“To be blind is bad, but worse is to have eyes and not see.” – Helen Keller

It was 9 o’clock at night and we were still struggling. I couldn’t believe something could take so long. It was going on five hours and counting.

“This sucks! Why can’t it just be easy?!” Sam sighed with frustration.

“Look, I’m trying but it’s not easy for me either.”

“I can’t figure out how to do anything. I hear people talking about it all the time, they say it’s easy but it’s really really hard.” she groaned and flipped to the next page in her math book.

“I told you I’m not that great at math.” I leaned over her shoulder to look at the page.

“Well, I thought surely you would know more than me because you’ve actually had Geometry and Algebra II. I’m supposed to be a sophomore this year, not a senior.”

“Well, let’s ask Waterfall. I bet she can help us. She’s really smart whether she admits it or not.”

“That’s better than us trying to figure it out.” She marked the page with a piece of paper, and we ran upstairs to my room to find Waterfall.

I knocked on the door, but didn’t get an answer. I twisted the knob and opened it a crack. The room was pitch black except for the light coming from the mini string of black lights Waterfall had hung up around the room.

Waterfall lay across her bed with her head drooping on the other side. She seemed to be talking to herself but then I saw she had headphones in. I never could understand how she could talk on her iPhone and be using headphones to listen.

“Water?” no reply.

“…so?! What does that have to do with anything? Trish! I mean it! You tell and I’ll slit your throat with my bare hands! I’m serious!” I almost burst out in laughter when I tried to picture Waterfall trying to slit someone’s throat.

I crouched down next to her head. Pulling out an earbud, I quickly said, “You don’t have the heart.” She shrieked and scrambled up. I could hear Trish through the dangling earbud, she was frantic.

Waterfall gyrated around wildly. Sam flipped on the light and Waterfall went ballistic. “What the hell?! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?! What is wrong with you?!”

“We need help.” I shrugged casually.

“The hell you need help! You need to be emitted is what you need! What? No! Trish! I wasn’t talking to you, Squirt and his little girlfriend here. If they don’t kill me, I want you to put me in the crazy house ‘cause I’ll sure as hell need it.”

“She’s charming, really.” Sam’s sarcastic tone dragged through the air. She looked kind of pissed as well as amused.

“Water, can you help us or not?” even if she was mad, Waterfall was good to help someone.

“Fine, whatever. Trish, I’ll see you later. They won’t leave until I help them. I hope its not that kind of help! I mean, I like to help people, but when his pants are down its gone too far. No way! Trish, shut the f*** up. Yeah, bye.” She pulled the earbud out of her ear and threw her phone on her bed. “Now what is so bad, that you had to scare the shit out of me just so I’d help you?”

“Do I even want to know what you were talking about?” I had a bad feeling I knew.

“Doubt it. Now what?”

“We suck at math.” Sam gestured to the book.

“You’re still on math?! I thought you finished hours ago!”

“Well, we took a break. We’ve been stuck on this for five hours.”

“Dear lord help you guys. Okay, what’cha got for me?” Sam took the book over to her and we all sat down on my bed.

It only took her about half an hour to help us finish all of our homework. By the time we were finished though, Sam’s brain was about as runny as mine. I plopped down on Waterfall’s bed after Sam had left, letting out a deep sigh.

“What? Girlfriend wouldn’t kiss you good night ‘cause you’re so ugly?” she was only joking, but it still made me self-conscious.

“No, I’ve just been thinking. I haven’t really tried looking for my soul mate here lately. Maybe I should step it up or something. You found your soul mate before a week had passed. It’s been awhile since my symbol came in and I haven’t even tried to look.”

“Just because I found my soul mate doesn’t mean I’ve told him yet.”

“You haven’t even confronted him?! That’s harsh. I know if a girl knew she was my soul mate, I’d want her to tell me.”

“That’s just you though.” She curled into a ball and pulled the covers over her tight. “It’s cold, are you cold?”

