My mouth falls open and my eyes widen as he leans in to kiss me, his lips taking over mine, sucking and nibbling, his tongue swooping in to taste. I raise my arms up to his neck, burying my fingers in his curls, and he slides his hands around my waist, moaning.
“Jude? Coral?” Gio’s voice echoes through the darkness, and I pull away and turn to see the others approaching.
“Coral, is that really you?” I nod, and Jude pulls back and looks down. My tail has disappeared, and he gasps as he sees two legs instead.
“What the hell happened to you? Are you okay?” Gio drops down beside me, pushing Jude out of the way, and cradles my head in one of his large, rough hands, his thumb stroking my cheek. His face is pinched with worry.
“She’s a mermaid,” Jude says solemnly, and although I don’t know the word, the image in his mind is crystal clear. I knew he’d never be able to keep my secret, even if I’d had a chance to ask him to. I drop my head, afraid to see the looks on their faces. They won’t all be as accepting as Jude, I’m sure.
“Shut the hell up, Jude. Now’s not the time to be funny.” Gio glares at him.
“I’m not joking, Gio. She had a tail two minutes ago.”
“Jude, there’s no such thing as mermaids. They’re mythical.” Liam pinches the top of his nose.
“I thought so too, until Coral crawled out of the water, six hours after she swam off, with a tail.” Jude stared him straight in the eyes to let him know he was serious.
“So, where’s the tail, Jude? Cuz all I see are legs.” Gio’s intense gaze swoops up and down my body.
“I don’t know, it disappeared! She covered herself up with sand when she saw me coming, but her… fin… was still sticking out. When I wiped the sand away, her entire lower half was a tail. It must disappear when it dries out.”
The others look between him and me incredulously.
Jude throws up his hands. “I’m telling you the truth! Get her wet if you don’t believe me.”
“We’ve seen her wet. We all went swimming together in the stream, and Avery gave her a sponge bath yesterday,” Liam says.
“That was fresh water. She probably only changes in salt water,” Jude says, garnering an eyebrow raise from Liam.
“Why don’t we just ask her?” Avery kneels down and strokes a hand down my legs. “Coral, are you a mermaid?” he whispers, his penetrating eyes locked on mine, the normally blue irises stormy gray in the moonlight.
All I can do is nod.
Liam shakes his head and turns away. “This is ridiculous. She doesn’t speak English; she can’t answer that question. She doesn’t even know what the word ‘mermaid’ means.”
“She can see what I’m thinking, Liam. Look, I’ll draw a picture.” Avery uses his finger to draw a crude figure in the sand — a woman with a tail.
“We call this a mermaid, Coral. Is that what you are?”
I want to deny it, to shake my head no and pretend my secret was never exposed, but it’s too late for that, and it’s too easy to prove. All they have to do is throw me in the water again. I could swim off, but I don’t want to. For better or for worse, I have to trust them.
I nod my head and speak the word that changes everything. “Mermaid.”
The guys stare at me silently, their minds swirling with shock and disbelief.
“Coral, does it hurt when you… change?” Gio asks, and I shake my head.
“We have to see for ourselves, Coral.” He says it like an apology then scoops me up and carries me down to the sea.
Jude and Avery follow, but Liam stays behind, and a piece of my heart tears away. Gio wades slowly into the water till he’s waist deep and my legs are submerged, so different from Jude’s approach. He stiffens, and his breathing falters, but he holds me tightly as my legs fuse together and my skin turns to scales.
He and the others gaze in fascination, and I wave my tail, my scales sparkling as I move and my fin splashing lightly. Avery reaches out to touch me, running his fingers gently up and down my scales, and Gio just stares at me, dumbstruck.
His grip gradually loosens till he’s no longer holding me, and I’m floating above his arms. I flip over and dive deep under the water, swimming away from them, building speed, then propel myself upward till I shoot from the water in a magnificent arch, my tail flinging a spray of water that showers them with droplets.
I catch a glimpse of Liam staggering towards the water, his mouth hanging open as my body penetrates the water again, and I swim back towards them. I make a pass around Liam, who’s waded out next to the others, then emerge in front of Gio.
