Chapter 1
Just another typical day spent off in my daydreaming world where I was happily chilling with the guy that I have had a crush on for, forever. Things were rather calm today, which is nowhere near normal in this house because when my dad isn't working he usually tries to take my stepbrother Jake and I out surfing. My stepmom was working in her office building today so she wasn't home and Dad, even though he wasn't working today, decided that he was going to take the day off and go chill with his buds down at the local sports bar to watch drag races. So, what I did was I called up my friend Kirkland, because I knew he would go to the beach, anytime and any day. After a couple of rings on his cell phone he answered, and he was quite out of breath.
"Hey Quinn, what's up?" He asked. "Hey, get this I'm actually bored at my house and I REALLY want to go surfing, want to come with me?" I told him with what I hoped was enough pleading to my voice. "Sure, when will you be ready?" He asked with a knowing tone to him. "Ten minutes ago." We said simultaneously. It annoyed me a little bit, but because I love him I decided to go with laughing instead. And in the end we had agreed that he would come and get me as soon as he could. Kirkland my friend that I have a crush on. For as far as I can remember he has stuck by me and been the best kind of friend possible, all the way into our senior year. Though, he will be going to a new school in Hollywood after summer break. In the mean time I needed to get ready for him, so I went to my room and stripped of my pajamas to put on my grey and black smoke looking bikini with black gym shorts and a thin white tank top.
Kirkland arrived about half an hour after we had talked and his shoulder-length sandy blonde hair, which looks almost like flowing caramel, is already wet. "Did you leave the beach to come get me?" I joked as I got in. "Heck yes! The swells are amazing out there! Seriously awesome, though I would recommend an air of caution." He told me as he pulled out onto the street. "Is it that bad out there?" I asked him, running a finger through my stylishly short-short hair that the black dye was fading into a cocoa-y brown. "Yup," He said as we got on the highway. "Sweetness so we can stop for food after words? I haven't eaten all day but I really don't want to miss the swells if there's an even slight chance for a green room." I told him, absently fingering my shell necklace, it's a curved one like in The Little Mermaid that Ursula used to hold her voice in, but it's a creamy white with purplish-pink stripes throughout. I've had it since I was a toddler, my dad had received it in the mail; addressed to me from a distant relative when I was born and I've worn it every day since. "Sure, though you should eat before we go." He said his voice in the usual tone when we bring up the topic of my lack of eating. "Ja, Ja, I get it. I should eat every day, except I'm never hungry." I told him for the umpteenth time, that flash feeling of annoyance resurfacing.
Kirkland and I have been friends since I moved to California in kindergarten. I had been thrilled to find someone who had a lot in common with me but at the same time was still his own person with his many different styles, to add to that I have had a crush on him since I met him. He's been there through break-ups and supported me when I came out of the closet as a pansexual. I mean it helps that he is like my brother, except I fear that I will always be the little sister to him. We sat in a somewhat silence with the radio blaring throughout his amazing green Dodge Challenger, of course I was singing with the songs that I knew and he would laugh at me when I would "intentionally" miss the notes. 'I think that a storm would be the only thing to ruin this day.' I thought while looking out to window.
Shortly after that thought, we arrived at The Spot and Kirkland was pulling over to the sandy area along the road where dunes were acting as barricades to the rest of the beach. Before I could open my door, I saw the intensity to which Kirkland had been cautioning me. "Yeah," Said boy spoke, breaking through my haze, "You know they are only going to get bigger now that you're here." I looked away to smirk at him before rolling my eyes as I stepped out the door. But, as usual, he was right. The crashing from the rolling waves quickly turned into a roar that was getting louder as the waves started breaking higher up the bank. As we were walking toward shore my stomach gave the loudest growl humanly possible, causing me to blush five shades of red at Kirkland's laughter. "I told you, you should eat before you go to the beach." He told me, playfully shoving me a little.
I returned his play and soon we got into one of our many spars which soon turned into a shoving match and then he pushed me and I tripped over a branch, causing me to fall with him on top of me, both of us laughing. "You okay?" He asked me when he finished. "Yeah, I'm great." I asked, kind of oblivious to the blush on my face as I felt his body against mine. We sat there in a silence that was unnoticed, our eyes locked onto each other. 'He has beautiful eyes' I thought as they lit up in that special way that makes the cobalt blue of them looks as warm as the Caribbean Sea. That was when I noticed that he and I were blushing and the whole position of his chest being the only thing not touching my female version of his body, took notice. "Um, Kirkland, could you get off?" I asked, a nervous chuckle following my words. "Hmm, nope, I'm comfy." He said flopping down onto me, pinning me in the sand.
I pushed against him but that only resulted in a semi-sit up and him pushing against my hands. I finally managed to roll myself out from under him and stand up but he caught my legs and I fell backwards once more. "Really, you jerk." I said as I managed to slip a leg out from his arms and then just watched him hold my leg and watched my face for what plan I'll come up with next. To both of our surprise, I leaned in and stole a kiss. And that did shock him, because his arms went a little slack and his brilliantly blue eyes were wide with shock and excitement, a darker blush creeping onto his cheeks. I scrambled backwards and then got up and ran to our destination after checking to see him chasing me, a giggle escaped my lips and I heard him laughing.
