Page 52 of Surge

Chapter Seventeen

My world was becoming a blur of school and trying to locate my mother. The police didn't seem to care that she was still missing. It didn't help that all the evidence pointed to her taking off. It was no use telling them it was out of character.

I rolled over in bed and stared at my alarm clock that was about to go off. I had been up most of the night listing payments that had to be made as soon as I got any money from the fund my mom had in my name.

I wanted to just stay in bed and wait for everything to be over, but she wouldn't want me to do that. I turned off the clock before it went off and went into the bathroom to take a shower.

I looked in the mirror and frowned at my reflection. I barely recognized myself, even though I looked the same. My hair had certainly seen better days, but nothing else had changed.

The change had come from inside and I saw it in the way my shoulders pulled forward slightly and the frown that was etched on my face. Even my eyes looked sad.

I smiled at myself in the mirror and my cheeks shook from the effort. Why was I even fighting this battle with the Tritons? They were consuming me and leaving me a shell of myself.

I sighed and got into the shower. The water calmed me down immensely and I started to feel a little better, but then my mind traveled to them again.

Mr. Nguyen had warned me to stay away from them. I ran over the conversation a hundred times a day. He knew small pieces of the puzzle and it was my job to put together.

I wrapped a towel around myself and went back into my room. I laid back on the bed and stared at my ceiling. What was I missing?

The knife.

I rolled over to the other side of the bed and reached under my mattress, sliding it out of the place I had hidden it. I held it in my hand and examined it closely. It was almost as if it was a piece of art with the inlaid designs in the hilt. It made me smile as I turned it over in my hand. Why would my mom have this knife?

A siren's knife, Jax had called it when I was hiding in the back of his SUV. What did that mean?

I laid the knife on the bed and opened up my laptop, bringing it with me back to the bed. I pulled up the internet and typed it in. Nothing came up, so I tried abalone knife. There were plenty of knifes that had abalone hilts, but none that looked like my mom's.

My mom's looked like it would be used to kill someone. It had a nine-inch blade that curved slightly at the end and it was sharpened to a thin edge that would cut like butter.

Abalone shell was said to have protective properties that would protect from bad intentions. I didn't believe that rocks and minerals had abilities like that though.

I typed in siren, even though I was well aware of the stories of them from Greek mythology. They were dangerous and lured sailors to their deaths. Maybe the knife was an antique object thought to be from them.

I looked at the knife again before sliding it back under the mattress. Mr. Nguyen said not to let anyone know I had it, so my questions would remain a big fat mystery.

* * *

The first swimmeet of the fall season was jam packed with spectators. I stayed as close as possible to the stands as swimmers dashed past me and readied to swim in their heats.

Even though there were plenty of swim meets for me to take photos, getting the bulk of the shots early was best since the farther I got into the school year, the busier I'd be. Especially with college applications being due anytime between November and January.

During the heats that the Tritons were in, I watched them closely and took plenty of photos and videos. I was fairly certain they were taking some kind of performance-enhancing drug. I was surprised no one had caught on so far.

When they swam, they moved with a fluidity that no one else even came close to matching. From the moment their feet left the blocks to the time they turned at the opposite wall, they barely came up for air.

At first I thought they were breathing, but the more I watched and zoomed in with the camera lens, the more I noticed. With them being in the water and so much action happening, it was hard to tell for sure. They moved their heads, but their mouths didn't open.

Once they won their heats, which was not surprising, they didn't even seem to be out of breath like the rest of the swimmers. It was as if the races had been leisurely walks through the park for them.

The meet lasted hours and I decided to stay the entire time, not taking pictures for yearbook, but to gather evidence against them. I still had the unknown pill hidden in my desk drawer. It was low on my priority list, but there had to be a lab somewhere that would do an analysis of its contents.

Once the meet was over, I hung back in the stands. It was nearly dark, and since most of the ceiling and upper section of the walls were glass, I saw the gorgeous shades of pinks and purples in the sky.

I was in the last little group of people leaving the stands when I heard Jax ask, "Did you find it?"

I continued on with the group, but instead of exiting out into the lobby, I waited until they walked through the doors and then stayed close to the side of the bleachers.

"I looked but it was nowhere to be found," Morgan said.

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