Siren (34 page)

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night. My one comfort was that I didn't have to worry about monsters or ghosts following behind us, waiting for the right moment to snatch us off the trail.

Because I knew where the monsters were. And we were heading right for them.

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CHAPTER 25

I FELT HER before I saw her. Now I knew why my head felt like it was about to shatter into a million pieces anytime she was near. And that was because, somehow, Zara Marchand and I were connected.

I'd turned off the flashlight before reaching the mouth of the trail, but I could see her with Caleb in the silver light beaming up from the water below. They faced each other near the edge of the cliff. She wore only a long red sundress, which was soaked through and clinging to her skin. Her long dark hair hung loose down her back, and she gazed up at him adoringly.

She said something, and he smiled. She shivered, and he rubbed his hands against her bare arms to warm them, just as he'd done for Justine so many times. He pulled her to him, circled his arms around her waist, and lowered his face to her hair as she rested her head against his chest. They looked like any couple so consumed by each other that they tuned out the world around them.

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The plan was to convince her that he finally returned her feelings so that she'd go to the top of the cliffs when he asked, and it seemed to be working. I just hoped Caleb hadn't really tuned out the world in the process.

I glanced at my watch. Eleven thirty-six. Four minutes to go.

"She doesn't hear us," Betty whispered next to me. "She doesn't know we're here."

My head throbbed as I watched them, but the pain was different, less severe. I couldn't be sure but guessed that was because this time, we were here intentionally. We were the pursuers.

Eleven thirty-eight.

They were inches away from the edge now.

I stopped breathing when Zara turned away and looked back at the trail. The silver light shooting up from the water didn't reach the tall bush we hid behind ... but her eyes seemed to find mine.

"It's okay, Zara."

I ducked back in the shadows as Betty stepped onto the cliff.

Zara glanced at Caleb, then turned back. "Grandma? What are you--? I thought you were--"

"Too weak to walk?" The white sundress whipped around Betty's bare ankles as she ventured farther onto the rock. "I was."

Zara inched backward as Betty neared her.

"You love him, don't you?"

Zara stopped. Behind her, Caleb stood still, watching them.

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I checked my watch. Eleven thirty-nine.

"He loves you, too."

My head snapped up as Betty looked toward Caleb.

"Don't you, Caleb? You would do anything for Zara, wouldn't you?"

His eyes darted toward the trail. Could he see me? Did he need my help? Or was he just hoping I wouldn't be upset when he said what Betty wanted him to?

"I ..." His voice trailed off as he stepped closer to Zara. "You know I ..."

My heart lunged toward my throat. He couldn't do it. He couldn't say those three words to anyone but Justine.

"It's okay," Betty said, improvising quickly as Zara stared at Caleb, hurt dulling the light in her eyes. "You can still love him. You don't have to hurt him."

Zara opened her mouth as if to disagree, but then closed it without speaking.

"You don't have to live Raina's life." Betty stood only a few inches from her now. "You can live, and love, without hurting anyone."

"I'm sorry, Grandma," Zara said, her voice wavering. "I love you ... and I'm sorry."

I held my breath as Betty walked toward them, then bolted from the trail when I realized what was about to happen.

But it was too late. Betty hurled herself at Zara when Zara lunged for Caleb ... and then Zara dove off the cliff, taking her grandmother with her.

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"Vanessa," Caleb said when I reached him. His entire body trembled as he looked toward the cliff's edge. "I'm so sorry--I couldn't do it. I wanted to say it because I knew it was what she wanted to hear, but--"

"It's okay." I dropped the duffel bag to the ground and started taking off my jacket. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

"But Betty was supposed to take the tank, and it's already so late, and how are we going to--" He stopped. "What are you doing?"

I yanked off my sweatshirt and kicked off my sneakers. Down to jeans and a T-shirt, I opened the duffel bag and lifted out the tank.

