The weeks flew by in the blink of an eye, though for my body they felt like centuries. My routine became a well-oiled machine: Mondays and Wednesdays with Esme, working on blueprints and enduring the golden gaze of the Cullens, and the rest of the time in La Push.
I had achieved something that seemed impossible to me: descending to a depth of 40 meters. That's the limit of what a professional diver can do without their lungs collapsing, but with my bubble, I could be down there as if I were in my room. The seabed was incredible; I saw corals that looked like stone fingers and colorful fish that fled from my blue light. But today, while exploring a bit further from the coast, I reached the edge.
The seafloor simply ended. Before me opened a vertical wall that dropped into the abyss. It was an immense, total darkness—a void that seemed to want to suck out my soul. Panic tightened my throat, and without a second thought, I swam upward as fast as I could.
I broke the surface gasping and walked toward where Sam, Jared, and Paul were waiting for me on the shore.
"What happened, Mael? You look like you've seen a ghost," Sam asked, seeing me tremble.
"I reached the drop-off to the deep sea," I said, trying to catch my breath. "It scared me a bit. That darkness... it has no end."
Jared and Paul burst into a laugh that echoed across the beach. "The great Mael is afraid of dark water!" Paul mocked.
"You guys laugh all you want," I snapped at them, annoyed. "You're here on land, seeing everything around you. Imagine standing down there and seeing only darkness three meters in front of you, not knowing what you're going to find or if the depths are going to drag you down. It's not pretty, I assure you."
They fell silent for a moment. I saw them shudder, as if they were imagining the scene, and their mocking faces vanished.
"So what are you going to do now?" Sam asked seriously. "If you're not going to go deeper, how are you going to keep training?"
"I'll train like always, but by expanding the shield further," I replied.
Sam raised his eyebrows, incredulous. "Further than the 30 meters you already manage? Mael, last time you pushed yourself so hard you passed out for six hours straight. We almost called Charlie."
"I know," I said, looking down. "But I have to be strong. I don't transform into a giant wolf or heal in seconds. I'm just a human."
"A human who can beat us almost every time," Jared murmured with a grimace of respect.
"Alright, that's enough," Sam cut in. "Do what you want, but don't die today. We have to go on patrol."
They marched off into the woods, and I was left alone on the sand. Sam's words haunted me, but another voice inside me, darker and sharper, told me this wasn't enough. I closed my eyes, and suddenly, an image assaulted me: vampires entering the house, feeding on Bella with such force that her head detached from her body, or Charlie lying on the living room floor.
I shook my head violently to erase those nightmares. "Stop," I told myself. "Back to work."
I had a plan I had been mulling over for a while. I expanded my shield to just two meters from me, keeping it dense. As always, I could feel everything inside the bubble, so I manipulated the center, right under my feet, to become a solid base. With my mind, I pushed the bubble upward.
I rose a meter. My feet left the ground, and I stayed floating in the air. "Yes!" I exclaimed, but I lost concentration and fell backward onto the sand.
I tried again. It was easier to go up, but maintaining balance was like trying to stand on a greased yoga ball. Then, a better idea occurred to me.
I created a flat shield, like a disc, and held it in the air in front of me. I stepped onto it. I felt the weight of my own body directly in my mind, a dull tug in my brain, but nothing I couldn't handle. Once stable, I began to rise little by little. When I felt confident, I created another disc ahead of me in the air and jumped to it while dissolving the one behind.
It was like building an invisible staircase. I started to gain speed, jumping from disc to disc. At one point I went too fast, my foot slipped, and I fell into the void. "Crap!" I shouted. I fell from about three meters, but the impact didn't hurt. The "second skin" shield I now kept active all the time absorbed the impact as if I were falling on a mattress.
I got up, brushed off the sand, and started again. This time I went higher. I climbed and climbed until I was about 30 meters high, above the canopy of the tallest trees. The wind up there was strong and freezing, but the view was beautiful: the sea crashing against the rocks and the distant lights of the reservation.
To avoid drawing the attention of any curious onlookers, I turned invisible. I stayed up there for about twenty minutes, simply floating, feeling like the master of the world. But it was time to get serious.
I looked down at the sea roaring beneath me. "One... two... three!"
I let myself fall. My stomach leapt into my throat and panic clouded my mind for a second as the air hissed in my ears. The cold of the freefall was terrifying. But just before hitting the water, I expanded my shield into a perfect sphere around me.
SPLASH!
The bubble hit the water and sank a couple of meters before bobbing to the surface like a beach ball. I sat inside my sphere, floating on the waves, laughing out loud from the adrenaline. With a thought, I moved the bubble toward the shore, letting my own mind carry me until I touched dry land.
Today, I had learned to fly. And if I could fly, I could do anything.
