The Supernaturals [On Hold]

Mermaids (Chapter 5)

Chapter 5

I reached into the river to wash my face. Pieces of gray dirt clung to it and that could not possibly be attractive. My hands cupped the cool water and brought it to my face. It sparkled slightly, although the sunlight never hit the water. A hand latched onto my wrist however.

At first I did not register what was happening. There was a claw-like, webbed hand attached to my wrist. It was a long, pale gray color with long sparkly nails. I tried to pull it off, but the hand only gripped tighter. It was then that I became startled and slightly frightened. "Arbor!" I called. "Help!"

Arbor walked in at a brisk pace. He seemed alerted by my frantic tone."What?" I motioned to my hand. "Oh, no."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Mermaid." He growled in disgust.

I raised an eyebrow at him. I never knew there could be anything wrong with them. From the stories I had heard as a child, mermaids were kind and beautiful. I could not think that they could be either based on what was clinging to my wrist. "What is wrong with them?"

"Ugly, hideous things, they are. They have quite a temper as well. They hate finding people in their water." Arbor explained. "Mermaids like these who find people, usually pull them in and steal their voices."

"My jaw dropped. "Steam my voice?"

"Yeah, they aren't naturally beautiful singers. Their voices that they steal lure you in, then they take your voice."

"Then what?"

"Mermaids will either eat you or throw you back up."

I stared at him in horror-my options were not good: lose my voice, or be eaten. Great. Arbor pulled a small, flute-like instrument out of his bag. He seemed to have everything in there. There were several small holes drilled into it. There was a mermaid carved into the side of the instrument and stretched the length of it. "Mer-flute. I'm not sure it'll work, but it's worth a shot."

"What is a mer-flute?"

"Mermaid-flute." I looked at it. How could something this simple save me? Arbor continued to explain. "Mermaids hate high notes. It hurts their ears; usually they flee from the sound. The flute goes up so high; we can't even hear some notes." He put the flute in his mouth. "Let's give it a shot."

The first few notes hurt my ears. I clapped my free hand over my ear and jammed my other ear into my shoulder. Arbor played higher and higher until I could not even hear anything anymore. The water had begun to gurgle and bubble. As Arbor hit the highest note, the water boiled violently. Screams that rang out from under the water sounded like nails scrapping on a chalkboard. I winced in pain and the claws tightened around my wrist.

Then, all of a sudden, all the pressure was gone. The gray hand retreated under the water, but not before it reached up and clawed my arm. The pain was unbearable. I slipped back from the edge and nursed my wound. "Ow!" I cried out.

Arbor rushed to my side with a bandage in hand. "Let me see." He commanded. I removed my hand; it was coated with deep red blood. I felt my head start to spin. "It's deep." He commented.

"Why does it hurt so much?" I asked with tears of pain forming in my eyes.

"Mermaids have a vicious chemical infused in their nails. If you get scratched up enough in one day you could die from it." Arbor answered. He smeared an awful smelling gel on my gash. "Burns like hell, doesn't it?" He laughed apologetically.

Arbor wrapped the bandages around my arm several times. "Oh weird!" He pointed toward the mouth of the cave.

"Where to now?" I asked. I was feeling a great deal more chipper now that my arm wasn't alive with pain. It was almost numb now.

"We have to pass through the Emerald Forest."

"You don't sound terribly excited about that." I noted.

He shook his head. "By the time we reach there, it will be dusk."

I shrugged, "So?"

What could be wrong with a forest at dusk? "Trust me on this; you never want to spend the night there."