 
Table of Contents

Front Matter/Contact Author

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

ALABASTER ISLAND:

The Mermaid Curse Prequel

Copyright © 2017 by M.S. Kaminsky

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system - except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a blog, magazine or newspaper - without permission in writing from the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. All the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Published by Organik Media, Inc., New York, NY

Please visit my author page to sign-up for my V.I.P. reader list, learn more about the series or just to say 'hello': <http://www.mskaminsky.com>

Follow on Instagram: @kaminskyauthor

**Acknowledgments**

Special thanks to my husband Gerry Beekman for his love and unwavering support. And to my parents for instilling a love of reading. Big gratitude and appreciation for Joyce Thom and her excellent and most appreciated feedback. Finally, to all the mermaids and those who write about them.

Comments or feedback? Find me on instagram: @kaminskyauthor or at <https://www.mskaminsky.com>

**CHAPTER ONE**

_Can you hear me?_ It's odd to whisper into a seashell, even a magic one. But I dare not speak louder. If I'm caught, none of this will matter. I have one brief moment to tell a long, strange tale.

Though I wasn't young in years when I left you girls, I was young in experience. I'd just turned seventeen and lived what seemed an idyllic life on Alabaster Island.

I was born on the island. Its rocky shores, towering date palms and warm, aquamarine waters were all I knew. For a long time, I thought I'd never want to live anywhere else. Not once did I doubt that we were the luckiest people on the planet. But I was wrong.

Twenty-two teens lived on the island aged fifteen to seventeen. If Daniel had lived, he would have been eighteen and the only child born off the island. All of our parents came from the mainland, _the Outlands_ they called it before spitting on the ground.

My life unraveled the night of my seventeenth birthday. I'd been helping Mom translate the ancient scroll she'd found. She had made huge progress. I felt proud when she told me it was due to my help.

I ran eighty-nine spiral steps up to the lighthouse. _Eight plus nine equaled seventeen and seven plus one equaled eight_. This number was lucky. In the lantern room sat a long telescope. Mom took measurements and rotated the telescope along a precise axis, scrawling readings from her sextant. With a dented brass surface, greenish with age the telescope was one item she forbade me to use.

"The twins," she said gazing at the night sky through the window. "Orion rises toward Gemini. I've never seen them so bright." She handed me the slip of paper where she'd scrawled her readings. "An omen."

"A good omen?" I asked.

Mom sighed and shook her head. "I don't know."

My stomach clenched. On Binding Day the teen boys and girls on the island would be paired together. Tomorrow I had to put in a name; the boy of my choice. I felt terrified. I'd much prefer to lose myself among the sky and watch for wishing stars. Perhaps the right wish could remove the worry.

We turned back to the scroll, hunched together over a small desk. Night after night Mom and I struggled with the ancient, magical text. And sometimes even early in the morning before the sun rose.

My mind responded well to the arcane math and elaborate symbols that comprised the scroll. To understand the scroll's intricate geometric texts, we used the stars as a guide. Some nights, I unsnarled the connections between the stars, texts and arcane symbols as if they were simple tangles of yarn. Tonight the symbols fought me with a mathematical or magical code I could not break no matter how hard I tried.

"I'm sorry, I can't get it."

Mom laughed and hugged me to her soft breast. She smelled of mango and sun dried linen.

"Don't worry, you're helping tremendously. And on your birthday too. Let's call it a night."

It was a cloudless evening. Satisfied and full after double portions of mango vanilla cake, I didn't want to go back downstairs. It would make tomorrow seem that much closer. _Tomorrow_. A day I'd just as soon forget lay mere hours away.

Mom yawned, eyes bloodshot from her work but I could tell she felt happy with our progress. The scroll held secrets to our past and how we lost our powers. But we would learn, at least everyone hoped, how to regain Lemuria, our ancient homeland.

"Can I stay up here awhile longer?"

"It's late. Best you go to bed. You have a big day."

"But it's my birthday," I reminded her. "I won't stay long."

Mom sighed. "Okay fine, but don't stay up too late. And don't touch the telescope."

When she left, I resisted the temptation the telescope presented, but failed. One day Mom caught me watching the island activities through the lens. "Just an excuse to be nosy! Let my telescope alone," she reprimanded. I tried to obey, but couldn't resist when I got the chance. Because it was my birthday, I hoped to spot a wishing star.

I pointed the telescope toward the sky. Thousands of stars fought their way through the glass lens. Just as I took my eye away, I saw one. A shooting star. It raced across the inky sky and I made a wish. I'd tell you, but even as I whisper this story, I refuse. A wish spoken out loud will never, ever come true.

When I put my eye back, I saw something incredible. Different from anything I'd ever seen. An enormous, white ship loomed bright against the horizon. Writing along her side spelled _The Song of the Seas_. I'd seen big ships pass from shore, but never a craft this large. And I'd never watched one through the telescope.

"Goddess, pray for them," Mrs. Caroline, our teacher said once when Ethan had noticed a ship passing far in the distance during Assembly. I'd felt sad for the passengers and grateful for what we had.

I focused Mom's telescope, and the ship burst to life. There were ten levels, eleven if you counted the top with its massive pool of blue water lit up and glowing in the moonlight. A long, green slide led into the pool. Two girls and a boy slid laughing into the water one after the other. Their mother held up a camera and took pictures. The flash appeared insignificant and almost invisible compared to the intense lights of the ship.

An old woman lay by the pool. She frowned as she spoke to a man holding a silver tray with a drink. He hurried away, and she slumped back and picked up her book. I tried to read the cover, but the words were too small from this distance.

I panned along the deck and counted the people. This ship had more people than our entire island. Further along I saw a celebration. Men wore dark, handsome clothes with colorful pieces of cloth strung around their necks.

And the women's clothes were much fancier than the practical, sturdy items we had here. There were stunning gowns, far nicer than the one dress I owned; a simple blue frock with a band of yellowing lace Mom sewed to the bottom. One girl wore a vibrant, short purple skirt with yellow flowers that appeared to shimmer and dance in the light. She might have been the same age as me, maybe younger. Others sported long, elegant ensembles that fluttered in the ship's breeze. Pinks, greens and exquisite patterns that wound around their bodies. Had I been a bee, I might have hoped they were giant blossoms.

But one girl, older than me, who stood at the center wore the most wonderful dress of all. White and flowing, her dress flared out so wide, that two little girls helped her with it when she moved. A teen boy stood beside her, laughing and holding her hand while a man took photos with a large camera.

He reminded me of Daniel. Daniel had possessed a magnetic charisma that suffused every movement, even at fourteen. The boy on the ship looked older, and clearly was not Daniel. Daniel was dead. But I couldn't take my eyes off of him.

A short, pudgy man brought out an enormous net full of colored, round balls. Everyone stood back, and the couple stepped up onto a raised platform. A woman came and cut the net. Lights flashed. The balls rose into the air and flew up into the night sky while people cheered and danced.

Mayor Marlow told us that only Lemurians once possessed incredible powers. He said that Outland dwellers were dumb, base. But this proved he was wrong. They knew magic also. Blue, green and silver balls glittered in the moonlight as they flew away like flying fish.

When I panned the telescope back, the girl and boy kissed. I leaned away from the eye piece for a moment, hand to my mouth. They were in love. I looked back through the scope and it took a second to find them again.

Even from up in the lighthouse it was obvious. This was true, passionate love. His hand lay on her hip. She leaned against him, comfortable, laughing, when they stopped kissing. Then she brushed a lock of hair off his forehead. For a moment I became that girl. I imagined his hands warm against my body, his lips against mine. A gray sack of longing expanded in my belly.

An enormous dolphin leapt up behind the ship and disappeared beneath the waves. Meanwhile, the colored balls swooped into the night sky. I tried to follow them with Mom's telescope but soon lost sight of them in the darkness.

_I miss you Daniel._ I thought. Would I ever experience love that strong?

Lying on the wool carpet that covered the chilly concrete floor, I hugged my knees to my chest and scrunched my eyes against tears of grief. And that was well before I learned that Daniel hadn't drowned by accident. In fact, he had been murdered. 
**CHAPTER TWO**

The next day I woke up with a melody stuck in my head. A peculiar series of lilting notes that held a strange melancholy longing at their core. It wasn't an unfamiliar melody, but it was one I'd chosen to forget. Whether right or wrong, I associated it with Daniel's death.

My face lay pressed into the wool rug on the floor and my eyes were puffy from leftover tears. For a moment I felt disoriented. Then I remembered: today I had to put in a name. The boy I wanted to spend the rest of my days with.

Light streamed in through the five windows. Giant and wood framed, the windows looked out over our tiny island in every direction. To my left, past the runway, was the area where most of our community lived. Rows of twenty-eight gray, concrete buildings arranged around what used to be a military training complex in the 1980s. Now it was our town square. Tall palm trees shaded the area and provided us with as much coconut milk as we could drink. A gentle grade and a crumbling sidewalk led to our old dock.

I looked at the telescope and saw that I'd forgotten to move it back to its original position. Now I couldn't help but peek at what was going on this morning.

Marlow, our mayor, stood on the dock waving his hands at Kassandra. It took little to guess what they spoke of with such intensity. Every two months an old seaplane arrived with a hired pilot and his son. The plane brought canned goods and other essential items we couldn't make for ourselves. Batteries for our flashlights, sugar, salt and spices for flavor, other things too. But this month our supply plane hadn't arrived, and no one knew why. We were running low on many necessary items.

_La la dee dee dee la la_. _Shut up_. I told the melody. But it didn't stop.

Motion along the narrow path that led up to the lighthouse caught my attention. My friend, Ethan trudged up the rocky trail, an air of grim determination in his long, athletic stride. Yesterday he'd left me a note and asked to meet before Assembly but I didn't have a clue why.

Alabaster Island ran on predictable daily patterns and habits. Anything out of the ordinary made me edgy. Slowly, I walked around the circular room and touched the frames of the windows, once each, for luck in every direction. Downstairs I heard the sound of breakfast preparations and Ethan's knock at the door. I ran down the spiral stairs.

"None for me," I heard Ethan say. "I already ate."

Something must have been extremely wrong for Ethan to turn down my Dad's mango pancakes. Ethan could eat an entire chicken dinner, plus dessert and still have room for his favorite meal, breakfast.

"You have another tooth ache?" Mom asked Ethan as I entered. Mom laid out plates, including one for him, just in case.

"Tooth's better," Ethan said.

"That's because it's gone," Dad said as he walked in with a steaming plate. "But maybe you have a new culprit." Dad was our resident dentist and had yanked one of Ethan's molars two days prior.

Ethan shook his head. "I'd rather not lose another one."

We sat down at the table and had an awkward breakfast. Ethan pushed a pancake around his plate while making polite small-talk that sounded nothing like him. I didn't have much of an appetite either. When Mom and Dad stepped away, I asked Ethan if he was okay.

"No," he said, square jaw clenched, blue eyes conflicted with an emotion I couldn't read. "I'm not okay. We need to talk. Privately. Can we go now?"

I made an excuse about needing to get to Assembly early and we said our goodbyes.

**CHAPTER THREE**

As we left the lighthouse, I kissed my fingers and touched the doorjamb three times for luck when Ethan wasn't looking. Scraps, our border collie, tried to follow. Years back, I used to have to tie her or she'd run out the fence gate ahead of me. Then I'd catch her and drag her back inside while she licked me non-stop. But she was getting old. She lumbered after me, but for the first time, stopped before she reached the gate. Half way, she sat, and watched me leave, her moist, pink tongue hanging from her mouth.

"I knew it was gonna be an odd day," I told Ethan as we headed along the path together. Ethan was one of my two best friends on the island. More than a friend, he was like a brother. He even knew about my peculiar luck rituals though I still tried to keep them hidden. Part of me knew they were childish. Another part feared what catastrophe might occur if I stopped.

One thing was certain; it was another gorgeous, tropical day. If not for the fact that our crops were wilting from lack of water and supplies were late, it might have been perfect.

"The long way," Ethan said, not waiting for a reply. I smiled. It was not the easiest or quickest way to Assembly, but it was my way; my morning routine. We walked in what became an uncomfortable silence. Soon we'd pass smooth luck rock. My step quickened.

"So what's up?" I asked, curious what was wrong.

"Chloe was worried yesterday that her and I might not be bound."

"Of course you'll be bound."

"I dunno. What _we_ want is only a small part. I heard there's a bunch of factors the Council considers. The way our energies match and other stuff."

"I heard the same," I admitted. "And how fast we'll head over to Honey Moon Island to pump out babies. Don't tell Chloe I said that," I added.

After our Binding, we'd be paired off and sent to a small island off-shore for two nights. While there, Mayor Marlow hoped we'd conceive children that would further the Lemurian lineage.

Ethan laughed. "You should hear what Edward says about Honey Moon Island. I'm embarrassed to repeat it. Anyway, now Chloe's angry at me, and I'm--"

"We only have a couple of days and this is all over," I interrupted Ethan. I said it to comfort him, but the thought made me feel worse. After the third switchback, the trail evened out and our strides widened. Further along the ridge, smooth luck rock lay below. But something looked odd. I forced my attention back to Ethan.

"Why was Chloe mad?"

"She asked me if I was gonna write down her name as my choice...but I didn't want to say partly because, it's you know, bad luck to talk about it."

"You believe that?" I asked.

"Sure, why, you don't?"

"I believe it, too," I said. He didn't look surprised.

"Well, she doesn't. Told me it's dumb."

"It's not dumb."

"Well, now she thinks I might put in someone else's name and I just don't wanna admit it."

"But who else does she think--"

"Katrina."

I burst out laughing. "She's not that pretty."

"Yeah, well I heard a rumor that no less than six of the other boys plan to write in her name."

My face got hot. There were ten other boys on the island. If that were true it was possible _no one_ would select me. After weeks of deliberating I still hadn't decided. There was no boy I felt passionate about.

"But the thing I wanted to--" he started, when my gasp interrupted him. Down below us, Maxie lay dead on smooth luck rock. White feathers speckled with blood. Bones broken and snapped. We scrambled down the rocks.

"Maxie," I gasped. "Something killed Maxie!"

"What the--" Ethan whistled through his teeth.

Every morning I took this path to school and fed an adorable old seagull I'd named Maxie. Full of personality, although rather bedraggled, she was almost tame. And she recognized me. It might be odd to admit it, but I'd grown to love that bird much as I loved my dog Scraps.

Normally, I'd stop at smooth luck rock and touch the giant stone to bring luck for the rest of the day. It had a concave surface as if it had been made to sit and gaze out to sea.

Several other rocks had these odd, smooth depressions, but none were as big or as beloved as my smooth luck rock. It was as if a giant had taken her thumb and pressed it into a seat just for me. After I fed Maxie, she'd preen herself and watch from a nearby perch.

Ethan picked up a bone.

"Don't touch her!" I said, distraught.

"Her?" he asked.

"Maxie. I fed her every morning. This is horrible."

"Wonder what kinda animal would do this?" Ethan asked. "Scraps?"

I guessed that was his attempt to inject dark humor into the circumstance. "That's not funny," I said.

He spun the bone in his fingers.

"Please, stop." My instinct was to leave her in peace though I didn't see how that was possible.

"Sorry," Ethan apologized and put the bone back.

There was no way my old dog Scraps had done this. We had cats on the island, but I'd never seen a house cat catch a seagull. The birds were big and aggressive. Maybe a large bird of prey? I glanced up at the sky. Clear and blue. I looked to the ocean. Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought I saw a fin disappear beneath the water's surface like a green-gray blade. A chill fell over me.

Ethan looked at the sun's angle. "We're late."

Part of me wanted to run and leave as fast as possible. But another part felt like it would make the day worse to not touch smooth luck rock. To not sit and mourn Maxie for at least a moment.

"Hey," Ethan took my hand. "You okay?"

I shook my head. "No."

"C'mon, I'll help later, 'kay?" he said with a gentle tone.

"I know I'm being ridiculous, gulls die all the time, right? She was old...but, she was tough. It never even occurred to me that she might die."

We jogged along the ridge, single file.

"You're not being ridiculous. I know you have your rituals and things you do. Don't be embarrassed."

"I'm not embarrassed! And it wasn't a ritual," I lied as I counted my footsteps until we reached the bottom of the hill. _Eight hundred and twenty-two. Unlucky._

But all of us kids had grown up on this island together. Truth was, it wasn't easy to keep secrets, not for long. Secrets were best kept locked in one's own head. We ran past the dock where Cunningham wound fishing line. He waved.

"Better run fast!" He shouted at us as if we didn't know. Every teen needed to be in Assembly by 8:30am. We ran to the back of our settlement near the old runway. The Assembly House bordered the abandoned landing strip. Another military left-over that had been here since well before our time. Now in 1998, after decades, the sun and winds had done significant damage. The building was ugly. It had no windows, so the teacher left the wide, swinging doors open to allow air circulation. Our desks were a series of mismatched wooden tables and chairs.

"You are late." Mrs. Caroline said, interrupting herself mid-sentence.

"Sorry," I apologized. "It was my fault." My best friend, Chloe, looked over and shot me an odd look. I smiled and mouthed that I'd explain later. She glared at me and turned away. The day kept getting stranger and worse.

**CHAPTER FOUR**

"Well, now that Ethan and Marei have graced us with their presence, let's begin." Mrs. Caroline brushed a strand of blond hair that escaped from her bun and fanned herself. Tardiness was something she did not tolerate.

"The Binding."

Her words hung in the humid air like two thunderclouds. Sweat beaded on my brow and the entire room of teens seemed to cease breathing.

"As you know, several factors go into the composition of each pairing. But one factor is choice: your preferences, your predilections. You've had several weeks now. Who will you put in for? Today is the glorious day when your choice becomes memorialized and taken into account as best can be."

Mrs. Caroline had a way of dragging on until I drifted off into fantasies and imaginings. But today I clung on her every word with sick horror. She strolled around the room and handed out white, three-inch by five-inch index cards.

"Now, on the card you're to enter the person you choose. It's no guarantee. Not at all. You might not be bound with your choice. But Mayor Marlow and the Council _will_ take them into consideration,"

Edward raised his hand.

"Yes, Edward."

"Can we put more than one name?"

The class snickered. "I mean a first and second choice," he tried to clarify.

Mrs. Caroline shook her head. "No need for that level of complexity. One name will be sufficient."

I glanced over at Chloe. She stared at her card with a queasy look. My card had my name written in pen at the top. I didn't recognize the writing. It might have been Mayor Marlow's. Then beneath my name lay one word, _Choice,_ and beneath that a solid, menacing black line hungry for a name.

"No need to belabor this. I'll give you a few minutes of silence to complete your cards and then we must move on. You've had plenty of chance to consider the options."

My fingers grew sweaty against the pen. I gripped it, fingers pinched and white. I needed to write someone. A name. A boy I liked. _Daniel_. I closed my eyes and thought through the same things I'd thought over and over again. Why did I make things so difficult?

Sometimes it felt my mind was out of control, churning through options and potential outcomes until I felt, exhausted, tired and dizzy but no closer to choosing. Yes, we had had plenty of time. And I'd thought myself sick over it. I'd lost sleep. If only I'd had the chance to touch smooth luck rock today.

_La la la dee dee dee_. The melody returned. And the image of the ocean popped into my head: Daniel swimming and smiling at me. To my left, Chloe quickly filled out her card. I couldn't read it from here, but I knew it must be Ethan. She folded her paper and lowered her head, eyes closed as if praying.

I tried to picture life with one of the island boys. Edward? An easy smile, strong and muscular from fixing up our houses. But Eddie was often moody and crazy for Katrina. Takai? Smarter than I was by a long-shot. I'd never get bored. With a theory about everything though, he might wear me out with his philosophizing. And he often had bad breath. I couldn't imagine kissing him. Rudolf? He'd be gentle with his long slender fingers and moony eyes. But he seldom smiled. I needed someone with more spark.

Several of the other kids had written choices and folded their papers. Mrs. Caroline walked around collecting the cards. More time must have passed than I realized, because when I looked up, everyone stared at me, waiting. Blood rushed to my face. I was the only one left.

I put the pen to the paper...and my hand froze. While the wall clock ticked, I wrote nothing. My hand sat suspended.

"Keeping us waiting once today wasn't enough for you, hmm Marei?" she said, tapping the collected cards against her desk. "You've lived with these boys for seventeen years. Plenty of time to get to know them. But maybe no one is good enough?"

After so much tension, the class burst out with laughter. I blinked away tears. What she said held some truth, but it wasn't fair and it wasn't correct. It's not that they weren't good enough. They were good. With a couple of exceptions most of the kids I'd grown up with were great. It was me. I could not choose. No one fit. Or it was me who didn't fit. I was like a puzzle piece dropped in the wrong box who didn't know where to place herself.

Cupping my hand over the paper, I moved the pen as if I were writing. I kept waiting for the pen to land, to hit the paper and for a name to manifest itself. But I couldn't make myself put ink to paper. I could not choose! My mouth grew dry and my heart throbbed in my temples. Not knowing the implications, I folded the paper and gave it to Mrs. Caroline completely blank.

"Good," Mrs. Caroline said. Even as she took the paper from me I wanted to grab it back and write a name, put in for someone, anyone...but too late. She took the papers and placed them in a black velvet bag. She nodded to someone at the back of the room.

We turned. Mayor Marlow stood in the doorway silhouetted with the sun behind him. "I realize this hasn't been easy, but it will all be settled soon," he said. The light formed a halo around blond wisps of hair poking up every which way. For a moment, his hair reminded me of Daniel's. Daniel had spent hours complaining about his overprotective father. Any similarity ended with their hair. Mayor walked into the room dressed in a crisp linen suit. Seeing the middle-aged man's bare, sunburned scalp destroyed the illusion completely.

Mrs. Caroline handed him the velvet sack, and he left. Something between terror and relief settled itself in my stomach. On the one hand, relief flooded through me to have it over with, done. But also terror because I had no idea what might lie ahead.

**CHAPTER FIVE**

Afterward, Chloe and Ethan stood waiting in the square. None of us asked each other about The Binding or who we put in for. Chloe insisted we walk up to see "the dead bird". Maxie. _Poor Maxie_. It surprised me that Chloe would want to do that. I'd watched her avert her eyes when Cunningham reeled in a snapper fish. And she'd almost thrown up when we'd found a dead baby frigate bird, its carcass cleaned by squirming, white maggots.

When we reached smooth luck rock, Chloe turned and swallowed. "It's horrible. What happened to it?"

"Her," I corrected. "Her name was Maxie." Ethan picked up one of her feathers, long and white with gray at its tip.

"And you took the long way to school, Ethan?" Chloe asked.

"I wanted to um, ask Marei something," Ethan responded.

Chloe nodded and looked at me with cold intensity.

My eyes widened. "You're not serious. Please. Tell me you're not..."

"Are you crazy? Of course not." She laughed, turned and breathed in the ocean air as she looked out to the ocean below. "You're my best friend. I was curious why Ethan came all the way up here to walk to Assembly that's all."

Ethan took Chloe's hands.

"Don't touch me with your dead bird hands!" she protested.

"I came to ask Marei's advice _. '_ Cause you were upset about me not wanting to say if I put in for you," Ethan said.

"Yeah, and?"

"I still think it's bad luck," Ethan admitted.

"That makes no sense. What's done is done. Telling someone doesn't change ink on paper. Things are as they are."

"No. I agree with Ethan," I said.

"Well, _you_ would." Chloe sighed and then smiled at me. "You're both annoying."

I laughed. These two were my best friends in the world. I didn't know how things would change after The Binding, but I knew things _would_ change. These next two days might be our last days of freedom.

"I'm sorry," Chloe said. "I haven't been sleeping right." I nodded in agreement and so did Ethan. None of us teens were sleeping right, I imagined.

"We should do something fun," I said.

"Swim at Pelican Rock?" Ethan suggested.

"Yes, can't we forget all of this?" I asked. "Let's swim!" And I grabbed both of their hands and pulled them along with me down the path. We released our hands, but ran together. Every rock, every turn, every bump and bush of this path was familiar to us. It was the main artery that connected Pelican Rock with the Assembly Hall. And as we ran together, the disturbing tension that had clung to us scattered in the wind.

Twenty minutes later we floated in pristine, tropical water. The three of us dove under and competed to see who could go deeper. We didn't call it as such anymore, but it was an old game we used to play. _Treasure Hunt_ we'd named it. Officially, we stopped playing it after Daniel died. Unofficially we still fell into it as an old habit.

I dove past Chloe and Ethan down to where the water changed from aquamarine to cerulean blue. I always went far deeper than either of them. Today I found a piece of white stone shaped like a ring. Back on the surface, I grabbed Chloe's hand and placed it on her finger.

"Maybe _we'll_ be bound," Chloe said taking me in her arms. We laughed and held hands, whirling in a circle in the water sending out rings of silver ripples.

"They don't bind girls with girls," Ethan mumbled. We stopped, and I saw that Ethan had an odd look on his face. Something mixed between jealousy and desire.

