Order and Chaos, Page 4

  I sniffled when thinking about Jazmine. She hadn't been here for very long, but I still missed her. It killed me that I couldn't do more for her.

  She wiggled her nose.

  I sighed, thinking about the nurses' reaction. Was she right? Was it just a twitch? I guess they had to know best, right? But of all the times I had visited Jazmine in the hospital, I had never seen any part of her body move. Not a finger, not a toe, and certainly not her nose. There had been no twitches before. Could it really mean nothing?

  Realizing I wasn't going to get any sleep anytime soon, I walked to my computer and opened it. I googled coma patients and began to read about them, but soon grew very tired of it since it only made me more depressed. When hoping for a miracle, you don't want to look at statistics. I tried something else instead. I searched Timmy Reynolds and found a bunch of old newspaper articles about his disappearance twenty-five years ago. I read through them, taking notes on my pad, then sighed and leaned back in my chair, thinking about Jayden.

  Would I ever see him again? Would I ever know what happened to him?

  I thought about the last time I had seen him. We were at the diner, and we asked him if he wanted to come with us to cheer up Jazmine. I still remember that look in his eyes when he said that he couldn't since he had a date with Ruelle. His eyes sparkled when he mentioned her name. I knew he had told her he loved her. I remember thinking I needed to be happy for him; I needed to get over myself and let him go. I needed to be a real friend and not jealous.

  Yet, I was. When he spoke about her the way he did, I felt a deep, nasty jealousy nag inside. I remembered also feeling sad because I loved him so much. It was a love I had tried to keep down, to tug away because it wasn't possible, but that didn't mean it went away.

  And as I sat there thinking about him, I could feel it again.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Carina gasped and stared at the water. She had wanted to run, but as she saw the water starting to move, she had stopped herself. Not that she wasn't afraid; she was terrified, but her curiosity got the better of her and made her pause. Just enough to see, with big startled eyes, what it was that was coming out of the water in front of her.

  Never had she seen anything like it.

  A boy, a young boy, was emerging from the water, almost growing out of it, like the very molecules in the water obeyed his command. The water almost divided and out of it the boy grew, head, hair, arms, and then…there was the matter of the missing legs.

  What the heck…?

  Seconds later, a full-blown merman was in front of her, jumping out of the water and, while he was still in the air, his fishtail changed and soon he stood on the shore in front of her on two legs, looking like a boy who had just gone swimming, hair and torso glistening wet.

  And, my, what a boy.

  Carina stared at him, then gasped lightly. The boy heard her and turned to look. Their eyes locked for just a second, and that was when Carina decided it was time to split. There was no telling what type this merman was; for all she knew, he could be a vicious, human-eating creature. Whatever he was, she wasn't going to stick around to find out.

  "Hey!" the boy yelled, but Carina had taken off in a sprint through the tall trees.

  "Stop!"

  He yelled after her, but she wasn't falling for it. She was running as fast as her time on the track team in high school had taught her, and she had been among the fastest.

  She could hear the boy behind her and even see the water in the lake getting worked up as she ran around it. Waves were suddenly crashing against the shore, and it was getting choppy, even though there was no wind.

  "Stop!"

  The boy could yell all he wanted. There was no way Carina was going to stop. She had read about merpeople and how they lured humans into trusting them, using their stunning looks and sweet singing voices. Just to end up pulling them underwater with them, drowning them or making them into whatever they were themselves. They could even play tricks on your brain and do mind control and drink blood. Like in that horror movie She Creature.

  No, Carina was no fool.

  She could hear the boy closing in on her, then she sped up, but he was faster, and soon she could hear him breathing down her neck. Carina then spotted headlights and knew she had to be close to the road outside the park. She took a quick turn as she spotted an exit, then stormed out into the street, hoping the streetlamps would make the boy stop his pursuit of her. But he didn't, and as she sprinted down the road, he still followed her closely.

  "Please. Just stop," he said, panting behind her.

  She would do no such thing.

  Carina sprinted, then took a right turn and ran onto another street, when she saw a car coming up the road. With the boy still breathing down her neck, she ran into the road, waving her arms, and the vehicle came to a sudden halt. Without even thinking, Carina ran to the passenger seat, looked inside, and saw a familiar face.

  "Oh, dear God," she said. "Thank God it's just you. Someone's following me. Can you help me get home?"

  "Of course," the person said, then opened the passenger door and she got in and strapped herself down with a relieved sigh. The person stepped on the accelerator, and they rushed past the mer-boy who was standing on the side of the road, looking after her.

  "Phew," Carina said as he disappeared in the side-view mirror. "That was close. So glad you came by."

  "Are you sure about that?" the person sitting next to her asked, then turned their head and stared at her with glaring red eyes.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Amy walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. She was wearing her PJs, but they had been ripped and were dangling from her body. It had happened again. In the middle of the night, she had woken up as the dragon. She didn't know what she was dreaming when it happened, but it had to have been scary or at least made her agitated because her pillow was on fire and she had to throw it into the bathtub to put it out.

