Mermaids

Missing Person

THE VILLAGE LOOKED GORGEOUS ON THE OUTSIDE. It was even more swimming down the winding streets. Mermaids and mermen bustled about, their tails every color imaginable.

I gestured to Ryan and we swam inside a little restaurant called 'Starfish'. I laughed out loud when I saw the inside. It looked exactly like Starbucks in the human world. There was some sort of driftwood flooring, a high ceiling and they served "dolphin-fios." I rolled my eyes. How lame is that! It was basically the above world, just underwater. If anything, civilization here appeared to be of the same intelligence of the land. It had never occurred to me that they'd have to same technology.

Ryan looked confused. "This looks like the hamburger place we went to." He whispered into my ear and we swam out. The village looked rustic, made out of almost glowing beach stone. It looked primitive on the outside, but very modern on the inside. I couldn't help but dream of the castle looming above us.

"Ryan, do you wanna barge into the castle?" I whispered, my eyes gleaming mischievously.

He rolled his eyes playfully. "We don't even know if its a castle. Could just be a big house." He shrugged.

I sighed and looked up. The stars glowed brightly, a couple miles up. Holy cow. Stars. I had to go home! My mom would ask questions and I'd be in trouble.

I turned around, but instead of meeting Ryan's, I locked eyes with a merman across the street. His tail was a deep, hollow, empty black. He looked about in his mid forties, and looked like he was causing trouble. But his scariest feature was probably his blood-red eyes.

A chill went down my back. I shuddered and told Ryan we had to go, now. I was seriously freaked out by then. I swam as fast as I could to the surface. Ugg. The shore was a couple miles away. I swam carelessly until I reached the shore, out of breath.

I dried off, then madly sprinted to our house. The lights were on, and I assumed it was ten o'clock. I opened the door and scooted inside. I thought that I'd be yelled at, but my adoptive mom was very forgiving, luckily.

When she saw me, she stood up and hugged me. "I'm so happy you're alright!" She exclaimed. Then she turned stern. "Why'd you ditch us? Do you know how worried we were? We raced home after we heard the news."

The last part wasn't about me. "What news?"

"Carly," my mom said. "She's missing."

I hardly slept that night. Restless, I got up to drink water like eight times an hour.

The morning dawned gloomily. As soon as the sun appeared and the birds sang I was out of the house. I ran down to Carly's house, but as expected, I was greeted by her parents. They shook their heads sadly and handed me a stack of 'lost' papers with Carly's picture on it. That's when it really hit: Carly was gone. I hugged her parents and wished them luck.

I passed a park bench on the gloomy way home and left the papers there. I just needed to go for a swim, maybe. Trying not to cry, I made my way back home.

"Can I go for a swim?"

"After yesterday when you left? I'm not sure that's a good idea." She nodded disapprovingly.

"Please?" I begged. "I just need to clear my head.

Eventually she pursed her lips and nodded. As soon as she did, I ran our the door.

"Your towel!" She screamed after me. I ignored her and dove into the water when I reached the shoreline. Paddling out, I eventually reached the cave's remains. Ryan wasn't there, so I tried the village. He was sitting on a rock in Starfish and drinking some sort of green juice. How was he drinking something in a cup underwater?

"Ryan, Ryan Ryan!" I screamed, nearly pushing him over when I reached him.

"Whoa." He looked startled. Oops. I blushed and looked down. Then I remembered why I was here.

"Carly is missing." I declared and he dropped his drink. It meandered up to the ceiling.

"Let's go find her!"

"Ryan, you can't. You can't go," I dropped my voice to a whisper, "up to the surface world."

When I said that, the whole place went quiet. How on earth did they hear that?

I grabbed Ryan's arm and we swam out.

"Your face looks warm..." He commented mildly. Was I blushing? Oh dear, I was turning into one of THOSE girls.

As we were swimming out, I accidentally bumped into a merperson that I didn't see. My blood ran cold, as if the person was evil.

I looked over.

"Carly?"

"Holly!" She exclaimed, as if nothing was wrong with this situation at all. My eyes trailed down to her black tail.

She noticed. "Nice, right? Of course it's not as pretty as your's." she glanced at my ruby tail, and Ryan's aquamarine.

"H-how did you get that t-thing?" Ryan asked next to me.

"I was swimming one day, and this random creepy guy with red eyes approached me and told me I looked sad. And he found out why and well, took my legs and then I could go underwater so I can join you guys!"

"Carly, that sounds really shady." Ryan disapproved, obviously scared and wondering why on earth she'd do such a thing.

"Why the heck would you do that!" I screamed melodramatically.

She looked down at an ugly brand on her arm and excused herself.

"Carly," I whispered. "What have you gotten yourself into?"

***

Ahh Carly.

Okay people. Dolphin-fios? What on earth.
Also, a big shout out here to autocorrect. Here are some the ways I have misspelled Ryan:

Ruan
Rtyan
Ryam
Ruhbwnksiagavnsnan
Ect..

So I'm pretty hyper today and I don't know why, sorry guys!

Oh and wow. Almost 300 reads! I can't believe it! Thanks so much!

I have about four chapters left:/ I partially don't want to end it, and partially do. Confusing haha.

Please vote, comment and fan!

Rae <3