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Below the surface

Be careful of what might be below the surface

By Natali WisekalPublished about a year ago 23 min read
3

Seas of secrets

By Natali Wisekal

The newly risen sun shone brightly through the streets of New York, and bright rays of sunlight burst through the windows all around the house. Mackenzie slowly got out of bed, grabbing her necklace and placing it around her neck. She rubs her eyes gazing out the window happily, because it is a new and wonderful day!

Mackenzie runs to her brothers room to wake him and they both get ready for their day

After Mackenzie and Adrian get some coffee, they spend a couple of hours packing and waking themselves up.

“You’re finally headed to France, huh?” Says Scott the neighbor to Mackenzie as she walks outside. “Yes!, We are!” Shouts back Mackenzie excitedly.

“You guys going by plane?” asks Scott.

“Nope, we’ve decided to have a bit of an adventure and go by boat” replies Mackenzie.

“Boat!?” Asks Scott with shock.

“Yup, boat!” Exclaims Mackenzie excitedlly.

“We’re getting ourselves there too.” Adrian grunts as he carries our luggage down the stairs.

That’ll be fun! I’m sure it’ll be quite the adventure” Scott calls as he walks to his car.

Scott gave a wave from across the street as he yells a final farewel.

Mackenzie and Adrian start packing their stuff onto the boat, say their final farewells and head off. “Wait before we leave!” yells Mackenzie before they take off.

Did you make sure we have enough gas in the tank as well as extra gas in case we run out! I don’t really think either of us wants to be stranded in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean because you forgot to check the tank” says Mackenzie jokingly.

“Yeah, that sure would suck,” chuckles Adrian. Don’t worry I checked everything” he continues

“Wooow!!" Mackenzie exclaims in awe as she sees the boat. This is the first time Mackenzie has seen the boat, and the sight is quite astonishing. It was as big as a house, with the color of a beautiful sky blue. It had smooth white railings going all the way around it. When you walk onto the boat your nose is overwhelmed with the scent of Lavender. Walking towards the bed, you can see a beautifully designed vase holding beautiful pale purple Lavender, which the smell had been radiating from. As soon as you laid on the beds it was so comfortable, as if you were laying on a giant pile of clouds.

The light danced on the surface of the water and the animals are an even more astonishing sight. Everywhere you look there are animals of some kind, a bird, a fish, and they even saw some dolphins. The landscape was even more beautiful and amazing then they had ever imagined! Looking back, they could see New York city far behind, and a new journey far ahead.

Mackenzie and Adrian take turns controlling the boat so they can each get some sleep.

The sun is setting, and black clouds start rolling in. Mackenzie, at once, knew that they were in for a storm. Adrian reaches in his pockett pulling out a circular bronze object and lifts it to his face to get a closer look. “Mackenzie!” he shouts whilst running towards the helm. “You are heading South! We’re supposed to be heading East!” “How long have you been headed south?” he asks whilst trying to hold the anger building up inside of him. “I…I don’t know,” Mackenzie replies shakily. “I’m sorry Adrian!” she says. “Just get out of my way so I can fix this before we’re too deep in the storm!” Adrian thunders whilst pushing Mackenzie out of the way.

The rain was pouring so hard, it sounded as though it was knocking on the floor, and the sky was growling and booming with the sound of thunder with bursts of lightning throughout the pitch-black sky. The seas were thrashing in anger as the waves slapped the sides of the boat rocking it side to side.

It's been four days since they left for home and so far, things have not gone entirely according to plan. The waters are a bit restless, but the sun is shining down on them aggressively. The storm is long gone now, they thought to themselves.