I hold out my hands, and Gio scoops me up in his arms, exposing my tail. Liam comes closer and reaches out to touch me, shaky fingers caressing my scales. His hands run down the length of my tail then slide under my fin. “Iridescent cycloid scales. A webbed, horizontal caudal fin.” He lifts it up to examine it, tracing the translucent webbing between the rays.
“How do you respirate underwater? Do you have gills?” His eyes quickly scan the rest of my body, and I point to my back.
He slides his hand down my shoulder blade, feeling for my gills, and I turn in Gio’s arms to give him better access. I flex my gills, and he strokes them reverently.
“Will you let me watch you change, Coral?”
I nod, and Gio carries me back to the shore and lays me down on the sand. Avery strips off his tee shirt and wipes the water from my legs till my scales begin to melt away, revealing human legs underneath.
“Amazing!” Liam and the others watch, enraptured. “I wish I had a camera. This is the most extraordinary scientific discovery of the 21st century. The oceanography community will—”
“NO!” Gio, Jude, Avery, and I all shout at once, and my stomach twists in panic as she pictures showing me off to crowds of people.
Gio’s face contorts in a snarl, and he grabs Liam’s shirt in his fist. “Absolutely not, Liam. I’ll kill you before I let you turn her into a lab specimen to be caged and studied.”
He glances down at me. “I assume there’s others of your kind out there, right?”
I nod hesitantly.
“We have a duty to protect them, too. If word gets out, they’ll be hunted to extinction. We have to keep her secret.” Gio’s eyes blaze into each of theirs, demanding loyalty.
Liam drops his gaze at the ferocity of Gio’s stare. “You’re right. I know. I’m sorry.” He peeks up at me. “You’re just so incredible, Coral.” His hands run up the length of my legs. “I just can’t believe you’re real.”
The guys stare at me for several more moments, absorbing the enormity of their discovery, their minds flashing through all the fables they’ve heard and disregarded about my kind. Despite stories told by every generation, modern humans don’t believe my kind exists. For the merfolk’s sake, I’m glad, but it makes it that much harder for the guys to accept me. Before, I was just a mystery, a lost, little girl, but now I’m a legend that’s suddenly come to life, and it contradicts their reality. They can’t reconcile their feelings towards me. Can they ever get past their disbelief and see me as a person again and not some strange, mythical creature?
Their silence and my anxiety grows till Jude glances up at the sea, and suddenly something else more important to them takes over their thoughts. “Guys… Guys! GUYS! There’s a boat out there!”
The others whip their heads around and gape at the lights on the horizon, standing motionless for a moment. Suddenly, Gio leaps into action, and their introspection is pushed aside.
“Quick! We need to build up the fire so they can see it.” Gio rushes off towards the campfire and tosses more logs onto it, stoking it.
“We need to build two more fires down the beach a ways. Three in a row will make it more obvious it’s a distress signal,” Liam says, and the others grab handfuls of wood and take off down the shore line.
When they’ve assembled the kindling, Liam takes a small stick and ties some dried palm fronds around it then sticks it in t
he fire to ignite it. He carries the torch to the other fires and ignites them as well.
“Put more dry tinder in there to make the fire larger,” Liam says, and the others hustle off to find more materials.
“Now what?” Jude asks once the fires are blazing.
“Now we just wait. That’s probably the Coast Guard responding to our emergency signal, so it should lead them right to us.” Gio crosses his arms and stares out at the ocean, his body humming with energy.
All four of them radiate waves of excitement so strong it’s almost palpable, and their minds fill with images of distant places. They miss their family and friends and the comforts of home — luxuries I can’t even fathom. But new worries also flood their minds, concerns that will return to the forefront once they’re back in their own world.
Gio longs to embrace the dark-haired girl that haunts his dreams, and my own heart stings with jealousy. He’s worried he won’t be able to take care of her like he wants. Is she his mate? Is that why he’s kept me at arm’s length all this time? But he never thinks of her sexually or even romantically. So, what does she mean to him?
