Waves of Change (World Above Water, Book 1) (9 page)

* * * *

“Call Daniel.” Alicia spoke to her phone, and after a short tone, the device dialed Daniel’s number. “Speaker phone.” The sound of his musical call tone filled the car, and she smiled when she heard his voice.

“Hey, beautiful. How was your day?”

“It’ll be better after a long hot bath and a book.”

“That good, huh?”

She released a slow breath and rolled her shoulders as she thought about grand rounds and the hours she’d spent in surgery. “I did manage to go for a run today, so I’m heading home early. In fact, I’m about to pull into the driveway now. How about you? Anything interesting happen with you today?” Seeing the familiar manicured lawns and well-maintained gardens of the houses in her neighborhood relaxed her as she moved closer to home. She pictured her tub filled with steaming hot water, and she wanted to close her eyes to savor the feeling she knew she’d have.
Almost there.

“Define interesting.”

Alicia laughed and pulled into her garage. As she got out of the car, she activated the handset and held the phone to her ear. She spotted one of her neighbors and walked back to the sidewalk to give her a quick wave. When she turned to head back, she noticed a car parked next door that she didn’t recognize. The driver was still inside and in an instant, an uneasy feeling washed over her, but she stood frozen to the spot.
I can’t move! Why can’t I move?

Chapter 10

Daniel couldn’t hear Alicia laughing anymore, and she wasn’t responding to what he was saying. “Alicia? What are you doing? Are you still there?” Listening closely, he realized he couldn’t hear her, but he could hear the breeze as it blew. “Beautiful? Can you hear me?” When she remained silent, he felt his heart thump inside his chest. “Alicia, say something, please.” There was no response.

Daniel got in his car and raced toward Alicia’s house. Putting the phone on speaker, he continued calling out to her while he opened a bottle of water. He inserted a finger into the liquid and searched for her using the
Enaal
bond.
Come on. Give me something, a puddle, a sprinkler, anything. Just let me see her.

A feeling of dread began to inch its way up his spine, and he called out to the one person he trusted for help. “Chris!”

“Yeah? What’s wrong?”

“Something’s wrong with Alicia. Are you near her? Can you get to her fast? I’m on my way, but I can’t sense her.”

“I can be there in two minutes.”

* * * *

Chris raced toward Alicia’s house. He was already in the neighborhood trying to trail one of the marks they had been keeping tabs on. When he pulled onto her street, he could see her standing as still as a statue at the end of her driveway. It was then he saw the man he had been looking for in a car next door to her house. “
Tai ikamu
!” Chris parked as Alicia started to walk forward toward the man in the car.

“Chris, what’s happening?”

“Give me a sec.”

“Chris, this is my
Dau-Hael
, tell me what’s happening!”

“There’s a black BMW with the license plate 4H7CR6. One of our marks is inside, and he’s manipulating her water. I am going to get her in the house; don’t let him escape.”

“Chris, please… Just keep her safe. I need your word on this.” There was a desperation in Daniel’s thoughts, and it transmitted through the water. Chris didn’t know why this was happening, but he was determined not to let his friend down. “I’ve got to get there. If he hurts her…”

“Daniel, you know I’ll take care of her; just make sure you get all the information you can from him first.” There was no doubt in Chris’ mind that this was the last day of life for this Ver-Rist Tokos, and he felt no sympathy for his plight.

“His eyes will not see the sun set.”

Chris got out of his car and walked toward Alicia without looking at the mark. He manipulated his own water to mask his Leuk Ahnal nature, making him appear human. “Hey, Alicia. Let me help you carry your things.” He took her briefcase and laptop bag from her and slung them over his shoulders. He took the keys from her hand and pushed a finger into the key ring so he wouldn’t drop them. As he stood in front of her, he watched as the manipulation was broken.

“Chris? When did you… How did you…? I think I need to sit down.” She seemed off balance and began to rock on her feet.

“Easy, I’ve got you. Come on, let’s get you inside.” Chris led the dazed doctor to her door and unlocked it. When she began to sway, he lifted her and cradled her in his arms.