After a couple of hours, the waters were completely still, and the animals didn’t make a sound. There was only the sound of the water splashing against the boat as it glided through the ocean. “What a lovely day it has turned out to be!” proclaims Adrian happily, “we’ll hopefully be back on track by tomorrow morning or so” he continues. Mackenzie was silent, she didn’t feel like replying to Adrian. “Mackenzie, are you listening?” asks Adrian, “huh… oh yeah sorry, I’m listening,” she quickly replies. “What’s wrong with you Kenz?” “Oh, nothing much” she replies whilst staring off into the distance. “I just have a weird feeling that something is out there watching us” she continues. “Something watching us?” he says tilting his head with confusion. “Mackenzie, we are in the middle of nowhere, what on earth could possibly be watching us?” he continues with a smirk. “I know it’s stupid, just a weird feeling. it’s probably nothing,” says Mackenzie. “Don’t worry Kenz, we’ll be fine” Assures Adrian. “Ok”, Mackenzie answers with a sigh.

Moving across the inlet, Mackenzie noticed some unusual movement alongside the boat. BONK! “Adrian, what was that!” screams Mackenzie. “What was what?!” Asks Adrian. “Did you not hear that sound! Something is out there Adrian!” Mackenzie proclaims skittishly. “Calm down Kenz, noth....” BONK! The boat starts moving forward rapidly. “Adrian!!” screams Mackenzie. Her palms were sweaty, and her arms were shaking, and tears were streaming down her face as she sobbed. “I can’t control the boat, it’s not working!” yells Adrian with sheer panic in his voice.

“Adrian we’re moving faster!” she cries. “Mackenzie, I know!” bursts Adrian in frustration.

The boat moves progressively faster and faster. The panic was flowing heavily through both Mackenzie and Adrian, as Adrian tries to take control of the boat. CRACK! “What was that!” Yells Mackenzie.

“We have a slight problem” says Adrian shakily. “What?!” Shouts Mackenzie. Adrian slowly turns towards Mackenzie. And as he moves, you can see how shaky his whole body has become and how pale his face has turned. He turns around and he’s holding something circular and wooden. “Adrian, please tell me that our only way out of here, is not IN YOUR HANDS!!” exclaims Mackenzie very angrily. “It just snapped!!” he shouts back. BONK! “AHHHH!” They both yelled as the boat skimmed a huge rock causing a massive hole in the boat.

“Adrian, there is a massive hole in our boat, we cannot steer, AND SOMETHING IS PULLING US ONLY GOD KNOW WHERE!! Adrian this is it, this is the end, we are actually going to die!” Mackenzie sobs frantically. “Mackenzie, calm down, it’ll be ok” states Adrian whilst trying to stop the entirety of his body from shaking.

They’re brought closer and closer to the cave as the mysterious creature pushes them forwards and soon, they arrive. The boat is nearing the entrance of the cave, and they look down to realize it's a straight down death drop inside.

“AHHHHHHHHHH!!” They scream as they are falling down the cliff thinking it was surely their end.

Splash!! They hit the bottom of the cave. The cave was about twenty feet down, and they hit the water hard as they got to the bottom. CRACK! The boat smashed as it fell onto a sharp rock at the bottom of the cave. The waves crash as they try to come out of the water for air, but it's too hard. They can’t find anything to climb onto, so they struggle swimming for breath, searching for each other.

“Mackenzie!” Exclaims Adrian while gasping for air, “Mackenzie! Where are you!!” He continues. “Adrian!!” Shouts Mackenzie, “is that you Adrian?” “Mackenzie! Listen to my voice and swim towards it!” “Ok.” She answers. Mackenzie tries to swim towards the sound of Adrian’s voice, but it seems as though every time he speaks it echoes in a completely different direction. “Adrian! I don’t understand! You’re everywhere!!” “What do you mean?! How is that even possible!” exclaims Adrian “Adrian!! Help! Something is underneath me!! AHHHH!!”

The water is spinning in a circle beneath Mackenzie slowly pulling her underneath. The creature is pulling her underwater, she can’t breathe, and it feels like she is being pulled at a hundred kilometers an hour.

Whoosh!! She’s thrown into the air and lands on a grassy platform filled with colorful flowers, and trees so tall you’d never be able to climb to the top. “Mackenzie!! Where did you go!!” shouts Adrian. Mackenzie lay passed out on a bed of flowers. A beautiful being is laying over her with skin so pale it shines. Her brown hair flows in waves softly down her back, her eyes are a stunning purple blue colour.

