Misses Stephens walked into the living room with her husband. Confusion started, and then panic was inflicted when they walked in to discover Bella, Terry, and the woman were gone.

“Let go of me!” Terry screamed.

Cadence pulled him along by the shoulder. She didn’t do it in the delicate act that she faked back in the house. She dragged him. He yelled and kicked, and attacked in bursts of energy trying to break free, but her fingers dug into the skin of his shoulder, and blood began to seep.

When they were far enough from the house, she threw him into the mud, and his now dry clothes were drenched once again.

“Where is it!” She boomed.

Terry felt his chest cave in with the bass of her demand. He tried to crawl away.

“I don’t know.” He lied.

Bella saw everything. She worked it through her head the second Cadence grabbed Terry by the arm. Bella Waited long enough to sneak out behind them. Neither Cadence nor Terry had shown any notice. As she stepped out the door, she heard her Mom yelling about where everybody was. She connected the dots. Like she had said earlier, there was something bad going on in the town. She realized there was something they could do about it. She trekked through the brush in the distance.

She got closer. The woman, Cadence, was throwing Terry around. He’d land in the mud and cough it up in yells of defiance.

Bella looked around. There had to be something.

She crouched behind a bush in the woods near a clearing. She shifted her foot and noticed the thick branch she stood on. She took a deep breath. With the amount of noise the other two made, there was no worry of giving herself away.

Terry coughed. There was a grit of mud between his teeth. Every time he denied it, Cadence would lift him by his collar and throw him back into the mud. He was more focused on keeping his breath and standing up than to notice his surroundings.

In a desperate attempt, he admitted. “It’s buried in Mister Clines’ Grave.”

When he looked up, he saw Bella swing a branch into Cadence’s ear.

The next thing Terry knew, he was being lifted to his feet by Bella. She directed him to run with her further into the woods. The mermaids screaming faded in the distance as they ran.

Cadence gripped the side of her face. She felt her ear dangling by the skin. She huffed the pain away and turned it into a rage.

She turned to the distance. Another strange creature jumped through the brush searching for a new home. It turned to her gaze of fury, and it knew who she was. It had watched, waiting to see what would coincide.

Her angry song echoed in its ears. “Pass the word, find that boy before he gets the crystal. If he gets it back, we cannot guarantee this as a new home.”

It nodded. It hopped away to spread the word to the rest of their kind.

Cadence looked to the earth. “It’s with the dead man.”

“What the fuck is going on!” It was more of a yell than a question.

“I don’t know,” Terry answered Bella.

The two had gotten far enough away from Cadence to relax for a short period.

“She said something about a crystal.”

Terry coughed and nodded.

“That’s the key to all this, right? If we get it, we can put things back to normal, right?”

“I think.” Terry answered. “But, it’s buried in Mister Clines’ grave.”

Bella said nothing.

Terry continued. “She doesn’t know.”

Bella shook her head. “She does! You told her right before I smacked her.”

Terry’s eyes widened. Bella was right. He cursed under his breath.

“We gotta get it before she does,” Terry said.

As Terry and Bella ran, they could hear screeching, screaming, and calls being made throughout the forest. It wasn’t the common calls of owls, and crickets like the average night Terry would hear through his window. It was the sounds he could only have heard in his nightmares. The breeze came through with harsh cold that froze nerves in the skin. They kept running. Partly to get to the graveyard, but also to escape whatever was following them.

The two ran until they saw a break in the brush. They jumped through to find the road. Bella leaned on her knees. She caught her breath, while Terry looked to the sky for oxygen.

“What road are we on?” Bella asked.

Terry pointed ahead on the street, “I think if we follow this road we’ll reach the graveyard.”

“Okay.”

They slowed down to a walk. Neither had enough energy to run for much longer. Not until they caught their breath. Each step was as quick as they could go for the moment. Cadence was likely heading to the grave as well, and they couldn’t let that happen.

The exercise kept Terry warm. He didn’t get to grab his jacket when the walking mermaid stole him away. Bella was lucky enough to get to grab her jacket as she snuck out. The rain was down to a sprinkle. She couldn’t help but stare at the sky as they walked. The moon had never looked so devious.

Misses Stephens ran through the house. She pushed Michael awake, and he muttered half asleep.

“Did you see where your sister and Terry went with the woman?” She asked Michael.

He muttered, “no.” Then, he put his legs over the edge of his bed and rubbed his eyes.

His mom ran back down the stairs. He followed behind her.

“Did something happen?” He asked.

He reached downstairs. Both his parents were discussing plans.

“I’ll stay behind in case they come back.” Mister Stephens tossed a walkie-talkie to his wife. “And, I’ll see if I can get ahold of anybody on the phone.”

“I’m going after them.” She said.

There was no use stopping her. Mister Stephens knew that well enough.

“I’mma go with you,” Michael declared.

She didn’t argue. The two jumped in the truck. Mister Stephens waved them good luck as they pulled from the driveway.