Under Murky Waters
Chapter Twenty-Four

ZALE JERKED AWAKE just as the sun fully rose. The orange light burned his tired eyes and he rubbed the sleep out of them, yawning widely before smacking his lips together a few times. It had been a while since he had such a good sleep, seeing how the previous few days he had been living in the oddest of locations like an abandoned island or aboard a pirate ship.

When he sat up and stretched his back, Zale noticed how Mr. Langford looked much healthier than before. He slept peacefully, his chest finally rising and falling in even paces and breathing in deep breaths that filled and satisfied his lungs.

Pressing a hand against Mr. Langford’s forehead, Zale unknowingly smiled when he realized the older man’s skin wasn’t too hot nor too cold. Things were finally starting to look better for the older man, and just in time too.

“Cordelia!” Rushing out of the house, Zale looked around for his siren companion, excitedly searching the area while bearing good news. He just knew that she would be so happy to hear that her father would most likely fully recover in mere days if this sudden change kept up. “I have great news!”

The townsfolk roared with life outside Zale’s little house. They bustled about their everyday lives, some carrying baskets filled to the brim with fresh fruits and vegetables while others simply strolled about with smiles on their faces. The world went about, twirling along the axis like nothing’s ever happened.

However, deep in Zale’s bones, he still felt a resounding difference. Ever since he stepped out of his little house, there was a painful emptiness in his heart.

“Cordelia?” He yelled again, this time, walking around in search of the pale maiden with raven hair.

He couldn’t fully understand why he felt so urgent, so desperate to replace her just standing somewhere. Zale could already picture her looking out at the ocean with a smile curving her lips and the sparkle of dawn in her eyes. Even so, no matter how much he thought of the image, he couldn’t seem to replace the real-life replica of it.

By the time his footsteps slowed down, Zale had already rounded the entire town and scouted through every corner. He was back where he started, just outside his home near the edge where the ocean met the land.

“Where could she be?” Wondering out loud, Zale dropped to the ground, a hand on his knees. He bit his bottom lip anxiously, still scouring the surrounding area until his blood ran still at a chilling familiar sight.

In the waves below him was a dress a cotton white, accessorized by a lace neckline and a neat brown apron. Floating near it and crashing against the rocks of land were two brown flats, swaying with the waves like little wooden boats out on the tumultuous sea. The water wasn’t very deep, just shallow enough to see the bed of sand beneath the glistening waves. Shoved in the grains of sand, Zale noticed a sparkle that caught the refraction of light.

With the dress, shoes, and a mysterious shine, it was enough reason for Zale to jump into the water. He held his breath, reaching down into the water before his fingers curled around the bony handle of a blade. When he resurfaced, breathing in deeply and shaking the saltwater from his face, he reached for the dress and shoes before swimming to the nearest landing that would allow him passage back on land.

In his hands now were a dress, a pair of shoes, and a mysterious dagger. No matter how he looked at it, Zale was unable to shake the foreboding feeling that anchored his heart. But he did not have the time to ponder. Footsteps could be heard behind him and Zale immediately turned, the beginnings of a name already on his tongue.

“Corde—”

He stopped short when he noticed a head of silvery white hair that matched the color of the dagger’s handle. The woman that stood before him had a wicked grin on her face, golden eyes gleaming with all the answers of Zale’s questions.

“Remember me?” She asked, squatting down so that she could face Zale, whose eyes were widened with a mixture of horror, recognition, and surprise. “It’s been, what, a whole year?”

“Two,” Zale corrected. “How have you been, Eldoris?”

“Fairly well. Watching the lives of men get ruined is an awfully delightful pastime,” the woman, Eldoris, replied. “But we’re not here to talk about me. We’re here to talk about you. Aren’t you looking for your little siren?”

Quick as lightning, Zale turned, reaching out for Eldoris’s collar. He held the fabric tightly in his hands, knuckles turning white as he glowered at her.

“What did you do?”

“I offered her a chance to save her father’s life. The price was to take yours. Who would’ve known that she found a loophole in the contract and ended up taking her own life instead? Such heroics. I could never understand the inner workings of it.”

Zale’s blood was boiling. “You knew she would end her own life to save her father. You knew and you still baited an innocent woman!”

Eldoris, on the other hand, never seemed more relaxed. She simply shrugged. “Either way, I would’ve gotten what I wanted. I will never allow you to replace your happily-ever-after. Especially not with her. I hadn’t expect that death would do you part only to fail with her return as a siren. This time, I’ll make sure she stays dead.”

“And what is all of this hatred for? You were the one that ended your own life! You were the one that couldn’t take the news of my engagement, even though we were nothing more than friends. Your jealousy costed your own life and now you’re out to take the lives of others?”

Eldoris laughed. Her voice echoed sinfully through the skies, reverberating across miles for the entire heavenly landscape to hear. In the end, when she finally calmed down, she could only offer Zale a dimpled smirk.

“Other fish-folk say that I’ve already long killed the man that caused my death and that I’m still around these parts because of my thirst for vengeance. I’ve always hated the fact that they’re so terribly wrong. That I was never able to kill the man I loved even though he didn’t love me back.”

She shook her head, her snow white hair catching the rays of sunlight like frost at dawn. Eldoris had always been blindingly beautiful. If only she had been kind as well.

“But now I see. I finally understand that it is not bodily death that I yearn for. Instead, it was to have you watch the person you love perish. Because there is nothing more painful than the death of a loved one.” Her words were acidic and malicious, saturated with satisfaction and pride. Eldoris spoke as though she was preaching the words of the angels.

With a single strong tug, she loosened Zale’s grip on her collar, smoothening out the fabric before standing onto her two feet.

“I hope you have a good life, Zale, because I can finally breathe again after so long. It would only be fair to wish the same for you.”

She gave a mocking wave of her hand. Eldoris pulled her hood back onto her head, tucking stray wisps of her strangely-colored hair in. Before Zale could even get onto his feet, she was gone, dispersed into the crowd like she had never been there in the first place.

In his hands, all he was left with the heavy reminder of Cordelia’s second death. One in which Zale prayed she would at least replace a sliver of peace in.