(open)

[seas_open]

The envelope arrives on her doorstep through registered mail as April is on her way out and she signs for the thick envelope with a frown. She can't imagine who would be mailing anything to her, not when she's kept herself so distanced from nearly everyone she has ever met. Her name is on the front, however, and her address in Siren Cove is neatly printed on a white sticker, though under that she can see there are at least three other stickers. Her guess is that each sticker has a previous address written on it and she has to wonder who has been keeping such close tabs on her that they've been able to track her through her last three locations.

She's wanted on charges in at least two states and she makes herself difficult to find for that reason alone. The charges are minor, she doubts she'll ever be interesting enough for any police to follow her across state lines or really pursue her, but she's still done her best to make sure she stays out of jail for that little bit of money she's convinced people to give her. It's not stealing, she thinks, if the person in question wants her to have the cash.

But if the police haven't bothered to find her, she's not sure who has and it isn't until she reaches the boardwalk that she opens the envelope. The return address is a law office in Canada and she wonders if it has something to do with the foster homes as she slips her nail under the flap and opens it.

The contents don't make sense at first. Several legal documents mention Melanie Ross, a name she doesn't recognize, and there's a copy of the woman's will folded carefully around a letter. Whoever she is, she's clearly dead, and April imagines she must be some distant relative, someone she's never even heard of until she opens the letter and sees her name written across the top in a slanting, delicate scrawl.

The letter is from her mother.

Her dead mother.

April scans the will quickly, catches sight of her name, and she feels her stomach turn. There's nothing in the world she wants from this woman with her addictions and her inability to care for her children. The letter makes no mention of the sister April knows she has, the woman somewhere out there in the world who is only a year older than she is, the only decent memory she has of the very brief time she spent in her mother's care. There are other names, though. The names of other women, other places her father had visited.

It reads like some kind of tell-all and the more April reads, the more disgusted she feels until she reaches a familiar name and she feels like her heart stops in her chest. Flynn. Another woman in the long line of women her father had been with, another woman her own mother had apparently kept track of and April shakes her head, torn between fascination at this revelation and disgust at her mother's obsession with the things her philandering father had done.

If this is true, it means part of the family she's told herself she's not looking for is right here in Siren Cove.

April stands up abruptly from the bench and walks down the beach until she's at the guest house on Corrine's property. She doesn't know what she's doing, if she wants to see Corrine or Les and she stands there on the beach for a moment, indecisive in a way she usually isn't. Then she turns abruptly, yanking her sundress over her head as she walks straight into the ocean. She needs to swim. She needs to really be herself for a little while.

[The swimming part is mostly for Les to catch April in her siren form, so everyone else can catch her on the boardwalk with the envelope she doesn't know what to make of. :D]

Comments

[lesparker]

With Corry off rehearsing for her latest project, Les has been left in charge of the house. Mostly he's kept himself confined to the guesthouse, but all his belongings from his old apartment are sitting in boxes in Corry's living room, waiting to moved downtown to his new building. There are just a few more arrangements and leases to be signed before everything is finalized. Really it should be only a couple more days. Until then he is attempting not to go crazy. The mansion was fine with Corry around to keep him company, with her gone it's just lots and lots and lots of oversized rooms and too much stuff. That's why he's actually getting dressed to leave, needing some fresh air, when the call comes over the intercom. It's one of the house attendants, one Les likes actually because she always gives him pickles.

"Miss April is here," she informs him. April hasn't been over that many times, but it's their job to know who is coming and going on the property with all the attention surrounding Corry. Les buzzes back he's got it, and he heads outside enthused at the idea of having someone else around. He tugs on his shirt as he goes quickly out the door. He and April haven't made any arrangements to meet up, and he's curious as to what she could be doing here. Not that it matters. They never really make plans.

Once he gets outside, she's no where to be found. He wanders for a few minutes around the guesthouse, near the pool and the tennis courts before finally heading down to the beach. He walks for awhile, enjoying the breeze coming off the water. Without any sign of April, eventually he decides to head back to the house and starts making the long trek back down the beach shore.

[gemmadorsey]

Gemma almost walks right by her. Actually, she does walk right by her, bopping along to Sia, then processes what she's seeing and pauses, turns around, and pulls the earbuds out of her ears, letting them dangle from her fingers for a moment.

"You all right?" she says.

Not to be intrusive. Just in case she's having a stroke or something.

[bachjones]

"Ladybug, I can already tell this is not going to be my favorite look of you."

Bach circles her. "I miss lights in your eyes and a smile on your lips. Something wrong?"

[asharpertongue]

Lara's been swimming for a while now, stretching out her like she hasn't done for months. Her ribs ache a little but she's too busy enjoying herself to pay attention to that.

She feels the other siren in the water before she sees them. There's movement off to her left as a dark shape zips through the water. Lara hovers in the deep water, eyes glowing gold white, teeth and scales sharp, talons winnowing the water as she watched the other siren swim. She hums a note that carries through the water. It's just a general sound to make sure the other siren doesn't get a fright if they come upon a fully shifted matriarch.