Scared New World

Chapter 4

The waves are choppy as I swim, my powerful tail propelling through the water. Something's behind me—something big. I can feel its vibrations. Before I can even turn around, a hand painfully grasps my shoulder. I bite down on a whimper as I'm turned around, slowly coming face-to-face with dark blue eyes—so dark, they're almost black. The merman grins at me, a manic look in his eyes as he strokes my cheek.

I quickly realize what this is: a nightmare. Which means I should be able to wake up. Squeezing my eyes shut, I count to ten, then open my eyes, expecting to see my bedroom. Instead, the merman's face stares back at me.

Breathing becomes difficult as a familiar face appears before me, bruises covering every inch of her body. She has beautiful red-gold hair stained with blood, and her eyes are frozen open. I don't notice I'm crying until I feel wetness on my cheeks. Meri.

I open my mouth—to scream, to sob, I don't know—but of course, nothing comes out. The sadness quickly ebbs out of my body, replaced by anger. I don't care what I have to do; I will make sure Tiger Shark never hurts anyone again.

I grab the closest weapon—a rusted metal pipe—and wield it like a sword. He dismisses my choice of weapon with a snort, backhanding me across the face. Stars swim in my vision as my head snaps to the side, causing the rest of my body to follow suit. I crumple on the ground, my face throbbing. Angry tears well in my eyes, downplayed by the throbbing welt on my cheek.

Please wake up, I angrily shout at myself.

My entire body jolted forward as my eyes popped open. A gentle breeze filled my room, caressing my cheeks. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

My mind was racing as I got dressed and swam downstairs. Meri was awake and sitting at the kitchen table. She smiled as she saw me, but her smile faded as she noticed my expression. "What's up?" She asked. As I looked at her, I noticed her pallor. Dark circles smudged under her eyes, her cheeks were hollow, and her usually porcelain skin was bone-white.

I plastered a weak smile on my face, shaking my head. Nothing. I didn't get much sleep last night. Where's Naia? While it relieved me to see Meri safe and sound, I knew I wouldn't fully be able to relax until I saw Naia.

"Still sleeping. She went for a late-night swim and didn't return until early this morning." I could tell by the expression on her face that she was thinking the same thing I was: Naia's behavior was concerning. She never went for a swim without telling us. I suddenly faltered, catching myself against the wall as a vision appeared in my head: Meri in front of me, motionless on the ground with her eyes frozen open.

Just like in the dream, blood stains her red-gold hair. What terrifies me the most, however, is the figure floating behind her, a cruel expression on his face. He mimics my expression, then swims away. I flinched as I felt a hand on my shoulder shaking me. My eyes flew open—though I had no recollection of closing them.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Meri's face was pale as she looked at me.

I shook my head. Nothing. I'll see you later. My body felt heavy as I swam outside, putting on a burst of speed. My surroundings were a blur as I zoomed through the water. I recognized the gates of Aegrem almost instantly.

I was so preoccupied with my thoughts I barely noticed the crowd of people in front of me until I almost bumped into the mermaid in front of me. I couldn't see their faces or hands, so I couldn't tell what they were saying, but their body language suggested it wasn't pleasant. The smell hit me like a brick wall, sending tears to my eyes.

My eyes widened, a silent sob escaping my lips as the crowd parted enough for me to see the body. Familiar black hair framed a heart-shaped face accented by sharp, piercing blue eyes. Her mouth was frozen mid-scream. Tears were flowing down my face before I even realized it. Melody. We'd known each other since we were kids. Our mothers had grown up together, so we'd grown up in each other's houses.

This was too much. I turned to swim back the way I came—and froze. Dark-blue eyes met mine—attached to a familiar face. He smiled, but the smile was anything but pleasant.

I swam home in a daze, hardly paying attention to my surroundings. I locked myself in my room for the rest of the day, unable to process anything. To distract myself, I jotted down who I thought might have/could have had a motive to kill Melody. No names immediately came to mind, but I wrote down the description of the merman from earlier, hoping I could put a name to a face soon.

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