Submerged in Water

"To be honest, Robyn." Rune answered. "We have no idea what's going on, that's why we've been keeping everything a secret."

Robyn didn't like this answer. "Why don't you at least bring me up to speed."

I sighed. "As much as we'd like to Robyn, school starts in two hours and I need to be back before breakfast so my parents don't have a fit." I told her. "I already missed school yesterday, I can't miss today. It's Friday, though, so we have all weekend to catch you up."

Rune seemed to agree. "Emele is right. School starts soon and my Uncle is going to wonder where I am."

"You guys have been secretly coming here everyday?" She asked us.

"Yeah." We said both said at once.

I looked at the sun and noticed that I was already late. I would probably need to run back to the house if I wanted to make it before my parents would notice I'm gone. "Shit." I swore.

"What is it?" Rune asked.

"It's really late. I need to go." I told them.

"Wait!" Robyn called out. "Let me take you."

"Take me...?"

Before I knew what was happening, I was being scooped under my arms by Robyn as she lifted me off the ground. I almost screamed but decided it wouldn't exactly be the best thing to do since it would cause attention and label me as a wimp. I bit my lip to keep myself from saying anything. I was relieved partly only because she seemed to have a death grip on my arms.

I made it home in record time. It had to be two and a half minutes long. When we landed, I kept my knees steady so that I wouldn't fall to the ground and kiss it. I turned around to hug her.

"Thank you." I whispered in her ear. My arms around her neck. "I mean it. I promise I'll tell you everything after school today if you come over."

She sighed and pulled back from the embrace. She stared into my eyes and said "I just can't hate you, Emele. There's something about you. I can't explain it."

I frowned, not because I didn't like what she said, but because what she had said reminded me of Queen Inna. Rune had told me that people had a hard time hating her, too. If there was one thing I was glad I inherited from her, it was that. There were worse things to pass on to your spawn, being a homicidal sociopath was one attribute I didn't want to attain.

"I'm glad." I smiled at her. "I mean, I guess I'm just happy that there's someone else to talk to now."

She smiled back, the first smile I had seen from her all day. It was a small one, but it was a start. "I'll see you at school."

"Thanks again." I waved goodbye as she flew away.

She didn't drop me off near my house but I was close. It took me an extra minute to run to my house and slip in through the window to my room. I took one look around my room and it seemed nobody had been in here. I walked down the hallway to check on everyone and they were still in their positions, in their bed. Relief washed over me.

School seemed to go by quicker than expected. It was so awkward at lunch with Robyn, Rune, Talon, Layla and I. Robyn was more withdrawn than usual, Rune was avoiding anything that seemed dangerous conversation-wise and everyone seemed to want to know with explicit detail as to where I was yesterday. By the end of the day, I was mentally and emotionally exhausted, even more so when Robyn dropped by after school and pressed me for as much detail as possible. By then, I was so rattled, that I didn't even try to hide anything and answered all her questions with the absolute truth and nothing else.

At the end of it all, she seemed to look at me in a different way. I had told her about my past and how I grew up, with even more detail then I gave Rune and I think she took pity on me. I really didn't want anyone to take pity on me, but if it kept her from hating me, then I would tolerate it to keep peace.

"I'm with you, Emele. I'll help any way I can." She seemed sad about this.

"I don't want to force my life on you Robyn... you don't need to help me."

"I know..." She looked up at the ceiling of my room. "But I feel like I have to."

After the whole Robyn ordeal was over, I seemed to have a few days of peace. Friday ended and with it came Saturday and Sunday where I spent most of my day out with Robyn and Rune near the cove. Aubrey covered for me and told my parents that we were out together when in reality, she was just over at Scott's house all day. So in a way, we were covering for each other.

It was calming, to have a few days to myself. Rune didn't shove any more information about Inna in my face and Robyn seemed to act as an emotional barrier between Rune and I so there was no chance of any romance blossoming between us. Even though I was mad at first, I realized it was actually kind of welcoming to not have to worry about it.

It was Sunday night now and after spending yesterday and all day today practicing my abilities with both of them and testing how far I could push myself, we decided to call it quits and relax near the river.

"This is fucking crazy." Robyn said after a long period of silence.

"What is?" Rune asked.

"Her. The last Kamille. Her amazing strength. God, to have all the answers to this riddle would be a blessing." She captured the feelings exactly.

I snorted. "Tell me about it."

"What do you think that was about, Emele?" Rune asked me. "You told us that when you were fighting me Friday morning that you heard screams."

"I haven't heard them since." I explained. "I think I only hear them when I get angry or something. When I was in the state of mind... I just wasn't myself. I felt like I was someone else entirely. Maybe it was some other part of me that I don't know about."

"But that doesn't explain the screaming you heard." Robyn pointed out.

"It wasn't screaming as much as it was... a desperate plea."

"A desperate plea?"

I searched for the words. "It was like they asking for me to save them. They were telling me to set them free."

"Them?" Rune asked.

I shook my head. "I don't know who they are."

"That is just screwed up." Robyn commented.

I chuckled. "Story of my life."