Drawn to the Sea

Chapter 11: The Past Rewrites

Douglass

When I woke up the next morning, I felt more rested than I had in years. I peaked my eyes open, looking up at Nate's sleeping face. His face was peaceful, and his breathing was steady. I was half laying on his chest, and his arm was wrapped around my waist. I smiled at him, then wriggled away so I could make us breakfast.

I scrounged up what I could, throwing together a simple meal of vegetables that grew near the entrance to my cave to go with some sushi I would make later. People may think that merfolk don't eat fish, but it was the main food my diet consisted of. It was easy to access, and it was just good to eat.

As I cooked over the fire in my fireplace, the smells of the broth I made wafted through the cave. When the broth and vegetables were almost done, I set them aside so I could go gather some fish. I was able to find enough of my favorite fish easily enough, so I took it back to the cave and started prepping it. Once I was done cutting the fish, I added the vegetables and some rice I'd stolen off a boat deck a while back--don't judge me, I don't only eat fish--and wrapped it in dried seaweed.

I spooned some broth into a bowl, then placed the bowl on the plate with the sushi. I made two plates, one for me and one for Nate.

I walked over to the bed, leaning over Nate, who'd hugged a pillow in my absence. "Nate."

He mumbled in his sleep but didn't wake.

I poke his side. "Nate, wake up."

Still, he didn't stir.

I poked him again. "I made food."

Once he heard the word food, he stirred awake and cracked his eyes open. "G' morning."

I chuckled, pecking his lips quickly. "Morning."

He smiled, pulling me down for a longer one. When we pulled apart, I was flushed. He sat up, stretching his arms above his head. It was the first time I saw his bare back, even though I'd cleaned his wound after he was shot. I guess I never bothered to look.

Long, detailed wings that started on his lower shoulder blades and traveled around his arm and onto his chest. The tips of the longest wings stopped just above his elbows. From what I could tell, they were the wings of a grey nightjar bird--I'd taken an interest in birds at some point in my life, so I recognized them fairly easily. They were colored, and accents of blue and red were woven into the feathers skillfully.

I reached out my hand and brushed my hand against them, forgetting myself for a second. He lowered his arms, turning his head to look at me. "Like them?"

"Yes. Nightjar wings, correct?"

He nodded. "My favorite bird."

"They're beautiful. When did you get them?"

"Pretty much right when I turned sixteen. My uncle signed a waiver for me to get them."

"Why'd you get them so young?"

He shrugged. "I was born with a pretty big, and obvious, birthmark across my back. People made fun of me for it, and I was really self-conscious. It got to the point that I wouldn't even look at it in the mirror."

"So you asked your uncle to get the tattoos so you wouldn't have to see it."

He nodded. "I picked out the wings because the birthmark is in the general shape of a pair of wings. Took me multiple sessions with the only tattoo artist that would do something so big on a sixteen-year-old kid."

I hummed, tracing one of the feathers. "I like them."

He chuckled, getting off the bed and walking over to the table. "I would hope so. It hurt like a bitch the whole time they were healing."

I let out a little laugh, sitting at the table across from him. "I can imagine, them being so big."

"Yeah, not the best first tattoo to get, I'll tell you that."

He started eating, using the carved chop-sticks I'd made a while back to pick up the sushi. I ate as well, and we finished up quickly. After we cleaned up the mess from my making the food, we went to the sitting room and relaxed for a bit. After the day we had yesterday, we were in no hurry to go out and do anything. I just wanted to lazy around the cave until our next meal, and Nate seemed perfectly fine with that plan.

He was reading on one of the carved steps with cushions, and I was leaning against his side. His arm was thrown over my shoulder, firmly pressed against my chest. While he read, I took the time to run my eyes over the other tattoos on his arms. The feathers from the wings were wrapped around the entirety of his upper arm, and with the other tattoos he had, there was little bare skin to add anything in. He had a coral reef scene on his outer forearm, with little fishes and bubbles dancing around. He had a little string of roman numerals on his inner wrist that looked to be a date.

"Nate?"

He hummed in response.

I ran my finger over the date. "What's this one mean?"

He glanced at the numerals, getting a faraway look in his eyes. "The date my parents died."

"Oh." I pursed my lips. "I didn't mean to pry."

He set down his book, smiling slightly. "It's alright, I don't mind talking about it. I don't remember them."

"What happened?"

"They were driving up in the mountains on the island after I was born. It was dark and stormy that night, the biggest storm this island had seen in a long time. My dad was driving, and my mom was in the passenger. I only know what I was told, but the police think they hit a sharp rock and the tire blew or they swerved to avoid something they didn't see, and they fell off the side of a cliff and into the ocean. Their bodies were never found."

"What do you think?"

He pursed his lips, sighing. "The idea of them just... falling off the cliff never sat right with me. But that's what happened, so I guess what I think doesn't matter much."

I furred my brows. If the date on his tattoo was the day they fell into the ocean, then I would've been living in the cave at that point. I thought back to that year, thanking my impeccable memory, and rewound to that day. It took me a second, but I remembered what I had been doing that night.

"Nate, do you know which cliff they fell from?"

He thought for a moment. "The one on the south side of the volcano, I think that's what my uncle said. It's the only cliff that's had a working road for decades. Why?"

"I was trying to find a special coral that night; I wanted to try a new potion and I needed the last ingredient."

"What does that have to do with my parents?"

"The coral only grew around hardened lava, and it only had the right properties during big storms."

"Okay..."

"The last time that volcano erupted, the lava fell into the ocean. On the south side of the island."

I heard his breathing catch. "What're you saying?"

I sat up to face him, swallowing thickly. "I'm saying I was under the south cliffs that night for the entire night, during the storm."

He clenched his hands. "And?"

"And I never saw a car crash into the water. If one had, It would've been right where I was harvesting the coral."

Nate's eyes widened. "Then why would my uncle tell me that's where they crashed."

"Either the police were mistaken about where they crashed," I met his eyes grimly, "Or your uncle is up to more than just experimenting on marine life."