Nobody said a word, wrapped up in their own dark thoughts.
‘It’s like being on a ship,’ she muttered.
‘Huh?’ said Emma.
‘It makes me think of those storm movies, you know likeThe Perfect Storm, or something. It’s kind of creepy.’
‘What?’ Declan said from across the room, where he and Patrick were poring over a map of the British Isles.
‘The noise of the wind, it reminds me of being on a big ship, you know, the ones you see in the movies.’
‘Lana, you’re a genius,’ he answered as Patrick looked up at him in confusion.
‘I bet he’s taken them to a ship.’
‘You think so?’
‘It’s a definite possibility.’
‘But where?’
‘That’s the million dollar question.’
‘There must be something we can do,’ Lana said as she stood up and walked over to look at the map. ‘She could be anywhere in the world, by now. Why would he keep her in Britain if he has a helicopter and a ship?’
‘Because he’s goading us. I doubt he’d take her too far away, because he wants us to follow him. Lucy Jo is merely a pawn in his little game.’
‘So you reckon they’re on a boat somewhere? Not too far away?’
Declan nodded. ‘That’s my theory.’
‘So where would he go?’ Emma interrupted as she walked towards them and looked over her dad’s shoulder.
‘Where would you be on a ship in this weather, that’s not too far away and that’s accessible by helicopter?’
All four of them looked down at the map.
‘They’ve got to be in the North Sea somewhere,’ Declan answered.
‘Good God, I hope not. Lucy Jo will be absolutely terrified in this weather,’ Patrick whispered, rubbing his eyes.
Placing her hands on his shoulders, Lana leaned forward and squeezed. ‘Don’t worry, Dad. We’ll find her.’
Immediately picking up his phone, Declan dialled Praxos and explained his theory to Eleanor, who promised to get right on to it.
‘Right, come on, girls, you need to get some sleep,’ their father insisted.
‘Only if you do, Dad,’ Emma said.
‘I will, I promise. Now go to bed.’
oOo
Although the wind had calmed down since the previous night, the sea remained angry and rough. Striding towards it, Emma took a deep breath and looked out as far as she could see.
‘Where are you, Lucy Jo?’ she whispered, before shouting, ‘Lucy Jo, we’re going to find you!’
Without giving it a single thought, she took off her shoes and walked forward, wincing at the sudden plummet in temperature. Soon though, her gift kicked in and her feet warmed up to match the rest of her body. Temporarily walking back out of the water, she thought nothing of removing the rest of her clothes, except for her black underwear, before running and diving into the sea.
Breathless just for a second, she treaded water, waiting for her temperature to adjust to normal. When she felt comfortable, she ducked beneath the waves, opening her eyes as she swam farther and farther out, thinking of nothing but her little sister, out there somewhere, frightened and alone.
The thoughts made her swim faster and faster, until she swam upwards, breaking the surface like a dolphin gracefully jumping out of the water.
Looking around, Emma could see nothing but water, but she didn’t care. With her newfound love of the sea, and deep inexplicable understanding of it, she knew she could always find her way home. But that was far from her mind. She was thinking solely of Lucy Jo and the evil that had taken her.
‘Where are you?’ she shouted.
In the distance she could see fishing trawlers busy at work, but dismissed them as being too small for a helicopter to land on.
Swimming farther and farther into the deep, she watched as huge tankers slowly made their way across the water and wondered if Lucy Jo could be hidden deep within their bowels. But she shook her head; even if she was, she could do nothing. Yes, she could haul herself from the water onto the ship, but then what? She was alone, she had no back up. And even if she did find her little sister, how would she return her safely to Andilyse Island? Lucy Jo would certainly die of hypothermia.
Tears as salty as the water she drifted in rolled down her cheeks and Emma realised had no choice but to go home. Floating on her back for a few moments, she let the water take her. Closing her eyes, she listened to the sounds surrounding her. Focussing hard, she could hear the tankers gliding through the water, the wind rushing across the surface and… what was that? Straining, she listened to what sounded like metal hitting metal, something far away, echoing through the water. Opening her eyes, she gazed up, watching as a plane flew across the sky, miles and miles above her.