“Nah, I’m fi…” now that she mentioned it, I did feel a cool breeze. It wasn’t even cold out that night, so where was a cool breeze coming from? It had a bitter chill to it; some breezes feel nice but this one was actually cold.

I got up and went down stairs to check everything out. Maybe the air conditioner was on (the vent in our room was right under her bed). I checked the thermostat and nothing was wrong.

I stepped outside because I was going to walk around to our room to see if there was a hole or something, but I quickly shut the door. It should have still been at least seventy degrees out there, but the air was frigid and icy.

Okay, we knew where the air was coming from, but how was it getting in our room? The rest of the house wasn’t cold, so why was our room?

I had left our door open only a crack, but I could feel the cold air coming out before I even got to it. The wind started to howl outside. No one was home but us, and it was starting to scare me. (Of course I wouldn’t admit it.)

I pushed the door open and stumbled back. “Hey! Warn me next time!”

“Knock first!” Waterfall slammed the door closed in my face. I couldn’t believe I had just walked in on her changing into her night clothes. No shirt, no pants, just underwear. I always had bad luck like that. Good thing she hadn’t been facing me though.

My mind went back to the photographic memory image. I tried to focus on something besides her, and ended up seeing something I never would have before. I slammed my fists against the door over and over. “Waterfall! Let me in!”

She flung the door open and asked with rugged breathing, “What’s wrong? What happened?” I hesitated for a moment because of her appearance, only added clothing was a black and pink lacy bra from Victoria’s Secret.

I pushed her appearance aside and hurried into the room. Slamming the door behind me, I locked the new dead bolt Wolfe had made me install after Oliver had come. I grabbed Waterfall by the shoulders and made her stand in the middle of the room.

“Okay, stay there.” I walked back to her bed and laid down on my stomach. Laying my head flat against the comforter, I observed her.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Don’t move!”

“Why?! So you can be a pervert and stare at me while I’m half naked?! I don’t think so!”

“I said don’t move! And I meant it!” she was shocked that I would yell at her like that apparently, but she would thank me later.

“What are you doing?” I ignored her question and rolled to the floor. I sat up against her bed, but it still wasn’t the right angle. I couldn’t remember where I had saw it in the picture, I just knew it was somewhere around her bed.

I slumped down on one elbow and observed once more. I wouldn’t have been able to see it from the doorway at this angle. I dropped down on my stomach once more and stared at her. I thought about it for a moment, then slid myself under her bed.

None of these angles were working. I sighed and decided I’d watch for it next time she went to change. “Okay, you can move now.” She walked across the room and as I tried to crawl out, I saw her reflection flash in the mirror.

“What was that about?”

“Hey! Do that again!”

“Do what again?!” she dropped the shirt she was about to put on.

“Stand in the exact position in the exact spot you were when I walked in earlier!”

“What?!”

“Just try Water! Please, its important!”

“Fine, but then you have some explaining to do.” I laid my head flat against the floor on the air vent. When she stepped into position, I could see her perfectly. In the mirror that is. The way the mirror was angled, I could see her get dressed and undressed perfectly from here.

I slid out from under her bed, and walked over to the mirror. “Help me try to tilt this.”

She looked confused, but did as I asked. As we were trying to tilt it, (which was very difficult because it had been glued in place) our door opened and Prof. Hess walked in.

We spun around in shock, and Prof. Hess’s eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw Waterfall. “What are you doing?! Please tell me you’re not about to try to have sex!”

“What?! Dad! No, I was helping Squirt!”

“Is that what you call it? Well, back in my day, it was called having sex.”

“No! Dad, I was changing ‘cause Squirt went downstairs. Then he walked in on me, and ran back out. Before I knew what was happening, he was banging on the door demanding to be let back in. I haven’t had time to get fully dressed since! He’s been looking at me from different angles for some reason,” she paused to mumble, “that I’m sure he will explain later,” turning back to her father she said, “he asked me to try to tilt this mirror with him. So I was trying to help him when you came in.”

