East Eight #2
Gramps agreed wholeheartedly. “With the power of the internet and social media? Saleeni would be famous worldwide within an hour, making it impossible to protect her.”
I grabbed my stomach. My teeth began to protrude. I started to growl, low and deep.
“Easy, Silly Rabbit.”
My fists were so tight my hands ached.
“Mad-G?”
Hearing the only voice that could cut through the buzz in my ears, I spun around in a drug-like haze. She was in the pool, at the edge closest to me, reaching out.
So desperate for her soothing touch, I got up from the chair and stumbled forward. “S-S-Leeni.”
She patted the water. “Mad-G. To me.”
Getting to the edge took so much energy that by the time I made it there, my eyes closed, my body swayed, spinning me on my heels, then I fell back in the water.
Right before I sank underneath, I heard a roar, “Maddox!”
Gentle hands slid under my back and lifted…
Breaking the surface, I sucked in air.
Styx was splashing as he ran down the pool stairs. “What’s wrong?”
Saleeni rubbed her nose to my cheek and spoke words I’d dreamed of her saying… “I’m -w-with… y-you.”
Styx touched my face but jerked his hand back. “Fuck! He’s hot as a stove!”
Dazed, my vision was like trying to see through a wicked fog. My skin was on fire. Besides Saleeni, heat was all I could feel.
“B-Boy. Ch-Change.”
“What? Why?” Styx’s shriek faded from my ears.
Heat… Heat… Until this rocking motion entered my senses.
It reminded me of the first night, when Saleeni was calling to me—summoning me, her demand slamming me up against the bedroom door.
But as the rocking continued in the pool, I recognized the same pull.
Then I realized it hadn’t been Saleeni that was summoning me.
It was the water.
Floating on top of the water, Saleeni’s gentle hands made my body sway, left… right… left… right… Foreign voices in foreign languages entered my mind. Some were happy, some were scared… Then feelings, not mine but the feelings of others, entered my spirit… I sighed. “Water holds memories.”
Saleeni leaned her head to mine. “B-Blood and… h-heart.”
As they had in the hospital room, those words did something to me. Impossibly, I arched in the water, struck by the words Noma and I shared.
How did Saleeni know?
“Maddox!” Styx yelled again, until Saleeni grabbed his hand, set it on top of hers, then laid them both on my chest.
Patience echoed through me, and my body eased, soon floating again.
Saleeni exhaled. No, she blew her breath over me, head to my feet. Her eyes closed. She spoke in another language; however, I did hear, “… give thanks.”
Gramps’ jaw was unhinged; nonetheless, he nodded, repeating, “Much thanks. Just make him okay.”
She let go of Styx’s hand and my chest. The water moved, telling me she was signing to him.
I didn’t bother opening my eyes until Styx said, “I don’t know what you’re saying.”
Once they slid open, I smiled, seeing her signing… “She’s telling you of our love.” Then she cupped her fingers, one hand over the other, and tilted her face down toward the water.
“And that?” Styx asked me.
I watched her do it again. “I’m not sure, but my guess is some sort of union.”
She nodded, then wrapped her arms around herself in an embrace. She rocked herself, as she had done me moments ago.
Then she showed her leaving—two fingers walking across her palm.
“Wait.” I tried to stop her, but was too slow. She was under the water, her tail splashing at the beginning of the tunnel, then the water went still.
Styx blew out a stressed breath. “You are aging the fuck out of me.”
Exhausted as hell, I still laughed. “Not keeping you young and on your toes?”
“Fuck me.” He blew out another breath. “How are you feeling now?”
“Confused?”
He rolled his neck. “Makes two of us. Think you’re up for lying in your bed?”
I wasn’t sure I could even keep my eyes open, much less walk out of the pool. “Sure.”
Styx waited…
I didn’t move.
He grumbled, “I’m like your goddamn knight on a white horse, carrying you to bed every time you fucking faint or grow fucking fangs.”
I laughed at the old coot as he scooped up my limp body and carried me out of the pool. Water dripped from my clothing, wetting his. “This relationship is a little twisted, Gramps.”
“Oh, gross.”
He set me on the bed. “And always taking your damn wet clothes off.” He pulled off my jeans and socks, then stripped my T-shirt over my head.
Suddenly, my stomach cramped violently. I groaned and rolled to my side, facing the water. “I think a troll is in my stomach, wearing razors for a hat and shoes.” A blanket was placed over me and tucked around my sides. Noma… I sighed. “You were there to see her do that.”
“When permitted.”
