Waterline

A Venomous Human

Penelope ended up never going to the hospital. It was too supernatural to show it to the hospital. Ashley suggested taking care of Penelope themselves. They gave her aspirin in hopes the pain would settle in. Ashley couldn't stay any longer since she had to meet with Eddie. When she left, Penelope was sleeping on the couch. She also had four people caring for her. Nelson chose to stay with them.

Ashley arrived at the boardwalk. There was still plenty of people there, enjoying their time. She doesn't visit the boardwalk a lot, mostly if people need her for something there. Right now, Ashley had to go meet Eddie. She remembered it was at a place with discount bathing suits. It wasn't hard to find since it was a sketchy place that says, "Discount Bathing Suits."

Inside, the place was decorated with posters and handmade bathing suits. There were also a few mannequins scattered around the room. It was a different place then what Ashley was used to. She didn't hate it, the difference makes it feel nice. Ashley walked up to the counter where a hand bell was placed on the counter. Beneath the bell was a sign that says, "Ring bell for assistance." Ashley picked up the bell and rang it.

Eddie walked out from the backroom, greeting his guest with a smile. "What could I do for you?" He asked her. "I'm Ashley Heinen, my friend said you wanted to see me." Ashley properly introduced herself. Eddie nod before saying, "follow me." Eddie went to the backroom with Ashley following him. He led her to his office where he took a seat in his side. Ashley grabbed a seat in front of the desk.

"Recently, I broke up with Clare along with Berwald. Ever since that day she has just been texting Berwald about some crazy stuff," Eddie tried to explain. He didn't want to get too in-depth. The breakup was recent and didn't want to sadden all of a sudden. "What kind of text?" Ashley asked she felt a bit of hope from what she was hearing. Eddie grabbed his phone and pulled up the screenshots that were taken. He gave the phone to Ashley for her to examine it.

She was shocked at what she saw. Clare was willingly hinting the secret to them. How was she supposed to hide this from them? Persuasion isn't her best pursuit but she can try. "Don't listen to Clare," Ashley said, coldly. She ignored the fact that she was his ex-girlfriend. "All that she says are lies, it's your job to chose whether to follow her or not," Ashley continued.
"But what if she tries to confront me?" Eddie asked her.
"Steer away from her she's poison," Ashley told him.
"I've learned that now," Eddie hung his head low.
"You gave Berwald, protect him at all costs," Ashley instructed him.
"I will, thank you,"
Ashley stood up and said, "in a few days, I'll need your help. Could I count on you?" She asked him.
"Yeah, I would do anything for a friend of Libby's," Eddie told her.
Ashley smiled before thanking him. She left the shop with great hope of Silverfish's future.

Mae was relieved to see that the symbols on Penelope's leg were gone. She was asleep on the couch and looked comfortable. Something did puzzle her about the symbols though. Ashley was staring at it intently. What was she trying to do with it? At the moment, she cared for her hurt friend. "Do you think she'll need water?" Mae asked Pj. He looked down at her to see she was lightly snoring. "I think she's good, but you should take a walk, you were so stressed out," Pj told her.
"Yeah, I was worried for you," Conor said sincerely.
"Sorry, I just hate seeing her in pain," Mae admitted.
"We all do," Pj looked down, he looked bothered. His gaze shifted to Penelope.
"I'll take a walk," Mae said.
"Do you want me to join?" Conor asked.
"No, you should stay and watch Penelope," Mae insisted.
"Right," Conor nod in agreement.

Mae walked out into the ocean air. She did get to love the smell of the salt water. There were times it reminded her of her previous life as s siren. She was hoping those memories would be gone soon. But forgetting that past is harder without the work of Neptune. "Look who it is!" Mae was too much in a daze to pay attention to who was in front of her. The black haired girl gave Mae a devious smirk. "What do you want, Clare?" Mae asked.

"I raised you up and this is how you treat me?" Clare questioned her. Mae would admit that she did look up to her at some point. But now that Clare is human things have changed. "Why are you doing this?" Mae asked her, ignoring the question. Clare kept her smirk as she spoke to her, "I should be asking you that." Mae had a confused expression. Did she do something wrong? Clare could easily tell that Mae didn't understand.

"Why do you love him and befriend them?" Clare emphasized some words to get her point across. Mae felt a sick feeling in her. Wanting to full-on yell at her, but she does t know how to do that. She can get vicious but that's how rough she can get. "It trusts them and cares deeply for them," Mae told her. She was honest and told her statement with pride. Like a siren, she may have other feelings but now she's proud. Clare shook her head, disappointed at her pupil.

"All those lessons were nothing to you," Clare started. Mae wishes that she left once her final statement was made but she stayed. "Humans don't understand us, they don't even care. We are just toys that can be thrown away. Nothing will change that. You should've understood, you were also thrown away. Humans won't ever feel our pain, it's no use trying to save them from it. That's why we stick together, we can live in pure bliss. Then start a life that people are all in pain, we won't hurt each other." Clare spoke. Mae wanted to push her or scream but that won't do anything.

"You are too absorbed in your dystopia to even learn about human emotions," Mae felt disgusted by her. Clare's ways of becoming even are too severe. She wishes that Clare could understand the similarities between humans and sirens when it comes to emotions. Now that Clare is too caught up in Micah's plan, there is no use trying to save her. Mae turned around and started heading back to the house. She refused to shed a tear on the way back. The evolution of Clare gutted her, what happened to their ambitions? To become human again is to start over in relations and find a new life with new people. Clare doesn't see that.