The Mermaid Spell

Mysterious Messages

Yay!  Mermaid Spell has a new cover!  Tell me what you think of it so I can change it if you prefer theother one, or if you have a better one, go ahead and post it in the comments.  Oh, and sorry for the delay of uploads, I sort of had a little bit of writer's block for this chapter.

- AspiringAuthor x

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I swam for the rest of the day, and was sure I was in the same place I had first met Adrian by nightfall.  The stars twinkled and seemed to dance on the water and the pale moon shone down brightly on my face. 

"Adrian!!!"  I yelled into the distance, but there was no response.  I pulled myself up onto a rock and sat there for at least an hour.  It didn't make sense though, he always seemed to show up when I needed him, like he could sense my feelings.  He probably could.

Morning came, and I was laying on the rock, my back facing to the sky and my eyes wide open.

"Adrian..."  I cried out again, but there was once again, no response.

"Your friend's gone."  I heard someone say and shot around to see a girl wading in the water.  She didn't have fins, but there were patches of scales along her legs and lower torso.

"Are you a mermaid?"  I asked.  She shrugged.

"Sort of.  I'm half of one that is.  My dad's a sailor, my mom's a mermaid."  She hoisted herself up onto the rock with me.  "I'm quite jealous of your tail.  It's very elegant."  I gazed down at it then back at the girl.

"Oh, I'm Tristen,"  the girl offered a hand and I shook it without hesitation.  "And about your friend; he went to down there."  She pointed her narrow finger towards the water.  I looked down and noticed that my tail was morphing back to legs.  Tristen looked as well as my aqua scales turned into swin and my tail eventually split into two slender legs.

"Ah, I see now."  Tristen touched my legs and quickly pulled away.  "Halfling.  Just like me."

"Yep."  I lied with a weak smile. 

"Now what's your name?  I told you mine..."  Tristen folded her arms with a fake scowl to add effect.

"Elly.  It's nothing really special."  I rubbed the back of my arm nervously.

"Aww, it's a beautiful name.  Much better than Tristen, I was named after my dad's shipmate for crying out loud."  Tristen looked back at the shore then repreated my name in a hushed whisper.

"Hey, Tristen, do you know where my 'friend' is exactly?"  I asked.  Tristen raised her eyebrow.

"No.  I can do a little research if you want.  My mom is around here somewherre."  Tristen looked in all directions before diving back into the water.  I figured we would meet back here again.

I swam back home to find my mom in the kitchen with my dad.  They were drinking coffee and yawning at the same time.

"I see you're home now."  My dad took a sip of his dark roast.  "Mrs. Fields went back to New York to see if he was there."  He told me and placed his coffee mug down on the counter.

"Yes, and we've been confronted by reporters all morning."  My mom added.  I ignored them and slipped upstairs and into my bedroom.  I slumped down on my bed, and felt the sharp edges of a shell rub against my cheek.  I picked it up and stared at it for a moment.  It was a vibrant pink and glossy on the pearly white inside.  I noticed there was some kind of small script writing on the inside and squinted to read.

Things are never what they seem...

I wondered what it meant.  Maybe someone knew my little secret, or there was something I didn't know...

"Elly."

"What!?"  I glanced up to see my sister, Rachael, who had startled me.

"Mom said to come downstairs," she said quickly before rushing away.  I slipped the shell away in my shorts' pocket and found my whole family sitting patiently in the living room for me.  Everyone looked like they had been crying. 

"Whats's going on?"  I asked.  My mom gripped my dad's arm tightly before taking a deep breath and standing up before me.

"Mrs. Fields called."  She began.

"Did they find Ian?"  I smile began to form on my lips but disappeared when my mom shook her head with a sorrow expression.

"I'm sorry Elly."  She began to cry.  My dad patted her shoulder.

"Sorry about what!?"

"Ian."

"What about him!"  i was completely puzzed and didn't understand what was happening.  What was happening?  Where was Ian?  So many questions plagued my mind.

"Mom!  What happened to Ian!"  I yelled. 

My dad sighed.  " She deserves to know, hun..."  My mother shook her  head but eventually gave up and pulled my into a full fledged hug.

"They....They found his body!"  My mom bellowed before bursting into tears.