Mermaid in a Bottle

Chapter 19- Nathan and MerLissa

So i'm starting with the humans again, if you haven't noticed. I need to bring them out more so you understand how they fall into this story.

This chapter is all about Nathan and his "mark" ;)

ok thanx enjoy

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(Nathan's P.O.V.)

I woke up with sweaty palms. I had had another dream about her. Was Aubrey dreaming the same thing? Could she see the mergirl in her dreams too?

Sand blew in my eyes. I had almost forgot that we decided it would be best to camp out by the beach so our marks wouldn't burn. Of course Aubrey had brought Jack so it wouldn't be awkward. I heard they were together. I told her it would be best to also camp with him so he didn't get any ideas.

I don't think Jack liked me that much. I mean he was okay with me, until he heard that I had started hanging out with Aubrey a lot. But it's not  like i had a choice. That girl kept telling us to stay together.

Every night I would have dreams about mermaids. No matter how many times I shook it out of my head or woke up, the dreams would pick up right where they left off. In my dreams, I would always see a certain mergirl that caught my eye. She had a blue tail and would always hang out with some guy with a purple tail. I hope they weren't together. I know it sounded strange, but I wanted to meet her, get to know her. The more dreams I had about her, the more anxious I got to know her name. Was it pretty? How many syllables did it have? Was the name common?

I got out of my sleeping bag and sat by the fire, warming myself. Trying to get the beautiful mergil out of my head, I stupidly messed with the flames. They caught onto the shoulder of my shirt and I yelled.

"Oh my god!"

The flames licked at the fabric like it was nothing. They were eating away at it so rapidly, I thought it would be best to throw sand on it for some reason. It didn't work. I was about to yell when all of a sudden the fire touched my skin. It was immediately extinguished. I gazed at my skin in shock. There was a black burn right through the shoulder where the fire had been, showing me it was real. I pinched myself, just in case. It was real. Everything that had happened was real!

I threw my shirt off and looked at the mark. It was growing. The mermaid tail was complete and now there were vines flowing down the front of my arm. The green was a little darker than before. I had never asked for this.

"Nathan? Are you ok?" Aubrey popped her head out of her sleeping bag, her voice waking up Jack as well.

I automatically covered up my arm. "It's nothing," I said, smiling sheepishly. I would tell her when Jack was gone. But then again, what if he never left?

I made eye contact with her and showed her what was wrong by using my eyes. I looked at her and kept looking down at my arm. Aubrey almost gasped.

"It's nothing Jack." She told him. "Just go back to sleep."

He nodded because he was still half asleep and slumped back into his sleeping bag. Aubrey and I quietly made our way through the sand and away from the ocean. Once we were a safe distance from any people, I uncovered my mark so Aubrey could take a good look at it. She gasped.

"It's moving!"

I took a look at it. Sure enough, the green vines were coiling around towards the back of my arm as well. I shook my head.

"Nobody can see this." I said.

"But how are you going to cover this up? It's too big! Mine's not even like that." She pointed towards her own mark. It was still very small. The vines had only made it to her elbow on one side. And of course, her mark was white. Why was my mark progressing faster than hers?