I cast my eyes about, noticing how lived in the place was. There were empty cans strewn about, and a large pair of binoculars lying on a grimy pillow. Curly, who I now knew to be Yuri, looked like he’d been staying here a long time, and he smelled like it too. I struggled to my knees and crawled towards the tent opening, watching in dismay as he moved to block my exit with his body.

Peering around him, I was surprised to see exactly where I was. Yuri had set up his makeshift camp on the ocean bluff just outside of the Edwards mansion. From the tent opening I had a direct line of sight through the swirling fog and up into the vast picture windows that looked out towards the sea. God knows how long he’d been staying here, watching, lying in wait. I realized that Yuri had been stalking me too, right along with the Edwards family.

The thought made me even more scared, and when my tear streaked face met his eyes, his brow knit together, and he looked at me as if he were seeing me for the first time. I could tell that this was not going at all the way he had hoped, and I laid it on even thicker, shivering and putting on the saddest face I could imagine. I had to get away– I had to get to Cruz, and I was going to have to trick him into letting his guard down again. I slumped onto the ground with a moan, crying softly and clutching my stomach.

He knelt by my side, pulling a filthy blanket over me and tucking me in tenderly. I watched through half closed eyes as he sat back on his haunches and contemplated me, no doubt wondering exactly what he’d gotten himself into.

My mind started racing as the numbing effect of the drugs wore off and I thought about what Barbara had told me about Nixie. It was sickening to think that her own father would want to use her as some sort of laboratory rat in his quest for immortality. I wondered what Nathan Edwards would think of the fact that I had turned down my own chance for eternal life.

I had to survive this, and get away to find Cruz in time. I vowed I’d never let myself be fooled again. I would find a way to protect my family, both human and mermaid. I would stop Barbara and her brother if it was the last thing I ever did. The familiar surge of anger I felt strengthened me, and I pretended to fall asleep. I watched Yuri hover over me as I forced my breathing to grow steady and even.

A faint, faraway siren broke the quiet of the foggy evening and he turned his head to listen.

The siren grew louder, and was joined by another one. My heart leapt with the hope that help was on the way, and I struggled to keep still. I watched as he turned and left, standing outside of the lean-to in a protective stance. I tensed up, preparing to run. Once he was out of my line of sight I scrambled to my hands and knees, gathering myself and taking a few deep breaths.

The sirens grew louder and more numerous, and it was starting to sound like the whole police force was converging upon us. Yuri paced outside nervously, producing a backpack and stowing away some things from the campsite into it. I realized he was planning on leaving, and I knew he wouldn’t leave me behind. I was going to have to make my move now or never.

I waited, poised at the edge of the tent until he moved away again, and bolted. I fled the campsite, tottering out of the bushes and down the narrow dirt path that led back towards the house. I must have looked like a crazy person, flapping my arms at my sides as I struggled to keep my balance. I nearly fell several times, but with each step I took the drug’s grip on me lessened.

For a moment, I thought I might just make it, when suddenly Yuri appeared directly in my path, his enormous arms stretched out to stop me.

“No, Marina,” he said beseechingly, “No good!”

“Please…” I whimpered, “I have to get to my cousin…”

He shook his head no, pointing back towards the house, “Is wery bad,” he said seriously.

I wheeled around, running back the way I came; looking for a way around him. I turned onto a narrow deer path that branched off and wound through some thick underbrush. I could smell smoke, and my throat burned as I ran through the dark misty fog. I struggled on, coughing and gasping, and my mind flashed on the vision I’d had on my surfboard. I screeched to a halt with a sharp intake of breath, barely making it in time. I’d stopped mere inches from running straight off the cliff.

I turned to see Yuri’s huge form bearing down on me, hot on my heels. He grabbed me, his eyes bulging with fear as he looked down to the rocky beach, far, far, below. His arms locked around me tightly and he took a step back, but it was too late. All at once, the sandy ground beneath us gave way and we fell together, along with a patch of earth, bouncing off a clump of pampas grass and tumbling down to the rocks below. I shut my eyes and thought of Ethan; for a split second I was certain that I’d never see him again.

I lurched to a sudden halt, and opened my eyes to find myself dangling high above some jagged rocks. Yuri had one hand clamped on my upper arm, and the other onto a root that was sticking out of the eroding cliff. He was straining with the effort, and I looked up to see him gritting his teeth in single-minded determination.

The root he was clinging onto began to tear out of the wall, sending little rivulets of dirt raining down on the rocks below. He adjusted his grip on it as we slipped, jerking down inch by inch. He could have let me fall and saved himself, but he didn’t. With a fierce groan and a superhuman effort, he pulled me up to his chest. He brought my hand to within reach of the root for me to get a hold of it and I did, fully aware of what was at stake.

Now we both had a hold of one flimsy root, and it started ripping out of the sandy soil even faster. He took my other arm and pulled it up, urging me to get another handhold. I grabbed the root with both hands and gripped it for dear life. The sparkling ring on my left hand caught my eye, and I held on with renewed ferocity, remembering the look in Ethan’s eyes when he gave it to me.

Yuri kept trying to pull me up, still hanging on with only one hand himself. Now it was obvious that he meant me no harm, and I no longer feared him. He panted with the effort, his heavy breathing echoing off the sheer cliff walls. The root came tearing out another foot, jerking us down violently, and his eyes met mine. What he did next astonished me.

He let go.

“No!” I screamed, watching as he fell, bouncing hard and disappearing from view. “Yuri?” I called, listening for a response. All I could hear was the roar of the ocean, and I realized that I was now completely alone. I dangled there numbly for a couple of minutes, and after I caught my breath I looked up. There was no time for shock or sorrow, or even relief. I had to make it back to the house. I had to find Cruz.

I flattened myself against the dirt wall and dug my bare toes into the crumbling sediment. I reached up to scratch out a hand-hold, finding another small root I could pull myself up with. Slowly, painfully, I worked my way up the cliff, finally crawling back onto the narrow path.

It was nearly completely dark outside, and I looked up to see a red glow on the horizon, only it was not where the sun had gone down. The glow was coming from the site of the Edwards mansion. I looked up in the sky to see a thick column of black smoke that stood out starkly from the misty white fog.

My heart was in my throat as I raced down the dirt path, afraid of what I might find when I got there. I pushed my way through the last few feet of shrubs to see a score of fire trucks surrounding the house, men in full gear manning the hoses and pumps. The enormous house was completely engulfed in flames, popping and snapping loudly as huge streams of water gushing from fire hoses hissed and steamed, no match for the intensity of the fire. A couple of police cruisers sat in the driveway, red and blue lights flashing on the hectic scene.

Barefoot and disheveled, I staggered a little, finally wandering out onto the driveway in shock.

“Please God,” I whispered, thinking of Cruz, “Please.”