Sundered (17 page)

My first thought was that mom couldn’t be upset with me now for losing Ashling, not if we were both gone. My second thought as I rolled in the water- the pain drawing my eyes to the source of it- was that I’d lost my mind.

It was no shark on my leg, but a monster, human in appearance with a single eye set high in the middle of its forehead; a massive mouth filled with sharp, shark-like teeth. The thing smiled as its hands, hooked like claws, rose up to dig into the waist of my neoprene wetsuit. The jagged tips brushed against my bare skin inside the suit and I trembled with fear, a new fear. What the hell was it?

“
Can you hear me little Tuatha? I wonder if you know me deep in your soul? We are coming for you. All of you.”

I blinked and stared into the huge, soulless eye, felt the keen edge of years behind it and much as I wanted to deny what I was hearing, acknowledged that the voice in my head wasn’t my own. It was his.

What are you? I mouthed into the water, salty brine washing over my taste buds, morbid curiosity overcoming rational sense.

“
I am your enemy, the one that will strip your flesh from your bones and bathe in your blood.”

It, he, rumbled and rolled in the water, taking me with him, end over end until I no longer knew which way was up. Finally, he stopped and began to pull me into the depths of the ocean, the water getting colder with each inch we moved deeper, away from the sun and air.

Air. How could I still be under the water and not need to breathe? I didn’t have time to think about that, as strange as it seemed.

Movement further below and to the right brought my attention off my own situation. It was Ashling, fighting with a monster very much like the one on my own leg. They were tumbling in the water, her hair floating about like tentacles as she fought the thing off. How could she be in this deep, for this long? How could I? Again that once hollow piece of me responded. This was why we’d never fit in, these abilities, this magic, these monsters. Though my head said that none of this was real, my heart and soul spoke louder.

This was real, this was happening and if I was to save Ashling I had to move now. That thought broke through the last of my fear, its hold dissolving under the reality I had accepted.

I grabbed my knife out of the sheath and slashed at the monster that held me in his mouth, slicing through the bulbous eye, white fluid pouring out of it. He jerked away from me, releasing my leg- a spray of blood clouding out around me- as he writhed in the water

He screamed, wordlessly, the echo of his pain reverberating in my skull.

Turning my back on him, I swam hard towards Ashling, holding the knife in my mouth. Twenty feet, fifteen, ten. I was nearly to her before she looked up.

She saw me coming and kicked the monster that held her tight, sending it into a spin away from her. Ashling swam for me, her lips tight, eyes wide and dilated. Five feet. Three. I reached for her, my hand wrapping around her slender wrist. I didn’t pause, just turned and started to swim for the surface. She swam hard beside me, but I refused to let go of her.

“
She is ours, you will not have her!”

We were yanked to a stop in mid stroke, the surface only a few feet away, the sunlight streaming down through the waves with tantalizing nearness. I turned in the water and looked down. Ashling had a sea monster on each leg. Her pale green eyes were so wide they seemed to fill her face as they jerked her from my hands, speeding into the depths faster than a rock sinking. Her hands reached for me, futilely.

Hands grabbed me and pulled me upwards, away from Ashling, out of the water.

“
No!” I screamed as I broke the surface, the last of my air erupting in denial. There were people all over the water; rescuers dove after Ashling. But, I knew what they didn’t. They would never find her, somehow I knew that not only had my sister been stolen away, but my world had just shattered beyond repair.

And, it was all my fault.

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Acknowledgements

I’ve been blessed to work with a fabulous team that has helped me reach this point of seeing Sundered published. To my Beta readers, Sandy Hunter, Jean Faganello and Joanne Ferriero for taking the time to go through the rough draft, thank you, thank you, thank you!

To my editor, Jessica Klassen, copy editor Kelly Berthelot, proof reader and e-book formatter Dr. Kathie Black from Ravenrock Publishing Inc. (
http://www.ravenrockpublishing.com
), without you, I would not be able to have such a high quality product to put out to the world. I will be forever grateful for your time, knowledge and skill.

My lovely writer’s group, you are all an integral part of my writers journey. Your love and unwavering support has been what’s kept me going when the days got rough.

Finally, but far from least, to my husband Terry. If you hadn’t pushed me to chase my dreams and pursue my writing, Sundered never would have seen the light of day. Thank you for loving me enough to challenge me to reach for the stars.

Sundered
A Zombie-ish Apocalypse Book I

Shannon Mayer

Copyright © 2011 Shannon Mayer

Electronic Edition
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Cover Art: Ryan Bibby- Novel Branding