Chapter 9: Familiar Weightlessness

*Aqua*

I picked up a large stick and started to drag it behind me down the dirt path. 

Ollie looked over his shoulder and raised one dark eyebrow. “Worried about mountain lions or something?” he asked teasingly. 

I laughed before raising the stick threateningly and pointing it at him. “This is just in case you decide to piss me off,” I said cheekily. 

Ollie rolled his eyes but then jumped back when Gem suddenly barrelled into him. She pumped her fist into the air a couple of times, pushing our cousin forward. “C’mon, guys! I want to get to the river before we have to turn back. Remember last time it was starting to get dark so we had to turn back before making it there?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ari said, coming up beside me and waving a hand in Gem’s direction. “Don’t worry, we have plenty of time.”

Gem narrowed her eyes on my sister. “That’s what you said last time,” she said, her high-pitched voice bordering on a whine. 

I laughed and looped my arm through hers. “We do have plenty of time,” I assured her. “We’ll just race the sun!”

Wandering the canyon trails that surrounded our grandmother’s house always made me feel like I was nine years old again. You could see the entrance to the trail from our grandparents’ backyard so it was essentially the best playground ever while we were growing up, complete with winding trails and streams. 

Ollie, Gem, Ari, and I decided to hike to the river to get our minds off of everything. It kind of worked for me but I did find myself thinking about Vin Elliot. 

Guilt ran through me as I thought about how he had the ridiculous notion that he owed my grandfather something. If anything, it was my family that owed Vin for helping my grandparents all this time. I had a feeling that it wasn’t just help with yard work that Vin provided them with. My grandmother hugged him as if he had done something much more meaningful. 

I glanced over at Ollie as we walked through the trees, remembering how hateful he had been toward Vin. While the whole thing pissed me off, I couldn’t really blame Cori and Ollie for being suspicious of our classmate. He did kind of come out of nowhere and right before Grandpa passed away. 

Still, I thought it was pretty obvious that Vin meant us no harm. He was clearly just trying to help, even if I didn’t understand his reasoning for doing so. 

“What’s that face for?”

I glanced over at my sister, who was staring at me with her eyebrows raised. 

I giggled nervously and shrugged. “Nothing,” I said, waving her off. 

She rolled her eyes before scowling at me. “Aqua,” she said in a hard voice.

I winced. There really was no sense in trying to hide things from my sister. She could read my face as if my feelings were written out in the clearest language across my forehead. “Just thinking about our whole situation,” I said. It was the truth but I conveniently left out Vin’s part in my thoughts. She didn’t need to know that. 

Ari’s expression softened and the blue tint in her eyes was suddenly more pronounced. It made her look a little sad. “Well, you’re definitely not alone in that,” she said but then she bumped her shoulder against mine. “We should be focusing on what we can do now though, right?” 

“Which is nothing,” Ollie offered unhelpfully from ahead of us. 

Ari threw his back an irritated look. “Not true,” she snapped. “We can be there for Grandma. I wasn’t talking about our freaky new tattoos.” 

“They’re supposed to connect us to each other,” Gem said, obviously protesting against Ari’s choice of words. 

The three of them started to argue so I was immensely relieved when we got to the river. It took everyone’s minds off our familial strife and we were little kids once again as we started to throw small stones into the water and race leaf boats down the current. 

I haven’t felt this happy since before Grandpa went to the hospital that first time last year. I was giggling madly as we ran next to the river, watching our leaves twist and undulate across the current. 

My leaf was finally in the lead when I lost my footing and tripped. I gasped, flailing my arms but was unable to catch myself. I shrieked as I fell over the edge and fell right into the river. 

My veins immediately felt like they were turning into icicles as the rushing water surrounded me. I thrashed wildly as I tumbled, unable to figure out which way was up as I was carried downstream. Miraculously, my head burst through the surface and I was able to gulp down a huge mouthful of precious air before I was forced underwater again. 

It wasn’t long before my lungs were burning again as I quickly ran out of air. My chest felt tight and I had no choice but to succumb to unconsciousness. 

The next thing I remembered was warmth. It cradled me like a fuzzy blanket. I shifted slightly, feeling the familiar weightlessness of hovering in water. 

I opened my eyes, peering into the darkness. There was a stream of light in front of me and I watched golden particles swirl through the focus point. 

I was still underwater but I was no longer afraid. My lungs were no longer burning. My eyes drifted shut again when a soft humming filled my ears. The voice didn’t speak but the message was clear regardless. 

I was going to be okay. 

“Aqua!” 

When I opened my eyes next, I was staring up at the sky. My whole body ached. I shifted and realized I was lying halfway in the river, on a slab of submerged stone. 

Ollie’s face was suddenly above mine, he gripped my shoulders hard. “You scared us, idiot,” he snapped, his tone low and angry but I saw the very real fear in his eyes. “Are you hurt?”

I opened my mouth to answer but started to cough violently. Water bubbled up my throat, causing Ollie to curse. 

Gem and Ari’s faces appeared next to Ollie and the three of them pulled me out of the water. Ari took off the sweater she was wearing and bundled me in it. “We gotta get her home,” my sister said urgently. “She’s freezing.” 

“I’m fine,” I assured them but my voice came out weak. I looked up at them, my eyes widening as the memories came flooding back. “Guys. I was underwater and something happened. I wasn’t scared. There was this light and some voices…” I trailed off, realizing how stupid I sounded. 

Gem had an arm around me and rubbed her hand against the length of my arm, trying to warm me. “You scared me,” she said tearfully. 

I sighed but dropped it, knowing I couldn’t accurately describe what happened. I really just wanted to sleep anyway. 

I was bundled in bed hours later. My parents had freaked but Ari told them that we just got a little wet playing by the river. After a thorough scolding and some hot rice porridge, I hopped in the shower and went to bed. 

After hesitating for a brief moment, I picked up my phone and pressed it to my ear. “Vin?” I murmured. “Hey, sorry to call so late. Can you meet me at the park in an hour? Something happened.” 

“I didn’t think you’d actually tell me if something happened,” Vin said about an hour later. 

I looked up at him, slightly offended and trying not to be distracted by how the nearby streetlight made his eyes look a bit more gold than normal. “Why wouldn’t I?” I asked. “You made it clear that you wanted me to.”

“But you didn’t have to,” Vin pointed out as if he was reminding himself. He met my gaze. “What happened? Are you alright?” 

I was better prepared to explain what happened in the river this time, having had time to process it since then. I described the chaos when I initially fell in and how the water seemed to calm down on its own. I did my best to paint a picture of the stream of light and the melodic voice. 

“I know it sounds crazy but I think the river might have saved me,” I said. “I was underwater, like deep underwater, and when I woke up, I had been carried to shore. I think it has something to do with the thing that melted into my chest.” 

Vin nodded, digesting this. “I think we should go back to where this happened,” he said at last. “I think you’re right to suspect this could have something to do with your Star Mark. It is the sign of Aquarius, the water bearer.”

I sucked in a sharp breath and reflexively placed a hand on my chest, right where the mark was hidden beneath my clothes. I met Vin’s gaze unflinchingly. “Let’s do it.”