The Drowned [part II]

I open my eyes to find two unfamiliar, young, male faces hovering above me.  Startled, I sit up and try to slide myself back away from the boys, but I’m stuck, sinking into the middle of the old bed I’m on top of.  The room is dimly lit, but I can see they both have friendly smiles on their faces, yet they remain silent.  Unsure of what to do, I half smile back.  I look down at myself and notice that I’m wearing a dark blue robe.  I can’t remember what I had been wearing, but I know it wasn’t this.  The boy to my left stands up and starts to walk towards the doorway.  My eyes follow him and I notice now how the walls of the room are solid rock, and the air is damp.  We must be in some sort of cave, I think to myself.  How did I get here?  What was I doing before I woke up?  I try to remember anything, but my mind seems blank.

“Is she awake?” a voice calls out from the adjacent room.  A few seconds later, a third boy peaks his head around the corner.  He waltzes through the threshold, carrying a teacup and saucer.  Gliding carefully across the rocky floor, he hands me the cup and says, “drink up darling, it will help your blood shift.”  As soon as he says this, I realize my chest feels heavy, as if I’m not receiving enough oxygen.  I am hesitant to drink the hot beverage, but its sweet aroma floats up to my nose, and I cannot resist.  I take a few sips of the tea, and let the warm fluid coat my throat.

“Where am I?” I ask.

“Safe.  You know, you sank right to the bottom.  Luckily Chase was hunting in the area, saw you struggling, and brought you home.”  He glances over to the boy on my right, “This is Chase.  I’m Angelo, and over there is Peter.”

“I’m Valyn.”

“We know.  We heard them calling for you,” Angelo says.

“Calling for me?” and then I remembered my date with Alex.  “I need to get back to the cliffs, Alex is probably worried sick.  I was just – .”

“It’s too late,” Angelo interrupts, “Alex went home.  We insist you stay here for the night.  Finish your tea, darling.”

I decide not to argue and finish the last few sips of the tea.  The weight in my chest seems to have disappeared, and I can breathe easily now.  I hand the empty teacup back to Angelo.  Smiling, he gets up and motions the other boys to do the same.

“We will let you get some sleep.  If you need anything, just call out.  Otherwise, I will have breakfast ready for you in the morning.  Would you like me to leave a light on for you?  It gets awfully dark in here.”

“Yes, please.”

It’s just then when I realize that the only light sources in the room have been coming from candles or torches along the wall.  Leaving a candle burning for me by my bed, the boys blow the rest of the flames out, and leave my room.  I hear them rustling around in the other rooms, but it’s my thoughts that are distracting me from going to sleep.  I still don’t know how or why I’m here.  I don’t even know where “here” is.  It’s nice though, safe like Angelo said.  I don’t feel threatened by the boys at all.  Angelo seems like such a sweetheart, always smiling.  Suddenly, Alex appears in my mind.  I have to get back into town tomorrow, I’m sure one of the boys will show me the way.  I dream about Alex that night, holding and kissing me in front of the sunset.

The next morning I awake, this time to the smell of bacon and eggs.  I tie my robe up and follow the smell out to a bright, cozy kitchen.  Angelo is in front of the stove, humming a strange tune.  I look around for Chase and Peter, but don’t see them.

“Good morning Angelo,” I say, “I’d offer to help you, but I’m a terrible cook.”

Smiling, he responds, “Oh don’t worry, the femmes do all the cooking around here.  You may set the table if you’d like.  Flatware is in the drawer over there, and plates are in the cupboard above the sink.  Chase and Peter are out on an errand so it will be just the two of us this morning.”

I’m not sure what he meant by “femmes,” so I mull it over while I set the table for us.  The dining area is quite charming.  A painting of a lighthouse hangs on the wall, and the rest of the kitchen is decorated with a beach theme.  Sea shells and beach glass are displayed in jars, and roped fishing nets hang in the corners.  The walls of these rooms are solid rock too, and there are still no windows letting light in, only torches illuminate the place.  You can’t even tell it is morning, I think to myself.  Actually, I don’t know if it even is morning.  Angelo brings the breakfast over to the table and begins serving us.

“It smells delicious,” I tell him before I take my first bite.  The bacon has the perfect texture and the eggs are fluffy and full of flavor.  I find myself making complimentary noises as I enjoy the home cooked meal.

“I’m glad you can appreciate my cooking, darling.”  Angelo says as he pours what smells to be the same type of tea from yesterday into my cup.

“I could eat like this every morning, Angelo.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.  You know, since you’re a part of us now, you can’t just leave, anyway.  I know you will fit in perfectly with our group.  Chase and Peter love you already, especially Chase.  He was rather devastated to find out you are a boi, but you do seem to straddle the gender line, you are a two-spirit afterall.  Maybe there could still be something there?”

“Boy?” I ask, “but wait, I can’t stay, I need to get back into town today.  People are probably looking for me, well, Alex at least.”

“Your blood has already shifted, you can’t go back to the surface now.  You drank the tea, you depend on the oxygen in it or from the water outside now.”

“I don’t understand,” I stammer.

“You were drowning.  Chase found you, and quickly brought you back here.  Your blood has shifted in order to adapt to the oxygen levels of our environment, so you can’t leave now.”

“Am I dead?”

“No, not quite.  We’re just in a different realm down here.  The only connection we have to the world we once were from is through encounters in the lake.  You can now breathe, walk, communicate, do anything you want underwater, but going to the surface is dangerous.  Your lungs could collapse if you stay exposed too long…  Are you understanding this?”

I nod my head, “I’m beginning to, it’s just a lot to sink in.”

“Let’s clean up, then I’ll show you around.”

We wash our dishes, put them away, then head down the hallway I came from this morning.  I notice there are several more rooms that channel off from it.  They appear to be empty, just waiting for others to fill them up, make them home.

“This is where Peter and I sleep.”  Angelo lights up a large bedroom, full of character, much like their kitchen.

“So you’re gay?” I ask.

“Well, I guess you could call us that.  Peter and I are indeed a couple.  We are both physically males, but I am a two-spirit so as for gender, I like to consider myself a femme, as it reflects more my personality than what is physically on the outside.  It doesn’t mean I want to be a woman, it just means I’m a feminine male who happens to be with a masculine male.  Together we create the perfect balance of human harmony, and that is all that matters to us.”

“So now I understand why you called me a boy,” I say.  “And you think I am a two-spirit as well?”

“Yes, you are most definitely a woman on the outside, but from what I can judge of your personality, you seem to lean more towards the masculine side; we would call you a boi since you still have femme qualities, but more dominantly are your masculine idiosyncrasies.  Please don’t take offense, it’s only an observation.”

“No, I agree with you.  I have always been more of a tomboy.  So is that what a two-spirit is?  Someone who is physically a male or female, but is mentally the opposite gender?”

“It is a complex concept, but that is the basic black and white version.  With that being said, our roles down here are pretty traditional in that sense.  The femmes cook, the bois hunt.  If you’re feeling up to it tonight, you can go with Chase and Peter.”

“Should I talk to Chase first?  I wouldn’t want to make it awkward.”

“No, he knows already.  It’s fine, really.  He just wants someone to balance him too…  Did you have someone who balanced you?”

“There might have been someone, but it doesn’t really matter now.”