Chosen Chapter 13: From the Deep

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Somewhere deep under the Indian Ocean, a beautiful young woman was swimming through colorful corals and schools of fish. While her upper body was that of a young woman with waving blond hair, her lower half was a fishtail consisting of shiny golden scales. The mermaid picked up a clam and opened it, finding a beautiful pearl inside. She smiled and putt it in a small bag woven of seaweed. She headed to the surface at high speed and leaped up from the water. In front of her, there was a small tropical island untouched by humanity. She swam over and entered a bay with white sand.

The mermaid reached into her bag and pulled out a bracelet of red coral. She put it around her wrist and was momentarily surrounded in a golden glow. When she rose from the ocean, her tail had been replaced by human legs. The mermaid clumsily walked to a rock formation and moved a few rocks, revealing a small stash of supplies hidden there. She picked out a flowery dress and put it on. She then sat down in the sand, enjoying the sun as she waited.

"Nadia." A male voice called out from the sea.

The mermaid looked up and smiled as a merman entered the bay. He had short black hair and a muscular torso, while his tail was covered in red copper-colored scales.

"Ridley." Nadia replied as she ran to the water. "I have been waiting."

"Your legs. They're beautiful." Ridley said as he stared at them in amazement. "Did you have any trouble?"

"No, the sea hag never knew I was there." Nadia replied. "I was able to swim right in her lair and steal the bracelets without her even knowing."

"How does it feel?" Ridley asked.

"Strange, but good." Nadia replied. "I cannot wait to finally leave the seas and start our lives together. Here, I have one for you as well."

Nadia reached into her bag and threw a coral bracelet to Ridley. The merman caught it and stared at it with a frown. He placed it around his wrist and was surrounded by a golden glow. When he stepped out of the water, his tail had been transformed into two human legs. He walked into Nadia's arms and they kissed passionately. After a moment, Nadia took him to the rock formation and handed him some shorts and a tank top.

"Where did you get these?" Ridley asked.

"I borrowed them from some people on a boat." Nadia replied as he got dressed. "Well, technically I stole them."

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Ridley asked.

"Of course I do." Nadia said. "I spent centuries in the seas, but I did not start living until you warmed up my heart. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I wish we could stay under the sea, but our people don't understand."

"As long as we have each other, we don't need anyone else." Ridley said.

"Oh, how romantic." A male voice noted sarcastically from behind.

The young couple turned around and saw two humans standing behind them. The first was a tall man with spiked brown hair, while the second a woman with dark red hair.

"Who are you?" Nadia asked confused. "I thought this island was unknown to humans."

"It is." The man replied. "I doubt anyone has ever set foot here."

"Then why are you here?" Ridley asked.

"Well, to find you of course." The woman replied. "You merfolk are hard to track, but once you leave the sea, you're like fish in a barrel."

The woman raised her hand and fired a bolt of lightning at Nadia and Ridley. They were zapped and thrown back into the hand. The woman laughed as electricity sparkled between her fingers.

"Careful, Harper, we don't want fried fish." The man snapped at her.

"Oh relax, Bryant." Harper replied. "You know they are immortal. A little spark won't kill them."

As the two strangers bickered, Ridley quickly helped Nadia to her feet and together, they ran for the ocean. When Bryant noticed them trying to escape, he held out his hand, causing a wall of sand to block their path and push them back.

"What do you want from us?" Ridley asked as he got up and stepped in front of Nadia to protect her. "We have done nothing to you."

"Oh my, he is so pretty." Harper said as she moved closer and eyed Riley. "And those muscles. Who knew fish could be so… yummy?"

Harper reached out her hand to touch Ridley, though he grabbed her arm. She smirked and a surge of electricity ran through his body. The merman screamed as he fell to his knees. Nadia begged Harper to stop and kneeled down next to her love.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked crying.

"Alright, enough toying, sis." Bryant remarked impatiently. "Let's just get them back to the mansion. We still have a lot to do."

"Fine." Harper replied as she rolled her eyes.

"Get back." Ridley whispered to Nadia.

