Between the Land and the Sea - By Derrolyn Anderson Page 0,86

a step and felt the sting of pine needles under my feet.

Shuffling along and groping in the darkness, I felt a wooden rail and was shocked when I realized where I was. I was on the path down to the stairs, aiming straight for the beach. I made my way back up, clinging to the rail, heart pounding through my chest.

When I cleared the forbidding shadows of the trees the streetlights illuminated the misty moonless night. I hurried home, praying nobody would see me. I was outside, half dressed, a block from my house in the middle of the night. Why was this happening again?

This time I’d closed the front door, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief to find it unlocked. I couldn’t imagine what Cruz and Abby would think if I had to wake them up to let me in. I was in no mood to try and explain what I was doing when I couldn’t figure it out myself.

It was three o’clock in the morning.

I spent the rest of the night trying to reason out what was going on. I knew I was headed for the beach, but what then? Was I just going to walk into the water and drown like a lemming?

Maybe I’d be dreaming I could breathe, and not even try to swim. It wouldn’t even matter, I thought morbidly, the cold would kill me anyway.

The sleepwalking just confirmed my suspicions. I had to try and find Lorelei as soon as I possibly could. Maybe she could tell me what they wanted from me.

Ethan was already at school when we got there the next morning, and I could see the gang of surfers flocking around him, asking him about what happened. They wanted to find the guy who caused the accident and beat him up, but I heard Ethan tell them to let it go. I was happy to hear it; there was plenty of trouble to be had without going looking for it. I heard them compliment him on his haircut and bit my lip to keep from laughing out loud. He spotted me and Cruz, and headed our way.

“Nice haircut,” said Cruz.

Ethan’s smiling eyes met my tired ones.

“How’s the head?” Cruz asked him, eying the bandage.

“I’ll live,” he said, looking at me critically. I hadn’t been able to get back to sleep after my nocturnal stroll; I was worried, and it must have showed.

“How are you this morning?” he asked.

“I was just going to ask you that,” I dodged the question. Cruz and I hurried to class, and I managed to avoid Ethan until after lunch.

“Where have you been hiding?” he asked, as he caught up with me on the way to art class.

I made up a story about needing to use the library, and hurried into class. I tried to avoid eye contact with him as we sat side by side, afraid he’d see right through me and realize what I’d already resolved to do. I was going to find Lorelei no matter what; it was imperative that I speak to her. She was the only one who could shed some light on what was happening to me, and now I was pretty sure that my life depended on it.

I knew Ethan would get upset and do his best to talk me out of it; he thought Lorelei was dangerous and believed she was better left alone. I was certain she would never hurt me... at least not intentionally, and I was resolved not to involve anyone else in my quest for the truth. I had no control over the strange dreams and mysterious forces that were luring me towards what was starting to look like a suicidal walk into the sea. All I could think to do was try to meet them on my terms.

After school I hustled Cruz out to the parking lot and we sped away before Ethan got out to his truck. Cruz was so preoccupied with the tweaking of his design for Evie’s dress that he didn’t notice my unusual haste.

“How does Evie feel about asymmetry?” Cruz brainstormed as he drove us home.

“Uh huh,” I replied, thinking about what I would ask Lorelei.

“Would a beaded sash be too much?” he frowned.

“Sounds beautiful.”

“Yeah,” he said, “I think tea length would work.”

“Absolutely,” I replied.

When we got home I slipped out of the house and hurried down to the cement boat. It was cold and gray at the shore; the deepening gloom seemed to echo my desperation. A