A harsh groan escaped Kelley’s lips as his back hit the mattress. His lack of sleep had finally gotten to him, worse than it had any other night. The aching in his chest was more than enough of a warning that something was off. But the way his soul was pulling at him to go to the water was consuming him. The last thing he should be doing was going there, but that was the exact place his father was taking him. He reached into his pocket, pulling out the one thing keeping him sane. He stared intensely at the large gold pendant. Something his family could never afford. Three tridents carved into it, the largest in the center, with a smaller one on either side. A crown in the center. He had only ever seen this symbol in one place. It was the Royal seal. Poseidon’s personal seal. His brain buzzed with curiosity every time he looked at it. Even with his father being one of Poseidon’s most loyal servants, he would never posses that seal. It belonged to Poseidon and the Princess. The one legitimate child he had. The other’s had their own crest for their region.
He flipped it over to admire the poorly engraved heart with “K+A” in the center. The appearance of the engraving seemed to be done hastily, possibly by a child. Deep in his gut he knew it was about him and whoever “A” was. The engraving shimmered a pink sparkling light whenever he ran his fingers over it. A rare form of magic that none of his books seemed to have the answer to what it meant. He looked at his other hand, rubbing his thumb against his fingertips. Watching the small lightning bolts and sparks forming in the palm of his hand. Another rare magic he couldn’t find answers to. His own.
He slipped the pendant in his pocket before rolling over to try to rest. For eleven years, a feeling of trying to find ‘A’ had pulled at his heart. Over the past couple of days though, it had gotten stronger. Now it was as if something was trying to physically pull him out of the house and to the docks. A feeling he desperately wanted to follow, again. Unfortunately, the last time resulted in him being comatose for nearly a month. He didn’t want to go through that again.
His eyes grew heavy, as he drifted to sleep, praying to Poseidon that he would actually get some sleep for once.
He had the same reoccurring dream since he woke up from his coma, costing him precious hours of sleep. It was always the exact same. He was in the water of the bay with a beautiful mermaid. Her aqua blue eyes and golden waves with pink highlights were one of a kind. He’d never seen anyone who made his heart pound the way she did. As she pulled back from his kiss, tears formed in her eyes. Grasping his shirt tightly exclaiming “Kelley, you finally found me.”
He shot up, heart pounding, body covered in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. He touched his fingers to his lips, still feeling her soft salty kiss. He could taste it, feel it, the scent of coconut pouring from her skin. He didn’t understand how all of his senses were so engaged from a dream, or why he always woke up at that exact moment. He longed to know what happened past that point, but every time he tried to fall back asleep, it would start all over again. It felt so real, more like a memory than a dream. All he knew was that if that was A, he was already in love with her. How he felt towards her in his dream was a feeling he had never felt before. It warmed his whole body just thinking about her. She was unmistakable, he could find her in a crowd within seconds. Her breath-taking smile that made his heart race even more. All he could hope was that was her. He rolled over to try to go back to sleep, craving to see her again. As his eyes grew heavy, his door opened.
“Oh good, yer awake. We need to get goin.”
He scrubbed his face, grumbling into his hands. “I’ll be right down.”
“Ya might wanna change, yer shirt is soaked. What’re ya doin in here?”
“I was just sleeping. Can’t I even sleep without getting questioned anymore?” He snapped.
“Alright… we leave in five.”
He could hear his father muttering in his native tongue of Gaelic. A typical habit for just about everyone they knew. His heightened sense of hearing was an unfortunate curse or as his mother called it, a blessing from the gods. He agreed it had some advantages, but the disadvantages more than out weighed the advantages. Especially with his bedroom being directly above his parents room.
He dragged himself out of bed. Picked up a shirt sitting on the back of his desk chair. It wasn’t necessarily the nicest he had, but it was clean. He knew the rules. If there was even the slight possibility that Poseidon might be there, he had to look presentable. Unfortunately he had a feeling it was just going to be Nik again. Not that he had any problems with Nik, he just didn’t see the point in dressing up for him. But the girl was the other reason. They both had to look presentable for her too. They didn’t know her nobility status. It was always different because it was voluntary. Penny, the last girl who stayed with them had no nobility status at all, but she was his favorite of the mermaids who stayed with them. He just hoped this new girl was somewhat like her.
