by B. C. Sirrom
* * *
I had called Allison when I was an hour from home which gave me enough time to calm my nerves…or so I thought. I’d explained my need for a friend but not the reason. She was waiting at the bottom step of my apartment building. I took one look at her and broke down bawling.
“There, there. When you’re ready, you can tell me all about it. I’ll stay as long as you want. Larry came home early from work to watch the kids.” She wrapped her arm around me and ushered me up to my apartment, where I told her about the mysterious man, the wager, his fishing, the story about Drac, and how I’d made love to him.
She assured me I didn’t cheat on Jonathon and for the rest of the night as I dozed on-and-off, dreaming of the stranger, she stuck by my side and remained my rock.
Over the next month conversation about my trip to Seaside came up a lot with Allison. I didn’t feel guilty anymore and had told her that I often wished I could go back to see if that night was the beginning of a relationship.
“Why don’t you?” she asked.
“I wasn’t serious”
“Why not? You want to see him. It’s obvious to everyone who hears you talk about him.” She handed me a mug that she’d just washed and gestured to the dripping dishes on a towel in front of me that I was supposed to be drying. “When you’re not talking about him, you’re thinking of him. The mystery man. You can’t tell me I’m wrong.”
“I…” I wanted to argue with her but I felt like a bear with my hands stuck in the honey pot so I admitted, “Yes, I do want to see him.”
She plucked the towel out of my hand and tossed it on the air-drying dishes. “Come with me.” She led me to the hallway closet and pulled out my black duffle bag. From the way it sagged I could tell it was filled. “It has three days' worth of clothes and all the toiletries I thought you’d need. I bought you a Visa gift card too. It should be enough to get a hotel room, gas, and some meals. Go and find him.”
Tears welled in my eyes. “But what if he’s not looking for me?”
She put her hand on her hip. “You’ll never know if you don’t try.” She nudged me to door.
I looked around my apartment trying to find an excuse. “But the dishes aren’t done.”
She put the bag in my hand. “I’ll finish and lock up.” She opened the door and handed me my purse.
“What about work?”
“It’s only a job at a department store but I’ve already talked to your manager and some of your coworkers. I told them you’d need a few days off and why. They were all willing to help.”
My jaw dropped. I was dumfounded. She smiled and hugged me. “Just call me when you find him.”
“I will.” I hugged her back. “Thank you.”
I drove the long five hours back to Seaside, stopping once when I felt a little nauseous. I bought a pack of crackers and a bottle of ginger ale from the convenient store, hoping it was nerves and not the beginning of a stomach virus.
When I stepped out of my car to check into the same dilapidated motel two men dressed black suits and dark sunglasses approached me. Both had slicked back shoulder length blond hair, strong jaw lines, and broad shoulders. Except for the three-inch height difference they could’ve passed as twins. “Treasa Bronson?” shortie asked.
“Yes?”
“You need to come with us.”
My eyes narrowed. “Why? Are you with the FBI or something? Do you have ID?”
Taller dude laughed and I really wished he hadn’t because the laugh sounded more appropriate for a menacing villain from a horror flick.
The hairs on the back on my neck stood up on end. I shoved my bag at them and backed toward my car. Taller dude swatted my bag away while I fumbled for the door handle. Shortie lunged forward with a white cloth in his hand. I screamed. Each locked a vice-like grip around my arms and that cloth came down over my nose and mouth.
Chloroform, my mind shrieked, instantly feeling its sleepy effects.
I awoke in an underwater prison, the metal bars forming an eight-by-twelve rectangle around me. And when I say underwater, that is exactly what I meant because the cell was enclosed by a dome, filled with breathable air. A low hum coming from the dome registered to my ears. Outside a grand, five-story high castle complete with turrets and uniformed guards pacing across horizontal rooftops rose up from the rocky floor. Coral colored buildings decorated with shells and barnacle facades spanned in every other direction. Merfolk, both mermen and mermaids, swam by, gawking and pointing in passing as though I was their kingdom’s latest spectacle.
I rubbed my eyes. Surely this was a dream. But when I opened them again, nothing had changed.
