Chapter 9 - EVELYN CAME BACK
Daniel's first instinct was to call the police.
Emma stopped him.
“And tell them what?”
“That someone's stalking my family.”
“They'll ask why.”
“I don't have to tell them about Lila.”
Margaret looked at the photograph.
“You may have to if they investigate far enough.”
Daniel hated that she was right.
He contacted a private security firm instead.
By noon, two additional guards were stationed on the property.
No one entered without identification.
Still, Emma felt no safer.
Because Evelyn had already proven she could approach unnoticed.
Lila remained unusually quiet.
She drank half a bottle after Emma dampened a cloth and let the baby touch it.
Daniel noticed.
“You're using water.”
“She needs it.”
“We don't know that.”
“We know she calms down.”
“And we know water changes her.”
Emma lowered her voice.
“What would you rather have? A transformed daughter or a dehydrated one?”
Daniel had no answer.
Margaret became the mediator.
They filled a shallow basin with warm freshwater.
Emma lowered Lila's feet into it.
For ten seconds, nothing happened.
Then silver-blue scales appeared around her ankles.
Daniel tensed.
Emma kept watching.
The scales climbed slowly.
They removed her feet.
Within three minutes, they faded.
Margaret wrote down the timing.
“Freshwater creates a temporary reaction.”
Daniel nodded.
“What about seawater?”
Emma stared at him.
“We don't test that.”
A security guard entered.
“Mr. Holloway?”
Daniel stood.
“A woman is asking to see Mrs. Holloway.”
Emma's breath caught.
“What woman?”
“She won't give her name.”
“Where is she?”
“Main gate.”
They hurried to the security monitor.
A woman stood outside.
Silver-blonde hair.
Dark coat.
Evelyn.
Emma grabbed the desk.
“Let her in.”
Daniel hesitated.
“Emma.”
“That's my mother.”
“She could be dangerous.”
“She warned us.”
“She also disappeared for twenty-two years.”
Emma looked at him.
“If your dead mother showed up at your gate, could I stop you?”
Daniel exhaled.
“Search her first.”
Evelyn allowed it.
No weapons.
No phone.
No identification.
She entered the mansion.
Emma waited in the living room.
When Evelyn walked through the doorway, neither woman moved.
Twenty-two years separated them.
Yet Evelyn looked almost exactly as Emma remembered.
Emma was now thirty-one.
Her mother looked barely older than forty.
“Emma.”
That voice destroyed whatever restraint Emma had left.
She crossed the room and slapped Evelyn.
Once.
Hard.
Daniel instinctively stepped forward.
Margaret held his arm.
Evelyn didn't retaliate.
Emma burst into tears.
“You were alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let me bury you.”
“I know.”
“You let me think you were dead!”
“I know.”
Emma hit Evelyn's chest with both palms.
“Why?”
Evelyn wrapped her arms around her daughter.
For a moment Emma resisted.
Then collapsed into her.
“I hated you,” Emma cried.
“I know.”
“I needed you.”
“I know.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“And leaving you was the worst thing I have ever done.”
When they finally separated, Daniel stepped forward.
“You owe us answers.”
Evelyn looked at him carefully.
“I owe you more than answers.”
Margaret brought Lila downstairs.
The instant Evelyn saw her granddaughter, her composure broke.
“Oh.”
She approached slowly.
Lila stared at her.
Then smiled.
Evelyn began crying.
“She's beautiful.”
Margaret didn't hand her over.
“Tell us why she's changing.”
Evelyn looked toward the aquarium.
“Because the trait returned.”
“What trait?” Daniel demanded.
Evelyn met his eyes.
“The one your family helped hide for over a century.”
Daniel stiffened.
“You know about the Holloways.”
“I knew your grandfather.”
Margaret's face changed.
“Thomas?”
“Yes.”
“You were in the photograph.”
“Yes.”
“How old are you?”
Evelyn almost smiled.
“Older than you'd believe.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“What is Lila?”
Evelyn looked at the baby.
“She is human.”
Emma exhaled.
“And?”
Evelyn's eyes became sad.
“And she is something humanity has spent centuries turning into stories.”
Margaret whispered, “A mermaid?”
Evelyn hated the word.
“You made us myths because myths are easier than admitting another kind of person exists.”
Daniel looked toward his daughter.
“So Lila can live normally?”
Evelyn hesitated.
That hesitation terrified Emma.
“What?”
“Most children with our blood can.”
“Most?”
Evelyn reached toward Lila's hand.
The baby grabbed her finger.
“Lila is different.”
“Because of me?” Emma asked.
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
Then she looked at Daniel.
“Because of both of you.”
Daniel froze.
“What does that mean?”
Evelyn's answer was quiet.
“The Ward blood awakened the change.”
She looked toward Margaret.
May you like
“But the Holloway blood made it stronger.”
---
