Anomaly Read online

  The sand is warm and soft under my feet. It feels great. In the summer, the sand can be too hot to stand barefoot on, but the early November sun is not strong enough to bake it to that degree.

  An uneven line of slimy brown kelp buzzing with tiny flies marks the high tide line. We carefully step over the wet, slippery strands and continue on toward the water, stopping just above the spot where the most recent wave has reached. The sand is firmer here, and moist and cool.

  Far out on the water, the ruined hulk of the aircraft carrier Nimitz seems to float on the horizon, victim of an Anomaly almost fifteen years ago, before people realized that electromagnetic fields could attract the things. Hundreds of sailors perished in the Anomaly and under the claws and horns of the beasts that came through it. Thousands more saved themselves by jumping into the sea and swimming away.

  For whatever reason, the things that come through the portals seem to have an aversion to water. No creature has ever been seen in the water, and these beasts were no different. They howled and screeched from atop the carrier, but none followed their prey into the sea. Our scientists speculate that perhaps there’s no water on whatever world lies beyond the portals, but no one knows for sure. Our leaders worried some of the monsters aboard the Nimitz might eventually go overboard and discover they could survive the sea, so teams of Marines and Navy Seals rowed out to the Nimitz and wiped out the beasts with machine guns, grenades and flamethrowers.

  To be safe, they burned all the carcasses but three. One was a minotaur, another was a giant four-legged creature with the head of a wolf but a body more like a bear, and the third looked like some kind of wingless dragon. Our scientists studied the remains for several weeks but learned nothing of use. Those three were then incinerated as well.

  The Nimitz was judged to be too damaged by the Anomaly to be of any use, so it was left anchored where it sat, a grim reminder of those early days of the war.

  “Let’s do the sliding sand thing,” I suggest as I begin rolling my jeans legs high up over my knees.

  “Fun idea,” Radar replies. She bends and rolls her pants up as well.

  I unstrap my machete from my back and deposit it onto the sand, far enough from the water to keep it safe from any rogue wave. Radar does the same with her sword. No one will touch the weapons, we know.

  Holding hands like little kids, we walk out into the foamy remnants of a small wave. As expected, the water is icy cold. The first touch sends a shiver through my body, but my feet quickly grow accustomed to it. We stop when the water reaches just above our ankles. I wiggle my feet, digging them a couple of inches down into the wet sand. Beside me, Radar does the same.

  This is a game we’ve played since we were young tykes. As the wave recedes, the water rushing by our ankles makes it feel as if our feet are sliding in the sand. It’s just an illusion, we know, but it feels real and it’s fun. We’re both giggling now at the weird sensation. With the world the way it is in these dark days, you take your fun however and wherever you can find it.

  When the water has ebbed beyond us, we dig our feet in once more and wait for the next wave. I’m gazing out beyond the breakers when I see several dark bodies gracefully carving through the surface of the water.

  “Dolphins!” I exclaim.

  “Where?” Radar asks excitedly.

  I point toward them, about a hundred yards offshore, slightly to our north. I see at least six now. It’s hard to tell how many there are for certain, because they don’t all break the surface at the same time.

  Radar follows my outstretched arm. “I see them!”

  The dolphins seem especially playful this morning, rising higher out of the water than I can ever remember seeing. Instead of making their way slowly north or south as they usually do, they seem to be swimming and leaping in the same area. The word “frolicking” comes to mind. I think there are at least a dozen of them. I wonder if perhaps there’s an unusually large school of fish in that area for them to feed on.

  Radar has noticed their behavior also. “There’s something different going on out there today,” she says. “They’re acting happier, if such a thing is possible.”

  “I know. They look like they’re playing. Frolicking,” I add, pleased with the word.

  “I think there’s something else out there in the water with them,” Radar says. “I can’t quite see from here, though.” She begins wading farther out into the water.

  I follow suit. My feet had grown accustomed to the cold water, but now it’s splashing up over my knees. I shiver as each new wave splashes a bit higher. I’m glad the surf is fairly small today.

