The Water Witch

Today I read in another blog about traveling at the speed of thought and in still another about doubles. I'd been wondering about posting a short story and took those as a sign to go ahead and post it. That's because the character in the story is ultimately involved with those two factors: traveling at the speed of thought and doubles. But this character is not your regular type of character, as the story will show.
Some background info on Pixie: she is not from this world. Yet she is kind of from this world.
For some reason, I started writing a series of stories that ultimately revolve around a girl who most of the time is just a background character; in fact; sometimes she's not involved in a story, but everything that occurs somehow in the end is because of her. One thing that happened is that a girl from another world (sort of), who looks like the character,only smaller, is able to exist in this world because of the other girl, and so she considers her a sort of sister. It's just that most people would consider her a fairy. Something happened (that's another story) that prevented Pixie from existing in this world for a while, but the other girl's newly discovered sister has a special quality that allowed her to exit here again. The "newly discovered sister" is the girl in a previous story I posted earlier called "All the Way to Zero" and she lives in Austin; the Rob character originally met Pixie when he met the other girl, and he's the other factor that allows her existence in this world.
This short story is based on several things that have happened in other stories, but I had wanted to use that title and this is what came about.

The Water Witch

“Just when I thought…just when I thought everything would turn out all right after all, she shows up again,” thought Rachel as she saw the couple sitting in a booth and enjoying their food.

She’d been waiting, biding her time for just the right moment to approach him, to run into him and try to pick up where they had left off…

But she showed up again.

That weird girl again. That weird girl from…from who knows where! And that’s what she is, a weird girl from somewhere else who captivated him, who enchanted him, so that he completely forgot all about her, Rachel, and what they once meant to each other.

“Where is she from, really? And does she just pull some kind of trick, some kind of hypnotic trick so that she makes me think she can come out of nowhere, just disappear or appear at will, or send me to another place at the blink of an eye?” wonders Rachel.

She studies the couple at the booth, watches as he takes a spoon, and laughing, gives the girl a taste of some dish they’re sharing. She notices the girl’s reaction, as if she’s tasting something she had never tasted before. He smiles at her reaction, laughing, happy just being with her.

“Isn’t that your Rob?” asks Sarah, noticing where Rachel’s looking. “Who’s that girl with him?”

“That’s…his new girlfriend,” she answered. “I don’t know how or where they met, but I think they’re living together now…”

“So what happened with Danny, anyway? I mean, weren’t you going out with him for a while? Did Rob ever find out about that?”

“Shut up, Sarah,” said Rachel, noticing them leaving the restaurant. In a few minutes, she left the table, paid her bill, and started following them, being careful not to be noticed, not to be seen by them.

Rachel walked toward the parking lot and saw them not too far from her. It didn’t matter; Rob wouldn’t notice her. He was too involved with her, too involved in paying attention to her to notice Rachel. She noticed Rob’s new girlfriend get into the driver’s seat, apparently all excited at driving his CRV, and once Rob was in the passenger seat all buckled in, speed away from the parking lot.

“We told you his ego would be hurt if you went out with someone else,” said Sarah, coming up to Rachel as her friends left the restaurant. “I mean, come on, you two were practically engaged when you decided to sneak behind his back.”

“We weren’t engaged, and I didn’t sneak; I just didn’t tell him I was going out with one of his friends,” said Rachel. “Besides, there was nothing between us carved in stone.”

“No, you two had just been seeing each other exclusively for about a year. If that doesn’t mean anything, I don’t know what does,” said Sarah as they walked toward the car.

“Ok, so I made a mistake,” said Rachel. “That doesn’t mean…”

“That doesn’t mean he can’t go out with someone else? Or get a new girlfriend?” asked Sarah. “’Cause by the looks of it, I’d say he found someone who really appreciates him and would never hurt him.”

“So how do I get him back?” asked Rachel. “You’re so wise; tell me…better yet, tell me how to get rid of her.”

“I’ve noticed the way they look at each other; I’ve seen the way she looks at him…you wouldn’t be able to get rid of her, at least, not easily…”

“Yeah, like I needed to hear that, Sarah,” said Rachel, “but don’t you think he used to kind of look at me that way, too?”

“Maybe,” replied Sarah, “but those days are gone.”

