beatrix bobbit's family vacation pt 2

"Sybil, what did you do?" Beatrix whispered.

"Where is my stolen treasure?" The wind howled downstairs, carrying the low growl of a voice up the creaky stairs and to the loft where Sybil and Beatrix sat huddled together.

"I, I didn't mean to, I didn't think," Sybil cried, holding the smooth pink stone in her open palm like an offering.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" Mr. Bobbit's voice bellowed through the holes in the floorboards below them.

The stairs howled in protest as the creature moved slowly up.

"I said, what is the meaning of this nonsense? Penny had finally stopped shivering," Mr. Bobbit shuffled towards the stairs.

At once, Beatrix shouted, "Dad, no!" She snatched the pink rock from Sybil and darted to meet the creature on the stairs.

"What are you doing making so much noise?" Mr. Bobbit asked.

Beatrix's heart was pounding as she slammed into Mr. Bobbit and turned to face the creature.

She blinked once and rubbed her eyes. The creature standing before her was no green tailed monster. It was a girl with pale hair and blue eyes dressed in pink pajamas.

It looked exactly like Sybil.

"Do you need something, Sybil, dear?" Mrs. Bobbit's head appeared over Mr. Bobbit's shoulder.

The Sybil imposter flashed a sharp toothed grin at Beatrix. "No, I was just looking for something I took from the beach. I'm sorry I woke you."

"Oh, for you to wake me, I'd have to be sleeping in this drafty dripping disaster home, Sybil, dear. Which of course, I cannot," Mrs. Bobbit turned and continued muttering as she shuffled back to bed.

After a moment, Mr. Bobbit grunted and followed her. Slamming the bedroom door that was only hanging by one hinge behind him.

"What are you?" Beatrix asked.

"Where is the stolen treasure?" The creature's eyes flashed purple.

Beatrix opened her hand to reveal the pink stone within. But, when she looked down, she didn't see a pink stone. Instead, there was a large glittering ruby.

"This was just a plain pink stone a moment ago," Beatrix said, panic rising in her chest. "I wouldn't take something so valuable."

"That is not what you took," the creature peered closely at the shimmering ruby. "I think the better question is what are you?"

Beatrix swallowed and stood a little straighter. "I'm a witch."

"A witch and a thief, I'm intrigued," the creature plucked the ruby from Beatrix's hand and then continued up the stairs.

"No, you got what you needed," Beatrix ran up after the creature.

"I'm too intrigued to leave now," the creature turned. "Besides, aren't you intrigued too, witch?"

Beatrix didn't respond, but her hands tingled. She sprinted to the top of the stairs before the creature entered the cramped loft to warn Sybil.

Sybil was staring wide eyed at the creature behind Beatrix. "I'm sorry, Sybie. I gave back the treasure."

"Beatrix?" Sybil blinked.

"Yes?" The creature spoke behind Beatrix. When Beatrix turned, the breath left her chest.

She was staring at herself.

"No, Sybie, it's a trick! I'm Beatrix, that's the creature from the sea," Beatrix pleaded, still blocking the creature from fully entering the room.

"Relax, I'm not here to steal your sad little life," the creature pushed past Beatrix and sauntered around the room.

"What do you want?" Sybil asked.

The creature craned its neck and looked up at the sliver of night sky through the hole in the ceiling.

"To play a game," the creature answered.

---

Beatrix was awoken to the sound of crashing waves and the blink of sunlight peeking out from behind a cloud.

She sat up and shook Sybil awake beside her. Sybil groaned, then looked around the room, remembering the night before.

"Where is it?"

Beatrix climbed off the air mattress and crouched above a floorboard. Sharp fingernails had etched words into the warped wood that read:

Play with me, and I won't tell of what you stole. Meet me in the eastern cove. A ladder will take you to the water where I'll be.

"I guess it wasn't a dream," Sybil was standing over Beatrix reading along. "What do we do?"