  Finally we stop. We’re twenty yards out into the water, which swirls around my knees now. My jeans are growing more soaked with each passing wave, but I scarcely notice. From our new vantage point we can see a bit more clearly. The dolphins are still frolicking in the same spot, but that’s not what has grabbed my attention. I rub my eyes, thinking the sea and the sun must be playing tricks on me.

  Radar sees it, too. “I don’t freaking believe it,” she says.

  CHAPTER 3

  RADAR AND I STARE OUT across the water for a moment, speechless.

  “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Radar asks me finally.

  I nod. “Yeah. There’s someone out there. Swimming with the dolphins.”

  I count three people, all female, each with long, jet black hair. As far as I can tell, they’re not wearing wetsuits, but their long hair makes it difficult to tell from this distance. That seems impossible, though, with the water this cold. But I guess it’s no more improbable than being out there in the middle of the dolphins in the first place.

  “I thought I was seeing things,” Radar says. “They must be freezing.”

  “They don’t look cold at all,” I say. “They look like they’re having as much fun as the dolphins.”

  One of the swimmers notices us watching them. She stops moving, floating in place now with her head just above the surface of the water. She must have said something to her companions, because they all are looking at us now.

  After a moment, they begin swimming toward us. Something is bothering me, but I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. I grab Radar by the arm. Better safe than sorry.

  “I think maybe we should move back closer to shore,” I say.

  Radar looks at me with a puzzled expression. “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “I’m not sure,” I say as we begin edging into shallower water. When the water is just half way up my shins, I realize what’s bothering me. The three women are moving steadily closer, but they don’t appear to be stroking with their arms at all. It’s as if they’re using some form of underwater propulsion. I don’t understand it, and nowadays, what you don’t understand can get you killed.

  They stop ten yards or so from us, which is about where Radar and I were just standing. I know the water is barely thigh deep there, yet all I can see of them is from the chest up. Still, that’s enough to make my eyes feel like they want to pop out of my head. Not only are these women not wearing wetsuits, they’re not wearing bathing suits either—at least, they’re not wearing bathing suit tops.

  All three have pale, almost milky skin, slender bodies and small but shapely breasts. I’m surprised their naked swimming hasn’t given them more of a tan. They’re beautiful in a strangely exotic way, with dark, almond-shaped eyes and full lips. They look so similar to each other they could be sisters. They appear to be in their mid-twenties, but that’s impossible, of course. There aren’t any people in their mid-twenties. Maybe swimming in frigid water keeps their skin looking young.

  One of them floats slowly nearer, cutting the distance between us in half. The water is shallower, but still murky. I can see half of her stomach now. I’m not sure I could bend myself the way she seems to be, with so much of her upper body out of the water but her lower half still submerged. It doesn’t seem to be a strain for her, though. Her legs appear darker than the rest of her, like she’s wearing the bo
ttom half of a wetsuit. None of this makes any sense.

  “Do…not…be…afraid,” she says.

  Her voice is high pitched, almost squeaky. It doesn’t match her appearance at all. Talking seems to be an effort.

  “We’re not afraid,” Radar says. “Just careful.”

  “Careful…is…good.”

  This whole thing seems surreal. There’s something going on here I don’t understand. I’m not used to talking to naked women, but this woman seems totally unfazed by her nudity. I try to keep my eyes focused on her face.

  “Who are you?” I manage to ask. “And why aren’t you cold? This water is freezing.”

  She smiles. Her teeth are white and even.

  “Is it? I hadn’t…noticed.” The words seem to be coming easier to her now. “I am…Selene.”

  “I’m Kristin,” Radar says, “but everyone calls me Radar. And this is Leah.”

  As usual, Radar opens up more easily than me.

  Selene nods slowly. “Radar…Leah.” She says each name slowly, as if trying them on. “My sisters are…Tamika…and Colella.”