She lays on a rock staring down at Mackenzie, but she is not human. Her beautiful long mermaid-like tail flows down into the flower bed, blending in with it perfectly with its magnificent colours.

“Mackenzie!” Adrian cries out to her. “Are you ok!? Where are you!!” he continues desperately while gasping for air and trying to keep himself afloat. The creature turns her head quickly at the sound of Adrian’s voice. She sprung off the rock and into the water splashing back and forth as she races towards Adrian. “AHHHHHH!!” The creature grabs Adrian by the legs and pulls him through the water towards the land, throwing him in the air where he lands almost exactly where Mackenzie is. They both lay still, passed out on a beautiful bed of flowers.

Mackenzie finally regains consciousness and slowly sits up while holding her hand against the back of her head where she hit the ground. She looks around in awe as she notices the beautiful flowers she’s laying in, and she looks around and sees wonderful creatures she has never seen before.

How amazing! She thought to herself. Just then, she then remembers what’s going on and turns to the left side of her to sees her brother laying there unconscious on the flowers beside her. “Adrian! Wake up” she pleas as she shakes him aggressively trying to get him to regain consciousness, but he doesn’t wake up. Mackenzie waits a few minutes hoping Adrian will wake up, but he doesn’t stir. Suddenly she hears a quiet rustling sound coming from the bushes behind her. She turns around suddenly, curious on what’s behind her, and she sees the creature watching them from the bush. At first Mackenzie thinks she’s human but then at once notices the scales on her cheeks and arms.

“Who are you!?” Shouts Mackenzie. “Why do you wonder who I am, when it is you who is laying in my flower garden?” Replies the creature. “I’m asking who you are because you dragged us here! We are laying in your flower garden, because you put us here!!” Shouts Mackenzie towards the creature, “so yes I ask, who are you!!” continues Mackenzie. “Gentle my child, I will tell you, my name.” replies the creature calmly. “My name is Iris, I live here.” She continues.

Adrian grunts holding his side. He looks down at his surroundings and sees a tint of red smothering the flowers that he lay in. Panic sets in as he realizes that the tint of red is blood. He looks down at his side to which he feels a stabbing pain and realizes he had been impaled by a small rock hidden inside the flower bed as he landed there. “Mackenzie!” Grunts Adrian not loud enough to be heard. Iris’s eyes dart towards Adrian and she rises from the bush that she had been lying in. As she stands you can see how gorgeous she is, her hair flowing down her back and her dress matches the colour of her eyes. Her features are beautiful. Her jawline is so sharp it could probably cut you, and her cheek bones are so vibrant, she’s so beautiful it’s like you’re staring at a goddess Adrian thought to himself. When she walks over to Adrian, she looks like she’s floating in the air.

Adrian looks behind him as he hears something coming towards him, and winces in agony as he tries to back away from her, but she moves quickly. She stops in front of him and tilts her head. “child, is this man human like you?” She turns her head facing Mackenzie. “Yes he is, this is my brother Adrian” replies Mackenzie. Adrian looks from his sister to the strange creature tilting his head in confusion and curiosity. “Ahh!” Adrian grunts in pain as he holds his side. “Adrian!!” shouts Mackenzie whilst running towards him. “Adrian you’re bleeding!” she shouts again. “What is wrong with him?” asks Iris calmly. “He’s injured!!” she shouts at her. “He’s been impaled because you threw him on a sharp rock!!” she continues angrily. “I do not understand, can he not just heal himself?” asks Iris “No! People can’t just magically heal themselves!” Exclaims Mackenzie.

Iris walks over to Adrian and leans down towards him examining his wound. Adrian tries to move back as Iris comes closer to him. Iris puts her hand on Adrian and closes her eyes. Mackenzie looks at her in confusion and anger as Iris has her hand on her brother. Iris’s hand becomes hot, and Adrian begins to shout. “What are you doing! What are you doing!” Adrian winces in pain as some sort of energy is put into his body. He soon passes out again laying still on the ground. “What did you do to him!” Shouts Mackenzie as she sprints over to her brother’s side. Mackenzie looks down at her brother’s wound and it’s slowly disappearing as she watches.

