Mermaids

Chapter 1

The fishing trip had been more of a whim than an actual planned event. It had been a General Geography lesson, and Mr. Hodges had mentioned in passing his memories of fishing by the sea as a young lad. His students had pounced on it faster than a ferret down a rabbit's hole. The discussion had then grown and escalated until the students had churned out an enthusiastic plea for spear fishing at sea. No amount of pleading on Mr. Hodges' part had done any good and he had eventually given in and went to the school head for advice. Mr. Williams had been all too acquiescent and had agreed almost immediately.

Of course natural fear had initially sprung. Two centuries after the last known attack by mermaids were still not quite long enough to forget the terror that now seemed to haunt all of mankind's children.

Leena sat at the edge of the long bench in the speeding boat, taking advantage of the intentional space around her to let her hair tangle in the wind. The Loreley was driven by the school's own dock captain, Captain Newman, and his first-mate Pike, both of whom had looked excited at the request to drive the some twenty students out to the sea. Leena had mirrored their wide grins; the call to the sea was strong in water-lovers.

She closed her eyes, listening in bliss to the whistling wind and rush of waves crashing against the boat. Her mother and grandmother had both told her that they all came from the sea, that the sea was their true home. For someone who was part selkie, ignoring it would work less than ignoring the proverbial pink elephant.

Gradually the boat slowed and Mr. Hodges and Mr. Brown, the school's swimming coach, stood.

"Alright, everyone. Let's lay down the ground rules once again, shall we?" Mr. Brown began repeating the list of rules that he had already gone over with them several times before they started out on the journey.

Leena half-listened, more focused on the surrounding water and the snorkel and goggle set in her hands. Not that she really needed either apparatus; the image of normality tended to lure off unknowing classmates. Long minutes later, her fellow classmates began to stand up, one by one. Mr. Hodges lowered the small ladder at one side of the boat. Mr. Brown was the first to enter the water, much to the relief of a few suddenly nervous students. He waved the hand carrying his fishing spear, and one by one the students followed him into the water. Mr. Hodges, who had politely but firmly refused to even enter the water, stayed on the deck and handed down fishing spears to each student once they were in the water.

"I wonder if we'll get to keep the fish for dinner later," mused Heather, one of the few older students like Leena in the class. Their school, Mowray Public, was one of many schools that had all but rid themselves of age barriers amongst the students.

"That's assuming we catch anything," scoffed Anna, her friend.

Leena's friend, Sam, turned to nudge Leena in the ribs with a bright pink snorkel tube. "Promise you'll share your fish with me?"

"Of course," said Leena with a smile. Though she had only ever fished in rivers and streams, she had no doubt about her fishing skills.

They waited until it was their turn to enter the water. Although Mr. Brown had mentioned the disadvantage of spear fishing in very large numbers, he had thought it safer for them if they remained in such a sizeable group.

Sam grinned up at Leena as she climbed slowly down the ladder. Already Mr. Brown and the other students had drifted a little away from the boat. Sam entered the water with a small plop and started after them.

Leena was about to join them when a small shiver in her spine made her pause. She lifted her head, staring at the empty surroundings. The sea breeze, strong and salty, had died to barely a whisper; the waves had become almost glass-like in their stillness.

"Leena?" Mr. Hodges' voice was a distant reminder of the trip.

She stared back down at the dark blue water, not five feet from the edge of the deck. Slowly, almost tentatively, Leena clambered down the ladder, her snorkel dropped forgotten on the wooden boat floor. The water lapped up to her thighs, brushing the ends of the short body swimsuit she wore. She swivelled around, hooking her feet onto the metal rungs. Holding firmly onto the ladder, she lowered her head into the water.

At first she heard nothing save the nearby splashing of her classmates and the deep silence of the blue water. Then, faintly, a chorus of high-pitched singing rang into her ears.

Leena's blood froze and she broke the surface of the water.

"Get out of the water!" she screamed.

Her classmates paused in their fishing lesson, turning to stare at her in confusion. Sam, being the one who knew Leena the best, was the first to pale. She immediately started swimming back to the boat.

Mr. Brown surfaced from a quick dive some metres away from the other students. "What's going o-?"

He stopped, gurgled and then fell face forward in the water. A bone white spear was embedded deep into his back.

It drove the students into frenzied action, screaming and kicking their way past each other and back to the boat. Leena, having already pulled herself back to the deck, reached down to heave Sam up. They and Mr. Hodges all leant down to pull the other students up. There was an audible high-pitched wailing in the air now, and they watched in horror as more spears flew from the water, followed by eerie black eyes framed in gray skin as the mermaids drew closer. Several of the students collapsed in the water, their bodies stopped by the impact of razor-sharp spears.

Captain Newman joined them, a deadly harpoon in one hand while he used the other to drag students onboard. "Pike! Gear the boat!"

"Aye, Cap!" The first-mate dove into the driver's alcove, all too happy to be further away from the water.

A few mermaids had crept up from the other side of the boat. A spear lodged itself in the boat side not inches from Leena who jumped at the impact. Captain Newman whirled around and with a loud battle cry he fired his harpoon. It struck the mermaid in the shoulder. Newman pulled viciously and the harpoon ripped out of it's flesh. Bluish-black blood spurted out and the mermaid fell back under the water.

Almost every still living student was on board, some still screaming at the sight of the floating bodies of classmates, others ducking down to the deck and covering their heads, trying to block everything out. A few brave souls had grabbed makeshift weapons and joined the fray of beating off the attacking mermaids.

A hand lurched out from the water just as Leena and Sam were trying to heave a wounded classmate onboard. It grabbed Sam and pulled. She cried out and grabbed onto the boat, fighting its hold as it tried to pull her into the water. The mermaid reared up suddenly, its head and half its torso breaking out of the water, its slender and speckled torso pronouncing it female. Large inhuman eyes glared fiercely at Sam as she reached for her with her other webbed hand. Finished with her classmate, Leena grabbed the nearest weapon she could see-the lid of a cooler box-and whacked it around the mermaid's face. She released Sam and fell back into the water, shrieking in pain and fury.

"Now, Pike!" Captain Newman had streaks of dark blood coating his once pristine white uniform, his tanned arms bulging as he used the harpoon to beat back more mermaids from the side of the boat. "Full throttle!"

"Aye, sir!"

The engine revved, spluttered and then flew into action. The Loreley sped away, dislodging the hands of the last few mermaids still clinging on. Leena slumped down onto the deck beside a trembling Sam. Wordlessly Leena wrapped her arms around her. Around them, their classmates' hysteria gradually died down. By the time the dock was back in view, the shock had settled in. The trip had started out as an excited voyage but had ended in a grisly nightmare.