Anne Brown - Lies Beneath

For a second I thought she meant to free me, and my body slumped with exhaustion. “Why, Maris? Just tell me why.”

“Two birds,” she said, circling me again until we were face to face. “One stone. I need to end the Hancock chapter in my life, and Tallulah—for some unknown reason—wants you in hers. We take out the girl, both missions are accomplished. Now, I’m sorry to leave you like this.” She clicked her tongue with pity. “I can see you must be very uncomfortable. But I’m afraid I must go. On the off chance the girl is good for her promise, she will be arriving soon. Tallulah will need to surface, and I want to make sure you don’t miss any details. Stay tuned, little brother. It’s sure to be a cliffhanger.” She laughed at her own sick joke and slipped away like the snake she was.

If I had ever hoped to convince Maris to let me go, that hope, along with the hope of saving Lily, had vanished. Straining against the bindings, I dislodged one of the stakes, but several more kept me anchored to the sand. There was no time. Maris was nearing the cliff, and through her mind’s eye I could see Lily emerge from the pine trees. Maris’s hatred distorted Lily’s face, making her almost unrecognizable, but I knew it was her because she had changed into her Lady of Shalott dress. The poetic irony was too much for me to bear.

“Lily, no!” I cried as Maris panned the scene from prey to predator. Tallulah’s eyes burned with fervor, the object of her desire so close now.

To my revulsion, Maris yelled, “Action!”

Hesitating just a second beside a paper birch, Lily draped her hand gently around its trunk and negotiated her first steps down the eroding embankment to the rock. She seemed to know Tallulah was there, but she didn’t look for her. Instead, her eyes scanned the great expanse of water between herself and Basswood. My pain worsened when I realized she was searching for me. If she thought I was going to rescue her, I would betray those hopes. Even if I could get free, I had to assume Maris would attack.

Lily pinched her lips together and looked up at the sky. The rain came down harder, soaking through her dress and plastering her hair to her face. There were no sailboats on the lake. She knew no one would see her go in. Still, she walked with controlled, steady steps across the rock. Only once did her bare feet turn on the uneven surface. Within seconds she reached the end and curled her toes around the edge of the cliff. Tallulah nodded approvingly and swam closer.

“Very dramatic,” Tallulah said. “It’s fitting. I thought you might simply wade in.”

“I thought of that,” Lily said, still staring over Tallulah’s head. “I thought about wading out like the Passamaquoddy Indian girls. But …”

I finished her thought. Leaping from the rock appealed to her poetic side. And something more: she hoped I’d know where to look for her.

“Calder won’t save you,” Tallulah said.

“Won’t or can’t?”

“I don’t see the difference.”

For the first time, Lily looked down and glared at Tallulah. I had never seen such ferocity in Lily’s eyes, and for a moment I wondered if Tallulah had met her match. But then Lily’s equilibrium faltered, and she swayed. She caught herself from falling and stiffened her legs against any doubt she might have about jumping. A second later, I could see her mind go blank. She was no longer thinking of jumping off the cliff, or of anything she was leaving behind. The muscles in her jaw flexed.

“Time’s up, Calder,” Maris said from where she watched, her voice a combination of incredulity and mirth.

I strained against the mesh and did not shrink from the knots that tore my flesh. Thrashing and contorting, I wrestled with the net, which jerked upward and sliced my skin, scattering scales into the water like a shower of silver coins.

“Don’t do this!” I raged.

“I don’t have a choice,” Lily replied, although it must have been in response to her own thoughts.

“No, you don’t,” Tallulah said. “Not really.”

“You do,” I whispered. “You always have a choice.”

“Come to me,” Tallulah said, her voice a seduction.

“If I do, that will save my dad?” Lily asked.

“I promise,” said Tallulah.

“And Calder will be free?”

“If he still wishes.”

With a gasp, Lily stepped off the edge—as easily as stepping through a doorway. Her hair streamed skyward as her body plunged. Her arms drew up alongside her ears, her toes pointed. She hit the water like an arrow, and the black water consumed her.

Tallulah dove, and now I watched Lily from my two sisters’ perspectives. Feathery particles floated like an underwater solar system as Maris lurked in the weeds and Tallulah counted out the seconds for Lily to run out of air. The bleakness of Tallulah’s mind shrouded my heart. Like never before, I felt how low she’d fallen—how far my rejection had depleted her emotional tank. Tallulah was on empty, and Lily promised to fill her beyond measure.

None of us had ever witnessed a martyr’s death before. Lily projected colors I’d never seen. Mesmerizing. Glorious. Unearthly. They intoxicated me, enraptured Tallulah, and lured Maris out of her hiding place. Tallulah sensed Maris encroaching on her prey, and she unleashed a feral snarl. “Stay away!” she screamed. “The girl is mine to finish.”

A hissing sound rattled through Maris’s chest. Tallulah bared her teeth and lunged for Lily, sleek and quick like the oily snakes of legend. Together, they rocketed to the surface, and Lily gasped for air before Tallulah flipped and dragged her down again into a death spiral.

“Are you watching, Calder?” Maris seethed as she slunk back into the weeds, her mind writhing with jealousy as Tallulah clutched the glowing Lily to her chest. “This is what happens when you betray your family.”

Another second passed, and Lily was as good as dead. Maris’s imagination flashed ahead to what she assumed would be my and Tallulah’s affectionate reunion. Maris had no intention of sticking around to witness that . With Lily’s sacrifice complete, there was no reason for her to stay. Besides, watching Tallulah had triggered her appetite. Maris took off in search of Pavati.

The vibrations of Maris’s retreat found me where I lay imprisoned, but I couldn’t be bothered with her final thoughts. My mind was focused on Tallulah and the precious life between her hands. Heat flooded my body as Tallulah’s mind whirled into a crazed obsession, overflowing with the thrill of the kill. She tightened her grip on Lily’s chest as she prepared to absorb that vibrant rainbow of martyrdom.

“You are nothing,” Tallulah said, though Lily could not hear her thoughts. “Meaningless. Unworthy.”

Hatred boiled black and molten in my heart. I chewed the ropes, getting a mouthful of sand. I ground the grains between my teeth, creating white-hot sparks that snapped on my tongue.

“You were never his,” Tallulah said. “Never. But now you are MINE.”

With that last word, my mind exploded with fury. A blue flash of electricity shot from my eyes and my heart. The sheer energy of my revolt raced down my arms to my fingertips, slashing through the ropes that bound my wrists, and shredding the net into a thousand pieces that shot, blazing, across the sky.

I didn’t know whether I was swimming or flying. Water trilled like piano keys as it streamed past my ears. The smoldering tatters of my prison fell back to earth. Fish scattered.

And then there was blood.

Far in the distance, Maris’s laughter faded to an eerie thin note. Tallulah shut her eyes. And Lily was no more.