A hand wrapped around my arm and gently dragged me down the steps I had just taken, pulling me away from the majestic building.
“You can’t go there.” The voice spoke again. “Hello? Genevieve?” Her hand waved before my eyes until my mind decided to come back to reality.
“What?”
“I said, you can’t go there.”
“Why?”
“No why’s, no but’s. That place looks magical, trust me I know, I have eyes. But it holds a tragic story and unsolved disappearances.”
“Unsolved disappearances?”
“People, mostly young children, have been lured up there by something unknown for centuries and never come back. We have an unspoken rule that says: If you feel drawn, no you’re not. If you feel the pull, no you don’t.”
“What does that even mean?”
“That whenever passing this place, you have to ignore everything that is not the clear path.” She says, pointing to the path we were walking on earlier, and for some reason, it seemed to be farther away than it was before I left it.
She takes my hand in hers, and I follow immediately without arguing, Daffodil looking up at me with worry in her eyes.
“Just follow me, okay, we’re almost outside of Mermaid Lake. This part can feel almost haunted sometimes, that’s why no one’s here.” She explains.
I do as she says and try my best to stay focused, but it’s hard when the only thing that consumes my brain is the thought of the missing children she just told me about. The children who had innocently walked up the long staircase, totally blinded by the beauty of the gazebo and never returned home to their dear mothers.
What exactly was it that made them disappear and why was it mostly children? Did they feel the same feeling I felt? The pulling of something warm, almost like someone would take my hand and drag me into a world of joy and pureness?
It was a question that I would never get the answer to, a mystery that would never be solved.
Pushing the heaviness of the poor kids out of my mind, I try my hardest to think of something else, something that could bring me a feeling of home. And while I thought that it would be Esme or Ector’s face that would flash before my eyes, it was actually my mother’s. It was my mother’s face, her big smile with the small gap between her front teeth.
It was a warmth that I was longing for, to be curled up in her arms.
Chapter 36
Genevieve
As the sign that let us know that we’re now exiting Mermaid Lake comes into view, a new hope lights up inside me. A new flame starts burning at the thought of how close I am to finally get her back.
I can’t wait to fly into her arms and feel her warm scent of plum sweeping past my nostrils, to drag my fingers through her soft brown and purple hair, and to feel her heartbeat.
“What did you think of Mermaid Lake?” My new friend asks me.
“Oh, it was beautiful. Just like a fairytale.” I smile and my body spins around, dancing forward.
“I’m glad you liked it.”
As we exit the small town, a new path of seashells and pearls appears for us to follow, yet this time, there were glass beads too.
“Why are there glass beads?” The question comes out with curiosity.
“You’ll soon learn why.” She answers with a smirk as she keeps her secrets to herself.
Walking beside each other, now on our way to Mermaid City, she tells me more about her life and childhood, and I do the same. It felt good having someone safe walking with me, showing the way forward.
I was prepared to slaughter every little thing that came into my way after Ector died in my arms. I was at war, not only with myself, mentally, but also with everyone else. It was the first time I felt such deep hatred towards others, so deep that I felt ready to make their heart stop beating.
It felt good speaking the truth with her and not having to keep everything to myself. Sometimes that’s all you need, to speak with someone. And I’m so thankful that she’s not only a good listener but that she really takes in every single word I speak, and thinks about it before she answers. She doesn’t minimize my feelings nor make me feel dumb for having them.
