Bluehour (A Watermagic Novel) (15 page)

Chills ran through my body. This new
revelation caught me off guard. I hadn’t expected to hear something
so terrifying. I took my feet out of the water and pulled my legs
to my chest. “I don’t like that you haven’t been in school,” I
finally said. I wanted to kick myself for being so forthcoming with
my feelings. He didn’t need to know how obsessed I was with him,
just like every other girl.

The fierceness in his eyes lightened with my
comment. “Just imagine that there is a mermaid.” He stopped for a
moment. “We can say that right?” He looked at me sheepishly which
only made my heart race faster.

“Yes, we can say that.” I was breathless. It
was hard for me to speak. I felt so drawn to him and at the same
time I was frightened.

He continued, fighting a slight smile that
lifted at the corner of his mouth. I think he was amused with me.
“This mermaid has laid claim to the merman though he doesn’t want
her. She kills any girl who takes an interest in the merman…”

Pascal’s words from the cafeteria ran through
my mind, “Grace will surely die.” I held my legs closely to my
chest as he spoke. The thought of my flesh being torn from my body
with razor sharp teeth was unbearable.

I think Laurent saw the fear in my eyes. He
held his fingers against his temples for a moment before he
continued with his story. “This merman has been hunting the
mermaid.” He looked back at me from across the pool. He wants to
kill her. He wants to stop the mermaid from killing the girl he…”
He paused like he was contemplating whether he should proceed. “He
doesn’t want her to kill the girl he…the girl he
needs
.” He
looked at me with an ambiguous expression on his perfect face. “The
problem is that if he kills this mermaid, he will be breaking mer
law. He will become a fugitive of his own kind.”

“So this merman ditches school to kill one of
his own kind?” I tried to hide any feelings I had about this.

“Yes,” he responded blankly. “But the first
time the merman ditched, he had mercy on the mermaid and released
her just before killing her.” He shook his head in anger. “Stupid,”
he spouted out. His hands balled into fists for a moment before he
stood up and dove into the water.

I saw him swimming toward me. So many mixed
emotions rushed through my mind. I braced myself. There was no
turning back at this point. I knew I had to be with Laurent, that
is, if he even wanted me. I still wasn’t sure if that was even a
remote possibility. My feelings were too powerful to do otherwise.
He had all of me for better or worse.

When he reached the side of the pool before
me, he rested his arms upon the ledge and looked up at my face as I
sat so near with my legs pulled up into myself. His nostrils flared
at our closeness, but I sensed that he was trying to restrain
himself. His lips tightened slightly as he studied my expression. I
got the feeling he was scrutinizing me now, trying to figure me out
just as I was him.

His close proximity sent tingling sensations
through my body. I wanted to touch his smooth bronze skin, but I
wouldn’t dare.

“In this hypothetical scenario, has that
mermaid ever killed any of the girls that liked the merman?”

At my question, his head jutted back slightly
as if my imploration had thrown him off balance. “Yes,” he
responded firmly. The reflection of the lights twined through the
trees danced in his eyes.

I tried not to reveal the fear that rushed
through my mind. “How many girls could she have murdered?” I kept
my voice steady.

“He cast his eyes down. “Too many.”

My eyes widened and I couldn’t help but laugh
slightly. “Has this merman had many girlfriends?”

To my surprise, he blushed. “No… God no,” he
chuckled too. “After centuries of life, there is bound to be more
than a few girls to take a liking to even the most unappealing
soul.”

He surprised me again. I folded my legs under
myself. “Centuries of life?” My expression was imploring. “How old
are you?”

“I’m seventeen,” he whispered with a smirk on
his perfectly sculpted face. His closeness intensified the
vibrations of his voice inside my body.

I scrunched my eyebrows. “How old is the
merman?”

Looking away, he paused for a minute. I got
the feeling he was counting. “Over two hundred and eighty
years.”

“Wow!” I unfolded my legs and scooted
slightly closer to him. “How is that?” I almost whispered.

