Back on dry land, from the comfort of Tristan’s messy room, Rhea rubbed a sponge soaked in vinegar across her new knife. It hadn’t been open when it hit her, but the craftsmanship was terrible. A lumpy, metal ridge near where the blade folded made it difficult to open and close, as well as rough to hold. The source of the glow seemed to be veins of something resin-like that ran along parts of the handle and the top edge of the blade. Tristan was still on the internet trying to identify what it was made of.
“Did you get it any cleaner yet?” He sat next to her with his laptop and stared intently at the tiny blade.
“Yeah, it’s kind of clean… almost.” She tried again to rub away some greenish-gray spots on the side of the blade. Knives weren’t really her thing, but luckily, her best friend loved them. His parents forbade him from collecting any, but he was knowledgeable.
Closing the laptop, Tristan grinned like he had a big announcement to make. “I can’t figure out what it’s made of, when it’s from, or what it was doing in a shoe.” Rhea cocked her head and pouted.
“So it’s weird?”
Tristan took the knife and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a frost stone identical to Rhea’s and held the objects side by side. The colors and textures looked similar, although there was no conclusive way to determine if they matched. The orange resin looked like a lighter-color version of the red that lined the pendant, but both the knife and the necklace were somewhat worn and dirty. The frost stone, in fact, was suspiciously filthy for having just been repaired.
“More things exist in the deep cities than we get to see. They keep it quiet, but you know how crazy smart they have to be to make those bio-scanner things they’re always bugging us with, right?” Tristan’s eyes were practically glowing. “And I think I know a few nerds we can talk to!”
“You are a nerd…” Rhea snatched the knife back. “Now what was the thing you wanted to tell me about this morning?”
A few days passed like they were nothing. Marina Splash reopened. Hazel kept entertained in her free time by answering texts about cryptids, failing to come up with useful information on Clyde Ball and tearing through bags of potato chips like a starved coyote. Work was mind-numbing, but some of her coworkers were finally working on plans for a karaoke night.
According to Maddy, Suzie-Lou had taken to eating at her aunt’s café every other day for lunch. The tarps that had washed ashore were long gone, lost in storage at some government facility. The psychic, however, still insisted daily that there was a connection between her and their source. It almost made up for how normal things had been with the distinct lack of paranormal activity.
On her way out of work, Hazel heard a familiar voice and fell into a bit of a daze. “Come over here…” Near the park exit, standing with Iggy, were two even more familiar figures. Tall, awkward and suddenly putting off vaguely gay vibes, Tristan was draped over her coworker in a clearly unappreciated half-hug. The source of the voice though…
“That’s right, here!” A full face of makeup made her seem much more approachable, but the speaker was the same girl she’d seen at the bus stop and the park. She was waving and smiling. Could the same human really go from nightmare to siren like that?
Forgetting the question, she felt her feet start to move without command. It was like walking in a vivid dream, but knowing she wasn’t asleep.
“My friend here says you found my necklace; thanks!” Her grin, too warm and bubbly to be honest, was betrayed by cold, focused eyes. A faint instinct whispered to Hazel, telling her to run. That would be silly though… What could possibly happen in front of a crowded water park?
“We’re having a movie night this weekend, and since you know both of us…” More smoothly than expected, Tristan chimed in. “You should come hang-” There was a pause. Not a common stutter, but more like a mistake. “-hang out.” Hazel’s feet stopped moving.
All three teens in front of her exchanged their own, unique looks. From Tristan to the blond girl, a pale, frozen face. In return, a loving grimace. From Iggy, the most disappointment she’d ever seen him show went from one to the other and back. But in a split second, they all reset- back to before anything happened.
“Yeah, movie night! These are my classmates- you already know Tristan,” Iggy swooped in to recover the conversation. “And this is Rhea. She was glad you found her necklace.” He gestured to each of them as he said their names.
It wasn’t as if Hazel had much planned- morning trash clean-up with Maddy was over by eight. With no more weird dreams, no more cat and no luck with her research, the weekend was looking quite empty. It might just be best to forget about Clyde and his cat… After all, there seemed to be nothing paranormal going on anymore.
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