I Saw You In The Water [Joshler]

Twenty Five 🐚

Tyler woke up without the familiar warmth by his side. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked around the room looking for Josh. His back hurt a little from sleeping on the sofa instead of his soft bed. The boy just wanted to go into his room and curl up under the blanket but hunger forced him out of the bed. By the freshly washed dishes in the sink, Tyler knew that Josh had already eaten. He grabbed the half-eaten apple sitting on the kitchen counter and examined the pointy teeth marks before taking a bite not caring about the germs because if he could kiss Josh than he sure could eat the apple with traces of Josh's saliva on it. He chewed the fruit slowly, his hunger disappeared before he could even get to the food and it annoyed the boy. It was the worst kind of feeling, almost like a disappearing sneeze. 

The ocean had calmed down a bit, Tyler could still see the waves on the horizon rising high. On mornings like these Tyler would usually go to the beach to see what the waves had washed up after the storm but now it was the least of his desires. The boy feared what he might find on that beach. As he looked at the ocean he noticed a familiar head of blue hair walk past the window. Tyler threw the apple into the trash bin and quickly got dressed. He caught up to Josh who was heading for the ocean, carrying oars on his broad shoulders. Tyler's shirt on him was a little bit too tight. Josh looked uncomfortable. 

"Where are you going?" Tyler half-jogged after Josh

The boy was wondering how the man could carry both of those oars so easily when he had trouble with just one. Josh turned around almost smacking Tyler with the oars across the face. Luckily, the boy quickly crouched dodging the incoming threat. 

"To my momma." Josh dais dryly and turned back to the ocean

This time Tyler wasn't as quick to duck and got smacked on the back of his head. Josh muttered a quiet "sorry" as he walked past. Tyler sat breathless on the sand, he felt the dampness against his fingers, everything was becoming dizzy. He couldn't believe that Josh just cracked his skull open and walked off with a casual sorry. He didn't know if he had the right to be mad after what he did to him. The boy guessed that it was revenge, he never thought about Josh as the one who held grudges. 

He finally got up and caught up with Josh who was struggling with the wooden boat. Tyler wanted to help Josh flipping the boat over but Josh lifted the thing by himself and placed it in the water with a light huff. Tyler's mouth cut slack as Josh basically threw the boat into the water like it was some sort of light-weighted plank. Josh hopped in, Tyler followed after him. The man had determination written all over his place. Tyler wanted to ask Josh if he should get his necklace back but was afraid of what Josh might do to him when he found out that Tyler actually did hide it. Josh could've ripped Tyler apart if he wanted, and his teeth were sharp. Tyler remembered what the man did to the seal. Its neck was crushed and broken, Tyler was as fragile as a baby seal. 

The waves rocked the little wooden boat back and forth. Tyler sat with his hands on his lap, staring into the dark water. He remembered that he doesn't have his life vest on and if the boat flipped he would be so screwed because the boy didn't think that Josh would've given a shit if Tyler started drowning judging by the way how the man smacked him over the head with the oars half an hour ago.

Tyler looked at the shore that was slowly disappearing. Josh let out a quiet huff every time his shoulders rolled, the boat rocked back and forth making Tyler nauseous.

"Do you know where you're going?" Tyler asked, the light splashing of the water drowned out his words

They were in such an open area yet Tyler's words were muffled. Josh just shrugged and continued with his task. He decided to take the tight shirt off providing Tyler with a better view that the ocean

"Momma will come to us. "

"Hm..." Tyler hummed "Aren't you afraid?"

Josh stopped oaring(?) and looked over to Tyler who sat with his hands neatly on his lap. He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it again. His facial expression shifted as he sensed the movement in the water. His head snapped to the left, the ocean surface was ripping, the ripping was coming their way slowly. Tyler backed away to the edge of the boat but then remembered that he just made the mermaids job easier by leaning over the edge. He tried to sit normally and stop panicking. 

Josh squinted his eyes, Tyler saw even more ripples in the water. They were slowly surrounding the boat. Tyler started shaking, he gripped the edge of his boat as he felt it rock harder. He felt his mind go black for a second, the pain in the back of his head didn't disappear, Tyler just forgot about it but now with all that rapid heart beating the pain was coming back strong. He felt his warm blood at the back of his head run down the nape of his neck. Tyler placed a hand over his wound, the redness seeped through his fingertips. 

As the ripples became more frequent, Tyler started seeing glimpses of scales in the water. The boy gasped when a creature emerged from water, hissing and showing its pointy teeth. Josh hissed back making the mermaid dive back. Slowly, the ripples turned into the heads of the mermaids as a whole bunch of them showed up from under the water. They were incredibly beautiful but more scary than gorgeous. Tyler found their unrealistic beauty creepy. They weren't colourful as Josh. Mostly grey, dark green or blue. They all were female, although, Tyler saw some males at the back. They weren't as colourful as Josh's either. Josh hissed at everyone who dared to get too close to Tyler. He did care about the boy. Tyler squeaked feeling someone's slimy hand on his upper arm.

Josh darted forward making the boat rock violently. Josh pried the hand off of the boy and made a low growling noise. The mermaid flashed him a smirk before slowly backing away. The silence that fell over them was making Tyler anxious. Josh threw his arm around Tyler protectively, gritting his teeth at everyone who still wanted to mess with the human in the boat. Tyler watched wide-eyed as the mermaids formed a neat circle around them leaving a gap. The boy's breath got caught in his throat as he watched a head of raven black hair emerged from the water slowly. A white coral crown sat on top of the mermaid's head. The head of hair finally showed it's face, her red eyes went well with her pale, almost ashen skin. The boy felt Josh's grip on him tighten. 

The mermaid was ghastly, her creepy perfect face showed no emotion. Tyler stared at the creature speechless, he was visibly shaking, they boy had never seen so many mermaids in one place. The dark-haired queen moved closer making Tyler's heart thump even harder. Her black long hair draped over part of her face making her look even more intimidating. 

"Momma..." Josh started, his voice slightly shaky

"Silence. " Tyler heard the mermaid's voice for the first time

It was gravely yet smooth, with a chiming undertone that made Tyler's insides twist out of fear two times. 

The mermaid shifted her penetrating gaze to Tyler who was clutching at Josh's bare chest with his trembling hands.

"You have..." the mermaid moved closer "Something of mine. "

Tyler gulped audibly seeing the creatures thin fingers with long pointy nails curl around the edge of the boat as the mermaid came even closer. 

"I have..." The mermaid spoke darkly "Something of yours...."

Silence fell on them again. Tyler saw something being carried by the mermaids. His eyes widened and filled with tears. The queen looked at the person being held by the mermaids. She turned back to Tyler and looked him in the eye with a sly smirk on her face.

"Let's trade. "