“But,” continued Sarah, “maybe I can come up with a way to get rid of her…”

“Don’t bother,” said Rachel, “I’ve run into her a couple of times. She tends to get…scary, if you’re not careful, and besides, I don’t know if Rob and I could ever go back to how it was…”

Sarah just smiled. She’d do what she could for her friend… She had a couple of ideas, and when she got home, she’d make a couple of calls…


The next morning, while Raine (Rob called her Pixie because she was so petite) was reading the newspapers (she usually read about three, looking for specific items in the news), she heard a knock at the door. She ignored it for a while, but after hearing it several times, she got off the bed and went to answer it.

“Hi,” said the young man at the door, “is Rob around? I took a chance that he’d be here and decided to drop by for a visit. I’m his friend Danny…”

“No, he’s a work, but I’ll tell him you came by to see him,” said Raine. “Do you want me to give him a message?”

“Oh, that’s okay…you must be…Vera? Right? Someone told me his girlfriend Vera was staying with him,” said Danny. “Here, I brought you a…a welcoming gift,” he added, handing her a box of Godiva chocolates.

“Rachel can never get that right. I’m Raine; Vera’s my…sister; for some reason, Rachel always confuses us,” said Raine. She looked at Danny and then at the box of candy, then said, “I’m sorry, I can’t take your candy. Why don’t you give it to one of your friends instead?” Her dark eyes seemed to bore into him, seeing deep inside of him.

“Why? I got them for you. I’d like to be your friend too,” he said, “just as I’m friends with Rob…where did Rob find a pretty little thing like you?”

“Thank you anyway,” she said, closing the door. She went back to the bedroom to finish reading the papers.


Danny was surprised. He’d never been turned away or had his gifts refused before. Rachel had been pretty easy to impress when he started giving her a little attention. Rachel…and now Raine…that Rob always seemed to attract pretty women. But then, he always seemed to have nice things: nice home, nice parents, nice car, nice job, nice girls… Danny had always been a little envious at how things always seemed to turn out for Rob. Sure, Rob tended to be a little nerdy, but that made it all the more galling at the way things seemed to turn out for him. And now this hot babe wouldn’t even look at him… He wasn’t going to give up so easily…

He knocked on the door again and waited. After a few minutes, he knocked again.

After a while, Raine opened the door once again and looked at him.

“You know Rob’s not here,” she said. “Why do you keep banging at the door?”

“Well, maybe I’d like to visit you instead,” said Danny. “I’d like to be your friend too. Here, I really want you to have these,” he said, handing her the box of Godivas.

“No, thank you,” she told him. “They seem to be…poisoned somehow.”

“What do you mean?” asked Danny, “You haven’t even opened the box.”

“It’s your intention,” she said. “It tinges your gift, somehow.”

“My intention? What do you mean?” he asked her.

“I can read it around you. You knew Rob wasn’t here. You came just to meet me and somehow try to impress me so that I’d be attracted to you…what kind of friend are you to Rob? You’ve done it before…you were jealous when Rachel was his girlfriend, so you charmed her away from him…but it didn’t last, did it? And now you’re trying to charm me away too. You can’t stand to see him happy…you’re so full of petty jealousies, and you call yourself his friend?”

“What are you talking about? I never…I did Rob a favor, showing him what type of girlfriend he had…”

“If you go away now, I won’t tell Rob what you’re trying to do,” said Raine, closing the door once again.

Danny found himself facing the door, wondering what had happened.

“That’s some weird chick,” he thought. But he thought he’d just stay away from her. Still, she was pretty good looking…nice figure…nice legs…pretty face…it could have been nice…


When Sarah called him to find out how her idea had worked, he told her, “She wouldn’t even let me in the door. Say, where’s she from anyway? And her name is Raine, not Vera…anyway, she’s a little scary. She tends to…see all sorts of things just by looking at you. I’d stay out of her way if I were you; she might figure out you’re trying to break them up…”

“I don’t know where she’s from; get this, Rachel once thought she’s from another world, can you believe that? Anyway, Danny, you’re losing your touch…I thought you could connect with any girl you wanted to…”

“No, this one seems a little different. Besides, she threatened to tell Rob if I kept hitting on her,” said Danny. “Say, what are you up to, anyway? Why do you want to break them up?”

“Well…I’m not sure I should tell you…but if I hadn’t challenged you to ask Rachel out, maybe she and Rob would still be together, so I’m just trying to fix things for her,” answered Sarah.

“Oh, her,” said Danny. “Well, I wouldn’t want to do that tease any favors, but it would’ve been nice to hook up with his new girlfriend; too bad she’s such a…a prude.”

“Well, I’ll just have to come up with something else,” said Sarah, hanging up.


