by J. Holland
When she got back to her apartment a few hours later, she discovered Nerissa still soundly asleep in bed. She crawled under the covers with her, causing Nerissa to squirm and shriek when Lorelei laid her chilly hands against her warm stomach.
"Wake up, sleepy head. We've got plans."
"Plans? What plans?"
"It's a surprise."
Nerissa grumbled, but climbed out of bed and headed for the shower.
"Dress warm!" Lorelei called after her.
While she was in the shower, Lorelei's phone started ringing. She dug it out of her purse just in time to catch it from going to voicemail.
"Hello?"
"Lorelei? This is Walt, the locksmith, returning your call. I'm sorry it took so long. I've been out of town all week. Just got back."
"Hey Walt. I am so happy to hear from you. I found this old chest on the beach, but it's locked. I was hoping you could take a look at it sometime."
"Sure. How does first thing Monday morning sound?"
"9 o'clock?"
"Perfect. I'll see you then."
Lorelei hung up the phone just as Nerissa shut off the water. She poured the finished coffee into a pair of thermoses for the road. She handed one to Nerissa as she stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, and she took it with her as she wandered into the bedroom to change. Lorelei shamelessly watched her walk away.
A few minutes later, the two of them and their coffee were in Lorelei's car, heading out of town. Nerissa had only ridden in the car a few times and she rolled her window down a touch, enjoying the sensation of motion and speed. They didn't go far, and Nerissa realized where they were going as soon as Lorelei pulled to the side of the road.
"My beach?"
"Well, it is where we first met."
"You sap. That was a whole week ago. Feels like longer, doesn't it?"
Lorelei smiled and got out of the car. Nerissa followed, breathing deep as the ocean breeze hit her face.
"I packed a picnic for us to eat out here. This is one of my favorite places to sit and think."
"Mine too. I've missed it this week."
Lorelei popped open the trunk and reached in to grab the basket she had hidden there after work.
"Where did you get that?" came Nerissa's strangled voice behind her.
She turned around to see that Nerissa had gone deathly pale. Lorelei followed her gaze and realized that she was staring at the chest in horror.
"I found it. Last week on the beach," Lorelei explained.
"You've had it this whole time?" Nerissa started to hyperventilate. "You tricked me. You took it and you were there on the beach. You just happened to show up right when I needed someone."
"Nerissa, calm down. I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Don't tell me to calm down," Nerissa shouted. Lorelei was shocked. She had never seen Nerissa angry about anything before. Now she was furious. She shoved Lorelei out of the way and snatched the chest from Lorelei's trunk before turning and running toward the beach.
Lorelei had no idea what was happening, but she turned and ran after Nerissa, scrambling down the rocks. By the time Lorelei caught up with her, Nerissa had the trunk placed on sand and was running her fingers over it carefully with tears in her eyes. She glared at Lorelei when she approached, and Lorelei took a step back.
"I bet you thought it was funny. Stupid little selkie girl, doesn't even realize she's been lured and trapped. Off searching all over town for something right under her nose the whole time." Tears were streaming down her face now as she pulled the chain from around her neck and fit the key into the lock of the chest.
Lorelei approached with caution, aware of something feral in Nerissa's eyes as a pressure built in the air. She wasn't sure what to do.
"Okay. So this is your trunk. I'm sorry I took it from the beach," she soothed. "I swear I didn't know it was yours. I didn't know you were looking for it. Because you didn't tell me. You didn't tell me anything."
"Lies. All of your fantasy movies about magic and creatures, you just wanted some for yourself." By this time, Nerissa had wrenched open the lid of the chest. Lorelei was too far away to see what was inside, but she watched Nerissa's face crumple with relief when she realized the contents were untouched.
"You want magic? I'll give you magic."
Lorelei's jaw dropped as Nerissa dragged her sweaters over her head and unclasped her bra. She stood and kicked off her shoes before shimmying out of her pants, leaving her naked. She didn't say another word to Lorelei, just pulled something large and gray from the chest and darted to the water's edge. Lorelei watched in shock as Nerissa pulled the gray skin around her and the air seemed to shimmer. One minute Nerissa was staring at her with a mocking smile and the next there was what appeared to be a large harbor seal in her place. Lorelei couldn't wrap her head around it.
