Okay, coming down here had been a really bad idea.
Esme and Maya joined her a few moments later, neither one of them noticing that she was in distress.
“Look, there’s the chalk mark they told us they’d be using,” Maya said, aiming her headlamp at a blue powder marking on the left side of the tunnel wall. “All we have to do is follow the marks and we should be able to easily find them.”
Esme and Maya started to move down the tunnel, only to stop when they realized Jenna wasn’t following. They hurried back, apparently picking up on the fact that there was something wrong with her.
“Hey, are you okay?” Esme asked softly, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.
At least Jenna thought there was a hand on her shoulder. Her head was spinning so much from lack of oxygen that she wasn’t sure of anything.
“She’s hyperventilating,” Maya said a moment later. “I think she’s having a panic attack from being down here.”
Both women moved closer—which didn’t help at all—and started trying to help her, providing suggestions such as “try to slow your breathing,” “focus on a happy thought,” and “calm down.”
Unfortunately, their advice only made her more anxious.
Ignoring the well-intentioned but ultimately worthless guidance, Jenna fell back on the techniques her therapist had taught her for dealing with an anxiety attack.
Three things you can see,she whispered in the recesses of her mind.Blue chalk mark, the concrete wall of the tunnel, and mud.
Three sounds you can hear,she said to herself next.Esme and Maya’s voices, the hum of vehicles moving on the streets nearby, and the trickle of water running across the floor of the tunnel.
Three parts of your body you can move,Jenna thought last as fresh air finally started finding its way into her lungs.Toes, fingers, and tongue.
Jenna had to run through the whole 333 rule a second time before she felt enough control to lift her head and look at Esme and Maya, letting them know she was okay.
“Sorry about that,” she whispered. “Coming down here hit me harder than I thought it would.”
Esme exchanged looks with Maya. “Maybe your panic attack is a sign that we should go back up topside and wait for the guys there.”
Jenna only had to think of Trevor being in trouble somewhere down in the sewer for a few seconds before shaking her head. “No, we should keep going. I just need you guys to talk to me and help keep me out of my own head.”
She expected the standard response to her request—what should we talk about? But instead, Maya nodded and moved up close so she was walking right beside her, Esme on their heels.
“I saw a mermaid when I was fourteen,” Esme said suddenly, the announcement so unexpected that it definitely had the desired effect. Because Jenna certainly wasn’t thinking about being underground anymore. “It changed my life and is why I ended up becoming part of HOPD.”
Jenna kept walking but slowed a little as she glanced at Esme. “You’re not just making that up to get me talking, are you?”
“No, I’m not making it up—promise,” Esme said with a shake of her head. “My family went to Catalina on vacation that summer. Isaac and I were out walking along the pier at Avalon Harbor when I heard a splash in the water, then a giggle. I thought it was somebody diving off one of the boats in the harbor. Maybe even skinny-dipping.”
“Let me guess.” Maya let out a soft laugh. “You immediately went running to see so you could get a free show?”
“I was very mature for my age—and curious.”Esme shrugged. “Regardless, I ran ahead, and when I reached the end of the pier, there was a girl in the water about my age with really long, platinum-blond hair. She giggled and waved at me, then surged out of the water, doing a complete flip in the air. That’s when I saw her tail—as in her mermaid tail, scales and all.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t someone wearing a fake mermaid tail?” Jenna asked curiously. “You know, like the ones they use in those mermaid shows in Vegas.”
Esme shook her head. “I’ve seen those shows and her tail wasn’t like the costumes they wear. She surged ten feet out of the water, then slapped the water so hard with her tail that she soaked me where I stood twenty feet away on the pier. That was no fake tail.”
“What happened then?” Maya asked eagerly. “Did Isaac see her, too?”
“He ran up seconds after I got splashed,” Esme said, checking the wall to find the next chalk mark. “But all he was able to catch was the mermaid’s tail and part of her back.”
“Did he realize what she was?” Maya asked, practically bouncing up and down now as she walked. “Did he know she was a mermaid?”
“No.” Esme smiled a little, like she was replaying the memory. “He didn’t realize it was a mermaid until I told him.”
“Did he believe you’d really seen a mermaid?” Jenna asked, suddenly feeling out of breath again, but for a completely different reason this time.
