Current Impressions Read Online Free PDF

the ocean.
    He was following a seal. Though the water
should have been frigid, it was not. He swam with strong, sure
strokes. They passed coral and schools of fish, not unlike what was
in his professor’s tank. They swam for long stretches before Evan
realized he was breathing underwater, wearing only his boxers. Why
wasn’t he in a diving suit? How was he breathing underwater?
    The seal sensed his hesitation and stopped
to look back at him. He stared into its eyes and realized something
else. This wasn’t just any seal. It was Meara.
    She jerked her head in the direction they
were swimming, and her body shook impatiently. Without words, Evan
knew she wanted him to follow her. He picked up his pace to match
hers. He was so intent on keeping up with her that he almost
slammed into her back when she stopped short.
    He peered around her, and his mouth fell
open in shock. A few feet in front of them, a fissure spewed foul,
bitter liquid into the clear water. Along the length of the fissure
was death—skeletons of plants and fish alike.
    Meara watched him. Her eyes were filled with
sadness and something else. She was trying to give him a message,
but what? What was she trying to say?

 

    Ula told me that I’d find Brigid by the cove
and sure enough, she was there. She stood with her back to me. Her
long, black hair swayed in the breeze, her arms wrapped around her
waist. She looked vulnerable until she turned, and her purple eyes
pierced mine.
    “You’re late.”
    “Sorry.” Although I apologized, I couldn’t
see how I was late. There were no clocks here, and my phone was in
storage in Halifax along with my other belongings. My dad told me
to leave it, so I did, even though I was hoping it could be a link
to Evan. I missed our daily text exchanges. I missed hearing his
voice. I’d asked my dad how I would reach my friends without my
phone, and he laughed. He told me there was no reception on the
island. When I said that I couldn’t go all summer without talking
to Evan and my best friend, Kim, he relented. I could travel to
Scotland and call them from there, but not until I had my powers
and could protect myself. I didn’t see why I was in need of all
this protection. It seemed safe here so far.
    Brigid broke my reverie. “Are you ready to
get started?”
    “What are you teaching me?” I asked. Ula
said nothing except that my first lesson was with Brigid.
    “To shield your mind from other Selkies.”
She said it like I should know this already. “We are born with this
ability, but you, it seems, must learn it.”
    “How—?”
    “Ula told me about her experiment in
Canada.” Brigid smiled at me, but there was nothing friendly about
it. “She was able to influence you.”
    It annoyed me that Ula told her. A few
months ago, I met another Selkie named Kieran. We kissed in a dance
club. It was something I never intended to happen, so I worried
that he seduced me. To test whether I was susceptible to Selkies,
Ula entered my mind and projected an image of glowing orbs. Because
she was able to do this, it confirmed I was vulnerable. After that,
I wore the charm bracelet my dad enchanted to keep my thoughts and
feelings protected.
    “Could I have gained the ability to shield
once I Changed?” I felt different now. Stronger and more attuned to
my environment, and I’d only been a Selkie for a little over three
days.
    She lifted one slim, black eyebrow. “Hand me
your bracelet.”
    I unclasped the bracelet, and she took it.
That was the last thing I saw before darkness closed around me. I
was blind, deaf, and dumb. I couldn’t even feel the ground beneath
my feet. I floated in nothingness. Panic rose in my throat, and I
felt myself scream. In a blink, I was back on the cliff, standing
next to my aunt. She crossed her arms and asked in a voice filled
with triumph, “Now, are you ready to begin?”
    Humbled, I could only nod.
    She seemed pleased by my response. She
brushed her hands down the length of her midnight