Sophie

I rest my cheek on my fisted hand and watch the light reflected from the water dance off the surrounding concrete walls, bobbing about as my feet kick in the water, creating disruptive ripples in the light. I sigh and brace my arm against the floor so I can lean back slightly without falling over. I swirl a foot through the water aimlessly, gaze fixed on that damned tunnel where Riley disappeared through a little over a week ago. Quarter of a moon, she’d say to describe the amount of time gone by.

I chew my lip to keep it from quivering as my heart clenches tightly, clamped within steel walls, threatening to crush it with every breath I take. Her smile rises in my mind, long fangs gleaming as she grins, that mischievous twinkle ever present in those ice blue eyes.

I jump, nearly pitch into the water, when hands brush against my shoulders. Their grip tightens, pulling me back and steadying me.

“Sorry,” Lewis’s voice is soft, his breath tickling my ear as he leans in close. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s fine,” I reply, licking my chapped lips. “What are you doing down here?”

“Checking on you,” he responds, taking a seat next to me and draping an arm across my shoulders. He tugs slightly and I allow him to pull me close into a wayward embrace, leaning my head on his shoulder. “You’re down here an awful lot lately.”

“I just never realized how good a place it is to come to think; quiet and with no distractions, well, minimal distractions anyways,” I answer, attempting to sound annoyed.

“Why do you bother putting the energy into lying to me?” Lewis retorts. “We both know you’re not good at it.”

“I miss her,” I sigh.

Lewis rubs my arm and nods. I can hear his heartbeat, slow and heavy, and I find it soothing in a strange way. “Sophie… is there any chance that the reason you’re so attached to Riley is because she reminds you of Katie? That she could potentially be a replacement?”

“Of course not,” I retort, feeling anger rise in my chest. “Riley is her own person, Lewis; I know she’s not Katie and I’m certainly not looking to turn her into Katie either.”

“Sophie, relax, I’m not trying to come down on your or belittle you, I’m just worried about you. You were deep in mourning when an injured teen, of the exact age as Katie, shows up in desperate need of care. I think maybe you latched on to her as a chance to reconnect with the mother that was lost with Katie and I think that you may have thought there was more mutual affection than there actually was. Riley may be a sentient being, but she’s also still a wild animal so to speak. She belongs out there, and while you may have been a temporary touch of warmth, she was always going to choose the ocean while you were convinced she’d decide to stay. The deep connection you’re imagining isn’t as deep as you think and you need to stop sitting here for hours believing she’s coming back; because odds are, she isn’t.”

“I know,” I whisper with a sigh, pulling away long enough to meet his gaze. “But I can’t seem to keep my thoughts from her; I have to know if she’s alright out there, yet I have no way of knowing.”

“Well, let me put your mind at ease.” I jump, startled by the new voice. My head whips to the side, catching sight of the sopping hair and gleaming grin of the Mer teen resting her arms on the side of the middle prong of floor Lewis and I are sitting on. “Because I am perfectly fine.” Her eyes shine brightly, the picture of health, as she settles her attention on Lewis. “I typically tend to go against the odds, actually and I do not much appreciate being referred to as merely a wild beast.”

“How long have you been here?” I ask. “I didn’t see you come in.”

Riley shrugs. “You were talking,” she replies.

“What brings you back?”

Again, I get a shrug. “Everything felt a little odd when I left. I mean, at first it was great. I swam for hours, surfed some currents, rode some waves, beat up a bull shark,” Riley answer casually, as though those activities are just everyday things. “And burnt off a lot of pent up energy; I felt good. But then I started to get a little, I do not know, lazy? Lounging in the water, sleeping in the sun, floating at the surface,” she frowns. “Not things I typically do, but I go where the current takes me so I went with it. Well, I was watching clouds drift yesterday; something I would think boring, but it is actually quite relaxing… until every cloud began to resemble a chess piece.”

I feel my heart clench.

Riley shrugs again. “And I realized that I never actually did beat you at chess, did I? And I was so determined too; I cannot leave something like that unfinished,” she points out.

“Uh… oh. You came back for a game of chess?” I ask, feeling deflated.