“Okay, I totally believe that. Let’s pretend I bought it, do you care to explain yourself Squirt?” they both turned to me in curiosity.

“Well, I needed her to be the same way as when I walked in on her because that’s when I saw it…”

“Saw what? What did you see?” Waterfall folded her arms and stared at me.

“I’m not sure exactly what it was, but I saw something. It will explain its self when I find it.” I turned back to the mirror and tried with all of my power to turn it. Too bad even super strength couldn’t budge it.

“Shit! Waterfall? Was this mirror glued in place when you got it?”

“No, I just found it like that one day after you had left for one of your missions. I thought you did it.”

“Nope, never even use it. Do you care if I move your bed for a minute?”

“I guess not, why are you moving my bed?”

“I need to look at something. Prof. Hess, I know you probably don’t trust me right now, but I need you to help me unscrew the air vent.”

“I will help you, but if you turn out to be lying, I will poor deadly acid all over you.”

“Understood.” I wasn’t worried because I was almost positive I knew what I saw.

He helped me move the bed, and wasn’t very happy when I told Waterfall she couldn’t get dressed yet. We got the vent unscrewed, and I hesitated while debating what to do. “What now? Well? Why are we doing this?”

I decided to make myself be brave (like always ) and stuck my arm into the pitch black hole. I knew something was wrong immediately because I could stick my shoulder to the floor without hitting anything, and our vents ran horizontal not vertical.

“Prof. Hess, do you happen to have a flashlight?” he handed me a small flashlight, so I shined it down the hole. Around five feet down, I could clearly see what I knew as the dirt under our house.

Shining it around the perimeter of the vent, I noticed the whole section of venting under our room was missing. “Okay, good news and bad news. Which would you like first?”

“What’s the good news?” Prof. Hess looked at me skeptically.

“Good news is, you don’t have to poor acid all over me. The whole venting system under our room is missing.”

“Okay, what’s the bad news?” Waterfall looked at me with humor filled eyes.

“Trust me, you’re not going to find it too funny.”

“Oh yeah?” the humor didn’t fade.

“Okay, does this sound funny to you? Someone had been taking pictures of you while you undress and dress.” All humor drained out of her face and eyes.

“What?!” they both screamed at the same time.

“Right before Waterfall slammed the door in my face, I saw a flash from somewhere around her bed. Then right as the door shut, I saw a camera-like black thing under it. I wasn’t sure if what I had seen was true, but now I’m positive. While I was looking at the different angles, I had Waterfall standing in the middle of the room. None of them worked out because I either wouldn’t be able to see them from the doorway or they wouldn’t have been able to see anything besides her legs. But when I was laying my head on the vent, I pretty much gave up and told her to move. She walked toward her bed, and I saw her reflection in the mirror. That’s when I decided she needed to be where she normally gets dressed, which is at the foot of her bed. When I had her stand there, I had a clear view of everything. So if she gets undressed there every day and night, someone has a clear shot through the mirror to get in on the ‘action’. Understand?” Waterfall looked sick, but not as much as Prof. Hess. “I know right now, all you want to do is throw a million pairs of clothes on. But I need you to do one more thing for me.”

She struggled to talk without throwing up. “What’s that?”

“I need you to stand there one more time. I just want to try something.” She nodded regretfully and walked back to the spot she had been in. “Okay, Prof. Hess. I need another flashlight.”

“Here, what do you plan to do?” he handed me another, slightly bigger, flashlight.

“Just shine this one down through the hole until I tell you.” I handed him the smaller one, and left the room.

Grabbing Waterfall’s camera from the bar, I ran outside and around to our room. The night was pleasant again. I had a feeling the frigid wind earlier was connected to the camera. I found a wooden board that had been fixed like a curtain.

Pushing it aside, I crouched under the house. I saw Prof. Hess’s light beaming down from the vent. I walked right in to it, and he jumped back in shock. “Squirt! What are you doing?!”

