These Times of Shadows [on hold]

5

Amelie recovers from her shock quickly.  Swimming after Ridger, she soon realizes she doesn’t like water as much as she thought she did.  Her limbs are hard to maneuver and she moves much more slowly than she’s used to, like she’s fighting against something that’s pushing her back.

 She reaches the cave in minutes.  She hears Ridge’s enthusiastic voice from inside, and a woman’s soothing voice in return.  There is adoration in that second voice, and the tone immediately puts Amelie at ease.  This woman is soft, and though she’s comforting to be near, it worries Amelie.  The softer someone is, the harder they are to break.  In the vampire’s experience, the people who have things they care for are always the ones to bounce right back up after taking a hit.

 “I really don’t know who you’re talking about, Ridge.”

 Amelie pulls aside some of the seaweed and peeks inside.  Ridger is floating in front of who can only be her mother, her arms crossed.  The older mermaid has dark hair that matches her daughter’s, but her eyes and tail are a deep purple, such a dark violet that it could almost be mistaken as black.  Mera Sapers sees the movement and whips her head to face Amelie.  She narrows her eyes in suspicion.  

 Ridge follows her mother’s gaze.  “Here she is, mom!  Amelia, the soon-to-be-bride!” she exclaims, swimming over to grab Amelie’s arm and drag her into the cozy cave.  There’s no furniture.  She doesn’t really know what she expected.  There are a few coral sculptures, though Amelie isn’t sure what they’re for.  There are a lot of shells laying around, too.  Other than those things, nothing really catches her eye.  She wonders what it’s like to live here.  What do they do all day?

 “Amelia,” Mera repeats.  Her eyes are shrewd.  Amelie knows that she won’t be fooled easily; but that’s fine, because she’s not planning on fooling her.  She’s planning on using her.  It’s really not the same thing.

 “Hello, Mera.  So nice to see you again,” the vampire smiles.  Ridger gives her a strange look.

 “That was awfully formal for long-lost best friends,” the girl points out.  Mera examines Amelie for a moment, then turns to her daughter.

 “It’s just a shock, that’s all.  Go and play with Alix for a while.  I’d like to catch up with Amelia.”

 Ridger narrows her eyes for a moment, clearly speculating.  After a moment, though, she seems to decide that meeting up with her friend is much more fun than listening to some boring adult conversation.  She shrugs, waves, and heads out the - for lack of a better word - door.

 Mera turns towards Amelie slowly, folding her arms over her chest.  Her muscles are taut, and the suspicion has not dulled from her expression.  Now it’s mingled with anger.  

 “I don’t know who you are, or what you want.  But if you go anywhere near my daughter again, I will kill you.”

 Amelie just raises an eyebrow. “Bit of an overreaction, don’t you think?  I was very nice to Ridger.”

 “I don’t care.  You’re a vampire.  I’ve never felt it imperative for her to meet any of your kind.  In fact, I rather enjoyed your species’ absence from my life.”

 Amelie yawns. “Can we leave off with the melodramatics for a bit?  Surely you realize that I must have come for a reason.  And I must admit, this isn’t really a turf that I feel comfortable on.  The sooner I’m back to shore, the better.”

 Mera’s expression softens the slightest bit. “Who are you?  Really?” she wonders.

 Amelie peers at the mermaid intently, tilting her head to the side. “My name is Amelie.”