“I wish she were here now.”
“Me too, kid. Me too.” He stood. “Mind if I watch over you for a bit?”
Eyes closed and falling to sleep, I smirked. “Do I really have a choice?”
“Good point.”
Overhead lights were turned off—the brightness against my eyelids told me so—then I heard the old leather couch creak.
Sometimes it’s the little things that count most. “I love you, Grandpa.”
There was a gasp, then, “Good night, son.”
Sometime later that night, or early in the morning, I felt a wet nose play with mine. Still half asleep, I smiled. “Hi.”
Lips brushed mine. “W-Wake, Mad-G. T-Time.”
“Time for what?” Blindly, my lips searched for hers again.
“B-Blood and h-heart.”
My eyes shot open. “What does that mean?”
The couch behind her was empty. Where’s—I heard Styx’s bedroom door shut.
In the glow of the pool’s blue lighting, Saleeni was wearing some sort of seaweed crown. It was adorable on her, though somewhat creepy, decorated with pearls and odd human things like an old tiny fishing hook, a key, and an earring.
In her palms, she presented another seaweed headpiece. It also had pearls woven in, plus very old items: a pocket watch, a bronze spoon, and tiny wire eyeglasses.
In bed, I rested on an elbow, intently watching her beautiful face as she placed it on my head. “Saleeni—”
She shook her head, holding the universal ‘Shh’ sign to her lips.
Instead of wanting me to talk, she gestured for me to join her in the water.
Enchanted by her calm presence, I got up and slowly walked down the stairs. With every step, I felt the water welcome me and ask for permission to guide me. Mind-blowing, yes, but natural, if that makes sense. It told me to trust her and the process.
In the water, Saleeni taking the lead was surreal. She was peaceful. And I was hers.
At the shallow end, I stood there, willing to offer whatever she wanted from me.
In front of me, her fin arched like a hook, helping her keep her balance as if she were standing like I was.
A hand found mine under the water and brought it up, palm to palm. She watched as our fingers linked, our hands becoming one. We both watched as she repeated these steps with my other hand.
Eyes to mine, she smiled bashfully, then did a slight curtsey—as if that was even possible. Last thing I expected was a human act. Maybe that’s why I smiled back, doing a bow of my own. Maybe I smiled because she was, in her unique way, absolutely mesmerizing. I love you.
She gasped. Then I felt… I love you also.
Our lips had already touched countless times, whether in celebration or lust, but when she leaned in to kiss me, this one felt like a very first. Time slowed as her mouth hovered in front of mine, touching me with only a breath.
I swear it was delivering something to my tongue.
Every molecule landed with the faintest pop.
There was no way a human could hear it; it was that quiet.
Significant and so powerful, this hybrid was hypnotized.
Every burst on my tongue sensually sizzled, luring me into a state of mind where I barely had any control over myself.
Then she inhaled, pulling my breath from me, and so much more. The way she got closer, pressing her bare chest—her whole body—to mine, I knew there was a transfer between us, affecting her on a whole different level than ever before.
A noise built in her throat. Even though it sounded like supersonic underwater communication, it was also angelic.
Notes not known to humanity. It rang from her directly to me, as though the purpose of the sound was to open my ears.
Permanently. And I was to learn every aspect of her sound.
My ears were being trained to never forget her… melody. Her essence.
I thought I had already sensed all of this through our years of communicating through the dancing water stars. Through life-or-death situations, I thought I knew her spirit and soul.
I was wrong.
It was now—at this very moment—she was going to reveal her true lifeblood. It was now that Saleeni and I were going to bond in the deepest way possible. We were going to expose all and everything to one another.
Imagine being at the altar of your own wedding, and as soon as you and your significant other exchanged the words ‘I do,’ you no longer had one secret from each other.
Not one dark corner of your mind remained hidden.
Not one doubt, not one ounce of pain or regret.
Every happy and blessed moment also belonged to that person now.
An impossibility for humans.
Not for Saleeni and me.
It wasn’t easy to exchange upspoken vows and lost memories… It was both beautifully emotional and intrusively violent. Although the storm between us was abrupt, we kept finding comfort in each other.
As we cried at the loss of our parents, we kissed and held each other ever so affectionately.
While we laughed through tears and past relationships, we kissed passionately.
Learning about each other through a spiritual hurricane of energy shifts, our physical need for touch intensified.
It was as if we were becoming each other’s anchor, preparing to ground one another through any storm we must face.
Together, we would find the strength, the balance, and the patience to survive it all.