Liam’s thoughts revolve around large buildings teeming with people, full of rooms where one person talks while the others sit in chairs and listen, poking at electronic devices or wiggling long sticks across flat, white objects. Is that how humans learn from one another? He’s worried about how his failed expedition will affect his grades.
Avery imagines himself standing over a woman in a chair, combing her hair. At first I think she’s just a head with no body, and it startles me, but then I realize there’s a long, black covering draped over her upper half. He’s smiling and talking, and the lady seems enamored by him, but his thoughts sour when he pictures going home. He is nothing like his family, and they berate him for the choices he makes, teasing him and calling him cruel names. He longs to move out and find his own place, but he doesn’t know when he’ll be able to afford it. This treasure hunt was his only hope.
Jude fantasizes about hanging out with friends, laughing and having fun and drinking foamy, golden liquid from clear vessels while bright lights and loud sounds compete for his attention. But the guys who look like older versions of him also flit through his mind, and he’s afraid how they’ll respond when they find out he was shipwrecked and never found the treasure he was seeking. He doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do next. There are lots of women in his memories, but he doesn’t seem attached to any particular one. But he doesn’t picture me in any of those scenes, either.
In fact, my face doesn’t show up in any of their minds. Do they plan to leave me behind? Don’t they want me in their lives? Suddenly, the ship on the horizon becomes a faceless enemy instead of a savior, destined to separate us forever.
I panic as I realize my destiny is once again out of my hands. Without them, there’s nothing left for me here, but the thought of returning home is just as devastating. I have to make them take me with them, but how?
15
“I know it probably doesn’t have the turning radius of a John Deere or anything, but shouldn’t that ship be heading towards us by now?” Jude tries to joke, but his voice wobbles with anxiety.
We all watch nervously as the ship continues its path parallel to the island.
“No, no, no!” Gio freaks out when the lights grow smaller as it moves farther away, clearly passing us by. He races back towards the fires, tossing more logs and poking at the flames, trying to make them blaze brighter.
“This can’t be happening! Even if that’s not the Coast Guard, these signal fires should be visible from there! Why wouldn’t they investigate?” His face is pinched with worry, the flickering, orange flames casting menacing shadows on his twisted features.
The others have no explanation for him. We all know the boat isn’t coming back, but they stand silently, their hopes dissolving like sea foam as they watch it disappear, the heavy smoke from the nearby fires clouding the air. When the lights blink out of view completely, Gio slumps to the ground, more vulnerable and broken than I’ve ever seen him.
I sit down beside him and wrap my arms around his middle, laying my head on his shoulder, and try to comfort him as best I can without words. As much as I hate the thought of losing them, it tears my heart open to see their hopes crushed. A sob wracks Gio’s body, and he returns my embrace, engulfing me in his massive arms and resting his head on mine. A lone tear drips down his cheek and falls into my hair.
“I think we need to build a fire on higher ground; it’ll be more visible that way,” Liam says.
Gio sucks in a breath and gives me one last squeeze before climbing to his feet. “We’ll do it in the morning. It’s too dangerous to try to climb in the dark. We can’t afford any injuries.” He glances at me, his mind recalling my bruised, swollen ankle, imagining the pain.
The five of us head back towards the shelter and curl up in the life raft. I cuddle up next to Gio, burying my face in his chest, and he doesn’t seem to mind, just lays an arm over me, holding me close. Is it possible that they don’t care that I’m not human? Or are they just too upset about missing the boat to think about me right now? My mind churns with worried thoughts all night, keeping me awake, but I’m in no hurry for the morning. I know the subject of my inhuman nature will rise to the surface again in the light of day.
In the morning, the guys get busy building a small shelter and a campfire at the highest point on the island. Once in a while their thoughts drift to memories of me in the water, but I guess the issue of rescue is more pressing.
I fetch more water from the stream and catch some fish for them, vowing to make myself so valuable to them that they can’t possibly consider leaving me behind if they’re ever rescued. An idea drifts through my mind, and when the guys go back to work after their lunch break I head back to the ocean with Jude’s duffel bag.
