There was a goddess hanging off the back of our boat in answer to my plea.
I
forgot my manners and simply stared for minutes on end. Like a starlet addicted
to the adoration of the paparazzi she absorbed my attention, apparently content
to wait, bobbing up and down with the motion of the lifeboat.
My
brain fought with itself. If she were a goddess, why would she arrive like that
— splashing into the water and threatening to torpedo our little boat? Why not
just appear, hovering in a glow of ethereal light? And what was she waiting
for? Why didn't she just snap her fingers and teleport us all to the shore?
Doubts of her divine power tickled my intuition and my mind came back to
reality. I found my voice. "What are you?"
"I'm
Laume." She pronounced it l-oww-may , with an Eastern European
accent which would be all growly and clipped if she had been a man. On her it
was intriguing; as different as you could get from a Texas drawl, but compelling
in a similarly lazy way.
"Laume,"
I repeated, trying to get the unusual name to stick in my brain. "But,
what are you?"
Laume
tilted her head to the side and smiled at me like I was a puppy or particularly
dim-witted child. "I'm here to help you."
She boosted
herself higher on the back of the boat until her waist rested on its edge. Her
long dark hair draped onto Paulo's chest as she leaned forward, her gaze
holding more intensity than I've felt from anyone since my dad found out I'd
started a band with four other kids from the state mental hospital.
"That
is if you still want my help," she said.
"Yes!
Yes, please!" I put my hands to my face, surprised to feel cool tears on
my cheeks; tears of hope. "I didn't know how we were going to survive this
mess."
Laume
relaxed, lowering her body back down until her arms rested easily on the edge
of the boat and then she elegantly rested her chin on her arms. "I like
your enthusiasm, little darlin', but perhaps it would be better if we discussed
my price before you agreed?"
"Price?"
I asked. Higher Powers put a price on rescue? I never heard of God charging to
perform a miracle. Not that I wouldn't have given anything to get us all back to
dry land, but I thought that was the kind of thing they did out of the goodness
of their hearts, or to improve their reputations. How inhuman that felt, how
not-divine.
"Yes,
a price," Laume said, her smile becoming predatory. "A bargain, if
you will. I have a task that your unique talents are perfectly suited for. In
exchange, I will transport your friends to safety."
CHAPTER TWO
My unique
talents?
A
bargain?
A
price and a task?
"What
do you mean?" I asked, feeling like I'd fallen down some desperate,
aquatic version of Alice's rabbit hole.
"First,
we must agree to the bargain. You agree to help me and I will grant your wish."
"If
I say yes, I won't have to kill anyone? Will I?" I asked.
Laume
smiled in a wholesome way again. "Probably not."
I bit
my lower lip. "I really don't have a choice."
"Of
course you have a choice, silly girl," Laume said. "There's always a
choice. It's only been three days, yes? You could wait another three or four
sunsets for a boat to happen by before anyone dried up and died. Except for maybe
this one," Laume nodded to Paulo lying beneath her.
Then a
very odd sensation crept over my eyes, as if someone had blindfolded me with
the softest, lightest silk in the world. I have no issue with kink, not among
consenting adults, but what happened next was not something I would have agreed
to experience had I known it was coming, and it scared me like nothing I'd ever
faced. Instead of going dark, my vision began to lighten, fading up into what
looked like a helicopter's view, time-lapse image of us in the lifeboat and the
waters around it. The images flew so quickly that it took me a minute to
understand that I wasn't seeing a replay of the last few days, but a preview of
what we were in for.
Laume's
version of the Ghost of Christmas Future was ugly. As she
I
forgot my manners and simply stared for minutes on end. Like a starlet addicted
to the adoration of the paparazzi she absorbed my attention, apparently content
to wait, bobbing up and down with the motion of the lifeboat.
My
brain fought with itself. If she were a goddess, why would she arrive like that
— splashing into the water and threatening to torpedo our little boat? Why not
just appear, hovering in a glow of ethereal light? And what was she waiting
for? Why didn't she just snap her fingers and teleport us all to the shore?
Doubts of her divine power tickled my intuition and my mind came back to
reality. I found my voice. "What are you?"
"I'm
Laume." She pronounced it l-oww-may , with an Eastern European
accent which would be all growly and clipped if she had been a man. On her it
was intriguing; as different as you could get from a Texas drawl, but compelling
in a similarly lazy way.
"Laume,"
I repeated, trying to get the unusual name to stick in my brain. "But,
what are you?"
Laume
tilted her head to the side and smiled at me like I was a puppy or particularly
dim-witted child. "I'm here to help you."
She boosted
herself higher on the back of the boat until her waist rested on its edge. Her
long dark hair draped onto Paulo's chest as she leaned forward, her gaze
holding more intensity than I've felt from anyone since my dad found out I'd
started a band with four other kids from the state mental hospital.
"That
is if you still want my help," she said.
"Yes!
Yes, please!" I put my hands to my face, surprised to feel cool tears on
my cheeks; tears of hope. "I didn't know how we were going to survive this
mess."
Laume
relaxed, lowering her body back down until her arms rested easily on the edge
of the boat and then she elegantly rested her chin on her arms. "I like
your enthusiasm, little darlin', but perhaps it would be better if we discussed
my price before you agreed?"
"Price?"
I asked. Higher Powers put a price on rescue? I never heard of God charging to
perform a miracle. Not that I wouldn't have given anything to get us all back to
dry land, but I thought that was the kind of thing they did out of the goodness
of their hearts, or to improve their reputations. How inhuman that felt, how
not-divine.
"Yes,
a price," Laume said, her smile becoming predatory. "A bargain, if
you will. I have a task that your unique talents are perfectly suited for. In
exchange, I will transport your friends to safety."
CHAPTER TWO
My unique
talents?
A
bargain?
A
price and a task?
"What
do you mean?" I asked, feeling like I'd fallen down some desperate,
aquatic version of Alice's rabbit hole.
"First,
we must agree to the bargain. You agree to help me and I will grant your wish."
"If
I say yes, I won't have to kill anyone? Will I?" I asked.
Laume
smiled in a wholesome way again. "Probably not."
I bit
my lower lip. "I really don't have a choice."
"Of
course you have a choice, silly girl," Laume said. "There's always a
choice. It's only been three days, yes? You could wait another three or four
sunsets for a boat to happen by before anyone dried up and died. Except for maybe
this one," Laume nodded to Paulo lying beneath her.
Then a
very odd sensation crept over my eyes, as if someone had blindfolded me with
the softest, lightest silk in the world. I have no issue with kink, not among
consenting adults, but what happened next was not something I would have agreed
to experience had I known it was coming, and it scared me like nothing I'd ever
faced. Instead of going dark, my vision began to lighten, fading up into what
looked like a helicopter's view, time-lapse image of us in the lifeboat and the
waters around it. The images flew so quickly that it took me a minute to
understand that I wasn't seeing a replay of the last few days, but a preview of
what we were in for.
Laume's
version of the Ghost of Christmas Future was ugly. As she
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