Jal main Kahin (Somewhere in the Sea)

Chapter 20

The road was dark lit up by the headlights of the cars passing by. They reached the coastal highway in about an hour and headed towards the city. It was the night of the full moon and the light shone brightly over the sea. Shehzad fell asleep in the car and Nadia was having fun taking his pictures.

Suddenly the car got bumpy and began to slow down. The driver slowed down and drove it to the edge of the road. They had a flat tyre. "Aww man!", groaned Zaid and Nadia. "Now, now there's no need to worry. We have a spare tyre in the trunk. It'll just take a while and then we'll be on our way in no time", reassured the driver. They all got out of the car and looked around. The cold sea breeze felt heavenly against their faces. They were standing at the edge of the road overlooking the sea and its majestic beauty.

"Hey, isn't it the night when the corals will release their eggs?", asked Nadia. "Ah! I wanted to see that!", groaned Zaid as he completely forgot about the corals breeding season. "We're not allowed to dive at night. The department hasn't given us permission yet", replied the professor. "And besides, none of you are professional divers yet so until you guys have your diving certifications, nobody is getting in the sea unsupervised. Especially you Zaid!". "Fine!", he pouted. He looked out the window and gazed at the sea. "I wonder what's going on down there? I sure wish I could have seen it".

Down in the sea, Marjan was hidden beneath the rock formation. She was devastated beyond belief. Her sister was in the hands of those sirens and now they have the Power of the Seas. She clutched at her own necklace and wailed loudly. "It's all my fault. I should have looked around more. I should have searched more. I shouldn't have gotten distracted.. from that human". Her necklace glowed slightly. She looked at it and it then shone a beam of light out. The light was directed outside. She swam outside and saw that it was pointed to the shore. While she was thinking about this, she heard a distant scream, "There she is!".

She turned around and saw that the sirens were approaching her. She looked at them in fear and began to swim away. "Not this time!", shouted Tempus and they all threw bewitched ropes at her which entangled her entire body. She dropped down on her face on the rock formation. The sirens cheered in excitement. "Yay! We caught the princess! We caught the princess!". "Silence!", Tempus shouted and they all went quiet. She swam over to Marjan, turned her over and looked her dead in the eye. Like Roohar, Tempus also had an intimidating aura. She was large, muscular and very violent. She smiled and bore her sharp teeth. "So you think you can just run away from us? Oh no! We have plans for you dear. Lots and lots of plans. And we'll make sure that you suffer just like your pretty sister". She laughed menacingly and motioned two sirens to come forward. They swam forward and lifted Marjan up and began to swim away. Marjan didn't know what to do. She had been caught and there's nothing to do now. "Help", she pleaded in her heart. Somebody please!

Then all of the sudden, as if out of magic, the waters around them begin to swirl around. Whirlpools began to appear and surrounded the party. The sirens looked around confused and began to hit around with their spears but no avail. Marjan looked and saw that her necklace was glowing and causing the whirlpools to attack the sirens. She seized the opportunity to push herself in the range of the siren's spears. In one swift motion, she freed herself from her ropes and swam away swiftly. The sirens were too busy to notice the absence of Marjan as they were caught in the whirlpools which carried them away. Tempus however escaped and began to chase her. "You won't give away from me so easily Princess!", she shouted. Her face was filled with rage and she wanted nothing more but to capture Marjan. She was closing in on her and Marjan was desperately trying to escape her.

Her necklace was pointing out a beam of light again and it was pointed to the shore. When Tempus was almost on her tail, the necklace glowed brightly with the intensity of a sun and engulfed Marjan in it. "Ahh!", Tempus fell back due to the blinding light while Marjan swam further. She could feel that she was beginning to change. Her hands were losing the webbing between the fingers and have become slender. Her tail was being split in half and were working separately and it was getting difficult for her to breath as her gills were disappearing. There was no where else to go but the shore so she swam and swam with her dysmorphic body and got near to the surface. She closed her eyes and with every ounce of energy she had left, she swam up to the surface.

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. It was all so quiet and peaceful up here. The moon was shining brightly and she looked around. She was near the edge of the sea. She looked at herself and saw that she now has arms like humans and legs just like humans. Does that mean.." she gasped and felt her face. It didn't feel like her face. She has a big nose now and her gills have disappeared. Paddling quietly and desperately, she began to swim towards the shore. She was drained and mustering up her last amount of energy to get to the edge.

Over on the road, the driver had almost finished changing the tyre. Zaid looked at the sea and was lost in thoughts when he saw a glow in the sea. He thought he had just imagined something but it was really there. He looked over to Nadia but she was busy on her phone. In a few minutes, the tyre was changed and they were ready to go. Just as they were about to leave, Zaid saw something on the shore. Something was walking up to the shore and then fell down. "There's someone down there!", shouted Zaid and sprinted down. He didn't know why he was so eager in saving that person yet he was. Nadia and JB followed him despite shouting in protest. They got there and saw that it was a girl completely drenched and unconscious. She was wearing a white dress and looked as though she had drowned and was desperately trying to escape. Zaid tapped on her shoulders and tried to wake her up, "Are you okay?".

Marjan opened her eyes slightly and saw to her amazement, the same human she had seen in the reef. She looked at him and then fainted. "She doesn't look good. We need to take her to the hospital", JB said and they both nodded in unison. Nadia wrapped her in her shawl and they all went back to the car and drove away.

To be continued...

Thanks to everyone who made it this far. I'll be back later this year to continue the story