Ocean's Call

Chapter One

The lure is always simple. Their minds are so easily twisted, they don't know what's happening before it's too late. They'll be waist-deep into the water when the cold startles them awake, but by then kelp will have twisted itself around their ankles to make escape impossible. Usually when you keep singing, they will walk along with no troubles. Sometimes, it's a screamer.

Screamers are the worst. Their fear overtakes the enchantment and they scream until their voices go hoarse. More often than not they try to make their escape, only to fall over because they're trapped by the underwater plants. They fight and resist, not realising it's in vain. Once you're in the water, you're a goner. We have too much control of the things in there. If we wanted to, we could make it go in your nose, your eyes, your eyes. Not a pleasant way to go, even for our standards. Normally we just take you by the hand to bring you underwater and keep singing to you until oxygen runs out. Most people have a moment of realisation right before they go unconscious; their eyes go wide and their mouth opens with the last bubbles of air escaping. Then the light leaves their eyes. If you listen closely, you can hear the water fill their lungs. Their heartbeat fades. Not long after, it stops and their bodies are engulfed in complete silence. It's my favourite moment of the night.

But screamers? They will put up a fight to the last second. We often think that they were cowards on land as well, all their actions driven by fear. It's why their mind can withstand the song, but it never does until it's too late. It doesn't matter how loud they scream. No one who would hear, would be able to save them. Ensnared in our web of plants and magic, they are a lost cause. But still they fight. Some admire the screamers. Personally I think they're the most annoying creatures on earth. And I'm including kelpies in that. I try to work them away as quick as I possibly can, but sometimes they trash so wildly it's hard to maintain my grip on them. Of course, once they're underwater it never takes a long time, but it's annoying when they rip the kelp or scare away the fish. They cause unnecessary maintenance.

Tonight was a screamer. A particularly strong one, too. Took me all my might and several destroyed kelp plants before I finally had him underneath the surface. Once there, he managed to tangle a loose string of kelp around my tail, effectively trapping and distracting me. He very nearly managed to break the enchantment, which would've allowed him to get away. Luckily, the kelp is even easier handled than the Mortals, so I got free before he made any decent distance. The only thing he achieved was enraging me. In my anger I summoned a whirlpool directly around him, to mangle him just ever  so slightly, before I focused my attention on sending water down his throat. He gurgled as it filled his lungs, but also his stomach and intestines. Every part that I could possibly reach, I filled with the salty water. For some reason, that makes death come quicker. I stare into the Mortal's eyes as he accepts the fact of dying. The light leaves his eyes, they roll upwards. He is dead. The dying whirlpool steals the silence from me, though I doubt I could have enjoyed it anyway. In a petty act, I swim up to the body and break his neck. For good measure.

〰

Esha looks at me with concern in her dark eyes. "A whirlpool? And then you filled him? Was he really that bad?"

I shrug. The magic took a great deal of energy out of me and the last thing I want is to have a discussion if it was necessary or not. "He trapped me. Pissed me off in doing so. I didn't really feel like going easy on him."

She huffs. "You disturbed my drowning. Everything was going just fine, until you disturbed nearly the entire bay with your stupid whirpool. Suddenly, she was staring at me with her eyes wide open and very nearly became a screamer herself! Lucky for you, she was already too far gone."

"Lucky for me?"

"I would have killed you had she become a screamer. She was my first silent death in ages! I don't know why I always attract the annoying ones."

I run a hand through my black hair. The whirlwind tangled it, and I'm pretty sure that if I would let her, Esha would brush it silk for me. I don't let her, to her displeasure. "I don't know, Es. Maybe it has to do with your personality. You know how they say on the land, right? Kind seeks kind?"

She spurts a small stream of bubbles in my face, making me laugh. "That," she says. "was uncalled for. Not that that has ever stopped you before. How did he trap you?"

I flick my tail upwards, so that she can see the welts the kelp left. Several scales have fallen victim, others are hanging by a thread. "Wrapped kelp around me. I don't even know how he did it, he was stronger than the usuals."

Esha wrinkles her nose disapprovingly. The gills in her neck open wide,. "Screamers truly are the worst. Come on, we'll call it a night. Sun-up is nearly coming anyway."

My heart flutters. "Let's go find Khahish. He told me he'd come early so we can have a chat."

"He always comes early."

"Doesn't mean we can let him wait, does it?"

The golden light of sunrise is already throwing its strands into the water of the bay. Esha and I have to retreat soon, the sun damaging to our skin and scales. We are made for the night, just like Khahish is made for the day. Where our skin has a blue hue, his is bronze and freckled. His eyes are like two tiny suns, dazzling Mortals to follow him for a fatal swim. His hair is blonde, lightened by the hours he spends in the sun, short and curly. If anything, he's more humanoid than me or Esha will ever be. It's easy to see why he is so irresistable to the Mortals. Then again, that is what he's born for.

He immediately notices somethings wrong. With one strong flick of his tail he catches up with us, a little ways below me, and with a soft touch he runs a finger of the welts at the end of my tail. Even our tails are different. His is gold coloured, like the rim that sometimes appears around clouds when the sun hits them just right, and reflects iridescent wherever the light finds it. Mine is leathery and tough, grey-ish green in colour. Like my skin, it makes me invisible in the dark water of the night.

"Hey, Kai." Esha smiles brightly. "Excited for the day?"

He shakes his head, still inspecting my tail. "Supposed to be cool today. Don't think we'll see a lot of them. What happened, Delilah?"

"Her victim trapped her in kelp. Nasty fellow, apparently. She killed him in a whirlpool." I glare at Esha for answering the question on my behalf. She shrugs.

"I'll be fine." I promise him. "The full moon is coming anyway. You should get going, the sun is nearly peaking."

He glances up at the brightening light of day, and grins. "You two better be rooting for me."

"See if you can steal a necklace again, and then we'll see who we're rooting for." Esha exposes her pointy teeth in a taunting grin.

Kai feigns offense and leaves us with a bubble trail as he swims up to the surface. Esha offers me her hand, and together we swim into the dark depths of the open ocean.