"Vanessa, stop. You can't--"

"Caleb, you heard Simon and Dr. Beakman. The bomb needs to detonate at the center of the atmospheric activity, and it won't get there on its own. Someone has to take it."

"Right--someone with extremely strange, unnatural abilities."

I didn't respond as I slid the tank's thick straps on my shoulders and snapped the belt around my waist.

"Vanessa," he said, stepping toward me, "I'll go. I'll take the tank as far as I can, and then release it. That's the best we can do now."

"Caleb, no offense, but you won't last ten seconds in those waves."

"And what makes you think you will?"

I looked at him. "Thirty-four minutes."

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He started to protest, but I continued before he could.

"Two years ago, I was underwater for thirty-four minutes. And I was fine."

"But--"

"I have to do it, Caleb," I said, my voice gentle but firm. "After everything she did for me, I have to at least try."

He shook his head but didn't say anything else.

"Paige is in the car," I said, giving him a quick hug. "She's very sick and needs to get to a hospital. Will you--"

"Of course." He squeezed me tightly before letting me go. "Please be careful."

I watched him go, then stepped toward the rocky ledge. The light was so bright I couldn't see the base below.

Doesn't Simon look different this year? Older? Cuter?

As the salty spray from water slamming into rock fifty feet below reached my face, I closed my eyes and saw Justine. I didn't pretend she was right there with me, whispering encouraging words. I didn't pretend anything. I just saw her as I remembered her--constructing a fort of pillows and stuffed animals around me in my bed when we were little. Drinking eggnog and huddling under the comforter on the back stairs at home. Fishing in the red rowboat. Leaping off the cliff. I saw her smile, her blue eyes. I just saw her, my Justine, exactly as I'd always known her.

Feeling strangely calm, like this moment was what every moment of the past two years had been leading up to, I took a deep breath ... and jumped.

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I slammed into the water. Waves shoved against me and currents rushed like subways past my ears. The light was as bright above me as it was under me, making it impossible to know which way to go. My arms and legs flailed through the water, and I stopped moving only when I realized that I was holding my breath, and that my lungs threatened to explode. The currents swirled, tugging me from side to side. After almost a minute, I hadn't moved more than a few feet--and my lungs were about to give.

It was time.

The pressure in my chest pushed up my throat. Oxygen filled my mouth and shoved against my clamped lips until they gave, releasing a small pocket of air. Water rushed into my nose, making my entire face burn. My throat tightened, reflexively trying to keep air in my lungs.

I watched the surface grow farther away. I thought of Mom, Big Poppa, and Justine. I thought of Caleb and Paige. I thought of Betty, Raina, and Zara. I thought of Simon and hoped that he continued to believe that whatever he felt for me was real, and that he held on to it, no matter what happened next.

I relaxed my lips. Water poured into my mouth, and my body shot back from the force. I pressed both hands to my burning chest and prayed for death to come, for the dark--or the light--to stop the pain and wash everything else away. Because it was too much. It was lasting too long. I just wanted it to be over--for
all
of it finally to be over.

And then, it was. My lungs relented. Soon, the inside of my

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body was colder than the outside. The pain disappeared.

I opened my eyes and looked down. My chest still rose and fell. Underneath my palms, my heart still beat.

I was still alive ... and just as I had two years ago, I was breathing underwater.

I looked at my watch. Eleven fifty.

I dove deeper, away from the surface. The currents still tugged, but my arms and legs sliced through them easily now. My muscles felt stronger, my body recharged. The only thing making the swim more physically challenging than a walk in the park was the light; it surrounded me and shone brighter the deeper I went. Closing my eyes against it didn't make a difference.

I was beginning to worry that I wouldn't know I'd reached the bottom until my hands hit sand ... when the water started to change around me. It seemed to thin, to gently drift away ... and then it stopped moving. I stopped moving, too, and my body stayed still. It was like I floated on the calm surface of Lake Kantaka. I tried to open my eyes to see if I could tell why--and immediately closed them and spun around.