With his attention suddenly on the scrape on
my hand, he flinched and moved back away from me where he paddled
in the water. “Let me show you around the pool now before my family
gets back.” His voice was unintentionally husky, just one of his
many musical inflections.

“Family?” I asked feeling confused.

To my surprise, he smiled warmly which gave
me the feeling he was thinking fondly of them. “My friends…” he
said, “…The other exchange students and Josette. We consider each
other family even though we aren’t genetically related.”

That sparked a whole bunch of questions in my
mind, but before I could implore further, Laurent motioned to the
water. “Come on.”

“You want me to get in the water in my shorts
and shirt?”

A crooked smile lifted on his unbelievably
gorgeous face. “I think you’ll manage.”

My heart nearly stopped at his smile. I even
forgot to breathe. “Should I be afraid?” I looked away, realizing
what an idiotic question that was.

“You know the answer to that.” From the
corner of my eye, I saw him tilt his head to the side and stare at
me for a moment.

When I glanced at him, he moved over to the
side and made some clicking sounds which gave me the feeling that
he was calling me to the water.

Carefully, I slid into the pool not too far
away from him. The water was refreshing like a gentle caress. When
I turned to Laurent, I noticed that his jaw was clenched now. He
looked pained.

“What are you thinking?” I asked, mesmerized
by his piercing blue eyes that sparked in the night.

He pulled the ends of his long wet hair over
his nose and mouth. His eyes squinted.

I huffed lightly, wondering if I smelled
bad.

“You’re not afraid.” He shook his head subtly
in bewilderment.

“You saved me from death two times. That
gives me considerable confidence that you want me alive.”

He smiled, revealing beautiful white teeth.
Aside from being perfect in every way, they looked normal. “I don’t
always get what I want.” It seemed like he was trying to speak
casually, but I sensed that he was experiencing dark inner turmoil.
“Sometimes I lose control. Like now, letting you be here with
me.”

I shuddered at the implication, but stronger
than my sense of fear was my yearning to touch his beautiful lips
with my finger tip.

“Come.” He lifted his chin toward the center
of the pool. “I’m going to show you some of our habitat. “With you
here in the water, my hunger is stronger than on land…”

My body tensed at that.

He seemed to have detected my concern because
he explained in a gentler tone, “I can’t get too close to you yet
or I would take your hand.”

At that, I didn’t know how to respond. I
think my head was just spinning in general. But I did notice that
he said he couldn’t get too close to me
yet
which sent a
sudden thrill through my essence as I pondered the implication that
he was planning to hold my hand in the future. I thought back to
the time at Santa Monica Beach when my fingers brushed against the
palm of his hand as he was giving me my sapphire ring. He recoiled
violently at my touch. I wondered if he was afraid of experiencing
something of the same.

“We better hurry,” he looked toward the house
in a way that made me think that the très beaux could arrive any
time now.

I wondered what would happen if they saw me
here with Laurent. It wasn’t likely that they would be happy about
it.

“Just follow me to the bottom of the pool…”
His soft voice was melodic. “There is a cave to the side.”

Fear rose up within me at the idea of getting
trapped in a cave without oxygen.

He must have noticed my hesitation because he
tried to reassure me. “It’s okay. I’ll be with you. I’m well
equipped when it comes to underwater safety.” With a facetious
expression on his face, he raised an eyebrow.

Now, my curiosity deepened. I felt
confused—it seemed like his demeanor was a contradiction to what he
had just said.

“Trust me, Grace. You’re going to love it.”
He looked at me and smiled softly. “Just stay close.”

At that, he dove under the black water. I
followed behind, keeping my eyes wide open. It was difficult to
see, but I sensed his dark figure below me and I followed. As we
moved deeper, I saw that we were approaching some light. Now, I was
able to see the cave from which the light was shining. My lungs
were starting to hurt from lack of breath.

Laurent looked back at me and waved me
forward. I followed him into the cave. It was bright inside. I
started to feel desperate for air.

He put his hand into what looked like a pile
of tiny rocks that exuded rays of light. With one of the tiny
sparkling stones in his hand, he pulled me to him. Instantly, I
felt better, replenished with oxygen. We were chest to chest for
that moment. Now that relief came to me, my heart started to pound
like mad feeling his skin against my skin.