Selkie. Nerissa said Selkie.
Lorelei was sure she had heard the word before, but her brain was too fuzzy to remember it clearly. She suddenly realized that she wasn't breathing.
Her eyes had stayed locked on Nerissa's and she realized that the seal had the exact same chocolate colored irises, large and limpid now but still recognizable. Lorelei sank to her knees in the wet sand.
The seal turned and without a backward glance, slipped beneath the waves.
*~*~*
Lorelei sighed as the last customer of the day let the door slam behind him on the way out. It had been two weeks since what her brain could only refer to as The Incident. She hadn't seen Nerissa since then, and she hadn't shown up for work at the library either. Lorelei had stopped by to check and had spun a story for the nosy librarian that Nerissa had had to leave town suddenly to visit family. She was pretty sure the woman thought that she had murdered Nerissa and hidden her body under her floorboards or something.
At this point, that would probably make more sense.
Lorelei vacillated between being absolutely sure that she had finally gone crazy and hallucinated the whole thing and wildly researching selkie lore until three in the morning. She hadn't found much, but at least the legends had seemed to match up with some of her experiences with Nerissa, which reassured her somewhat that she wasn't completely out of her mind. Reading between the lines of most of the old stories she encountered, she could understand Nerissa's rage and horror at discovering that Lorelei was the one who had taken her skin, however unwittingly. The stories were full of men trapping selkie women and forcing them to stay with them, knowing the woman had no other choice. It made her sick to think that she could have done that. The idea that Nerissa had only been staying with her because of the proximity of her skin, not because it was actually her choice, made Lorelei want to cry.
She couldn't believe how quickly her life had changed. She had only known Nerissa a week and they had only barely started a relationship, but Lorelei didn't seem to be able to do anything without it reminding her of Nerissa. She walked around her small apartment and saw Nerissa curled up in a blanket nest on the couch or pulling appliances out of kitchen cupboards or coming from the bathroom wrapped only in a towel. The worst part was the bedroom. Lorelei had never really shared bed for so long with anyone before Nerissa, but she found herself unable to sleep without the sound of her breathing and the feel of her pressing her whole body against Lorelei for warmth. On the plus side, Lorelei had lost weight. She wasn't sure that should count as a plus, because it meant she was hardly eating.
The chime of the bell above her door pulled Lorelei from her thoughts.
"We're closed," she announced without looking up.
"I know."
Lorelei's head snapped up so fast she thought she might have whiplash. She hadn't been mistaken though. Nerissa was standing in the doorway, looking sheepish and uncertain.
"So, it has occurred to me that I may possibly have overreacted."
"Nerissa," Lorelei breathed. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."
"I didn't think that I'd be back. I was so angry and
so scared and hurt and all I wanted was to go home."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't. It occurred to me somewhere around the seventh wave that I was not exactly thinking clearly about things. I mean, if you had taken the trunk on purpose and then were actually such an amazing actress that you completely fooled me for a solid week, why would you leave it in the car where you knew I could see it? Why would you go through all that trouble and then just stand there while I escaped? I'm the one who is sorry. I should have trusted you."
"There is nothing to be sorry for. I'm just glad that you came back," Lorelei was still trying to convince herself that this was really happening and not just a very elaborate wish-fulfillment daydream. "I mean, are you back back? How are you back? I thought that you had to wait seven years or something."
Nerissa laughed and Lorelei actually felt her knees go weak. She sat down hard on a stool.
"Don't believe everything you read. We do what we want. We aren't bound by any more rules than humans."
She took a few more steps toward Lorelei and took a deep breath before going ahead.
"I'm back. However you want me. Do you mind if we just start over?"
Lorelei smiled and stuck out her hand.
"Lorelei. Human. Lesbian." Nerissa rolled her eyes.
"Nerissa. Selkie. Asexual. Pleased to meet you."
Nerissa clasped Lorelei's hand in her own and smiled brightly. Lorelei decided starting over was just fine with her.
Fin
About the Author
J. Holland is a wandering soul who finds inspiration wherever she goes. She loves sleeping in National Parks, 12-hour Netflix binges, and cuddling. Check out her website for more: flightsoffantasyreviews.com.