Danny put the phone down. What the heck, he’d give it a shot. He quickly dialed a number and waited patiently as it rang.

“Hello…”

“Hi babe,” said Danny, “I was wondering if you felt like going out sometime this week…”

“Danny?” asked Rachel, “No, Danny; I told you, I like you as a friend, but only as a friend…”

“You know Rob has a girlfriend,” said Danny. “Why don’t you just give up on that? You used to like me enough to go out with me before…”

“That was before I realized…that was a mistake, Danny. I shouldn’t have done that; I realized it too late. Look, we can be friends, but just leave it at that; I’m really not interested in you that way,” she told him and then hanged up.

Danny slammed the phone down. “Damn….” he thought as he walked away. “That’s twice I’ve been shot down today…and it’s all because of Rob…it’s all Rob’s fault…Rachel won’t go out with me; she thinks I ruined it for her with him. His new girlfriend wouldn’t even give me the time of day…it’s like he’s put a spell on them or something…I wish someone would put him in his place…”

He turned the television on and sat to watch some mindless program, but he was concentrating on his resentments toward Rob. Rob, who always got the good grades in school without even studying. Rob, who always had an easy time connecting with people, who always got the neat jobs…Rob, who always seemed to get the girls Danny would’ve liked to get…

“Oh, hell,” he thought, turning off the television and leaving his apartment. He got in this car and drove toward campus. He found a parking space and started walking around the campus. As he approached the library, he slowed, noticing Rob and Raine coming out.

“Hi,” he told them as they walked by him.

“Hello,” said Rob, as he and Raine walked by. Danny waited to see if Rob would say anything more, but they just continued walking away. He looked at them and noticed they were too engrossed in each other to notice anyone else. Danny wondered if Rob had even registered seeing him. He gave Raine an admiring glance as they walked away from him.

“Forget it, boy,” he heard Sarah tell him. “You’ll never crack that…”

He gave Raine another admiring look then turned toward Sarah, “Well, I can always dream, can’t I?” They both laughed at that.

“Where’d he find her, anyway?” he asked Sarah.

“I don’t know. I think he met her during that game Rachel left you stranded when she first saw him with her…a few days later she showed up at his place and has been there on and off for days at a time…for a while it looked like he and Rachel would get together again, but then she showed up again and Rob’s been a lost cause since then…”

“That Rachel won’t even go out with me anymore,” he told Sarah.

“Well, you did put your foot in it and ruined it for her, didn’t you? I mean, if it hadn’t been for you, she and Rob might still be together…” replied Sarah.

“Well, if you hadn’t dared me to ask her out…” said Danny.

“Don’t blame me; you already had her on your mind. I just made it obvious to you,” said Sarah. “You can’t blame me for what happened.”

“Sure, but I kinda think you were hoping he’d ask you out if Rachel wasn’t around,” replied Danny.

“Well, I guess neither of us got what we wanted,” said Sarah.

“…hey, listen…I’m having a party Saturday. Why don’t you drop by? Rachel will be there, and I’m planning on inviting Rob and his girlfriend. It’ll be interesting to see if anything happens…” said Sarah.

“Oh yeah? Well, maybe I’ll show up, just to see if anything interesting does happen,” said Danny.


“Robbie, is this party like the other one we went to?” asked Pixie.

“No, Pixie, this is different. For one thing, it’s not a costume party. And it’s a small gathering of friends, not a department party like the one on Halloween,” said Rob. “Just wear regular clothes to this one,” he added as Pixie was trying to decide what to wear.

“Are Jimmy and Abbie going to be there?” she asked him.

“You know, I’m not sure,” said Rob, “I don’t know if Sarah knows them. She just invited a small group of friends over for a barbeque, really.”

“What’s a barbeque?” asked Pixie.

“It’s just a party where people go over to eat and enjoy the company, that’s all,” Rob told her. “Oh…”

“What?” asked Pixie.

“I forgot you don’t eat meat,” he replied. “And basically, that’s what barbeque is, meat cooked outside on a grill…”

“Well, I’m sure they have other foods too, don’t they?” asked Pixie.

“Yes, and we’ll pick up a nice salad on the way there,” said Rob. “Do you think we should take some fruit too?”

“Whatever you want, Robbie,” said Pixie.


Danny answered the door when Rob and Pixie rang the doorbell.

“Rob,” he said, “it’s good to see you. And this must be your pretty new girlfriend…”

“This is Raine; don’t pretend you don’t know her. She told me you dropped by the other day and introduced yourself,” said Rob. “Funny, I would’ve thought you’d be at your job or class at that time.”

