“It looks like it was made for you, Phoebs!” I exclaimed and Carmen shook her head in agreement.
“I am so getting this. It’s perfect!” Phoebe twirled around again, grinning from ear to ear.
“Did you find one yet?” She asked me.
“Not yet.”
“I believe you’ll find your taste matches this particular dress.” I whirled around at the extreme closeness of her voice. Natasha stood mere inches from me, holding a bunch of fabric I assumed was a gown. Her eyes watched me knowingly and I began to get slightly uncomfortable as she continued to stare at me with a wide, almost proud smile on her face.
I took the dress and high-tailed it to the fitting room.
I carefully stepped into the dress and zipped the back up as far as I could. I twisted to see my reflection in the mirror. The woman looking back at me caught me off guard. She was…beautiful.
The dress itself began over one shoulder, swooping down to cover my chest as it followed the curves of my body perfectly; down my waist and flaring out mid-thigh. Ironically, the tag said this particular style was called mermaid. The bright teal color matched my eyes perfectly and gave the impression I was much tanner than I really was. It wasn’t quite a teal though, more of a…
“Aquamarine,” I whispered, as a shiver ran down my spine. An intricate swooping design embroidered in black started at the shoulder, snaking across the top of the dress and around to the back as it curved back in front ending where the dress split mid-thigh. Black lace peeked out of the slit, enhancing the gothic mood of the dress. It was as if it had been made to match the necklace Finn gave me. How could he have known? I heard Phoebe outside the door.
“You gonna hog it all for yourself or let the rest of us see it, too?” she teased me. I took one last look, unlatched the door and walked out. After a full minute of everyone gawking at me wide-
eyed, Willow finally broke the silence.
“Wow. Stasia,” she stared at me. “It’s so…you.”
“Damn. Finn isn’t going to be able to keep his hands off you!” Carmen whistled, and flashed a sinister grin. I looked down at the dress and smiled. It was perfect.
“I’ll take it,” I told Natasha.
“I had a feeling you might. It looks absolutely ravishing on you.” She smiled approvingly and turned back to her sewing table.
After some tea (void of poison), we paid for our dresses and headed for the door where Natasha shook each of our hands. I noticed she held on to mine a second too long, studying my trace. I wondered if she knew what she was looking at.
“If you girls need anything at all, let me know. And come back any time. I don’t get many visitors so it’s always a treat.” We made our way down the front steps.
“Oh, and girls?” Phoebe and I turned. “Enjoy the meteor shower. I hear it’s quite lovely.” She smiled with a gleam in her eye. Goose bumps popped up on my arms. Not once had we mentioned the Ball.
With that harrowing conversation, Phoebe practically slid over the hood of Carmen’s car to get to the passenger door and away from Natasha.
“Well that wasn’t creepy at all…” Carmen said sarcastically as she put the car in reverse.
Natasha remained on the porch as we pulled out of the driveway. I turned to look at her one last time, but she had vanished.
Chapter 22
“This might be difficult,” Phoebe chewed on her fingernails, in deep thought. The sand before us was flat and unassuming. Unfortunately, we hadn’t marked the new nest. It was going to be a challenge to find them without digging up the entire beach. Then again, perhaps the eggs could find me instead. I dropped to my knees. I skimmed my hand atop the sand to see if I could somehow sense the hatchlings. I inched forward carefully, continuing to sweep my hand back and forth. Something close to static electricity shocked my pinky finger and I stopped, moving my hand back over that same place. More tiny electrical currents shot into my fingers and I beamed up at Phoebe with excitement.
“I think I found them!” I started digging carefully through the sand to uncover them.
“Wait, I have a better way.” Phoebe dropped to her knees, too. She expertly held her hands above the nest and the sand retreated, uncovering the eggs. We leaned over to get a better look. They appeared perfectly intact, except for several small cracks. There were no movement or signs of life, but they weren’t broken. That’s all we could hope for at this point.
Phoebe placed a hand on my shoulder. “I think they’re gonna be just fine.”
“I wish we could tell if they’re still alive.” I looked on as Phoebe held her palms above the nest commanding the sand to fill it back in. We inspected Phoebe’s work and decided you’d never know we were here. And you definitely couldn’t tell there was a nest of sea turtle eggs beneath the sand.
We brushed our legs off and returned to Maren.
A sliver of moonlight streaming in the window spotlighted my new dress, giving it a stage to shine. Lying in bed, I turned onto my side to admire it. The material shimmered as it swayed from the blowing vent on the floor. It seemed to have a life all its own. The black lace added an element of mystery to the otherwise vibrant dress and the embroidered design drew your attention down the length of it. I couldn’t believe I’d be wearing it to an official Ball in a couple of days.
A slight chill swirled around me. I reached down to pull up the comforter, but my hands didn’t find it. The other issue was that my bed had disappeared. I was standing back on the wide platform surrounded by water. I felt the breeze at my back and looked over my shoulder. My heels were only an inch from the edge of the platform. Water churned at least ten stories below me, sloshing up against one of the large pylons. I forced my feet forward, putting as much distance between myself and certain death as quickly as possible. I’d have to work on where in these reveries I appeared. A ten story fall was not tempting whatsoever. The platform looked exactly as it did last time I was here, with the exception of blood splatters everywhere. There was a large circle drawn in the middle as if it was a landing pad. Why would there be a landing pad out in the middle of the ocean?
A two story tower stood at one corner, with a rotating light at the top that resembled a small lighthouse. With no artificial light for miles, I was surprised at how many stars I could see. I didn’t know that many stars even existed. I took a seat and leaned back on my elbows. The chill of the platform brought out goose bumps on my legs. I was dressed in what I wore to bed, which happened to be thin shorts and an even thinner tank top. No wonder I was freezing! I’d have to start wearing warmer clothes to bed. I shrugged and turned my attention back to the sky. I easily located the constellations I was used to seeing, like the big dipper or Orion’s belt, but the impressive amount of additional stars distracted me from their shapes. I raised my hand to the sky, closed one eye and connected the dots of Orion with my finger. I could actually make out his entire body and bow. I imagined what it would have been like long ago when people believed the Gods were depicted in the stars. From my spot on the platform, I could see why they were so preoccupied with the heavens.
A cough from the other side of the platform had me jumping to my feet. With my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see someone sitting against the wall of the tower, arms resting on their knees, head down. I crept forward. As I got closer I saw something wrapped around his hands with several strips of fabric hanging from them. Gloves.
“Finn?” I whispered. The person’s head snapped up at my voice. He stood and walked towards me slowly, as if every movement brought excruciating pain. He was wearing yellow basketball shorts and no shirt. The light from the stars reflected on his strong torso and I forced myself not to drool.