"Well, I don't see why not," Chloe teased.

"Because they want us to fulfill our destiny," Ethan said. "And that means having babies. Difficult for two women."

"If I were Queen there would be no Binding," I said, heat rushing to my face. "If girls bound with girls they could. Or boys bound with boys. The important thing would be love. No one would be allowed to bind unless they were in love."

Chloe swam over to Ethan and draped her arms around him. Ethan's face relaxed. Teasing aside, I had no wish to bind with either of them. I loved them, but I wasn't _in_ love with them.

"Do you still have that shell Daniel found years ago?" Chloe asked. Several years ago our friend Daniel found an incredible rainbow shell while playing Treasure Hunt. He'd traded with me for it.

"Of course," I said. Beneath my bed I had it stowed in a shoebox. But I seldom looked at it. It was too painful.

"Sorry," Chloe said. She'd just thrown more darkness over a difficult day.

We noodled around on the surface. But no one wanted to dive anymore. I drifted on my back and stared up at the sky thinking about the ship I'd seen. "Do you ever wonder if people are wrong about the Outlands. That maybe it's not as horrible as they say," I asked.

"Bet it's worse than they say," Chloe said.

"But what if it changed? Things can change for good and bad," I reminded them. As soon as I said it, I regretted it. We all knew things would change. Today was not a smooth luck day. Every conversation, every look, every glance seemed laden with unwanted meaning or booby trapped with hidden barbs of sadness. Prickles of past times better forgotten.

Chloe and Ethan held hands under water while I swam a short distance away. Their romance had emerged over the last year. Once there had been four of us. We were younger at the time but I knew something would have developed between me and Daniel if he had lived. It was painful to consider. But if he had been alive, I would have put his name down. Of that, I was certain.

Since then, me Chloe and Ethan had become more and more like two sisters and a brother. So, at first I found it ridiculous, hilarious even, the two of them together. I had no interest in Ethan romantically. I felt that Chloe shouldn't either. But I had to remind myself that was dumb. None of us were related in the strict genetic sense. We were descendants of Lemuria, that was true. What united us was an energetic matrix strung from our DNA "like lights on a Christmas tree," Mrs. Caroline said.

We not only appeared to be regular human folk, but were diverse in appearance. I had Asian looks, Japanese genetics, though my skin was light considering the amount of sun I got and my eyes were green. Chloe's family was from Tanzania with dark features that never burned no matter how long she swam. Ethan's family came from Ireland. The opposite of Chloe, freckles dappled his sunburnt nose and his eyes were as blue as the island's waters.

Chloe and Ethan would make a fantastic couple. I felt happy for them. Yet despite all rational thought to the contrary, today it felt awkward, to be with them. Like I was intruding. I left them to enjoy the water by themselves and swam to shore, pulling myself up dripping up on onto a giant black slab of stone made toasty by the sun.

I hugged my knees to my stomach and looked out over the water. Offshore, about a ten-minute boat ride away was Honey Moon Island. It was tiny. It barely deserved to call itself an island, but it did have an old wooden one room building on it. So I'd heard. And in the building lay an extremely soft bed with many pillows. One pillow donated on behalf of each future teen couple. Eleven in total.

The rumor was, and I believed it to be true, that no one could conceive on Alabaster Island. There was something about this place that prevented the women from getting pregnant. Either by chance or by fluke they figured out that whatever prevented pregnancies from happening, was not present on the little island off the shore. So they called it Honeymoon Island and all of us kids were born, eventually.

Chloe and Ethan swam closer, waded out of the water and sat down next to me to dry.

"How come you quit swimming?" Chloe asked as she dried Ethan's head.

I shrugged. "You guys looked like you wanted to be alone."

"Don't be weird. The water is amazing today. You should have swum longer."

She finished drying Ethan's head and then sat in between his legs, leaning back against his chest. She nuzzled the underside of Ethan's stubbled chin.

"Kiss me," she said.

He kissed her full on the mouth while I watched from just a few feet away. This was new. In the past she'd been shy. They both were. Ethan glanced at me, blushing.

I stood. "Well, I should see if Dad needs any help, back home. Mangoes were falling right off the tree this morning."

"Why are you acting strange?" Chloe asked. "I thought you wanted to spend the afternoon together?"

"I'm not acting strange...you're the one who's being...different."

"Different how?" She frowned up at me, shading her eyes from the sun.

"All this...kissing and--"

"Well, we're in love each other. Just like you said people should be. Shouldn't we show it?"

"Of course you should," I said. "It's just..."

"You're jealous," Chloe said.

I looked at Chloe then at Ethan. My mouth opened and for a moment I stood there hanging on the edge of a yet to be determined sentence. Then I said: "Yeah, I guess I am."

Maybe Chloe expected me to say otherwise because she covered her mouth in surprise. But I was as shocked as her. Suddenly I felt sorry for telling the truth. Especially since I hadn't realized it myself until I said it out loud. Ethan looked at the rocks. He hated confrontation.

"You'd prefer it be you and Ethan?"

"Chloe..." Ethan said.

"No! That's not what I meant at all." I crouched and grabbed Chloe's hand. She shook me off and stood, pulling Ethan with her.

"C'mon." Chloe headed up the path that led away from the beach. Ethan resisted.

"Well?" she said. "Me or her?"

Ethan looked at me with an unreadable expression.

"Just go! Both of you. You know that's not what I meant!" I turned toward the ocean, eyes burning with anger.

When I looked back at them, they were walking up the path together. I shouted after them. "How could you say that? He's like my _brother_!"

I was so angry, I followed them but then stopped and let them go. If that's how they wanted to be, fine. To hell with both of them. I walked closer to the water's edge and stood on the rock. Gentle, blue waves lapped against the golden shore. I wished I could jump into the ocean and swim away from the island and its troubles. But there was no escape from myself. My thoughts turned to Daniel.

I'd replayed that day in my head many times. But on certain days, when the air temperature was just right, when a warm breeze blew from the East as it did today, and when I missed him acutely, the memory poked at the soft places in my heart, struggling to tear itself free. 
**CHAPTER SIX**

I was fourteen. And on that day, just as the four of us surfaced from our dive, a beautiful, delicate tern swooped overhead. He carried a small silver fish in his long beak. We paused for a moment to watch, treading water in the hot, late afternoon sun. The fish ceased its flapping, and the tern flew across the water and landed on a rock near shore to consume its feast.

We'd been diving all day. As usual, I went deeper than anyone, even Daniel. But it wasn't only about depth; a keen eye and instinct beneath the surface were needed. That day, Danny won.

Daniel held up his hand. "Look at this!" he cried. In his hand he held an incredible rainbow conch shell. What amazed me was its surface, an iridescent shifting rainbow of colors. It looked like a living jewel.

"That's amazing! Like a crown jewel," I said.

Daniel held the shell above him and took on a mock, regal bearing. The hues undulated in the sun, competing with the shimmering sea and his blue eyes to become the most iridescent thing around. Even compared with the rainbow shell and deep blue ocean, Daniel's eyes won, at least for me. I could look in Daniel's eyes forever. Pools of turquoise blue flecked with specks of amber.

"King of Lemuria!" Chloe shouted.

"Emperor of Atlantis," I teased.

"Was there an emperor?" Daniel asked. He was always a pragmatist. But none of us knew the answer to his question. Maybe we slept through that during Assembly. Certainly a possibility. The history of the ancient lands, which we realized were important, seemed abstract to us. Our world was Alabaster Island along with its shores and hidden depths. Ethan shrugged and rolled over onto his back.

"Listen," Daniel held the shell to his ear and then offered it to me. It was difficult to hear over the ocean, but I made out soft whispers in another tongue.

"What are they saying?" I recognized it as Lemurian but the language was complex.

"Something like... _listen people, here is my story_...but I can't make out the rest," Daniel said. We took turns trying to understand the shell's words, but they grew softer and softer the more we listened until they faded away. Soon there was only the ocean. Meanwhile, Ethan hung back, looking jealous over Daniel's find. Being a year older, Daniel's muscles had developed faster than Ethan's and I'd noticed tension building between the two friends.

"One more dive and then we head home?" Ethan said, his eyes flickered with intensity. But I doubted he'd surpass Daniel today.

We were immersed in a game we called Treasure Hunt. Our goal was to collect the largest number of cool and wonderful sea objects before the sun hit a predetermined position. Topaz shells, pieces of smoothed coral, stones that were blindingly white. Today we'd play until the sun hit Pelican Rock. Then we'd compare our finds and whoever had the best trove of booty became the winner that day.

Being declared winner wasn't as subjective as it sounded. You might think we'd each be biased toward choosing objects from our own pile as the best, but none of us were like that. One of the special things that bonded us together was the similar way we viewed the world. More than that, and I only realized it later, it was our appreciation for the aesthetic and tactile beauty of our island.

We had no money, on Alabaster Island, remember. Everything on the island happened through exchange and barter. The items we found became our currency. Not the island's, but Chloe, Daniel, Ethan's and mine. Any object that could be traded became fair game. Favors given for fortune, unwanted chores agreed to in exchange for new and wonderful finds and of course the objects got traded themselves. Chloe's sand dollar for Daniel's three tiny conch shells, Ethan's lovely piece of golden coral for my smooth, round blue stone with a hole in its precise center. Ethan still wore that stone as a necklace the last time I saw him, even though I tried to trade for it several times.

We swam along the reef and found another spot to dive. This last spot had become our favorite though that shifted from day-to-day. The currents were strong in this area and we never knew what objects we might find buried in the sand or trapped in a web of coral.

But today we found nothing to beat the jewel-like shell. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. Nor could anyone else. After, we sat in a circle in the shadow of Pelican Rock enjoying the shade and sharing a big jug of lemon water I'd brought to share. We tried trading various combinations for Daniel's shell. "Nope, not interested," he repeated.

We traded amongst ourselves for smaller things. A blue sand dollar for three shark's teeth, a whalebone for a piece of alabaster. We were nearly finished when Daniel leaned in and whispered, "I'd trade you my shell for something. If you'd be willing." His breath lingered warm against my ear.

A kiss. That was the first thing that came to mind. My face grew hot, and I knew I must be blushing even beneath my brown skin tanned from the wind and sun.

"For what?" I whispered back, wishing we were alone. But instead of a kiss he said: "I'd trade you my shell, for the song."

_The song?_ That was unexpected. I opened my mouth to say no, but the rainbow conch caught my eye again. It was one of the most extraordinary objects we'd ever pulled from the sea. But Mom had been adamant: I was not allowed to sing this song.

"We won't tell," Daniel said, answering my unspoken question. I'd sung this song once before, just briefly, and by accident. It had obsessed Daniel and Ethan ever since. It was the only time I'd received serious punishment from my mother. She made me promise I'd never sing it again. "It's your heartsong," she said. "Best kept safe inside." When I'd asked her why, she'd become flustered, unusual for her. "Mom doesn't like things she doesn't understand," Dad explained later.

"Okay, deal," I said after a short pause. "But let's go somewhere where no one can hear."

"Pelican Cave?" Chloe suggested.

" _I'm_ trading the song for Daniel's shell," I reminded her. "That doesn't mean I want an audience." Ethan's brows knit together, and he folded his arms. Chloe shrugged as if to say "Okay, if you want to be that way." But she had never heard me sing.

"Everything I have," Ethan offered all his treasure. I looked at him and swallowed.

"Are you serious? Just for a song?" Chloe asked Ethan, mouth agape.

This felt wrong. Besides, it was too easy. We spent hours bartering and arguing over our various trades. One day Dad walked past and said we were worse than Moroccan carpet dealers, whatever they were.

I waved Ethan's offer away. "Fine everyone can come, it doesn't matter," I said. "As long as Daniel trades me his shell." _Maybe I'll trade it back for a kiss another time_ , I thought.

We climbed single file to Pelican Cave. While it wasn't a large cave, it was our favorite hideaway of many hidden spots on the island. Once inside we were sheltered from the elements by a vast overhang of rock. The cave itself extended six by ten feet before it narrowed to a narrow crawl space that diminished in height until you had to wriggle along on your stomach like a snake. We'd each explored as far as we dared and never got stuck, but it became overwhelming. For the first few feet it was fun adventure. Knee, elbow, knee, elbow but it became darker and darker as the narrow crevasse descended. Chloe made it the farthest. She explored for over half an hour with Ethan and had crawled on far ahead of him.

"No end that I saw," she'd said when she returned, grimy and out of breath. "The cave goes on and on forever." Maybe the passage led to the sea. If it did, I'm not sure when we'd ever find out.

Today we sat in a circle. A narrow beam of sunlight illuminated the cave. For me, my song expressed pure emotion. Raw emotion that frightened me. In fact, since my mom's warning, I'd come to link all emotion with its forbidden expression.

I sang. My chest trembled with the melody that escaped from my lips. Eyes closed, I lost myself for several minutes. Pure sound thrummed and vibrated and I forgot my surroundings. When I opened my eyes, Chloe cried softly. Ethan and Daniel sat with rapt smiles on their faces.

"Was it okay?" I asked, voice hoarse and body shaking. They looked at me, eyes wide.   
Daniel handed me the shell. "Here," he said. I hesitated. Suddenly I wished I'd never agreed to sing. A deep sense of shame washed over me. He put his hand on my shoulder and pressed the shell into the palm of my hand. "You deserve it." For a minute, we held hands, but then he pulled away, awkward.

We walked home in silence. Ethan and Daniel began to argue in low voices. I heard Daniel mention "his song". Perhaps he regretted allowing the others to listen. I wasn't sure. The sun was setting, and I rushed onward, sorry for an awkward end to a lovely day.

Singing had drained me. It had tired me right to my core. And I felt guilty. My throat felt raw and my soul too. Now I understood why mom hadn't wanted me to sing this song. Wherever it came from, it was magic. Maybe even more powerful than magic. I walked with Chloe. Behind us, Ethan and Daniel continued to argue. When we reached the village square I paused. Ethan and Daniel hung further back, speaking even more heatedly.

"What's going on with them?" Chloe asked.

"I shouldn't have sung," I said.

Chloe shook her head. "No, it was amazing. How did you learn how to create those colors...and the images?"

"I'm not sure..." I said. "I didn't even know I was."

"I saw Lemuria. Just like we learned in Assembly. But even more magnificent than I imagined."

"Really?"

"It makes our island appear...colorless." She held her hands out to our surroundings. And we both smiled at the same instant. A flock of blue and green parakeets whizzed past and landed in a palm tree. The sun set, falling like a giant golden disk that ignited the ocean purple. One thing Alabaster Island didn't lack was color. And yet...even though I hadn't seen the images she mentioned, I understood. The song had opened a hole in my heart. An inexpressible longing. Even more painful because although I knew I missed something I couldn't put into words what it was. Maybe it was Lemuria. Perhaps that's what we longed for? To return to our ancient motherland.

Chloe turned to walk to her house, and I headed toward the path that led home. Ethan and Daniel left. They walked off on their own while Chloe and I spoke. Back home mom's eyes grew wide when she saw the rainbow shell in my hand.

"A story shell," she said, taking it from me. She put the shell to her ear for a moment and listened. "The story's used up. Where did you find this?" she asked, handing it back.

"Daniel found it. He gave it to me." My voice still burned raw from the song. And I hurried to my room where I put the shell in a box and slid it beneath my bed.

The next day Assembly got canceled. There had been a terrible accident. After me and Chloe left, Daniel and Ethan had traded dumb dares between them. They agreed on a diving competition at dusk. Daniel never resurfaced.

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

I made my way around the eastern section of the island. Lost in memory and wanting to be alone, I climbed up between two giant boulders and sat and looked out at the ocean. I still had the melody in my head and it undulated with the waves.

For the first time I felt at peace with my choice, or more accurately lack of choice. There was no boy I loved the way Mom and Dad loved each other. Kassandra lived alone as did Mayor Marlow. I would also live alone. As I walked, my mood improved, and I became hopeful. Not everyone needed to be paired. At least I hoped.

From the boulders, I headed to the right, along a narrow, winding path. It led behind the Assembly house and avoided the main buildings. Midway, I rounded a turn and stopped short. Ben crouched behind a rock with his buddy Carlson, Chloe's younger brother. Ben had his arm drawn back and with a _thrum_ the arrow released from his bow. It shot toward a rock barely missing two seagulls. They escaped to the sky, crying with fear while Ben reeled the arrow back on a slender, transparent thread.

"Almost!" Carlson said.

"What the hell are you doing?" I shouted. Ben stood looking guilty and surprised to see me in this out-of-the-way location. But he recovered, and his usual scowl returned.

"What does it look like? Target practice."

"You can't kill seagulls!"

"Why?"

"You killed Maxie, didn't you?" I stormed toward him. Ben raised his hand in warning.

"Watch it, I have no clue what the hell you're talking about."

"Have you come to confess your love for us?" Carlson asked. Then he frowned and looked constipated pretending to be me holding a pen.

"Ben or Carlson...they're both so handsome...I can't decide!" Carlson said in falsetto as he swooned against Ben, holding his hand to his forehead. "Which one! Someone help me chooooose!"

Ben roared with laughter. If there were any two people I had no problem not choosing, it was them. Most kids on the island were sixteen except for Carlson who was fifteen. Shorter than Ben by a foot, they made a comical team.

Ben was sweating hard, and it left his brown hair plastered to his head like a helmet. I grabbed for his bow, but Ben moved it out of reach with a snarl.

"You're pathetic," I grumbled and walked past them. "We'll see what Mayor Marlow says when I tell him." But I doubted I'd get much sympathy. Mayor Marlow disliked me, Ethan and Chloe ever since Daniel died. And Ben brought in most of the fish we depended on during this time of food shortage. Marlow wouldn't deny him what he wanted, even if that meant killing a few seagulls.

"I bet you even knew," I spat over my shoulder.

"Knew what?" Ben asked as they followed behind.

"Maxie. That I fed her. My seagull."

"I don't know nothing about it. But someone's in a nasty mood today," Ben teased.

"Go shoot yourself in the eye," I responded. "I hope you do."

I continued walking. "Are you following me?"

"We're helping my Dad at the dock. If you don't want us walking with you, then _you_ can find another path." Ben said.

But no other path existed. It might have been possible to take a different way if I didn't mind getting scratched up by a thousand thorns and a million thistles. But not only were we walking in the same direction, Ben walked as close behind me as possible. _One thousand three hundred and thirty two, one thousand three hundred and thirty-three._ I counted my steps, hoping I'd end on a lucky step and they'd go away.

One of his feet snagged my left foot, and I nearly fell on step one thousand three hundred and thirty-nine. Rage welled up inside of me. Without thinking I turned and pushed Ben back as hard as I could. Ben was one of the biggest boys on the island. He worked with his father, Cunningham, fishing and repairing their old boat and ancient dock that looked ready to fall into the ocean any moment. Maybe I caught him off-guard, or maybe it was because Carlson stood right behind him, but Ben tripped over Carlson and fell right on his ass, one of his arrows embedding itself in his buttocks.

He let out a strangled scream and tears welled up in his eyes. Carlson leaned to help him. Ben staggered up and Carlson pulled out the now broken arrow. A blood stain appeared on Ben's shorts. He gasped in pain and turned his gray-green eyes dark with a rage that replaced the usual dull anger. _Time to leave_. I ran home so fast I lost track of the steps and didn't remember if it ended lucky or unlucky.

Dad wasn't in his bedroom. Climbing the metal stairs to the lighthouse, I expected to find him with Mom, but he wasn't there either. I wanted to tell them about Ben and Maxie. And what happened when I pushed Ben; an accident and not my fault. Out-of-breath, I rounded the eighty-ninth stair, but they weren't there either.

The lighthouse was tall, but felt taller because it stood on the highest point of the island. Wind whistled against the windows and the structure swayed. I looked through the telescope.

In the town square, Arav helped his father mend their roof. He stood up, and I watched him trip and almost tumble off. Poor, clumsy Arav. Dad stood in the town square with Mom talking to Marlow. Probably trading sticky buns for mangoes. Then my heart thudded. Marlow pointed up toward the lighthouse and I swore I read my name on his lips. For the thousandth time I thought of the blank slip I'd submitted. Feeling guilty for watching, I moved the telescope away from Mayor Marlow and over to the docks.

Ben and Carlson had just arrived to help Cunningham. Ben had changed his shorts, and I noticed him limp. Further along the shore, Mrs. Davidson sheared one of her lambs with her daughter Jamie. The lamb had its mouth open wide and I could imagine the sounds of her complaining. I scanned past the field into the rockier regions of the island near the ocean. My breath caught in my throat and I paused. A girl I'd never seen before lay in the rocks near the water.

She had her head angled so I couldn't make out her face. Her hair lay dark, matted and tangled. _Look up_. I commanded. Often while watching the goings on I'd make mental requests of my fellow islanders: _Walk faster_ or _scratch your nose_. As far as I could tell, they went unheard. But today the girl obeyed my command and looked up. Her eyes were dark, piercing and filled with anger. And I swore she looked right at me.

There was something odd about her. I rubbed my eyes. Maybe it was a trick of the light? I adjusted the focus and zoomed in closer. Half of her body was female, she wore a torn t-shirt with unreadable lettering. But the lower half of her body caused my breath to catch. Fins. Scales. Fish. Mermaid. A mermaid? But weren't those creatures gone centuries ago? _The Mermaid Curse._ I wracked my brain trying to remember what we'd learned in Assembly, wishing I'd paid more attention. Meanwhile, she continued to stare. I drew back from the telescope, heart pounding. 
**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Six lambs grazed in the field above me. I stood among the rocks in the same spot I'd seen the girl. From down here the lighthouse seemed far away, its glinting windows as small as thumbnails. I scanned the area and spotted what might have been the mark of her tail in the sand, but nothing definitive. I began to doubt myself.

We'd learned about mermaids during Assembly. Mermaids were created as protectors of Water during an ancient period of war. The Ancient One corrupted them and forced them to do his evil work until they disappeared. Humans were created as temporary protectors of Earth. Instead they came to rule the planet. And pollute it according to Mayor Marlow. As for us, the Lemurians, we were masters of Ether, the origin and key to all the forms. Were. But not anymore. None of us could change forms, at least not yet. Mayor Marlow hoped the scroll would provide answers.

Turning back, I scrambled the way I'd come. Excitement at seeing the mermaid girl almost caused me to forget my troubles. The air was the perfect temperature, and the ocean lay flat, an endless expanse of rippling blue.

Not expecting to find the girl this far from the shore, my footsteps fell into a slow, deliberate rhythm. Just as I turned left toward the path that led back home, a flash of color caught my eye. Pushing aside a sturdy clump of banana leaves I peered over the cliff edge.

Below me lay several of the colored balls I'd seen on the ship last night. That alone surprised me, but what they were tangled in surprised me more. A boat. It lay caught between two boulders on Sliver Beach. From where I stood it was a long climb down a series of steep rocks. I'd had near accidents on these rocks. All of us kids had. What looked like a foothold could crumble under your weight. And a fall could be deadly.

Quickening my pace I ran along the path that led toward the ocean. There wasn't much of a shore on this part of the island. Just a rocky inlet good for watching the sunset or crab fishing. But the tide was low. I took off my shoes and socks and rolled up my pant legs. Walking so as not to cut my feet on the sharp rocks, I made my way along the shoreline, using my hands to steady myself. Eventually I made it to the hidden cove.

The colored balls dangled from a pink string caught on the prow of the boat. The boat wasn't in as good shape as I'd thought. It had been there for a while. It was twenty feet long give or take. Probably a fishing boat that had become unmoored elsewhere and drifted. But right now the boat didn't interest me. It was the beautiful, translucent balls that caught my attention.

I unwound the balls from the boat and held them. There were four. Two yellow, one blue and one pink. They squeaked against my hand when I touched them. Holding them in my hand gave me an internal thrill.

"Stunning, aren't they?"

I spun around, eyes roving over the swell. What I mistook for hair turned out to be dead seaweed. Climbing the rocks to my right I balanced from foot to foot and clung to a large rock, scanning the water.

"Nope, over here." Again I spun around and this time she showed herself, smirking.

"You're very lovely," she commented looking from the balls in my hand to my face, as if we met here and spoke regularly. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked.

"Nothing's wrong," I lied.

"You smell unhappy," she continued with an arch of her left eyebrow, then disappeared beneath the waves.

"Wait!" For a moment I considered diving in after her, but something held me back. This mermaid girl didn't seem threatening. But nor did she seem friendly.

But she reappeared again, floating on her back. I saw that she wore a tattered and slimy t-shirt. Now gray in color, the shirt had been black once. It had a graphic on the front with the word _Hawaii_ written. Faded blue cartoon palm trees and a once colorful rainbow arched over the words.

"I made a mistake," I said.

"Oh?" she swam closer eyes big. "What sort of mistake?" she gave me a peculiar closed mouth smile. It was the first time I'd seen her smile, and the effect was disconcerting.

"We had our Binding. I left my paper blank instead of choosing a name. I don't think that was smart. Now I can't stop thinking about it."