“How did you do that?” Asks Mackenzie in utter shock as she is still looking down at her brother’s wound. “Don’t ask questions just be thankful” replies Iris as she stands up and walks away. “Where are you going!” shouts Mackenzie. “You need not know little one” she replies. She walks towards the edge of the land and raises her arms, then she jumps towards the ocean but as she’s falling to the water, her dress turns into a beautiful tail. Splash! She hits the water, and she’s gone.

“Adrian!” Shouts Mackenzie as she runs towards her brother. “What just happened?” He asks as he groans getting up. He looks down at his wound and it is completely gone. “Mackenzie, my wound is gone.” He says puzzled “She just put her hand on you, and you were healed.” replies Mackenzie who is still in shock

Adrian stands up, walking past Mackenzie who was still sitting on the ground and looks around. “This place is beautiful” Adrian thought to himself The two of them walk around to see where exactly they are, but they still have no clue. They have never seen such a place.

Adrian stops walking when he realizes how bad of a situation they are in. “Mackenzie” says Adrian as he looks back at where they started walking. “Yeah?” Answers Mackenzie. “Our boat was completely destroyed. We are in the middle of nowhere, with an exit that I believe is non-existent from how long we’ve been wandering. And a creature person, thing, who might be the death of us just wandering around.” Adrian states as calmly as he possibly can as he realizes the dire situation they’ve come to. “Yup, I’ve established that” says Mackenzie while looking at Adrian. “How the heck do we plan on getting out of here!? He shouts angrily. “I honestly don’t know,” says Mackenzie. “We have to figure out how to get out of here, come on” demands Adrian as he walks forwards.

“Are you trying to leave me?” asks Iris from behind the two siblings.

Both Mackenzie and Adrian look behind them as Iris walks towards them, and stops right in front of them.

This is the first time they all stood together and can now see how tall she is. She looks about six foot seven which is quite tall compared to Mackenzie and Adrian. All Adrian can see is her beauty, he thought she was as beautiful as the prettiest flower, so he stutters as he tries to answer her.

She bends down to be level with him and asks again. “are you trying to leave me?” but he still can’t answer, so Mackenzie steps forwards and says “yes! We are trying to leave you!

You brought us to some weird underwater cave! We can’t survive here!” Shouts Mackenzie. Iris stands up straight slowly moving closer to Mackenzie.

“But I thought we were becoming friends?”

said Iris innocently.

“Friends?!” Shouts Adrian as he’s finally able to speak again.

“We are not friends!” he continues. This is the first time they can see true emotion in Iris’s face.

She backs up, tilts her head, and her expression is a mixture of sadness and anger. “I brought you here so we could be best friends forever!!” Iris shouts.

“Well, you were wrong” replies Adrian. “We will never be your friends!” Shouts Adrian

“So you might as well let us go then” he continues. Iris looks clearly very agitated at Adrian as he speaks.

“If you will not be my friends, that’s fine, but you will not leave!” Yells Iris “Embrace your stay or don’t, that is up to you!”

Iris turns away and walks towards the ocean and says “I am going to the surface to get some dinner, do not try and leave because there is absolutely no way out. Don’t waste your breath.”

Adrian walks towards Iris silently watching her as she leaves, and she jumps into the water turning back into her mermaid form.

Adrian watches as she swims to the bottom of the water and a hole opens in the water showing a burst of light and closes again as she exits the opening.

“Mackenzie!” shouts Adrian running towards her. “What” she says, “I saw how she got out!” he exclaims. “There was somehow an opening from the bottom of the water to the surface.”

He continues “Ok,” says Mackenzie unenthusiastically.

“What’s wrong with you?” asks Adrian as he goes and sits next to his sister.

“I don’t understand why you’re trying, there is no way out for us. She may have made a hole magically open in the water, but we can’t do that Adrian” says Mackenzie.