  Now, she felt exhausted and in dire need of a midnight snack. She stared into the fridge for a few seconds, then decided that she wanted to eat the rest of the chocolate mousse she had made for dessert tonight.

  She pulled out the container and found a spoon, then walked to the counter and sat down. She dug into the mousse while promising herself she wasn't going to eat all of it.

  Just a little taste.

  The mousse tasted heavenly, and soon she ended up finishing it all anyway, then continued with a bucket of ice cream from the freezer. It was homemade banana ice cream that she had made a few days ago.

  All this worrying about Jayden and Jazmine had made her cook so much this past week that her mother had started to complain. She had donated a lot of the food to a local shelter, but the house was still packed with it. Amy couldn't really control herself when things were as tense as they were. Especially with these spiders having moved in across the street from her. She felt like they were watching her every move, and she feared for her life, not to mention her parents’ and Melanie's.

  Melanie had stopped going out hunting at night too, and now Amy could hear her down in the basement where she usually stayed so she wouldn’t accidentally hurt anyone. They locked her inside the shelter at night, so she would stay there once the wolf emerged. But Amy could still hear her trying to get out, banging her head against the metal door while roaring and howling.

  Amy looked at the clock; it was only just past midnight. She still had a lot of hours to go before she would be able to get out. Amy hated having to keep her down there, but it was the right thing to do with the way things were these days.

  Amy looked down at the ice cream in her hands, then suddenly felt sick to her stomach and put it away when there was a sound outside the door leading to the yard. Amy gasped, spoon still in her mouth, and looked at the dark windows when a face suddenly appeared and almost gave her a heart attack.

  "Kipp!" she exclaimed and rushed to open the door. "You scared me!"

  "I'm sorry," he said. "I was just…well,
I couldn't sleep, and…then I saw that the lights were on and wanted to check on you. What happened to your PJs?"

  Amy looked down, then tried to gather the fabric to cover her body properly. "I…I had a little incident."

  "Can I come in?"

  Amy smiled, her heart melting at the look in his eyes. She loved him so much, too much, she feared. It almost consumed her. She was terrified he was going to crush her heart one day soon.

  "Sure, of course. Come on. I think I have more ice cream in the freezer."

  Chapter Seventeen

  Amy found some strawberry ice cream that she had made two days ago, and it was Kipp's favorite, so served it to him with a spoon. She grabbed some more of the banana one for herself, and they ate together, sitting at the counter.

  "So, what were you doing up?" she asked.

  "I…" he looked away.

  Amy sighed. "You went swimming; didn't you?"

  "I…It's hard…" he said.

  "We had an agreement, Kipp. We all stay at home at night. No one goes out. It's too dangerous. What if any of the spider-men saw you?"

  Kipp shook his head. "I have to go swimming, Amy. I have to. I can't live without water. I dry up."

  "Then take a shower, dang it. Or a bath."

  He bobbed his head, knowing she was right, then ate more of his ice cream.

  "The good part is that when you go out this late, no humans will see you, so technically, you're not doing anything wrong," Amy continued. "They can't take you down for simply going swimming if no human sees you."

  Kipp's eyes avoided hers again. "About that…"

  Amy dropped her spoon. "You're kidding me."

  He shook his head, looking at her with fearful eyes. "I’m afraid not."

  "Someone saw you? Kipp! How could you be so…careless?"

  "It wasn't like I did it on purpose," he said, getting all defensive.

  "Who was it? Anyone we know?"

  "I have seen her…at school."

  Amy dropped her jaw. "She goes to our school?"

  "She's a senior, though. I don't think she knows who I am or even recognized me because she ran away from me."

  "Did she see your tail?" Amy asked.

  Kipp's eyes met hers. He bit his lip. "Maybe."

  "You've got to be kidding me. This is bad, Kipp. This is really bad. What if she tells anyone? What if she goes to the newspapers or the local TV? They're gonna start a hunt for you. The spider-men will come for you and suck you into those nasty vacuum cleaners. You'll be gone, Kipp, just like that," she said and snapped her fingers.

  "Don't you think I know that? What do you want me to do?" Kipp said. "I ran after her to try and stop her, to talk to her, but she was faster than me."

  "Maybe you could try and talk to her at school on Monday," Amy said.

  "That's what I was thinking," he said. "I just don't really know what to say to her."

  Amy leaned over and kissed Kipp. He smiled and leaned his head against hers, while they looked into each other's eyes.

  "Just use your charm," she said. "No one can resist that."

  "I know you can't," he said and smiled.

  Amy felt stirred up inside. He was right; she couldn't. That was what she felt was so dangerous about them being together. He had the power to completely crush her if he wanted to.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I met with Amy at the diner the next morning. It was Sunday, and Sophie had a special brunch on the menu. It felt so strange to be there again, sitting in our favorite booth without Jazmine or Jayden there.

  "Any news, girls?" Old Sophie asked as she took our orders.

  She had put up missing person's posters all over the diner and in the town for Jayden, and inside she had a huge photo of him on a banner under the word MISSING.