"Mm-mm," she made a sympathetic sound. "Choose or die."

"What do you mean?"

"Who do you wish you could have put if you could have chosen anyone?"

"No one, except...well no one," I said. "That's my problem. Everyone had their pluses and minuses...but mainly minuses."

She drew seawater into her mouth and spurted it above her like a whale.

"Well, if I hadn't chosen I'd still be rotting in a dungeon. But instead, I'm free." She spun around in the water so rapidly it made me dizzy. "Life is choice. No choices. No life. Got it?"

I felt a surge of anger run through me. Her point was valid, but I didn't like being lectured by a stranger.

"Who would hold you in a dungeon?" I asked.

"He would," she whispered. "The Ancient One."

I drew back. We weren't allowed to speak of him.

"How did you escape _him_?" I asked.

"Your song. I heard it a long time ago and followed it here."

"What do you mean followed it here? When?" If she was talking about _the_ song, the last time I'd sung it was the day Daniel disappeared.

"That doesn't matter, I escaped. I'm free. Don't you want to be free?"

"Yes," I said, still thinking about the song.

"So there's no one. No boy who you love?"

Remembering the boy on the ship that looked like Daniel, I blushed.

"I've never loved anyone," the mermaid said with a far off look in her eye. "What does love taste like I wonder?"

I laughed, until I saw she was serious. "On the ship, I saw someone," I admitted. "But...that's ridiculous. I don't even know his name. And he was with a girl."

"Oh you mean the big ship that passed the other night? Yes, what a wonderful party. I followed for a while enjoying the music. One of them almost saw me. So...why don't you leave, then?"

"Leave? You mean the island?"

"Umm, yes," she rolled her eyes.

The thought had never occurred to me. She pointed toward the boat. "Look, you even have a boat."

"It's broken."

"So fix it!"

"But where would I go? That's a small boat. I wouldn't make it far in the Big Ocean. I know that much."

"Pfff. Such a pessimist. Where's your vision? Well, I'll tell you, I've been swimming around watching this island for quite a while now. I know all the rhythms of these waters. There's another giant ship that will pass in ten days. At night again. And then it might be a long while before you have another chance..."

"Chance for what?"

"To join their party!"

"You think they'd take me with them?"

"Of course," she assured me. "It's the law of the seas. They'd have to rescue you."

"The law of the seas," I repeated. It sounded like something I'd heard before.

"So, now I've helped you, you can help me." She batted her eyes at me and gave her odd smile.

I was taken aback. It's true, she'd given me a possible idea, crazy as it seemed. But I didn't see how she'd helped me.

"I don't even know your name," I said, stalling.

"Don't have one," she said.

"How's that possible?"

"Well, how is it that you have a name?" she responded.

"My parents named me..."

"Well, I don't have parents and I don't have a name. And I don't like your selfish attitude or dumb questions." And she flipped over and disappeared into the water.

"Wait, I'm sorry!" But the water lay still and silent even after several minutes of watching and waiting. I returned to the boat. Now I viewed it with a new perspective. Perhaps it could be fixed? But the thought of leaving my island home terrified and thrilled me in equal measure. Did I have the courage to do something that bold? 
**CHAPTER NINE**

"Balloons!" Mom cried when I ran into the kitchen. She turned to Dad and laughed. For a moment I almost mentioned the mermaid, but something stopped me.

"Balloons," I said. "Why haven't I ever seen one?"

"Oh, Kassandra's never ordered any from the Outlands. You know her, always practical. But my they are pretty aren't they?"

I released them and they hovered for a second before descending to the floor.

"Watch," Mom winked. She picked up one of the balloons and used her fingernail to untie it. She inhaled a lungful of air. When she spoke she sounded tiny. Like a mouse.

"Hello, Marei," she said.

Dad's eyes crinkled up and he barked with laughter. "Take them to the wharf. I heard Cunningham found a tank. After the last storm. Helium."

"What's that?"

"Take those balloons and he'll show you! They'll fly, like magic."

"Ben's Dad is the last person I want to see," I said. "Especially if Ben's there." I told them about Maxie and Ben's arrow but Mom and Dad weren't sympathetic.

"Seagulls are wild animals, you can't be sure he did it on purpose," Dad said.

"I do know. I saw how he acted," I repeated.

But the balloons had transformed my day. I wanted to share my joy with Chloe and Ethan. Plus, maybe Cunningham could get the balloons to fly?

On my way to the dock, I paused at smooth luck rock. It had been cleaned. Poor Maxie's body was gone. Ethan must have come. For a moment, I felt upset. I'd wanted to bury her myself. But a thrill of affection for him coursed through me as I continued walking.

Soon, I arrived at Chloe's house. She sat bent over a large bucket, washing clothes. "Come down to the docks!" I said. It took little persuading to draw her away from laundry.

"Hey! Whatcha got there?" Cunningham called as we walked toward the docks. Ben and Carlson stopped scrubbing their boat and glared at me. Ben still had his stupid bow strung over his shoulder. I wanted to grab it and break it in half. And I would, given the chance. I came and showed the balloons to Cunningham who nodded as if he'd seen such things before.

Ben's eyes narrowed. Before I could react, he came and grabbed my balloons like a three-year-old. "Oooh pretty," he said to Carlson.

"They're mine!" I shouted. But he ignored me, holding them out-of-reach.

"I'll show you something," Cunningham said with a wink. "Grab that and roll it over, Carlson." A rusty, silver canister sat at the far end of the dock.

"It's heavy!" Carlson said as he rolled the tank.

"I found them!" I said. But only Chloe showed sympathy. I tried to grab them back from Ben again but I was afraid I'd break one. Soon Carlson had rolled the canister over and we clustered around it.

"Well lookie this," Cunningham said whistling. "Seems like she still has a bit of gas in her," he spoke to himself running his hand along the canister's metal surface.

He put his mouth to the valve and turned it. "Hello everybody." When he spoke his voice was high like my Mom's had been. He sounded like a tiny man. Everyone laughed except for me. I'd already seen this trick.

Carlson and Ben grinned. Two other island teens, beautiful Katrina and her friend Eliza, came to see what was happening. Cunningham let the balloon deflate with a depressing _thwap_. Now there were only two balloons. I wanted them back. I was sorry I'd come.

"What is it?" Carlson asked. "How'd you do that?"

"Helium. Well, air and helium. But still a bit of helium left. Must have fallen off the ship. Or they dumped it."

"What's helium for?" Ben asked.

"Balloons," Cunningham said making his "O" long, mouth taking the same shape as the sound.

Katrina chewed on a tiny frond of her beautiful hair with a bemused smile. Cunningham put up one finger and took the balloon he'd untied. "And watch. If there's enough left, I'll show you."

"What are you doing?" I cried as he deflated another balloon.

"You'll see," he winked at me again. I hated being winked at. It made me want to poke him in the eye. I grabbed one of the yellow balloons away from him and held it to my chest. Cunningham chuckled. "Just watch," he said. Then he put the deflated balloon over the tank's nozzle and turned the dial again. The tank made a hissing sound. "C'mon," he said. "Just a little more."

Soon the three balloons were full and even larger and shinier than when I found them. He tied them in tight knots to hold the air in. Now they seemed weightless. With a mischievous grin he let go. Like magic, instead of falling into the water, they rose straight up into the air.

I felt my heart rise with them. They were gorgeous. Sun shone through the pink balloon as a gust of air pushed them down and I gasped, expecting them to plunge into the ocean. But like a living thing she swooped up into the air again and led her brother and sister balloons toward the bright sky. I shielded my eyes from the sun. Rays of sunshine shone through the balls giving them a golden glimmer. The balloon family hovered, caught between two currents of air, and headed even higher.

"Amazing!" I said to Chloe laughing. "They're magic."

"It's like they're alive," she agreed.

I wondered how far the pink balloon and her family would travel. Probably across the ocean. Over the giant waves. And then? Where? To find the couple who had released them.

I stood feet planted on the dock, but mentally I floated up in the sky flying with the balloons. I hovered over the ocean and looked at our tiny island from above. Ready to drift far away. To set down in a new land. I was imagining what places she might see when the arrow ripped through her pink body and then her yellow sister.

The balls exploded into multiple pieces with a pop and the whole group plunged into the calm ocean with a distant splat.

"I knew I could do it!" Ben shouted, pumping his fist in the air.

"Nice shot, boy," Cunningham said patting him on the back while Carlson stood, mouth gaping.

"Impressive," he said.

Tears in my eyes, I turned to Ben, snatched the bow out of his hand and threw it as hard as I could into the ocean.

"You idiot! Saltwater! You'll ruin it!" he shouted diving off the deck into the water. I took the one, forlorn yellow balloon that remained and ran.

**CHAPTER TEN**

Behind the rows of houses lay a long, broken strip of asphalt where military aircraft landed once. Ridges of volcanic rock rose on either side. To the right lay the back of our main storeroom and Chloe's home.

This desolate strip was one of the few points on the island where I couldn't view the ocean. It was the place I disliked most on Alabaster Island. Suddenly, Chloe walked beside me. She'd followed me. Grabbing my hand, we ambled together, arms swinging. Soon we reached the end of the runway. An abandoned building lay wrecked by sun and wind.

"Where are you headed?" she asked.

I shrugged, not sure if I should tell her my plan to check out the boat again. "Nowhere."

"They're fools," she said.

"Mom said the balloons would deflate, anyway. What does it matter? They weren't magic." I eased myself down against the abandoned building and wiped sweat from my forehead. Chloe sat beside me.

"Well, I owe you an apology," she said.

"Nah."

"I do. I was the one acting strange. It's hard for everyone waiting for The Binding."

"I wanted to be honest with you," I said.

Chloe picked a purple flower that grew between the cracked surface and sniffed. She handed it to me, but I wasn't interested. I stared through the balloon at the ground beneath. Everything looked dull and sickly through its yellow body. It no longer made me feel cheerful.

"Ethan told me he put in for me," Chloe said.

"Well, of course he did."

"I don't think it's bad luck to tell."

"Sure. Probably not. I know nothing anymore. My luck is bad no matter what I do."

"Don't say that."

"It's true. When I said I was jealous, it wasn't about Ethan. It's that I know I'll never have what you guys have. The other night, I watched a ship pass through Mom's telescope. That's where the balloons came from. I watched the people celebrating."

Chloe nodded, but she wasn't interested in what went on beyond our shores.

"I think they were getting married. It's like our Binding except they choose each other. They were happy. But I'll never have that. Maybe I always knew I wouldn't, but now it's sinking in."

"You can't know for sure."

I shrugged. "I don't see how. There's no one I feel that way towards here, Chloe."

"There's Edward."

"Sure, he's fine. It'll be...fine. But not magical. Not thrilling or inspiring. It won't be..." I grabbed the balloon so hard that it burst in my hand. I jumped. Now I was left with sad pieces of rubber in my hand. Chloe put her arm around my shoulders.

"We'll still be friends. You, me and Ethan. We'll do fun things together. Just like always."

It was nice to hear her say it, but I knew it wasn't true. Things would change.

"You know why I'm so unlucky?"

"Stop saying that. You're making it true."

"It's because of Daniel."

"Don't be crazy."

"Can you keep a secret?" I asked her.

"Definitely."

"Promise?"

She crossed her heart.

"I might leave the island."  
Chloe took me by my shoulders. "Everything's gonna work out somehow, trust me."

"Yes, maybe, I don't know."

"Let's do something."

"Like what?"

"We could build sand castles on Sliver Beach, we could swim, collect shells and make a necklace, or...or...so many things," she smiled.

"You sure look happy suddenly. This morning you were so nervous about The Binding."

"Marei, if I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone?"

"Yeah, of course."

"No, you need to say it."

"I swear," I crossed my heart.

Chloe had been a complete wreck these last few days. Now our Binding was in two days and she seemed calmer than I'd seen her in weeks.

"Whatever it is, you look happy," I told her. "Serene, considering The Binding happens soon, what's your secret?."

Chloe laughed and twirled her purple flower. "Is it that noticeable? Well, it's true, I figured something out. A solution. Or a Plan B at least."

"A solution to what?"

"The Binding."

"You know for certain you and Ethan will be bound?" I asked, curious.

Her face stiffened. "Not exactly."

"Well, what then?"

"You might get angry."

"I won't and I swore not to tell anyone. Quit keeping me in suspense."

"Okay," she said. "C'mon, I'll show you. My mom isn't around. This is the perfect time."

We walked back past the Assembly Hall and up around past Carlos' house, avoiding the common square. At the back of Chloe's house we hid between a giant blue hydrangea and a palm tree.

"Why are we hiding?" I whispered.

She put a finger to her lip. "I need to make sure no one's here."

"Carlson's with Ben at the docks."

She nodded. "They're inseparable. And Ben needs to restring his bow thanks to you, so they'll be occupied. It's my mom I'm worried about."

"Well, I saw Arav working on his dad's roof. He's so clumsy he went and got himself hurt again. I bet your mom's at his house stitching him up."

Chloe nodded. "Okay c'mon." We slunk through the yard and entered through the side door. Chloe's home was one of the larger houses. It had three stories although the rooms were small. The kitchen and living room were quiet. Silence from the three bedrooms upstairs. Chloe grabbed a chair and moved it to the sink. Standing on its seat, she felt around the top of the cupboard for a key.

She took me to a door that led to two rooms in the back. These were off-limits. One was a medical room where her mom treated serious injuries. It had a special bed on stainless steel legs in the center with a unit that held surgical instruments. Above the bed was a giant light. I'd never been in this room and hoped I never would be.

Chloe led me through the room to a door on the far side. She opened it and pulled me in. The room was dark and filled with the pungent scent of antiseptics and medicinal herbs. Chloe struck a match and lit a candle. Yellow light flickered off hundreds of carefully labeled amber bottles and jars arranged along a series of mismatched shelves and drawers that ran from floor to ceiling. She crept to the far side of the room, took another key, opened a small black cabinet and carefully removed a small, black bottle. It had a skull and crossbones emblazoned across a white label.

"What's that for?" I asked, suspicious.

"Heart break," she sighed. "Just in case."

"Chloe, no! You wouldn't do that."

"I hope I don't have to. Ethan and I made a pact. If we don't get Bound together..."

A few minutes later we were back outside in the sunlight.

"Ethan agreed to this?" I asked, incredulous.

"Well, not yet, but he will."

"You know this is crazy, right?"

Chloe nodded. "But I don't see there's any other choice."

"There are other choices!"

"Like what? Leaving?" she said, eyes fixed on me with anger. Chloe shook her head. "I figured if anyone would understand, it would be you."

"I hate this island," I said with sudden vehemence that caught me off guard. "And now you're going to abandon me."

For the first time since it began, the annoying tune in my head quieted. Instead all I heard was the pulse in my head beating a rhythm against my temples.

"Me abandoning you? You're the one who's planning to leave!"

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but she had a point. But leaving was entirely different from drinking poison.

"And, that's why I wanted to tell you," she continued. "There's enough for all of us. If it worked out that way."

"Chloe..."

"I'm not abandoning you. I'm just saying. It's not like it hadn't crossed my mind."

"I think it's the worst idea I've ever heard, Chloe. I should tell your--"

She grabbed me by the shoulders hard and stood inches from me.

"You swore you wouldn't tell, remember?"

"I won't, but--"

"Anyway, this is only if Ethan and I aren't bound. If we are, let's forget we had this conversation."

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

The day of our Binding arrived gray and overcast with the threat of rain. I wished for a downpour so torrential that they'd post-pone the whole ceremony. But again, my luck was in low supply. Although cloud hung over the ocean promising rain, not so much as a single drop fell. Instead, we stood on the shore in oppressive heat and humidity, sweating despite our thin, light bathing clothes.

Even the water, normally a beautiful aquamarine, today appeared murky and dark. Usually it was easy to see straight to the sandy bottom. But today the bottom lay dark and hidden. Marlow wore a blue bathing tunic. He stood, waist deep in the water, about twenty feet from shore. He waited until we'd arranged ourselves in two neat rows, eleven girls on one side and eleven boys on the other. I wondered what they would have done if it hadn't equaled out so that there was an equal number of boys and girls. If Daniel had lived.

"Good morning!"

"Good morning," we responded in a somewhat mumbled jumble of voices.

"You can all do better than that!" Marlow smiled. "Today is your Binding! Remember you're taking part in the revivification of a ceremony that dates back millennium! Let's try again."

"Good morning!" We said in something approaching unison and with more vigor. It wasn't like we'd watched older brothers and sister go through this process. The Binding and Honey Moon Island had seemed more like a legend or some distant fairy tale that would never come true. We'd spent our adolescent years joking about this. It hadn't seemed like something we'd need to think about one day. But now that day had arrived.

"First, I'd like to acknowledge the hard work of Aya in translating and bringing this ancient ritual back into our tradition." Mom gave a shy wave. Despite my anxiety around the ceremony itself, I was proud of her. She worked so hard it felt good to see her get appreciation from Marlow for once.

Mom waded into the water and handed Marlow a sheet of paper. Marlow leaned in and asked Mom a question I couldn't hear from my vantage. Then Marlow read in ancient Lemurian. During assembly, we'd slowly began learning the complex phonetics and vocal sounds that made up the language. However, that wasn't the challenging part. The most challenging aspect was that portions of the language were sent with direct mind-to-mind, pictorial transmissions.

When Marlow reached one of these sections, his face turned red from concentration.

"He looks constipated," I dared whisper to Chloe who stood next to me. She covered her mouth and stifled a laugh. But when he opened his eyes, his face relaxed and we all let out a collective intake of air as an image appeared in our minds.

"Eyes closed!" Mrs. Caroline shouted.

I shut my eyes and the image brightened. It was fuzzy at first, but it gained definition. Made of coral and various gems, it was a beautiful ornate symbol with two nude androgynous figures in its center. Their limbs extended and then morphed into part of the pattern of the object itself. A complex, spiraling weave that formed an intricate ruin or symbol of some sort. It rotated in my mind's eye and the rotation became a tone, a low thrumming in my ears.

Outwardly we were silent, but inside we vibrated. We stood like that for fifteen minutes, maybe longer. The vibration soothed me. The melody in my head disappeared and I floated away into something similar to what I experienced during Assembly. But even more powerful.

With little effort we were carried along by an ancient vibration hidden in those scrolls. It didn't seem fair that Marlow got to read it instead of my mom. But at least he acknowledged her.

When the image faded, the vibration ceased and I opened my eyes. The sky remained gray, but the air felt different. It had an effervescence that invigorated mind and body.

"Today is your Binding," Marlow continued. His face was relaxed, and he looked powerful as opposed to his normal menacing self.

"I've met with each of your parents and we've convened in special Council to consider your requests. After your Binding mate is announced, we'll schedule times for each couple to visit Honey Moon Island."

At mention of Honey Moon Island, Chloe and I looked at each other and her apprehension mirrored my own. Ethan glanced over. When I met his gaze, he blinked and turned away. I remembered Chloe's plan and my body grew cold. I wondered if Ethan had agreed. Next thing I knew, Marlow was just about to read names.

"After each name, couples will enter the water where I'll perform the first ceremony. Selected couples proceed up over there." He pointed to a tarp that had been pulled taut between several palm trees. It was decorated with hundreds of purple, white and yellow tropical flowers woven between delicate hanging vines. "When all couples have been announced we'll go to the central square for a celebration feast." He hesitated before he said the word feast and there was a collective murmur. With our lack of supplies there was no way it would be much of a feast. Marlow continued.

"Rainier and Eliza!" he called out the first names in a booming voice. Eliza, a tall willowy girl in front of me, blushed and made her way toward the water. Rainier, a short kid with a crew cut followed her and bowed. They stood in the water awkwardly while Marlow took out his ceremonial knife, cut a length of seaweed rope and bound it around their right and left hands. Next Edward and Katrina were called. Several boys looked crestfallen as they watched Katrina stand up with poise and enter the shimmering water. Admittedly, she was pretty with her long trusses of wavy auburn hair and thick eyelashes, but not overly smart. Despite the relative speed that this was happening, it was torture. Edward was one of the boys I wouldn't have minded being paired with.

"Chloe and Ben," Marlow called out. Beside me, Chloe gasped. A few moments later she stumbled down to the water. Ethan's mouth hung open in shock. Ben looked happy, a small smile on his face as he waited for Chloe and held his hand out dramatically when she arrived. Blinking back tears I watched Marlow bind seaweed around their wrists. Ben held their hands up high as salt water dripped from their wrists. They walked to join the other paired couples under the canopy.

I turned back to look at Chloe and Ben. She had her head down so no one would see her crying. Meanwhile, Ethan stood stiff, looking out at the ocean. Marlow called two other couples, but I barely heard their names. Chloe and Ben were a terrible match. If it had been anyone else I might have hoped Chloe would forget her crazy plan. But now it seemed all too possible.

"Marei and Ethan." Certain I'd heard wrong, I looked at Ethan and then back at Chloe. Ethan's face burned bright red. Chloe's head shot up, pale white. Ethan stumbled out from amongst the other boys.

"Marei and Ethan!" Marlow said again, loudly. There was no doubting his words now.

Everyone looked at me, waiting. The entire island knew Ethan and Chloe were my best friends. Not only that, everyone knew Ethan and Chloe were together. And Marlow knew it. I didn't understand why this was happening. Ethan stood in the water, looking out into the distance, then back at me.

"Well, come on!" Marlow said. Ethan held out his hand.

"Marei!" Marlow shouted. "You're delaying the ceremony. What. Are. You. Doing?"

I turned and moved past the girls to my right. Again, I looked at Chloe. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She broke from Ben and ran from beneath the canopy.

"Marei, Chloe!" Mrs. Caroline shouted as I took off after my friend.

As I pursued, I thought of the many times I'd played counselor through various small arguments between Ethan and Chloe. We'd fallen into a somewhat odd but comfortable three-way relationship. I was a sister to both of them at one time or another. Now, no matter what, I needed to make sure nothing happened to her.

"Wait!" I was a much faster runner than Chloe, and easily caught up to her at the back door that led to her mom's apothecary. When I grabbed her she fell the ground sobbing.

"Chloe, don't. You can't. You can't do this."

Chloe glared up at me, eyes red and bleary. "Did you plan this?"

"Of course not! How could I have?"

"Did you put down Ethan's name? All this time, you pretended to be my friend and..."

"Stop. No, I didn't put in his name, I swear. Believe me. I mean, he's like my brother. Are you crazy?"

"Who's name did you put in?"

I hesitated, then told the truth. "No one."

"I don't believe you."

"I left the paper blank and dropped it in."

"Why would you do that?"

"I...couldn't decide. There was no one. Except maybe the boy on the boat. But I didn't even know his name."

"Boy on the boat?" she shouted. "Who cares what his name is? He doesn't live here. We do."

"Why does it have to be like this?" I said.

"Because that's how it is," Chloe stood up. "Now see what your fantasies have done? You always have to have everything, don't you? Just like with Daniel."

"You're being cruel," I said. "You said it had nothing to do with Daniel." What she said had perhaps a tiny grain of truth, but it was unfair.

"What is going on, Chloe?" Chloe's mom said as she marched around the corner.

"Please, I need to talk to Marei," Chloe said dragging me out of earshot.

"I thought you were my friend," Chloe hissed in my ear. "But it doesn't matter. None of this matters. You promised you wouldn't tell anyone. And if you do...I'll, I'll do it anyway and haunt you for the rest of your life."
**CHAPTER TWELVE**

Mom, Dad and I clustered around a few candles at the kitchen table. Our solar batteries were low and without the supply plane coming in, we'd run out of generator fuel.

"We did what we could," Dad said. "But it was Marlow who made the final decision. He thought you'd be happy with Ethan. Marlow told us you left your paper blank..."

Mom hummed while she chopped mangoes to make chutney. I'd started to help, but she grabbed the knife away when I nicked my pinkie finger. My hands still shook with emotion.

"Happy? Why would he say that? I didn't put down anyone because there is no one!"

"You and Ethan have been friends since you were kids. There were no other boys you've mentioned," Mom said.

"And you agreed?"

Mom shook her head. "Not entirely. I realize how you feel about Ethan. But this is done by Council. We each have a say, but Marlow had the final decision. We argued against Marlow's first choice. Ethan seemed the best compromise." She popped a ripe piece of mango in her mouth.

"Who was his first choice?" I went to the counter and poured myself a glass of water. My stomach burned with worry. "Who did he want to pair me with?"

"Ben," Mom said.

"Ben?" Everyone knew Ben and I had fought each other since we learned how to walk. "Marlow wanted to pair me with Ben with Ethan as a second choice? Marlow hates me."

"No, I wouldn't say that. He insisted Ben was the appropriate match. Ethan was the only other boy he'd consider, and we hoped you'd be at least somewhat happier."

My eyes stung with tears. This whole process seemed so unfair. Why did everyone else get to decide my future except for me?

"What if I don't want to have kids with either of them? What if I refuse to go to Honeymoon Island?"

"No one can force you, Bug," Mom said.

"Why does all this matter so much?"

