Page 88 of Into The Light

When I looked at her, I saw the corners of her mouth twitch.

“It’s all right. You can laugh,” I said, chuckling myself.

She burst out into laughter and almost tipped back off the edge of the boat.

“Not sexy?” I asked with a smile.

“You’re always sexy, too,” she lied.

“Don’t go too far,” the captain said before sending us on our way.

I took a staying breath and reached out to hold her hand. Together we tipped backward off the boat and the water engulfed us. My grip on her hand never let up and together we surfaced, each sending a spout of water out of our snorkels. Her eyes and a nod of her head beckoned me to follow her, and I had no desire to be away from her, so I obeyed the silent command. Hand in hand we paddled away from the boat and I let my eyes focus on the hidden world around me for the first time. It nearly choked the air out of me.

Colors and lights flickered everywhere I looked. It was like a secret world trapped beneath the cerulean waves. Fish darted in and out of the corals, moving like one... moving like Emilia and I as we twisted and turned together, our bodies mirroring one another while I closed my grip on her hand and tugged her closer. She turned to look at me, and I could see the smile even with the snorkel in her mouth. It was her eyes that smiled now, and they stole my attention from the beauty surrounding me. Even behind her goofy mask, she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

She gestured for me to follow her through the maze of corals covered in bright plants. We turned a corner, and I saw an eel peek its head out before darting back into the safety of the dark. For a moment I felt sorry for him. I knew what it felt like to live in the dark and I never wanted to go back. But the light of Emelia’s love had freed me, and now nothing could force me back into that hole ever again.

A flash of movement caught my eye, and I turned to find it but saw nothing but endless aqua blue. I saw movement again, now on the other side. But once again, when I turned there was nothing there. My stomach tightened, and I recognized the all-to-familiar sense of danger. My instinct to pop my fangs in response to a threat sprung forward, but no fangs responded to my demand. While I still had my powers, I’d forgotten I no longer had my fangs. My muscles twitched while I spun around to find the threat. Emilia looked to me with a puzzled expression. She hadn’t seen the shadows and searched my face for answers.

Then I saw it. The gray shape closed in on her and the shark darted straight at her. With a bolt of power, I pushed her back just before the gaping mouth clamped down on her. The force of my blow sent her tumbling in a whirlwind through the water. As I pulled my arm out of the way, the shark’s teeth sliced through my skin. Rage exploded through my other arm with a force I had never felt as I slammed a fist into its head. It spiraled and flipped through the water in the opposite direction before righting itself and swimming away.

Spinning around, I searched for Emilia. I saw her kicking toward the top just a short sprint away, so I pushed all my energy to bolt to her side.

But nothing happened.

My body didn’t respond, and my speed didn’t come. Gritting my teeth, I tried again, but my powers wouldn’t answer. I started swimming toward her, panic gripping me that she was so far away, and I couldn’t move any faster. I felt powerless while I cut through the water at an agonizingly slow pace, and for the first time I truly understood the vulnerability of being human. It wasn’t fear for me I felt, but fear for her. Fear that the shark would come back, and I couldn’t reach her in time. My heart pounded as I struggled against the water, eyes searching for the reemergence of the fish, only breathing again once I reached her.

I popped up out of the water with her, pulling the snorkel out of my mouth. “Emilia! Are you hurt?” I panted as she stared at me with wide eyes behind her mask.

She spit out her mouthpiece and took a sharp breath. “No, I’m all right.”

A full body exhale washed over me hearing those words. I pulled her into my arms and held her tight while we tread water. Not only could the shark have hurt her, but the force of my blow to push her to safety could have broken bones in her fragile human body.

“We need to get back to the boat,” she said, gesturing to the boat floating just a short swim away.

I nodded and grabbed her hand, searching the waves for any signs of an attack. I could only hope that my response had shaken the creature and sent it staggering away. The swim back to the boat seemed to take an eternity. Knowing I couldn’t protect her tore me apart while I pulled her forward. I tried to use my powers several times on our way back, but nothing worked. My hearing picked up nothing but human levels of sound; there was no speed, no strength... nothing but human responses. I had prepared for this when I’d decided to change, but since the powers had remained even after the change I reeled from the new loss. Knowing they weren’t there when I needed them only deepened the dread.

We reached the boat, and I pushed Emilia up over the edge. The captain could see the anxiety in our faces, and he reached over the edge and pulled me up. I yowled in pain when his hand slid across the bleeding gouge in my arm.

“You’re hurt!” he said as I collapsed onto the floor. Blood bubbled out of the wound and ran in a red stream across the white bottom of the boat. “Get a bandage!” he shouted to his first mate.

“Aiden!” Emilia dropped to her knees beside me.

“I’m all right,” I said, sitting up to examine the wound. “It’s just a cut.”

“From coral?” the captain asked, pulling out the bottle of disinfectant and pouring it onto the cut.

I grimaced as the liquid deepened the sting the saltwater had already started. “Shark.”

His eyes bulged, and he shot a look to the first mate. “Holy shit. That’s a first. They never swim around here and the rare ones who wander over never attack.”

“Aren’t we the lucky ones,” I responded and shook my head.

“Let’s get you back to shore,” he said, finishing up his wrap around my arm. The pressure felt good and the throbbing subsided. I climbed to my feet and took Emilia’s hand, giving her a once over before we went back to our seats.

I tried tuning in my powers the entire boat ride home, but like a dead battery in a car they refused to respond. A pang of despair settled deep in the pit of my stomach. Emilia stroked my neck, and I looked over to her, wondering now how I would keep her safe for the rest of our lives without my special powers... if I was just human. If my powers had faltered only seconds earlier, she may have been ripped from my life and I would have been able to do nothing to stop it. The pit in my stomach deepened, and for the first time I questioned my decision to become human again.

The captain dropped us off back at our bungalow after we agreed I didn’t need stitches or medical attention. I’d been lucky the shark had only nicked me with a tooth rather than taken a chunk out of my arm. With ample apologies, he bid us good day and drove away. Emilia and I collapsed on the bed side by side, and for the first time since I saw that shark, I took a deep breath.