  Seeing his photo staring down at me like that made tears pile in my eyes. I couldn't believe he had been gone so long. My stomach clenched when thinking about him and what had happened to him. I didn't want to imagine it. I wanted to keep my hopes up that he would one day simply walk in through the door to the diner, smile at all of us, grab his apron, and then start to work, charming his way through life like he always had.

  I sniffled and looked up at Old Sophie. "She's still saying she doesn’t remember anything," I said.

  Sophie looked pensive. "It's all a little odd, don't ya' think? It's all a little fishy if you ask me."

  Amy bobbed her head. I hadn't realized it until now, but she looked exhausted, very pale.

  "It does to all of us," she added.

  "Well, what will it be for you gals today?"

  The bell above the door rang as Sophie took our orders and someone stepped inside. At first, we didn't react, but soon the chattering stopped inside the diner, and all eyes were turned toward the person who had just entered, and finally, I looked up too.

  A set of eyes met me across the diner, eyes that immediately made my heart stop.

  Jayden!

  I couldn't move. I stared at him, at first wondering if I was just imagining things, but as Sophie clasped her mouth before running to him and throwing her arms around his neck, I realized I wasn't. This was real.

  "Jayden!" Sophie squealed. She looked at him, holding his face between her hands. "Where…how?"

  He sighed and held her around the waist. "It's a long story. I think we might need some coffee for this."

  "You betcha. Coming right up," Sophie said, wiping a tear from her eye, then rushed to the kitchen to pour him a cup. Meanwhile, Jayden approached our table. Amy and I were staring at him with our eyes wide open, not really believing what we were seeing.

  "J-jayden?" Amy said.

  He nodded, staring deep into my eyes.

  "Robyn? It's me. I’m back."

  I swallowed, tears streaming across my cheeks. I was in complete shock, still certain I had simply gone insane and started to imagine things.

  He grabbed my hand, then squatted next to me. "It's me, Robyn. I’m back."

  Feeling his touch made me realize it was really him. I had known him all my life and knew exactly what his hands felt like. I reached over and touched his cheek. All eyes in the diner were on us; not a breath was being taken.

  "Jayden?"

  He nodded, crying. "Yes."

  "Is it really you?"

  He nodded again. "Yes, Robyn, it's me."

  I exhaled, then threw myself into his arms, into the best hug I had ever received. I felt like never letting go of him again.

  Chapter Nineteen

  "A-are you okay?"

  I spoke through sobs. Jayden had sat down in front of us, and Sophie had served him a coffee and some pie for all of us. Amy had already dug into the pie and had whipped cream on her upper lip.

  "I am," Jayden said. "Or at least I know that I will be, now that I’m back."

  "Where were you? What happened?"

  Jayden sighed and sipped his coffee. The entire diner was listening to his words.

  "She kidnapped me. Can you believe it?"

  "Ruelle?" I asked.

  "Yes. We were supposed to go on a date, but she just took off, drove like crazy out of town. When I yelled at her to stop the car, she grabbed something, I think it was a crowbar, and knocked me out with it. When I woke up, I was in a dark room somewhere. She kept me there and only came in to feed me once a day, then left without answering any of my questions. One morning, I hid behind the door as she entered, and I grabbed her, then attacked her, knocking her out with the plate. Then I ran out. I realized I was being kept in an abandoned house on a farm somewhere far away from here and I walked to the big road, then stopped a car. The guy took me part of the way, but then I hitchhiked the rest of the way till I reached downtown and decided I could walk the last part. I saw you guys in the window as I passed the diner and thought, I…well," he looked down, and a tear escaped his eye. "I just really missed you guys. I thought I would never get to see you again."

  Amy shook her head. "This…is incredible."

 
Jayden nodded. "I know. It took me a while to believe it myself. I mean this was my girlfriend. This is the woman I was supposed to marry. I can't believe she would do this to me. I can't wait to send my dad out after her."

  I swallowed, leaning back in my seat. "She's at the hospital."

  He looked at me. "She's what?"

  "She's at the hospital. Amy ran into her with her truck."

  "Hey, she came out of nowhere, and there was fog in my cabin," Amy said, defensively, then ate more pie with a snort, causing a puff of smoke to emerge in front of her face. She waved it away quickly.

  "Wait. She's here?" Jayden said, anger rising in his eyes. "I’m gonna…"

  "Stop, Jayden," I said and grabbed his arm. "She's heavily guarded by your dad and the rest of his deputies. She's not going anywhere."

  He calmed down. "You're right. I should let my dad handle this."

  "So…I’m guessing you haven't talked to your parents yet?" I asked. "They have been so worried. We all have."

  He took in a deep breath. "That was my next step. But first I wanted to see you," he said and looked into my eyes again.

  My heart flinched, and I could hardly breathe.

  "I had a lot of time to think while in that place, and I have been so wrong. That's why I wanted to find you first of all."

  He held my hand tightly.

  "I love you, Robyn, and I want it to be us again. For the rest of our lives. I don't care what our parents say anymore. I’ve been to hell and back. There is nothing they can do to me that is worse than that. I want you. It was always you."

  "Jayden…I…"

  Just as I was about to speak, the door to the diner opened and a high-pitched scream shot through the air as Jayden's mom ran inside and she laid her eyes on him.