"Because of what you and Mom found in the scrolls," Dad said. "When the Atlantis Twins are born, they will open the Five Gates. The hope is that one of you bears twins."

"But what about Shianne?" I asked. Mayor Marlow's wife had been gone for years. According to Marlow one day she'd return with a key to unlock all the scroll's secrets.

Mom and Dad shared a dark look between them. "Marlow hopes she will. But I'm afraid Shianne may have taken a wrong turn somewhere. She might not be able to come back," Mom said.

"Ever?"

"Maybe not. Best not to repeat this to anyone..." her voice trailed off.

"I don't want this. I want none of this!" I shouted. "I want things to stay the way they were. I'm not gonna be bound with Ethan. There has to be something I can do."

Mom sighed. "You could talk to Marlow..."

"Do you think he might switch me with someone? Or let me stay single?"

"Sweetheart," Dad warned Mom. "Don't go getting her hopes up, Marlow is..."

"You're right," Mom said to him. "It's best to let this alone, Marei."

"No. I need to at least try! You don't understand...Chloe--" I almost gave away her plan, but a promise was a promise and I kept my mouth shut.

"Fine, if you want to talk to him, but don't expect him to agree," Dad said.

"Yes, I have to. That's what I'll do," I said. I hoped Chloe wouldn't do anything drastic before then. Somehow I would convince him. Although I wasn't sure how.

"Chloe is upset I'm sure. And it would be a change for you and Ethan...but he's a handsome kid, a smart boy and..."

"Listen Mom, you don't understand. It's like you're talking about my brother. And I can't do that to Chloe. It's not right." I stood up. "I'm going to talk to Marlow now, before I lose my nerve."

"Over the ridge at night? No. It's not safe. Wait until morning. Give yourself at least a good night's sleep to mull it over," Dad said.

The path to Mayor Marlow's was a difficult route. Plus if I caught him half asleep he might be less likely to help. And I'd need to pass the area where I'd seen the mermaid. She'd given no reason for fear...except for her eyes. Filled with anger at my comment.

"Dad--" I tried to tell him about her but my head became wooly and confused. I slumped back into the chair. "Fine, I'll go first thing tomorrow."

Mom smiled. "When you go to Marlow's in the morning, would you mind bringing him a sack of mangoes?" 
**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

If I slept two hours that would be a generous estimate. Just after dawn, I tried to find Chloe to tell her my plan. But I couldn't locate her and no one knew where she'd gone. My gut churned. What if her and Ethan had drunk the poison? What then?

The mangoes lay heavy and sticky against my back even through the double burlap sack Mom packed them in. At first I hurried but soon my legs grew tired and doubts weighed as burdensome as the ripening fruit pressed against my back. I trudged up over the ridge that separated one half of the island from the other. "The Island's spine" Mom called it. As I descended, the weather changed.

Even though Alabaster Island was small, it had two distinct climates. On the main side of the island, rains often came in the afternoons, passing quickly. Whereas on Marlow's side it rained frequently. Today a thick fog clung to the vegetation. Each step I took was an angry stomp. Gravel crunched beneath my feet like pulverized bone.

Near Marlow's house, I came across Kassandra. She sat by the old wishing well, massaging her feet. Kassandra and Marlow had an odd relationship. Shortly after Marlow's first wife, Shianne, disappeared they became intimate. Kassandra had even lived with Marlow up until Daniel drowned. Marlow became consumed with grief after his son's death. His personality changed, and not for the better. Kassandra moved out. Even still, I'd spotted Kassandra heading up over the ridge on many occasions and doubted it was just to check supplies.

"Hiya!" she said. Kassandra came from a country in the Outlands called Australia. Among all of us and our various family accents, hers was the most attractive to my ear.

"Hiya," I replied without enthusiasm. As custom required, I found a smooth, white stone from the ground. I opened the small blue, wooden gate that enclosed the well. The well extended six feet across. It was made of gray and brown stones haphazardly stuck together like Mom's rice crispy squares.

I tossed the stone over the edge and held my breath. _Please let Marlow agree to my request._ Then I paused and counted the seconds. _One, two, three, four, five_...I peered into the blackness, waiting for the splash, or thud, but neither came. It never did. The answer to my wish stayed as silent as the stone. Falling. Falling. Falling. Forever.

"Off to see Marlow then, are we?" Kassandra put on her shoe and stood. "Silly shoes always letting stones in," she said. "But good for wishes."

It seemed she spoke to herself. Or perhaps the shoe. I couldn't tell. She spent hours alone in the storehouse counting supplies and making purchase lists that got sent back with the pilot every two months.

"Is he home?" I asked, worry in my voice.

"Can't say yet, on my way myself. Fancy a walk together?"

We continued on the path. I hadn't meant to tell Kassandra anything but somehow it came out. Maybe it was because she was the quiet type, but I always ended up blabbing around her.

"Well now, if I were you I'd start with an apology," she advised.

"An apology?" I hadn't considered that Marlow might be angry. So many emotions had swept through me since The Binding that I wasn't thinking straight.

"Oh yes, he was very peeved that you and Chloe interrupted the ceremony. Quite annoyed indeed."

"Yeah. I'll apologize."

"And mean it."

I nodded. Even though it felt like he owed me and Chloe an apology.

Marlow's home had been the first house on the island not counting the lighthouse. It was the only building that didn't appear to be designed by a soldier. Made of brick to last a lifetime Marlow reminded everyone. His home existed before all the others. Mom and Shianne had lived there by themselves when they first came to the island. But even Mom didn't know who built it or why. She wondered why whoever built it chose the rainy, cloudy side of the island and I agreed. But the area had rich soil and Marlow didn't mind the rain or the solitude.

"I'm here to count the supplies," Kassandra said. "I'll leave you to continue on your own." Two main supply buildings lay on the island. The large one where Kassandra lived sat near the docks. On this side was a smaller one behind Marlow's house where various root vegetables and preserves were stored.

"Good luck, mate." Kassandra patted me on the back and entered the supply house.

Smoke rose from Marlow's chimney and the scent of sticky buns filled the air. Bag of mangoes resting at my feet, I lifted the brass knocker on Marlow's door and rapped it three times. It was meant to be a duck with a beak but the duck's bill was misshaped as if it had been formed hastily or left to melt in the sun.

Marlow answered, wiping flour covered hands against a worn, red apron. He looked surprised to see me.

"I brought mangoes," I said. Marlow nodded but didn't otherwise acknowledge me. Kassandra had been right. He looked furious. Lifting the bag, he tested its weight. "More than I expected," he grumbled. "Hope they're ripe. I'll go get your sticky buns." He slammed the door in my face.

I reminded myself I hadn't only come to give him mangoes or get sticky buns. I had a mission. Marlow maintained a look of unapproachability that made people uneasy. In that way he was the ideal leader. Even covered in flour and wearing an old red apron he radiated authority. That made it more difficult to make my request.

The door opened again and Marlow held a basket of sticky buns. "The three wrapped in wax paper are the nettle cheese dumplings for your father."   
Nettle cheese? I found the sticky green, garlicky cheese revolting but my father loved it. Marlow started to shut the door.

"Wait, I also came to talk to you."

"Is that so?" he said wiping flour from one of his eyelids.

"About the ceremony," I said and my voice trembled, "I'm sorry for causing such a commotion." Kassandra had suggested I start with an apology and she had been right. Some of the rigidity left his body. Rather than inviting me in, he stepped out into the mist.

"Fancy a walk?" he asked.

I followed him to the ocean. The shore looked different on this side. Alabaster Island was rocky, but here the rocks extended even further. We were lucky the entire island wasn't like this. We sat together on a bench he'd fashioned out of driftwood. I didn't know if he was waiting for me to speak and I was afraid I'd lose my nerve, so I started.

"Chloe needs to be with Ethan," I blurted.

"Oh?" he raised one eyebrow. "You'd prefer be with Ben?"

"No!" I said.

He laughed scornfully. "Well, do you expect me to rearrange the entire group just to suit your fancy?"

I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. Of course this was the obvious outcome, but did it need to be?

"I'd rather be with no one," I said.

Mayor Marlow puffed air out of his mouth and made an exasperated sound as he stood.

"See, I was right. You know Ben was my initial choice for you."

"Why?" I said.

"He's a regular knucklehead. And you, young lady, are just as much of one if you think I will change things to suit your whim!"

"But...this isn't fair!"

Marlow smirked.

"Don't talk to me about unfair. Please. And you'll have to pardon me if I'm not aware of the various emotional intrigues and peccadilloes that bedevil you young people."

Heat crept up into my scalp.

"And why isn't Chloe here if this is so important?"

"I couldn't find her. So I came by myself," I said through tears.

"Assuming Chloe is in agreement, you will switch. You will be bound with Ben. For good. And I never want to hear of this again under any circumstance. Understand?"

"Okay," I said, my voice dull in my ears.

"Understand?" he said more loudly.

"I understand."

"I'll finalize the ceremony before the celebration tomorrow evening. That will make it complete. Now does all that suit your fancy? I have baking to finish and a supply plane to worry about."

I nodded, head down, so he wouldn't notice the tears falling. 
**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

When I found Chloe she looked distressed, but not anywhere near to poisoning herself. It was unfair of me, but I felt disappointed. When I told her that Marlow had agreed to the switch, she threw her arms around me crying and kissing me until I had to force her to sit and relax.

"Are you sure?" she shrieked.

_No._ I thought. "Yes!" I said.

"Positive?"

_Definitely not._ I thought. "Of course!" I said.

And by the next evening it was done, just as Marlow promised. Ben was bound to me and Ethan to Chloe. There was no going back. And so we danced, all the newly bound couples while the whole island watched. Tonight we'd celebrate our Binding. As horrible as things were, I'd decided to smooth things over with Ben. We were both nearly adults, there was no reason not to be amicable. Wrong.

The celebration was something everyone looked forward to even if we'd dreaded The Binding. A celebration to end all celebrations. Well, that wasn't saying much for our island. Many years later, I'd realize that our parties were tame compared to most. But with nothing else for comparison, this one at least on the surface seemed extraordinary. Or it could have been if the circumstance had been different.

The delicate scent of lianas wafted over us. Fairy lights powered by a distant generator illuminated the tarmac where we danced. Marlow had broken out the last of the wine and alcohol for the adults and they stood watching, red-cheeked and high in spirits.

"I will make your life a living hell," Ben leaned in and whispered in my ear as we circled the floor with the other celebrating couples. "Forget having babies. I'll make you wish you were never born." His lips buzzed against my right earlobe like a bluebottle fly.

While the other couples celebrated their love, or if not love, hope, or if not even hope, merely clung to each other in mutual desperation, Ben celebrated his hate for me.

A big, yellow, full moon rose over the ocean. Eleanor played guitar. Palm fronds rustled in a tropical breeze. How lovely everything seemed, how strangely perfect. But that only made the entire situation feel worse.

I became embarrassed to notice my hand tremble on his damp, sweaty shoulder as we whirled around the other couples much too fast. Ben was clumsy and I was too. Not because I didn't enjoy dancing. I actually loved it. But I was too upset to concentrate. I tried to catch Ethan's gaze, but he avoided looking over. And Chloe only had eyes for Ethan.

When the first number finished, everyone clapped. Parents filtered onto the dance floor to join us. But Ben and I slunk off. Ben slumped down on a wooden chair, chin in his hands. My throat and mouth were parched and dry. I left to grab a drink of lemonade.

When Ben found out I'd agreed to swap his face went pale and his mouth opened and closed like one of his fish caught on a line. I almost felt bad for him. Almost. I'd considered telling him to relax while we danced. That I had a plan. But I didn't dare. It might risk everything. So I kept it to myself.

The lemonade tasted far too sour. My lips puckered, and the juice constricted the back of my throat. Sugar was being rationed. I headed away from the celebration, if you could call it that, I sure couldn't. Walking toward the dock, cicadas sung, and the air hung still and quiet. Not even the slightest breeze came in from the ocean. And the sky was clear and full of stars. I gazed up at the night sky and was trying to spot Gemini when Ben snuck up behind.

"I need to know why," he said, voice tense and low.

I spun around. "Why what?" I said with more spite than I intended. Ben's lip curled and his eyes narrowed.

"We've hated each other since we were little kids. Why did you swap for me when you could have stayed with Ethan?"

"Because Chloe is my best friend, that's why. And her and Ethan belong together."

Ben raised his palms and clapped slowly.

"How noble of you." He dropped his hands into fists. "What a good, damn friend." He took a step closer. Ben and I had scuffled many times in the past. For the first time I wondered if he was capable of true violence. My chest trembled and my breath caught but I stood my ground.

"I don't feel so good about it either."

"You're stupid, you know that right? Naïve and downright stupid."

"Ben, if you came just to throw insults around..." He moved toward me and gripped my wrists.

"Swap us back."

"What?"

"Tell Mayor Marlow you made a mistake."

"I can't. You can only switch once!"

"No, I don't believe that. Tell him you were wrong. That he didn't hear you right. Tell him any damn thing!"

"It's too late," I hissed. "And I won't do that to Chloe."

Ben shook his head. "Think about it, Marei. Every morning I'll wake up with a list of ways to make your life miserable. And I'll enjoy doing it."

My lip quivered. "That's not gonna help."

"It'll make me feel better!" he shouted. "You've just messed up my life forever, you know that?"

"I'm not happy either but there's nothing we can do!" I shouted back. "Now. Leave. Me. Alone!" I screamed. All the disappointment and pent up rage that I'd experienced burst out. From deep in my gut. It left my throat raw.

I became conscious of the silent ocean. The sudden quiet that had fallen over the celebration further up. Marlow walked down with Kassandra.

"What's going on?" he said. "Is someone hurt?"

Ben and I looked at the cracked asphalt beneath our feet. Marlow took Ben aside and Kassandra grabbed my elbow and we walked in the opposite directions down the pier.

"Not a Binding made in heaven, now 'tis it?" she said.

I shook my head, hot tears blinding my eyes. She took my hand, and we walked along by the water's edge.

"Things will sort themselves out."

"Not with my luck," I spat. And I ran off into the night.

"Marei!" Kassandra called. "Get back here."

But I ignored her. I would get in trouble, but I didn't care. Luck had deserted me despite the pains I took to keep her happy. I had nothing left to lose.

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

Gravel and stones became dislodged beneath my heels. They bounced down the slope in the moonlight. Tonight, high tide prevented me from wading around by way of the ocean. Scrambling down, hands grabbing rock, I descended the steep incline. _Two-hundred and thirty-two hand and footsteps. Lucky._

I arrived at the tiny inlet where the boat lay. Now I understood what I'd face to get the vessel out to sea. Even with the tide high, the water just barely lapped up against the boat's prow. However, the tide would be higher in a few days. Right around the time the ship would pass. If I was ever going to manage to get this boat out, it would be then.

Hands on hips, I surveyed the craft, allowing myself to take her in. "Okay, what do I need to do to get you seaworthy?" It felt good to have a boat of my own, even if she didn't float yet.

Despite living on an island my entire life I knew little about nautical maintenance. That kind of task didn't come easily the way numbers and arcane symbols did. Plus, few islanders took boats out onto the ocean. The rocks were treacherous, currents too unpredictable. Only Cunningham, Ben, and sometimes Chloe's brother, Carlson, when he helped. Cunningham's boat was old. Older than the boat that had washed up on shore. They often needed to make repairs. But I'd never paid much attention.

This boat had no obvious signs of damage. I slung off my sandals and hopped over the side. At least three inches of cool water sloshed between my toes. An old plastic pail sat in the bottom and I bailed water. It took longer than expected.

As I worked on the repetitive task, my mind relaxed. I fell into a rhythm. Every slosh of water into the sand brought me closer to my new adventure. It didn't mean I couldn't come back. I'd visit. I pictured myself with the boy I'd seen on the _Song of the Seas_. Maybe we'd have children. I mean of course we would.

We'd have a boy and a girl. No, two girls and one boy. The eldest girl would be named Priscilla, the youngest Darcy. And the boy? Daniel. I'd name him after Daniel. We'd come back and visit with gifts from the Outlands. Maybe the Outlands would be better than Marlow said. Or if they were bad, we'd endure and tell stories of survival. Possibly we'd live on the ship for good. Zipping down the giant slide into the pool and drinking pink lemonade served from silver trays. Lemonade served with lots of sugar.

Yes, that seemed a good life. Living on a ship as big as that wouldn't be that different from living on Alabaster Island. I'd adapt, I'd fit in. So wrapped up in the fantasy, I continued to scoop when there was no water left to remove. Just a slight coating that evaporated in the cool night air. Pausing, I sat back on my haunches. That's when a prickle traveled up my spine.

I spun around. The mermaid girl was near, watching. I felt her. I scanned the water. On my left, rocks and vegetation lay thick near the water's edge. Darkness clung to the silver, moonlit shore. Movement caught my eye.

"Hello? Are you there?" I called, my voice competing with the ocean swell. No answer. Stillness. "I won't ask any dumb questions!" I said. Nothing but waves splashing against rocks. I turned back to the boat, uneasy.

I'd done the easy part. Now what? The boat's keys still sat in the ignition. I hopped out to the sand. One propeller appeared damaged. Bent and mangled. My knowledge of boats was too limited to know if this was a severe problem. I didn't need to travel far. Only far enough to get near the large ship so they could bring me on-board. In fact I wondered if I might row the boat without the engine if necessary.

I gave the boat an exploratory push. Heavier than I thought, but it might be possible. Anyway, the propellers had clearance just in case the boat started. Wishful thinking, but perhaps for a change my luck would be good.

Tapping the hull three times for luck, I leapt back in and turned the key. Nothing. Not even a small click. I got back out and continued my inspection. Down on the shadowed side, I lay on the sand to inspect the hull. It was difficult to see in the dim light, but my heart saddened at what my fingers felt. There were large gashes in several places.

One hole was bigger than an inch and there were a bunch of smaller gaps. I stood up and chewed on a hangnail. I knew they used special materials to fix fiberglass. Now I had to get some. 
**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

At Assembly the next day, everyone except for Ben and me paired off and sat together. Some pairings were awkward. Others like Ethan and Chloe's were harmonious. Ben's hateful eyes seared the back of my head the entire period. But I felt hurt when my friends left immediately after assembly. _Nothing will change._ Yeah, sure.

Scraps whined and gave me a worried frown when I got home. "What's wrong, girl?" I asked, scratching her favorite spot beneath her collar. Mom glanced down from the lighthouse window. I waved, and she waved back.

I headed to the fridge to grab a snack but found it emptied and turned off. Without fuel to run the generator at night we'd stopped using it after dark so as not to drain our solar batteries. But I didn't expect to find it shut off during the day.

Up in the lighthouse, Mom studied the scroll, a small, satisfied smile on her face. She penciled notes on a pad of paper and was so focused she didn't look up when I entered. Mom and I were different. Nothing bothered her. My emotions flew all over the place depending which way life blew them. But no matter what happened, Mom never lost her quiet focus and good humor.

"Nothing in the fridge," I said.

"One of the solar batteries quit. Dad went to swap it. For now, I moved everything to the root cellar. It's nice and cool in there."

"No sign of the supply plane?"

"Not yet," she surveyed the expansive view from the lighthouse. "The Mayor is anxious, but it'll work out."

I sat next to her. The scroll was made of a translucent material with a mother pearl of sheen. Pliable but waterproof as if it were some type of plastic. The text was a series of pictograms within pictograms and tiny inscriptions that linked them together.

Each graphic incorporated angles that joined and connected on a numerical level once the angles were calculated. They formed equations that once solved became images, sounds and words. It hurt my head to look at them because I'd automatically start to translate them.

Mom worked on a section that involved how the ancient city of Lemuria was organized. In my mind's eye, I saw a crystal matrix spinning like a wheel and people transported from one place to another instantaneously. I quickly looked away.

"What's this relationship?" Mom asked, pointing to a series of numbers and angles.

"Movement. About connecting people from one location to another...but also...something to do with binding energies, I can't figure out the last part," I admitted. Mom nodded and took off her necklace. It was in the shape of a tiny octopus. She dangled it over the scroll. Its tiny jewel eyes reflected two points of light onto the scroll like tiny star constellations. She marked their position on her notepad.

But I hadn't come to help Mom translate. Once started it would be difficult to stop. I enjoyed spending time with her, but the translating itself was tiring. Neither of us knew when to quit once we started and she'd be up here all day.

"Fascinating," she said. "Well, that might explain how Shianne and I came to Alabaster Island."

"I thought you came on a boat?" I realized I didn't know how Mom had arrived here.

"No, no, not a boat," she smiled. "A bicycle."

I sighed and rolled by eyes. Sometimes I wasn't sure when to believe her.

"And you've never left?" I asked.

"Never left once."

"Well, except for Honey Moon Island," I reminded her. To have had me, she must have gone there.

"No. Not even to Honey Moon Island."

I stopped and looked at Mom hard. "But then...how was I born? I thought those babies died?" I'd been told it was impossible to conceive on Alabaster Island. And that any children who were conceived had been stillborn.

"You were the sole exception," she said as she stopped her work and stroked my back.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you were hatched."

I burst out laughing and after a pause, Mom joined with me.

"No really, how?" I asked again.

"Marei, you're special. But I think you already know that."

I did feel separate, different from everyone else in some indefinable way. But I'd thought everyone felt that.

"Mom, do you ever think...of leaving the island?"

Perhaps I expected a stronger reaction, but for several seconds she said nothing. I wasn't certain if she heard. Just as I was about to ask again, she spoke.

"No," she whispered.

"Do you think anyone does?"

"Why would anyone want to leave Alabaster Island?" she asked with an odd twinkle in her eye and something else...was it sarcasm? I smiled, and she smiled back. We exchanged a look between us. Maybe Mom understood.

"Shianne left," I said. Shianne was Marlow's wife.

"Yes but she'd had a very difficult time," Mom said.

"But still..."

"Shianne didn't leave in the way anyone would want to." Mom paused. "And Marei, no one can leave the island. So if you have any friends eager to go...best to tell them: Alabaster Island remains a prison until we decode the entire scroll. A beautiful prison, but a prison nevertheless."

"A prison?" I asked, incredulous.

Downstairs Dad clacked and clanked around downstairs muttering and swearing as he struggled with the solar battery.

"I'm going to check how your father is doing," she said. And she stood up, leaving me sitting stunned. _A prison?_ What did she mean? It left my mind teaming with questions, none of them good. I'd never felt trapped on Alabaster Island. But now I did. She must have known why I asked. Perhaps she'd hoped to discourage me. A horrible sense of claustrophobia descended.

Alone, I took the chance to peek through the telescope. But the island sat quiet today. It was a hot day after lunch and people rested indoors. Only the docks saw activity: Cunningham and Ben landed their boat filled with two large buckets full of freshly caught fish. I knew what we'd be having for dinner. Surprise, surprise. Good thing fish was my favorite food. But after my conversation with my mom, I viewed everything through a new lens. Now a shadow lay across the sunlit island; a black gauze obscuring the tropical sunshine.

When I came downstairs Mom was with Dad in their bedroom, door shut. I overheard the low murmur of voices but couldn't make out words. At their door, I held my breath and placed my ear against the cool wood. My eyes rested on the small, oak side table that sat directly outside their door. On it rested a photo of my grandmother, the only picture Mom had. Black and white, Grandma sat on an old bicycle in front of a fountain somewhere in Europe, enigmatic half-smile on her face. I'd never met her. She died before I was born. I wondered what she'd have thought about life on Alabaster Island.

I pressed my ear to the door harder. It was a thick and well made and I couldn't overhear much. But they talked about Marlow and Shianne. Something about letting sleeping dogs lie. I heard my name. Then they stopped speaking. I dashed away and had just entered my room when Dad opened the door.

Shianne had disappeared years ago. I'd never met her. But Marlow seemed certain she'd return. If she'd left, so could I. Mom called Alabaster Island a prison? Well, then I would escape. I needed to fix the boat. But without the right materials it would be impossible.

Whenever I got stymied by the scroll, I'd learned that the best thing to do was send my mind hunting in an opposite direction. If I got stuck on a triangular rune, I'd place my attention on a torus or lemniscate. If the hieroglyphic curlicues of a pictograph stymied me, I'd concentrate on the minute vibrations hidden in the empty spaces between symbols. What had I overlooked with the boat? If Mayor Marlow didn't have the tools, then who did?

I scrunched my eyes together and winced. _Ben._ Yes, Ben and his Dad had a kit. I'd witnessed them pull their fiberglass boat in for repairs countless times. Of course I hadn't considered this solution. Ben was the last person I wanted to ask for assistance.

But without a fiberglass repair kit, and no knowledge of boat repair even if I found one, I had to be realistic. I needed help. I couldn't ask Ben's Dad, Cunningham. He'd tell Marlow and my parents. It all came down to Ben.
**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

Standing outside Ben's house, a concrete building with a freshly painted green door, I hesitated. It could go one of two ways. Ben might rat me out in the hope that I'd be punished so severely that he wouldn't have to deal with me anymore. But the only time I'd seen someone locked away was when Eleanor had a nervous breakdown and Mayor Marlow felt she was a threat to herself.