Nadia nodded and did as he asked. When Harper turned her back on them, Ridley removed the coral bracelet from his wrist. He became surrounded in a golden glow and his tail returned. Before the strangers could react, Ridley spun around and hit Harper with his tail. She was thrown back a considerable distance and crashed into her brother. Ridley put the bracelet back on and his legs returned. He grabbed Nadia by the arm and started running toward the sea.

"You son of a…!" Harper screamed.

Harper fired a bolt of lightning, hitting Ridley in the back. He was thrown forward and lost grip of Nadia, who tripped and fell in the sand. Ridley rolled through the sand and lost his bracelet, turning back into a merman before hitting the water. When he resurfaced, he saw Nadia was lying in the sand.

"Nadia, hurry!" Ridley called out and she began crawling toward the sea.

"I don't think so." Bryant said.

Bryant held out his hand and clenched it into a fist. The sand underneath Nadia suddenly started shifting and she was pulled into a deep hole. She screamed until she was up to her neck in the sand. Ridley wanted to help her, though without his bracelet, all he could do was watch from the shallow water.

"Go!" Nadia screamed.

"I'm not leaving you." Ridley replied.

"You have to. You can't fight them alone." Nadia said determined. "Get help. I will be waiting for you, I know you will find me. Now go!"

Nadia managed to free her arms and threw her bracelet at Ridley. He caught it and hesitated. Deep down, he knew she was right, he could not save her alone, but he felt like he was abandoning her. He looked at the beach and saw the two strangers running toward them. He had no choice. He took one last look at the love of his life and then disappeared into the depths of the ocean.

"Well, your boyfriend certainly is a coward." Bryant remarked.

"He will find a way to free me." Nadia snapped at him.

"Then he'd better hurry, because we have big plans for you." Bryant replied.

Nadia struggled Bryant kneeled down in the sand and grabbed her arm. He and his sister then became surrounded in blue spirals as they all disappeared from the beach.

Xxx

In a popular bar near the campus, Billie was sitting alone at a table. On the other side of the bar, Duncan was playing pool with the twins and Darcy. As she looked in their direction, she noticed Nick was caressing Darcy's hips as she tried to make a shot in an attempt to distract her. She could not believe the two of them had been dating for a month already. They did not even make sense together. Darcy missed the shot and lost her turn. She turned to Nick and accused him of cheating, though he smirked and kissed her. Darcy kissed him back and they made out against the pool table.

"Get a room." Billie remarked annoyed as she rolled her eyes.

At that moment, Hope came walking up to the table with two glasses of wine. "Sorry it took so long." She said. "Had to make a bathroom break first."

"No problem." Billie replied as she was just happy to have company again, so she did not have to look at Nick and Darcy trying to swallow each other anymore.

"Well, they seem to be having fun." Hope noted when she saw them.

"I guess, I didn't really notice." Billie replied.

"At least they have someone. Just like Duncan and Nathan." Hope replied. "And we're stuck at the singles table."

"At least we have good company." Billie said.

"I'll toast to that." Hope replied as they clinked their glasses. "Still, I wouldn't mind getting some action myself. With work and the box, I barely get out."

"I thought you were thinking of going back to school." Billie noted.

"I am." Hope said. "But being a guardian of an ancient box of horrors doesn't pay the bills. I still need my job and I can't juggle three things at once."

"There has to be a way." Billie said as she tried to think of a solution. "What if you transfer to our school? You could drop the box off at our place when you have classes. And you could even get a job bartending here."

"Well, it can't be worse than the diner." Hope remarked as she looked around. "But no, I can't ask you to babysit all the sorrows of the world. You guys have your own witchy problems to deal with."

"Please what are friends for?" Billie replied. "Just think about it."

"Alright, I will think about it." Hope promised. "Now can we focus on other things? Like those two cute guys by the bar perhaps?"

Billie looked over at the bar and saw the guys Hope was talking about. They were cute, but not really her type, too preppy. Instead, she looked over at the pool table and saw Nick and Darcy were whispering something to each other. When Nick noticed her watching them, he winked at her. Annoyed, Billie looked away.

"What's going on?" Hope asked suspiciously. "You've been glaring at them all night."

