Truth be told. Pt.2
Logan Pov
After Mariana walked out an awkward and uncomfortable silence fell over us. The room was deathly quiet and no sounds filtered in from the outside either. It felt like everything and everyone was anticipating what was to come after. Like in a hurricane, the calm before the storm, when you are in the eye of the monstrous storm and you wait for the next onslaught of thunder and rain. That's how I feel right now.
I'm waiting to see what would happen when she comes back. No wonder she's so confused, worried and afraid to tell me anything. She herself doesn't know everything and that is as clear as day since she obviously didn't know that these two elders are her grandparents. Her mind must be a mess right now. Honestly, I can relate to her and I now feel like I have been behaving like a jerk.
I'm just as scared as she is and it's keeping us apart. I felt that magnetic pull towards her the moment we made eye contact in Lulu's diner. I can feel it getting stronger and my soul is begging for me to be with her. Guess I know why they are called 'soulmates' now. It's literally your soul asking for something you didn't even know you had.
I wonder how much more she could take. My brain would explode at this point. Losing family and then finding more. That's a blessing that I would want for anyone but the way it happend to her...the secrets. From what I have learned the way they all talk is that Mariana's whole existence is a big deal and a lot has happened to get to the point where they are now. And somehow it all went to shit when she didn't want a relationship with someone other than her mate. I feel happy about that, the fact that she wouldn't want to be with anyone besides the other part of her soul which happens to be me.
"YOU SAID YOU LOVED ME!" Carlo screams again. Ugh...this thing between Mary and Carlo is complicated, confusing and a disaster. The way they met was out of a fairytale. Him surfing and then hitting something. That something turned out to be her. When she woke up on the beach dressed in his shirt, it was love at first sight. Kinda cringe if you ask me but it is what it is, and no wonder it didn't last. With the revelation of them knowing each other lead to us discovering that Carlo knew about mermaids already. Hence why he didn't react as badly as me and Ryan. Ryan all but interrogated him about his delayed reaction but now we at least know why. They were in a distance relationship, where she would come to the surface and meet him but that stopped entirely about a year ago. That hurt Carlo a lot. He didn't talk much, sulking all the time and cried...a lot. The breakup hit him hard.
"I do love you! Just not the same way anymore!" Mary screams back at Carlo again. This has been going on for more than an hour since Mariana went to bed earlier and now it's going on again and it was the main reason why Mariana had put up a show half an hour ago. "BUT WHY?! What changed? Did I do something wrong?" He's on the verge of tears now. I know how he feels, to be left by the person you love more than life. Mary has tears running down her face, she's out of breath and it looks like what she's about to say pains her more than getting shot to death. "I found out who my mate is..." She whispers out, barely audible but we all heard her. For the first time in all my years of friendship with Carlo Ancelotti, he is void of emotion.
His face has turned stoic and his eyes indifferent. This hurts like a bitch, looking at my friend when reality has gutted him with a single sentence. Now I understand why Mary looked so awful when she didn't say anything. She didn't want to hurt him, but getting hurt was inevitable. Carlo nods his head, clicking his tongue and breathing hard. "Well I guess it's settled then. I was just a time passer until you found your one true love." He utters his words bitterly, like he has poison in his mouth and I know for sure that he absolutely hates the guy who is the other half of the girl he loves.
"I'm sorry." Mary tells him and storms off outside. "Where are you going!?" Mariana yells after her but we hear no reply. Seconds later Mariana comes back inside and looks at Carlo apologetically. She must have heard everything from all the shouting they did. She moves towards him but he too storms off to the back yard. We hear the kitchen door slam shut. A tense silence falls over us all and for a good long while no one says anything. Maria and Papa are the first to break the silence when Papa falls into the sofa and Maria asks if we want lemonade.
"How many more secrets are there?" I ask aloud without looking up. I don't get a reply of words. No, I get an exhausted sigh and then hysterical laughter fills the room. I lift my head and can't help the smile that breaks out on my face. Mariana has tears in her eyes from how hard she's laughing. Nothing about this is funny, I think all of it is just a bit too much for her. She has a lot of adult problems and she's only still a teenager. Hell, the only adults here are Carlo, Papa, Maria and Mary who left the house. I like the way she laughs though. It's loud, boisterous and chaotic. She begins to hiccup and gasps for air. Maria comes back with the lemonade and sits next to Mariana patting her back and telling her to calm down.