I'd likely face severe punishment, but if Ben wanted a permanent solution, his best bet was to help me leave. Now I needed to convince him. First, I took a deep breath, then knocked. Ben's mom, Amelia, answered. She held a giant knife in her left hand. Grey and brown hair poked out from a faded blue and white striped bandana. The odor of fish guts wafted from the house and I swallowed hard.

"Marei! Come in, come in."

"I can't stay, I was just looking for Ben--"

"Nonsense, I've been wanting to talk."

She put the knife down and wiped her pudgy hands on her apron as she ushered me inside. Most of the houses were similar but Ben's house was an exception. It had a larger kitchen and a giant covered area in the back where hundreds of fish hung smoking above a fire that never got extinguished.

"Do you have your dress for Honeymoon Island yet?"

"No. We don't have our date yet."

"Still, your mom must have something picked out?"

It had been the farthest thing from my mind. But I hadn't even answered before she rushed me into her bedroom. She took me by the shoulders and stood me in front of an old mirror leaning in the corner. From the looks of it, they'd found it floating in the ocean after a storm. The wood had warped and cracked and the mirror as well. Thirty or forty large fissures ran along the sides. But the center was smooth and flat. I'd lost weight in the last week and had circles beneath my eyes from lack of sleep.

I jumped when Amelia reappeared holding a long, frilly dress sagging on an old wooden hangar. She placed it against me. It smelled of twenty years worth of must and tropical mildew.

"Yes! It will fit." She turned me to the mirror. The yellowing frills matched my yellowing skin. Hideous.

"I wasn't always this plump. As thin as a reed when I was your age. Enjoy it while you can m'dear. Nothing lasts forever!"

I sneezed. Yes, and the dress proved that.

"I'll air it out in the sun," she apologized.

"Have you seen Ben?" I asked. "It's important. I need to talk to him."

"He's not at the dock?"

I shook my head.

"Well maybe--"

There was a bang and footsteps of people entering followed by the sound of his father's voice. He lectured Ben on some aspect of fishing.

"I'm glad you two are finally hitting it off," Amelia whispered as she pulled me out into the kitchen. Ben's large nostrils flared when he saw me. As if the only thing worse to smell than a bucket of fish guts was me.

"What's she doing here?" Ben said.

Ben's Dad cuffed him hard on the back of his head. "That's no way to talk to your betrothed. Get sense into you boy!"

"We need to talk," I said to Ben. "Alone." Ben folded his thick arms while Amelia scurried to her husband and whispered something in his ear. We weren't supposed to spend time alone until our trip to Honey Moon Island. Hopefully we'd be the last couple scheduled which might push it back at least three weeks, maybe longer. But everyone knew all was not well in this couple's paradise so I figured they'd make an exception. And I was right.

"Don't wanna talk," Ben grumbled.

"You two talk, sort things out. We'll be back in fifteen minutes." Amelia grabbed Cunningham's hand and led him out the door, closing it gently behind her.

"What?" Ben snarled as soon as the door shut.

"I think I figured out something good for both of us. But I'll need your help."

"Forget it." Ben crossed to the fire and rammed the poker into the flaming wood. Embers exploded up the chimney. I grabbed his arm. For a moment we both eyed the hot, red poker and I could read his thoughts. But he dropped it, shook off my hand and turned away.

"Listen, I hate this as much as you do. But there may be a way out," I said.

"I've asked. There's no way out. We're stuck with each other forever." His lower lip shivered. Whether with sadness or anger I couldn't tell.

"There _might_ be," I said. "But, I'll need your help."

For a minute a spark of interest appeared, but then his face went blank.

"In seven days we leave for Honeymoon Island," he said.

"Seven days? They gave us our date?" I asked dumbly. I'd hoped for more time.

He nodded. "So how 'bout that plan of yours?"

"I...I think I can if--"

"Here's the plan," he interrupted. "When we're on Honeymoon Island, you can sleep in the dirt outdoors." He walked to the bathroom and slammed the door. A glass fell and broke somewhere in the adjacent room.

"Ben? Ben?" Cunningham knocked and then entered the kitchen blushing. "Sorry to interrupt."

"We're finished," I said, dodging past. Outside, down at the dock, a crowd had gathered.

"Ben, plane's landing. Git your butt out here!" Cunningham shouted behind me.

Off shore in the distance, a plane approached the island. Even from here, obviously something was wrong with the little aircraft. Its right wing listed toward the ocean and it flew low to the water. Puffs of black smoke spewed from its engine and it splashed down far from the dock. Well, at least our supplies had arrived.

We received six shipments per year. At one time, deliveries came by ship, but the jagged rocks surrounding the island meant increased expense and shuttling items on smaller boats. Mayor Marlow bought a small cargo plane and hired an Outlands pilot; a man and his obnoxious teen son. They either weren't allowed to mix with us or didn't want to. They stayed near the docks overnight and left first thing the following morning.

This time it seemed they'd be here for longer. I watched as Ben ran to the docks with Cunningham. They got in their boat and zoomed out to meet the seaplane. This was worth seeing up close.

* * *

Cunningham and Ben towed the airplane through the rocks toward the dock. Their boat wasn't very powerful and it took awhile. I stood next to Edward and his father Carlos, a tall man with one leg shorter than the other.

The pilot got out of the airplane and hopped from the plane's pontoon. Behind him a different boy about the same age as me followed. Tall and handsome, he looked around with amused curiosity. He inspected the gaping crowd with a bewildered smile but when his gaze drifted to me our eyes locked and he swallowed hard. A sudden thrill rose in my chest and spiraled into confusion. The mayor guided him and the pilot away and led them to the small dockside cottage. That was where they'd stay. Kassandra walked past me shaking her head.

"What happened?" I asked.

"They dumped six thousand dollars worth of supplies in the ocean. They only have half of what they're supposed to. Idiots."

"Why did they do that?"

She mumbled something I didn't understand and stormed off. Mayor Marlow joined her and they conferred angrily. I walked out onto the dock. Cunningham had the airplane's hood open, looking at the engine.

"How do we know they didn't just sell our supplies to someone in the Outlands?" Carlos shouted loudly, so everyone could hear.

"He's been flying here for four years. Don't make sense. I believe him." Cunningham replied.

"Dang extreme reaction, if you ask me," Carlos responded.

I learned that the pilot and his son ran into mechanical trouble, a turbo failure, whatever that meant. So they dumped weight, half of our supplies, to avoid crashing in the ocean. Ditched supplies seemed better than landing in the middle of the Big Ocean. Most of the others disagreed or thought there was an aspect of irresponsibility if not fraud.

Chloe still avoided me and Ethan wasn't around. I headed to the center square to find her, deciding to pass by the small hut on my way. I hadn't yet updated her about my plan.

"So, you're not allowed to talk to us." A voice said behind me.

When I turned the boy from the plane stood looking at me, arms folded, slight smile on his face. The wind blew and mussed up his dirty blond hair. He was tanned and athletic with strong arms and muscles that rippled beneath a blue t-shirt with a surfboard on its front. Nothing like the pudgy kid who normally came on these trips.

"Uh..." I said.

"It's okay, Dad said you're not allowed to talk to me. Don't want you getting in trouble." He turned away. "My brother warned me you're an odd bunch."

I bristled at his insult. "I can talk to whoever I want!"

He turned back around, eyebrows raised.

"Really? Cool." He guided me out of sight from the dock. Up close he smelled like diesel fuel and sweat, but it wasn't unpleasant.

"What do you guys do for fun on this island? Dad says you're all bunch of crazy hippies," he grinned at me.

"Hippies?" I'd never heard the word before but his smile was contagious and I smiled back.

"Yeah, like...hippies. Peace, love...good weed," he winked as if we were both in on a secret. I wasn't sure what was good about weeds, but I didn't want our conversation to end.

"Yeah, weeds can be good I guess. Depends on the type." Mom made salads from the chickweed and purslane that snuck between our beets and chard.

"Exactly! It's all about the variety." He laughed. It was a deep, rich and free laugh that released something in my chest. I felt myself relaxing places I hadn't realized I'd been tense.

"I dig you. You're cool," he said pointing a finger at me. "So how can I find you again? We should hang."

"Sure...but how? I'm not allowed...and you're not...will it be alright with--"

"Hey, everything's negotiable, right?" he said. "Or there're workarounds. I'm gonna make it alright. I didn't fly all this way not to see this place. And meet the locals," he smiled again. "I feel like an old time explorer. You guys are da bomb."

"Thanks," I said awkwardly. I wasn't sure what I'd done to get his approval, but his good nature bubbled over and infected me.

"How can I find you again? Where do you live?"

I pointed up at the lighthouse.

"You live in a lighthouse? No shit. That is dope. I have to visit you."

"Okay, but how?" I whispered. "When?"

"After dark. Gimme a spot...someplace good, easy to find with a flashlight," he looked at his watch. "Around ten. My Dad's trashed. He should be hella zonked by then."

The language he used thrilled, but confused me. Hella? Dope? Zonked? I understood what he meant by context but none of us talked like that

"Ten at night?" I couldn't think of the last time I was outside after eight. Mom and Dad would be in bed. We rose before dawn every morning.

"Yeah."

"Okay," I agreed. "How about...up at the lighthouse, behind the chicken coop, beneath the tallest mango tree?"

"Perfect. Okay, I need to get back and help my Dad fix the plane's engine." He turned to leave.

"Wait. You know engines?"

"Sure."

"What about boats?"

"In terms of what?" he asked.

"Fixing the engine and some holes."

Dylan scratched his head. "Don't know much about fixing holes. But I could try..." he said. "Why?"

There was no reason to trust him, but I already did. I was about to tell him my plan to fix up the boat when his Dad appeared around the corner.

"Dylan!" his father barked. "Quit goofing around!" His father looked like a pirate in one of our fairy tale stories. His face blasted red by sea and salt. Unshaven with a several day growth of beard and piercing blue eyes like his son. He glared at me and then yanked Dylan back by the arm.

"Well, gotta go," Dylan said sheepishly.

I nearly answered _See you later_. But Dylan's look stopped me. This was our secret, I understood. 
**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

That night, I crept out of my bedroom and into the kitchen. Down the hall Dad snored softly. Above me our wall clock ticktocked, its face painted one half like a happy yellow sun and the other half a moody blue moon. It was five minutes until ten.

Once outside, I waited. I stood behind the chicken hutch which lay silent save for the occasional random cluck. _Did chickens dream?_ I wondered. A few moments later, Dylan appeared around the corner. My heart pounded. I hadn't remembered him being so tall and his shoulders appeared broader in the night. It reminded me that I'd just met this boy, this stranger who had snuck out against his father and Mayor Marlow's wishes.

"Sorry I'm late," he whispered. "Everything looked different at night. If I hadn't followed the silhouette of the lighthouse, I would have gotten lost on these paths."

He turned his flashlight back on, cupping it with his hand. The warm glow that snuck between his fingers lit up his shy smile.

"Well, I'm glad you found it...me," I said, twisting a lock of my hair in my fingers.

"Thanks for staying up."

"I stay up late all the time," I lied.

He raised one eyebrow. "So you got weed? Maybe we can go someplace where we don't need to whisper?" His eyes explored mine with a silent intensity. This boy differed from the island boys in some way I couldn't place. He was a mystery, a puzzle I wanted to solve.

"Yes," I said. "Turn off the flashlight for now." He stumbled in the dark. I took his hand and led him around to the side of the house. It felt warm and rough in mine. At the end of a narrow stone path we entered Mom's herb garden.

"Here," I whispered. "There's plenty of chickweed, and lambs quarters too." Mom made that into a delicious salad. I didn't understand why he was so keen on collecting weeds, but it was important to him, so I tried to appear knowledgeable. It was while showing him a small patch of sweet clover and explaining its use that I heard a choking noise. I turned to find him doubled over, with tears streaming down his face.

"You're killing me," he choked through spasms of silent laughter.

"Killing...you?" I repeated. His laughter was contagious, even though it was directed at me.

"You're not messing around?" He stood up.

"I..."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he wiped away the tears. "I shouldn't be laughing." He grabbed my hands. Then he became nervous, caught off-guard by his spontaneous gesture as much as I was. His throat clicked as he let my hands go.

"Let's go for a walk," I whispered, looking up at my parent's window. "Then you can tell me what you found so funny."

I took him out the back way along the path, _four hundred and thirty-eight steps (lucky)_ , that led to smooth luck rock. He followed behind. Out in the open beneath the three quarter moon he didn't need his flashlight and even less as we neared the water. I touched smooth luck rock three times, trying to make it appear like I was dusting her off.

"This is one of my favorite spots," I said. It was vastly different at night with its long shadows and endless shimmering ocean. It felt bigger. Dylan sat next to me. The indent was perfect for two. We sat shoulder to shoulder looking out over the rolling whitecaps as they sprayed against the rocks.

"It's awesome," he whispered.

"You don't need to whisper anymore," I said.

"Oh right," his voice cracked. "I mean, right," slightly deeper. We both giggled.

"Everyone's asleep and people don't come here anyway....so we've got the island to ourselves."

"Sweet," he said.

"Yeah, sweet," I repeated. "So are you gonna explain the joke back there?"

"Pot...I thought you had pot. I have a little left, but I can't find it."

"Pot?" I thought of our kitchen pots and pans.

"Yeah, like marijuana?"

I shook my head. "I've never heard of it."

"Do you watch TV here?"

"Nope. Just a few videotapes that Kassandra ordered for special celebrations. _Aladdin_ , _Beauty and the Beast_ , hmm what else... _The Little Mermaid_?"

"All Disney fairy tales. And no TV. Radio?"

"One night we listened to music on Ethan's dad's radio. But we aren't allowed to."

"That's wacked."

I shrugged. "There's plenty to keep us busy. The Outlands sound awful. Are they really terrible?"

"Outlands? I dunno what they've told ya, but people pay serious dough to live in Hawaii."

"But I heard there are bombs that could kill entire cities in moments. Crime everywhere. That's not true?"

Dylan shifted and looked uncomfortable "No...that is true. Nukes, crime sure those things do exist but...it doesn't really affect me, not where we live. I read about it...maybe stuff could happen. But so far so good." He knocked on his head three times and my heart flooded with warmth.

"People are bound there, right? Married." I remembered the word Mom used.

"Yeah, sure people get married."

"People who love each other."

Dylan nodded, cocking his head. I forced myself to breathe. I'd wanted to meet with Dylan because he fascinated me, I was strongly attracted to him. Now I realized that there was a whole other benefit. If, no when, I left for the Outlands, I needed to find out how things worked. And Dylan was someone who could teach me.

"What about here? There aren't that many of you...how are you all related?" he asked.

"We aren't, exactly," I said. "We're different families. My mom and another woman arrived here first and then others followed. Our parents came here twenty years ago more or less. Everyone under eighteen was born here. None of us have ever been to the Outlands. So that's why I don't know some of your expressions. Everything we learn comes from old books or what Mrs. Caroline tells us in Assembly."

"What's that?"

Now we trod on uncertain territory. I wasn't sure how much to say about Lemuria, or our quest to return to our homeland.

"It's like our school," I explained. At the word school he lost interest.

"Do you guys all, like date each other?"

"Some people do. Or did, but not anymore."

"What happened?"

"We were Bound."

"Dude, that sounds painful."

"It was," I turned to hide my face. "It is."

"So are you...bound?"

"Yes, but it isn't..."

He raised his hand. "Hey, it's okay. Things are different here, I see that."

I blinked away tears. "Ben hates me and I hate him. It's horrible. We don't love each other." Talking about Ben was the last thing I wanted to tell Dylan, but there we were.

"So, I'm leaving," I said.

"The island?"

I nodded.

"Can you do that?"

"No," I whispered. "I have to escape...No one knows I want to, well except for Chloe." I explained my plan of fixing up the boat, getting far out enough toward the ship when it came and being picked up by them. "That's why I asked if you knew how to fix boats."

"I can't promise, but I'll take a look at it. Where is it?"

"Not far from here, I can show you."

Part of me wanted his help, but a bigger part of me wanted him to know how serious I was about leaving. Right now he viewed me as an islander, someone different from him. But not long from now, if everything went according to plan, I'd be living in the Outlands. Hopefully in the same village as him.

We walked closer to the water's edge using his flashlight to navigate the rocks. Luckily the tide was low and we took the easy way without scrabbling down the steep slope.

"Can I get over here with no one seeing me?" he asked.

"If you followed the shore from the docks," I said as I pointed beyond the lighthouse. "There's a path most of the way, but it's overgrown."

Now we were in the small inlet. Dylan shone his flashlight over the boat. In the moonlight, she looked like a regular boat, with nothing wrong with her.

"She looks fine," Dylan said.

I showed him the damage on the underside and when he looked at the engine, he didn't look optimistic. "I'll need to check her out in daylight," he said.

"You don't understand, I have to get off this island," I said grabbing his wrist. "I can't stay here with Ben." Tears filled my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. We stood close together, heat from our walk poured off our bodies. I let go of his wrist and Dylan put his arm around me, awkward at first.

"I'm sorry," I said, wiping my cheeks.

"No, it's okay. You need a hug." He wrapped his arms around me. "And my arms are big."

I leaned into him and felt his heart thudding against me. My tears dampened his shirt.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," he said sounding upset. When I looked up into his eyes, we both froze for a minute.

"I feel stupid," I said. "I barely know you. It's just..." I felt embarrassed to have lost control in front of him. I broke away and fished a handkerchief out of my pocket and blew my nose trying to keep a shred of dignity. When I turned back to him he was still watching.

He put his hand on my cheek. "I'll help you with your boat," he whispered. We looked into each other's eyes and I realized I was holding my breath. He leaned in and we kissed. It left my lips and entire body tingling with wonderful glowing warmth.

"Sorry," he said, smiling.

I smiled.

"What?" he asked.

"You don't look very sorry," I said.

Dylan bit his lip.

"I'm not sorry either," I added.

"Oh, sweet."

"But, I should go back," I said.

"It's only eleven."

"Eleven! I need to be up at five."

Dylan turned to the water, ocean breeze tussling his hair, soft moonlight on his face. "I bet I can sneak over here tomorrow if I plan it right."

"During the day?"

"Sure. My dad let me take a break and swim after lunch today. I could head along that path you told me about. I can see the dock from here. I can nab a few things for the engine, but you have tools, boat repair stuff?"

"Gosh, we must somewhere..."

"Can you nab tools? And a repair kit. We'll need acetone and epoxy to patch up those holes. Sandpaper too."

I felt I was back where I started. But I didn't want to ruin the moment. For now it felt as if anything was possible.

Motion in the water caught my eye and my breath seized in my throat. It was her...the mermaid. She swam near to shore, about twenty feet away. Dylan had his back to her. She watched me with an odd, hungry look on her face. Dylan lifted my hand and kissed it.

"You okay?" he said.

Then the mermaid girl smiled, and I gasped. For the first time she opened her mouth. Instead of regular teeth like Dylan or I had, she had a row of tiny, jagged, wicked looking shark teeth. Her smile turned to a scowl when she saw the fear on my face and she dove back into the water just as Dylan turned.

"What the hell was that?" he stumbled back. "Did you see that fish? It was mad huge." He turned. "Hey, you're shaking." He drew me close to him. I felt that the mermaid wanted something from me. I just wasn't sure what.

**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

Saturday morning there was no Assembly. I woke early to get my chores done and then quietly left. It took four times as long as it should have to get to Marlow's place because I didn't dare take the main trails. I wound my way through lush vegetation that grew dense as the topography became more rugged. Soon I walked along the island's narrow spine.

Below, I saw my home. Dad stood in the garden laying strips of mango out in the sun to dry. Mom sat up in the lighthouse working on the scroll. I could see her stooped over the desk. As I watched my dad, he glanced up toward me. I felt the impulse to duck even though I knew he couldn't see me from there. I thought of the mermaid girl and how I'd known she was watching me. It made me uneasy that I might have given Dad the same, icky sensation. On another day, I would have jumped up on a rock and waved my arms.

"Hi Dad!" I'd have cried. But not today. It made me sad, but this was part of leaving. I'd better get used to it or I'd lose my nerve. And I couldn't let that happen. Along the way, I made a quick furtive offering to the wishing well. A white stone released into the silent void.

Not familiar with the land around Marlow's home, I got lost trying to approach the supply house from the rear. Soon I wandered through a dark, tropical maze. Vegetation changed and grew increasingly dense as I descended to Marlow's side of the island. And as often was the case, the air was laden with a light, foggy mist and soon a drizzle of rain.

Confused, I almost tumbled head first over a ridge but eventually found the toolshed. There were no signs of Mayor Marlow. I tiptoed ahead and entered.

Grabbing a flashlight from the wall hook, I turned it on. It flickered to life with a weak, orange glow. On the far shelf lay a full range of tools and a tin that looked...nautical--it had a picture of a boat on it. I grabbed it and hoped for the best. But I needed epoxy too, Dylan said. And sandpaper. Just as I was about to step outside, Marlow walked around the corner and headed my direction. Holding my breath, I froze in the dark interior and watched him pass. He continued on.

Now the quickest way home would be to scoot past the rear of his house and head back over the ridge. Trying not to let the cans bang together, I made my approach. First, I darted through an open area and into the shadow of his home. There was only one window on this side, curtains drawn. I paused for a minute, catching my breath. As scared as I was, I realized I hadn't felt this alive in ages. Not since Chloe, Daniel, Ethan and me played hide-and-seek long ago.

I crept ahead. When I reached the open door curiosity overcame me. I'd never been inside Marlow's home. None of us had as far as I knew. Maybe he had sandpaper or epoxy somewhere? And Mom was right, I was nosy.

Slowly so as not to make any sound, I entered, allowing my eyes to adapt to the light. As my eyes adjusted, I gasped. Jumbles of old bottles, rags and items of clothing were haphazardly strewn around what I guessed to be the kitchen. It was so messy, I couldn't tell. The sink overflowed with cans, food boxes and cooking utensils. An ancient sticky bun lay mouldering under the table. Flies had laid their eggs in a bowl of batter he'd left festering.

Mayor Marlow dressed well and appeared extremely neat. He constantly lectured about food waste. How could his home be so different? My eyes roved over the various objects. Several empty bottles of alcohol and a few full ones. Alcohol was an adult treat that was carefully monitored.

I stepped further into the kitchen and beyond. In the living room the disorder seemed less than the kitchen, but it was still a shamble. Mounds of clothes, piles of paper and in the center, a desk with a computer. It had a black screen filled with green numbers. Even with my head for figures, they looked meaningless. Three letters followed by strings of random numbers changing up and down.

Focus. Needed to focus. He could return at any time. There was a bottle of some type of solvent thrown in the corner. I picked it up and grabbed it. A mattress lay on the floor. It had a soiled blanket and dirty sheets. I wondered if this was where Marlow slept? The room smelled of sweat and alcohol. I continued on to one of the other rooms.

This was the largest room and it was like stepping inside a different house. A big bed sat in the middle. Large, fluffy pillows lay against the headboard and the bed was immaculate. The comforter draped just so, not a wrinkle anywhere. A woman's dress lay folded over a chair and several pairs of women's shoes sat in front of the bed. There were several folded piles of boy's clothes. Daniel's clothes. I walked closer.

On top was Daniel's favorite shirt. Blue, short sleeved with an old style ship printed on front. It had been cleaned and laundered. I knew this shirt. Daniel burned easily, and he always wore a shirt to swim. This was the shirt Daniel wore the day he drowned. The last time I ever saw him.

But Daniel's body was never found. What was his shirt doing here? A noise outside jolted me back to reality. Legs trembling. I crept out of the bedroom. No signs of activity. Darting past the front door I scurried through the kitchen and out the door.

At the top of the ridge I paused to rest. My right hand had a painful mark where one of the can's handles dug itself in. Now I wished I'd spent more time in Marlow's house. Maybe I'd been mistaken about the shirt. Or perhaps Daniel owned more than one? Marlow adored Daniel, spoiled him in fact. Even Daniel had admitted as much. Marlow only changed after Daniel drowned, becoming bitter, reclusive and mean. To think this meant anything sinister was ridiculous. I needed to remain focused.

**CHAPTER TWENTY**

"Someone's in a cheerful mood this afternoon," Dad commented as I washed dishes after lunch.

"Me?" I said. "Why?" I had more reason to be anxious than cheerful.

"All during lunch you've had a smile."

I hadn't realized it, but Dylan definitely made me happy, even with my recent worries and challenges. Unsure when he planned to come help with the boat, I wanted to hurry.

Leaving earlier than I needed to, I took the long way up the ridge and back down again, hoping to avoid anyone who might ask awkward questions. The cans were hidden in two large canvas bags.

"Just mangoes!" I'd say if someone asked. There were even a few ripe ones on top, in case they were hungry. I felt proud. I was taking action and putting my plan into motion. Today, I imagined telling Dylan how I snuck to Marlow's and got the repair materials. I hoped he'd be impressed by my bravery. I'd mention Daniel's shirt and ask what he thought. Or maybe that would make me seem crazy.