Feeling woozy and lightheaded, I stood up and took cautious steps toward the door. I shook it, knowing it wouldn’t budge. “Hello? Where am I? Want did I do?” My voice was strained, pleading and on the verge of a cry that echoed off the dome walls.
Trumpets blared. The merfolk paused and faced the castle. Oversized pristine doors opened and almost in unison, the merfolk bent at the waist and bowed. Except for a jeweled crown and long, cherry-red hair that flowed aimlessly in the water my sight of their royal dictator was blocked. Trying to get a better view I jumped up and down and when that didn’t work I took steps to the left. The merfolk parted making way for what I assumed was their queen. She was dressed in a formal mossy green gown and oversized scaly cape. She held a trident in her left hand and her tail fin swished gracefully, moving her forward until she was directly outside my dome. My first impression was that she wasn’t bone-chillingly intimidating but with the strapping blond twins who kidnapped me from the motel parking lot flanking each of her sides, she didn’t exactly look friendly either.
“I am Melusina, queen of Andria,” she shrilled in a pitch so high my hands instinctively covered my ears. She opened her arms wide gesturing to the kingdom around her. The merfolk cheered. She patted the air, quieting her subjects and turned a cold gaze on me. “Treasa Bronson, you were summoned here because of your affiliation with Drac. As his mate, your punishment is death.”
“What?” My voice rose as her accusation set in. “No…you’re wrong!”
She continued unaltered by my outburst, “He is our mortal enemy. Word has been sent of your capture in hopes he will come and when he does, death will find both of you.” She smiled revealing jagged shark-like teeth. A chill spiked down my spine and trailed down each limb. I took a deep breath and wrapped my arms, hands fisted, around my waist. “The sun will illuminate and fall through these waters for three days and three nights. By dawn on the fourth, you will be tied to that post where you will find your ultimate fate.” She turned and pointed a long elegant finger to a wooden post that was etched with an ornate scene. From my peripheral vision I saw a spear fly through the water and land directly in the center of the post.
Tears burned my eyes and I willed myself not to cry. The picture of Drac, the sea serpent, flashed across my mind. Surely, there was some kind of mistake. “I want a lawyer,” I demanded in a low, timid voice.
Melusina flashed me her wicked smile again. “My orders are the only judgment in this kingdom.” She turned and walked back toward the castle.
“Please,” I cried, shaking the bars. “I don’t know Drac. I’m not part of your battle with him and I’m certainly not his mate.”
When she didn’t turn back I spun in a slow circle, looking at the merfolk, trying to find some ounce of sympathy. They just shook their heads in disgust like they gave more relevance to pond scum than to me.
Eventually they moved on, presumably continuing their daily task. I lay in the middle of the prison and curled up in fetal position. The existence of merfolk was hard to digest but I had bigger problems on my hands. Why was I here? Melusina claimed I was Drac’s mate, but he was a sea serpent and I was well…not. Nothing made sense.
I felt weak and my stomach was churning. I closed my eyes, trying to convince myself that this was a terrible, terrible dream.
When I awo
ke, a loaf of bread, two bottles of water, and a bucket with a lid were at my feet. I crawled to the bread and took bite, slowly chewing and savoring it in case it was all I received. I ate only a third of the bread and then washed it down with some of the water. I pried open the lid to the bucket and felt my eyebrows shoot up. “They can’t be serious,” I whispered to myself, pressing the lid back on. Then I laughed, a hearty deep-down belly laugh.
I looked outside my dome. Merfolk were swimming in different direction but the crowd was considerably smaller. The water was nearing darkness and lights illuminated from windows and streetlamps. For the next two hours I paced or crossed my legs as I waited for the streets to clear. Other than the constant watchful guards around the castle I finally felt alone. I moved the bucket to the furthest corner of my cell and opened it again. I pulled out the roll of toilet paper, sat down, and relieved myself.
Over the next few days, time seemed to linger as I paced, ate, slept and pleaded with amused merfolk who stopped. I tried not to look at the wooden pole too long but it was my last night and Melusina’s final words played over and over in my head. By dawn on the fourth, you will be tied to that post where you will find your ultimate fate. I was going to be executed unless a sea serpent that I didn’t know saved me. If the situation wasn’t so dire I would’ve laughed.