We separated slightly as he lifted my hand
and held the stone to the scrape I got at the construction site. I
felt a tingling sensation where it touched my skin, but more than
the pleasure I felt from the rock was the utter bliss I experienced
at Laurent’s touch. To my astonishment, as he held my hand out
between us, I watched the natural healing process occur in speed
time. My eyes widened in wonder as new skin grew over the scrape.
The sore was gone!

Carefully, he moved closer to me. Goosebumps
lifted on my arms and I wondered what he was going to do next. He
placed one hand on my back and the other on my shoulder. I quivered
at his touch. Now that I was in his arms securely, he laid his head
over my shoulder and gently pressed his neck to mine. I wasn’t
expecting that. It was such an intimate sensation being connected
to him in that way. I felt a closeness like I had never experienced
before. Neck to neck. I was irrevocably drawn to him. And then, I
felt a surge of sustaining breath enter my body from his body. I
didn’t know how it happened. Immediately, he set the tiny stone
down.

Once the stone was out of his grasp, he
pulled away from me abruptly. It was like his senses were inflamed
now. His nostrils flared and his jaw clenched.

He backed away further to the wall of the
cave and looked at me with piercing eyes.

I held his breath inside of me, frightened by
his new demeanor, but disappointed by the release of his touch. I
got the impression he was trying to control himself from some sort
of overwhelming feeling. He turned away from me. His upper torso
expanded and collapsed in rhythm like heavy breathing.

After a moment he calmed.

I followed him out of the cave and
upwards.

We broke the surface and a gush of air
released from my lungs. I gasped as I reoriented myself.

I didn’t know what to say. The escapade was
so otherworldly. My body was enlivened with a new energy. “I liked
that,” I said shyly as I watched him somewhat hesitantly.

“Me too,” he whispered. I noticed that his
nostrils were flared harder now. His eyes looked narrow and fierce.
He back paddled away from me over to the big obsidian rock where he
held to an indentation and looked over at me. He looked pained. It
was as if he was suffering immensely. I wanted to comfort him, make
him feel better, but I knew that was impossible. I guessed I was
the source of his agony.

Everything within me wanted to ease his
distress. My helplessness was maddening. My eyes welled up. At that
moment, I felt like I would rather die than see that ache in his
eyes.

“Don’t look at me like that, Grace,” he said
through gritted teeth. He was hunched over his knees upon the rock
with his hands balled into fists. “Don’t care about me,” he yelled
now with fury in his voice.

“I can’t help it,” I whispered, feeling his
misery like it was my own.

“Don’t care about me, Grace,” he repeated.
His voice was hardly above a whisper, but it was thunderous. At
once, he scrunched up his face and shook his head slightly side to
side. I sensed that he could lose control of himself and was now
teetering on the edge.

He could slip at any moment and succumb to
his natural instincts. The very idea of that was overwhelming.
Adrenaline rushed through my veins as I swam to the side of the
pool and quickly climbed out.

“Thank you, Grace,” he said in a strained
voice. He looked at the house. “I think you better go now.” There
were the sounds of footsteps within the mansion. I sensed that he
wanted me to leave immediately.

I felt the danger growing between us.
Forgetting my sandals, I grabbed my backpack and rushed out of his
yard.

As I ran down the street, I heard the faint
sounds of a new song, “Run Grace, run…” His voice was entrancing.
It seemed like a contradiction to the words. I wanted to go back,
but I knew he wanted me to resist and though I didn’t think any
girl could, somehow, I was able… For a moment, I felt lost in the
dream, but I was aware.

I hailed a cab on the boulevard and went
home, back to my normal, mundane world. And now I waited for
tomorrow. I waited, hoping desperately to see this boy that I was
fervently, uncontrollably infatuated with. This boy, that beyond
all rationality, I would risk my life just to be in his arms one
more time.

1. The Fight
   

When I arrived home, Lucy was already in bed
and my parents were waiting for me. It was already 8:30pm and they
were worried about me.