Unnatural// 5SOS & 1D

Breathe// part four

l.h: Seduction Leads to Destruction

Noella and I had created an agreement to meet around sunset everyday. She didn't have a concept of time like I did. So sometimes I could arrive around six, just as the blue sky was beginning to turn brilliant oranges and reds and she would already be the. Other times, she would show up around seven, just as the last of the sunset died out. I tried to explain them to her but it was useless.

"I could get you an waterproof watch but.. I suppose your people wouldn't really want you having something from the surface world."

"You would be correct." Noella had said with a small laugh.

So while I waited for her to surface just five days after we had made the arrangement, I skipped rocks along the surface of the water. The tide came up to my ankles, bubbles tickling my skin as the water dragged the sand bellow my feet out to sea. I hadn't even out here that long, maybe fifteen minutes or so but I was still anxious. What if she didn't come? What if she didn't want to talk to me anymore or someone found out she was talking to me. Then what?

As I continued along the shore, I caught the sound of someone singing. It sounded like a girl but I couldn't hear any of the words yet. As if entranced by the melody, I dropped all the rocks in my hand and continued to head toward the music.

Upon one summer's morning, I carelessly did stray,
Down by the Walls of Wapping, where I met a sailor gay,
Conversing with a bouncing lass, who seem'd to be in pain,
Saying, William, when you go, I fear you will ne'er return again.

I swear I had heard the song before but I couldn't place where. I had finally placed the origin of the singer. It was a girl laying out on some rocks in the dying sunlight. I couldn't quite see her yet, half of her was being blocked by the rocks around her. I decided to get closer.

His hair it does in ringlets hang, his eyes as black as sloes,
May happiness attend him wherever he goes,
From Tower Hill, down to Blackwall, I will wander, weep and moan,
All for my jolly sailor bold, until he does return.

She sounded almost sad singing the song. I kind of felt bad for her. When I was nearly ten feet away though, I recognized the song. Hadn't it been in that Pirates of the Caribbean movie? I was finally close enough to get a good look at her. She had long dark hair and was playing with some seashells. But she also wasn't wearing a bathing suit top. I almost stopped walking towards her until my eyes wandered to her legs, or lack there of. She had a tail.

My father is a merchant—the truth I now will tell,
And in great London City in opulence doth dwell,
His fortune doth exceed ₤300,000 in gold,
And he frowns upon his daughter, 'cause she loves a sailor bold.

Another Mermaid. How is that I've met two mermaids now? And how old was this song? Mermaids didn't know what movies were according to Noella. Where did this song come from? That's when she finally saw me. Instead of pausing and trying to get away though, she smiled and continued to sing. I was stunned and just a little confused.

My name it is Maria, a merchant's daughter fair,
And I have left my parents and three thousand pounds a year,
My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold,
There is nothing can console me but my jolly sailor bold.

When she stopped singing, I was standing nearly in front of her. She looked very pleased with herself as she got up off her stomach. Since I knew she was topless and I was a gentleman, I covered my eyes with my arm, squeezing them shut tightly behind that.

"Hello there."

"Um.. hi." I replied lightly. "You should really be wearing a top you know." Her laugh sounded just as pretty as her song did but I got an uneasy feeling from being next to her. Glancing down at the slippery rocks below my feet, I slowly began to back away from her.

"That's the first thing you say." She says, wrenching my arm away from my eyes. I stare pointedly at her face. Her long silky hair is covering her chest but I'm still embarrassed. "I would have thought you'd ask if I was real. Being a mermaid and all." She flips her tail up and it touches my leg lightly as she lowers it.

"Um well, clearly you're real unless I'm dreaming. Then this would be a weird dream and I really need to wake up now." I said, moving away from her. Why did I feel nauseous? She latched onto my wrist, trying to pull me closer.

"Leaving so soon?"

"I... Uh, yes." She pouted.

"Don't you want to stay and play with me." She whispered, smirking. Play with her? I'm sure tons of guys probably would have stayed and tried to "play with her" but I kept thinking about Noella. Where was Noella? What was she doing? What if she saw us together?

"No I don't want to stay here with you. Please let go." She immediately frowned and I kind of wanted to take it back. Was she going to hurt me?

"Maria! You heard him." I glanced out to sea and there was Noella, her hair in two braids, sea flowers peeking out in the knots. Maria hissed, actually hissed at Noella as she released her grip on my arm. I quickly scrambled back, watching as this Maria turned to face Noella.

"And what are you doing here? Why would you interrupt me?" She demanded.

"It is not your palace to ask questions. Leave Maria." Maria looked back and forth between Noella and I. And while I tried to seem inconspicuous, Maria could definitely tell that we knew each other. Maria slowly slipped into the water, swimming towards Noella who calmly held her ground, or I guess, water.

"As you wish, your highness." Noella shot Maria a look but she dived down into the water and disappeared with the flip of a tail. Noella let out a sigh of relief as I walked towards her myself and helped she out of the water, sitting her down o nether rocks Maria was just on.

"Your highness?" I questioned. Noella waved me away.

"She was mocking me because I was ordering her around." Made sense. She did sound very malicious when she said it.

"Um, so who was that?"

"That is Maria Levesque. She doesn't like me very much."

"So why was she out here and I'm sorry but... I don't know why I got so close to her. It wasn't because she's pretty or anything. Well, she kind of is. But she was singing and I don't know, it was like I was drawn to her." I said, trying to explain myself.

"It's fine Luke. Her songs do that." Noella sighed. "And she purposely goes around topless to attract men. It's not your fault. No human can resist a siren."

"A siren? I thought she was a mermaid." I replied, confused.

"She is but sirens and mermaids, we're like cousin species. Just like you and the apes."

"Oh so evolution isn't a new concept." Noella rolled her eyes.

"Maria is a mermaid but she is also a siren. Sometimes those two things come hand in hand. A siren can have mermaid offspring, mermaids can have sirens or somewhere I between but that gene pool is dying. Mermaids don't have siren baby's as often anymore and it's the same for sirens, no more mermaid children."

"So is Maria like an extinct species?"

"In a sense and she's bitter about it. She doesn't fit in with mermaids and the sirens barely consider her one of them." I frowned.

"That's not right."

"It isn't but there's not much we can do. It's hard to get people to accept things. Her species was once so common and now there's maybe only a hundred or so mermaids sirens." I nodded my head thoughtfully.

"What was she going to do to me if you hadn't shown up?"

"Eat your liver, lungs and then your heart." Noella replied without missing a beat. I stared at her, dumbfounded.

"Seriously? While I was still alive?"

"Yes. It's the only way to keep the organs fresh. Don't worry, I doubt she'll bother you again."

"Well that's comforting." I muttered. Noella began to laugh and I smiled with her. "What?"

"Nothing, I just like being around you. You're funny sometimes."

"Thanks, I take pride in that."