Off The Coasts Of Ireland (Septiplier)

~ Chapter 21 ~

Streetlights flew past us swiftly, casting beams of harsh light to flicker through the windows and illuminate the dark car's interior with a bright yellow glow. Mark drove quickly through the night, only the looming light posts brightened the darkened roads as we rode past open spans of flat farm lands with sparse trees and shrubs. I gazed admiringly out through a small windows in the back of the car to see that the sun was just barely peaking above the horizon, submerged in blackened clouds and swirls of early morning fog. I couldn't stop myself from looking at the land as we zoomed past, it was all so new to me...

Sam calmly bustled close to my stomach as he copied me and gazed with fascination outside. "Wow... I've never seen the world like this before!" My mouth blurted out in amazement before I had time to think. My eyes were so wide that they felt to be as big as the lowering moon in the shadowed sky. The trees, the flowing velvet grass, roads... I never thought I would be able to ever see any of this! "What do you mean Jack?" Signe's puzzled tone broke me from my longing daze. I snapped back my head to her, I hesitantly stammered as I scratched the back of my neck in embarrassment. "Well, it's just that... All I've ever known was just a little rocky coastline and the inside of a laboratory." I heaved sadly as I returned my gaze back to the flashing scenery.

I heard the water in Signe's tank slosh sluggishly as I realized she adjusted herself closer to me and leaned her body closer to the window. We both gazed outside with solemn expressions although, her eyes instead of being full of interest like mine, were dull and blank. "I've seen land a couple times but only in the distances though. Ever since the accident in the Atlantic Ocean, all the Merrow have kept far away from the shorelines. We always have to keep a special watch on the young ones back home, we can't risk humans trying to set out for us." Signe explained as she kept her eyes glued to the streaming landscape. I glanced reluctantly over to her and gulped, her expressionless face told me she was recalling the day she fled from her home mentally. I felt the fluttering feeling of excitement ebb away from me as my heart teared painfully.

This whole trip is because I just couldn't stay away from humans when I was little... I wouldn't have been alone for over twenty years if I didn't, Signe wouldn't be in pain if I didn't, Mark wouldn't be having to drag us there if I didn't. Everything's my fault... I found myself suddenly looking for words to say to Signe, something to cheer her up. After all, I'm the one who caused all this mess in the first place and caused my own suffering.

"And we already have set out for you..." Mark deeply sighed, overhearing the conversation in front of us. "Right when people assumed they saw a mermaid in the sea over in Belfast, scientists just pounced on the opportunity to be able to study Signe and they started searching for you like a hawk..." Mark kept looking forward as a depressed heave escaped him. "Well, I just hope when I get back their that everyone's ok and the scientists didn't find the rest of us..." Signe curled her arms around her tail and hugged it closely to her chest.

"Oh they're fine, if any of them did find a Merrow, I would've gotten a phone call and heard about it by now. No, everything's ok Signe." Mark turned his head slightly behind him and smiled between the seats. Signe sighed with relief as she rose her gaze up to meet his, her eyes were filled with reassurance as her shoulders eased with sudden relaxation. "I'm glad to hear that, I would hate to cause even more stress on the Merrow... We used to feel so much more alive and free to live when we were back near Galway. We would sing, play beautiful music, comb our hair and lure harmless humans into the sea as we pleased on the coasts. It was so peaceful then..." She turned her head as she lowered her clouded gaze and closed her eyes, remembering all her sufferable memories as a stifle sigh raked through her.

I brutally felt my heart shatter into tiny, depressingly, aching pieces. My chest crippled with sorrow as I felt the dark depths of my mind shadow my thoughts and haunted me with negative implications.