He went downstairs and grabbed a sandwich off the counter. He was angry and had skipped dinner, thankfully his mother made him a midnight snack for their ride to the docks. He hopped into the front of the carriage, sitting next to his father, both only half awake for their midnight pick up. He quietly ate his sandwich, still partially asleep. He stopped mid-bite, feeling something deep down in his soul pulling at him. A strange suffocating tightness consumed his body. His heart was pounding so loud that he couldn’t hear his father talking to him.
“Kelley!” He shouted.
“Huh?”
“What’s goin’ on with ya lately? Ever since the whole Lyla debacle, ya haven’t been yerself. It’s all over now, just stay away from her an everything’ll be fine.”
“I want nothing to do with her, I never really did. I don’t know what it is… I’ve just been feeling strange lately. Somethin’s just felt off.”
“Talk to Gerard. He’s been yer best mate since yer five, and now ya two aren’t even speakin. What happened?”
“We got into a fight is all. It’s not a big deal. I’m just tryin to let things cool down for now.”
“Was it ‘bout Lyla?”
“Yes. He said if I had just listened to him, none of it would’ve happened. Which is true, it’s just when he said it, I was already pissed, so it only made things worse.”
“How long had he been tellin ya to end it?”
“The whole two years. But Penny and him, got very adamant about it a couple of months before she left. I tried a few times, but she always stopped me before I could finish what I was saying.”
“How?”
“How do you think?! You know what happened. You can piece it together yourself.”
“I’ve been there. Don’t worry, this’ll all blow over soon. Everyone will put it behind ‘em and we’ll never think about it.”
“I really hope so. She just always knew exactly what to do, to get me to do what she wanted. It pissed me off.”
“Try to think with yer head, not what’s between yer legs. That’ll get you into even more trouble.”
“Daaaa’ I don’t need to hear that.”
“I’m serious. Think with yer head.”
“What about if I think with my heart? What if I follow what it says over everything else?”
“I don’t believe there’s as much harm from that. But ya still need to think with your head. Sometimes following yer heart can get ya hurt. Just remember that all yer actions have consequences, and ya have to live with the decisions that ya’ve made.”
“I know.” Kelley sighed. He looked around and noticed a thick fog rolling in. “Where did all this fog come from? And clouds? It was clear a moment ago.”
“My guess, Poseidon is pissed about something. Don’t think about it too much.”
“Why would it be affecting us here? Isn’t he in Atlantis?”
“He’s sometimes nearby when I retrieve the girl, just to be sure that everythin goes well. Usually that means she’s a noble.”
“Great.” He grumbled under his breath. He wasn’t a big fan of the nobles. They refused to learn anything about the human world, always reminding them that their status was higher.
Patrick pulled the carriage off to the side, next to the shack of an office at the marina. Kelley noticed that the fog had gotten thicker, he could barely see anything in front of him. But that feeling had gotten even stronger, telling him to keep going down the dock. He knew every inch of the marina. He’d been working there every day for two years now. He could walk to where they needed to go in the dark and in the fog. No need to wait for it to clear up. Each step further down the dock, his heart pounded harder in his chest. He was sure there would be a bruise there if it didn’t stop soon.
He could hear hushed bickering coming from where he was headed.
“Knock it off. Make it go away.” He knew Nik’s deep voice was angry about something.
“Why should I? I’m sick of them staring at me.” Her voice was soft and sweet, despite sounding furious.
“You’re making it difficult for them to get down the docks. Get rid of the fog now.”
“Fine! But only along the dock. I’m sick of that pirate staring at me.”
The fog began to clear, two figures at the end of the dock. He knew the tall one was Nik. Then the figure of the girl, she was small, smaller than any of the other girls who had stayed with them. His heart raced even faster, he placed his hand in his pocket and felt the pendant. He forgot that he had it in his pocket. Heat began to radiate from it the closer they got. The golden blonde hair, the sparkling aqua eyes. His heart froze as his eyes landed on her.
It’s her.