“Squirt’s down there?!”

“Okay, I need you to put the vent back in place for a minute. Just screw in two screws diagonal from each other so we don’t have to undo them all again.”

“Okay, but I still don’t see where this is going.” He put the vent in place. And I watched as he screwed in two. “Alright, they’re in. Now what?”

“Put her bed back.” He did this as well.

“Okay, now?”

“Now, Waterfall. Please stand exactly how you think you were when I opened the door. I know you might get embarrassed, but it’s important.”

“Yeah yeah yeah.”

“Okay, Prof. Hess. Stand in the doorway for me.” I hadn’t told them, but I had a theory about the camera. I figured if someone had taken all the time to mess with the venting, they would probably tinker with the vent as well.

“Okay, we’re in position.” I knew he wouldn’t be able to see it because he’s taller than me. I got ready to snap a picture, and slowly tried to push up on the ‘foot of the bed’ end of the vent. It rose up easily.

I snapped the picture and brought the camera back down. Turning it off, I said, “I’ll be up in a minute. Waterfall you can get dressed now.” I waddled back to the loose board as fast as I could. After I slid through, I pushed a boulder in front of it so I would know which one it was for future reference.

I came in the house, and made sure to lock the door. I turned the camera back on as I ran up the stairs and into our room. Waterfall didn’t hesitate for a second when I told her she was free to dress.

She had on night pants and a long sleeved shirt, normal stuff for her. “So what did you do exactly?” she laid her head against Prof. Hess’s shoulder.

“Look. I took this while I was down there.”

She took the camera from me and screamed when she looked at the picture. Prof. Hess took it from her, so he could see. “Now where does the mirror come in? All I see is a picture of my daughter half naked.”

“Don’t you get it? That is the mirror! I had the camera pointed at the mirror when I took that, not her. It’s just zoomed in enough you can’t even tell its looking in a mirror!”

“How did you take it?!” Waterfall looked at me in distress.

“The vent. Someone, probably whoever ‘fixed’ our mirror, tinkered with the vent and made the inside push up easily with the help of hinges at the back. Look!” I ran over and scooted her bed out of the way once more. I entwined my fingers in the end and gave a small pull.

It lifted just as easy as it had when I was underneath. “Squirt! That’s amazing! Only you, only you could see something in the nick of time and unravel a mystery all in the same night.” Prof. Hess couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

“Whatever you say Hess.” He helped me find something to put over it until we could fix it. Waterfall wasn’t happy about going to bed now, but I forced her too. I had a plan for the following day’s training.

---

Training came all too early the next day. Sam assured me, whatever I was planning would more than likely work. Somehow, that didn’t comfort me.

“Okay Water, today we’re going back to day one. Pick your staff.” I picked up a rather short staff, but Waterfall didn’t move.

“Staff? Really? We’re supposed to be way passed that.”

“Not when all you do is block. I taught you how to block before because you weren’t attacking or blocking. I guess I have to teach you how to attack now ‘cause you sure as hell ain’t gonna do it yourself.”

“We’ll see about that.” She picked a random staff, and we started our usual circling routine.

I threw hits at her, but found none in return. “Squirt, what’s the point in this?! You’re always going to beat me! You’re stronger, more powerful, elegant with your moves, and I can’t do any of that!”

I started hitting hard enough she started to slowly back away from me. “That’s right! I will always be better! No matter what, I will always beat you Waterfall! Because I’m just better than you!”

This made her swipe at me, ducking my blow and almost actually hitting me. I knew I was on the right track now. I heard Joe stop his training, and everyone gathered around to watch. I heard him barely through our rugged breathing. “Squirt, how do you plan to teach her if you’re putting her down like that?!”

“Just. Like. This.” With each grunted word I threw a harder hit. The last one she dodged and I had to jump up to keep from being hit with the middle of her staff. Taking another step back, she readied herself for another blow.

