We Stand Against Evil

Chapter 2

'I'll pour you a drink,' said Marlene, standing up.

Declan smiled and shook his head, 'She doesn't want a drink, Marlene. She wants to swim.’

oOo

'It's totally frozen over. Are you sure this is a good idea?' Marlene asked as they approached the nearby lake.

Lana and Declan smiled, 'Emma can thaw pretty much anything.'

'Oh right,' she said, looking a little confused.

'It would be quicker if Diarmuid was here to help me though,' Emma said as they found a spot that was totally isolated from the tourists that swamped the town.

'Is there anything we can do to help? Aria asked.

Emma shook her head, removing her clothes so she stood in just her swimsuit, before closing her eyes and concentrating hard on the task at hand.

'Do you want me to come in with you?' asked Lana who stood shivering next to Declan and the two women.

'Let me try alone first.'

Emma's body heat began to increase substantially until, eventually, she grinned as the ice below her gave way and she plunged into the icy lake.

The moment her body hit the water, Emma's heart soared. She was sure she was in the right place, she hoped so anyway.

'I hope she doesn't freeze down there,' Marlene said, a deep crease appearing down the middle of her forehead.

'You look so much like Eleanor when you do that,' Lana smiled. 'The old Eleanor.'

'Hey,' Marlene grinned, 'thanks very much.'

Chuckling, the group stepped backwards and waited patiently while Emma disappeared and swam deep beneath the frozen lake.

Although dark, Emma was amazed at the clarity of the water. She was able to light all around her using her unique ability to warm and lighten things up. Nestling on the bottom of the lake, she sat cross-legged and smiled to herself, waiting for inspiration to come.

Looking around, she was suddenly hit by a feeling of intense sadness and dread. It hit her in the stomach as if she'd been punched.

'Something's happened,' Declan said from the water's edge.

'Is she okay?' asked both Marlene and Aria at exactly the same time.

'She's fine,' Lana whispered. 'It's just a vision. I can feel it. Just... wait,' she breathed.

Beneath the surface, Emma was struggling to maintain calm within herself. The feeling had almost winded her, but she forced herself to take a couple of moments to understand what was happening. There didn't seem to be any actual visions, just feelings that were difficult to comprehend.

Closing her eyes again, Emma thought of nothing but Eleanor, yet her mind kept shifting to Madge and then to Sthenelaus. It was too much for her to take and she yelled at the top of her voice, letting water enter her lungs. She had to get out. Pushing herself from the bottom of the lake, Emma looked upward for the hole she'd made in the ice. Spotting it, she propelled herself out until she was laying on the ice, coughing.

Lana was first by her side, followed by Declan who gently picked her up and cradled her in his muscular arms.

'You're alright, shhhhh. Just breathe,' he said calmly. 'Take a few moments to let the breath come back to its natural state. Breathe. That's it.’

'She's shivering like crazy,' said Marlene as she and Aria wrapped blankets around her for comfort, as she was placed into the back of the car.

'Let's get her straight back to the house,' he said.

oOo

Lana shook her head as she walked back into the living room.

'Nothing at all?' Aria asked.

She shook her head again, 'All she said she got was a feeling of intense sadness and dread. She didn't see anything.'

'Poor thing,' Marlene said. 'Is she okay?’

Shrugging her shoulders, Lana sat down on the couch. 'She said she just needed half an hour on her own. But she's having a hot shower first.’

Everyone sat back. Nobody said a word.

In the shower, Emma curled up on the tiles and sobbed. She'd never felt such sadness before and it was overwhelming her, taking over her very being and she hated every second of it. She wanted to sleep, just sleep. So closing her eyes, she let the warmth of the water take her there.

'I just feel so awful that I haven't had any visions either,' Lana said quietly as she leaned forward on to her knees.

'Well, apart from the Scotland thing,' Aria added.

'Yeah but that wasn't really a vision, it was just a feeling.’

'And it still doesn't make any sense?' Declan asked.

Lana shook her head. 'No sense whatsoever and it's driving me crazy.’

The sound of a scream made all three of them jump up at once.

'Emma!' Lana screeched as she ran towards the bathroom, crashing through the door to find Emma lying n***d on the floor of the shower, the water continuing to pour on top of her.

Lana quickly shut off the tap and grabbed the nearest towel, wrapping it carefully around her sister.

'Emma?' she whispered. 'Can you hear me?’

Aria and Marlene both stood by the door. 'What can we do?’

'We just need to get her out. Declan? It's ok, I've wrapped her in a towel.

He leaned over the shower and carefully lifted her up, carrying her into the girls bedroom where he placed her on the bed.

'She's still out,' he said. 'She must be having a vision.’

Lana nodded as Marlene appeared with a few more towels, placing some under her head while she gently mopped much of the water from her hair.

'Should we try and wake her?' she asked.

Lana shook her head, 'She needs to see it through to give us a better chance of finding them.’

Emma had the faintest sensation of being moved, but she didn't care. She was beneath the water again, but this time she wasn't alone. She'd been sitting silently there at the bottom of the lake when all of a sudden something was thrown into the water in front of her. It startled her so much that she screamed. Coming to her senses, she saw the object was large and heavy. Whatever it was appeared to be wrapped in something... a rug? Her eyes opened wide as she rushed to its side, unravelling the thick, heavy carpet until something rolled out of it.

