Shearwater: Ocean Depths Book One (FULL)

by D. S. Murphy

Derry bit his lip but finally nodded.

  We walked over to the pub together and Liam set a couple steaming plates in front of us with poached eggs, bacon, toast and fried tomatoes. I was hungrier than I thought I was. I don’t remember the last time I sat down and had a real meal. I ate half a sandwich last night at Ethan’s picnic, before things got out of hand.

  We met Jackie at the bus stop. I smiled at her, but found a seat by myself in the back. I had one more thing to do first. At school, I waited for Ethan in the parking lot until he arrived.

  “What do you want?” he growled, climbing off his bike.

  “I found the other merrow,” I said, pulling out my phone and showing him Trevor’s picture.

  “Why are you showing me this? I thought you were on their side.”

  “How can I be on their side?” I said. “Just because I’m part merrow doesn’t mean I want the human race to be wiped out. I’m more human than merrow. And they’re killers. This one attacked me at Travis’s funeral. I’m not strong enough to do anything about it, but the Tuatha Dé might be able to. Plus, we made a deal. I promised you another merrow to leave Sebastian alone.”

  “So that’s what this is about,” Ethan said with a grim smile. “You’re still protecting him. Well, the deal’s off. Merrow are bloodthirsty monsters, and they’ve all got to die.”

  I shuddered. Was he talking about Sebastian… or me? I sent him Trevor’s picture anyway and headed to first period. I was getting worried about Sebastian. He still hadn’t responded to any of my texts. What if the Tuatha Dé got to him already?

  At lunchtime I joined Jackie and Patricia at our usual table. Jackie raised an eyebrow at me but didn’t say anything. I listened to the small talk for a while. I could tell they were giving me space. But finally Patricia lost her cool and put down her chicken nuggets.

  “Okay, sorry, but are we going to talk about the elephant in the room or what? It’s been days since the attack, and it’s driving me crazy.”

  Jackie looked at me pointedly. “At the police station it seemed like you knew something about the attackers. You said you were going to ask Sebastian, though I’m not sure how he’s connected. We’ve been waiting. Did you find anything out?”

  There was no way to do this without seeming crazy.

  “Mermaids,” I blurted out.

  There was a long pause, then Patricia stood up.

  “I’m out,” she said. “It’s too soon. Half of those kids aren’t even in the ground yet, and she’s joking about it like it’s no big deal.”

  “You saw how fast they moved,” I said. “That’s something they do. And they used the shark teeth to cover their tracks and make it look like a shark attack. Because they aren’t ready to reveal themselves yet. Why would humans do that?”

  “And Bedelia, and the other girls… you think mermaids did that too?” Jackie leaned away from me with her arms crossed. She was eyeing me critically, trying to figure out whether I was crazy, or just a compulsive liar.

  “Yes, but that was a different one. The group that attacked at the bonfire, they were military.”

  “Mermaid military.” Jackie repeated with a cocked eyebrow. This wasn’t going well. I gulped and pushed forward.

  “The other was just a lone asshole who likes killing girls. There were laws against interacting with humans, but now the royal family is missing, so the deviants have gotten bolder because they know nobody will stop them.” I was digging my own grave here. I looked back and forth between Patricia and Jackie, willing them to believe me. I wished Derry was here, to at least back me up about Trevor. Or Ethan or Sebastian, though I’m not sure whether they would have even supported me or denied all of this.

  “Whatever,” Patricia said. “I don’t know if you’ve gone off your meds or what, but this isn’t funny. If you don’t know anything, just say so. Don’t make shit up. It’s not cool.”

  “What did you expect me to say?” I asked her. “You saw how fast they moved.”

  “I don’t know. Ninjas or martial arts experts or something, maybe hyped up on speed or coke. Not mermaids. I just—I can’t. I’m done.” She held a palm up, then turned and left.

  “You don’t believe me either,” I slumped, looking at Jackie.

