OCEAN EYES

The hunt

Chapter Three

Something screamed my name.

Not shouted.

Not called.

Screamed.

The sound tore through the water like a blade.

I stumbled backward.

My mother's fingers tightened around mine.

“Don't look back.”

That was the exact moment I looked back.

The palace doors exploded inward.

Water rushed through the entrance, carrying broken pieces of stone with it.

Guards scattered.

People screamed.

Something moved through the darkness.

Fast.

Too fast.

I couldn't see its face.

Only two glowing eyes.

Red.

It stopped.

Then it looked directly at me.

My mother pulled me behind her.

“Stay close to me.”

The creature tilted its head.

Almost as if it was studying me.

Then it smiled.

I felt something cold crawl down my spine.

“Found you.”

Its voice wasn't loud.

It didn't need to be.

Everyone heard it.

My mother raised her hand.

A wall of water suddenly rose between us and the creature.

“RUN!”

We ran.

I had no idea where I was going.

I only knew that everyone around me was running too.

The palace shook beneath our feet.

Stone cracked.

Glass shattered.

Something roared behind us.

“Mother!”

She grabbed my arm.

“Keep moving!”

“I can't!”

“You can.”

“I don't even know what's happening!”

She stopped.

For one second, she looked at me.

Really looked at me.

Then she placed both hands on my face.

“You need to trust me.”

“I don't know you.”

Pain flashed across her eyes.

“I know.”

She pulled me closer.

“But I have spent seventeen years waiting to say this.”

Her voice broke.

“I love you.”

A deafening crash came from behind us.

She pushed me forward.

“GO!”

I ran.

Then I heard her scream.

“AMARA!”

I turned.

She was gone.

My heart stopped.

“Mother?”

Nothing.

I swam back.

“Mother!”

A hand grabbed my shoulder.

I screamed.

It was Isla.

“She's buying us time.”

“Let go of me!”

“Amara, listen!”

“I have to find her!”

“You'll die!”

“I don't care!”

Isla slapped me.

The shock silenced me.

Her eyes were filled with tears.

“Then you're an idiot.”

I stared at her.

She pointed behind me.

The creature was coming.

Slowly.

Almost casually.

It wasn't chasing us anymore.

It knew we couldn't escape.

Isla grabbed my hand.

“There is one way out.”

“Where?”

She pointed downward.

At the bottom of the city.

There was a dark tunnel.

No lights.

No guards.

Nothing.

My stomach tightened.

“What's down there?”

Isla swallowed.

“The place they buried your past.”

Before I could ask what she meant, the creature appeared behind us.

Its red eyes burned through the darkness.

It smiled.

“Run, little princess.”

I looked at Isla.

She looked at me.

Then we dove into the tunnel.

The darkness swallowed us whole.

And behind us...

something followed.

The tunnel was cold.

Not ordinary cold.

It was the kind that sank beneath my skin and settled inside my bones.

I followed Isla through the darkness, barely able to see her.

Behind us, something scraped against the stone.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

It was following us.

“Don't stop,” Isla whispered.

“I can't see.”

“Neither can it.”

Another scrape.

Closer this time.

I swallowed.

“Are you sure about that?”

“No.”

My heart dropped.

We kept moving.

The tunnel narrowed.

The walls pressed closer until my shoulders brushed against them.

Then Isla suddenly stopped.

I almost crashed into her.

“What?”

She pointed ahead.

A door.

It was enormous.

Black stone covered in strange markings.

I had never seen the symbols before.

Yet somehow...

I understood them.

My fingers moved toward the door.

“Don't touch it.”

I froze.

“Why?”

“Because it doesn't open for everyone.”

“How do you know?”

Isla stared at me.

“Because I've tried.”

I looked at the door again.

Something about it felt familiar.

Like a memory I couldn't reach.

I placed my palm against the stone.

The markings began to glow.

Isla stepped backward.

“Amara.”

The door moved.

Slowly.

A deep sound rolled through the tunnel.

The creature behind us suddenly stopped.

It didn't come closer.

It was afraid.

I turned.

Its red eyes stared at the door.

Then at me.

For the first time...

I saw fear in its face.

The door opened completely.

Light poured through.

I stepped inside.

And stopped breathing.

There was a room.

A tiny room.

In the center stood a wooden cradle.

My stomach twisted.

Beside it was a table.

On the table lay a small silver necklace.

I knew it.

My hand flew to my chest.

I was wearing the same necklace.

The one my mother had given me when I was a child.

But there was something else.

A photograph.

I picked it up.

My fingers began shaking.

It was my mother.

She was younger.

She was holding a baby.

Me.

But someone else stood beside her.

A man.

Tall.

Dark-haired.

His hand rested gently on my mother's shoulder.

My father.

I had never seen his face before.

My mother had always refused to talk about him.

But that wasn't what frightened me.

It was the third person in the photograph.

A woman standing behind them.

Her face had been scratched out.

I turned the photograph over.

There was writing on the back.

Three words.

She is coming.

My blood ran cold.

“Who?”

Isla didn't answer.

I looked at her.

She was staring at the photograph.

“You know her.”

Isla shook her head.

“No.”

“Then why are you afraid?”

“I said I don't know her.”

“You're lying.”

Silence.

The creature suddenly slammed into the other side of the door.

The entire room shook.

Isla grabbed my arm.

“We have to go.”

“No.”

“Amara!”

“Who is she?”

Another impact.

The door cracked.

Isla's face changed.

“She was the reason you were sent away.”

I stared at her.

“Who?”

She looked at the photograph.

Then whispered the words that made everything inside me go still.

“The Queen of the Deep.”

The door shattered.

And the creature stepped inside.

But it wasn't looking at Isla.

It wasn't looking at me.

It was staring at the photograph in my hand.

Then it dropped to its knees.

“She's awake.”

I frowned.

“Who?”

The creature lifted its head.

Its red eyes met mine.

And for the first time...

it looked terrified.

“The Queen.”