She speaks again after composing herself and there is no humour in her voice whatsoever. The absurdity of her life must be a joke to her at this point, that's the only reason I can think of why she laughed at my question. "Well, let me tell you this. A conspiracy theorist would have a field day when they stumble upon me, because everywhere I go, secrets are brought up or exposed. So, as for how many? Only the Gods above and below will know."
---
It's been three hours since our talk and no one has asked any questions since then. I feel like we are all too scared to ask anything anymore. The truths that came out today, which wasn't many, were enough to put everyone else's truths on hold. We've all had enough for one day. Now we are just lazing around and calling it a day while the oldies are doing their own thing. Carlo is still outside, looking at the sky, Mary hasn't come back yet and Mariana is sleeping again.
She fell asleep right after drinking her lemonade. The loss of energy because of her power took a toll on her. Also the lack of sleep, busy day and plenty of drama. Ryan is sitting on the recliner watching his sitcom, The Nanny and I am wondering about my future. What would happen after all this is resolved? Will we go to war against Mariana's people, this prince William they all hate so much? Land versus ocean? We all know who would win thát fight. Humans might have the technological advantage but the ocean life, especially mermaids are gifted, power wielding lifeforms that can literally use the ocean to their advantage. Not to mention the Goddess, that stirs up a storm with júst her emotions, sleeping on the sofa who reconnected with her ancient grandfather, who by the way is a Roman freaking God is on the side that covers more than seventy percent of the planet. We're so screwed if this doesn't work out.
That aside, what would happen between me and Mariana? I know she only has eyes for me that is for sure. She made it perfectly clear when she looks at me. I've noticed the dazed, starstruck look she has whenever we look at each other. It brings a smile to my face knowing that I have that effect on her. She gets so shy around me and it makes my heart flutter in joy, something that I thought died a long time ago. Being loved is the most precious thing that could happen to anyone. But it is also the very thing that can destroy a person. Love is both powerful and dangerous. One would do anything for love. Kill, lie, deceive, destroy or it could go the other, better way. Protect, nurture, guide, treasure...
Not a lot of people have that and here mine is handed to me on a silver platter. It makes me feel bad for Carlo. He had love and then it was gone.
I hope this mate of Mary is a good guy. I mean, she probably had the best time of her life with Carlo because he's the best guy you could ever ask for. She told him she loved him and then she found her mate. Sure she must have some conflict of her own because you can't choose who you love, not when your soul acknowledges the other part of it. So, she's just as trapped as he is lost. She cried over and for him which must mean something. There is still love there. Who knows, maybe there is a way to have another soulmate.
A second chance perhaps? Whomever this mystery man is, I hope on Mary's behalf that he is better than Carlo. I also can't help but feel that there is something really wrong about how she looked when she said she found her mate. Is she scared of him? She said she found her mate but that doesn't mean they met yet, right? 'Cause if they did wouldn't they be together, like how Mariana came to me? Something doesn't add up and I have a feeling that things are going to go south real soon.
My thoughts are interrupted when Ryan plops down on the couch next to me. He has a worried look on that usually cheerful face of his. I eye him up and down slowly. His shoulders are drawn close to his body, he's tense. Worried look? He's mentally freaking out. "What is it this time?" I ask bluntly, because honestly, I am pretty sure nothing can surprise me at this moment anymore. Too many weird shit has happened so far. "You know how Mariana said I am the Keeper of History, right?"
This again? I nod slowly at him and he opens his mouth for a few seconds then speaks again. "Well, I know all the history up until this point." Okay, so what's the punch line? "And?" I ask him, opening my hands in question while my elbows rest on my knees. "Mary met her mate last year." I nod my head because that's all I can do while he takes his sweet time to drop another bomb on us.
"So that means that I can see who her mate is, and I know who he is because he's a bit older than her and with history comes all the people in it." He pauses again and it is working on my patience. I roll my hand to signal for him to continue. "Her mate is the most feared and hated and admired man in all of the mer-folk kingdom, and the not so true king..." Ryan says slowly while turning his head to look at me. I don't quite get what he's saying. Not the real king? Hated and feared by some but also admired...
Holy...shit. My eyes are the size of golf balls right now. This is so entirely messed up! Prince William is Mary's mate?! "What?!" Mariana yells suddenly. Oh crap, I said that out loud...