Drowning(Hiatus)

Chapter 14

Feeble rays of light filtered through the dark clouds heavy with an unreleased torrent before they completely snuffed out the evening sun. The constant buzzing of the crowd as they slunk through the congested street muted to a dull whisper and all my attention was zeroed in on those pale legs that belonged to a woman that was not me.

I caught her standing ghastly still amidst the slithering bodies of countless mermen. Her silky black hair flowed behind her in cascades, a striking contrast with the white dress she wore. Her back to me, she stood isolated in a halo of space as if the crowd hovered unknowingly out of her way.

My eyes were frozen on her unmoving, ethereal form and I found it hard to look away. She was like me but different. She felt different. It was like I was staring at a transient apparition, a ghost. An impression of something that was not there and could vanish at any second.

As if sensing my befuddled gaze on her, she spurred into motion and moved away in the opposite direction. Watching her receding figure, a feeling found it's way in the pit of my stomach. An unfamiliar sense of doom.

I can't loose her, I found myself thinking. My legs automatically propelling me into the crowd without a care for my safety. It was hard to explain the feeling that I felt but I knew if I lost her, I would regret it for the rest of my life. I remember feeling the same way whenever I had the impulse to meet Oeric.

This force, this power..... it felt a lot like magic.

With a racing heart, I rushed through the busy street and into the alley where she disappeared. She had just rounded a corner and I made sure not to loose sight of her ephemeral figure as I followed her close behind. Despite my efforts to reach out to her, she kept evading my attempts every time, winding me deeper inside the twisting streets and alleys of the city.

Unlike the hustle and bustle of the lively metropolis I had explored with my entourage, these alleys were anything but. They were dark and desolate. Their tall antiquated buildings withered at odd angles high above me, further hampering the little bits of light that guided me.

And in the growing darkness of the warped passage.... she glowed.

I blinked away the stars in my eyes and followed the trail that shimmered in her wake. But like a ghost she was always out of my reach. Frustrated, I yelled for her to stop. My breath came faster and heavier as my lack of exercise presented another hurdle. As I rounded yet another corner, I could barely discern a change in the currents of the water.

The storm had begun its yawning rage above the surface and I ignored it, focusing my attention solely on the ethereal creature that mimicked only the appearance of my kind but was nothing like us. Because the longer I looked at her with my lingering gaze the more I felt entranced. My mind trapped in an endless loop that revolved only around her sole existence.

Abruptly, she stopped.

Thankful for the break, I also slowed down to a pause to catch my breath. When I looked up at her, I saw her tilt her head to the left, pointing to an old two story brick building. A wave of dizziness washed over me and darkness swooped in, clouding my vision. Her glow grew more and more dim in the expanding gloom. I squeezed my eyes and in a single blink she disappeared along with the darkness that had enveloped her.

Unnerved, I looked all around myself only to confirm that she was definitely gone. "Hello...?" I inquired of an empty street as I walked up to the spot where I saw her vanish. The building on my left was a secluded trinket shop, long abandoned with decay lining its exterior. Stepping up the stairs to its porch, I peeked through the glass panes of the door and saw festered isles lining the inside, filled with odd charms and amulets. Behind the isles in the darkness, I saw movement. "Caught you," I whispered as I tightened my grip on the door's handle.