Chapter Text
“Maybe you should give up?”
She was the first person who had spoken to him on the Gold Coast.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true.
He had received a few “have a nice day”s from cashiers over his first week in the area. Before that, there were a few exchanged “thank you”s, and “good to meet you”s with his landlord when he signed the lease agreement to the small (cheap) shack he had only just begun to call home.
But this girl with white-blonde hair and intense stare was the first person to address him outside of a professional capacity. He gave a quick glance around him, his insecurity getting the better of him as he double-checked she wasn’t speaking to anyone else.
“Maybe,” He pulled the ripcord to the motor of his boat again, with no success.
“Where are you off to?” A casual tone. Friendly, even?
Will’s guard loosened a bit, realizing this might be the start to an acquaintanceship. He wasn’t used to having many of those.
“That island–”
“Mako? Isn’t it a bit late in the day for that?”
He couldn’t help the grin that found its way to the corner of his mouth.
“Twilight dives are the best,” Will’s excitement for a new corner of the world to explore was rarely well hidden. The pull of the mysterious island prompted him to give the motor’s cord another tug.
No luck.
“Give it less choke,” she called down.
He gave her a look, not entirely sure how to feel about the suggestion delivered in the form of a command, but he did as he was told.
Sure enough, it sputtered to life, the thrum of the motor reverberating through the hull of his boat. Will wasn’t entirely sure if it was the vibration of the boat or his heartbeat making that feeling inside him, but he was suddenly very aware of how nervous the girl made him.
There was a part of him that was tempted to stay, talk a bit longer. Maybe learn her name. Will hadn’t realized just how isolated he had been this past week— it might be nice to actually make someone’s acquaintance, build a tenuous friendship.
He was here for a while after all, he decided, after having begged his parents for a stable place to live for his last year of high school. Now, the whole world was his to make of, and at his own pace. He liked the idea of staying in his home of Australia a bit longer after graduating, and the Gold Coast offered the shimmering reefs and the deep blue pockets of ocean that he could continue to dive in, maybe forever.
He glanced up at the girl one more time. She was certainly a curious character. A smile never fully made its way to her face, her voice came out hard and flat, but she had seen him struggling with his motor and she automatically had offered her expertise.
He liked that.
But the pull of Mako Island was a bit too strong, and, he admitted more quietly to himself, the prospect of trying to talk to the beautiful, somewhat cold girl standing in front of him was more than a little daunting. So, he gave her a quick “Thanks,” and headed off.
~~~
“Oi! Sleeping Beauty!” A heeled toe jabbed Will in the shoulder. As his eyes came into focus, he saw it was attached to a lovely, long pair of pale legs.
He shook his head a bit.
Focus, idiot.
Three girls stood above him. The one who had prodded him triggered an instant recognition.
He realized as he scrambled to his feet, that he didn’t actually know her name– or any of the strangers' before him. They watched him warily as he gathered his thoughts, putting words to the bizarre experience he had minutes ago. Or had it been hours? How long had he been out?
The girl from before spoke first, “You must have slipped and hit your head,” the same clear, low voice. The dismissive tone wasn’t quite appreciated.
He tried to clarify, justify what he had seen. The second girl, another blonde but with softer, rounder features, was gentler when she spoke, “You should go, see a doctor.”
Will’s head was spinning with the memories of before, with half-formed questions about the girls in front of him. But he clung to what he knew– his fins in his left hand, and what seemed to be the only way out of the cave. That swim out was becoming increasingly more daunting, and more tempting by the minute.
“Are you sure you’ll be alright getting back?” the soft girl asked. Her face unmasked, the concern pulled at each of her lovely features.
Will’s mind ran through a hundred different responses, a hundred different questions. His head throbbed, his body ached. He realized all he could manage tonight was, “My name’s Will.”
She gave him a kind smile.
“Bella.”
Well, now he knew one name, at least.
One answer in an evening severely lacking in them.
Fins in hand, he dove back into the pool, letting the cool of the midnight water wash over him and focus the static of thoughts in his mind until they aligned into one ringing question.
Who are they?