#2 place in the Fantasy category of the Phoenix Awards A mother she never knew left her a legacy she can't understand. Dylan always knew that her mother's disappearance was a mystery far greater than her father believed to be. For Dylan life was all about her family, friends, and surfing, until her seventeenth birthday, when she received an impossible gift. A gift she knows that must come from her mother. Now, Dylan needs to learn how to fit in this new world, and learn how to control her wonderful-yet frightful- abilities. But her strange dreams keep getting louder and louder: they plead for her help. Will Dylan be able to unravel this mystery and save those who call for her?

DISCLAIMER NOTICE: Please note that all pictures and videos used for this story are not mine. Also the original idea for this story is heavily based on Barbie in a mermaid tail. (Just making that clear before you read the book) **************************** Melody is a normal 16 year old girl living with her grandpa in Miami Florida. Melody loves swimming and feels like she belongs in the water. One day while going for her morning swim, she notices some blue shimmery scales appearing on her arm but just ignores it. The next day, it isn't just blue scales it's pink highlights. She tells her grandpa but is shocked at his reply. Then suddenly, she can breathe under water. Read to find out more.

Each baby born beneath the waves is killed--with one exception: the one hundred thousandth is spared. There's one rule shared between the island's tribes: don't touch the water. When Cressa-la breaks this law, her world, and body, changes. Sure, change is normal... but when has growing scales ever been normal? • • • Watty Award Winner 2015: Best Use of Visuals • • • Each baby born beneath the waves is killed--with one exception: the one hundred thousandth is spared. Among the spared, magic chooses a rare few, connecting them to the moon or sea. These are the One-Hundreds, mermaids and humans with the power to save the world-or corrupt it. When Cressa-la breaks the first rule of her tribe and touches the water surrounding her island, everything she knows turns on its head. Talking, sinister dolphins, mind control, and a whole world just under the waves await her on her eigteenth birthday... but she never asked for any of this. All she wanted was to become a Tribe Leader and take care of her village. It's amazing how one screw-up can change everything. A relentless darkness reaches for her, wanting her affections for his own twisted purposes. In opposition stands a fractured light, haunted by a painful past where corruption eroded friendship. Unless Cressa-la can bring the darkness to his knees and fight the war raging inside, the world is doomed. • • • Content warning: This story contains themes of depression and violence.

I am a predator. Humans are the prey. I feed off their fear as they drown in my arms. But life didn't used to be this way. I wasn't always half-human and half-fish. I used to be one of them. A human. This is my story.