“Yeah, I had the day off and took a chance you’d be off too, so I decided to see what you were up to,” answered Danny. “But she wouldn’t let me in at all; I guess she didn’t trust me.”

“Yeah, she’s a pretty good judge of character,” said Rob, laughing, as he and Pixie walked into the apartment.

As they walked to the kitchen to leave some salads they’d picked up, Danny wondered what else Raine had told Rob. He hadn’t said anything else, so maybe she hadn’t told him anything else.

“That went over well,” said Sarah coming from behind him. “I guess she didn’t tell him what you were up to.”

“I guess not,” he said. “Maybe there’s hope for me yet.”

“Nah, I very much doubt it; she probably just didn’t want to upset him,” said Sarah. “Haven’t you noticed the way she is around him? Or the way she looks at him? I don’t think she’d do anything to hurt him,” said Sarah. “Look, there’s Rachel outside. Why don’t you go see if she wants anything to drink?”

“I’ll do better than that,” he thought, as he walked over to a bar and made a mixed drink.

He carried the drink outside to Rachel and handed it to her.

“Here, I brought you a drink,” he told her.

“Thanks.” She took the drink and tasted it; then she grimaced and said, “That’s a little too strong for me.” She walked back inside and spilled the drink in the kitchen sink.

Danny followed her inside and said, “It’s not that strong. That’s how I usually drink it…”

“What a man,” said Rachel as she put the glass away. She looked up and noticed Rob, and ignoring Danny, walked over toward him.

“Hi Rob, I didn’t know you were coming,” she said. “Where’s…Pixie?”

“Hi Rachel. Oh, I think Pixie’s checking out the buffet table; you know how she is about tasting new foods, so she’s probably seeing if there’s anything she’s never tasted before…”

“Oh…ok, I’ll see you around,” she said as she turned to go back outside.

Danny had watched the encounter, a type of resentment building up in him again. He resented the way Rachel had completely ignored him upon noticing Rob in the room. He resented Rob’s easy manner in talking with her, as if he didn’t hold anything against her. He resented that Rob had shown up at the party with a very attractive, exotic girl while he had come alone and couldn’t even connect with Rob’s former girlfriend…

He gulped his drink and quickly went for a refill. Then he sat at the sofa and watched Raine as she sat with Rob and reacted to whatever he was telling her. She sure was cute, he thought. He saw the way she made funny faces with her reactions to some food she tasted. No, she was beyond cute, he thought. He glared at them as they enjoyed each other’s company in the midst of all the other people around them.

He stood and went outside, refilling his drink once again on the way out. He noticed Rachel speaking with Sarah and approached them. He saw Rob and his girlfriend also coming out and approaching Sarah.

He reached out and grabbed Rachel’s arm and said, “Hey, let’s blow this joint and find somewhere else that’s a little more lively…”

“Danny, let me go,” said Rachel, “and I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Aw, come on,” he said, “you know you want to leave. I bet it’s pretty uncomfortable for you here.”

“Danny, let me go,” repeated Rachel.

He squeezed her arm tighter, as if he could convince her to leave using pressure.

“Didn’t you hear her? She said to let her go,” he heard a girl’s voice say.

He turned toward the voice and saw Raine besides them, reaching for his wrist. Then she tightened her grip on his wrist, forcing his hand to release Rachel. That hurt!

“Ow!” he cried. “What did you do?” How could this small, pretty girl be so strong?

“You should leave,” said Raine, applying pressure to his wrist. She looked at him with those dark, dark eyes that seemed to bore into him.

“Pixie?” asked Rob as he came toward them. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes, Robbie…Danny was just saying goodbye to Rachel and me,” said Raine as she released his wrist. “Weren’t you?” she asked Danny.

“Yeah…I’ll see you guys later,” he said as he turned and went into the apartment. He walked inside, looked around and noticed Sarah coming in behind him.

“What happened?” she asked.

“That…Raine…I don’t know, she did something to my arm…it still feels kind of numb…” he said.

“Well, you were a little rough with Rachel for a while there,” said Sarah. “That seemed to tick her off…”

“Well, it’s getting a little old around here, so I think I’ll just leave,” he said and turned to leave. He glared at Rob and Raine, wondering once again how someone so tiny could possibly be so strong. He still felt his wrist hurting from her grip. “That Rob sure is lucky,” he thought, “…that hot Latin blood; she must be a wildcat…”

He left the apartment. He had a spur of the moment inspiration; he walked over to Rachel’s car and flattened the tires on the driver’s side. Then he walked to his car, thinking of offering Rachel a ride home.

