CAMILLA’S P.O.V


    I let my hands drop slowly and so did the water. I turned to Marie who had her hands crossed over her


    chest and a frown on her face. She still looked upset with me but at least she didn’t look like she hated


    me. I opened my mouth to speak but she held up a hand to stop me from speaking.


    “I didn’t trust you when you first came and goddess knows that I still don’t trust you but I was starting to


    and youe out of nowhere able to bend water and you say you didn’t know but for someone who


    imed not to know, you sure are damn good at it.”


    I sighed deeply. “It justes out of me. I don’t know how else to exin it, Marie. It feels like muscle


    memory. My hands just know what to do even when


    my mind doesn’t. The water- it’s a part of me.”


    “That part of you almost killed my mother. She could have drowned and you just- we just stood there


    staring. I couldn’t jump in because I couldn’t swim and you- you froze.”


    “I was just as scared as you were, Marie. I didn’t know what to do.”


    “Would you have jumped?” she asked and I stilled. “If for some reason, you couldn’t control the water,


    would you have jumped in to save her or would you have stayed there while she died?”


    “I-” I wanted to say I would have. I wanted to tell her that I would have done everything possible to


    make sure that I got Peggy out but the truth was that I didn’t know. “I can’t answer that question, Marie


    and you know it. I froze and I panicked and I shouldn’t have but you cannot control how the body


    responds to stress and you cannot me me for doing the exact same thing that you did. We both


    froze and that doesn’t make either of us bad people.”


    Sheughed humorlessly. “That’s the problem, don’t you get it?” she asked. “I am not mad at you. I am


    mad at me. it was my mother and I, that was how it had always been but then you had toe in and


    you had to make her believe that we could be a family. You had to make me believe that maybe you


    could fit in.”


    “I’m not quite following- what does this have to do with anything?”


    “I was looking to you!” she eximed. “If you were not here, if it was just both of us, I would have


    figured something out. I would have found something to do but because you were standing next to me,


    I figured that you would have helped and that was my mistake. It is my mother and I, that is how it has


    been and that is how it


    will continue to be. I forgot that and I won’t forget it again.”


    Before I could say anything, she walked away leaving me in the darkness. I stared out at the calm


    waves and I couldn’t help but wonder if things would have been different had I been unable to control


    the waves and she was unable to get out. The longer I thought about it, the more I felt like I was going


    mad.


    With onest longing stare at the waves, I stood to my feet and walked away. I couldn’t push away the


    feeling that there was something I was missing.


    I couldn’t sleep properly. I woke up by three and was unable toy in bed anymore. Instead of just


    sitting in bed doing nothing, I decided to go down into the kitchen and find something to do. I ended up


    cleaning the entire house twice and starting with breakfast. I moved around the kitchen with no thought


    in mind, my head waspletely empty and that was the problem. I needed something to fill it with.


    “Cami!” I had to shove my hand into my mouth to smother a scream. Peggy stood behind me with a


    nket wrapped around her shoulders. She cocked her head to the side in confusion and I gave her a


    small smile. “Why are you awake so early?”


    “I couldn’t sleep,” I shrugged. “Why are you awake? You had a near death experience.”


    “I find that those make it hard for you shad a near death experience.”


    joked as she made her way over to me.


    As she got closer, I smelled something almost metallic and slightly pungent, like dried blood. I didn’t


    want to ask out rightly so I just ran my eyes down her body subtly. She wasn’t making it easy for me


    because she kept moving around the kitchen trying to figure out what I was making.


    “Do you want to take the nket off?” I asked and she turned to me with unfocused eyes then shook


    her head. “It’s a little hot in here. You might want to put it down.”


    There was something in her eyes as she shook her head. She turned away before I could get a good


    look and I realized that I needed to pull it off her and figure it out as soon as possible because the smell


    of blood was getting worse. She busied herself around the kitchen and when I got closer, she would


    move in the other direction. I let it slide for the first few minutes thinking I was overreacting until I heard


    footstepsing down the steps.


    Marie walked into the room rubbing sleep from her eyes. There was a small smile on her face but when


    she saw me, it quickly faded away. “You don’t have to do anything around here anymore, Cami. I can


    take care of myself and my mother.”


    “Marie,” I began but she turned away from me. “I’m here right now, just let me help, please. If you want,


    I can be out of your hair within a month. Just give me some time, Marie. Don’t do this.”


    “Marie,” Peggy scolded but Marie had already turned away from both of us. Despite the frown on her


    face, she still walked into the kitchen and took a bite from the sandwiches I had made.


    “What’s that smell?” Marie asked and we both turned to her. “I don’t think it is from the food, it smells


    like blood or something. Is someone hurt?”


    When Peggy turned away and tried to sneak away, I knew immediately what I had to do. I wrapped my


    hand around the nket and tugged. She tried her best to keep it on but it tumbled to the floor and in


    the process, exposed her red and bleeding arm. It was healing by the second and she was making it


    worse at the same time. She was scratching it and by the looks of things, she had been doing it for a


    long time.


    “Mum?” Marie’s voice was soft and almost broken but Peggy wouldn’t look in her eyes. “Why would you


    do that?”


    “I keep seeing the water,” her voice was almost broken. “I keep seeing my life sh before my eyes.


    This is the only way I can remind myself that I am alive- that I didn’t die there.”


    “Why would you-” Marie began but I cut her off.


    “I understand,” I whispered.


    Both eyes turned to me and I linked my hand with Peggy’s. She was still picking at her skin, I held onto


    her hand tightly and gestured for her toe with me. She was fidgeting in my hold and I could tell that


    she wanted out of my grasp but I wasn’t going to let that happen.


    I walked with her to the chair and let her sit beside me. Marie was watching me with narrowed eyes but


    I ignored her. I didn’t care about her approval for this, I didn’t need it and neither did I want it. This was


    about Peggy and I. She could be pissed all she wants but that didn’t mean I was going to leave the


    woman who had taken me in to suffer when I could help.


    “Sometimes, it feels like I am in a tunnel with no way forward,” I began slowly. “I have nightmares that I


    can barely remember. All I know is the water that I was found. These powers are meant to give me


    some form of reprieve but they only remind me of the fact that I was found half dead in ake and I


    don’t know my past.”


    “Cami,” Peggy began but I cut her off.


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    “They say water holds memories and some days, I hope that is true. Some days, I want to go in there,


    go under and note back up until I remember but it doesn’t work like that, does it?” she gave me a


    small smile. “I know how you feel. I know how hard it is toe back but this,” I gestured at her bruised


    hands. “This isn’t going to fix anything. You are going to hurt yourself and you will still remember.”


    She shook her head but the tears were already falling down her cheeks. “I am an old woman. I should


    be the one giving you advice and not the other way around.”


    I couldn’t help theugh that bubbled out of my lips. I sped both of her hands in mine and locked


    eyes with her. “It gets better, I promise.”


    With onest smile, I stood to my feet and made my way out to give the mother and daughter some


    space. I was almost at the door when Marie rushed up to me and she grabbed my shoulder.


    “Does it?” she asked and my brows furrowed, “get better, I mean, does it get better? You told her that it


    does and I–I’ve been through some things.”


    I knew she was talking about her experience with her best friend and the young man. I hesitated,


    thinking about my next words. “I hope it does because if not, then I just lied to a sad old woman.”