  “You three looked like you were having fun out there,” Radar says. “Swimming with the dolphins.”

  Selene turns her head, looking back toward the dolphins. We follow her gaze. The pod has swum nearer, closer to the shore now than I’ve ever seen, no more than fifty yards from us.

  “They are very…friendly,” Selene says. “And fun…to play with.”

  She says it matter-of-factly, as if playing with dolphins is nothing special. A crazy idea pops into my head. I move a few steps closer, pushing through the foamy remnants of a wave. I have to see.

  I stare down into the water. As the foam pushes past us, I can see more clearly. My mouth falls open, but I stifle my gasp. The dark I glimpsed earlier is not the bottom half of a wetsuit. No, far from it. This woman is a mermaid!

  Now it all makes sense, sort of, in a crazy, unbelievable way—how these three manage to play with the dolphins, why they’re not cold, even why they’re not wearing any clothes.

  “You’re mermaids,” I say, feeling dumb even as the word leaves my mouth.

  “Huh?” Radar says from behind me. She pushes through the water until she is next to me. Now she can see it, too. “Cool,” she says. “Way cool.”

  Selene smiles. “Yes, that is…what we are…in your language. Mermaids.”

  “No wonder the dolphins were having so much fun today,” Radar says, taking the existence of mermaids in stride. “It’s not every day they get to play with mermaids, I bet.”

  Until this moment, neither Radar nor I ever dreamed that mermaids existed, but when you grow up in a world where vampires, werewolves, minotaurs and trolls are real, not much surprises you. I do wonder one thing, though. Where do theses mermaids come from—Here, or There? More importantly, if they’re from the other world, are they dangerous, like everything else that’s come through? They certainly don’t seem to be evil, but you can’t judge a vampire by its smile, as the saying goes. I remember old myths about Sirens, lovely creatures who lured sailors to their doom with their beauty.

  “I can see on your face…that you have questions,” Selene says to me.

  “And…rightfully…so,” Colella adds, her voice just as high pitched as Selene’s. Like her sister, speaking does not seem to come easily to Colella, though the more Selene talks, the more comfortable she appears to be.

  Might as well get right to it, I decide. “Are you from the other world?” I ask. “Did you come through a portal?”

  Selene nods. “Yes, we did. Alas, there do not seem…to be any of our kind…in this world.”

  “No, there certainly aren’t,” I say. “Not that we know of, anyhow.”

  “We didn’t even know your world had water,” Radar says. “None of the other creatures from There will go near the water.”

  The three mermaids exchange smiles.

  “Kraken,” Tamika says.

  “Huh?” I say.

  “Kraken,” Selene repeats. “Giant creatures…that inhabit our oceans. That’s why…none of the others…will go near the water.”

  “What about you, then?” Radar asks.

  “Kraken are gigantic,” Selene says, “a hundred times our size. But they are…slow. We avoid them…rather easily.”

  “Others…do not have…our speed…in the water,” Colella adds.

  “I see,” I say, understanding now, sort of. Our scientists and fighters will be interested to know it’s not the water the creatures from There are afraid of—it’s what might be lurking beneath the surface.

  Radar wades a couple of feet closer to Selene and looks down toward Selene’s lower half. “Can I touch you?” she asks.

  I can’t believe she’s asking that, but that’s Radar. Selene doesn’t seem to mind.

  “Yes, you may,” she says.

  Radar bends forward and reaches her hand under the water. She runs her hand over Selene’s scaly bottom half. “Wow,” she says, smiling. “Leah, you need to feel this. It’s really cool.”

  I have no real desire to touch Selene, but now that Radar has opened that door, I’m afraid I may offend Selene if I don’t. I reach my hand into the water and lightly stroke what would probably be Selene’s upper thigh if she had legs instead of that tail and fin thing.

  The scales are hard and smooth, almost like giant fingernails, but somehow, I can tell they are more flexible. Even the ridges where the scales overlap each other are less rough than I expected. And they feel pleasantly warm. No wonder the mermaids don’t mind the cold water.

