Cumberland (Not A Dream Book 1) (6 page)

Treading through the waters became harder to continue. We made it passed the skinny path and back to the main water that did not contain a mean current.

              I looked around and seen land nearby. I looked across the sea and seen the gate bridge fall under the water. I couldn’t help but yell, “Whoa!” as the collapsing gate caused the water to ripple hard.

              Jack said, “The monsters must have been fearful of going back into their prisons.”

              “They tore it down!” Olivia exclaimed with excitement.

              I heard a boat engine and looked to my right and seen, passed Jack’s head, a water patrol boat. He looked in my direction and told Olivia, “Don’t get too excited. It looks like we have company.”

              “They must have seen the bridge collapse,” I said.

              The boat inched closer, and I was able to see two men in the same suits as the land patrol, but they were blue. Armed with guns, they pointed them at us.

              We all raised our hands in the air and I asked Jack, “What do we do?”

              “Follow me,” he answered.

              I watched him swim up to the boat and could hear the men say, “Stop the boat!”

              “Hello, gentlemen,” Jack said. He continued to say, “I am CIA Operative Jack Hall,” he reached in his pocket and pulled out his dripping badge, and then tosses it to them.

              They both paused to look at it and looked back at him, “This here says you have been retired for quite some time. What are you doing here with these
outsiders
?”

              “We were just taking a swim,” he joked.

              The tallest man pointed his gun and demanded, “In the boat now!”

              Jack looked at me and mouthed, “
Swim away!
”

              I nodded and pulled Olivia and Mason away right as the man fired a shot. We began to swim away with Jack trailing behind. As I heard the boat get closer, I looked back to see how much closer.

              As I turned around, I felt a strong hand pull me up by my hair. I looked ahead to see Mason and Olivia fleeing the scene and yelled out, “Help me!”

              I turned in surprise to hear Jack yell for help as well. They had him held down to the floor of the boat. I looked back to Mason and Olivia, and seen them start to swim back.

              I fought as the tall man held my arms behind my back. I could hear him fiddle with something metal. Then I realized they were hand cuffs as he tried to place one on my wrist.

              Mason jumped on the boat and I could see the man turn his head to see Mason. I took this opportunity to kick the man his groin, from him standing behind me. He fell to the ground in pain and I turned to kick him in the head.

              As the tall man fell flat on the floor I was able to see Olivia do a side kick up the other man’s nose, that sat on her dad. He fell on his back and Jack jumped on the man and knocked him out cold.

              Mason looked around with a suspicious look on his face. He looked up and pushed me down, “We forgot one!”

              He jumped up in midair and grabbed the third man’s hand that held a pistol, and snapped it off. The man fell to his knees and pleaded, “Please! No more!”

              Mason nodded and through the man overboard.

              I looked around to see the first two men lying on the floor twitching. I wondered if they would be okay, but I didn’t care too much. I watched Jack sit down in relief. I asked him, “What do we do now?”

              “Let’s relax for a bit,” he answered.

              I looked at Olivia, and out of nowhere one of the men came up and punched her in the face. She leaned on the edge of the boat and fell over.

              I screamed, “Olivia!”

              Mason growled and his face hardened. The man turned on him and pulled out his pistol. The man yelled, “Back down! I will shoot you!”

              Mason then grabbed the gun and made it crumble like a soda can. The gun fell to the floor and the man shuttered as Mason got closer to him. Mason grabbed him by the throat and squeezed until the man’s eyes bulged.

              The man twitched and fought, but did not succeed to become free. He stopped moving and a loud thud came shortly after his lifeless body slammed on the floor.

              I looked at Jack but had seen he had already begun his search under the water for Olivia. Minutes passed by and I told Mason, “I’m going in too.”

              Mason nodded and jumped in behind me. As we swam below a loud explosion caught my attention. I looked up to see the boat fall to pieces. He grabbed my arm and I turned to see Jack struggling to hold Olivia up on his shoulder.

              We swam down to meet Jack. Mason and I grabbed a side of Jack and pushed up. Olivia was knocked unconscious, and I kept looking at her pale face.

              I wanted to tell her,
everything will be okay,
but I could not talk under water. I hoped she could at least feel what I am thinking. I looked at Mason and could see he was focused on reaching for air.

