The dark waters| ✓

13.MOONLIGHT

I stand there alone, on the black sand, a tiny spectator of the vast ocean. The gentle breeze tickling my ears throws my hair across my face and I feel the tiny,gritty particles of sand stuck in it as I get my hand up to remove them from my eyes. I tuck my hair behind my ears and look at the sea again.

The beauty of it hits me straight in the face. I part my lips and suck in the cool air. I taste the salty breeze and hum to myself. My loose white dress floats around me like the sails of a boat pushing it towards the never-ending horizon.
like my conscience pushes me.

I want my mind to go blank.

I want my eyes to go blurry, I want to float in the inky water, hearing only the sounds of the waves and the rhythmic beating of my heart. I don't want to hear them.

The creatures from the deep.

I free myself of all constraint and allow myself to be pulled by the waves, like a feather floating away in the wind, knowing not where it is, but only that it is away, far away from it's home. The moon gleams in my eyes and reflects the emptiness. I look at the moon carefully. The moon.

So luminous, known for its beauty.
Yet, on looking closely, we see it's dark parts. like we see in every living soul.

It shines it's scarce light over the sea and paints a small part of it white, making the rippling black waves shimmer. The white light seems to stretch in and out like claws, changing with the rise and fall of waves.

"Leah" I hear from behind. I turn around and stare into the darkness.

"Leah" I hear it again. It's her voice.

" I told you something before, now it's time you remember what I said and figure it out. You have to understand it Leah there is a reason why I told you that. Trust no one Leah. Trust no one"

Her voice fades like a tide ebbing away. Soon it will be a lost memory, like the previous wave.
I walk further into the water and stand still, allowing the water to tickle my toes. when it recedes, I shudder. I know I shouldn't do this. I know I should worry about what she said.

I know I should.

I close my eyes and try to forget it all, only to open them again and be kissed by the moonlight.

all over again.
________________________________

I sit in the dining room, poking at the pancake in my plate. My mind is humming with the anticipation of getting all of my answers today. I had woken up at dawn, shivering from a strange dream of midnight moon shining on black sand. I had gone for a walk on the beach then and returned two hours later.

When I returned home, the smell of pancakes was wafting through the house and I had found Dylan making food in the kitchen then.

"Not bad for a merman who hasn't cooked anything before." I say still poking my pancake.

"you had a bite? I thought you were too busy murdering it first." Dylan says turning around and smiling.

I sigh. Why am I so obvious.

"I am just really nervous and excited to know everything today, you know. I'hv had so many questions that I-I actually wrote them down, remembering everything from the last few days." I say sounding tired.

"I hope we will be able to answer all of them properly," Dylan says.

"I'll just go and call everyone else to the dining room. We can answer your questions while eating." Saying this he leaves the room and after a few seconds, I hear him climb up the stairs.

I try to have at least one pancake but return back to poking it after having a few bites.
Lee and Nerida walk into the room followed by Dylan. They take their seats on the table, Lee beside me, Dylan and Nerida on the other side.

"Good morning. I know you want to know many things but let me at least have something first." Nerida grumbles. She takes pancakes on her plate and starts having them. Lee too has some and after a few time when Nerida finishes some of her pancakes, she starts talking.

"Liam's father was a merman and his mother was a human. How did we know this? We knew that a merman had come searching for Llyr when he was up here for 2 years. One of the psychic's had predicted that there were going to be new mers that we didn't know about a few weeks before.I assume he was talking about the child the soldier had with a human."
She says indicating Lee "Kai had sent men to search for the new mer and we were sent to find that mer before they did. So we came to Laterum. That night we saw you guys for the first time at the club. I felt this strange feeling about Lee, so I went and tried to compel him when he went to get you some water. It didn't work. That confirmed my suspicion. Only a mer or a half mer can resist a compulsion-"

"Wait you guys can compel us?" I ask astonished.

"Yup we can, but it takes a lot of effort. We don't use it that much so now it takes a lot of practice to actually make someone do a task. For you psychics, it's really easy, for us it's not. But I learned it nonetheless. Dylan couldn't. Add one more point to the why-Dylan-useless-but-I'm-great book. Anyways, we met you guys in the club that night and when I couldn't compel him, we turned up at his house."
That night. On the first day of high school. Something happened.

" on that day, I was getting a vision. One in which I was in a storm and I was about to die. Do you think this was because they were around?" I say, voicing out my suspicion.

" hmm, interesting. That's the most plausible explanation. Maybe your psychic sense was telling you about the dangers of the sea? Could be possible." Nerida says thoughtfully.

"That's cool," Lee speaks up for the first time in this whole conversation. Everyone looks at him.

"What? It is cool."He says. I just roll my eyes."

"We are here contemplating the truth of your existence and all you've got to say is 'that's cool'?" Nerida says angrily. This makes me laugh. Once my giggles subside, Nerida continues.

"I'm sure you'll have your own doubts now. That maybe my compulsion just doesn't work. Or I'm not strong enough. But Dylan made sure there is no doubt by throwing him into the ocean" Nerida says glaring at Dylan.

"He what....?" I say incredulously.

"We were right there, near him.We would have helped him if he was drowning." He says half apologetically shrugging his shoulders.
I can't control myself.

"DYLAN, YOU ARE SO DEAD.YOU PIECE OF SHIT," I say getting up from the chair. Dylan cowers behind Nerida's chair and I run towards him. Nerida and Lee start laughing, but that does nothing to calm my anger. I randomly start punching Dylan wherever I can. I hit him on the shoulders, on his hard abs, on his neck. I realise I can't affect him much physically so I decide to use my psychic abilities.

I concentrate for a while and after a few time, he gets dragged out of the room by some invisible force and the door slams shut. By the time I sit back on my chair, Nerida and Lee are wheezing.

"You just locked Dylan out of this room. My respect for you just went to a whole new level," she says still laughing.

" thanks. Just tell me everything now." I say.

"Okay, so like I said we got lee before Kai's soldiers hence we kept him here. When we threw Lee into the ocean, it took some time for his gills to pop up, but they did and he could breathe. Being half mer, you can just breathe and talk underwater but you can't grow a tail. That's how we knew he was half mer. He obviously didn't have a tail. Hence proved." She says sounding satisfied.

"Now tell me about my mom," I ask, curiously.

"You know what? Dylan was the one to figure this out, so let him tell you this" Nerida says.

" fine," I say sighing. The door gently swings open and Dylan steps in.

" I will tell you everything, but first I have to know if you're with us on this. This is classified and important information. You could put your life in danger. Will you help us if I tell you?" He asks walking.

I think about it. I have a choice of leaving this place, forget anything like this happened and lead a normal life. But will it be normal when I am not 'normal' myself? I've already involved myself in this. And I'm not one to give up on things.

"Yes. I will help you guys" I say.

"Good. Now you should sit down, cause I've got a story to tell."