Twice the Fun - Part 25

      Aurora King

I heard a high-pitched scream coming from beside me-Air. I took my hand off her and covered my ears. I didn't think that I had startled her so much to make her scream. Well, I thought hopelessly. We are in a dark, creepy room with no hope whatsoever of getting out of here. Plus, we got ourselves kidnapped in the process. I remembered what Air had told me on the way to Crystal Waters. Quit being so negative! Think that the glass is half-full. I'm not sure that there was any pros to this particular situation.

“Air, it's just me.” I said to her. It was pitch-black. I couldn't even see my own hand in front of me. I didn't realize it, but I was trembling really bad. “We're in so much trouble. Mom can't save, Dad can't save us-because nobody knows where we are.”

Air stopped screaming. “Why did you squeeze my wrist? That hurt!”

“Sorry. I’m just scared.” I bit my lip. I never told a soul in my life that I was scared. Ever. Not even when I was three. I tasted blood in my mouth. It was salty and I couldn’t help but think that there might be vampires in this world. There were mermaids, so why not vampires? And that thought made me even more afraid. “I’m not afraid of the dark, but I am afraid that we are down here, and nobody in this world or our’s know where we are. Well, that lady knows where we are, but you know what I mean.”

“It’s going to be okay.” Ariana said. Wow, this is weird. Usually it’s the other way around, I thought. Usually she’s the one who says she’s scared and I’m the one who assures her everything was going to be fine. “We’re going to be alright. Natalie’s going to find us, or we’re going to escape.”

I didn’t want to be a pain, then of all times, so I didn’t mention to her that Natalie didn’t even know that we were there. My bottom lip hurt, from chewing on it so hard, and I felt a cold tear roll down my cheek and combine with the water surrounding us. “Yeah,” I said. “We’ll think of something.”

Something cold and fragile grabbed my hand, and I realized it was Air. I squeezed her hand reassuringly and whispered in her ear-or what I thought was her ear(I couldn’t tell).

“No matter what, I’m going to stay by you.” she said stubbornly after listening to what I said. “No matter what! You are not leaving me here, Aurora!” And that’s when she started sobbing.

“Ariana, I need to do this. Or we could be stuck here forever.” I said calmly. She tried to muffle her sobs, but she just ended up coughing. “I promise I’ll come back.”

“No. No! I won’t let you!” She was clutching my hand so hard that it was throbbing. But I wasn’t paying much attention. I was paying attention to my sister’s words. “If you go, I go. What if she saw you while you were out there?” Air made a strangled noise. It was horrible.

I couldn’t take it anymore. The dark, the pain, and the knowledge that we were trapped. Something inside me broke. A river of tears flowed out of my eyes and I swear I could hear the sound of them hitting the floor, which must have been made of rocks. But that’s impossible, like us ever seeing light again. “Air, let me go. Or I’ll strike you.” I threatened. I instantly felt awful, but I didn’t say I was sorry. “This is for the both of us.”

She gasped. “Would you really slap me? Aurora, you wouldn’t!”

“I would. Now move out of the way. Or I will.” My heart ached. I never thought I’d say that in my life. Sure, I was a tomboy, but that didn’t make me abusive. I could feel Air’s stares. I could see her eyes filled with pure shock. But at the same time, I didn’t care. I’ll apologize to her later. She let go of her clutch on me and I heard her swim away from me. Her tail hit something and it knocked to the ground. “Shhhh…”

“I’m trying to be quiet!” she snapped. But I could feel that she was still crying little tears. And then, she surprised me. In a gentle voice, she said, “Promise me you’ll come back. Promise me you won’t leave me here.”

I sucked in a breath. Promises were never really my thing. I didn’t like to make them, because I knew that I could break them. “I promise.”