              I caught Jack looking at me. Even though we were under water, I could tell he is crying. I could see the lining of the water get closer.

              We rushed above and instantly turned to Olivia as Jack held her close. He placed his ear to her face and said, “She is not breathing!”

              I held up her torso as Mason held up her head. Jack began pushing on her chest frantically. He placed his ear near her head again and shook his head side to side.

              He placed his mouth on her mouth and began to blow in it. He stopped and pressed on her chest again. Jack’s voice began to shake, “Come on! Breathe.”

              He continued to give her CPR and she did not respond. He held her close and screamed out into the open water. Jack was sobbing and then Olivia began to cough. Water spewed out of her mouth and she blinked her eyes several times.

              She squinted her eyes and asked, “What happened?”

              Jack answered, “You got punched and fell overboard.”

              She rubbed her temple, where a huge welt began to appear, and said, “Ouch. So where is the boat? I am sea sick now.”

              Jack shook his head, trying to hold back a smile at her joke, and answered, “The boat blew up.”

              “Why?” she asked.

              “Because it is a way to signal to headquarters something is wrong,” Jack answered.

              I gave Olivia a hug and said, “Thank goodness you are okay.”

              “Of course I am. But if what my dad said is true, then that means we better leave now,” she said while patting my back.

              We all agreed and continued to swim towards the land. As the adrenalin rush faded in my bones, my muscles were getting weak. My eyelids became heavy, and my strokes became paddles.

              I looked around to see the others slow as well. Olivia still hung unto Jack and Mason was resting his eyes while floating on his back. He was still doing small back strokes.

              I couldn’t keep up my strength anymore. I decided to just float on my back as well, and let the currents float me the rest of the way. I only remember being dragged across and being placed on a solid surface.

What felt like several minutes later, I awoke feeling dazed and confused. The Sun blinded me as I opened my eyes. I felt around to determine where I was, and only felt sand between my fingers.

              I grabbed a handful of sand, and lifted it up to the sky. I watched as the sand slid between my folded fingers and swayed with the wind. I realized where I was.

              I exclaimed, “Land, we’re on land!”

              I heard a man’s voice chuckle. I turned my head and did not see anyone around. I sat up to shake my hair free of sand and saw a flash of movement to my right. I looked closer and saw a man’s chiseled torso and arms folded lying next to me.

              I jumped back a little in surprise to see a strange man staring at me. His green eyes were big, and his face was inviting. I did not feel the need to be scared.

              He smiled at me and said, “My name is Murphy the Nen.”

              I looked at his long fingers, as he held out his hand, and hesitated, “My name is Milly James. How did I get here on land?”

              He looked at me and answered, “I saw three bodies floating on the water and knew I had to help.”

              “Thank you,” I told him. I looked down at the sand and then back to him, “Why?”

              He smiled at me and answered, “You guys saved us sea creatures.”

              I scrunched my eyebrows together, in confusion, and asked him, “Are you a sea creature?”

              He nodded, “Yes I am.”

              I looked back to see behind and saw that half of his body was the bottom half of a frog. The legs had fins, which I assumed helped him swim so fast. I exclaimed, “Oh! What are you?”

              “I already told you,” he said.

              I shook my head, “No. You said your name is Murphy the Nen.”

              “Oh, I see the confusion. Obviously you are not a man of some sort,” he laughed and continued, “In Cumberland; our last names are what we are. A Nen is a sea creature who is half frog and half man.”

              “Oh!” I said again.

              Feeling alone in my new discovery, I looked around for Mason, Jack, and Olivia. About three arm lengths away, I saw each of their bodies lying side by side. I looked at Murphy and tried to grimace at his enchanting smile.

              “Why are my friends not awake?” I asked him.

              He looked over, to where I was pointing, and shrugged his shoulders.

              I asked him frantically, “What is wrong with them?”

              He looked at me and said, “They almost drowned. Right now they are resting.”

              “For how long?” I asked while standing up and brushing the sand off of my jeans.

              “Couple hours,” he plainly said. He shrugged his shoulders again, and then he jumped up in a frog-like position.

              “No one rests for that long!” I exclaimed. Looking back at them, I noticed they were breathing faintly. I stood there trying to focus on them to see if they were going to move, but nothing happened.

