Lily did not take all this information she had for granted. She knew now more than ever that the creature they were looking for would not be aware of this and would sooner or later make a mistake that would lead her straight to it. She had a feeling that her finding it would even enable her to get a lead on how the portal got interfered with.
A while ago, before Lily came back to her grandmother's house, Chris had been having a conversation with his mother about the whole situation with Lily and given the fact that she was now back to her home.
Christopher and his mother sympathized with Lily's situation and how things went wrong too fast for her family. It was like it was a tragedy after the other. And because of this, Chris ruled out that Lily really needed a friend and someone she could confide in.
Therefore, Chris had come up with an idea after laying out his point of view to his mother. And at this moment they both stared at Lily, neither of them ready to bring it up in a way that would not make her feel uncomfortable.
Just when the situation seemed helpless, Chris rose up from his seat and went to the kitchen area where his mother was fixing breakfast for them and whispered something to her. Lily didn't seem to notice this at all since she had been somehow distracted and lost in thoughts ever since she came back that morning.
Both Chris and his mother understood that it was a rough time for Lily and so they got it quite well if she passed out once in a while. This however did not sit well with Chris and he therefore decided to step up and do something about it.
"Hey Lily, would you like to take a stroll later on perhaps after breakfast? Maybe to the boathouse?" Chris asked hoping for a positive response from Lily. Before he could wait for Lily's response he immediately added," you haven't been there in years."
Christopher's mother equally looked at Lily the moment Chris has spoken and she flushed a smile at Lily. She was also hoping for Lily to agree to it because she knew that Lily needed to get out a little and refresh her mind.
"I will be right here looking after Tabitha, so don't worry about that my sweet child," Christopher's mother added with a smile.
Lily soon realized that Chris together with his mother were both just trying to look out for her and she was sure not going to say no to them now after all the help they have given her. "Sure Chris, that is not a bad idea at all," she flushed a little smile towards Chris and shifted to his mother, "thank you aunty."
Almost an hour passed by and Chris and Lily were walking past the other houses headed towards the direction of the boathouse. They were silent for a while as Lily looked around the other houses as if she was seeing them for the first time.
"Ah we are here," Chris cleared the silence. "You did not even get in earlier when you dropped by," Chris continued.
He opened the door and looked at Lily, waiting for her to get in, "oh very gentleman-y of you," Lily tipped jokingly. "I learnt a few gentleman-y things over the years," Chris as well replied in a joking manner.
Lily looked around as she walked through the front door towards the living area. Their footsteps resounded in the air as their shoes tapped the wooden floors, "it still looks the same..," Lily uttered incomplete sentences as she passed around the living area looking at it.
She walked towards one of the windows and looked at the tiny stone curved animal that was on the windowpane and softly rubbed it with her fingers and smiled, 'this is still here', she smiled as she thought inwardly.
She looked around the boathouse and remembered how they would run around that place when they were still very young. She recalled all the games they played around the house and even saw flashes of their memories as they chased each other around the house.
"Let me show you something," Chris spoke signaling Lily with his head to follow along. He went up the stairs as Lily followed behind him. He went up to his room and opened the door to neatly arranged room with hardwood wardrobes an open window that was wide enough to fit a whole person.
Lily walked towards the window and looked further outside revealing the sight of the shore and ocean not far away from the house. "Still the best view of the ocean from up here," she nodded as she spoke.
"Right? I still look at it everyday, it never gets old," Chris added. She then stepped back and sat on Christopher's bed and looked around still feeling nostalgic as ever, "I can't believe we used to hide under this bed without and aunty would look for us for so long."
They both laughed as they reminisced, "all because we did not want to go to the market," Chris added as they continued laughing.
"On our defense we didn't do it on purpose," Lily continued. "I mean that kid, Molly, right? she was a bully and she could wait for us however long it took just to bully us," Lily added. "Yea it's ridiculous how my own cousin made our childhood in this Town a living hell," Chris responded as they both laughed.
"Speaking of Molly, we actually get along pretty well lately. She even drops by sometimes and stick around for the weekend," Chris stated.
Lily looked shocked as she listened to Chris. "I guess she got bored chasing you around after I was gone, you are actually slower remember?" Lily mocked Chris who equally laughed at her joke denying that he wasn't the slower one.
They both caught up for a few more minutes and Chris soon suggested to take a stroll along the beach. Lily could not say no since after all she could use this time to catch up with Chris. She actually felt nice spending the morning with him and talking about their childhood memories.
Along the beach, Chris and Lily walked slowly as they gazed into the ocean. They both had different thoughts in mind as their eyes wondered deeper into the horizon.
A though quickly came through Lily's mind and she could not help but ask, "you don't go fishing with your father lately, do you?" Chris looked at Lily and suddenly hesitated for a while before he could give an answer.
"Yes I don't, there... there had been an incident and I started getting seasick so I don't sail with him anymore. We all decided it was better I stay off the water because it seems that if I'm in it for long I get seasick," Chris fumbled throughout his response.
"Ohh I see, I'm sorry to hear that, I guess this place still found a way to bully you," Lily mocked at Chris who quickly realized and chuckled. "Yes it did," Chris responded in a more solemn way as if he meant something totally different.
Lily was keen enough and of course she did not fail to notice that the manner in Chris responded to her was rather off. She had a feeling that him not fishing with his father anymore was because of a different reason.
She was not sure if it was something he was ready to talk about just yet, but nevertheless, she suspected that it was definitely something. Perhaps Chris had a disagreement with his father or perhaps he decided that fishing was not his thing anymore, Lily was not sure what it was but she was sure that there was something.
Chris continued walking alongside Lily and he got quiet for a moment as he seemed to be deep in thoughts. He recalled what actually happened and the actual reason for him to stay out of the fishing boats.
He recalled the night that they found Lily by the shore. What he remembered about that night were a few moments before they sailed back ashore. There was a feeling he had when he looked further into the ocean as he was on that boat.
The feeling of something calling out to him and how he felt a strong connection with the ocean was something he could not easily forget. He remembered some sort of chill as he looked deep into the huge waves that were about to knock over their boat.
He could not wrap his head around the fact that he had connected with the ocean and in some way was able able to control the currents and stop the huge waves wich happened in a very unnatural way.
Victor, Christopher's father had noticed this and later on spoke to his wife about it. The fear in his eyes as he spoke was so clear that Christopher's mother too came to an agreement with Victor that Chris was not to go fishing again.
They feared that whatever happened might repeat itself and their son would not be safe anymore. Chris and his family had been keeping this as a secret since that night and they were willing to guard it with their lives.
Chris's ability proved to have very strong magic in it and they were not yet sure what it could do at it's full potential. For this case, they wanted to protect Chris from the magic in him that he knew nothing about before it fully manifested in the wrong place.