“What are you up to, you old sneak?” asked Sarah as he approached the car.

“Who, me?” he asked; then they both laughed.

“You old SOB,” said Sarah. “That’s a dirty trick.”

He climbed into his car, and Sarah got into the passenger side.

“I don’t see what’s so special about that…about Rob’s girlfriend,” said Sarah, “I mean, she’s cute, a little exotic looking, and she looks at Rob with those innocent big brown eyes, but I don’t think she’s anything special. I mean, why do you look at her like that, like when you were looking at them together a while ago? Do you really think she’s that attractive?”

Danny answered, “Well, yes. She’s very attractive. And it really bugs me that she’s attracted to someone like Rob and won’t even look at me, just like Rachel won’t even give me the time of day…”

“And what kind of name is Raine, anyway? She should have a name like Maria, or Juanita, or Lupita; you know, one of those Mexican names…”

“I don’t know…hey, I bet if Rob weren’t around, I’d have a shot at either of them…” commented Danny.

“Sure, Danny…hey, listen…I’m gonna have a little fun with her, try to scare her away from him. You want to help me?”

“I’m game,” he said. They smiled at each other; then Sara asked him to wait as she went back to the party.

She walked around and noticed them sitting on the sofa, talking with some others sitting around them. Rob was talking about having visited a local farm where a crop formation had appeared. He explained that he knew the family, having been friends with the son when they were younger, so they’d been allowed on the field and had walked around. He explained that Raine was very interested in this type of phenomena.

“Figures,” thought Sarah, “she seems to be very unusual…”

She stood looking at them; then when Raine went to get some fruit at the table, Sarah followed her.


“You know, Rachel still has feelings for Rob,” she told her. “You better watch it; she’d like him back…”

“Why shouldn’t she?” asked Raine, looking at the fruit. “But I’m not worried about her; Rob loves me.”

“Well, I’m prettier than you, so you better be careful; I could take him away from you if I wanted to,” chided Sarah.

“If he goes with you, he deserves you,” said Raine, serving some slices of fruit on a plate, “Don’t hold back on my account.” Then she turned and walked back to sofa, nibbling on the fruit.

Sarah felt frustrated, not being able to get a decent reaction from Raine.


When Rob got up and went to the kitchen, she drew close to him and whispered something in his ear. He frowned and gave her a puzzled look. He went back to the living room and said, “Pixie, we should get going; it’s getting late and we do have plans…”

“Ok, Robbie,” she said, and stood up. She carried their plates to the kitchen and placed them in the sink. Then they said goodbye to some people and left.

Sarah looked at them, puzzled as they left. She had expected Rob to smile and agree to meet her somewhere, but instead, he had ignored her and left. It had to be because of that girl. Her plans hadn’t worked; neither she nor Danny had succeeded in getting them apart. It didn’t matter to her if she or Rachel ended up with Rob; she just wanted to see those two apart. Well, if one way doesn’t work, maybe another…

She went outside and saw them approaching Danny and Rachel, so she got near to see what was going on.

“No, Danny,” she heard Rachel, “I don’t want to ride with you. I’ll get a ride with someone else…” Turning, she said, “Rob, will you give me ride home? I seem to have some flat tires and I don’t want to ride with Danny…”

“Don’t bother them,” said Danny. “Can’t you see they want to be alone?”

“It’s no bother, Rachel,” said Raine. “We’ll take you home. Come on.”

“Rachel,” said Danny, getting angry, “what? I’m not good enough for you?”

Rachel ignored him and went with Rob and Raine to their car. Rob got in the driver’s seat, and looking at Danny said, “Go home, Danny. You probably shouldn’t be driving; maybe Sarah can give you a ride home.”

“Why don’t you mind your own business?” said Danny, hitting Rob’s car with his hand as they drove away.

Sarah came up to him and asked, “He getting on your nerves like she’s getting on mine?”

“That’s not even close. Look at him, he’s not happy with one; he has to have both of them…”

“Yeah, that little…she’s so…she’s so confident of him, nothing rattles her… and he just…just completely ignored me,” said Sarah.

“Hey, let’s give them a little scare,” said Danny, heading toward his car.

“Good idea; let’s put them in their place,” added Sarah, following Danny to the car.

Danny started the car and started driving after Rob.

“What are you going to do?” asked Sarah.

“I’m just going to give them a good scare,” said Danny, laughing. “I’ve got an idea.”

