stars

fifteen

Brooke 

I dropped my backpack and didn't even bother taking my clothes off before jumping in the water. I transformed and swam as far as I could, forgetting about being banished from the kingdom. I immediately stopped once I remembered (only because I saw the kingdom). 

It was terrible. The homes were completely destroyed. The sculptures that should be in the middle of the kingdom, the ones made to honor Queen Cordelia, were shattered into pieces. Worst of all, where the mighty royal castle once stood, now stood crushed pieces of coral and rocks. My eyes widened and I felt sick. What had happened here? 

Brooke! A child's voice cried out. I thought something happened to you! I thought you got taken by them! I saw Evian swimming towards me, hugging me tightly. 

Who's them? What happened here? I asked Evian. 

Evian got out of the hug. She looked up at me and frowned. People came and threatened to destroy our homes if we didn't go with them. They took the queen and some of the merfolk important to our kingdom. The queen fought against them, but then they took away her powers and destroyed the buildings. They killed a lot of other merfolk, too. Like the woman who lived near the coral farm, the woman who took care of me while my parents were away, and... She stopped speaking. My parents... 

Oh my gosh, Evian, I'm so sorry! I hugged her. Is there anyone here to watch you?  It's dangerous out here for a young fish like you, especially now that there are people who are murdering merfolk now. She shook her head. I thought about the other people she mentioned. The woman who took care of her. That was... Out of curiosity, what did the woman who took care of you look like? 

Purple tail, black hair. She had a calming voice. I think blue eyes. Again, I think I'm going to be sick. That was my mother. I shook my head. It wasn't true... Why, Brooke?  

She was my mother... I told her, shutting my eyes. It wasn't true. I didn't believe her. I couldn't... Evian pulled me into a hug. Too much had happened today. Noah, the kingdom, now Evian and my mother. I wanted to cry. I'm... I'm going to go back. Please be safe, hide somewhere, I'll be back tomorrow. Keep me updated? She nodded, letting go. I swam away, back to the shore, and transforming back. I crawled on the sand, looking at the sky. For once, it didn't make me happy or calm me. I closed my eyes and started to cry. My mom was gone. I haven't talked to her in months. I remembered the last time I spoke to her. 

"Brooke, I'm so disappointed in you. I told you, humans are dangerous." 

"But mother! There's this one human and she's-" 

"No! The royal guards found out, and they want to throw you in jail for disobeying the laws of the kingdom. I don't want you to be thrown in jail or executed. So, as much as this pains me, you're never allowed back here. If you are back in this kingdom, you will be thrown in prison for the rest of your life. I love you, Brooke, but now it's time to go. Goodbye." She pushed me out of our house. 

*

I looked up. The sun was going down, so it was now or never to show Phoebe. I was so nervous, I was afraid I would chicken out. Millions of thoughts raced through my head, including what if she doesn't like me afterward? What if she tells someone? What if this was a worse decision than choosing humans over my own kind? "Brooke? Are you going to show me or not? I want to get home before my mom comes home."I nodded. 

"Okay," I took a deep breath. "Are you ready?" Phoebe smiled, and nod her head. I turned my back to her, trying to calm myself down. It didn't really help. Every step I took towards the water made me even more nervous. What if she thought I was crazy, or I couldn't concentrate enough to transform? What if- I shook my head. "It's now or never, Brooke," I told myself. "You got this." I jumped into the water, trying to clear my head and transform. My legs stuck together, turning the normal shade of shimmery blue. I almost just wanted to swim away just to avoid having to see her reaction. 

I swam to the surface, getting as close to her as I could to stay in the water. She looked at me, shock and disbelief clear on her face. She didn't say anything or even blink for at least half a minute. "So," I said nervously. "What do you think?" She didn't respond but just kept staring at me. Every second she didn't speak, the worse thoughts came rushing into my head. "I knew this was I bad idea," I spoke quickly. "OH gods, you're going to turn me into the government... Or kill me. Or both! I can't believe I thought-" I stopped talking, looking up at her. Tears filled my eyes. Great, I lost a friend, after I lost my mother and probably Jamie. 

I started to swim away, but Phoebe grabbed my arm. "Brooke." I got scared. She's going to knock me out and take me to the center of town and torture me, just like the tales my mother told me when I was a young merfish. I closed my eyes. 

"Please, just get it over with. Kill me or call the government or-"

"Hey, Brooke." She said softly. "Open your eyes, sweetie." I slowly opened them. "I'm not going to do that. I'll admit, I'm a little freaked out, but it's cool." I sighed, relieved. My mother might have been right about some humans, but Phoebe definitely wasn't one of them. She smiled at me. "You know I'm going to have a lot of questions, right?" I nodded. I expected that. 

I'm glad she knew. 

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(So originally, I had posted some dumb, 800 word, piece of garbage that I called chapter fifteen. I didn't like it at all. I unpublished it and rewrote it based off things I drafted during class. Hope this one's better than the last one, which I think it is.Bye <3)