“But we can still have hope and try” proclaims Adrian.

“I really see no hope in that at all” restates Mackenzie, “but you go ahead and try. You go ahead and get killed in the process, but for now I’m going to sit here and try to stay alive” she continues.

“Come on Mackenzie, you can’t just give up!” shouts Adrian. “I’m just being smart here Adrian”

“fine. You give up, but I’m going to try and get out of here so we can see Mom and Dad.” he says as he gets up and walks away.

Adrian sits by the water side watching and waiting for Iris to get back, so that maybe he can see how she creates the giant hole in the sea floor.

BOOM! The ground grumbles as the sea opens and Adrian can see Iris coming through the hole, so he hides behind a bush so not to be seen by her. She comes out, placing her palm on her chest, covering something shining through the cracks of her hand.

She is close to the surface, and Adrian runs towards the trees so that it didn’t seem like he was watching her.

Iris lands on the ground and her tail is slowly loosening off her body turning back into her beautiful flowing dress.

Adrian looks to her chest to see what it was that she was holding, he sees a golden chain that looked like it was holding a pearl on it.

That’s it! He thought to himself, that’s how I will get out of here, but how do I get that necklace? He continues planning in his head.

Iris walks towards Mackenzie holding a handful of raw fish.

“Do you want some dinner?” asks Iris.

“No” says Mackenzie.

“Ok” she says. “Where is your brother? She asks whilst looking around for him.

“I do not know” answers Mackenzie. “He might be out looking around”.

“Ok” answers Iris.

Iris walks around looking for Adrian, but little did she know that he was quietly following behind her in the trees.

“Adrian!” shouts Iris while looking around.

Well, it’s now or never, Adrian thinks to himself.

He grabs his pocketknife and runs towards Iris screaming piercing her in the back whilst pulling the chain off her neck.

Iris screams and picks up Adrian by the neck while falling to the ground.

Mackenzie hears Iris’s screams and gets up as fast as she can and sprints towards the sound. She looks at the two of them, and Iris is holding Adrian by the neck while she slowly falls to the ground.

“Mackenzie!” Yells Adrian while trying to gasp for air. He holds the necklace behind his back and Mackenzie looks at it, rushes over and grabs it. Iris looks at Mackenzie and drops Adrian.

He is falling, and he lands on top of a sharp rock impaling him again, going right through his chest.

“ADRIAN!!” Yells Mackenzie sobbing into her hands “I told you that you would not be able to escape alive.

Now your brother is dead because of stupidity. Don’t be like your brother, hand over the necklace” says Iris calmly.

Tears were streaming down Mackenzie’s face and her face had turned blood red.

She looks down at her hands and she makes a decision that could cost her, her life.

“Heal him” Mackenzie demands while trying to stand tall and strong.

“Heal him!” “Are you crazy?” shouts Iris while laughing. “Why would I heal him?” she continues.

“If you heal him, I’ll give you your necklace back and we will stay here with you forever, I promise.” Barters Mackenzie while looking Iris straight in the eyes.

Iris looks at Adrian who is barely breathing and bleeding out on the ground. “Mackenzie, no…” says Adrian in a small raspy voice between breaths.

Mackenzie looks at Adrian with sadness and sympathy in her eyes. “Ok” agrees Iris, “I will heal him. But if you think you can get past me, I will kill you both.” She warns.

“Thank you” says Mackenzie.

Mackenzie watches as Iris lifts Adrian off the rock, pulling it out of his chest.

Adrian screams in agony as she lifts him up. She lays him on the ground, and she presses the palm of her hand against his wound and heals him. “I healed him, now hand me my necklace. Now!” shouts Iris.

“Mackenzie no!” shouts Adrian as he gets up off the ground. Mackenzie throws the necklace to Iris, and she catches it and places it back around her neck, tucking it into her dress safely.

Mackenzie runs towards Adrian embracing him tightly, never wanting to let go. “You’re alive!” she exclaims while sobbing into Adrian’s arms.

