22. A Monday Guest

We run down the stairs and onto the sea port dock. A girl walks from the water onto the beach next to us. I jump down onto the sand, and she shakes out her legs a little.

"Hayley! I'm so glad you could come!" I say.

"Hi Hayley! I didn't know you were coming!" Kayla says.

"Me either. Welcome!" Maxine says.

"Hey guys! I'm really happy I could come too! I came all the way from Shipwreck Cove, so I just transitioned into my human form. My legs take a minute to fully work." Hayley says.

"That's ok, take your time! After I turn into a beast, it takes a while for me to transform back into my human form too." AG adds.

"My clothes and stuff will arrive by magic carpet." Hayley says.

"That's cool, but a pirate ship would be cooler." Ollie urges.

"There's a large mermaid suite in our room that you can stay in." Jocelyn says.

"Perfect! Thank you. And thanks Jax for inviting me!" Hayley says.

"Of course. I'm glad you could make it." Jax states. "Let's show you to your room. The girls can give you a tour of that. After, we can show you around Royal Manor a bit."

"Sure, thank you! I've never been to Royal Manor before."

☆𖣔︎᯽-𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓼𝓴𝓲𝓹-᯽𖣔︎☆

"Royal Manor is so cool, and so is this room! I can't wait to sleep in the mermaid suite."

"I'm really tired. All you all finished getting ready for bed?" Maxine asks.

"Yes, I think we are." I say, and Maxine turns off the lights.

"Goodnight guys!" Kayla says.

"Goodnight!"

I'm about to get into my bed when I realize I didn't undo the braids in my hair. I quietly walk into the bathroom and turn on the lights. I carefully work on undoing both of my braids.

☆𖣔︎᯽-𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓼𝓴𝓲𝓹-᯽𖣔︎☆

It takes a hot minute because Kayla did these two braids pretty tight.

There we go. Now I can go to bed. I climb in, just as I hear something quiet, but quick.

Knock, knock, knock!

Was that just me?

I know it's not when I hear the same sound again.

Knock, knock, knock!

I get up and tip-toe to the door. Who would be knocking at 10:45 PM? I look through the peephole and see it's Annalyse. I quietly open the door and motion for her to come inside.

"Annalyse?" I ask quietly.

"Yes. Gilly, a mailman knocked on our door and dropped off this Pegasus Post. I checked the outside of the scroll and it's addressed to you. It says urgent! I thought I should deliver it to you immediately!" Annalyse whispers.

"Thank you, I'm not sure what this is for. I'll probably just read it tomorrow when there's light in the room."

"Ok, sounds good. Goodnight." Annalyse exits the room and heads across the hall to her own.

What could this Pegasus Post be? Why would it say urgent? I bring it back to my bed. I won't be able to read the words in the dark. I decide to wait and read it tomorrow.

☆𖣔︎᯽-𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓼𝓴𝓲𝓹-᯽𖣔︎☆

It's been thirty minutes, and I can't sleep. I can't stop thinking about the scroll. I check the clock, and it's 11:20 PM. I decide to go in the bathroom to read it so that I don't wake anybody up when I turn on the light.

I sit on a bench in one of the changing rooms and turn on the lights. Urgent is marked all over the outside of the scroll. I open it up and-

Anna?