It was the hair she noticed first. Long strands of blonde hair, moving gracefully through the water. She screamed, swimming away until she knew she had to go back. Slowly swimming towards it, she completely unravelled the carpet until she found the corpse of a beautiful woman. Her eyes were closed. More death. Sadness filled her every fibre once again as she tried to pull the body out of the water, but she was so heavy. Emma struggled until the corpse’s eyes flew open, forcing Emma to scream out for the second time.

She wasn't dead? The woman's eyes turned a different colour and suddenly she was grappling to grab hold of something, anything. Her nails caught the side of Emma's face and she cried out in pain.

'Moraaiiinnnne,' the woman sang as she flailed about.

'Wait!'

Emma tried to yell but the muffled sounds of the water did little to help. 'I'm trying to help you. Let me help you. Stop fighting me and let me help you.’

But the woman's eyes suddenly changed back. The eyes of a corpse once again. It stopped moving and the body began to fall deeper and deeper beyond. Emma was helpless to do anything but watch until eventually, the body was swallowed by the darkened depths of the lake.

Emma's eyes opened suddenly and she coughed, struggling to sit up.

'Emma? It's okay, you're safe. You're safe,' Marlene reassured her as the tears began in earnest this time.

'Hey,' Lana said, sitting beside her and holding her hand.

Emma looked down and noticed she was wrapped in towels and her hair was still wet.

'What happened?’

'You had a vision in the shower and screamed. We thought we'd better get you out and somewhere warmer.’

Emma nodded before shaking her head, tears flowing faster now.

'Did you see something, Sis?’

'It was just a body in the lake. It didn't tell me anything about Eleanor,' she sniffed.

'It's okay,' Lana said, squeezing her hand. 'It might be a clue. Don't disregard anything yet. You get dried up and into something warm and then we can talk about it, alright?’

Emma nodded, blowing her nose on the tissue that Marlene handed her.

'You're going to be alright, Emma,' she whispered as they all left her alone in the room to compose herself and get changed.

'I'm going to be alright,' she whispered to herself. 'I'm going to be alright.’

Ten minutes later, Emma entered the living room and smiled the best she could.

'Hey,' Declan said, standing up. 'Come on. Sit down and tell us what you saw.’

She nodded and repeated everything from the vision before continuing, '… and I think I need to swim again but not just anywhere. There's a specific lake I need to go to. There I'll understand what all this means.’

'Do you know which lake?' Aria asked.

'Moraine Lake,' she said matter-of-factly.

'How do you know?’

'She told me.’

Declan nodded. 'Okay then, we're headed to Moraine Lake. Do you want to rest first?’

But before he could finish the question, Emma was already putting on her coat and boots.

'Oh, okay. Let's go.’

CHAPTER 3

'I hear voices,' Declan whispered just after Emma had plunged into the water.

'Tourists?' asked Lana.

Declan strained a little bit before his eyes opened wide. He shook his head.

'No, not tourists. Oh no…'

'What is it Declan? You're scaring me?' Lana practically screeched.

But before he could answer, he had flung off his coat and dived into the freezing cold water.

'Declan no,' the three of them shouted after him.

'What the hell is he doing?' Lana cried. 'He won't survive that cold.’

'Yes he will,' Aria whispered calmly. 'Resurgam, remember?’

'Oh yeah, but... he has to die first to be able to come back,' she screeched again.

'He knows what he's doing, Lana. We have to support him,' Marlene said as she pulled Lana towards her and stopped her from doing anything silly. 'Just wait.’

Beneath the icy waters, Emma watched in disbelief as Declan swam, fully clothed, towards her.

'What are you doing?' she asked telepathically, knowing he could read her thoughts.

He pointed in the distance, shaking his head, mouthing ‘danger'.

But Emma knew she had to stay, this was her only chance to find a clue as to Eleanor and John’s whereabouts. She didn't know why it was here, she just knew she needed to be here. The dead woman had made that abundantly clear. Well, kind of. So she shook her head vehemently and turned to swim away. But before she did, she glanced back. That's when she noticed Declan wasn't looking so good. She grabbed him and held him tight, allowing her intense body heat to flow deep into his body.

At the same time, she finally saw what he had been warning her about.

They weren't alone.

There were three of them approaching, one woman and two men. Well, one female and two males. They certainly weren’t human. Although Emma was pouring out intense heat all around her, she shivered. Declan, who was drifting in and out of consciousness, suddenly tensed up as he watched them approach.

‘It’s okay, Declan. They’re not going to hurt us,’ Emma thought, looking at him quickly before returning her gaze to the strange-looking creatures. Although their faces resembled humans, their bodies were scaly like that of large fish and when they opened their mouths, they were full of razor sharp teeth.

When they were about five metres away, they came to a stop and nodded towards them. The female of the group shifted slowly forward, her hands outstretched.

Declan immediately thrust himself between her and Emma, but Emma gently tugged him back.

‘Declan, please go back. I’m safe. I can feel it. She needs to communicate with me.’

He was clearly unhappy about it, but after a few seconds, Declan nodded, using his last bit of strength to launch himself from the bottom of the lake, swimming as fast as he could until he reached his only exit from the cold water.

His friends rushed towards him, pulling him out and immediately warmed him with some of the towels they’d brought with them from their rental.