Sighing, she was about to start swimming back home, but a different sound could be heard in the distance. It was familiar, a soft whirring getting closer and closer. As she recognised it, she stopped still, looking to catch sight of it. After another minute, she spotted it flying towards her. Eyes wide, Emma swallowed hard and watched the spinning propellers as the helicopter passed by at great speed overhead.
Immediately following, she swam and swam until she spotted its destination: an oil rig.
Eventually stopping in the water, she watched as the helicopter deftly slowed, before landing on the specially designed helipad.
Without even giving it a thought, Emma swam as close to the rig as possible, sizing it up before deciding to climb up. It wasn’t easy, but eventually she managed to climb all the way to the top and peered over. She watched as a number of oil rig workers busied themselves, some joking as they walked past the helicopter, which had now come to a standstill, the sound of its engine no longer echoing through the air .
Emma knew instinctively that Lucy Jo wouldn’t be found on the rig, but it had sparked an idea in her mind. She remembered reading something about a number of defunct oil rigs in the North Sea, and wouldn’t one of them make a perfect hiding place for an evil gang and his captive?
Careful not to be seen, Emma turned and dived back into the cold water below, heading back to Andilyse Island as quickly as she possibly could.
oOo
Walking along the beach, whistling, Scott squinted at the sight of what appeared to be a pile of clothes in the distance. Removing his hands from his pockets, he ran forward, picked up the purple coat, and gasped. He recognised it at once. It belonged to Emma.
Picking up the rest of the items, he shook his head in shock.
‘No, Emma,’ he shouted, instantly thinking the worst. Looking around, he scoured the beach for signs of her body. ‘No!’ he wailed. Why would she do it? Surely she didn’t blame herself for Lucy Jo’s kidnapping?
Falling to the sand, he buried his face in her coat, crying loudly, sniffing and roughly wiping the tears from his face.
‘Oh Emma, no.’
‘Scott?’ said a voice behind him. ‘Scott, what’s going on?’
‘Lana, I found Emma’s clothes. She must’ve… she must’ve…’ he gazed out at the freezing cold water of the North Sea and let out an involuntary sob.
Rushing forward, Lana realised she had to tell him. She couldn’t let him think Emma was dead. It was time he knew the truth.
Taking the clothes from him, she dropped them onto the sand, took his gloved hands in hers and looked into his eyes. ‘Scott, Emma isn’t dead. Far from it.’
‘What?’ he muttered, barely able to focus on her because of his salty tears.
‘She’s not dead, Scott. She’s swimming.’
‘Exactly. No-one could survive that. It’s… it’s the middle of winter. She’ll have gotten hypothermia, she’ll have drowned.’
‘Scott, look at me,’ she demanded.
Immediately, he pulled one hand from hers and rubbed his eyes clear. When he’d finished, she took his hand back in hers and made him look at her.
‘Emma is special, Scott. She can swim like
a fish, a dolphin. The water temperature isn’t a problem for her. She could stay out there for ages, maybe even days, and she wouldn’t be hurt. I promise you, she’s very much alive.’
‘Wh…what?’ he said suddenly climbing to his feet, looking at her disgust. ‘Is this some kind of sick joke?’
‘No, Scott. I promise you it isn’t.’
‘Well, it isn’t funny. You can come out now, Emma. Joke’s over,’ he spat.
‘Scott Spencer, stop right there and listen to me,’ Lana shouted at his back. ‘You’ve been wanting to know the truth for some time now, and I’m trying to tell you what’s going on, but if you’re going to carry on being a stupid, pig-headed idiot, then that’s up to you.’ Lana stood up and turned with her head high. She stormed away from him. ‘Boys,’ she muttered, exasperated.
‘W—wait,’ he semi-shouted.
Stopping abruptly, she turned to face him, angry tears stinging her eyes. ‘What?’
