Silver Haze (2023) dir. Sacha Polak

Once Mizzy was beside her in the car, Aya put it in reverse, maneuvered them out of the building’s courtyard and back onto the street. She didn’t want to waste any time, didn’t want to give these assholes any time to stop them from running off with bullets.

No, not today. She wasn’t ready to die. She had clearly proven that in the last few minutes in that motel room.

“What the fuck happened…?!” she repeated Mizzy’s words, racing back to the main street. She was still upset, full of adrenaline and angry.

“Guess what! Maybe your great ‘friend’ with the gun didn’t take too kindly to me just running off out the window like that?! Oh, but well… it’s not so bad… After all, Aya is a big girl, right?!”

With a really annoyed sigh, she tried not to immediately drive the car into the nearest tree, trying to calm herself down. If only to the point where she stopped screaming.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck… Mizzy…” she growled through gritted teeth. “How stupid do you think I am when you decided to take me to this motel, huh? Alcohol addiction?”

‘What the fuck does that mean?’ Who was she talking about? The creep from the bed? ‘I didn’t know that asshole. You can’t blame whatever he did on me!’ But she could. He was the idiot who took her to meet JC. If he had taken a second to rethink things, there was only one way this could go. 

Fuck. 

Mizzy averted his gaze, staring out the window as the grim San Francisco streets sped past. Aya was probably going to get him a speeding ticket. 

Chewing the side of his thumb, he tried to find a lie to cover this. ‘You’re judging me for who I’m friends with? Real cool move, Aya.’ He hated himself and immediately regretted saying it. She was right. And he should be strong enough to accept that. But he knew he was weak.  

Basically, it didn't matter what she meant. She was out, he was, and they were somewhere on the streets of San Francisco, soon to be far away from people who obviously didn't mean well by them.

Just when she thought her blood pressure couldn't get any higher, Aya heard Mizzy talking. She was so close, really so close, to just pulling over and kicking him out. Or get out herself, because she didn't want to be the one to steal his car.

"You're not serious, are you...?" she hissed, eyeing her passenger out of the corner of her eye. She really had to calm down, otherwise she might actually have an accident.

"You should have just told me the truth from the start. You told me a lie, you took me for a fool... But I'm not stupid, Mizzy, definitely not. And before you keep lying to me, you should think twice about it."

Tightening her fingers around the steering wheel, her knuckles turned white again.

“This is fucking awesome!” she almost screamed with excitement as Mizzy talked to her underwater. “We’re now mermaids without fins. And mermen.” She laughed, bubbles leaving her mouth and rising to the glittering surface of the water.

Tightening her grip on Mizzy’s hand as soon as he pulled on hers, Aya followed him further down, moving like a fish.

The closer they got to the bottom, the darker it became, but since the lake didn’t seem too deep, it was easy to make out rocks and even smaller fish.

Aya kept an eye out for things that shone and when she saw something reflecting the pale sunlight, she pulled on Mizzy’s hand and swam closer to see what it was. It was a ring, a gold ring if she was lucky.

Beaming, she picked it up and held it out to her companion. “We’re rich,” she joked.

‘You live here with me now!’ Mizzy laughed as he twirled around, playfully pulling her into him. ‘As my merqueen!’ He let out a cartoonish 'mwah ha ha’ before releasing her to continue their adventure.

Of all the times he had tried this spell, he had screwed up or just tested it in the pool. But this was something else entirely. He was already concocting a new spell to combine underwater breathing and dark vision since he had perfected this one. 

Squinting through the poor light, it took him a moment to recognise that Aya was holding up a ring. He made a silent ‘oh’ with his mouth, bubbles escaping as he reached for the ring to check for himself. 

‘Not Roman…’ he said as he turned it over. The thing looked modern. But he offered it back to Aya before kicking away to find his treasure haul. ‘Winner gets to keep all the booty!’ he said as he disappeared. 

The lake was more of a pond, not too deep or wide. But underwater, the darkness made the distance look further. But there was no threat here. 

Mizzy slid his hands over the slimy stones lining the lakebed, gently tugging on the foliage as he passed it. It was cooler than space travel.

He was in his mind when his finger slipped over something sharp, slicing his finger. Swearing, he made the mistake of sticking his finger in his mouth, putting mildew or something nasty in his mouth. But as he squinted at the thing that cut him, his eyes blew wide. A tile? He reached out to snag it and turned it over in his hand. He had no idea what it was. But it could help him win his little contest against Aya.

Aya loved Mizzy's playful nature. It was infectious and hard to resist. But when he set out to find his own treasure, her ambition was awakened.

Throwing away the ring, which was obviously worth nothing after all, Aya swam in the other direction. Her eyes darted back and forth, finding keys, coins and lots of stones on the ground. Many small fish dodged her on her way through the water. Somehow it was peaceful down here.

Pausing for a moment, she looked up at the shimmering surface. The spell was simply magnificent. With that alone, Mizzy had probably already won her competition.

But she wanted to keep looking and eventually found a glittering stone. Thinking that she wouldn't find anything better, Aya searched for her companion.

Send me “Where she stops...” for a starter using the whump wheel 

                                           / annoyed at first sight ; 

With something in our hearts, that if we were to stop, would pull us away. There's nothing we can do, to stop feeling this blue. Anyway.

                                  RULES ◇ ZACH ◇ ERIC ◇ STARTERS

#karizmatikzurafa

@mikewxrren