“What is it?” asked Sarah.

“There’s a bridge on the road not too far from here; when they get there, I’ll give their car a little bump to frighten them. See how they like someone getting in their face…” said Danny. They both laughed.

“Maybe that’ll scare her away,” said Sarah, “if she sees the trouble Rob gets into…”

“Yeah, and just maybe I’ll be around to make it easier for her, heh, heh…” added Danny.

“You still want a shot at her?” asked Sarah.

“Her or Rachel, I don’t care which one,” said Danny, laughing.

He stayed behind until Rob’s vehicle approached the bridge; then he speeded up. As Rob got on the bridge, Danny got behind him, then with a snicker, he stepped on the gas and pulled right behind Rob. Rob speeded up, and Danny speeded up and drew even closer to Rob’s vehicle.

Rob slowed down, hoping the car behind him would pass him, but instead, Danny speeded up and rammed the CRV from behind. The he rammed it again, and again. Before he knew it, the CRV had gone over the side of the bridge into the water below.

“Oh,” a panicked Danny said, “I didn’t mean for that to happen…” as he stopped the car. He and Sarah quickly left the car, rushed to the side of the bridge, and looked down toward the water. They could see Rob’s car, but there was nothing else.

“I don’t see them,” said Sarah. “Do you…do you think they…drowned?”

“I don’t know,” answered Danny. “What do we do now?”

They looked down toward the water, looking all around the vehicle to see if they could see anyone. They could tell there was no one inside.

“Where are they?” asked Sarah.

“Don’t worry about Rob or Rachel,” said Pixie as she approached from behind them, “they’re safe at home. Worry about yourself…”

They turned and noticed Raine approaching, her hair long, dark and flowing and her eyes a dark, dark color. She reached for their hands and clasped them, making it hard for them to break away from her.

“Where…where did you come from?” asked Sarah.

“Rob wouldn’t want me to hurt you, so I’m punishing you for your actions in a different way,” she said.

“Punish…punish us?” asked Danny.

“Danny, you wondered where Rob found me...well, actually, I found him. And I wouldn’t leave him or hurt him in any way. Sarah, is this how you try to win Robbie? You sent Danny to break him up with Rachel, and now you want to separate him from me, and when you can’t do that, you want to hurt him? What kind of affection is that?”

As she talked, her clothes changed to a white slip-like dress, and she started to rise up so that her face was even with theirs, but they still could not break her hold on their hands.

“What are you?” asked a shocked Sarah, seeing her floating in the air.

“My family from this world introduced me to South Padre Island not too long ago,” she said, “and I’m going to introduce that place to you…”

They gasped as they suddenly found themselves on a beach with waves lapping to the shore.

“My sisters think of me as a fairy, but my new mother calls my mentor a witch,” she said. Her white outfit turned black. “In the past, those from my world have been called fairies or witches, depending on our actions and how we’re perceived…so you can decide how you want to think of me…”

Suddenly, they were deep in the ocean, with the water all around them. Danny and Sarah struggled for breath and swallowed water as they tried to swim up to the surface. Then they were back standing by Danny’s car, still very wet. They coughed and gasped for breath, still trying to breathe in fresh air.

“What happened?” asked Sarah, gasping for breath.

Raine released their hands and stepped back. She approached Danny.

“You wanted to kiss me, Danny? Here,” she said, floating slightly and kissing Danny on the lips. She turned and, still floating, approached Sarah, “This is from Rob,” she said, and kissed her too.

She pulled back from them, looking at them, and said, “I’ve placed my curse on you with that kiss. You stay away from Rob, and Rachel, and me. If you see us, if you even think of us, that water will surround you again…”

She moved back, still looking at them, and then she just vanished.

Danny and Sarah just looked at the place where Raine had been standing. Then they looked at each other.

“What happened?” asked Sarah.

“I don’t know…I think we just had some type of dream, some hallucination,” said Danny. “Come on, let’s get out of here before someone drives by and sees us.” They got in the car, and Danny drove back to Sarah’s apartment.

When he pulled up into a parking space, they just sat there for a while.

“Do you think it really happened? We’re…we’re very wet,” she said.

“I don’t know. What do you think she meant that if we even think of them…?” As he looked at Sarah, the air inside the car seemed to shift somehow, and water came gushing into the car, filling the interior with cold, salty water.

They screamed and rushed out of the car, screaming. Their screams drew the others from the party, who came out to see what the problem was. Nobody else could see the water pouring into the car and spilling out the opened doors…