  She sighed. “I’m not sure if you really believe what you’re saying, or whether you’re deliberately lying. But no, I don’t believe in homicidal mermaids. We’ve tried to be here for you, after your parent’s death, but then, all this stuff keeps happening. I thought it was bad luck at first. I felt sorry for you. You seem to attract drama. But I saw you leaving with Ethan yesterday, and then fighting with him this morning in the parking lot. A week ago you were with Sebastian. I don’t know what happened to him. And Jackie heard a rumor that you punched another lover at Travis’s funeral. I’m starting to think I don’t know you at all, or at least you’re not the person I thought you were.”

  My jaw dropped open. For some reason, coming from Jackie, that stung more than anything else that had happened in the last few days.

  “That wasn’t a lover,” I said. “That was Trevor. Derry’s boyfriend, the one who hit him. He’s also a mermaid. He’s the one that killed Bedelia,” I finished, laying all my cards on the table.

  “Do you even hear yourself?” Jackie said. “I don’t know how you can make things up on the spur of the moment and keep a straight face. And you say them with such earnestness… it’s really disturbing. It makes me wonder about everything you told us. The note on the door, the guy in the bar… was any of that true?”

  I was tearing up now. This day hadn’t gone anything like I’d hoped.

  “I’m really sorry,” Jackie said, picking up her lunch tray. “We’re all still shaken up about what happened. But I can’t encourage these ideas you have or humor you. I think you might need help. For now I think maybe it’s best if we don’t hang out anymore.”

  I made it to the bathroom before the tears really started pouring. It was so unfair. I’d finally tried to tell the truth and my friends thought I was lying. Sure, it was ludicrous, but they could have made more of an effort to believe me. I thought today I’d at least have my friends back, but I’d miscalculated. Now I’d pushed everyone away, and I was completely alone. Ethan thought I’d seduced him with my merrow charms to find out more about the weapons of the Tuatha Dé. Jackie and Patricia thought I was an attention whore. I sniffled back my tears as I heard voices.

  “A lover’s spat at a funeral, that’s a new low, even for her.”

  “I heard he punched her, and she fell right into the hole, on top of the casket.”

  “They should’ve been quick and filled in the grave. Nobody would have missed her. She’s such a slut. Hooking up with that Icelandic hottie and then slumming it with Ethan.”

  “I can’t blame her for the first though, I mean, have you seen him? Yum. Ethan’s kind of sexy too, though you know what they say about his family. Not worth it.”

  When the girls left I was done feeling sorry for myself. I was pissed. My tears left dark streaks of mascara down my face. I wiped them off as well as I could, which just left blotchy black patches around my eyes. Now it looked like I’d been in another fight. Great.

  It didn’t matter. I’d had enough of school for one day. Sebastian still wasn’t returning my messages and I was frantic. He’d never gone this long without responding. I decided to take the rest of the day off and drop by his place. I stopped at my locker to stuff my books away—it’s not like I was going to do any homework tonight. I noticed the envelope just as I was about to shut the locker door. A small, brown envelope with my name on it. Maybe I had another admirer?

  Inside were three photographs of Sebastian and I near the shore after our last swim together. The pictures showed him drying his tail in the sun, then tugging it off and tossing it in the water. Shit. A single sheet of paper was also in the envelope, with a ransom-note style message cut from lots of different magazines.

  I know what he is. I have a video. Bring 10,000
pounds to the Old Bushmills Distillery tomorrow at 7pm. Put them in the blue crate behind the building, then leave. Come alone and take the next bus. Or I’ll tell everybody.

  ***

  I took a public bus back to Portballintrae and walked to the Runkerry house. It wasn’t that far, just down the hill from the Giant’s Causeway Visitor Center. The massive building stood alone on the edge of a small peninsula, with flat green grass that ended abruptly at the edge of the dark cliffs that plunged downloads into the ocean. The water was dark teal and looked like broken glass against the gray sky.

  I pressed the buzzer outside the main fence and waited for someone to let me in. I expected Sebastian to appear suddenly, like he had last time. Smirking at me. I’d seen him just two days ago, but it felt like much longer. The Runkerry house looked quiet and empty. The large glass window watched me solemnly. The last words I spoke to Sebastian were ringing in my ears as the wind picked up into a howl.