But I didn’t attack. To her, one of the most powerful things were words. “That was pretty good.”

“Really?!” she looked excited. This was it.

“Yeah! For a douche!” I didn’t even have time to make my turn to walk away. She had spun the staff around and slammed the end in my stomach, sending me flying.

I heard a loud gasp from the spectators right before I hit the tree, forty yards away. it knocked the wind out of me for a second, but being a Conmadan I healed within seconds. Supporting myself with my staff, I hobbled back to the dirt circle.

Waterfall had fear pouring off of her in waves. Her knees and arms were trembling with fright as I approached her. “Squirt, I didn’t…I mean…I just…” I held up my hand for her to stop.

“I just have one thing to say.” She seemed to cower away when my eyes met hers. “That was incredibly better, but can you do it twice in a row?” the fear left her face and shock entered just as fast.

“What? You’re not mad?”

“Mad?! Babe! I’ve been trying to get you to do that for weeks now!” everyone started to laugh, and Waterfall couldn’t help but join in. I couldn’t have her being happy now could I? plus she needed to expect the unexpected.

I flashed to her and thrashed up. Somehow, I don’t know how though, she managed to block it. I didn’t stop though, I wanted to feel more and more pain. After a couple minutes, I stopped her so we could switch weapons.

Joe had gone back to teaching his class in the guild, so Waterfall and I were left alone outside. We both picked out our favorite wakizashi so we’d be even. The circling began again.

I would slash and she would block, and then she would slash just as quick and I would block. Once, when she slashed at me, her blade slid across mine and ended up slicing my arm open deep enough it would take a few minutes to heal.

“Ow! Nice! Do it again!”

“Okay, I’ll try to.” The slashing began again. By the time Joe let his guild out, Waterfall and I were panting heavily as sweat rolled down our face. Gravel, Titan, Bloodshed, and Splinter decided to walk over with Sam.

They all seemed a bit shocked to see I had a few more cuts than even I expected. I looked at them when they chuckled at my appearance. Guess I don’t listen to my own teaching.

She spun her body around so her hands holding the sword were above her head, all in the same motion as she slashed up. her sword penetrated deep into my abdomen and exited right below my throat. But her momentum didn’t slow as she twisted around to slash a deep cut across my stomach horizontally.

I had never experienced that much pain from her, I was so proud. She stared at me in shock of what she had done as I fell to the ground. She dropped her sword and her hands flew to her mouth. I heard a muffled ‘shit!’ before she dropped down to see if I was alright.

“Squirt! Are you okay?! I swear, I didn’t mean too!”

“Dude, take a chill pill.” She rolled me over on my back, and almost started to cry when she saw how deep she had cut me. I would say it was at least three and a half inches deep.

“How can you say that?! Look what I did too you!”

“I know, I felt it. And I’ve never been prouder.”

“What?! Did I hit your head too?!”

“No! Water, calm down. I’ll heal in a bit. You didn’t even realize what you were doing. You just used instinct to tell you a shot was open, and you took it. That’s perfect. I think attack practice is done. Can we go back to where we were now? I hate teaching stuff from the start.”

She laughed as she said, “Of course. Whatever you want.” She held my hand in hers as I healed for ten minutes. When I was finished healing enough I could move around without opening my cuts, I started on her.

Just because she got in a few good shots, it didn’t mean I didn’t hit her as well. She had several cuts on her arms and face nicks bleeding bad enough it took me a few minutes to heal them all. She had pretty much gotten used to me healing her.

She still would lurch, cringe, and draw up when I did, but not like she did. No one besides me even noticed it anymore. But she still seemed to shiver when I would lick the cuts bad enough blood from my finger wouldn’t work.

I was just happy all the nicks on her face weren’t bad enough I had to lick them. If that would have been the case, she may have just got to keep some cuts on that beautiful face of hers. (Sigh) I guess some things never change.

Copyright © 2011 Amanda Woodson. All rights reserved.