“Mackenzie you should have left me and got out yourself!!” Adrian Yells.

“Trust me,” whispers Mackenzie into Adrian’s ear.

“So, now that that’s over we shall continue on as friends again, shall we?” says Iris grinning while playing with her necklace.

“Hmm, I don’t think so” says Mackenzie. “And why is that?” says Iris angrily. “Because that’ll be a little difficult when you’re by yourself now wouldn’t it?” answers Mackenzie grinning.

Adrian looks at Mackenzie with a look of confusion and then he looks down behind her back to see she is holding a necklace.

He remembers the pearl necklace mom bought her many years ago that she never goes anywhere without. Adrian smiles and looks; Mackenzie grabs her hand.

Iris looks at them in confusion. “You can’t get out of here; I have the necklace, remember.” States Iris with confidents while holding out the necklace and smiling.

“So do we,” replies Mackenzie while smiling.

Iris looks at her necklace and looks back up at the two siblings and shouts.“Nooo!!”

“Now!!” shouts Mackenzie.

The two jump down into the water, Mackenzie holding the necklace near her chest, and she twists the pearl to see the water opens below them.

They swim faster than they’ve ever swam before. They reach the opening and Mackenzie at once twists the pearl back into position so Iris can’t get through, and they reach the ocean.

Splash!! They reach the surface and gasp for air, laughing, because they just escaped death.

“We’re alive!!” shouts Mackenzie. “Whoo-hoo!!” Shouts Adrian while splashing around happily.

Then they realize that there is still one problem.

“Mackenzie, we still have one problem” Adrian says while gasping for breath above the surface of the ocean.

“What is that?” Asks Mackenzie.

“We may have made it out of the weird cave thing, but we still don’t have a boat anymore,” states Adrian while slightly freaking out.

“Calm down Adrian. I think what we’ve learned so far is that as long as we have each other we can get through this, so breath” says Mackenzie who finally has hope.

“Ok, you’re right” says Adrian.

A prolonged blast sounds in the distance and both Mackenzie and Adrian look over to see a huge shipment boat headed towards them.

They look at each other and laugh with disbelief.

They start screaming and making as much noise as possible to try and get the boat to hear them.

“Hey!! Over here!” yells Adrian while waving his hands as aggressively as possible while trying to stay afloat.

“Hey!” They yell again. The boat starts to slow down, and it eventually comes to a complete stop. “They heard us, Mackenzie! They heard us!” Adrian shouts while swimming to the boat.

A ladder is thrown down so they can climb aboard. “Grab the ladder!” Yells the man from the boat.

Mackenzie and Adrian grab ahold on the ladder and the man begins pulling them up slowly. As soon as they reach the ship deck, they both collapse on the surface.

“How did you kids doing stranded in the middle of the ocean?!” asks the man while helping them up and bringing them towels.

“We hit a rock and our boat sunk,” answered Adrian.

“Well, you kids sure are lucky I was heading out this way,” said the man.

“Where were you headed?” he asks.

“We were headed to France to visit our parents,” answered Mackenzie.

“Well, you’re in luck, I’m headed right past France. How about I drop you off on my way there?”

“That would be amazing!” Exclaims Mackenzie.

“Thank you,” says Adrian.

“No problem. Why don’t you go get some rest and I’ll let you know when we get there,” he suggested.

“Ok, thank you” says Adrian.

The remaining ride to France was calm and relaxing. Adrian and Mackenzie can’t stop thinking about their rollercoaster of a journey.

“I’m so glad that we survived this” said Mackenzie while grabbing Adrian’s hand.

“I can’t believe it either” replies Adrian, “we wouldn’t have been able to make it if it wasn’t for you Kenz, thank you. You are the reason I’m alive” Adrian continues.

Mackenzie gets up and hugs Adrian crying.

Mackenzie and Adrian get dropped off at France and they finally get to go see their parents.

In the end everything works out for them.

I guess you could say this is their happily ever after.

THE END

Mystery
3

About the Creator

Natali Wisekal

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