She wasn’t waking up.

The water reached up to the top of the ceiling, and Leena felt the familiar grasp of tendrils on her legs. The woman was kicking, swimming with Leena in her grasp, her efforts bubbling up to the surface. Leena struggled, feeling the tightness in her chest as she held her breath.

Was this how she died?

She looked down at the plant like tendrils, squeezing her legs in a tight bind. They appeared to come up from the depths of an ocean; the floor in the house had disappeared. Looking up, the ceiling had disappeared.

It was just her, the woman, and the tendrils, slowly sinking.

The woman released her grip, letting Leena sink faster.

The lady floated to the surface, up and up, her hair splayed out in the water like a starfish. Her eyes were like stone, blue jade, and her mouth was turned down. Leena watched her become smaller until she breathed in a lungful of water.

—

“She’s not waking up.”

“She will wake up.”

“She was right there!”

“I know.”

“Why is it taking so long?”

Leena heard them before she could move, struggling to breathe. She gasped, feeling her lungs expand past their limits and shot straight up in bed. Wheezing, she looked around the room, the lovely little rose-colored room in Ingrid’s house. There were the two boys, in the room, at either side of her bed.

“Try to breathe slowly,” Esire murmured to her. Bo turned away from her, tight-faced. He withdrew his hand from her shoulder, turning to the door to leave. He stopped short.

“I’m going to finish some last minute things. If there is anything she wants to take with then just bring it to the boat,” he said, turning back to them.

“Sure thing. We will be there in an hour,” Esire replied, smiling at him. Bo hesitated, saw the talisman untouched on the dresser, and pocketed it before leaving.

“An hour?” Leena asked, looking at Esire who withdrew from her as her breathing slowed. He smiled widely at her.

“Ready for an adventure at sea?” He asked, “There are some things I promised to do, so is it okay if I leave you here to get ready? I’ll be back in less than an hour, and we can go over there together. How are you with boats, by the way?”

Leena briefly remembered her dream and felt a stab of dread.

“The boat will probably be fine. I don’t know about the sea.”

Esire considered her for a moment.

“Okay. I’ll think of something for that,” he said. Before she could ask what he meant, he left her there.

After she was dressed, washed, and properly ready for the day, she went downstairs where she saw Ingrid puttering in the kitchen.

“I hear you are heading out today!” The old lady said brightly, “I’ve made a good breakfast for you and packed some lunch for the trip.” Leena smiled at her, smelling fish and slightly burned toast.

“Oh, I am going to miss you and the lad. It’s been so long since I have had any company. Seems like just yesterday the town was bustling, but Mr. Ollie has not been in his store as of late, so it is difficult to get anything. It was so dark when I went there this morning.”

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Morning? Leena looked out the window. How long had she been asleep? The sun was already up, bright and shiny. No wonder they wanted to leave soon. They were waiting for her.

“You went outside this morning?” Leena asked.

“Oh yes, I always go for a morning stroll. It is very refreshing, especially in the early morning hours. Rather quiet little town when everyone is asleep. I might stop by at Mrs. Hennessy’s today. She always has some lovely flowers in her garden, and she always has too many beans! Would make a lovely addition to dinner, I think, if she has any extra.” Leena nodded, crunching a piece of cold toast. Breakfast must have been ready ages ago.

“Beans sound nice,” said Leena, agreeing.

“Oh my, and you should know, Mr. Ollie, the gentleman who owns the store, he always wears the same blue apron with his name tag, you’ll know him whether he is out and about or in his store, now, he is very kind, so it might be good to stop at his shop before leaving, just to say hello. He might have some new sweets in his shop. He often purchases new ones to sell to families vacationing nearby, but if you mention me, you might get a discount!”

“I’ll certainly look into it.”

Ingrid’s face changed, a bit darker.

“And when you do go in there, be sure to look to make sure that dog isn’t there. Might have to get something for it,” she said, more to herself, an aside in her speech, “No, no, it’s too obvious.”

“Thank you for your hospitality,” said Leena, “I’ll help you clean up.”

Ingrid brightened again, “Oh yes, here, thank you. I always appreciate it, what with Carl being out, fishing again, I usually run everything by myself.”

Halfway through dishes, Ingrid suddenly stopped drying the plate in her hand.

“What am I doing?” She murmured.

“We were washing dishes. You were telling me a story about a picnic with couple from Grove. The lady was wearing a lovely patterned dress that just matched her husband’s shirt. You thought it was sweet that they matched.” Ingrid muttered to herself something unintelligible and wandered off from the kitchen. Leena let her go, finishing the dishes herself.

Esire was not back yet, so she considered what she might be able to take from Ingrid’s home. She had told her that she could take what she wanted from the basement. It might be good to have more than one thing to wear.

Leena opened the basement door and stood at the top of the stairs. The memory of her grandfather pushed at her mind, and she felt reluctant to descend.

He was so angry that she had left the house.

She regretted it, too, shivering from the trauma. Those pictures started to flash through her head, and she had to focus on the wood grains on the floorboards to push them back down.

There was no way she could go back. No way to go back to Icherrun. No way to go back to Grandfather’s house. All of it was gone. What was left was across the ocean. At least her mother was there. Somewhere.

The darkness at the bottom of the stairs seemed to creep upwards. She took a deep breath.

It was only a room. Nothing scary. It would be okay. It was only clothes and some bags of food. She was just down there with Ingrid yesterday. She only needed a few things. Maybe another pair of pants. A jacket. Usable socks. Underwear? She smiled a bit to herself. Who would want to wear used underwear? Well. She would if necessary.

The stairs creaked as she took one step at a time, feeling the air change from cinnamon into heavy basement must. It slowly enveloped her, and she stepped more quietly, feeling her heart beat heavily against her chest.

The boxes were there where they had left them, and she focused on them, opening up one and sifting through it a bit to see if there was anything else that might fit her.

Most of the clothing looked old. Some of it was eaten away. She pulled out a lovely blue patterned dress. It made her smile, reminding her of…never mind. Something? She put it away, deciding to avoid the color blue for a while.

She picked out some practical clothing, putting them to the side, and was about to stack the boxes up again when she saw something sticking out of a box at the bottom of the pile. She touched it. It was stiff like an envelope. Another letter?

She pulled off the top boxes, opening up the bottom one. It was another letter, neatly sealed in an envelope with a perfect calligraphic “L” in the name “Leena.” A burst of excitement filled her, causing a grin to break out over her face. As she picked it up, she noticed that underneath it was a yellowed apron, a bit stained with something dark. The name tag said “Ollie.”

She stared at it. She looked at the nice blue patterned dress she had folded and placed in the box next to her. Ah. Wait a minute.

There was a shirt with the same pattern right underneath the apron.

Ah. Oh no.

Leena looked at one of the blouses she found, noting a last name, “Hennessy,” stitched neatly in green thread onto a flap at the back.

“Why are you down here?”

Leena felt a coldness in her gut, the voice cutting into her like a knife. She turned her head to see Ingrid standing at the bottom of the stairs, eyes darkened.

“You shouldn’t have come down here.”