  “I’ve never felt anything like it,” I say. My experience with fish is pretty limited, but the small ones I’ve handled were different—stickier is the only word that comes to mind.

  “May I…touch you now?” Selene asks.

  I try to hide my surprise, but I know I’ve failed. Selene breaks into a wide grin.

  “I am…kidding,” she says. She runs her hand over her forearm. “I’m pretty sure…your legs do not feel…much different than my arm.”

  Radar laughs, and Colella and Tamika join her. Unlike their voices, their laughter is almost musical. I have to remind myself that they come from There and could still be dangerous.

  “I hope you’ll understand,” I say, “but I need to ask why you’ve come here. Did you come through on purpose, or were you sucked through the portal somehow?”

  “We were sent here,” Selene says. “With a message…for you.”

  Whoa! Sent here? With a message? I don’t know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t that. Sent by who, I wonder? And what does she mean by “for you?” Surely she can’t mean me personally. No, she can’t mean that. She must mean she has a message for our world or something. A bunch of other questions whirl through my head. I don’t know which to ask first. I turn toward Radar and find she’s looking at me. Her brow is knitted beneath the bill of her cap. She must be thinking the same questions as I am.

  I turn back to Selene. She’s watching me expectantly, waiting for some response. But where do I begin?

  “Who is your message for?” I ask finally.

  “For you, Leah,” she says. She twists her head slightly toward Radar. “And for Kristin…and the other five.”

  I feel my knees go weak. If I wasn’t standing in frigid water, I’m pretty sure I’d sit down. Even so, it’s all I can do to remain on my feet. Somehow, Selene knows about the Miracles—and so does whoever sent her.

  CHAPTER 4

  “YOU KNOW ABOUT US?” Radar asks. She sounds as surprised as me. And for good reason.

  “We were told…to deliver our message…to any of the seven,” Selene replies.

  “Told by who?” I ask.

  Selene shakes her head. “I am not permitted…to tell you that.”

  This is getting stranger by the minute. “What do you mean? Why can’t you tell us?”

  Selene fixes her dark eyes on mine. They seem warm and sympathetic. “I’m sorry. But it i
s not allowed.”

  “No offense,” Radar says, “but how can we know whether to trust your message if we don’t know where it comes from?”

  I’m glad Radar is thinking along the same lines as me, because that’s not always the case. She’s usually much more trusting and way more impetuous than me.

  “Because you will trust us…I hope,” Selene says. “I know it is…a lot to ask.”

  Colella lays her hand on Selene’s shoulder. The three mermaids exchange a look and then Selene turns back to Radar and me.

  “Just a moment,” she says.

  The mermaids duck their heads under the water, facing each other. I’m not positive, but I think they’re communicating with one another. Speaking is obviously hard for them—they probably communicate more easily underwater.

  Without the mermaids to distract me, I suddenly realize how cold I am. I hug my arms across my chest, trying to warm myself. Even so, I begin to shiver. I hope the mermaids resurface quickly. I don’t know how much more of the cold I can take.

  “This is plenty weird, huh?” Radar says. She also has her arms folded over her chest.

  “Ya think? Mermaids are one thing—with all the strange creatures who’ve come through, it’s not much of a stretch to accept mermaids. But mermaids with a message? For us yet? That’s a little hard to wrap my head around.”

  “I know. They’re the first to come through who don’t seem evil, though.”

  “Accent on ‘seem,’” I say, ever the cautious one. “We don’t know.”

  With scarcely a sound, three heads break the surface.

  “We have an idea,” Selene says as the water streams down off her pale face and ebony hair.

  Colella and Tamika flip around and begin swimming away. Puzzled, I watch them glide through an oncoming wave. Once the wave crests, I see they are heading toward the dolphins, which are still swimming around not too far away.

  “We think that if…we show you…that the dolphins…trust us,” Selene says, “you might…trust us, too.”