“Is she okay?” Alicia’s neighbor called out from across the street, her voice full of concern.

“I think she ate something that didn’t agree with her. I’m going to call her boyfriend, and he’ll come keep an eye on her.” Chris moved into the house as he spoke. He wanted to put as much distance as he could between Alicia and the Ver-Rist Tokos in the car.

“Let me know if she needs anything. Lord knows she’s run over here to help the kids in the middle of the night enough times.”

“I will. Thanks.” Chris closed the door behind him and got her inside. The man in the car didn’t seem to suspect anything and remained outside.
He’s waiting for his next chance.

After he placed her on the couch, he rested her feet on two of its decorative pillows, pulled her bags from his shoulders, and placed them under the coffee table. “Just try to relax. I’ll be right back, okay?” Moving into the kitchen, he found two glasses and filled them with water from the tap. As soon as he was back by her side, he sat one glass on the floor and placed her hand in it while placing his hand in the other. To his surprise, she was unconscious, unaware of what was happening.

“Thank you, Chris.” He knew creating a connection to the water would put Daniel at ease, and he could feel the sigh of relief his friend released.

“Of course. He’s still outside, by the way. He has no idea who I am.”

“Good. I should be there soon.” He could feel Daniel’s feelings shift from contentment to rage as he shared his thoughts about what he would do to the man when he arrived.

“I can take care of him then. You take care of her.”

“I owe you, Chris.”

“You’ll always owe me, but not for this.”

Before long, Chris could hear the sound of Daniel’s car as he pulled into the driveway. In seconds, he rushed inside and stared at Alicia’s still form on the sofa. “How long has she been out?”

“Since a few minutes after he broke the manipulation. She must have resisted for it to affect her like this.”

“Yeah.”

He’d never seen Daniel so pensive, and as he stood up to leave, he felt he needed to warn his friend. “You’re going to have to tell her. We’re going to need guards around her.”

“I’ll tell her, but she is going to move in with me, or I am going to move in with her. This will not happen again”

*

Alicia opened her eyes to a cool sensation on her forehead. When she was fully awake, she could see Daniel kneeling on the floor next to her, which was when she realized she was on the couch. The memories of the afternoon’s strange events came rushing forward, leaving her more than a little bewildered. “Daniel? What’s going on?”
Did I dream all of that?

“How are you feeling?”

“Groggy, light-headed.”

“I need to talk to you about something important.” His voice was serious and almost sad, and she didn’t know why.

She tried to sit up, but to her surprise, he stopped her.

“Don’t move around so much. Not yet anyway.”

“Daniel, please tell me what’s going on.” She had never seen him so disturbed. His jaw was tense and his brows were furrowed. He looked at her with concern, but his hands were gentle on her shoulders when he pressed her back into the sofa, making her wonder if the memories she had were real.

Daniel took a deep breath and released it. He hesitated for a few moments before he began to speak, as if deciding what to say. “Alicia, some of what I’m about to say will be hard to believe. What I want you to keep in mind is everything I am going to tell you is true, and everything I am about to say has to be kept between us. Do you understand?”

“Yes. I understand, but you’re scaring me. You sound ominous.” He held her forearm and rubbed it with his thumb. The contact would have soothed her under normal circumstances, but this felt far from normal.

“I don’t want to scare you, but the things that I have to tell you are difficult to accept. Just remember one thing. I love you with all my heart, and I want to keep you safe.”

“All right.”
Safe from what? Is he tired of waiting? Did he sleep with someone else? Does he have an STD?
She could feel a sense of impending doom move through her, and she chewed on the side of her lip while she waited for his explanation.

“During the existence of mankind, humans have continued to evolve, change, and adapt. Thousands of years ago, a divergence in human evolution occurred. Certain people developed the ability to live both underwater and on land. This group of people left the land and lived mainly underwater for a while. They thrived and came ashore frequently. They maintained farms and homes, but ultimately they spent a large portion of their time in the sea.” He watched her face, almost as if he wanted to make sure she was paying attention.

Why is he telling me this? What is he talking about?