As the days passed, what used to be a titanic effort became as natural as breathing. I no longer needed steps to climb; now I could create invisible platforms that felt like firm ground under my feet and stay floating while throwing energy strikes into the air to practice my aim, or simply enclose myself in a bubble and fly like Glinda. Turning invisible no longer caused those stings in my temples; it just happened with a thought, as if my body had accepted that light should avoid me out of pure respect.
At home, things had also changed. Bella and Edward were officially dating—well, it was obvious to me—but Dad still didn't know, which meant the silver Volvo appeared in the garden every morning. I had taken full control of the Chevy, which was a relief because I no longer had to endure my sister's nervous scent on the way to school.
One Saturday afternoon, I was in the living room with Dad. He had taken out his gear and was patiently explaining to me how to clean a shotgun. I liked spending time like this with him, in silence, focused on the metal and oil, but the peace was broken when Bella entered the room.
She looked far too helpful, which is always a red flag. She had a cold beer in her hand and held it out to Dad with a somewhat forced smile.
"Hi... I brought you another beer, Dad," she said, trying to sound casual.
I raised an eyebrow, putting down the cloth I was using to polish a part. "And what's this? Since when is Bella so attentive to the bar?" I asked, looking at her suspiciously.
"Thanks, Bells," Charlie said, without taking his eyes off the shotgun in his hands.
That's when she dropped the bombshell, no anesthesia. "I have a date with Edward Cullen," she blurted out, and she just stood there, stiff as a board, waiting for the explosion.
"I figured that beer wasn't free," I murmured, going back to my task.
"Mael, let her talk," Charlie scolded me, though he paused to take a long swig of his drink. Then he looked at Bella. "He's too old for you, isn't he?"
"No, Dad, we're in the same class," she replied quickly. "I thought you liked the Cullens."
"And I thought you didn't like city boys," Charlie countered, narrowing his eyes.
"Edward doesn't live in the city," she retorted, as if that solved everything.
I decided to intervene before it turned into a police interrogation. "Dad, Bella isn't a child anymore. Well, neither of us are. Let her go out and have a boyfriend."
I made a dramatic pause, staring fixedly out the window, and added in a completely serious tone: "Besides, you're a cop. I assume you know how to hide a body in case that boy ever hurts Bella."
Charlie stayed quiet for a second, processing my comment. Then, he snapped the shotgun shut with a dry thud that echoed through the room: Clack! He set it on the table and looked at me with a spark of complicity.
"That's true," he said. "I know exactly how to do it."
Bella looked at both of us in horror, alternating her gaze between the shotgun and our poker faces.
"You two behave, do you hear me? Edward is at the front door and wants to meet you formally, Dad."
Charlie let out a theatrical sigh, as if he were being asked to go defuse a bomb, and looked at me seeking approval. I just nodded to him, giving him encouragement.
"Alright... let him in," Charlie conceded.
Bella almost ran out to get him with a half-smile of relief. Charlie got up from the sofa, stretching, trying to look imposing. A moment later, Bella entered with Edward behind her. You had to admit it: the guy looked impeccable, though I knew that marble skin was harder than steel.
"Good afternoon. I came to introduce myself, sir. My name is Edward Cullen," he said in that velvety voice that sounded like it was recorded on a vinyl record.
"We already know that," I snapped from the table, without standing up.
Charlie shot me a "shut up for a second" look and then turned back to the boy. "Hello, Edward," he said with little enthusiasm.
"Sir," Edward continued, ignoring my comment with an irritating elegance, "Bella won't be back late today. She's going to play baseball with my family."
"Bella?" I exclaimed, truly surprised this time. "You're going to play baseball?" Charlie repeated with the same face of incredulity.
Both of us snorted at the same time. We knew Bella's motor coordination; putting her on a playing field was practically inviting a natural disaster.
"Good luck with that," Charlie said, scratching his neck insecurely, as if he were already imagining the hospital bill.
"I'll look after her, sir. I promise," Edward said, looking at Bella as if she were the greatest treasure in the world.
Bella pulled him by the arm to leave before Charlie changed his mind, but before they crossed the threshold, Dad shouted: "Bella! Take the pepper spray!"
When they left, Charlie turned to look at me, the doubt still etched on his forehead. I burst out laughing.
"Seriously, Dad? Pepper spray? At least give her a taser," I teased him.
"No, son..." Charlie replied with a grimace of real concern. "With how clumsy she is, she'd probably end up shooting herself."
I stayed thinking while we finished packing up the cleaning kit. Charlie didn't know it, but pepper spray wouldn't even tickle a Cullen. Luckily for Bella, she had a brother who could protect her.
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Hi readers, I'm dropping this chapter here and running for my life before you all show up with torches and pitchforks... I promise not to disappear for so long this time, and as I said, if I do, feel free to scold me! I'm leaving my Ko-fi link below in case you'd like to leave a tip to keep me motivated (only if you want to, of course).
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