As I walked, I recalled Dylan's kiss and the sensation of his hands in mine. Warm, firm and strong. Around the corner and over the ridge, motion startled me. For a minute I thought it was the mermaid although I was far from the water's edge.

Instead, Ben stood hidden in the bushes with Chloe's brother, Carlson. They'd stripped their shirts off and Carlson had his arms wrapped around Ben's waist as he pulled their bodies together. They kissed passionately. I watched, at first fascinated. Dylan flashed through my mind. His lips had felt so soft.

Then, everything became clear. I'd messed Ben's plans up as much as he'd messed with mine. If he'd gotten paired with Chloe, everyone including Carlson and Tricia would have lived in Chloe's large family home. Not a perfect Binding for anyone, but I supposed it was the best they hoped for. Ben was as much a victim of Alabaster Island and its customs as me.

I hesitated. Part of me wanted to leave them alone. To not to disrupt their bubble of love however temporary it might be. But I had to think of myself. Dylan told me he knew engines but little about repairing a damaged hull. I cleared my throat.

Chloe's brother saw me first. He broke away from Ben, gasping. A red blush traveled from the top of Ben's forehead, down his neck and even to his arms. He fumbled with his pant button, struggling to do it up.

"Hey," I said. Ben looked at me and swallowed hard.

"Hey," he mumbled.

"So. I thought you might want to help me after all," I continued. "You can fix boats, right?"

As I told Ben what I needed he wore a pained, pinched expression. All the bravado, the macho tough guy faded away, replaced by a scared boy.

"What you took is a start, but you need cardboard to mold the fiberglass patch and strong tape too," he explained. "You won't be able to do the repair without those. We'll grab everything and come back."

I headed toward the water. Now I was excited. Ben had agreed to bring the materials I lacked. Dylan would arrive soon to help fix the engine. Before long the boat would be seaworthy and I'd be ready to leave. I took a deep breath. It was the right thing to do. Closer to the shore I pushed through the vegetation and walked along the rocky outcropping that led to the inlet.

"No, no, no!" I cried as I arrived. For a moment I couldn't believe what I saw. But the evidence lay right in front of me. The boat was destroyed. Giant gouges had damaged the fiberglass frame. It looked as if someone had taken an ax or a sledgehammer to the vessel. I ran closer.

Her whole top section had been smashed, the prow broken and shattered in a hundred different places. Sinking to my knees I buried my face in my hands. Even with the little I knew about boats, it was obvious what I looked at was not a boat any longer. It was wreckage. Nothing to salvage. My hope at getting off the island were gone. I sat on a rock, weeping.

Sometime after, Ben put his hand on my shoulder. "You alright?"

"Someone destroyed the boat!" I shouted, "It's ruined. There's no way I'll fix it now."

"I'm...I'm sorry." Ben stammered.

"Did you do this?" I shouted.

"Of course not!" he said indignant. "Until you told me I didn't know about it."

"You're just sorry for yourself!" I shouted and he flinched. Carlson stared at the ground sheepish.

"Listen, now you know everything," Ben said. "We can make it work out, right?" he asked, his voice desperate. "I'll be good to you, I promise. And Carlson will be good to Tricia. No one needs to know."

"And Honey Moon Island?" I asked. "Will I be _sleeping in the dirt outside_?" I shot back his harsh words.

Ben flushed. "I'm sorry for being such an ass."

"Why don't you tell Marlow about you and Carlson? Maybe he'll understand and unbind us?"

"Mayor Marlow?" Ben's mouth twisted in disdain. "Not him, never. I've considered it, believe me. Listen, it's okay. We'll go to Honeymoon Island--"

"No, it's not okay! I don't want to go to Honeymoon Island...ever. I've fallen for someone. A boy."

Not only had I not intended to admit it. I hadn't even admitted it to myself, but it came out. And I knew Ben and Carlson's secret so it didn't matter.

"What boy?" Carlson asked.

"The boy from the boat. Dylan," I said, heat rising to my face.

"Right," Ben said. "Yeah, he's handsome." Carlson glared and gave him a sharp punch to the shoulder. Ben blushed. "If you like Outlanders."

"Why don't you go with Dylan?" Ben asked. "When he leaves."

For a minute my heart lifted. Why _didn't_ I? They'd fix the plane soon.

"Marlow would never let me. Neither would my parents."

But that wasn't what bothered me. What struck me was that I wasn't sure if Dylan wanted me to go. After all, he knew about my plan to leave. If he wanted me on the plane, he would have at least offered to try. But he'd never mentioned it. Now I felt foolish.

"No, I doubt I'm going anywhere," I sighed. "The whole idea of leaving the island was crazy. We _are_ prisoners here."

Ben chewed his lip.

"I won't snitch and we can have our understanding," I said, but my voice shook. It wasn't fair. Ben would have his secret love and I'd be alone. But worse, without Dylan. Even though we'd only met a day ago, I couldn't get him out of my mind.

Ben and Carlson made a show of trying to work on the boat, but it was pointless. It irritated me to have them around. A whole different side to Ben emerged. Funny, playful even, at least with Carlson. They were a cute couple, like a big friendly dog and a puppy. Eventually I lost it.

"This is a waste of time!" I said. Now I was sad and angry that Dylan hadn't come. It didn't take much to persuade them to scram. Soon I was alone. There was no reason to hang around, not for the boat. Except for Dylan.

"Where's your friend?"

The mermaid lounged on a large gray boulder near the shore. This was the first time I'd seen her entire body. She wore the same t-shirt. Her scales were a rusty brown and looked patchy in places, like a fish with a skin disease. I couldn't locate the point where she transitioned from skin to scale because it was covered by her shirt. I was curious what it looked like, but I didn't dare ask.

"Which friend?" I asked.

"The boy. You know who I mean. And shouldn't you be fixing your boat?"

"Can't you see it's destroyed?" I said.

"The ship comes in five days."

"Yes, I realize that," I said. Mermaid girl was getting on my nerves.

"Where's the Goddess you talk about in your meetings? Can't she help?" The mermaid asked.

"What meetings?"

"Over there," she motioned back toward the square where we gathered for the outdoor Assemblies.

I couldn't help but smile. "Our Goddess? Oh, she's...everywhere...you can't meet her. She's like an idea...sort of. And no, she won't fix my boat."

"Why are you smiling?" she asked.

_Because your questions are odd._ I wanted to say, but kept silent.

"Since you don't have a name, what should I call you?" I asked.

"What do I look like?"

"Well, a Mermaid. That's what you are, right? So I dunno, how 'bout...Merma?"

She clapped her hands together and giggled.

"Yes, call me...Merma!" she said and then flipped off the rock and dove underwater, blowing bubbles while her t-shirt trailed behind.

"Perhaps we can help each other?" she suggested from further out in the ocean.

"How?"

"Come in the water, I'll show you."

"Show me what?" I asked.

"How well I swim!"

"You have a fin, of course you swim well, I don't need you to show me that." Merma made me uneasy.

She pushed out her lower lip. "You're boring." Swimming on her back, she glared at me. "I told you, I swam with the ship. I swim out far all the time. Much further than you could ever go. I swam for thousands of miles after I escaped. Almost around the whole world."

"I don't believe you."

She scowled. "Did I mention how boring you were? Probably everyone here is too polite to say it."

Blood rushed to my face. In fact no one had ever said anything like that. It wasn't true. Was it?

"I'm not."

"You are. Boring. Boring. Boring. Scared of everything."

I shook my head, at a loss for words.

"Come swim, and I'll show you how I can help."

I took off my shirt and stripped to my underwear I waded into the ocean while she watched from a short distance. She stayed on her rock, a small smile on her face as she watched. Then in an instant, she grabbed my arms. Just in time, I gulped a mouthful of air and she yanked me beneath the surface.

Powerful muscles rippled along her back and water flowed out from the force of her fin. She leapt from beneath the surface to above the ocean and I gasped air.

"Stop!" I shrieked, but we went back under. It seemed like ages and soon the urge to breathe became irresistible. I inhaled water. It entered my lungs and a peculiar tearing pain seared through my chest. But my mind cleared as if I'd had a boost of oxygen.

When she dragged me limply to the surface, we were on the other side of the island, near Marlow's. What would have taken hours, even if I could have done it, had taken her minutes.

I coughed up water. Waves of nausea coursed through me. The island flickered in and out of focus as if I'd lose consciousness at any minute.

"See?" she said, "I can get you to your ship. Easy. You okay?"

She swam further out. "Stop, please," I gasped. The further we got from the island the stronger the nausea became. When I looked at my hands, patterns from the scroll traveled along my arms, yellow and blue symbols intertwining between the veins. Merma swam back, and the nausea faded.

"I feel awful."

"Oh you're just seasick. You'll get over it," she said. "See how far we are! Am I amazing or what?"

Merma was right. We were near to where the ships passed. With her help I wouldn't need a boat. This might work. Easier than struggling to repair wreckage.

"They're sure to stop and throw out a rescue line. That's just what they'll do when they spot the poor, seasick girl lost in the ocean." She messed up my hair. "That's you I'm talking about. They'll bring you on-board and feed you and give you medicine and food you've never dreamed of!"

She grabbed me again, and we raced around the island again. We arrived back on shore near the boat.

"So I'll take you in five days. When the ship comes," she said.

I nodded as my stomach did a somersault. That was very soon.

"Okay, when you see the ship cross, make sure you're near water. It doesn't have to be here. It can be anywhere along the shore. And I'll come and find you."

"That makes sense." My voice shook.

"But I need something from you first," she said.

"Umm, okay, like what?"

"The scroll."

"The _scroll_?" I asked, eyes wide.

"Yes, not to keep. Just a quick peek," she said with a shy smile.

"Why?"

Merma looked away as if she wasn't certain whether to confess something.

"There's something in the scroll...words...a sort of spell. That can help me."

"I don't know..."

"I'm sick. I'm dying." She sighed and looked at me mournfully. What she asked would be difficult, but I felt pity for her. And if it helped get me off the island, I saw no major harm.

"Well, okay...if it's just to look at it. How do you know about the scroll?"

"I have sharp eyes and big ears." Merma smiled sadly. "Deal?"

I hesitated, but finally said: "Alright, deal." Regret came as soon as the words left my mouth. Now that a concrete plan existed, doubts began rise. She gave her peculiar smile and dove into a breaker.

"Bring it tomorrow!" she cried as she resurfaced, eyes wet and gleaming.   
_Tomorrow?_ "Wait!" I said. But she disappeared beneath the waves.

As I turned back to the boat, I noticed that someone had spelled something out with tiny ocean pebbles. _MISSED YOU! D XOXO_

Warmth flooded my heart. Dylan. He'd chosen the stones with care, alternating white with black and beige. I was crushed to have missed him. It was ironic that just as I'd met a boy on the island who I wanted to spend time with, not only did he not live here, I planned to leave him in five days.
**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE**

For the next few nights, it became a routine. Dylan and I met at the chicken coop and explored the island by dark. I shared stuff about myself, even things I'd never confided to Ethan and Chloe. He described life in the Outlands. The Outlands sounded nothing like what everyone said, but they were no paradise either. I was astonished at the variety of customs. People were continually being entertained. And my island life fascinated Dylan, even the aspects I found mundane: our self-sufficiency, the many talents we'd cultivated and shared.

And something changed. The longer I spent with Dylan, the less I thought of leaving. As long as we were together, it didn't matter. But I had to get serious. Once they fixed the plane, Dylan _would_ leave. He'd never said he wanted to stay, and even if he did (I know, wishful thinking), Mayor Marlow would not allow it. And his father wouldn't either. But the ship would pass in two days and I still hadn't loaned Merma the scroll.

One thing Dylan and I never discussed was the future. I was afraid to bring it up. Did he see us having one? Or was I simply an exotic romance. Once I made it to the ship, how would I find Dylan in the Outlands? Many questions, no answers, much easier to enjoy our time together and wait for another day.

I arrived at Assembly late. My night rendezvous with Dylan were taking their toll. I knew this for a fact because I didn't get in trouble. After Assembly Mrs. Caroline took me aside and looked in my eyes.

"You helped Kassandra all morning?" she asked.

"I've been helping her with the inventory. It's my punishment." Then I held my breath. I hadn't lied, but neither had I answered her question. If she'd spoken with Kassandra, she'd realize that I left with plenty of time to make the last of the morning session. Instead I'd taken a nap in the sun near the old runway. She looked at me for a long moment but nodded.

"You look exhausted," she said. And grumpy, annoying Mrs. Caroline sounded concerned. It gave me a lump in my throat. "Get rest tonight, okay? Go to bed early."

"Okay, yes I will. I'll be fine," I said.

* * *

When I got home, I found that old Scraps had somehow escaped our yard.

"Scraps!" I called again. "Scraps!"

"He's an old dog, can't have gone too far," Dad said as he patched the fence that Scraps had dug under. I followed the trail of mud as best I could. It headed along the rocks and then disappeared into vegetation that followed a steep slope to the water.

"I hope he didn't fall," I said.

As I searched through the brush and scrub, Ethan called out from above.

"Hey!" he said. "What are you doing?"

"Hi! Scraps went missing," I called out, happy to see him. "I thought you guys ditched me after The Binding. I've been wanting to talk." I said as I walked up the ridge to him.

"Oh yeah, what about?"

Part of me wanted to tell him I was leaving in two days. But something stopped me.

"Daniel," I said instead.

He raised his eyebrows but remained silent. I didn't know how much to share. Eventually I told him everything except for my reason for snooping around Mayor Marlow's house.

"So don't you think that's strange?" I said. Ethan just looked at me.

"No," he said. "He probably had more than one shirt."

"Well, I wondered the same but--"

"Chloe tells me you've been busy," he interrupted.

I wasn't sure what Chloe said. "I can't find Scraps. He got out through a fence hole. Seen him?"

Ethan shook his head in irritation. "You already told me that. Guess you're eager to find your dog...before you leave."

"Chloe told you?"

"Yeah, she said you swore her to secrecy but figured you'd be okay with telling me." I did mind, but too late now.

"Would it have been that wretched?" he said, big forced smile on his face.

"Would what have been wretched?"

"Us being bound. You'd rather be bound to Ben...or just leave," he gave a harsh laugh I'd never heard him make and picked a piece of dirt out from between his thumbnail, flicking it to the rocks. I thought of the boat. Someone had come and destroyed it. One person I'd never suspected had been Ethan. Now I wondered.

"Ethan, of course not...don't be nuts."

"Well..."

"I mean how did you feel when Mayor Marlow called our names?" I asked. "I'm sure you were surprised too. And upset. I know you wanted to be with Chloe." But staring into his face, strong jaw tightly clenched, I read that the truth was not simple.

"Am I that unattractive? Or maybe it's me in general?" Ethan asked.

"No...you're very handsome." With his blond eyelashes and sparkling blue eyes with eyebrows like two questions, he was the boy I found most attractive on the island...save for Dylan.

"But no one measured up to Daniel, right?"

"Daniel's been dead a long time, Ethan. We were young. And you were with Chloe," I reminded him.

"Eventually, yeah. At first when I flirted with her, I hoped to make you jealous."

I let out a sharp breath of air. "What? Why do that? Poor Chloe."

"I don't feel so good about it either. But it's complicated. It's not like I didn't have feelings for her. I did then. And I do now."

"But you're like my brother."

"How?"

"I don't know. That's just...how it is. I thought that's how _you_ wanted it! You called me 'sis....you started that."

"A joke. I called Chloe sis too, remember?" Ethan picked up a stone and threw it as hard as he could toward the ocean. "You know the problem with you, Marei? You can't see any further than your own damn nose. Everything isn't always how it looks. There's a whole lot going on around you that you're missing," he said blinking away tears.

"So you don't love Chloe?"

"Of course I love her! But I _fell_ in love with you when we were thirteen and I've struggled ever since. The morning we found your dead gull, I tried to tell you. But, I didn't have the guts, and it felt like the wrong time. And then we had to put in a name...well guess who's name I put?"

"Mine," I whispered, allowing it to sink in.

Ethan nodded, tears ran down into the stubble on his jaw. "Damn right. And who did you put in for?"

"I--"

"C'mon tell me, it ain't bad luck now! Who?" he shouted.

"No one..."

"No one!" Ethan's face turned red. "You didn't put anyone's name?" he shook his head and laughed. "It probably never even occurred to you to put in for me." True. The only boy who flashed through my mind was Daniel, long gone. And the boy from the passing ship who looked vaguely like Daniel.

"You're not being fair. You're like my brother..."

"But I'm _not_ your brother!" he shouted. And he grabbed me and kissed me hard on the mouth. I broke away, gasping. A flood of feelings I'd shoved away coursed through me. I covered my mouth and sobbed.

"I'm sorry, Ethan, I'm sorry..."

"The day that Daniel drowned, guess what him and I were doing? Guess what I left out when I told everyone what happened?"

I covered my ears. "I don't want to hear this."

Grabbing my arms he forced my hands down. "Competing for you. Don't tell me you didn't know!"

"No. I didn't, I swear," I lied.

"You encouraged it. Flirting with him one day, then flirting with me the next. Teasing us both until we were half crazed. Serenading us with that wild song. You never knew what you wanted, did you?" Ethan was right, there was a whole world going on around me I'd chosen to overlook.

Spitting in the dirt in disgust, he spun and ran up the hill. He turned back at the top, balanced on a rock with one foot. A sudden ocean wind pulled and yanked his hair into a crazy mess and he shook it out of his eyes angrily. He looked handsome and proud, standing silhouetted against a bruised sky. The beautiful stone with a hole in its center that we traded long ago hung against his broad chest. A pang of fear pierced my heart. I wondered if I'd made a horrible mistake.

"You know what, Marei," he panted. "You did me a favor. I wouldn't wish you on my worst enemy! You and that crazy Outland kid deserve each other. He might look like Daniel, but he's _not_ Daniel! One day you'll wake up!"

And he left. I clutched my arms around my stomach, folded over and scrunched my eyes shut. But I couldn't stop the thoughts, they wouldn't go away. Dylan did look a bit like an older version of Daniel. Ethan was right. Wiping away tears I touched smooth luck rock three more times, but with little conviction.

**CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO**

Weather on the island took a dismal turn the following day and Scraps was still missing. I'd searched everywhere. A steady rain fell straight from the sky. Raindrops danced off rocks and rattled palm fronds. We huddled in Assembly with the shutters closed, door opened several feet for ventilation. There would be no outdoor practice today. Giant drops bounced off the concrete into the room forming a puddle in the entrance.

Mrs. Caroline stood with Mayor Marlow. They talked about what the new living arrangements would be after each couple's visit to Honeymoon Island. Ethan would move in with Chloe's family. Their house was large, and an extra room was planned to accommodate Carlson and Tricia. My parents had little space at the lighthouse, so I'd move in with Ben and his parents. For most of the pairings, Mayor Marlow gave the information matter-of-factly, but for Ben and me, he took a long, hard look. Perhaps trying to gauge how much trouble existed in our non-paradise.

Ben looked at me, eyebrows raised. I felt him wonder what my plans were. It would have been nice to reassure him, but I looked away. After my encounter with Merma, her offer seemed like an option. And yet, something held me back. Mom wouldn't let me take the scroll that I knew. Which meant I had to...borrow it. So far I hadn't had the guts, and I was running out of time. The ship would pass tomorrow. If only there were a simpler solution.

After Assembly, the torrential rain continued. Most of the kids huddled beneath the overhang, water splashing against their ankles, waiting for it to subside. But I didn't have the leisure to wait for better weather. I needed to let Merma have a peek at the scroll somehow. Mainly though, I wanted to stop by the docks in the hopes of seeing Dylan, even if we couldn't speak. Poncho pulled tight, I stepped into the deluge and was at once drenched. There was no point in running. These giant drops were inescapable. I trudged downward.

"Marei!" Chloe called. She grabbed my arm, rivers of rain poured from her green poncho. After my encounter with Ethan seeing her worried me. I knew he wouldn't have told Chloe anything. Well, I sure hoped not. But I felt concerned for her. I hoped they were happy. In fact, she glowed.

"They've set our date for Honeymoon Island!" she said with excitement. "Wednesday next week. Have they set yours?"

"Friday," I said. "In two days."

"That's so soon! Are you still planning to leave?" she whispered. The rainfall made conversation difficult. Chloe grabbed my hand, and we ran across the island through the puddles. We ended up at Pelican Rock in our cave. We stripped off our ponchos and wet clothes and draped a sleeping bag around our shoulders. For several minutes we enjoyed each other's presence, safe from the torrent.

My thoughts kept getting all jumbled, and it was difficult, but I told her about the mermaid.

"You can't trust it!" she said. "No, not a mermaid. They're pure evil. Haven't you paid any attention to what Marlow taught us in Assembly?"

"It's a she," I said. "She doesn't seem evil...just sad."

Then I told her about Dylan. The sweet note he'd left scrawled for me in the sand, his odd manner of speech, how we'd been sneaking out and meeting every night.

"You're in love," she said and grabbed my hand, but in sympathy as if I'd informed her I had an incurable disease. Perhaps I did.

"And the ship passes tomorrow," I explained. "But Dylan's here on the island. The only way I can be with him is to leave, just as we're growing closer. And I know nothing about the Outlands."

"That ship might go anywhere!" Chloe said. "And Mayor Marlow said this rain is just the start. A low-pressure system is coming and you could get caught in it. What then?"

"I don't know," I admitted.

"No forget this scroll business and the mermaid. And what happens once you're in the Outlands? Do you even know where Dylan lives? You might never find each other! You don't know anyone there."

"I'm still trying to figure it out," I admitted.

"Here's what you should do. Go with Dylan when they leave tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Dylan hadn't mentioned this. "They leave _tomorrow_?"

"Carlson said the plane is fixed."

Leaning back against the rock I put my head against Chloe's. A sad feeling washed through my body. "People keep telling me that. But Mayor Marlow, my parents, Dylan's dad...none of them would allow it. And Dylan's never mentioned it once..."

Now Dylan and I knew each other better and still he hadn't asked me to leave with him. Nor had he told me that he was leaving tomorrow. Tomorrow! Although I hadn't spilled my plans either.

"Anyway, I thought you didn't want me to leave?" I said. "Now you can't wait to get rid of me." My voice grew tense. I wondered if she'd intuited Ethan's feelings. Her jealousy the other day made sense. Once again, I felt foolish for not noticing earlier. My fingers touched the cave wall and traced along the rough initials the four of us carved long ago. It seemed an easier, much more care free time.

"Of course I don't want you to leave. But I'd do anything for love. To help true love," she said with a gentle kiss on my cheek. It was so tender my eyes stung.

"There's not much to be done," I said. "I don't have many options left. Maybe I'll stay. It's my punishment...for Daniel."

"No, stop it, Marei."

Now I was sorry to have mentioned it. The truth veered close to territory that needed to remain unspoken. Chloe sighed.

"Ethan told me everything. How he and Daniel competed over you."

"He did? What else did Ethan say?" I asked as I drew the sleeping bag around me tighter. Outside, the rain continued to drive hard, pouring off the rock overhang at the cave entry like a misty, silver curtain.

"That he had a crush on you for a long time. And..." she bit her lip. "That he put in for you. Your talk yesterday."

"Chloe, please understand that--," I started but hesitated not knowing how to continue. Instead I hugged her.

She wiped away tears. "I was shocked, furious. But you know what? I was also relieved. I mean I already _guessed_. This horrible black cloud had hung around for a while. Why do you think I was so insecure before The Binding?"

"You knew?" I asked. It made me wonder how her and I were different. It seemed I was oblivious to these emotional nuances.

"Of course, I sensed it. Ethan struggled against those feelings, but it was obvious."

"So you guys are okay?"

"Gosh, we really had it out," she said. "We fought like I've never fought with anyone my entire life," her voice broke. "For a spell I considered leaving with you. But it helped us realize something. That we do both love each other. And we understand each other now. There are no secrets. I'm still sad he wasn't honest with me. I mean just _honest_. Sometimes we have feelings we can't help, I know that. But I wish he'd have told me."

"I would have been scared too if I were him."

Chloe burst out laughing. "You're right, me too! Ah, oh well. But, things are better now. Our connection is strong, stronger than ever."

"I'm happy for you guys," I said taking her face in my hands. "If I ever get off this island...I will miss you greatly. In fact, it makes me want to stay."

"Well, I don't want you to lose your love or stuck here with Ben...we've got to figure out something. And that's one reason I wanted to talk to you. It's definitely a Plan B..."

"As long as it doesn't involve drinking anything," I said. Chloe smacked me on the shoulder.

"I guess I deserved that," she said. "Well, do you want to hear Plan B or not?"

"Well, I've got no Plan A...nothing certain."

"Okay, my mom sends a huge crate to the Outlands once a year. It's full of foam padding and nothing else. She uses it for her medicines and equipment, anything breakable for the return trip. The crate would be tight for me...but you're shorter. You'd need Dylan's cooperation. But he'll be helping to load, anyway. And Ben too, right?"