“Over time, as humanity advanced, the marine world changed. Pollution began to change the environment and technology advanced, making it difficult to remain unnoticed underwater. So the people left the sea as their home and came to live exclusively on land.

“These people are known as Leuk Ahnal, or “of the sea.” There are many Leuk Ahnal living among typical humans undetected. I…” Daniel paused for a few moments and closed his eyes. “I am one of them.”

What the hell is he talking about? Of the sea? Divergence in evolution… He’s crazy! My boyfriend is a crazy person. That’s just great. Way to go, Alicia, you finally fall in love, and it’s with a complete nut job.

She was paralyzed with shock and sadness all at once, but she tried to stay calm.
I don’t want to upset him. Who knows how he’ll react. I’d better play along until I can figure something out. But why is this happening? Is this my punishment for falling in love? My first real relationship is with some psycho.
It was hard to keep her composure, so she relied on what she knew best: science. “So what you’re saying is, there was a phenotypic branching of humans who had the ability to, in a sense, extract oxygen from both water and from air. This group of people maintained anonymity about the nature of their existence, and when we began to treat our planet like a large Dumpster, they were forced to abandon their previous way of life and adopt a new one?”

Daniel nodded and continued to stare at her.

“And you are called Leuk Ahnal.”

“Yes.”

Well, that’s all I’ve got.
She couldn’t think of what to say next, so she just stared at him. She could feel her eyes ache as tears started to form, and she tried to fight them.
This isn’t how it was supposed to be. He wasn’t supposed to lose his mind.

“The Leuk Ahnal have certain abilities where water is concerned. We are able to control it, communicate with it, and use it to locate those we form bonds with.” Daniel lifted a glass of water from the coffee table and held it in front of Alicia’s face. He manipulated the water and moved it out of the glass. He held it suspended in midair in front of her eyes and placed the glass on the floor.

He just… But he can’t… How did he…? What the hell is happening? He was telling the truth? This can’t be real.

“Some of us can even manipulate the water in the body of a person. This type of ability can be used to control them against their will. It can also be used to influence a person after their manipulation. We can all read the water of a person’s body to know their thoughts or feelings.” He seemed to wait for a response from her, and he watched her with eyes that seemed to plead for acceptance. “Do you understand what I am saying?”

Alicia felt like she was dying inside as the pieces all seemed to be coming together to form an image she didn’t want to accept.
Is that what he did to me? None of this was ever real?
It was an enormous battle to hold back the tears, but she failed as they welled up in her eyes. She didn’t have to rationalize any of what he said. She knew it was true based on what happened to her and what he’d just done in front of her. The thought of Daniel manipulating her in such a way was like a kick in the stomach.

“Alicia, what’s wrong? Talk to me.”

She couldn’t stop the tears, and a new feeling began to grow inside her with equal force. Anger. “Get out!”

“What?”

“Get out of my house, Daniel. This game is over. Find a new plaything or puppet or whatever it is you want to call what you do to people.”

Chapter 11

“What are you saying?” The moment wasn’t going the way Daniel had imagined at all, and he could feel his heart beating out of his chest in newfound fear.
You are my
Dau-Hael
, Alicia; I can’t leave you.

“I am saying I want you to get out of my house. Take your water with you.” She pointed to the floating sphere of liquid above them as she glared at him.

“Why are you saying this? What’s wrong?”

“It was never real, was it? All of this was some manipulation. How can I trust you? Reading people’s thoughts, controlling them, you people are … are…”

“Beautiful, please, I would never deceive you in that way.”

“
Never
? Everything has been a deception. You’ve been lying to me about what you were this whole time. Why are you even telling me this now?” Alicia attempted to get up again, and he held onto her shoulders to keep her in place.

“Because you’re in danger and I love you and need to protect you!” Silence hung in the air, causing him to panic even more. “Please, Alicia.” The sensation of pins sticking into his skin made his muscles twitch, but he kept his hands in place.

Alicia covered her face with her hands and sobbed. It hurt him to see her so upset, and the fact that he was the reason for her tears gnawed at him.