Creatures in Depth | ❚❚

Chapter Eight: Sweet Lies

The wind danced with waves as the sky wore a matching blue with the sea. Small waves broke on the pebbled shores. My hair was blown back, whipping at my face in tune with the sea.

Laughter. Someone was laughing. I cocked my head to the side to see Sophia playing a goose chase with the waves as they thundered behind her, causing her to topple Koo over a conch shell as the sea enveloped her in its salty blanket.

"Man, that's going to sting." I heard April's voice as she rushed towards Sophia.

"How long are you going to keep that up?" I heard Jasper's voice, causing me to whip my head to the side to see him looking at Daine. My eyes fell to her hands, which were tracing quick but surprisingly beautiful drawings in the sea.

I felt my gaze soften as I watched the serene expression on Diane's face. She has always loved drawing; that was what Daine aspired to be before her life was snatched away against her will.

A Fallen Artist. My gaze fell on Jasper. A Fallen Dress Maker. It often surprises me how human all of them are; they are people who had goals and dreams all shattered away.

Daine kept on drawing; her face held an elated feeling: "It feels like home." Daine had replied when I had asked her. "I never felt like letting go of the one thing that made me feel at home; it is peaceful."

"If you get a chance one day, after we've finally gotten rid of those troublesome mites and we've lived to see those ages, What'll you do?"

"I want to live in a home again. Together with all of you, if possible. I want to feel safe." Daine gazed above the sky as if trying to touch the clouds. "That looks like a home."

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Pain. It was the first to greet me, flaring up through my veins as I winced and groaned indelibly. Whacking at me from inside as if trying to claw its way out, I even feared my skin might get ripped apart.

My bones ached, my chest was heavy, and my legs seemed to be in the dimmest mood of them all, cursing me with pain. My left arm was completely numbed to the point that I would have even thought it was not there at all had I not felt it weighing down on my stomach as it rested there.

My eyes fluttered open, immediately squinting at the sun. The sun was low in the sky, and the air was warm. My body, apart from the terrible pain and rip it had been put through, felt surprisingly warm as it basked in the sun's warmth.

My view wheeled to the side, alerting me to the presence of a young man who sat beside me. His body was mostly blackened by the beam of light behind him.

The way the man sat reminded me of Diane and Sophia. In a way, his crouching position meekly mimicked them, or maybe my mind was tying knots on me, or maybe I was only a thread away from losing to my insanity.

Grief began to build up in my chest again. I swallowed hard, and bitter tears began to layer my eyes as my chest swelled in despair. I began to cradle myself into a fetal position, aware of the eyes that were watching, but I didn't care. At least, not now.

Both times this had happened, I was the one who stood right beside her, yet I didn't do anything. I could have saved Sophia; she was within my clutch, and I was trained. I had to better myself so that I could protect the ones I care about.

It was not enough. The pain began to grip me. My airways suddenly felt overly congested; I struggled to breathe, and each heave for breath felt like a taunt at Sophia.

I should have been the one. Sophia was right beside me when she died. I had sent Daine to die. She was beside me too. I was foolish; had Daine even been successful in the capture of that siren, what was she to do? We were not fully armed. I and Jasper were feet apart from her, and the sirens were faster than us due to their monstrous nature.