"Ben always helps out."

"They'd need to keep everyone away. The box will be heavier than it should and you don't want to get tossed around. Could you convince Ben?"

I laughed. "Convince him to put me in a box and ship me away? Absolutely." I considered divulging his secret, but it didn't seem right with Carlson being Chloe's brother. Knowing Chloe, she probably already knew.

As I thought it over, I liked her idea more and more. I didn't know a soul in the Outlands. It was foolhardy for me to try get picked up by a ship and head off for a destination unknown. They used money in the Outlands of which I had none. This plan made much more sense. And I was guaranteed to be with Dylan. A thrill of optimism buzzed through me.

"Yes! This sounds good."

Chloe and I smiled at each other.

"But wait, what if Dylan doesn't want me to?"

Chloe nodded. "Ask him. Better find out now then when you reach the Outlands."

"Yes," I said. But I was frightened. I'd waited for him to say something, but he never had. Maybe he even had a girlfriend back home? When we first met, and he found out about Ben, he hadn't seemed surprised. "We'll meet tonight. I hope this weather changes."

On my way home I made a detour in the rain. _Two thousand four hundred and thirty-nine steps. Unlucky._ I sighed. Drenched, I reached out and touched my extremely wet, smooth luck rock. I thought of Merma, and her request for the scroll I'd need to renege on. She said she was sick. Would she die? Guilt burned deep in my belly. After the third touch, I hurried from the water's edge, just in case Merma was nearby. I wasn't ready to face her yet. 
**CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE**

Right on schedule, just after 10:00pm Dylan waited behind the chicken coop, leaning up against the side, peeling a fresh mango.

"These are fly," he said loudly. The rain had stopped, and the sky was clear. Mist rose from the wet garden.

"Shh," I warned. Though there was a distant hiss of surf, the night was quiet.

"Sorry, my bad" he whispered. "Here." Dylan fed me a ripe piece of mango. His fingers were sticky and sweet and he let them linger in my mouth while I slowly licked off the juice from each one. My heart raced.

"Do you want to walk to Pelican Rock again," I whispered. "Or I can show you another nice spot. Although it's nicer in the day."

Dylan shook his head and smiled. "Tonight I want to show you something. I found it." Something about the look on his face sent an electric thrill up my thighs. Then he said: "Wanna get high?"

The highest point on the island was the point that led to Mayor Marlow's place, with the lighthouse being a close second.

"All the way up there? It's dark to head up to the ridge."

"No," he laughed. "You totally crack me up. I found my stash. Sometimes, I forget my own dang hiding places. Let's head to a quiet place. Somewhere by the ocean."

We crossed near smooth luck rock. Large boulder sized rocks provided plenty of places to sit and it was a nice evening, the humidity cleared by the rain, stars blinding bright pinpoints. Dylan pulled a baggie out from his pocket. True enough, it had a weed like substance in the bottom. He opened it for me to sniff. It was pungent and unpleasant.

"Are we going to eat that?" I asked.

"Nah. It's good in brownies but pretty gross on its own."

"Alright then...let's get high," I said. Getting high reminded me of the balloons. "Any word on when your dad will have the plane fixed?"

"Tomorrow," Dylan said with a sigh, glancing at me. "I'm crushed. I'd hoped it would take longer." I waited for him to add to his statement. To tell me he wanted me to go with him. But instead he was more interested in lighting the little cigarette. It made me angry.

"Here," he handed me the white, rolled up paper. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I brushed off his question. The first puff was easy, but the second and third had me coughing and heaving.

"Remind me why we're doing this? This is terrible," I said, tears streaming down my face. Dylan's eyes were red and glassy even in the moonlight.

"Fun?" he said weakly, and we both burst out laughing.

My anger left and an uncontrollable hilarity welled up in my stomach like bubbles. "Is this getting high?" I said as I reached out and grabbed his arm. "I feel strange."

"It usually takes more the first time," he said. "You must be sensitive." He turned away and coughed. It sounded like a pelican barfing. This got me giggling. After my giggles subsided, he leaned over and we kissed. He ran his hand through my hair, down my neck and it felt like it took hours for his palm to reach my lower back, warm and throbbing. Soon we were both overheated and dizzy.

We walked to a hidden spot on a dollop of sand between two boulders with a view of the ocean. Cicadas chirped in the vegetation above us, and the moon was a gorgeous slender crescent.

Dylan took off his shirt and waded out into the sea in shorts, tiptoeing through the rocks. I never swam at night and got nervous but Dylan coaxed me in. Starlight shimmered on the surface and we kissed in the water. His stubble grazed against my cheek, then my neck. When his lips reached my naked shoulder and then the top of my breast, I stopped him.

"Dylan," I said, leaning back so I could see his face, half smiling in the pale blue light. "I need to ask you something."

"Yeah, anything, shoot," he said. And as I gazed into his eyes, for a minute I forgot what I wanted to say. We paused as if time had stopped. My heart raced so fast I swore the ocean throbbed in sympathy with each beat. He was incredibly handsome.

"What is it?"

"What is what?" I asked.

"You had a question," he laughed.

"Oh right," I giggled. How much time had passed? It might have been hours. "What was the question?"

"You have something to ask me," he said, kissing me on the nose.

"Oh yes," I held onto his hands tight and took a breath. "If I could somehow go back with you. How would you feel?"

"Back home?"

I nodded.

"With me?"

"Yeah."

"How?"

"Chloe has a way of sneaking me into a shipping container. But I'm not sure what life is like for you in the Outlands. I barely know anything about it. Maybe you have someone. Or you'd rather I not come. If you don't, that's okay. I want you to be honest. There are other options for me. I don't want you to feel like this is the only one, or that you--" I rambled.

"Shh," he put his fingers on my lips. "When I found out the plane got fixed I kept wanting to tell you, but it made me wicked sad...I don't like sad. I've been wracking my brain ever since I met you how I can rescue you from this crazy island. "

"Really?"

Dylan nodded. "Wasn't it obvious? It's not that easy for me to sneak out every night. I could get in major shit from my Dad. But especially after everything you told me about your bounding--"

"Binding."

"Yeah whatever, absolutely babe, let's do it! I love it. I...love you. And you'll love Hawaii, I mean the Outlands, trust me."

"What about your Dad?"

Dylan puffed air between his lips. "I'm almost eighteen...I've been wanting to move out. I have big time plans for scoring cash. I'll make it work."

We kissed more, but we were both getting chilly so we moved back to the shore. The stars looked like tiny shards of diamonds, so bright they pricked my eyes. Dylan took out his penknife and carved our initials on a piece of driftwood surrounding it with a heart. He laid out the blanket on smooth luck rock. I stroked it three times and confessed my ritual.

"Like this?" he asked as he touched the stone. "Three times. For luck," I said. "That's dope," he said.

Dylan told me more stories about the Outlands. About fun playing video games, going to movie theaters and the amazing things you could do. It made me sad to realize that Mom and Dad lied all these years that everyone had lied to all of us all this time. And I wondered why. We drank wine from a Pepsi bottle Dylan smuggled and it was delicious and made my head spin. Still, I found myself defending my home.

"It's not so bad, you know. My best friends in the world live here." I thought of Chloe...and Ethan. "And I love my parents. I'll miss them."

"Well, you can come back and visit..." Dylan said. His slurred words made me giggle. But the reminder that I didn't need to leave forever made me happy.

"Do you like to dance?" he asked.

"I do."

"You'll love this disc then. I burned it myself." He took out a square, black piece of equipment.

"What are those?" I asked.

"Headphones," he said, putting them over my ears. He pressed a button on the box and music flooded my brain. Music like I'd never heard.

"No, not that one," he said. And he pressed another button and a slower song began.

_We are born_ , _innocent_. Incredible music filled my ears. "Who's singing this? Is she your friend...or--?"

"Sarah McLachlan? No, she ain't my friend. She's like a rock star. No one plays music here?"

"Just guitars. And a broken banjo."

"Well, do you like it?" he asked.

"I do," I said, smiling. We danced in a slow circle by the water's edge and then waded into the ocean itself. Dancing in the sand by the shore, I thought of my terrible dance with Ben and how back then I thought I'd never hold anyone I cared for. Closing my eyes, I surrendered to the music. And soon we surrendered to each other's touch.

We weren't wearing much and before long wore nothing. Lying beside smooth luck rock, we made love beneath a crescent moon as slender as Mona Lisa's smile. Afterward we lay in each other's arms enjoying the sounds of the night. The humidity had returned and a warm breeze blew off the ocean. We left our underwear to dry and changed back into our clothes.

Dylan walked over to a rock by the ocean to pee. I shut my eyes for a moment, enjoying the night air on my face. When I opened my eyes, he was gone.

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR**

I ran to the water's edge. "Dylan!" I shouted. At any moment I expected him to emerge, a trick, a joke. Unsteady on my feet, I slipped on the rocks. Then I saw him. He floated in the water on his back. Merma was there, fin glistening black and sleek in the moonlight.

Without thinking, I dove into the night water. As I swam closer, Merma smiled as she searched through his pockets.

"Let him go!"

"How sweet," she purred as she swam farther from me, staying out of reach. "Someone didn't keep her agreement." She pulled Dylan's penknife from his pocket. "And can't be trusted."

"I'm sorry, I wanted to tell you, but I didn't know how."

"Lies, lies, lies," she said, and swam further with Dylan. His head lolled back beneath the water's surface.

"You're drowning him!" I screamed, lunging toward her. She yanked his head out of the water and held the knife to his throat.

"Back off, or he dies."

"What do you want?" I said, frantic. "Just tell me, I'll do anything."

"Follow me and learn," she said with a wide, open mouth smile. Seeing her teeth glinting in the moonlight was a thousand times more terrifying than having glimpsed them in the day. She headed along the shoreline, meandering between the sharp black rocks. She swam fast, but not so fast I couldn't keep up.

We swam along a section of the island I didn't know well. Tall cliffs of rock that were only viewable from the ocean. It was a struggle against a strong current, and I began to tire. Despite being a powerful swimmer, I fell behind. Soon she had both me and Dylan, one under each arm while her powerful fin propelled us forward.

"Pathetic," she muttered as she swam us into a dank cave and pushed Dylan up onto a rock ledge. It was a cave grotto. About thirty feet wide and ten feet high, it had a pool of water that ended at a ledge leading into blackness. Fish bones and seagull carcasses littered the smooth, moist rock. _Maxie._

Now I realized that it wasn't Ben who'd killed my gull. She hadn't looked as if she'd been hit by an arrow, more like she'd been eaten. But what sent a true bolt of horror through me were the objects on the ledge. Scrap's red dog collar lay amongst several of Daniel's treasures. Daniel's aquamarine coral ring, his quartz stone and the pair of shorts he'd been wearing the day he drowned.

"Like anything you see?" Merma asked with a sly smile. "Shop's open...for trade."

"What do you want?" I said, shaking.

"You know what I want. Bring the scroll. I'll give you twenty minutes. Any longer and cutey boy dies."

"Twenty minutes, but it's too far..."

"Well, then run!" she shrieked. And she grabbed me and pulled me out of the cave and swam me back to shore where we'd started, quick as a great white or killer whale. I planted face down in the sand and stumbled to my knees, spitting out grit, blood and brine. When I turned she'd disappeared.

Heart pounding, cold and drenched I ran home. A light was on in the lighthouse. I crept up the metal stairs and when I got to the top, my breath caught in my throat. Mom lay snoring, draped over the scroll. As if sensing my intent a whirl of blue and red symbols cracked along the scroll's surface. When I grabbed it the geometric patterns crawled up my arms, and I felt them pulse through my body, throwing an eerie flickering glow on Mom's face. I was stepping back when she opened her eyes.

"Marei!"

"Mom, I'm sorry!" I said, and I ran. She chased me down the staircase but I was much faster. Fifteen minutes later, it couldn't have been more, I was back at the shore, but Merma wasn't there.

"I have it!" I shouted at the black water. Nothing. Just the steady sound of crickets in the grass, waves against rocks. Back at the lighthouse, the light illuminated, throwing its bright beam across the ocean. Mom and Dad were looking for me.

"Ah there you are," Merma said with a sly smile. "Gimme gimme," she reached for the scroll. I stepped onto dry land, leaving her floundering at the shoreline.

"Not until you bring Dylan." I paused. "And Daniel's things, his treasures." My voices quavered. "They aren't yours."

"Dylan is fine and I don't care about your trinkets anymore. I've had my fun. Give it. Now."

I shook my head. "Not until I know he's safe."

Merma gave me a look that was pure evil, but she sunk back into the water. When she returned, she had Dylan under her arm, still unconscious. She tossed Daniel's quartz stone and coral ring and rolled Dylan half onto shore where he groaned.

"Now show me the scroll or I'll drag him to the bottom of the ocean and shove him under a rock where you'll never find him," she warned.

Hand shaking, I held out the scroll. When her hand touched it, sparks flew into the air and a whirl of symbols traveled up my arm. We both cried out, me in surprise, Merma in delight. She lunged toward me with her blade, a blur of motion, pulling me to the sand. I clutched at her wrist, trying to protect myself. "Dylan!" I shouted hoping to wake him up.

She overpowered me, smirked and held the knife up. I expected her to slash me, stab me and I cringed, lying helpless half in the water half in the sand. But instead she held my hand to hers while she lifted her t-shirt and sliced her own stomach at the naval. She carved a symbol I recognized from the scroll, purple-red blood running in rivulets down her stomach to her scales. I remembered that symbol, it meant binding. It was one I hadn't been able to translate fully, the equation impossibly complex and connected to every other one.

I became transfixed by the sight of blood flowing along her scales into the water, distinct globules of red following one another; tiny, red gems. Then she was on top of me. She yanked up my wet-t-shirt and pressed the blade to my tummy.

"Stop!" I shouted, and tried to shove her back, but she was too strong. "What are you doing?"

"I want to be more like you," Merma whispered.

Pain sliced through my belly as she carved something in my flesh. Then she pressed her stomach to mine and held onto me tightly. We lay face to face. The stench of her breath was unbearable and the heat from her body burned. Pain coursed through me as my stomach joined to hers. There was a wrenching, spinning sensation inside my guts. Something terrible had occurred. A wave of blackness descended on me. And I lost consciousness.

When I came to, Merma was gone, the scroll was gone. My legs ached and my stomach was sticky with blood, lightly scarred with the symbol she'd carved, but otherwise fine. Dylan still lay where she'd left him. I couldn't tell how much time had passed. "Dylan!" I shouted. No response. I slapped my hand across his face. "Wake up!"

"Where are you? You okay?" he asked, frantic.

"I'm right here."

"Where are we?"

He was mumbling, babbling speaking nonsense, but he was alive. I pulled him onto shore. He had a large, red welt that bled as if he'd been stung by an enormous bee where it looked like Merma had bitten him. But he was coming around. I took Daniel's stone and the ring and put them in my pocket. I pulled Dylan up the incline away from the water.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You don't remember?"

"I must have smoked too much," he said. "And ouch." He winced as he touched the sore on his leg.

Hand shaking, I considered telling him. But even in my raw emotional state, my rational mind took over. Besides, I didn't know exactly what had happened either.

"You lost your balance and fell into the water, hit your head. I jumped in and pulled you out."

"Oh, man. I wanted this to be fun for you. Was it fun?"

His head rested against mine and I smoothed back his damp hair.

"Sure, parts of it."

"That's good. God, I'm so tired. And I had the craziest dream. A mermaid," he laughed. "You were attacked by a dang mermaid. She was lying on top of you and I hit her on the head with a rock and passed out again. Man, I feel like crap." He kissed me. "What time is it?"

I looked up at the sky.

"Around two I'd guess."

"Two? How long have we been here?" But wait, that was odd. I was certain we'd got here at just after eleven. How had three hours passed?

"It must have been your weeds," I said to him.

"Dumb idea. Sorry. Getting high isn't like this." We walked up onto the rocks and headed up along the path that led back to the dock. It felt good to stand on dry land. Firm ground.

"I never want to get high again," I stopped and clutched his shoulders. "And I don't want you too either. It's dangerous."

"Well--"

"Promise me. Promise me you won't."

Finally he sighed and nodded. "Okay, for you, I promise. I'm sorry our night had to end like this. That's not what I wanted. I thought it would be fun..."

We arrived at the juncture where I'd continue on back home and he'd leave to face his Dad. Even from here I could see roving flashlights at the dock, around the cabin, up at the lighthouse, and in the town square.

"Dylan!" I heard the sound of his Dad's voice shouting. He sounded far more angry than worried.

"Looks like there's trouble waiting," Dylan said, with a sigh.

My mind was all mixed up. I felt sad that what started as a wonderful night had ended this way. Not smooth luck. Bad luck. The usual bad luck but this time I'd brought it to Dylan, who I cared for and had fallen in love with. And to my parents who had shown me every kindness

"You won't want to go to the Outlands with me after this, do you?" Dylan asked.

"Well," I said. How to explain to him how badly I wanted to go with him, but how scared I was to hurt him further.

"After this horrible weed trip, I wouldn't blame you. I feel awful about it. I dunno what happened."

"It's okay." Getting high with him had not been fun, but what happened afterward had been far worse.

Dylan paused. "I wanna be honest with you. There's a reason my Dad has never brought me here. Why he always takes my bro, Scanlon. He considers me kinda, I dunno irresponsible or something. A trouble magnet he calls me."

"Like bad luck?"

Dylan gave a sideways smile. "That's a buzz kill...more like interesting luck. I think we make our own luck."

I smiled. "I wish I could believe you."

"But I can improve. For you," he said grabbing my hands. "I will. I mean I promise. Like, turn over a new leaf. A new start. I'm talking bunk. I need water. What I'm trying to say is, you're something special, Marei. This trip here, it's everything I wanted. It's been a total blast. And I want the adventure to continue. You deserve better than this place. I'm guessing no matter what our life is like it won't be boring. Right?"

I smiled. "Yeah."

"We're leaving first thing tomorrow. My Dad's nervous another storm's coming...I can try and stall him but..."

"Dylan, I can't," I said.

He looked away and went silent for a minute. Then he nodded. "I understand. I screwed up tonight."

"It's not that...it's me. I'm the one who messed up." I thought of Merma and wished I could tell him. How would I explain what happened to my mom? Her precious scroll. The costs had become too great. I was hurting people I loved.

Dylan drew me close. His heart beat strong against mine. His shirt was damp but warm from his body. He smelled of salt, ocean wind and Dylan. I tried to memorize every scent and sensation and hoped I'd never forget. Off shore, far in the distance, I saw the lights of a ship pass by the island, leaving without me.

"You're shaking," he said as he held me tight. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "I'm just scared." He stroked my face and kissed me on the temple.

"Me too," he admitted. "And I'm crazy sad to lose you even though we just met. Think about it. Please. I'll hold Dad off tomorrow as long as I can." He turned to go.

"Wait, Dylan, promise something?"

"Sure."

"Be careful. Don't go near the water's edge tonight...or at all until you leave. But especially not tonight."

He paused, and I saw more questions in his eyes, but he nodded.

"Yeah, sure. I promise. No doubt I'll have my hands full with my dad, anyway." And he put his fingers to his lips, kissed them and left. I watched him walk way. Forty-eight steps until he disappeared into the darkness. Lucky. And I hoped he _would_ have a lucky life. Without me.

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE**

All the lights were on when I got home. I entered the kitchen. Marlow stood with my mom and dad. He lunged toward me.

"Where is it?" Marlow shouted. I didn't expect Mom to involve him but maybe she'd had no choice. Marlow shoved me up against the wall and searched my pockets.

"Stop it!" Mom pulled at him. "She doesn't have it! The scroll won't fit in a pocket."

"Marlow, we'll handle this!" Dad came at him from the other side. Marlow backhanded Dad, smashing his jaw. Then he grabbed me again, yanking Daniel's quartz stone and the ring from my pocket. They clinked to the wooden floor and rolled under the kitchen table. He released his grip, and I fell.

"What?" he said, staring at Daniel's treasures. "Where did you get those?"

Mom helped me up, her eyes big brown and watery. She didn't look angry, just very sad.

"Bug, where is it? Where's the scroll?" she said, clutching my hands.

"Merma took it. She wanted to look at it, but she stole it."

"Merma?" Marlow said. "Who the hell is Merma?"

Mom sighed and closed her eyes.

"A...a mermaid," I admitted. "That's what I called her."

"So it lived?" Marlow mumbled. "Is _that_ what's been tormenting me? Those items of Daniel's left on the shore..." he trailed off. I thought back to the Daniel's t-shirt at Marlow's place. It must have been Merma.

"Torture you? Why?" I asked.

"Because they are evil creatures! Creatures of the Ancient One," Marlow hissed.

"No. Because you tossed that child into the depths as an infant and left her for drowned!" Mom said. "And if you hadn't, Shianne might still be--"

"Stop it right there," Marlow said. "Tomorrow I'll have you all banished. Scum."

Mom's eyes lit up, and she turned and slapped Marlow hard across the face. My entire life, I don't think I'd ever seen Mom mad. It was terrifying.

"Get out," she said. Then whispered something in Lemurian I couldn't understand. Marlow dropped his eyes and rushed from the room, slamming the door.

"Will he banish us?" I asked.

"Not likely," Dad growled, massaging his jaw. But he looked at Mom with worry in his eyes.

"I'm sorry." I fell into her arms. "I'm bad luck. Everything I do is unlucky. What's wrong with me?"

Mom caressed my head. "Sweetheart," she said to my dad. "It's overdue. We can't put this off forever."

When Dad returned, he had his dental kit.

"I don't need a check-up!" I protested.

"This isn't a check-up."

And he put on a pair of rubber gloves and put his fingers in my mouth. "Wider."

I felt pressure as something released. When I closed my mouth, tears crept along Mom's cheeks.

"This isn't how I wanted to show you this. But...you're so willful. So like me. I can't think of any other way."

"Show me what?" I asked, my voice sounded strange. And my tongue hit up against sharp edges. Instead of the usual smooth front teeth, there were a series of jagged points. My stomach roiled.

"What did you do to me?"

"Dad took out your bridge," Mom sighed. "To reveal your actual teeth."

I ran to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. I had teeth like Merma.

"What am I?" I shouted. "What's going on?" Just yesterday I'd planned a life with Dylan. Now it seemed a laughable joke. The silly fantasy of a monster.

"I'm a...mermaid? But I have legs." Uncontrollable shivering overtook my body.

"You're half Lemurian. Plus you were raised on land. I haven't been able to translate the part of the scroll that shows how to change states. But you have the capacity for a fin, I'm quite sure."

"I don't want a fin! And so you're not my parents?"

"I'm your biological mother," Mom said. "But you don't have a father in the strict sense."

"That's not true," Dad said with fierce pride. "You are my daughter and always will be."

"Well, I meant in the genetic sense. Bug, you were born from an egg. One of two mermaid eggs I found hidden on the island. Swallowed and hatched in my belly. Birthed same as a regular child."

"So am I like...Merma?"

"That poor girl was Shianne's daughter. Born from the second egg," Mom explained. "But when Shianne had her, Marlow was so horrified he drowned the child. Or so he thought. Shianne jumped down the well two days later. But we hid you, pretended you were a natural born girl."

"That's why I was the only child born on Alabaster Island?"

Mom nodded. "Alabaster Island is the origin of all mer creatures. None other can be born on these rocks. And this island holds many other secrets still, I'm sure. Mer creatures aren't inherently bad. Shianne and I wanted to prove that if mer-folk were raised with kindness, they wouldn't become evil. You're proof that the Mermaid Curse can be ended."

"I don't know what that is and I don't want to know." I clutched my face with my hands.

"Mermaids are born filled with wonderful, pure heart energies extremely large but extraordinarily delicate. They require love, care, gentleness and stability...or that beautiful energy can turn to its opposite. That poor mermaid girl. I can't imagine her suffering...That's the Mermaid Curse."

It was too much.

"Shh, my love," she consoled me as she continued to stroke my hair, still caked with bits of seaweed, salt and ocean debris. "You're burning up. Let's get you into a bath and then bed."

After my bath, Dad showed me how to snap the special bridge back into place. It comforted me to have my normal, smooth teeth again. Tucked into bed, the cool, cotton fabric felt delightful against clean, dry skin. My body trembled beneath the comforter and Mom brought me slices of mango and peppermint tea with honey.

"Not so fast," she said. "You'll burn yourself." I hadn't realized how thirsty I was. The mint tea scalded the roof of my mouth, both hot and cold at the same time. Mom lay on the bed and held me close.

"I was going to go with him. I wanted to sneak away with Dylan." I confessed. "But not anymore. I was dumb."

"That's okay," she said. "That's my girl. You'll be alright. We'll get through this."

"I love him Mom, I really love Dylan." I buried my face in her shoulder and cried until I fell into a deep, feverish sleep.

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX**

When I woke up I still had a raging fever. I shuffled out of bed.

"What time is it? Is there Assembly?"

