Lie to Me: A Mermaid Tail

Chapter 3- Later You Will Pay

**A/N**

This short chapter takes place in the past, as a flashback.

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     "I'll be back in an hour, Mom!" I called over my shoulder, my hand on the gold doorknob of our rented beach house.

     "Don't be late, Ashlyn, your dinner will get cold!" she answered back. I saw her bending over a pot on the stove of spaghetti.

     "I promise, I'm just going for a walk," I answered, sighing. When will she realize that I am plenty old enough to walk around on my own? "I'm old enough."

     "You're eight, Ashlyn," said my mother, giggling as she stirred the sauce.

"And that is plenty old enough. I'll be back at seven." I turned the knob and quietly exited the building, shutting the door loudly behind me. I skipped without my shoes in nothing but my peace sign rhinestone bikini, feeling alive.

Ten minutes later, I was walking on the black sand beach. God, this beach is so pretty. This sand is so clean, so pure! I could feel it squish between my toes. I looked out over the turquoise ocean. I looked around the black sand beach. I had never seen a black sand beach before, and I admit, I was stunned. There was something so...different about it! Like there was almost something wrong with it. But nothing could be wrong with it; it was so amazing.  

     My gaze had been wandering when I saw it; a small row boat, oars and all. I scanned the beach for any sign of life. I didn't see any. I sprinted over to the rowboat, desperate to explore that aqua water. I pushed the boat with all my strength into the water, digging the heels of my feet into the sand and pushing with my back.

     The boat drifted into the water and I climbed in. I slowly began rowing to what I think was a small island.

     "Hey, kid, wait! Little girl!" A man was chasing after me. He had chocolate skin and graying hair. "You don't know what you're getting into!"

     "Is this your boat?" I called back.

     "No! I would never sail out there!"

     "Why," I grunted, "not?" I plowed the oars through the water.

     "You aren't safe!" He called.

     "I'm old enough," I answered. I turned away from him and continued rowing, hearing his frantic calls becoming quieter as I went farther towards the sea.

     I saw a small whirlpool, spinning, turning the aqua water black and white. As the boat spun near it, I tried to row away. It could not be done.

     It could not be done.

     The oar broke, and the boat drew nearer towards the whirlpool. I screamed. "I'm going to die!" I trilled, frightened. Black clouds swirled quickly overhead. Lightning flashed and thunder crackled. I was being dragged down, into the swirling mass of black and white water.

"Somebody help me!" I cried, my voice hoarse. There was no one here to hear me. "Please! Help!" My voice cracked and I could not speak. The front half of the boat broke as I cowered to the back, trying to stay above water. One second, I was trying to scream. The next, I was being pulled to my doom.

I could feel the water tornado swirling around me, twists of black and white water intertwining around me. I had no air in my lungs. I couldn't breathe. The tubes of black and white tightened around me, suffocating me. I could not move. Lightning flashed above the surface, and I heard the deafening roar of the thunder. Huge waves passed over my head, trying to pull me out of the vortex. But it could not be done.

It could not be done.

"Aah!" I let out a short, sharp scream as the lightning hit me. It did not hurt for long. The black and white changed to blue and green then back again. Then I could not see. My hair was a tangled mess, and the sea water seemed to be entering my body through my skin. Then the most excruciating pain I had ever felt attacked my body. My lungs closed up and I saw a pool of red liquid surround me. My blood; I was swimming in my blood, treading red water. It took me a second before I understood what was happening. The salt water was replacing my blood.

     The tightness on my lungs increased, testing my limits. My chest was about to burst. My legs squeezed together, uncomfortable and cramped. It was like they were being shoved together, locked in a small closet, forgotten. I tried to scream, tried to speak, but not even bubbles came out. Nothing. I had no air, and yet I was still living.

     And then the pain was gone.

     My lungs were released, my legs forgotten. My blood swirled around, but I was still breathing. I was living on salt water, breathing sea water, and my legs were combined into a scaly tail. Was I a mermaid? Could this really be happening? The pretend games my friends and I played during recess were true? Not pretend? Was I...magic? Magical? Fantasy? I'm a mermaid.

     The black and white water turned to blue, and my red blood swirled in a coil back into where my heart was. I was circulating blood again! I was released from the strangle, and I swam up towards the surface. It was a completely different feeling from swimming with legs. Every part of me worked so seamlessly; this was the way I was meant to be.

     My head broke the surface of the water, and I gasped in as much air as my lungs could hold. To my relief, I still could breathe air as well as water. I saw the wreckage of my boat floating. And in the distance was another boat.

     The man from the beach was in it, rowing towards me. I swam towards him until we were face to face and I was hanging off the side of his rowboat.

"Get in," he said quietly. I pulled myself up and flopped into the deck. He tossed me a towel. "Dry it off," he instructed, and I began to towel dry my shiny bronze tail.

He began rowing towards shore. There was a long silence. "I warned you," he said. "I warned you not to come."

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Foolish girl," he swore. "You have been cursed! And later, you will pay."

"Will I ever get my legs back?" I asked.

"When your tail dries," he answered calmly. "But this curse will never go away." We were nearing shore. I sat quietly until I felt immense heat, and then bronze glitter and golden mist. My legs were back, bathing suit bottom and all. The man helped me out of the boat, and I shakily tried to walk.

"Stay away from water," he said. "Or you will transform." I nodded. "You will pay," he added. I nodded again and tried to run off.

Ten minutes later, I collapsed into my kitchen.

"Ashlyn, where have you been? It's eight o clock! An hour late!"

"I'm sorry, I lost track of time," I mumbled, staring at the floor.

"Why are you all wet?"

"I went swimming a while ago."

"Are you hungry?" She asked, handing me a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs. I nodded, and took the plastic fork from her, sitting silently at the table and eating.

Later that night, I sat in my bed. The words of the man kept repeating in my mind. Later, you will pay. You will pay. I tried to sleep, but it could not be done.

It could not be done.