Elegy

FIFTY-THREE Depletion

“I swear, Dad, breakfast has never tasted this good,” Harper said as she shoveled another forkful of scrambled eggs into her mouth.

Brian watched her eat with a mixture of amusement and surprise. “I’ve made you this same thing a hundred times before.”

“Nope.” She shook her head. “This is better. This is the best.”

Last night, after they’d all finally finished dealing with the mess of dead bodies and crashed cars out on the cliff, Harper and Gemma had gotten home very, very late. And then they’d sat up for a long time explaining everything to their dad.

Harper had hardly eaten anything yesterday, but she’d been too sore, tired, and anxious to eat when they got home. But when she woke up today, she was absolutely ravenous.

Brian had been awake for a while, so he’d already eaten breakfast, but he insisted on making it for her. Maybe it was just because he was her dad, and he wanted to do something nice for her. Or maybe it was a little because of how terrible she still looked.

In the morning, she’d caught sight of her reflection in the mirror, and it wasn’t pretty. She’d showered last night to get off all the blood and dirt, but that still left her with plenty of scratches and bruises. Daniel had wanted her to go to the hospital to see if she needed stitches in her arm, but she just wrapped it in gauze, and so far it seemed to be doing fine. She had a gash on her left cheek, and a nasty bruise on her neck, but the rest she’d be able to cover with long sleeves and jeans when she got back to school.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” Brian said, as Gemma stumbled into the kitchen. “I thought you were never gonna wake up.”

She didn’t have a scratch on her since she’d healed up entirely last night. Her eyes looked a bit tired, and she clearly wasn’t very awake. But otherwise, Gemma looked about the same as she always did.

“What are you all doing up so early?” Gemma yawned and collapsed into an empty chair at the table.

“It’s noon,” Harper said between bites of food. “It’s not that early.”

“Maybe not, but I’m still exhausted.” Her hair was coming loose from the messy bun she had it up in, and she readjusted it.

“You look better than you did last night,” Brian said, then he looked at Harper. “You, not so much.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Harper said dryly.

“I’m just saying that your sister’s right. You probably should rest up,” Brian told her.

“I’m fine. I’m better than fine,” Harper insisted. Her elation seemed to ward off most of the pain, but she’d taken a couple Advil when she woke up to get rid of the rest of the soreness and body aches. “But Gemma did heal awfully fast.”

“Yeah, I’d mostly healed last night when I transitioned back from the monster.”

“So this is really over?” Brian rested his arms on the table and looked at Gemma. “You’re sure that you’re not a siren anymore?”

“Yes, it’s over,” Gemma said firmly. “I can already feel my siren powers waning. They’ll be entirely gone in a few days. It’s hard to explain it, but I just know.”

Harper had finished all her food, so she pushed the plate aside and looked at her sister. “You’re absolutely sure?”

“Come on, guys.” Gemma laughed, but it sounded a tad uneasy. “I think I would know if I were still a siren. Okay?”

Harper studied her and shook her head. “I just can’t tell anymore.”

“What do you mean?” Gemma asked.

“I don’t know if this is you-pretty or siren-pretty.”

Gemma smirked. “I’ll just take that as a compliment.”

The doorbell rang, so Harper got up to get it. When she left the kitchen, Brian was trying to talk Gemma into eating some of the extra sausage he’d made, but she was declining.

“Wow,” Alex said when Harper answered the door and found him standing on the doorstep. “Penn really did a number on you.”

“Yeah, Penn was pissed. But she’s dead now.” Harper couldn’t help but smile when she said it.

Penn had been torturing her and the people she loved for so long, and now it was like a giant, monstrous weight had been lifted. She hadn’t felt this happy in a very long time.

“You actually look perfectly fine,” Harper told Alex. He had a bruise on his arm, but that was about all she could see, and he was wearing a T-shirt and shorts.

“I know. Most of the blood just washed off, and there wasn’t much underneath,” he said.

“Come on in.” Harper opened the door wider. “Gemma’s in the kitchen eating breakfast. I think there’s some leftover sausage if you wanna join us.”

“Sure.” He shrugged and followed her into the kitchen.

When Gemma saw him, she smiled, and her whole face lit up. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Alex went over and kissed her, until Brian cleared his throat loudly. Then Alex straightened up and smiled politely at him. “Morning, Mr. Fisher.”

“Morning, Alex,” Brian said gruffly, making Harper laugh a little as she sat back down.

Alex pulled up a chair closer to Gemma. “How are you feeling?”

“Pretty good. Just sleepy.” She yawned again, as if to emphasize it, and she reached over, holding Alex’s hand under the table.

“So after breakfast, I was thinking I would go out to visit Marcy,” Harper said. “You wanna join me?”

Gemma shook her head. “No. I think I’m gonna take a nap.”

“You just woke up,” Harper said, dubious.

“I’m tired,” she insisted. “Losing my powers is exhausting.”

“Okay.” Harper shrugged and turned to Alex. “What about you, Alex?”

“If Gemma’s just gonna be napping…” He trailed off and looked to Gemma to see if it was okay.

“You go ahead,” Gemma told him. “Marcy’s always liked you, and she could use some cheering up.”

He looked perplexed. “I thought Marcy hated me.”

“No, that’s just her personality,” Harper said.

“Do you guys mind if I go lie down?” Gemma let go of Alex’s hand and pushed herself back from the table. “I think I woke up too early, actually.”

“You sure you’re okay?” Brian asked, concerned. “You didn’t eat any breakfast.”

“Yeah. I’m fine. I’ll feel better if I sleep some more.” Gemma stood up. “Tell Marcy that I’m sorry and thanks for everything.”

“Will do,” Harper said.

Alex stood, so Gemma leaned up and kissed him. She made sure to keep it short enough so her dad wouldn’t have to clear his throat again, then she waved ’bye to everyone and headed to her room.

“She’s acting strange, right?” Harper asked once she heard Gemma’s feet on the stairs. “You all agree with me.”

“Yeah, but after last night, can you really blame her?” Brian asked.

“And if she’s losing all her siren powers, that has to feel really draining,” Alex agreed, and sat back down. “Going from superstrong to, you know, mortal again has to feel strange.”

Harper considered it, then nodded. Physically, going from an immortal creature back to a normal teenage girl had to be a crazy feeling. Not to mention all the stress and fighting last night.

“Yeah. That’s probably it,” Harper agreed.

“Alex,” Brian said, making Alex sit up straighter. “I don’t want you to think that since you helped save my daughters’ lives that I’m gonna let you do what you want now. The old rules still apply. If I catch you in Gemma’s bedroom, I will feel absolutely no guilt in cutting off whatever appendages you’re touching her with.”

Alex gulped. “That sounds fair, Mr. Fisher.”