I'd reached some kind of barrier. The light just below me glowed white and was concentrated in what appeared to be a long, thick wall. Looking into it was like staring directly into the sun.

Keeping my eyes closed, I inhaled deeply and reached my arms toward the light. My eyes shot open when my fingertips touched the wall--it was like I'd grabbed a lighting bolt with

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both hands. The energy was simultaneously exhilarating and paralyzing, and I couldn't do anything but stare, powerless, as the light pulled me in.

I should've been terrified. I should've been fighting it, and twisting around, and trying to claw my way back. And I probably would've been--if not for Simon. He was everywhere. Crouching next to me on top of the cliff. Rowing toward me. Standing on the beach, waiting for me to climb down the rocks. Holding me in his lap on the kitchen floor. Hugging me, kissing me, touching me. I could feel him as if he were right there, and it felt so good--almost as good as the real thing--that I thought if this was it, if the end meant being suspended in the light between these worlds, then it was okay. I would be okay.

Eventually, the light faded. The water was still illuminated, but the light was dim enough that I could see my surroundings. I'd left the wall and now floated toward the sandy floor, where dozens of shimmering figures gathered in a circle. Tall clusters of rocks enclosed the circle, and I quickly shifted direction and darted behind one.

When I was sure they couldn't see me, I reached behind me for the tank. Once the water reached thirty-two degrees, Simon would press a button from his position on the
Barbara Ann
that would make the tank vibrate. It hadn't shaken yet, but I wanted to check the attached external thermometer to see how close to freezing the temperature was. We knew what their schedule was, and ours had to match.

I froze when my arm pushed through the water behind me.

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The tank wasn't there. It must've fallen--or been sucked off--as I passed through the illuminated barrier.

Trying not to panic, I glanced at my watch. Eleven fifty-four. I had six minutes to find and activate the tank and swim a mile back to the surface.

I scanned the ground, spotting Betty and Zara standing in the circle as if they'd planned to participate all along. The sirens seemed to be waiting; their glittering eyes kept shifting up toward the wall of light.

The men. They were waiting for their next victims.

A high-pitched note sounded from the circle. It started softly but grew louder, like someone stood nearby, turning the volume knob. My heart raced as a single siren emerged. I couldn't see her face, but recognized her immediately.

Raina. Her mouth was closed, but she was emitting a steady, high note that caused the other sirens to lower their eyes and caused the water to shift around them.

The sirens started singing without opening their mouths, the soft notes blending together in a pleasant, soothing harmony.

I looked at my watch. Eleven fifty-six.

I waited until they were all focused on the center of the circle, and then darted to the next boulder. My eyes scanned the rocky towers for a silver spark or flash of light glinting inside the dark openings and crevices.

Nothing. The only light came from the wall floating above the circle, and from the circle itself.

There, Nessa ...

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My eyes widened at the sound of Justine's voice.

Look up ...

They could hear her, too--they stopped singing as soon as she spoke.

I shot out from behind the rock. The tank was slipping through the wall, and Raina was already rising up to meet it. I kicked and pulled at the water as fast as my arms and legs would allow. A siren below noticed me and released a shrill alarm that slammed into my head like an ax. The pain was a million times worse than any I'd felt around Zara--my legs froze immediately, and I had to stop paddling to grab my head. I tried to kick, but the alarm grew louder and the pain even greater as another siren joined in. I managed to lift my eyes as I started drifting down, and I saw Raina nearing the tank just as the entire length of light began to shift.

They were coming. They were coming, and I couldn't even move.

The noise swelled. I drifted into the circle headfirst, barely noticing the light dimming. By the time I landed softly in the sand, it was completely dark.

The lights were out, and the monsters were coming.

I was trying to stand when something tugged sharply at my hand. I was lifted off the ground and spiraled through the water. We moved so fast, so quickly, I had no idea which way was up.

But I didn't struggle or try to pull away. It wouldn't matter. I just hoped Justine would speak to me, would help me.

Stay here
.