Under the Ocean Waves

Just as everything started to happen, everything stopped. Vic had braced himself for the impact while simultaneously trying to shield Kellin from anything that might cause him harm, purely out of instinct. He didn’t have the time to run or think about anything else, he just flinched - for a blow that never even came.

“V-Vic,” said Kellin, who was clutching him tightly, squeezing his harm so hard he left marks on his tan skin. “Look…”

The car had seemingly turned its wheels at the last second, barely missing the two boys and smashing in to a parked car a few feet away. People flocked to the scene, running to the driver’s side doors of both vehicles and trying to fling them open to check on the people inside. Kellin and Vic watched from where they stood, both of them trembling and clinging to each other as they waited to see who was pulled from the wreckage.

Thankfully, no one seemed to be injured. No one was in the parked car at the time. The SUV owner looked shaken and stared around at everyone with wide, apologetic eyes, stepping out of the car and falling to his knees. People surrounded him, some of them already talking to authorities on cell phones.

“Let’s get closer,” said Vic, taking Kellin’s hand in his and walking over to the growing crowd of people. The owner of the SUV was in hysterics now; it was strange seeing a grown man so upset.

“I don’t know what happened! It was like the wheel had a mind of it’s own!” he cried.

“Were you drinking anything?” asked a snooty looking girl wearing skinny jeans and holding an expensive looking handbag.

“No! I swear to God miss, I’ve been twelve years sober!”

It seemed unexplainable.The cars looked pretty smashed; the owner of the car that had been parked was taking pictures of the wreckage. People eyed the man carefully and almost judgmentally, as if they weren’t having any sort of excuse for the accident. Vic scanned the faces to see how many of them actually believed his story, and how many actually even cared.

One set of eyes stuck out to Vic as he looked through the crowd, and suddenly it didn’t seem so unbelievable that the man had ‘lost control’ of the wheel. “Spencer,” he muttered under his breath, not believing his eyes. The creepy looking boy had that same little smirk on his face, although Vic was starting to believe it was just their naturally and he couldn’t help it.

“Are you alright?” the girl holding the expensive purse looked at Vic, still holding a very timid looking Kellin’s hand. “You guys nearly got run over right there.”

Vic hesitated, hating that the attention was now on him. Kellin squeezed his hand, letting him know that he didn’t like it either. “Yeah,” he answered. “We’re both fine.”

“That must have been terrifying; my breath caught in my throat when I saw it coming,” said a man that was standing between Vic and Spencer. “You two are sure you’ll alright?” He looked between both boys

Vic nodded gravely, turning his eyes to Kellin to check in with him and was surprised to see him staring intently. His eyes looked almost menacing; they were practically glowing. The tan boy craned his neck to look in the direction he was staring in and wasn’t even remotely shocked to see he was looking at Spencer.

“We’re fine,” Kellin said, flicking his gaze at the man, who looked just as young as they were. He had blonde hair and warm, dark eyes. He looked Kellin and Vic up and down; sizing them up - or sweeping his gaze over them to check for some sort of injury. It was a nice gesture, in Vic’s opinion.

“Good,” said the man. He turned his body, extending a hand to Vic. “I’m Danny,” he said with a smile. “You’re sure you’re not too shaken up?”

“Vic,” said the Mexican, shaking his hand, eying him almost as suspiciously as he would Spencer. This man’s touch was warm, however. “And we’re fine, really.”

“Good,” said Danny, smiling at him. Vic couldn’t help but start to feel slightly uncomfortable in this man’s presence, as if he knew more than he was letting on. His intentions were good, however, he decided as he tugged on Kellin’s hand. The siren was still staring at Spencer, who seemed practically mindless from where he was standing.

When they heard sirens starting off in the distance, Vic decided it was time to turn away without another word, pulling Kellin along with him. “We still need to get milk,” he said in an undertone to Kellin, who kept staring over his shoulder at Spencer as they went.

“That boy is not human,” he stated, keeping his voice low. “Something is off about him. I felt… I felt threatened by someone’s presence, and he was staring at you, did you see?”

“You noticed!” Vic exclaimed. “He was at the shop yesterday! I meant to tell you!”

Kellin pushed the door open, holding it for Vic and promptly closing it when he saw that Spencer was also heading for the store. He didn’t know why but he wanted to be in and out of here quickly, even though shops had previously excited and almost overwhelmed him due to the amount of things in here available for purchase.

Vic noticed the strange boy coming in as well and guided Kellin to the back of the store, where the coolers full of drinks such as milk were kept and grabbed a gallon as quick as he could. They made there way back to the register, all the while looking around for the creepy boy who seemed to have vanished in to thin air, not that they minded though.

