Chapter 1: Altair

  In my world, there was only me, Mom, and the ocean. Oh, and sometimes a weird man with the crazy-long bangs would swing by once in a while.

  “Altair! It’s time for dinner!”

  “Spaghetti and meatballs?”

  “You know the drill, Sergeant.”

  She ruffled my hair as we sat at the tiny and dingy kitchen table, watching the sun sink into the ocean waves.

  “Hey Mom, the sun looks like it's being swallowed by the water,” I giggled, and she rolled her eyes.

  “My ever-so-imaginative son is thinking weird things again. How was your homework? Do you need help?” she sighed.

  “If you help me now, you will be… stunting my progress,” I nodded my head wisely, and she laughed.

  “How is my son this adorable? If you need any help, just ask.”

  “Thanks, Mom. But you know, it is kind of cheating if I asked the person who gave me the homework how to do it.”

  “Okay, okay, I got it-” the doorbell rang, and Mom frowned.

  “Do we have guests today?”

  She stood up, leaning toward me to rub the spaghetti sauce from the corner of my mouth.

  “Darling, do eat properly. The girls won’t like you if you’re messy,” she joked, and I scrunched my face in retaliation.

  “Sure, Mom.”

  I turned toward the glittering water, gazing into its glossy depths. If I imagined hard enough, I could see the dolphins breaking the water, their fins reaching the cool, windy sky while birds flocked overhead, creating small overcasts on the water’s surface. There would be a little sailboat with Mom and I on it, watching the sun cast its rays like a dying ember, slowly being enveloped by the cold darkness of the ocean-

  Clatter.

  “Drop the spoon and put your hands in the air.”

  I didn’t even need to follow his instructions. My spoon literally fell out of my hand in shock, splattering tomato sauce over the table and my shirt like a shocked exclamation mark.

  “Don’t let me say it again. Hands up.”

  This time, a gun was pointed at me, and I stood up in alarm. Mom! Where was she?

  “What… What did you do to Mom?” I stuttered, slowly raising my hands up like a criminal that was caught in the crosslights of a police car.

  “Who said you could talk-”

  Wham!

  Now I was speechless. The gun that was pointing at my face just seconds ago was now at my feet, and I scrambled to catch it, hoping that this thing could at least scare whatever was going to attack me next. A figure wearing a white hoodie stood over the darkly clad guy, knocking him unconscious. Fearing for my life, I closed my eyes and held the gun out, not even sure where it was pointing to. As long as I held the gun out, at least they wouldn’t kill me straightaway. I needed to survive. I needed to see Mom and get her out of here-

  “I wish I could applaud your bravery, but you peed yourself and you’re holding the gun backwards.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  I felt a warm thump hit against my hand, and I slowly opened my eyes to see ocean blue eyes kindly gazing at me. I instinctively leaned toward him, falling into his arms as the adrenaline instantly left me like a rat fleeing for the gutters.

  “That’s it. Give the gun to me.”

  He slowly guided the foreign contraption out of my hands, and I released a breath of relief.

  “It’s you, crazy-long-bangs man,” I beamed, and he softly chuckled.

  “I know it’s been a while, Altair. It’s nice to meet you again.”

  With that, the bittersweet reunion with my only connection to the outside world ended abruptly with the absurd yet very real fact that Mom was gone.

  “Where’s Mom? Is she okay?”

  His face darkened, and that was all I needed to know that Mom wasn’t okay, nor was she here.

  I stood, my feet already heading for the door, but he instantly grabbed me with a dark, cold intensity that shocked me to my core.

  “It’s not safe here. We need to take you away.”

  He hefted me over his shoulder and walked toward the back door like he was bagging potatoes out to the shed. To which this saggy bag of potatoes was not going to sit still. Of course, I decided to be a very disagreeable, angry, and wriggly sack of potatoes.

  “If it’s not safe, why isn’t Mom coming too? And what’s with the ‘we’? Are there more of you? Then why are you leaving her-”

  “We’re not leaving her here, Altair. We’re finding her, which we can’t do if you run away to find her. Give me some time, and I’ll explain everything to you.”

  His usually gentle voice turned murderously cold. What was going on?

  “I’m sorry. What I mean right now is that people are targeting you. We need to leave.”

  He opened the door, and the once beautiful ocean view I was sharing with Mom minutes ago darkened into an ominous black, with gray clouds shadowing the clear sky.

  “This is perfect,” he said, looking up at the sky as a flurry of wind whipped our hair into a tangled mess. Just like what this situation was.

  “What is perfect about a storm-”

  “Quick, change into this.”

  He gently dropped me onto the sand, handing me a wetsuit.

  “Are we going to change out here? In the middle of a-”

  My jaw dropped as Mr. Crazy-long-bangs flung his hoodie and pants off in a smooth motion, sporting an identical wetsuit to what he handed me.

  “Yes, Altair. And if you don’t quicken up the pace, someone other than me is going to see you,” he sighed, turning around.

  “Not fair at all. You already had a wetsuit on,” I mumbled, fumbling through the fabric as the shock of everything was threatening to dawn on me.

  “Are you done?”

  He turned back, and I barely finished zipping up.

  “Yeah-”

  “Good. Then let’s swim.”

  And just like that, I was chucked into the water like a flimsy bowling ball with a resounding boom.

  I choked, sucking in ocean water and air at the same time.

  Altair, look at me. Are you okay?

  His gills unfurled out to their full length, his message flashing down from his neck to his back in an ethereal blue.

  There was a big reason why I loved the ocean. In a way, I was a part of it - made to live and glide through its depths. At least, Mom always made sure to remind me that I was.

  You could have given me a warning.

  The gills I carefully tucked away now came undone, fluttering in the ocean current like sentient beings, pulsing a brilliant shade of sapphire blue behind me.

  I already did. Now, we need to leave before the patrol boats close off the coast.

  He kicked off, zooming deeper into the now-dark abyss.

  What is going on? Weren’t you going to explain to me why Mom is seemingly kidnapped, why you showed up, and why we’re swimming for our lives?

  I’ll tell you once we’re out of the Coast Guard’s radar. Until then, don’t let go of me.

  With that warning, he grabbed my hand, speeding through the waves like a propeller.

  I relaxed into his grip, blankly watching the water rush past my face. Somehow, every time I met him, we were always in this position, running away from something that was always chasing me.

  But, this was the first time that Mom wasn’t here, fleeing or running away with us. And somehow, it made me feel empty, like I just lost something important but my body couldn’t keep up with my heart, leaving me with a numb, tangled knot instead.

  What in the world is happening now?

  I hated being left in the dark. Yet, I always complacently accepted the fact that someone was out to get me, never questioning who or what it was.

  Wasn’t I just a hypocrite, then?

  What in the world is so important that you would want a weak, defenseless boy who kept running every time something dangerous happened?