"It's nothing, it's fine." Billie replied.

"Wait a minute, do you like him?" Hope asked.

"No." Billie said determined, though it didn't look like Hope believed her. "I don't."

"I don't buy it." Hope replied. "I thought I picked up on something during your house party, but now I'm sure. You have a thing for Nick."

"Please Hope, I really don't want to talk about this." Billie said. "Especially not with you, considering Darcy is your best friend. I would never interfere in that."

"I know you wouldn't." Hope said. "But I'm your friend as well, and I can tell it's bothering you."

"I don't even really like him." Billie argued. "He is a jerk, an arrogant and rude jerk who causes more trouble than he's worth."

"And yet you still want to get in his pants." Hope remarked.

"I hate myself." Billie mumbled.

"I think you're just attracted to trouble." Hope said. "I mean, first there was Jake, a witch hunter, and now a half warlock. You have a thing for bad boys."

"Thanks, Oprah." Billie replied as she rolled her eyes. "Now can we change the subject?"

"Fine." Hope said. "So where is Violet? I thought she was joining us?"

"No, she had a late meeting with this study group she joined." Billie replied. "They're working on some project."

"What for?" Hope asked.

"I think it was for extra credit, but it's more likely a distraction." Billie said. "To keep her mind off Arthur."

"Has she heard from him?" Hope asked.

"No." Billie replied. "It sucks. I thought he was supposed to be one of the good ones."

Billie sighed as she took a sip of her drink. She knew Violet was struggling with the whole Arthur situation, but wasn't sure how to help. Each time she had tried to talk about it, Violet had avoided the issue. Perhaps she needed to figure it out on her own.

Xxx

Violet said goodbye to her study group as they left the library. A cold wind instantly reminded her that it was the middle of winter, so she wrapped her arms around herself as she headed home. She enjoyed working on the research project. It helped keep her mind off other things. The extra credits weren't bad either. She was still struggling with the letter her parents had given her about her adoption. She had never wondered about her biological parents before, but now she was starting to. She had not told her friends about it yet. The only person she really wanted to talk to wasn't there. She had not seen Arthur in weeks, not after their fight, and she missed him.

Violet checked her phone and noticed several messages from Billie and Duncan asking to meet them at the bar. However, she just wanted to go home, drink some hot coco and go to bed. As she put her phone away, she realized she was walking the wrong way. There was a strange melody in the air that drew her in. She followed it until she reached the docks. As she reached the edge, she saw there was someone in the water. It was a handsome guy with short black hair, using a seashell as a flute. When he stopped playing, Violet snapped out of her trance.

"Oh my god." Violet called out. "What are you doing? The water is freezing! You need to get out of there before you get hypothermia."

"You heard my song." The guy replied.

"Are you listening to me?" Violet asked. "You could get really sick or worse. What is this, some kind of frat boy prank or hazing?"

"Don't worry, the cold doesn't affect me." The guy replied. "I called you here because I need your help. Only you could hear my song."

"What are you talking about?" Violet asked confused.

"You're a witch. I could sense your magic from afar." The guy replied. "That is why I called you here. Please, you have to help me find my love. She has been taken from me."

"I'm not sure I understand." Violet said. "Who are you?"

"Perhaps it's better if I just show you." The guy replied. "Follow me."

The guy swam away and Violet followed him down the stairs onto a docking area for small fishing boats. When she reached the end of the dock, the guy climbed out of the water and sat on the dock. Violet's gasped when she saw him fully. While his upper body was that of a muscular young man, his lower half was that of a fish.

"This cannot be happening." Violet said in utter disbelief. "You're a… a… fish?"

"Merman." The guy corrected her. "And like I said, I need your help. My love is in danger."

"Okay." Violet replied hesitantly.

"Thank you." The guy said. "We must hurry."

The merman revealed a strange coral bracelet and placed it around his wrist. For a moment, he was surrounded in a golden glow. Then he stood up. Violet's eyes widened when she noticed he was now fully human, as well as completely naked. She quickly adverted her eyes out of embarrassment, refusing to look at him.

"Is everything alright?" The merman asked obliviously.

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