I know the guys were on a mission to find a sunken treasure. I’ve seen the images in all of their minds — a large, wooden ship, laying at the bottom of the ocean, filled with gold and jewels. Perhaps they would’ve found it eventually if their own boat hadn’t sunk, but now it’s impossible.
But not for me. I know where the shipwreck is, and if bringing back some of the treasure will make the guys happy, I’ll risk anything to get it for them.
I wish I knew the words to tell them I’ll be back. I don’t want them to worry about me or think that I’ve run off again, but I have no idea how to express that. If I’m ever going to fit in to their world, I have to be able to communicate, so I vow to do everything I can to learn their language.
There’s a shipwreck near the shoal, an off-limits playground that’s tempted merlings for generations. We never told anyone, but Meribel, Kai, and I made a trip there once when we were younger. We were too scared to stay long, though, and we didn’t dare bring anything back or Grandfather would find it and punish us for going beyond our limits.
I’m not sure which way the shoal is from the island, but maybe a dolphin or an orca could help me, if I can find one. I swim out into the deep water, looking for familiar sights or friendly faces, and keeping an eye out for any dangers lurking behind the rocks or hiding in the sea grass.
Mermaids don’t have many natural predators, but curious sharks have been known to take a nibble, only to spit us out when they decide we’re not that tasty. Still, merfolk tell their merlings scary stories of sharks devouring our kind to encourage them to stay near the shoal. I can’t help but feel a little nervous out in the open waters all by myself, not a soul in the world knowing my whereabouts.
Finally, I recognize a section of coral where Meribel and I used to play. I swim faster, even though I’m getting tired, following the clumps of coral in the direction of the shipwreck. Suddenly, the sound of merlings playing tickles my ears, their high-pitched squeals bubbling around them, their tails stirring up clouds of sand as they frolic in the reef.
I panic and duck behind a rock, peeking out between the branches of an elk horn
coral. The merlings are playing a game of hide-n-seek, and my heart swells into my throat at the memories of my own childhood. Why do we have to grow up? Why can’t we stay merlings forever, playing games with our friends in the coral, never worrying about anything more than the scary creatures fabled to gobble us up if we leave the shoal?
I ache for the end of my youth, the demands of my destiny, the loss of my friends and family. Now, my heart truly has been torn in two, half of it still here in the shoal, forever tied to my home and my kind, the other half now drawn with an ever-strengthening bond to four humans and the world above the sea.
For a moment, I think about returning to the shoal, just to see my grandfather and Meribel again, to hug Muriel and tell her thank you for being a good mother to me when my own rejected me, to apologize to Kai for ruining the future that he had planned. But I know if I go it will bring nothing but heartache because none of them will be satisfied with my answers, and there’s no way I can ever be what they want me to be.
No, I’ve made my choice. My home is with the humans now, and I’ll do everything in my power to make a life with them. If they’ll have me.
When the merlings swim off, I dash from my hiding spot and swim towards the shipwreck out past the edges of the reef. There, the water is deep and dark, and the wreck is home to lots of creatures I don’t normally see. As I approach the ship, I make a little noise to alert them to my presence. A few schools of fish dart from the wreckage and swim off in agitation.
Unlike the guys’ boat, this ship is broken and deteriorating. It’s been here for as long as anyone can remember. The wooden hull is dark and covered with algae and other creatures that feast on the rotting wood. My tail is tough, but I have to be careful not to injure my upper body on the rough surfaces.
I swim into one of the openings, frightening a giant, dozing fish and myself, and a nervous giggle bubbles out of me. The ship is large, and I’m not sure where to look for treasure, but I float through the spaces, swishing my tail around on the bottom, stirring up sediment, looking for anything interesting. Everything is covered in muck, but a tiny spark catches my eye, and I swim closer, plucking a small, gold coin from the ground. I feel around with my fingers and find a few more, sticking them in the duffel bag, until I have one for each guy.
Sirens and Scales Page 14