"You're not going anywhere today," Mom said. "And there's another storm coming."

Exhausted, I forced myself to ascend to the top of the lighthouse. _Eighty-nine steps. Unlucky._ The little plane sat moored in the harbor, a bustle of activity. Although the sky sprawled blue above the island, dark clouds lurked on the far horizon.

"Marei!" Mom called from downstairs. "Get back to bed. You should be resting."

I trained Mom's telescope toward the docks. My heart lurched. Dylan helped load the plane, muscles rippling in a gray tank-top as he fought with a cumbersome crate. Hair disheveled by the ocean breeze, he paused and wiped his brow. Then he shielded his eyes with his hand and looked toward the lighthouse.

Perhaps he wondered if I'd changed my mind? If I'd leave with him? The escape crate hadn't been brought down yet. It would be the last one loaded. Ben and Chloe no doubt waited for me behind Chloe's house, wondering where I was.

I had to say goodbye to Dylan. I needed him to understand I'd always remember him, even though we hadn't known each other for long. Plus, he said he'd try stalling his dad. I didn't want him doing that for nothing. For me to cause more trouble than I already had. Mom blocked me as I was heading out the door.

"I need to see Dylan" I said, frantic that I'd miss the plane. "And I have to tell Chloe and to call the plan off."

Mom sighed. "You'll make yourself sicker."

"Please. I've got to," I clutched her arm in desperation. Sighing, she nodded.

I ran along the ridge taking the fast way. One thousand and forty-three steps when Chloe stopped me. _Lucky._

"Where were you? We've got everything ready! C'mon!" She grasped my hand and dragged me with her. In my delirious state I was too weak to fight.

"Chloe...stop..." I kept saying. But I was too tired to do anything but follow the momentum of down...running down the hill, following Chloe, sinking, sinking, sinking. I fell.

"Are you okay?" Chloe helped me up. "I'm sick, Chloe...."

But Chloe's mission was to unite true love. When we arrived behind her home, Ben and Ethan waited. I hadn't realized Ethan planned to help as well, but it made me happy.

"Goddess where the hell have you been?" Ben whispered. "It's gonna look kinda strange for us to be running with this crate. But we'll nearly have to." He motioned for me to get inside.

Chloe had put plenty of extra cushioning in the box. It looked comfortable as far as shipping crates went. In fact, it seemed immensely appealing right now to lie down. To leave all my problems behind and be shipped off with Dylan. But I couldn't. Alabaster Island and its residents were stuck with me and my un-smooth luck. I would not inflict it on the boy I loved.

"I'm not going," I said, unsteady on my feet. "I changed my mind."

Running down to the dock I heard the whine of the plane's propellers revving. By the time I arrived, it was too late. The little plane maneuvered out between the rocks and picked up speed on the open sea. She gracefully took to the air and circled around in the blue sky, taking a pass over the island.

I swung my arms wide. "Goodbye Dylan! I love you! Goodbye!" shouting as loud as I could. Dylan's hand waved vigorously from the plane's window. The aircraft banked left and headed out to sea and I fell hard to my knees, shivering with fever and grief. When the seaplane became smaller than a tiny speck of dust on the horizon, Ben came and lifted me up. He brought me home where I ended up back in bed, passed out. 
**CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN**

My fever broke and the next day I attended Assembly.

"We must be vigilant!" Mayor Marlow shouted at us in the Assembly room. "These creatures will do whatever they can to destroy us."

He paced back and forth with a loaded pistol. He'd forced Ben to carry his bow with him everywhere and it was slung over his shoulder as he sat next to me. Gone was the animosity that plagued Ben and I earlier. It was replaced with a quiet wariness but at the same time mutual respect.

With every word from Mayor Marlow I felt another pang in my stomach. My tongue explored my bridge for the thousandth time. I was one of the creatures he spoke about. Mom figured Merma would be long gone, having gotten what she wanted. Nevertheless, the island's residents were on full alert. Every night Dad manned the lighthouse, arcing its light over the ocean, searching. No one was allowed in the water, not even during the day. When Ben and Cunningham went fishing, Cunningham used his rod while Ben sat poised on the edge with his bow, scanning the water for the mermaid.

"What does she look like?" Ben whispered to me. Word had quickly gotten around that not only had I seen the mermaid, I'd somehow allowed her to steal the scroll. Needless to say, I wasn't the most popular girl on the island.

"If I'd thought all this through, maybe I would have left after all," I told Chloe and Ethan who still stuck by me. "You should have," Chloe said. "We had the plan ready to go. I don't think I'll ever understand."

"I probably won't either!" I laughed, and she looked at me strangely. But something had shifted in me. Despite, or maybe because of, all the tough times and my new secret, I felt more...solid. Now I understood a bit better why I was so sensitive, the reason I lost touch and walled myself off from reality from time-to-time. And even my counting rituals made more sense. Anything to distract myself from my overwhelming feelings.

But those rituals were slowly being replaced with something I hadn't had much of in my life. A sense of humor. I was becoming more like my mom. And maybe more Lemurian. Looking back, ironically it was that new found sense of humor that led to Mayor Marlow's death.

Dad warned me not to play with my bridge, but the allure was irresistible. My actual teeth were so sharp and I couldn't stop inspecting them. One night, Mom and Dad went down to the village to meet with Marlow, or so I thought. I stood in the bathroom mirror examining my new choppers. Now I knew why I loved fish so much. But it was an adjustment, I had to admit.

It was hard not to see Merma's face in mine, although we actually looked quite different. My features were much softer, more refined. In fact, even with the teeth I don't think I was being too generous to say I looked gentle, even attractive. Kittens have sharp teeth too after all. _Why couldn't I still be adorable?_ I chuckled. A floorboard creaked.

When I turned, Mayor Marlow stood in the kitchen doorway staring into the bathroom, horror on his face. I scrambled for my bridge, but fumbled and it clattered into the porcelain sink. Anyway, it was too late. He knew my secret. Snarling, he raised his pistol. I slammed the door and locked it. Then I ducked as a bullet tore through wood sending splinters flying onto the tiled floor.

"Open up!" he shouted, and the door trembled in its frame. My eyes darted around the room but I didn't have any way of defending myself. "Mom! Dad!" I shouted. But they were down in the village. I ran to the window and pushed out the screen.

Shoving myself through, I dropped to the ground outside and made a run for it. I turned just in time to see Marlow exit and chase after me, his face purple with fury. A bullet whizzed past and I stumbled. As I got closer to the village I saw that there were lights on and commotion everywhere.

"Maybe it went that way!" I heard Cunningham shout in the distance. "Search by the docks!" Kassandra replied back. Merma must have returned. Rounding the bend I nearly plowed into Ben. He grabbed me.

"No, please! He's going to kill me!" I begged. Ben's eyes widened when he saw my teeth in the moonlight.

"Out of the way Ben. Now!" Marlow shouted behind us. Ben let me go and stepped aside. I made a break for it. But I lost my stride and twisted my ankle on a rock. I fell hard. Footsteps rushed behind me. Marlow stood, mouth open wide. He raised his pistol. Behind him, Ben watched transfixed.

"No," I whimpered. "Please, please don't!"

"Evil creature," Marlow said pointing the gun at my face. I closed my eyes and prepared for the sound of a gun shot. But instead of an explosion I heard a sharp twang, and then a thud. My eyes flew open. Marlow lay face down in the sand and rocks, an arrow straight through his back. Ben stood white and trembling, looking at his bow in disbelief, as if unable to believe what he'd just done.

Hands shaking, Ben helped me up. Then he turned, shell-shocked and walked down the hill.

"Ben, wait!" I called out. But he kept on walking. I knelt by Marlow and put my hand to his neck. No pulse. When I took my hand away, it was sticky with blood. Bile rose in the back of my throat.

Down at smooth luck rock I washed my hands furiously in the ocean and splashed my face with water. Everything had happened so quickly.

Then I thought of Merma. I looked out to the water. Where was she? Behind me the lighthouse lamp flickered on, off, on, off. Mom and Dad were back, it looked like they were sending some type of signal.

A chill went up my spine at what I noticed next. Footprints led from the water. _I want to be more like you_. I remembered Merma saying. It hadn't made any sense then. But now I realized Merma had attempted to take nearly everyone I loved. And it seemed she'd returned one last time.

I raced up to the lighthouse. Our front door hung open. The kitchen window was broken. Shards of glass were scattered across the linoleum floor. A spoon lay up against the far wall. Pea soup ran down the legs of the kitchen chair forming a green puddle.

Mom moaned and then I heard a voice. "Where is she?" Merma shouted. "Quit squirming or I'll smash you again!"

I grabbed a cleaver off the kitchen counter and crept into the living room. Merma had Mom pinned to the floor. Mom struggled, clutching at her shirt, trying to grab something beneath it. Merma whirled around to face me.

Instead of a fin, she now had legs. Patches of scales remained, but they were normal legs. And she wore Daniel's bathing shorts.

If only I had the ability to move as quickly as her. But back then, I didn't. I hadn't learned. She jumped up and slammed me against the wall knocking the breath from my lungs. Then she grabbed the cleaver.

"Ah there you are," she snarled. "and this is just what I needed. Now will you come peaceful or will I need to knock you out?" Merma asked.

"Don't go, Marei!" Mom shouted. "I was wrong! She _needs_ you to translate the scroll. Without you it's meaningless." Merma flung the cleaver and Mom dodged just in time. It embedded itself in the wood floor. Merma smashed me across the face with her fist and I fell, head spinning. Pain raged through my scalp as I felt myself being dragged by the hair.

"Marei! Take this!" Mom screamed. She threw a small object toward me. I tried to catch it, but missed. The object rolled across the kitchen floor, humming and buzzing. It was Mom's octopus necklace. I tried to lunge for it but the pain in my scalp blinded me with tears. Merma dragged me out.

"Stay where you are, bitch!" Merma shouted over her shoulder while she forced me up at knifepoint. We marched over the island's spine and down to the wishing well.

Merma's breath was foul like five-day-old fish left to decay on the sun. Her t-shirt had become more rotten and torn. One of her breasts hung out of a gap and Daniel's shorts were filthy with seaweed and grime. She was horrifying, and I also felt a deep pity for her. We entered past the little blue picket fence, gray in the moonlight, and stood at the opening to the well.

"Jump," Merma said.

"Into the well?" I asked, terrified. Merma smiled and pushed me closer to the edge.

"Choose...or be pushed," she warned.

_Falling. Falling. Falling._ To where?

"No," I begged. "We can figure this out." I tried to reason with her although I didn't have any idea as to how. She forced me back while I clutched at the stones that surrounded the yawning black hole. One crumbled off beneath my hand and fell down into the infinite, dark, silence.

My muscles trembled with effort, but I couldn't compete with her strength fueled by such anger and rage. I had no idea what to do, then it came to me. My last chance. _The song_. I began to sing.

_La dee la la dee dee..._

I shut my eyes and dove into my voice. My heartsong. It was the melody that I'd sung to Ethan, Chloe and Daniel all those years ago. I allowed myself to feel love and gratitude. It poured from my heart and filled the air until I forgot where I was. When I opened my eyes a tiny rainbow orb of light floated near my chest. A terrible heaving sound wracked Merma's throat. It sounded like guttural retching. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

She was crying. Merma put her fingers to her cheeks and brought them away in astonishment. She tasted her fingers. Crying was obviously new to her.

"What have you done to me?" she screeched. "You tricked me! You cursed me."

Behind me I detected motion. Ben stood on the ridge. She turned. Taking advantage of her distraction, I pushed her aside and scrambled away. Ben shouldered his bow. Merma shrieked in rage when she saw Ben with an arrow pointed at her heart. Meanwhile, I backed far away from her and the well. The muscles on Ben's right arm went taut ready to fire.

"Don't!" I shouted.

And in that moment of distraction Ben hesitated. Merma leapt into the well. The arrow shot over her head missing by fractions of an inch. I'm not sure why I shouted. I'll always wonder.

Perhaps it was the fact that when she cried for the first time, I saw myself in her. I realized that I'd had much better luck than I gave myself credit for. After all, poor Merma, she'd had some truly bad luck. If the situation had been reversed, it could have been me facing that arrow. 
**CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT**

I lay on my bed. A light afternoon drizzle made slow, sparkling trails down the bedroom panes. It had been three weeks since Dylan left, Marlow died and Merma tried to kidnap me. I still had not recovered.

Despite my lingering depression, I'd thought life would settle somewhat, but it had not. If anything it had become even more confusing if that were possible. Yes, as the new mayor, Mom slowly made changes to the island. She was a kinder, gentler and much more open leader than Marlow. Only Ben knew about me being part mermaid...for now. Most believed that Marlow's death had been a dreadful accident. But every day was a new struggle with emotions, and since last week, nausea. One evening two nights ago, Mom had come in and stroked my bare belly with her warm hand. She woke me with a lullaby she sung to me as a young child.

_Sing mermaids, let the two tribes hear. Song for the ocean vast and clear. Atlantean twins, children of the deep. Down in Lemuria, the sacred gift sleeps._

"What is it, Mom?" I asked her. "What's wrong with me?"

"Twins," she'd whispered and took my hand.

"Are you sure?" I'd asked.

"Have you and Ben...?" At that question I'd shaken my head and almost laughed.

"Dylan," I said.

There had only been Dylan. I carried his twins. Our twins. Girls, Mom had told me. Just when it had seemed life might settle into a slightly more predictable path, I found I was pregnant. I continued to watch the trails of raindrops when a buzzing noise outside caused me to bolt upright. I knew that sound. It was the sound of a seaplane was landing.

Fighting nausea, I raced up the stairs to the lighthouse. Sure enough, I saw the plane, Dylan's plane, circle for landing and my heart _kathudded_. Could it be a coincidence that Dylan was arriving so soon after I found out I was pregnant with our daughters? No, I didn't think so.

"Why are they back so early?" I asked Dad. I'd hoped to see Dylan in a few months. Hoped and feared. I worried he might not remember me by then. But I didn't expect to them back this soon.

"Well, they lost half the cargo last time," Dad said. "Marlow was furious. I'm not sure what they agreed."

That didn't matter. I raced to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. Then I hurried into my room and changed into my favorite t-shirt and nicest pair of shorts. Nothing sexy like the Outland girls wore, but they were the best I could do.

When I arrived at the dock, Ben and Cunningham stood at the edge of the dock throwing out a rope. Dylan's father stepped out on to the pontoon and stretched. "Well, here we are again as agreed," he said, not sounding pleased.

I walked to the edge of the dock, trying not to smile like a crazy person. And when I looked up, the smile faded. A pudgy kid hopped onto the pontoon, scowling in the sunlight. Scanlon. I'd forgotten about him. Dylan's half-brother. The boy who usually came.

After what happened I didn't blame Dylan for not wanting to return. After all, he'd asked me to come with him and I'd refused. Looking back at it, I'd handled it badly. An enormous weight lodged in my gut nearly doubling me over with gloom.

I turned, not wanting them to see my tears. Above the docks, I sat on a rock, watching them unload. Dylan's half-brother and father brought several boxes to the little cabin where they'd stay overnight. It seemed a long time ago that I'd passed by that shack and met Dylan. So much had happened since then.

Half-an hour later Ben came and took a break from unloading, plopping on the rock beside me. We'd had our stint together on Honey Moon Island and became friends. Beneath Ben's rough, obnoxious exterior lay a gentle, smart kid, and I never realized. He put his arm around me and I leaned against him.

"Sorry," he said. He knew who I'd hoped would be on the plane.

"Me too," I said. "And guess what?" Ben looked at me, questioning. Out in the distance a pelican floated low over the water, skimming the surface. "I found out I'm pregnant." I felt his arm tense against me.

"But we only...kissed," he stammered.

When Ben and I stayed on Honeymoon Island together, we _did_ kiss one night. I can't even remember why. Perhaps curiosity. It did nothing for either of us but break us up into a fit of raucous laughter. Now I laughed again.

"No! Not from the kiss," I slapped his leg. "Dylan. From before. My mom told me. Twins."

"Wow," Ben said. He was still letting it sink in when his father interrupted.

"Ben!" Cunningham shouted. "We've got more loading to do, get your ass down here. And I have something for Marei."

* * *

Sitting on smooth luck rock I opened the envelope with trembling hands. Dylan's writing was hard to read, but it expressed his personality. Large scrawls and scratched out words. There were several places where he'd started a sentence and then changed his mind. Three different colors of pen and a delicate, careful sketch of me. No one had ever drawn me before. He had talent.

Dylan wrote that he'd thought of me every day. That he'd been pathetic and couldn't _stop_ thinking of me, actually. And now his friends were sick of hearing about our time together and questioned whether I even existed. He also wrote that he'd begged to come back with his Dad, but his father had refused after what happened last time. _How can we see each other again? I miss you. Don't make me swim!!! Love, D._ I held the letter to my chest and closed my eyes, letting the sun warm my face.

The last night I saw Dylan, he told me we made our own luck. And that good or bad...what had he said? That it was a matter of perspective. Well, it was time to make luck of my own. After all, I was the Mayor's daughter.

On a blanket beneath the mango tree I had an emotional talk about leaving with Mom and Dad. But with Dylan and my twins coming, Mom relented. And so they gave me their blessing to go to the Outlands.

Mom told me that with the scroll stolen, we were no longer bound to the island and could leave without becoming ill. We weren't prisoners any more. I acted surprised, but I'd already guessed as much. After the strange experience I'd had when Merma had swam with me into the open ocean, I'd wondered if the scroll wasn't somehow involved. I wasn't proud to admit it, but it had become a secret hope from the moment that Merma had first asked to see it. In that way we were complicit.

"Will my twins be like me....or like Dylan?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," Mom said. "They're Lemurian, Mer-folk and human. I don't believe that's ever happened before. That's why they'll be special." Even she looked nervous.

Mom talked to Dylan's father, and it took little arranging to get him to take me back. Perhaps he'd gotten sick of hearing his kid moan about me too. Or maybe he was more romantic than he appeared beneath his dirty baseball cap and three day stubble.

We went to Pelican Cave, and I told Chloe and Ethan. I'd leave the next day. Sun shone in the cave making it warm and cozy. Chloe beamed at me, cheeks flushed and glowing. Ethan and her both gave me a big, long group hug.

"Well, I guess that beats travel by box," Ethan said.

"But I put a lot of work into that..." Chloe reminded me. "It would have been comfortable." She'd never let me forget.

"I'll always be grateful!" I said kissing her hard. "And I'll miss you guys so much."

Afterward, I found Ben near the docks. We stood alone not far from the place we'd fought after our first dance together. I was ready to tell him my plans, but he stopped me.

"About the twins," he said, his voice rough. "If it's easier, we can say they're ours." A flash of fear crossed his face. _Easier for who?_ I wondered.

I felt his pain and though we'd been arch-enemies once, now I wished I could take that pain away from him. For a moment I had doubts. Should I stay? It would be so easy. Pretend. Stay with the familiar rather than venture to the unknown. But it was a brief thought.

I'd played safe plenty. It was time to test my luck. And whenever Ben felt ready, I think it was time for him too. I almost told him that he should be open about his love for Carlson. That my Mom would understand and the island too, I hoped. Then I thought of my teeth.

Truthfully, I wasn't ready to show everyone my mermaid side. For now I'd keep it private. Not completely hidden anymore, at least not from myself. That was enough for now. Different was hard. Who was I to tell him what to do?
**CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE**

The night before I left, Mom hung her octopus pendant around my neck. "Take this," she said.

"What is it?" I asked. I knew this was more than just a piece of beautiful jewelry.

"It's called an orient," she explained. "It will help show you were you need to go."

Other than the pendant, Mom didn't give me much advice. "I haven't lived in the Outlands for twenty years, but there's plenty to enjoy," she explained. The only real advice she gave was a request, and it was strange.

"Donate blood," she said.

"My blood?" I asked.

"Yes, Dylan will explain where to go," she assured me. "The night before Merma took the scroll, I'd started a translation. I might be wrong, but it could be important and won't do you any harm."

Next morning, the entire island saw me off on my journey. Mom and Dad pulled together a huge, impromptu celebration. The lighthouse stood tall, white and proud. Multiple sets of hands waved from below and I waved back frantically while the plane took to the sky.

As the plane circled over the island, my home for seventeen years, I spotted smooth luck rock and the remains of the boat. I'd forgotten to visit smooth luck rock to touch her one last time. But I let that go. She'd be okay. I'd be okay.

And I noticed something I'd never realized. All the tiny depressions in the rocks, full with rain from the day before, glinted in the sun and formed a pattern; a constellation. I recognized it from somewhere. It linked to the scroll although I didn't understand how. Closing my eyes as the plane headed over the Big Ocean, I allowed that constellation to burn itself in my mind. Perhaps one day it would come in handy.

* * *

Back when we were on Alabaster Island, Dylan confessed that he was a trouble magnet. He said he was irresponsible. At least according to his dad. But when I showed up in the Outlands unannounced that day, he threw himself into my arms, tears in his eyes. That didn't surprise me too much. In his letter he'd admitted how much he missed me. But it did send a warm bloom of happiness through my heart.

Days later, after I'd settled in, I worked up the courage to tell him. "Dylan. I'm not sure how to say this, so I'll just start: I'm pregnant. Twin girls. Ours."

That seventeen-year-old boy was barely fazed.

"Twins, wow," he said, eyes wide. Surprised, yes, but neither doubting nor questioning how I found out this soon. "Sweet, we need our own place then."

My adventures on the island prepared me for a lot, but not for the experience of birthing two unusually large and healthy baby girls. When you twins were born and your teeth came in, I saw they were human. Perfect, smooth, white, human teeth. Dylan got bewildered when I laughed and cried and tugged on them.

"Wow, you like their teeth," he said.

"They have _your_ smile!" I said, kissing him on the mouth. Meanwhile, I kept my secret. Honestly, I would have been fine with mermaid teeth, but having Dylan's avoided the need for a lot of explanation. I still hadn't told him everything.

Dylan became a wonderful father. Not once did he get high again. In fact I didn't even see him drink. I felt happy in my new life and relieved to find that the Outlands weren't as awful as people said. Money was scarce though, and I took a job to help pay the bills. But there was plenty of fun to be had too. A lifetime of movies and television shows I'd never watched. Shopping malls, clothes of every color and description and new friends to enjoy them with.

One night Dylan asked about the slender, white pattern of scars on my belly. The ones Merma gave me that fateful night. They were too deliberate to be accidental, and he wondered if they were part of some strange tribal island ritual. Perhaps they were in some way. And back then I had no idea what the symbol meant. I brushed him off with an excuse and he let it go.

Just before your fifth birthday, I kept my promise to Mom, your grandma, and brought you back to Alabaster Island. Dylan wanted to come, but it would have involved too much explanation. On the island, I separated my octopus pendant in two and gave you each a half just as Mom instructed. Then we flew back to the Outlands. Home.

This story should have ended right there, or at least continued in a predictable way: sending you girls to school, raising a family; my new life. But that old un-smooth luck followed me somehow.

Late one night, shortly after we returned, a melody entered my head. Soft at first, I hoped it was my imagination. But it became louder.

_la la dee dee dee la La_.

It was my heartsong sung backwards. Merma. She had found me. Daniel, Dylan, Mom and Dad, even my dog...she'd hunted or attacked most of those I loved. I didn't dare let her find you girls. Plus I knew what she wanted most: Me.

So I followed her song. It led to the ocean of course. And this time He accompanied her: The Ancient One.

I allowed them to take me with a promise: To leave you two alone. He kept me locked away for ages, it might have been years. When I eventually escaped, I found myself lost in a maze with no exit.

So now I crouch here whispering into Daniel's rainbow shell. A story shell. And I hope you understand why I left. When you twins were born, I thought that I'd be ready to explain the whole story one day. But I made excuses and that day never came. Now I realize that I was scared. As much as I trusted Dylan, I didn't trust him (or perhaps myself) enough.

_I hear him coming._ I'm not sure when you'll listen to this. Or if I'll still be alive. But remember this: fiercely live the choices nearest to your hearts and know that I love you. Sometimes I forget everything that happened. Sometimes I forget who I am. That's why I wanted to tell you what happened...and warn you before it's too late: No matter what anyone says, _do not_ try to find me.

<<<<>>>>

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**Next in the Mermaid Curse Series:** ** _The Atlantis Twins._** **Find out what happens when Marei's twin girls are born:**

**Backcover:**

Seventeen-year-old Alysa Grey is certain her twin sister is alive, even though Hawaii Search and Rescue gave up long ago. When she meets Nate, a handsome surfer, he offers her a chance for pre-summer escape.

Alysa convinces her best friend Charlie to sneak away with her to Hina, where Nate lives with a mysterious group called the Ocean Alliance. But Nate is not who he seems, and Alysa ends up on a dangerous voyage. She discovers that her unusual powers and lost sister are connected to a sinister force determined to destroy her

As she uncovers her past, a traumatic revelation threatens her sanity. Everything will depend on Alysa embracing her truth, no matter how painful.

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