May 20, 2014
The moon reflected on the ocean’s waves in an almost mesmerizing fashion. The water seemed calmer than usual, and Laina would know because she spent every late night on the docks. She enjoyed the quietness of nighttime; the stillness of everything around her. It was the perfect time to collect her thoughts.
It was also the perfect time to be left alone. Laina wasn’t very good at interacting with people and the less she had to do it the better. Not that that many people tried talking to her. They were usually deterred by her skeletal appearance to even say hello. Even when she did talk to people she never found herself speaking much louder than a whisper. Of course, it was different with people she was close with, but there were so few of those.
Who cared anyway. Her sister, Reina, was the heir to the island, meaning that she’d be the one having to constantly interact with people. However, Reina wasn’t the heir because she was older. Laina was actually older by seven minutes. Unfortunately, the mare’s curse that dominated Laina’s health suggested that she would only live into her twenties; not quite long enough to run an island. Even if for some reason Reina decided to abdicate, the position would probably go to her step-sister, Sammi, instead. She would never get the choice to run the island even if she wanted to.
Now as to why she was outside brooding at the docks: she hadn’t seen Reina in nearly two weeks. It was the longest she had gone without seeing or hearing from her sister. Her anxiety wasn't helping her feel any better about it either.
What if something went wrong on her mission? Is she okay? Is she alive? Wait, no of course she’s alive. Yeah, of course, of course. Reina’s the strongest person I know, mentally and physically. I bet she’s doing fine. Yeah, fine. Wait, wait, wait.
Laina stood up from where she was sitting and walked down towards the edge of the dock. She could swear she saw something off in the distance. Her hands started to get clammy and she couldn't tell if it was her nerves or the humidity.
Reina had gone on a mission to deal with some elemental mutations that were causing havoc in Louisiana. In Laina’s personal opinion, they were the nastiest mutation out there. They couldn’t be burned, couldn’t be drowned, could bend any piece of earth to their will, and worst of all they could cut off your air supply. Maybe she was a little more bias against them since they had killed her parents, but she couldn't imagine a mutation worse than them.
Something finally started forming clearly in the distance.
It’s a boat! She’s back. Thank the gods.
Laina closed her eyes to take control of her breath. She was so relieved, the pent-up tension in her shoulders released as she sighed.
The boat eventually made it to port and one by one everyone from Reina’s mission squad got off. The last person to get off the boat was a freckled brunet Laina knew as Ron. She waited a couple extra seconds, but no one else came down the ramp. Her heart rate instantly shot up and she could feel the bile rising in her throat. The thought that something happened to Reina was physically making her sick.
“Ron, where’s Reina?” She asked as she approached him, barely keeping it together.
“Oh, Laina.” He stumbled back, pushing up his glasses, “I didn’t know you would be out here waiting for us.”
“I wasn’t waiting, you just happened to come back while I was out here.” Laina whispered as she looked at her bare feet, embarressed.
“Anyway, uh- well, you see- how do I say this? She, uh, she didn’t exactly, well you see, what happened was-” He was stuttering as his eyes shifted around nervously. He seemed to be itching to get out of this conversation.
“What happened?” She asked softly. She could feel her knees starting to shake, but no matter how hard to tried to stop them, she couldn't.
“I-I’m not exactly sure. I think she may have been kidnapped. It all happened so fast, really. There was no trace of her, so I don’t think she was killed.” He saw the sudden terror in Laina’s face and tried to change his words, “I mean, she definitely wasn’t killed. We would have seen or heard something, you know? And knowing Reina, she wouldn’t let herself die.” He tried to give her a smile, but it only made her feel worse.
A younger girl with bouncy chestnut hair came over and joined the conversation. Laina knew her as Sammi’s best friend, Rebecca.
“Laina,” She said putting a sympathetic hand on Laina’s shoulder, “It was Mares. I can't give you a good explaination as to why they kidnapped her, but Mares aren't known for killing their victims quickly. If anything they'll put Reina in a nightmare.”
“We have to find her quickly then.” Laina murmured.
Laina felt as if she could faint any moment now. Once you were in a Mare's nightmare you had two choices. Wake up, or die. If you die in the nightmare, you'll die in real life too. They were nicknamed Mares because of this, but more formally they were known as dark elves. The nightmares were only a small part of what they were capable of.
She could feel herself immediately tearing up. She knew no one would mind if she cried in front of them, but she still found it embarrassing. She could feel everyone staring at her with pity. She herself was cursed with bad health, but was she also cursed to lose every member of her family too? The feeling that she was the cause of this made her sick to her stomach. Soon her silent tears had turned into loud cries and hiccups. She couldn’t help it.
“Laina…” Rebecca’s voice drifted. It was clear she didn’t know what to say to make this better.
Out of Laina’s mumbled mind came one clear thought,
Home. I need to go home and tell Jade. She’ll help. Yeah, everything will be fine. Fine. Just fine.
She took off in a jolt to her home. She was barely looking where she was going, but even with the occasional stumble, she didn’t need to see where she was going. She had the topography of the island completely memorized. Her home sat at the end of town, in the woods.
She eventually made it to the front door and reached for the house key in her pocket. Her eyes were so wet and everything was so blurry she dropped the key on the ground. She knelt down, still sobbing, trying to search for the key in the dark. The front door opened the slightest bit and Laina looked up. Sammi peered out the door and was instantly worried when she saw Laina kneeling in front of the door crying.
“Laina, what’s wrong?” She opened the door and helped Laina up and into the building. “Oh,” She said as she assumed what could've happened, “Nevermind, I see. I’ll go get Jade.” She sat Laina down in the living room near their unlit fireplace.
Sammi turned on the light so Laina wouldn’t have to sit there in the dark, but she wished she hadn’t. The light burned her already tired eyes, and she didn't want anyone to see how red and puffy her eyes must have been. Jade came down the stairs, looking even more asleep than Sammi had, but the worry she had for Laina’s current state was still very much apparent. She took the seat near Laina and spoke softly,
“Reina didn’t make it back, did she?”
“I-” She tried to speak, but her voice wouldn’t let her. In fact, she started crying harder than she previously was. She didn’t even know where she was holding all of these tears.
“Laina, I know how you feel. Heartache is one of the most agonizing parts of life on this island. The gods are truly cruel.” She was speaking very soft and thoughtfully.
Laina knew that Jade had only come to parent them because of the loss of her parents. She knew that Jade understood this feeling more than anybody, but for some reason she didn’t feel consoled. She needed to spit out the words. She needed to tell her.
“R-Reina. She-- She was kidnapped. She wasn’t-.” She couldn’t bring herself to say the last word. She didn’t want her bad luck to jinx anything.
Jade’s eyes widened as she took in what she had just heard, “Are you sure? By whom?”
“R-Rebecca.” She slowly looked up from her lap to Jade, “She said that- that Mares did it.”
“Mares? I have a bad feeling about this.” Jade stood up, “I’ll meet with the island’s council tomorrow and we’ll proceed with what to do. I’ll make sure that we put out a search mission by tomorrow evening.” She kneeled down to look Laina back in the eye, “We’ll get Reina back, I promise.”
“Tomorrow evening!” Laina was shocked, “What if it’s too late! We can’t wait that long!”
“Laina, I know your emotions are high right now, but use your head. We’ve never had to send out a rescue team before. We need to think of a strategy before sending people out there. She’ll be fine for the time being, they won't immediately kill her. Get some rest, I can’t completely guarantee it, but I’ll try my best to get you on that mission team.”
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