What the Tide Brings

Chapter 19 - Kaelin - Hot & Bothered

For the first time since she'd been human, Kaelin didn't awake before sunrise. She had been utterly exhausted when she finally laid down that she immediately fell hard and fast asleep as soon as her head hit the cushy, plump pillow. The bedroom was bathed in the bright white light of early morning. She now understood why Liam always kept the curtains shut over his window. Waking to this light was a bit jarring. It made green spots appear behind her eyelids when she closed them, and she could barely open them more than a crack as it was.

She climbed out of bed, her nightgown falling back into place around her knees, and stumbled over to the window to pull the curtains together, to block out the offending light. She blinked a few times in the now dim room, waiting for eyes to adjust to the change.

She stretched her arms out wide, moaning softly at the delightful feeling. Stretching was something she never had to do before, but she quite enjoyed the feeling of relief that resulted from it. It was almost as nice as cracking her knuckles, which was an oddly satisfying sensation. Although, Cynthia did not seem too fond of the act while Liam was teaching Kaelin how to do it.

Kaelin went back over to the bed to push her feet into her fuzzy slippers, shaped like a yellow fish that Liam called Flounder—although it looked nothing like the flatfish that the humans called by the same name—and went into the hall. She stopped next door, at Liam's room to listen for the sounds of his rattling snore. She heard nothing.

The door wasn't quite shut all the way, so she pushed on it. It swung open to reveal an empty room. The bed was a mess, which was typical, but there was no Liam all tangled up in the covers with his arms splayed out and his mouth hanging wide open, as he usually was when she checked in first thing.

Her shoulders slumped, and her lip jutted out, disappointed as she shuffled away.

Downstairs, she headed straight toward the kitchen, where she heard the clattering of dishes being put into the magic box that cleaned the food remnants away. Pushing through the swinging door, Kaelin was once again disappointed. It was Cynthia, not Liam, loading the dishwasher.

"Good morning," Kaelin said, releasing her breath as she took a seat at the round table. She hoped her voice wouldn't let on that she wasn't pleased to find Cynthia there.

Something seemed different about Cynthia when she looked back over her shoulder, but Kaelin couldn't pinpoint the change. "You certainly slept late this morning," Cynthia said. "You're normally up before me."

Kaelin cast her gaze down to her twiddling fingers. She didn't know how to explain the reason, so she kept silent.

"Did you have a rough night, sweetie?"

There was a pang of fear in Kaelin's chest. That was too close to the truth for her comfort. She decided she needed to say something. She thought back to the many movies that she had consumed over the last weeks. She remembered something that many people used as an excuse for sleeplessness. "I had a night scare."

Cynthia made a face, almost amused, perhaps admiring, Kaelin thought. Though Cynthia quickly regained her composure, so Kaelin couldn't be sure. "What was it about?"

"About?"

"What happened in this..." She took a brief pause, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "night scare?"

Kaelin had the sudden urge to tell the truth, for once. In this context, it seemed safe enough. "I was attacked in the sea, and I began drowning."