              I ran over to them, trying to shake them awake. I grabbed hold of Mason’s shoulder and didn’t see him budge. Olivia and Jack did not seem to respond to me as well.

              I felt unsure about this sea creature. So I decided to get my shoulder bag that lied where I was lying. I checked it quickly, looking for my grandpa’s book. Soon after digging in the bottomless pit, I recovered the once hard back journal.

              I lifted it up to see the water had ruined the front and back cover. I opened to the pages, and found them to be a mess of blue and black ink smeared across every page. I threw the book down in disgust, and sighed heavily.

              I felt a pair of eyes on me, and looked up hopeful to see Mason or anyone else awake. To my demise I saw Murphy eyeing me cautiously.               He asked me, “What seems to be the matter?”

              I answered slowly, “My grandpa’s book is ruined.”

              “Was it important?” he questioned.

              “Very important,” I answered.

              I looked at its dripping pages, and felt lost without it. All about this place was in there. Now all I have is the memory of the stories my grandpa had told while growing up. I felt hopeful, to say the least.

              Murphy hopped over to my friends, and looked at each one carefully. I watched as he grabbed a handful of sand, and squeezed it tightly in his palm. It glowed for a second, and then opened his hand to reveal the sand had changed from golden brown to a light blue.

              He gently dusted Mason’s chest with the sand, and then Olivia. He moved on to Jack, and the sand began to swirl on their chests. It twirled up and down continuously, and formed into a tiny tornado. It went inside, upside down, and then right side up again.

              Scared I yelled, “What are you doing?”

              He looked at me and answered, “Sea creatures have the power to heal. I am trying to help.”

              “How?” I asked him trying to seem sincere.

              “It is part of who we are,” he smiled.

              I ran back over to them, and saw the sand continue to swirl. I reached over to touch the sand and my hand was stopped by Murphy, “Don’t touch it,” he demanded.

              “Why not?” I asked impatiently.

              “It is working, and if disturbed, it could be detrimental,” he answered seriously.

              Reluctantly, I believed him. I looked at him, and noticed he seemed a bit dizzy. I asked him, “What’s wrong?”

              He answered, “Nothing, it is just I get weak anytime I use my powers. But I am glad to help when I can.”

              I told him, “Thank you, but don’t kill yourself to help us.”

              “I’m not, but why not?” he asked me questionably.

              “They are your powers,” I told him.

              “It is fine,” he assured me with a smile.

              I decided to ask him, without sounding like that I am putting him down, “Does this stuff actually work?”

              He sort of made a face at me and nodded, “For many years, even before my time, it has worked. It has a potency that is stronger than any human medicine. That is one of the reasons why
She
is trying to control us.”

              “Who is
She
?” I asked him, trying to sound sincere.

              “Carolyn Porter,” he answered monotonously.

             
I knew it,
I thought to myself. I looked over to my friends but had not seen them move yet. Murphy put his hand on my shoulder and said, “There was a man named Jack behind all of this as well. But I heard he was kicked out because he tried to put a stop to Carolyn’s madness. I only tell you this, because when I said her name, you seemed upset.”

              “Thank you,” I nodded as I placed my hand on his, “It did not surprise me, however.”

              I heard coughing, and followed the sound to Jack. I smiled at him, and noticed Mason and Olivia starting to stand up. I ran over to them and threw my arms up around them. I squeezed and they just patted my shoulders.

              I heard Olivia ask, “Who is he?” while pointing at Murphy the Nen. I explained who and what he was. She did not seem too comfortable, but nodded anyways.

              Mason approached Murphy, “I am Mason. Can you help us? We are looking for my father. Are we currently on the actual land of Cumberland?”

              Murphy shook his sideways, “No, we are on an island. I would love to help. All of the sea creatures as well, but we are too weak.”

              “Why?” I asked.

              Murphy faced the sea and answered, “We lost our Pearl of Strength. It was once placed in the mouth of a giant clam, but during the time we were swept away in cages, it got knocked away and lost. It glows when near the clam, and shines brighter when placed in the clam.”

              “Let us help,” Mason offered.

              I grabbed Mason’s hand, and added, “I will too.”

              Soon after, Olivia and Jack did the same, and offered to help. We all stood there, and Murphy eyed us slowly. He asked, “Why?”

              Jack smiled and answered, “It is what friends do.”