The kingdom’s square was quiet with little to look at for over an hour. I had just settled down and closed my eyes when the ground shook. Had I imagined it? It shook again giving me my answer. I bolted upright. The castle trumpets sounded and panicked hollers echoed around me.
My heart quickened and I jumped to my feet grabbing the bars. Deep animalistic roars bellowed and a blast of fire shot at a turret a moment before the menacing sea serpent came into my view. He looked every bit like the picture I’d seen at the Wharf. But with a thick neck, wide wings and the body the size of conjoined hump back whales, he was three times bigger than I had imagined. The creature had scaly skin, wild yellow eyes and looked more like a cross between a dinosaur and a dragon than a fish.
Uniformed mermen hollered and launched harpoons and spiked balls from catapults. Drac swished his wings, spiraled to the side, and averted the mermen’s attack. Drac craned his long neck and took out the row of mermen and catapults with a single fiery blast from his mouth.
Flickers of lights came from my side. I whirled around and saw several more sea serpents attacking but none were as big as the first. From open house windows, merfolk rolled up cannons, where its muzzle ends peaked out. A moment later the earth shattering sound boomed as cannon balls sailed through the water. The tail of a sea serpent was hit. He wailed, shot a fiery breath, and disappeared into the shadows.
Another wailing cry came from my right. I spun and covered my head just as a sea serpent littered with harpoons landed on my glass dome. Blinding white light flashed and the constant dull hum made a thunderous electrical crack. The glass dome only fractured but with the creature laying awkwardly on it, the fine lines splintered in larger gaps. Water seeped through the holes and I knew it would only be a matter of time until I drowned or I was smashed. I had only one hope and despite my fears of him, I ran to the door, shaking it. “Drac! Drac!” I shrieked. He didn’t hear me.
The overhead glass groaned at the dead serpent’s weight and water quickly rose to my waist. “Drac!” I cried out again.
The massive serpent’s head snapped in my direction and panic flashed across his yellow eyes. He swirled, smashing his powerful tail into a tall building, and swam toward me. The water had moved up to my chin and I started treading it. Drac rammed into the dead serpent, effortlessly pushing it off but shattering the remaining dome. I inhaled a big gulp of air, knowing it might be my last. His arms reached down and pried open the roof’s metal bars as if bending straws. I started to swim toward him but the incoming current was too strong. He scooped me up and cradled me in his arms.
Fleeing, spiked balls and harpoons were launched at us from different directions. Drac spiraled over and over, changing direction so quickly my head spun. Andria was becoming a distant city and Drac looked down at me. His eyes seemed to soften as he lifted me higher. Looking past him, I saw Melusina. She smiled scathingly and threw her trident toward us. I screamed, taking in hefty amounts of water. He curved his neck and body protectively around me and burst into the open air, his wings flapping like a bird. I gasped. My lungs burned with the welcomed oxygen.
With wings dipping into the water as he flew, Drac brought us closer to a boat. He kept his grip tight on me but I felt his energy slow. Black smoke puffed out through his nostrils and his even breaths became laborious. When I reached up and patted him soothingly a slick crimson liquid covered my hands. Blood, my mind shrieked. Looking for the origin, I craned my neck and found the three pronged trident sticking out of his scaly flesh.
I didn’t have time to react because he brought us around to the stern side of the boat and set me down but not before I saw the name of it. “The Wager,” I whispered, shocked.
Crew members quickly surrounded me. Their murmurs over my health and potential attacks on the boat I barely heard as I lost sight of Drac. From the myth and the power I’d seen, I knew I should be scared but my execution had been set. He’d risked his life, becoming mortally wounded, to save me. Even if I wasn’t on a boat, I couldn’t run from him now.
I pushed the crew members aside. I didn’t see the sea serpent; his sure size I wouldn’t have missed. More crewmen were hovering over a man barking raspy orders. I knew that voice and that accent, I mentally told myself and hollered, “Let me through.”
With the exception of one man who looked like the medic with his stethoscope, the men parted, running and arming themselves with weapons. My heart sank as I stared, wide-eyed, at the man lying on his back with a trident sticking out of his bloodied chest. His black curly hair dripped with water but he was every bit as gorgeous as I remembered. His eyes met mine. He extended his hand then just collapsed.