Again Riley shrugs, another grin twisting across her features. “Alright, I missed you…. A lot,” she admits, the smile becoming shy and solemn. The muscles of her arms ripple as she hauls herself out of the water to sit beside me. Another shrug claims her shoulders. “This was the first time in a very long time that I have felt like I belong somewhere and am wanted by someone. I… I was foolish to nearly pass that up and I was hoping that I could maybe still-”

“Of course,” I cut her off. “I told you, you’re always welcome here.” Without hesitation, I wrap my arms around the girl and pull her into a tight hug, pressing my cheek against her wet hair. “You are here to stay right?” I feel myself nearly beg.

Riley’s arms wrap around my torso as she actually hugs me back, her entire body relaxing into my embrace as though I was a comfortable bed to be slept on. “I cannot stay full time,” she whispers. “Lewis is right about one thing; I have a wild born heart and to stay in one place too long with drive me mad. I will have to go, for a few days, quarter moon perhaps, and burn off energy… but I will always be coming back,” she promises. “There is a whole new world I have to explore now too. There is so much in your world to do and learn and try, and I want to experience it all. Will you teach me to do the things you do? To read and to write and to cook too?”

“We’ll teach you anything you want to know,” I confirm.

Beside me, Lewis shakes his head as he stares at the teen. “You just love to prove me wrong, don’t you?”

“It is my sole purpose in life,” Riley admits sarcastically. “More like just a bonus.”

“Don’t be mean,” I mock scold the teen. “Now are you hungry?” I glance at my watch. “I’ve skipped lunch, but I’ve no problem making an early dinner.”

Riley shakes her head. “I am alright, but thank you. I did not come back to eat your food; I came back to see you and to explore your world.” She wrings her hair out, the water droplets splashing over the deck and back into the pool. Her tailfins flared out instead of lying limb as they normally do and her gliders are folded around her hips, almost resembling a skirt.

I frown, having never seen her do that before. “Are you alright?” I ask, nodding towards her fins.

She follows my gaze and gives her tail a shake, the fins falling limp once more. “They tense up sometimes when I am sitting still after moving quickly,” she says. “Minor annoyance, it does not hurt any.”

“You look good,” I tell her, noting the shine in her eyes and the sheen of her scales. Everything looks better, fuller, like it’s complete. “Healthy and happy. Have you been in any pain at all?”

Riley shakes her head, blonde whips of hair snapping water droplets from their tips. “No. I get a little stiff sometimes but normally only after I wake up because I have sat in one spot too long,” she explains, her fangs gleaming within a beaming smile. “So, are we going to go? This room is dull and uninteresting,” she declares.

I begin to laugh, shaking my head as I stand and wheel her wheelchair over. I’d left it down here in case she came back. Helping her into it, I pull one of the marine park t-shirts over her head and fix a thin sheet over her tail, not wanting her to overheat in the sweltering sun.

After several hours of taking Riley on a grand tour of the park, as she’d requested, and answering a multitude of questions, I find myself curled up on the couch, leaning my head against Lewis’s shoulder, with Riley sitting beside me, leaned forward slightly as she experiences her second movie. A horror film that Lewis had wanted to watch and Riley had risen to the challenge of enduring the jump scares and atmosphere. She snorts as she watches. “Why would you do that? I mean, if someone is out for blood, they are not going to reveal their position by answering you, so why reveal yours by calling out?”

“It’s a movie,” Lewis replies. “And that’s typically how it goes in them.”

“Well the characters are idiots then.”

“Hush you,” I tease, poking her. “Watch the movie.”

Riley sticks her tongue out at me before her attention goes back to the screen. “He is going to die.”

“Probably,” I agree, only to burst out laughing as the music takes a terrifying turn to meet the ‘jump out’ scene and Riley jumps in her seat, nearly pitching forward. “Sure you can handle this?” I tease.

“Of course,” Riley protests, but her cheeks color a little. “It just caught me off guard.”

I smile and reach out to squeeze her shoulder. “It’s really great to have you back, Riley,” I whisper.

She smiles, the corners of her eyes wrinkling up as genuine joy spreads across her face, an infectious smile that has my own growing wider. “I am glad to be here too. Thank you, Sophie, for wanting me around. I like it here.”

“Then stay. For as long as you want to. Feel free to call this home.”

Riley nods and shifts in her seat so she can lean against me a little. It’s one of the few times that she’s initiated contact, and my heart soars at the knowledge that for a time at least; I’m needed again.