‘You’re… you’re really telling me the truth?’
‘No, I’m just making up some pathetic lies to make you feel better. What doyou think?’
‘I…I… erm, Emma’s okay, then?’
Crossing her arms, Lana nodded.
‘She’s out there?’ He pointed towards the freezing sea.
‘Yes,’ Lana sighed as she walked back towards him.
‘She has special… powers?’ he whispered.
‘Yes.’
‘And you do, too?’
She nodded.
‘So that time when you threw yourself off the cliff…?’
‘Yes.’
‘Jesus.’
Scott sat down on the sand with a thud. Lana joined him, placing Emma’s clothes in between them.
‘Why?’
Lana shrugged. ‘It’s in our genes.’
Scott coughed, half laughing. ‘What exactly does that mean?’
‘Emma and I are what are called Watchers. We’re descended from angels.’
‘Huh? Angels? For real? Come on, now you’re really having me on.’
Lana shook her head. ‘Nope. I’m telling you the truth. We actually found out that we have the same mother, who was an angel, but different fathers - obviously,’ she added with a smile. ‘We are kind of twins. Our mother carried us together, but had us on different days.’
‘Huh? How is that possible?’
‘She was an angel, Scott. Anything is possible for angels.’
‘But I don’t get it. Why you? Why are you here? Do your parents know? That Declan guy, he’s one of you too, isn’t he? And that place in London? It’s connected isn’t it?’
‘Whoa, slow down, slow down. For a start, I don’t know why us. And we’re here because our real mother decided Patrick and Audrey Morgan were the right parents for us. Yes, Declan is a Watcher. Well, he’s a Mentor, but still a Watcher. Oh and that place in London? Yes, it’s an academy for others just like us.’
Scott’s white face was motionless.
‘Scott, say something, do something,’ she said, pushing him hard on the shoulder.
‘I…I… I don’t know what to say,’ he whispered.
‘You must keep this a secret, Scott. It’s imperative that you do. We can’t have the general population knowing the truth about us and all the other supernaturals out there - it could cause outrage and God knows what.’
‘Did you sayother supernaturals?’
Laughing, Lana leaned forward. ‘All those things you assume are just in fairy tales?’
He nodded.
‘They’re real.’
‘No way.’
‘Yes way. So, you swear on your life that you won’t tell a soul about us?’
‘I swear on my life,’ he whispered. ‘Your secret is safe with me, Lana. I promise. You can trust me.’
‘I always knew that, but Emma is going to go ape when she finds out I told you.’
‘Emma is what?’ said a voice approaching them.
‘Emma!’ Scott exclaimed, grabbing her clothes and handing them to her.
‘What’s going on?’ she asked, as she quickly got dressed.
Scott looked away nervously.
‘I told him, sis.’
‘You told him what?’
‘The truth.’
Emma looked up, her long sleeved T-shirt halfway over her head.
‘I had to. I found him here on the beach crying his eyes out. He thought you were dead.’
‘Oh.’
‘You should never leave your clothes in plain sight like this. Jeeze, Em. What were you thinking?’
‘Oh, I erm… sorry.’
Once she was fully clothed, she turned to look at Scott, who had turned his back towards her while she got dressed. ‘I’m dressed now.’
Slowly he turned to face her.
‘You thought I was dead?’ she whispered.
Nodding, he plunged his hands into his pockets.
‘Sorry.’
‘Now do you get why I had to tell him?’
Emma nodded and shivered. She’d never understand why she could swim in freezing temperatures but the moment she stepped out of the water, she couldn’t stop shivering.
‘Come on, let’s head back and get you into some warm clothes.’
They turned to walk up the beach. After a couple of seconds, Emma turned to find Scott still stuck in the same spot.
‘Coming?’
‘You want me to come with you?’
Emma smiled. ‘You know who we really are. You may as well come back to the house and help us find our sister.’
He looked down and kicked a pebble towards the sea.
‘Plus, you’re our best friend, Scott. I’m sorry we had to leave you out before. We won’t keep the truth from you again.’