  I need to stay… and you need to go.

  Would he have left without saying goodbye? Was he gone already? I wrapped my arms around myself but I felt like I was unraveling. I’d come here to warn Sebastian about Ethan, and to tell him about the note I’d received. I was counting on him to comfort me and say that he’d solve it somehow. Solve everything. But if he was already gone, I was on my own. Completely and utterly. I walked across the grass towards the shore. With the dark sea and gray clouds, the grass in Ireland always seemed almost unnaturally green. The wind teased my dark hair so I pulled it into a simple braid. I reached the wooden table where Sebastian had revealed himself to me, trusting me with his secret. One of the wooden boards had been replaced recently. I wondered if Sebastian had done that. He was so responsible. A fixer, like me. And I’d let him leave. No, I’d told him to leave. I regretted it now. I felt like diving into the sea and chasing after him—but it was too vast, too big. I’d never find him. It was a barrier, a division, between us.

  That’s when I heard the music. The soft keys of a piano, expertly played. The delicate notes carried on the wind like fallen leaves. At first I thought I was imagining it. But then there was a lull in the breeze and I could hear it more clearly. I hurried over to the edge of the bluff and saw a sleek grand piano set up on the rocks below. Its narrow legs disappeared into the white foam seething between the black rocks. Silver candelabras held tall white candles with flickering yellow tips. Sebastian looked up at me and smiled, but continued playing. Joy filled my heart at the sight of him. The scene was strangely surreal yet oddly perfect. I looked up and saw that a double rainbow had formed on the horizon; the bright colors framing Sebastian perfectly. It was so fortuitously magical I started laughing.

  “What is this?” I asked, after climbing down the rocks to join him.

  “You’re here too early. I was just practicing—I was planning on picking you up later and surprising you.”

  “It’s amazing, but why?”

  Sebastian stopped playing and stood up to face me. He took my hands in his.

  “I know there are a thousand reasons why we can’t be together. I know it’s impractical, and it doesn’t make any sense. But I didn’t want to risk not making it clear how I feel about you.”

  My heart started pounding and my cheeks warmed up.

  “So… a piano?”

  “A grand gesture,” he smiled. “To show you that sometimes you have to make an effort for the things you want most. Even if it seems crazy.”

  He stroked my cheek with the back of his fingers and his green eyes burned with intensity. I licked my lips, and then parted them, as he brought his face closer and hovered, inches away. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I leaned forward and pushed my lips to his. His lips were soft and salty. I leaned into him and he wrapped his arms around me. His body was safety, warmth, comfort and adventure. With my hands on his chest I could feel the strength of the ocean inside him. Our first kiss was everything I’d imagined it would be, and more.

  But then I pulled back.

  “Are you sure? If we’re together, you’ll be giving up your home, your family. You’ll always be on the run.”

  “I was on the run before I met you… and I’ve never felt like I belonged anywhere. With you, for the first time, I feel like I have something to live for. Somewhere I belong.”

  I was out of arguments. And as he reached out and tilted my chin upwards, all my resistance melted away. He kissed me desperately, like he wanted to breathe me in. I melted into him, moaning softly. Everything else faded away, and there was only this. The water at my feet. The fire in my veins. And Sebastian.

  34

  “Come on in, the water’s fine,” Sebastian called. He’d dived in from the shore in front of the Runkerry house and his exo was already forming around his lower body. The water fizzled and sparkled around him. I tested the water with my toe.

  “Liar” I glared. I put my legs in, gritting my teeth against the freezing water. I knew from experience that the cold would disappear after a few minutes, once the changes began. I watched the rainbow lights, and felt tingling as my merrow blood began to heal my body. Scratches disappeared, as well as all pain. I felt renewed, refreshed. Even the near-constant anxiety that I carried with me lately began to relax. Although I couldn’t transform completely, the water still felt welcoming.

