that summer |percabeth au| ✔︎

creepy doll head

c h a p t e r | 08
❝The moment I loved...❞

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Tyson and I gathered an impressive haul of sea glass, two intact sand dollars, and a bald, one-eyed doll head. But we didn't spot any mermaids, and soon the deluge came, chasing us into the Black Pearl for cover.

"See anything out there today?" Travis wanted to know once we'd settled into our booth. There were only two other occupied tables - a pair of men in suits who were clearly out-of-towners, and a group of girls about my age, whispering and giggling over milkshakes. Travis sat down with us.

"No mermaids," Tyson said, shivering beneath his wet shirt. "But we did find this." He set the doll head on the table, making Travis jump clear out of his seat.

"That's creepy, little dude."

The kid only smiled.

"So what am I making for you guys?" Travis asked. The Black Pearl didn't have a fixed menu - they brought in fresh meat, seafood, and produce each morning, and whatever concoction you could imagine from the available goods, they'd whip it up for you. "Bacon burgers are hot today. I'm also experimenting with chickpea salad. Nontraditional, but pretty good on a pita with some red onion and celery. Feeling adventurous?"

When I nodded, he said, "Did you bring your hot pepper sauce?"

I patted my empty pockets, realizing my error. I'd made a batch at Candy's and carried a bottle with me whenever I planned to eat here; except today, I'd forgotten it.

"I'll bring out the store-bought stuff," Travis said, nodding. "Won't be the same, but it might spice things up a little."

I offered a grateful smile.

"I want chicken peas too," Tyson said. "But I also want curly fries. And a root beer float."

I held up two fingers at that.

When Travis came back with the floats, he said, "No Katie today?"

Library, I mouthed. It was inventory season, and there was a lot of work to do, culling the collection, cataloging new books for the summer. She told me she'd be spending practically every Sunday afternoon deep in the stacks.

"Right on," Travis said. His smile slipped, just a little, before he ducked back behind the counter.

I texted Katie with this latest development.

Her response was immediate.

[Katie_kat_candy]: screw the stacks. lunch break, on my way!]

While we waited for Katie, Tyson dried his gear with napkins and continued to fill me in on the lore of his beloved mermaids, a subject on which he was a living encyclopedia. He knew everything about them - mythological origins, the difference between mermaids and sirens, all the ways in which the recent string of so-called mermaid documentaries were fraudulent and even detrimental to genuine ocean conservation efforts.

He was cleaning the lenses on a pair of binoculars that covered most of his face when he stopped suddenly, looked at me seriously across the table. "Amatheia is real, you know. I saw her once, but only for a second."

For weeks now I'd walked the shore day and night, and I'd yet to see her myself. But I believed him; the legend was tragic and beautiful enough to be real.

"We were on Travis's boat last year," he said, "and all of a sudden, she was just there. Sitting on these rocks." His voice had dropped to a whisper, and his eyes were twin moons, round and glittering with awe.