Beatrix's heart leapt in excitement. "We play."

Downstairs, Mrs. Bobbit was sitting in the solitary rocking chair while Mr. Bobbit and Penny leaned against the wall.

Since Mrs. Bobbit usually spent her mornings bustling about, this was cause for concern for Beatrix and Sybil.

"Are you alright, Mom?" Beatrix asked gently.

"No, but thank you for asking, Beatrix, dear," Mrs. Bobbit sighed so loudly a ball of dust blew across the room. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"Sure, I'm starving!" Sybil grinned and twirled three times.

"Well, Sybil, dear, would you like another candy bar or one quarter of a banana?"

"Er..." Everyone turned to Mr. Bobbit, who was holding a now empty banana peel.

"Never mind the banana, then, Sybil dear. Here," Mrs. Bobbit chucked a chocolate bar across the room. She threw it so hard, it hit the wall above Sybil's head and, for a moment, the whole house shook.

"Thanks..." Beatrix bent and scooped up the dented candy bar. "We'll take this with us to the beach. Be back soon!"

Beatrix grabbed Sybil's hand and darted through the door before their parents could protest or inquire about where they were going.

"Either they don't remember last night, or they're delirious from hunger," Sybil tore open the candy bar and took a large bite, then offered the other half to Beatrix.

As they wound down to the treasure covered beach, Beatrix had to force her feet to keep marching through the sand. Even while gemstones and treasures winked at her in the sun.

"Don't even think about it, Sybie," Beatrix warned when she caught her sister peering at a shiny purple gemstone in the sand.

They trekked towards the Eastern Cove. Beatrix had worn a cloak that was now dragging in the sand, and Sybil wore a pink bathing suit and tutu.

After they climbed a hill out of the sand, they found themselves on a grassy ledge with a pool of water below. The wind whipped at their hair as they began walking the sloping hill down towards the water.

The ground leveled off at the bottom, and sure enough, a rusted ladder awaited them.

"You'd think with all the treasure, they could spring for a better ladder," Sybil observed.

"Wait here, I'll go first," Beatrix reluctantly removed her cloak, and tied it to the ladder before climbing down to the water in her black long sleeve bathing suit and shorts.

Her heart thumped at the bottom rung, where she paused only inches above the too still water.

It was the deepest shade of blue she'd ever seen, like an almost midnight sky.

"Is the creature there?" Sybil called.

"No--"

"The creature has a name," a voice hissed from the water.

"We're sorry!" Sybil shouted as she began climbing down.

"What's your name, then?" Beatrix asked.

She was startled when the reply came just beneath her feet.

"Gemma, though I rather like Beatrix, witch," the creature below her had green skin. Though the skin was barely visible through swirls of gemstones that covered its face.

Even its eyelids were adorned in jewels that flashed every time it blinked its golden eyes.

"Is this your true form?"

The creature slithered out from under the ladder. Its eyes flicked up towards Sybil and a grin spread across its face revealing sea shells instead of teeth.

"What is true," the creature called Gemma mused.

Sybil had come to a stop right above Beatrix with a gasp and muttered, "Awesome."

"Well you summoned us here. What do you want?" Beatrix asked.

"Though you stole from me, I wish to give you a stone willingly," the creature smiled and swam closer.

"Why?"

"Don't ask questions, witch. Take the stones, and come back to visit me once before you go. Do we have a deal?"

"No--"

But the word caught in Beatrix's throat as Sybil climbed over her and shouted, "Yes!" Her eyes were gleaming strangely at the green and blue gemstones in the creature's webbed hand.

Sybil snatched them both, and the creature dove below the water so quickly, Beatrix could do nothing but climb back up the ladder.

At the top, she grabbed Sybil. "What were you thinking?"

But Sybil wasn't listening. Her ear was tilted towards the two gemstones in her hand.

"Listen, they're singing," Sybil whispered. "This the game! They're singing the game!"