Oceania: The Underwater City by Eliza Taye (novels for teenagers .TXT) 📕

The last time I surfaced, the sky had already transitioned to a hazy indigo with streaks of purples and pinks. The sun hung low, well past halfway down the horizon. I needed to return to the beach.

Jagger surfaced and came alongside me, offering his dorsal fin. Gratefully, I grasped it and he took off, but this time, he stayed at the surface. I felt like a speedboat cutting through the waves on Jagger’s back. There was no hiding my delight at my evening with the dolphins. I had no idea how I would keep my grin from Gran when I returned tonight.

Jagger led me as far into the shallows as he could, squeaked a goodbye, but continued watching me. With a sweet smile, I waved back at him. For a moment, he disappeared, and then I saw his gray body skyrocket nearly eight feet into the air, complete a somersault, and land with perfect form back into the ocean.

Chapter 14

Stumbling exhaustedly through the sand towards the fence, I couldn’t help thinking about the incredible day I’d had. Swimming with Jagger and his pod would be something I’d remember for the rest of my life.

Gazing back towards the ocean, I realized that the sun was darkening ever more toward twilight, which caused me to quicken my tired feet. Reaching the fence, I let out a huge sigh of relief as my legs wobbled with weariness beneath me. Just as I was about to drop down to wriggle my way through the rabbit hole, something flashed out of my peripheral vision.

Immediately, I fell to the ground and cowered as low as I possibly could. A police car with flashing lights was flying down the road, the red and blue alternating lights so bright they nearly lit up the road for several feet in each direction. If I hadn’t dropped down, I would have been in the sight of those lights. I found comfort in the fact they were flashing. That meant the police were headed somewhere and probably too preoccupied to notice my bike hidden partially behind the bushes near the rift in the fence.

The sirens faded, alerting me to their distance away from me. My absolute dread began to decrease. I started breathing again and quickly made my way under the fence and to my bike. I wasn’t going to wait around for them to come back in this direction and notice me.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

I froze.

The cop car was gone, so who could be this person talking to me? I slowly turned around, both my hands still on the handlebars of my bicycle, ready to throw my leg over at any second and ride away from the male voice. “I was only bike riding and stopped to take a break to watch the beautiful setting sun over the ocean.”

The man looked at me with disbelieving hickory eyes, and thick, slicked-back mocha hair. He wore an outfit that seemed way out of place for this time period and weather. The caramel-colored leather jacket reminded me of pictures I’d seen in history books. The plaid, green shirt and black pants shattered the vintage-style ensemble that he seemed to start with, replacing it with just a plain old and ugly outfit.

“I didn’t notice you before. It’s like you appeared out of nowhere.” His gaze drifted out to the ocean, and then gradually made their way back to me.

I didn’t say anything. I just kept staring back at him, trying not to show any fear. If this had been Chicago, I would have merely kept going and not looked back. Then again, I wouldn’t have been doing something illegal either.

“Where are your parents?”

“I’m not here with them. I also don’t have any obligation to answer your questions, since you’re a complete stranger. If you don’t mind, I’ll be going.” I allowed my bike to lean against my waist so I could fold my arms in an attempt to appear feistier than I felt at the moment.

“Wait,” he took a step forward and held up a hand, indicating for me to halt. “I’m sorry, I should have introduced myself. My name is Daniel Warren. I’m a private investigator working with the police department here. A young couple went missing last night and we’ve been out here searching for them. Have you seen anyone around here? Wait,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out an omniphone, “this is what they look like.” He held it up and pressed a button.

Within less than a second, a hologram of a couple who appeared to be in their mid-twenties projected in front of me. The woman stood with her right arm linked with the man on her right. Short honey-colored hair cut into a pixie style just barely hung down across her large forehead to reach the eerie gray deep-set eyes. She wore a white tank top and jeans that reached down to her ankles. The man next to her had short cut brown hair with eyes to match. His clothing choice was similar to the woman’s, which was a blue sleeveless top and long jeans. Each grinned as they gazed into each other’s eyes.

“I’m sorry, but I haven’t seen anyone like that around here. I need to go home. My grandmother is waiting for me.” I threw my leg over my bike, my conscience was screaming at me to get out of there…that something wasn’t right with this guy. Lately, I’d tossed the small voice of my conscience aside, but this time, I was prepared to listen to it.

“Hold on a minute.” He handed me a business card quickly. “Call me if you see the couple or hear anything about it.”

“Okay,” I answered curtly and began to swiftly pedal away.

I don’t know what it was, but something about that guy didn’t set right