Page 109 of Bewitched By the Sea Monster
And, before I could muster up an insult, Jackson walked out of the bathroom and slammed the door in my face.
I am calledto feed after Pippi leaves. So I go. But I don’t eat. Much, at least. And after, I wait.
Wait to be called to amuse the humans.
Wait for the night to bring Pippi back to me.
Butshecomes to me first, climbing a rock path most humans are for…bidden. Forbidden from.
A part of me hopes she’ll fall into the waters.
The rest of me regrets the cruel thought.
If she does fall, I will save her.
Because I do not hate Onyx. Even now.
Once, she had been a friend. I cared for her. And I don’t forget that affection, even if she has.
Onyx sits on the rocks. “Well, I confess I’m disappointed, Alistair. I leave ye for five years and expect to return findin’ ye a mindless beast. Instead, I come to this shite island and find yer a lovesick pup.”
I struggle to understand her. Even words I know sound strange when she speaks with her ack-accent.
“There’s no use hidin’, Alistair. Ye know I can hear ye.”
“I’m not…h-hiding.” I rise to the surface.
She smiles. Not in a soft way. Like Pippi smiles. Or in a way that shows joy. Hers is…cruel.
Smiling because my curse makes her…
Not happy.
That’s not the right word.
Satisfied.
“Now then…” she speaks more. Too many words, and too quickly. They’re meaningless to me.“Oh feck. Ye’ve gone pretty far, eh?” Another cruel smile. “Canna say as I’m unhappy about that, but I didna have the patience to talk stupid to ye. C’mere, ye oaf.”
I move closer.
She pulls something from her shirt and blows it into my eye.
A powder. Herbs. Filled with magic.
The dust burns.The way the runes above my eyes do, blackening my vision, and making me pull away with a hiss.
But then…
I shake the hurt out of my eyes.
And find the world has cleared, for the first time in years.
Years.
My head is my own again: busy and chaotic, with too many trains of thought running on crisscrossing tracks.
I am thinking how desolate the sea is, with its muted color palette, as though the magic leeches the light and vibrancy out of this part of the world to fuel Niverwick Isle.
