Insula Somnium, Isle of Dreams.

Chapter Nine

I waited right to right where she told me to to meet her, at the beach. I felt quite under-prepared for this date, since I had no change of clothes. Turns out, since they can't bear children and there aren't any male mermaids anyway, there are no other male clothes, so I'm stuck with my same dirty clothes. The only real difference between what I have been wearing and now is the golden locket that now hangs around my neck. 

I saw her coming when she was quite awhile away. She looked even more beautiful than ever. Raidant, even.She was in another dress of the medieval type, a dazzling violet one. She had small golden stones embroided into the bodice, and her skirt flowed all around her. She looked like a magestic queen. Her clear blue eyes found mine, and she shot me a small smile. When she was close to Me, I went in for a hug she let out a yelp. 

"You smell so tasty!" She exclaimed. Seeing the look I gave her, she mumbled apologies. 

"Sorry, I'm not used to being around humans for long. And I haven't eaten in a week." 

"What happened last week?" I said, but then it clicked.  

You guys crashed my ship? Are there any survivors?" I said. A terrible dread settled in my stomach. My parents, all those nice people, my friends, did any of them make it? She paused,

"There was one survivor, you. I saved you alone."  

"How could you?" I shout at her, "they all had lives, families, everything. And you murdered all of them for what?" 

"For food. For survival. Mermaids can't eat anything else, we've tried. Only human flesh will stay down. Your sister is dying because she thinks the same way as you. What about all the animals you humans eat? They all had their loved ones, but you kill and eat them without s second thought!" 

"Its not the same," I state.

"It is. It's exactly the same."

"What you do is cannibalism." I pressed further.

"Ive told you this many times Daniel, we're not human." She stormed off, and I wanted to shout to her, but I just couldn't.

I felt the locket heavy around my neck, and I remembered the real reason Genevieve wanted to talk to me in the first place. It gave me the courage to shout her.

"Genevieve!" I called out, running to catch her. She was storming along the beach.

"What," She said.

"The locket, what does it do?"

"I don't know, you'll have to wear it. We'll check on you every week." She told me, "Now I did not like what you were telling me, and I feel that it was not just."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I think it's not right." I said.

"Well what else can we do Daniel? There's nothing else! We've tried everything, chicken, rabbit, snake, rat; human is the only thing we can digest." There was an uncomfortable silence drawn out. I couldn't think of anything else to beat what she said. Finally, she broke the silence,

"And I thought you might be different than the rest of the humans."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought you'd be more understanding, more willing to accept what we are. But you're just like the rest of them."  She stormed away, and I ran up to catch her.

"I'm not like the rest of them." I said.

"You are." She didn't look at me, but continued walking. The sudden thought of her getting mad at me, of losing her, hit me like a rock. I barely knew her, but I had already fallen for her.

"I'll prove to you. You know what? It doesn't matter anymore. I swear, I'm perfectly fine with it." She stopped and turned to me, her blue eyes gleaming with anger.

"How? How can you go from being disgusted by us, to being okay with us?"

"Like this," I said. I pulled her close to me, and pressed my lips against hers. This kiss was like nothing I've ever felt in my life. It sent a fire running through me, a spark of energy. I opened my eyes, and found we were surrounded in sparkling sand, encapsulating us with it's glow. Suddenly, Genevieve pulled away, and the sand all fell down.

Her face was filled with fear, but mixed with something else, desire. She covered her mouth with both her hands, and I saw that her perfect fingers were transformed into big, bulging masses of green skin, and her nails were black and pointy.

"What's happening?" I asked, moving towards her. She moved away from me. She shook her head. She ran off, straight into the water, and dove in. Her head never popped up. I waited for her foolishly to come back, but after an hour, I decided to go back to my makeshift home.