As Vic placed the gallon on the counter, he felt a tug on his shirt and flicked his eyes to Kellin. “What?” he asked, reaching for his wallet. The siren frowned and stared down, and it was then that Vic realized that Vic had almost forgotten the candy. Sighing, Vic grabbed a package of both starbursts and skittles - two of Kellin’s favorites - and placed them beside the milk.

“You’re a child, I swear to God,” said Vic as they walked out of the store with their things. Kellin shrugged, reaching for the plastic bag containing his candy with a grin on his face. “Wait until we get home,” Vic told him. Kellin pouted, but agreed.

They let their guard fall completely once they got back in the car, although Vic’s hands were still shaking after the near-death experience he’d just had. “That guy,” he said, putting the keys in the ignition. “The one you said wasn’t human. His name is Spencer. I’ve seen him before.”

“He isn’t human,” said Kellin, grabbing Vic’s hand as he started to drive away, seemingly even more afraid after the accident he’d just witnessed. “He’s… I… I don’t know, Vic. You said his name was Spencer, right?” he asked.

The Mexican nodded, waiting to answer as he safely turned a corner. “Yeah. Spencer. He freaks me out. That Danny guy was a little weird too.”

“I don’t think Danny was human either. Vic, I think one of them caused the accident,” Kellin admitted, a worried look crossing his face. “That man didn’t do anything wrong.”

Silently, Vic agreed. But frankly he was too scared to admit it, so he squeezed Kellin’s had as he drove home without speaking. The siren stared out the window, looking around as if he expected Spencer to pop out of the bushes at each corner. Vic was driving extra careful and staying completely alert, because honestly he was kind of afraid of the same thing happening.

It was a relief when they safely pulled in to the driveway and hopped out of the car, stepping quickly in to the house with their items from the store in their hands.

“Home,” said Vic, placing the milk on the counter. Mike and Jaime were stretched out in their pajamas, flipping through T.V. channels and looking like general couch potatoes with nothing to do. “You wouldn’t believe what happened.”

“What happened?” asked Jaime not taking his eyes off the screen. “And who’s that?”

Kellin frowned, wanting to hide behind Vic. No matter how much time he spent on the surface, he would never get used to other people.

He was spared from answering, though, by Vic. “His name is Kellin. I guess I never really introduced anyone to him or whatever. Yeah, this is Kellin. Kels, that’s Jaime, and that’s my brother Mike,” said Vic, pointing to each boy in turn. Kellin nodded briskly. “And while we were at the store, this big-ass SUV almost hit us and slammed in to another car. No one was hurt but it was insane.”

“Hi Kellin,” said Jaime, grinning at the boy.

Mike got up from his spot on the couch, stopping to stretch for a moment before crossing the room in order to take the milk off the counter and poor himself a bowl of cereal. “Did the cars look totaled?” he asked as he did so.

When Vic shook his head, the boy just shrugged and returned to his spot on the couch. Neither boy seemed to care much; although that may just be a side effect of a massive hangover.

“Come on,” said Vic, motioning for Kellin to follow him. “We need to talk,” he whispered, leading Kellin to the safety and privacy of his bedroom. He locked the door as soon as they got inside, turning around to Kellin with a deep breath.

Without a moment’s hesitation Kellin pulled Vic in to a hug and a kiss. “I was scared earlier; if you got hurt… I… I dunno,” he whispered, his voice high-pitched.

“Same,” answered Vic, burying his head in Kellin’s shoulder. “That was terrifying.”

He stepped out of Kellin’s embrace and flopped on his bed, patting the place beside him for Kellin to do the same, which he did. “So Spencer isn’t human. Is a he a siren?”

“I don’t know,” answered Kellin quickly. “I don’t see how he could be. It’s not a half moon, how would he be on land? As far as I know these are the only two necklaces to exist. And then there’s Danny, I don’t know about him either.”

“What happened back there was no accident, was it?” asked Vic. He’d been thinking about this the entire time home from the store. He chouldn’t shake the hunch he had that someone meant for it to happen, and they meant for himself or Kellin to be standing there.

The siren nodded his head. He was thinking the same thing. “I- Yeah. And someone else stopped the car. I mean, we can’t really make assumptions but… but that was just scary. Do you think we’ll run in to Spencer again?” asked Kellin.

Vic considered the question for a moment - of course, Spencer had already shown up once. And both times Vic appeared to have gotten lucky. “Yeah,” he answered honestly. “But we’ll get through it, right?”

Kellin turned his head to Vic and gave him a small smile. It was his way of saying, ‘even if we don’t, I’m not leaving your side, ever.’ And Vic was fine with that.

“Come here,” he whispered, pulling Kellin to him and pushing their lips together, smiling in to the kiss as their mouths worked against each other. After a day like that, something like this was exactly what they needed to forget about it.