My Calling (AJR Metmaid Challenge)

5

     A drop of water on Adam's face woke him suddenly. He blinked awake, his eyes adjusting slowly to his new surroundings. He wasn't in water anymore, but there was water nearby. No sky, only a low, dark, stone ceiling. There was a pool of blue water near one of the surrounding walls. There were spiky formations on the ceiling and floor.  He seemed to be in a cave of some sort. Adam sat up with a gasp, his heart racing as he remembered what had just happened. Something had grabbed ahold of him and dragged him down to the bottom of the ravine, the pressure squeezing the last breath of air from his body...
     "Oh, you're awake. For a while I thought I'd killed you."
     Adam's head whipped over to find who had spoken. A pounding ache started in his head and he hissed in pain, starting to lay down again.
     "Please be careful! I don't want you to hurt yourself. A human as fragile as you shouldn't be down here so deep but I just didn't know what to do with you, I grabbed you and panicked because I didn't have a plan and I just needed to get you somewhere safe so I brought you here. Oops. Hope that's okay."
     Adam whined and squinted in the darkness, struggling to locate his captor. He flinched as a familiar tentacle slithered towards him. A face peeked out from a nearby stalagmite.
     "Good morning sir! Or... madam? I don't know. You have long hair and a beard. Are you a hipster? You don't have any drugs on you, right?"
     they asked. Adam chuckled a little and hissed again at the pain in his head. The person looked surprised and started to approach Adam, their human appearance making the revelation of the mass of tentacles replacing their lower body shocking. Adam nearly screamed but a sticky arm covered his mouth before he could. The person looked ashamed.
     "Please don't. I'm not gonna hurt you. I was... I was cursed."
     Adam blinked. The tentacle retreated and the person looked at Adam with sorrowful blue eyes.
      "You're cursed as well. To be a mermaid."
     Adam scooted away as the person tried to get closer. He just shook his head and gestured for them to keep their distance. Their gender was indeterminable from far away but they seemed to be a boy.
     "I'm sorry. This must all be so frightening for you. Here, I caught you something to eat!"
     Caught?
     Adam jerked away as a dead fish landed by his feet. The stranger smiled at him before frowning a bit.
     "What? It's not like we have restaurants down here. Eat up!"
     "No thank you,"
     Adam mumbled, pushing the slimy fish away with one finger. The strange person's frown deepened.
     "I insist you eat."
     Adam glanced up at them and took a shaky breath.
     "I can't. I'll get sick."
     "You need your strength. Eat."
     "But-"
     "I SAID EAT IT!!"
     they shouted at the poor man. Adam yelped and curled up in a defensive manner, trembling with cold and fear.
     "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. Please just eat your fish. There's nothing else."
     Adam didn't uncurl. He sniffled a little and tried to hide behind one of the calcium formations on the damp cave floor. He felt a cold hand rest on his shoulder.
     "Hey. You need to eat. I can't cook it. Hold your nose and you won't taste it as much."
     Adam leaned away from them, a tear running down his cheek. His stomach ached from hunger and the pounding in his head wasn't getting any better. He sniffled again before the sobs started coming.
     "I wanna go home. Please, please just let me go home,"
     he whispered to the stranger. They sighed softly and lowered themselves to Adam's height. Adam winced as he felt the many arms around him.
      "Please don't do that. Don't cry. The ocean is salty enough without your tears."
      Adam just closed his eyes, ignoring his host's instructions and letting himself fall apart. The world faded around him and soon he was asleep again.

{675 words}