I screamed.
The medic yanked out the trident, mended his wound, and had him moved to his quarters.
The crew, especially a man named Jacques, attended to my every need. He hustled back and forth offering fine clothing, rich foods, and entertaining jokes. After eating nothing but bread and water for days, every food he suggested made my mouth water. But when I sat at the head of a long table while plate after plate were placed in front of me, my appetite disappeared. A flaring seasickness that never seemed to completely go away replaced it.
It had been two days since Drac collapsed, no further attacks came, we hadn’t reached land, and I’d resigned to bed when Jacques knocked on the door announcing that Drac was awake and asking for me.
I dashed over to his quarters. The medic warned me not to stay long. I agreed and hesitantly opened the door. As expected he was lying in bed. His skin was pale and his lips were cracked. He didn’t look like the strong, arrogant man I’d met in Seaside or anything like the scaly monster who’d rescued me.
“I have much to tell you,” he said gesturing to the bed.
I smiled weakly and sat on the edge.
“I suppose you know my name.”
“Yes, you are Drac which explains how you knew so much about the painting.”
“It’s a true story. I just didn’t tell you the part where I turned into a human to woo the young maiden.”
“It’s not hard to guess that now.”
“And after I explain the rest, I want to know what you think. My only request is that you hear me out.”
“Go on,” I said cautiously.
“Several myths on me have circulated over the years but few have heard of the prophecy. It says only a woman who suffered great loss will truly accept me. The woman I spoke of from centuries ago lost her parents and brother to a fire. I thought it was her. I was wrong. But as the prophecy goes, only the woman who truly accepts me will bear my child and that child will end the feud between my kingdom and Melusina’s. From the mome
nt I first laid eyes on you I was drawn to you but it wasn’t until you told me about Jonathon and Lizzy, and then when I felt your lips on mine, I knew you were the one. When I lashed out at my first wife I vowed it would never happen again. I’ve had centuries to master my anger. If you are with me—all with me—I will protect you with my life. I will never lay a hand on you. You will not feel my anger. I promise you that but the choice is yours.”
Considering this I realized how much it all made sense now. “My choice is already made,” I said adamantly, feeling a blush rise on my cheeks exactly like I had the first day we meet.
He shook his head. “Take some time. You don’t need to rush into this. I don’t want you to be scared of me or the monster in me.”
The last part came out through gritted teeth as though he held a huge burden but I’d made up my mind the moment I left my apartment. He wasn’t a monster to me. I cupped his hand in both of mine, kissing his knuckles and then placing it on my stomach. “I came looking for you before Melusina kidnapped me and knowing who—or what—you are doesn’t change anything. I’ve fallen in love with you and after hearing the prophecy I believe we’re destined to be together.”
“To rule my kingdom together as husband and wife.” He smiled triumphantly.
“No,” I corrected. “We’ll rule as a family.” I patted his hand on my stomach.
He glanced down at our hands and back up. Recognition flashed across his face. “You’re pregnant?”
I nodded. “I didn’t realize it at first. I thought my queasiness was a virus or seasickness but when you told me about the prophecy I did the math. My cycle is like clockwork. I never miss my period. We made love a little over a month ago. I have to be pregnant.”
With a burst of energy, he sat up, gathered me in his arms and kissed me.
About Lisa Goldman
Lisa Goldman is a fantasy/paranormal romance author for short stories and novels usually for the young adult genre. Once a mathematics teacher, she’s now a domestic goddess, avid reader and writer in rural Pennsylvania, living with her four children, husband, dog, and two parakeets. Her oldest daughter, who is loving but challenges her daily, has both moderate physical and mental delays. Being different whether it is handicapped, the color of your skin, religious, financial status, or not having the latest style sneakers can make anyone a target for ridicule. Lisa strongly believes in helping others and treating others how she wants to be treated. Her passion for writing—however strange and supernatural—often involves these immoral prejudices or acts of bullying.
For more on Lisa or her books, visit her online at https://lisagoldman.weebly.com or facebook.com/lisagoldmanwriter.