  We’d spent the previous evening curled up in Sebastian’s living room, watching the seagulls parade on the grass outside the window. Sebastian built a fire and we sipped jasmine tea and cuddled as I told him everything that had happened in the last few days. When I got to the part about Trevor, his eyes darkened and I saw him clench his fists, but he didn’t interrupt me. Then I pulled out the blackmail note and pictures, but he shrugged like it was no big deal.

  “You’re already in danger. If these photos get published you won’t be able to stay here or blend in. Everybody will know about the merrow, about you.”

  “Maybe it’s time they know. The merrow are coming anyway, right? Maybe it’s better to let the secret out.”

  “But you’d be a target. And so would I—I’d never be able to have a normal life if these pictures came out. I’d be that girl who dated a mermaid.” His lip curled up in a smirk and I punched his arm.

  “Okay, so we’ll pay,” he said.

  “10,000 pounds? I can’t get that kind of money, Aedan is struggling as it is.” Sebastian went into the kitchen and pulled a cardboard box out of a drawer, then tossed it on the living room table. My jaw dropped as I looked inside. Gold and silver coins, jeweled necklaces, and massive pearls gleamed from the small box. It looked like pirate booty. Sebastian shrugged.

  “Merrow love shiny things. And the ocean is full of shipwrecks.”

  “You pulled all of this from a shipwreck?” I said.

  “There’s a lot more where that came from,” Sebastian said. “Tomorrow, if you’re up for it, we can take a swim and collect some more. Then we’ll pay off whichever idiot took these pictures. Problem solved.”

  “For now,” I said, biting my lip.

  “As for what happened with Trevor,” his eyes darkened, “I should have been there with you. It was stupid to let you go alone, with everything that’s going on. But I can’t be with you all the time. You’ll never be as powerful as a full merrow, but at least I can teach you some basic self-defense, to keep you safe in case I’m not around.”

  “You’re going to teach me to fight?” I asked, suddenly excited.

  “I’m going to teach you how to defend yourself,” Sebastian corrected. “That doesn’t mean you should start looking for trouble. Smart choices to avoid conflict will protect you more than anything I teach you.”

  I could hardly wait for school to end. Not only did I get to go on an underwater treasure hunt, but I would also finally learn how to protect myself. It was about freaking time. I was so tired of being helpless and afraid. Even though school sucked worse than usual now that none of my friends were speaking to me, I found myself glowing with happiness. I’d kissed Seb
astian. I thought he was the enemy, that I had a moral responsibility to side with the humans. But after my date with Ethan, I realized I didn’t belong anywhere. Ethan’s eyes filled with disgust when I told him what I was. No matter what I chose for myself, the Tuatha Dé would always see me as a monster. Sebastian never looked at me that way. He treated me like I was something special. And we made sense. We were both outcasts. We were alone, together.

  I took a deep breath and plunged into the water, submersing my head, then dog-paddled towards Sebastian. I panicked a little, until my feet found a rock I could stand up on. I still hated being unmoored. I took out the cap Sebastian had given me on our first swim together and stretched it over my neck. Then I dove underwater. It ballooned up immediately, allowing me to breathe and see through the water clearly. My eyes adjusted to the darkness of the water faster this time, allowing in more light and color. It was almost a form of night vision.

  Part of me was still terrified of the ocean. The depth, the vastness of it. So much space on every side. But another part of me felt like I belonged, like all that water was an extension of myself. And then there was Sebastian. I reached him and threw my arms over his shoulders. His body armor was rough but powerful—it was like holding on to an anchor. Steady and secure.

  I realized he was scanning the shore with narrowed eyes.

  “You think someone is still there?” I asked.

  “No,” Sebastian said. “I’ve been watching. There’s no way to the shore without cutting across the grass. They might have sneaked past me before when I wasn’t paying attention, but now that I’m looking for them, there’s no way. Anyway, let’s forget about it and try to have some fun today. We’re going to the wreck of La Girona, out near Dunluce Castle. It was part of the Spanish Armada of 1588.”

  “Race you there?” I joked. Without a tail it would take me ages to swim that far. Sebastian ducked underwater and made a sound like a whistle. In a few moments, I felt something rubbery nuzzling my elbow—one of the dolphins that had swum with us last time.