His face lit up and he walked forward, linking his arms with theirs.
‘You okay?’ Lana asked.
‘Yeah, I think I’ll be fine once this has all sunk in.’
Emma chuckled. ‘You think?’
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘Emma, you were absolutely right,’ grinned Declan. ‘About two months ago, a former oil rig owned by Peliogas Ltd. was about to be decommissioned. However, in a last ditch attempt to sell it off, they found a buyer called…’
‘Let me guess, Sthenelaus Sophokles,’ Emma answered.
‘Close.’ He smiled. ‘Sophokles Inc.’
Lana and Emma jumped up and down while Patrick smiled at their reaction.
Scott sat nervously in the corner of the living room, holding onto a now very cold cup of tea.
‘We’re going to get her back, Dad,’ Lana said once they’d calmed down.
‘It’s not going to be easy, though,’ Patrick replied. ‘How are we going to get there?’
Declan smiled. ‘Patrick, you clearly don’t know very much about Praxos. ‘Raising his eyebrows, Patrick turned to look at Declan, who winked. ‘We have our resources.’
‘So what are we waiting for?’
‘Slow down, mate,’ Declan said. ‘We can’t just fly in, all guns blazing. They’ll have eyes everywhere. We need to keep Lucy Jo’s safety at the front of our minds, and for that we need to be sneaky. We’re going to need Emma to swim… again.’
Emma grinned. ‘Finally, I can do something to help,’ she sighed.
‘Erm, can I do anything?’ whispered Scott.
Turning to look at him, Declan stood up, making Scott jump and move back in the sofa. ‘We might be able to use you,’ he said seriously. ‘There’s a possibility we might need some bait.’
Scott swallowed loudly and Declan’s face creased up.
‘Oh man, you should have seen your face.’
Scott laughed nervously.
‘Declan!’ scolded Lana.
‘Seriously, though, we could use an extra pair of hands, couldn’t we?’ asked Emma.
‘Perhaps, but I’m not putting young Scott in any danger if we don’t have to,’ Patrick added.
‘But you’ll take me with you, won’t
you?’ Scott asked, standing up and putting the cold cup on the coffee table. ‘I really want to help. Your daughters are my best friends, sir. I want to do everything possible to get Lucy Jo back safe and sound.’
‘And I appreciate it, Scott. Thank you.’
Declan patted him on the back. ‘I don’t want you getting in the way or putting any of us in danger. You’re not as strong as Lana and Emma, Scott. You’re not a Watcher. So you can’t come with us. I’m sorry, mate, but it’s just too dangerous.’
‘B—but…’
‘No buts, mate.’ Declan shook his head.
‘Sorry, Scott,’ Lana said sadly.
oOo
Piling everything they were going to need into the large boat, the group climbed aboard, leaving Scott standing on the dockside alone.
‘Please let me come with you,’ he pleaded, wringing his hands in front of him. ‘I must be able to do something. Don’t leave me behind… again.’
Lana and Emma looked across at each other and then back at Declan, who had disappeared with their father below deck.
Hurrying, they leaned forward and grabbed him, pulling him onto the boat.
Grinning, Scott quietly hid away in a corner until they were well out at sea.
After about an hour, Declan stepped out on the deck and looked for the girls, who were sitting quietly chatting together.
‘Do you think I’m stupid or something?’ he asked.
‘Huh?’
Pointing to his own head, he shook it. ‘Are you forgetting I can read minds? Get out here, Scotty boy.’
Emma winced and Lana actually smacked herself on the forehead. ‘I forgot about that.’
Scott nervously appeared, shivering and frowning with his head hanging low.
‘What am I supposed to tell your mother?’ said Patrick, peering out from where he’d been chatting to the captain.
‘I’m sorry, sir,’ Scott muttered.
Patrick shook his head before looking at his daughters. ‘You should know better than to put your friend in danger.’
‘Sorry, Dad, but he really wants to help. We couldn’t just leave him there,’ Emma said.