Memory of Water by Stuart Wakefield

Author:Stuart Wakefield
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby

Chapter Twelve

Claw

Dom stood by the front door, one hand on the lock, ready to turn it and leave in search of Beth.

Leven hesitated. “I don’t want to leave you on your own with him,” he said. “Lorcan’s unpredictable.”

“You mean I’m unpredictable,” I said, but it came out sounding sarcastic so I gave him a reassuring nod of my head with my eyes closed. “I’ll be fine, honestly. Just find her for me, all right?”

Leven checked with Dom, whose face remained impassive, but he turned the lock and opened the door.

“Guess we’re off, then,” said Leven. “You know what to do if you have any problems?”

“Run like hell?”

When the door closed behind them, the silence that followed was easier than I expected. An exhausted Lorcan was asleep—or unconscious—in the bedroom. We’d been unable to rouse him all day and Leven said this was because he’d used so much energy. This felt like the first time I’d been alone for a long time. I thought about how I’d shut myself away in this flat after my discharge from the mental health unit and how I’d craved solitude. Now, after everything that was going on, I truly appreciated some time to let it all soak in.

Despite all the people around me now, I remained resolutely normal. Leven and Lorcan were part Fin-man, Beth was some kind of kinetic clairvoyant, and Dom was different in a way I still hadn’t discovered. I’d longed to feel normal but, under the current circumstances, normal felt a lot like being useless.

I switched on the television and flicked through the early evening quiz shows. A socially awkward couple were trying to guess the lowest-scoring answer to the pantheon of Greek gods. I’d heard of the answer they gave thanks to studying Classics at school, and they scored their point, but it was the name Poseidon that stood out. Even watching television I couldn’t get away from oceanic mythology, but what if it wasn’t myth after all? If Leven’s story of his parentage was true—and how could it not be—then other stories of gods and titans, of witches and warlocks, were also true.

I turned off the television and slumped back on the sofa, pressing my palms against my eyes and breathing out slowly. I could do with some sleep myself but I knew the chill in the room would keep me awake. Thinking the heating had gone off, I felt the radiator. It was warm. Guessing either Leven or Dom had left their bedroom window open, I walked into the hallway, first stopping to check on Lorcan. He was still asleep, laying on his right side with his back to me. The doors to the fire escape remained closed.

I lingered outside what was now Leven’s and Dom’s room. Up until a few days ago it had also been Beth’s. I prepared myself for seeing her stuff piled up in the corner, just as she’d left it. Leven and Dom had brought nothing with them having swum to London from Orkney.

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