We stopped in the little cove like area of rocks that we normally chill in after being out in the water for a couple of hours at a time, out of breath and laughing. He had caught up to me easily since he's like five foot eight. The boards were still there and locked up to the hole in the wall that we made a few years ago. I stripped of my shorts and I glanced over to Kirkland and saw his eyes dart away from my general direction, and was that really a blush? I looked away at the thought that he was thinking about me the way I think about him. Then the thought of what I did just now hit me with full force. I was red enough to make a tomato turn green with envy.
"So, shall we hit the water?" I asked when I started changing. I saw the sky darken just the slightest, promising cloud coverage after a few minutes of silence. "Yeah, go on ahead of me, I'm still a bit out of it." He told me shaking his head in a tired way, stopping to look at me with a longing look that flew right over me because I wasn't paying attention. "Okay, see ya out there." I told him, unlocking my board and after much debate decided not to wear my spring suit. As I was putting the leash on my left ankle I swore I heard Kirkland say "Put it on the other side." I looked and saw him passed out in the sand, his shoulder length hair kind of looking like gold. I shook it off and grabbed my board.
As I approached the water the urge to comply with the whisper, was almost over powering. Not wanting to ignore this strong feeling, I sat the board down on the shore and swapped ankles. It felt weird to have it on the right ankle but the feeling was gone and I happily marched into the greeting waves. When the water got to be about waist high I jumped on and paddle out, holding onto my board whenever a wave crashed on me. I finally got out far enough that I could determine on whether or not I wanted the wave or not. I could still feel the leash on my right ankle and it still is bothering me. "Okay, we'll try one wave and if I fall then I'm switching." I told myself as I watched a wave go right under me. I don't know what it is about the ocean but I'm hardly ever scared when I'm in it. In fact it's just the opposite, it calms me so much that it's like I walk into a home that I've been missing for several years.
Today was no different and so when I of a good wave, as usual, it obliged diligently. I watched as the wave started popping up and I turned around and paddled as hard as I could. I felt it lift the back of my board up so I moved my weight forward and I shot off and I stood up with my right foot forward and kept my knees bent as I got to my other foot up from under me. I stood up a little more and the leash clothes lined my back foot and I fell backwards. Instinctively I held my breath as I felt the board strain against the leash and I was rolled around in the waves. I was able to surface and I pulled the board to me and I got on the board and paddled back out. Then, once I was back where I was, the leash was being pulled down.
I took a breath, and watched the clouds that rolled in overhead, dark and thundering, as I was pulled down and further out into the ocean. It's starting to get harder to hold my breath as I tried to remain calm, though I was starting to panic as the searing pain from lack of oxygen started to burn my throat. I spread my arms trying to slow down but it didn't work and my arms just went above my head. I couldn't hold my breath any longer and it escaped in one sudden whoosh from my lungs. I swallowed water out of reaction to the release of breath and started coughing up the water, choking on the water that rushed in with each cough. My mind started going fuzzy and the one thing I should've thought of beforehand finally came to mind. 'Take off the leash idiot!' I pulled my foot up to me and I just clawed at the Velcro until it came off and I saw the light of the surface and started to swim for it.
As I got closer, I started to see the blackness of unconsciousness starting from the corners of my eyes. 'This is it; I'm going to die down here. I'm going to die in my second home.' I thought as the darkness was spreading through the rest of my vision like the panic in my mind. Then there was a light coming from my neck and I looked down and saw that my necklace was the source of the light and it was even humming a song that I came up with when I was little. With the last of my energy, finally giving up on reaching the surface, I lightly held onto my only source of comfort in my final moment. The last thing I saw after that was what looked like a giant fish swim towards me, and as it got closer, I saw that it was a girl with a fish tail. 'A mermaid from my imagination, how fitting for this end.' I blacked out as she grabbed my face and pushed her lips to mine, speaking something I couldn't hear. All I could tell was my body as then dragged downwards, the pressure on my bones intensifying.
I could feel the water still and I figured that I was a ghost or something, bound to that spot of ocean for the rest of eternity. "Is she alright? Did I get to her in time?" A female voice asked. "Yes you did, she will be alright, she just needs to rest while she under goes the transformation." A deep male voice told her. 'The transformation into a ghost, what are they talking about?' I asked myself. I tried to move my hand but it was too hard, I was so tired. 'Maybe I haven't left my body yet…' I thought toto myself, a soft moan from the stress escaping me. I could feel movement in the water as the mass causing the ripples stopped next to me on my right and the deep voice said to me, "Easy now. You need to rest, the transformation is starting and you just died, you need to stay still." As it spoke I could feel a large hand gently touch my forehead and something warm, smooth and calming started spreading through my brain and throughout my entire body, lulling me into a peaceful sleep.
A jolt in my chest woke me and I inhaled a huge deep breath, filling my throat and lungs with a liquid mass. I flailed my arms as I tried to get my bearings, I could feel a drag on my skin and in my bones, I covered my mouth with my hand as my brain registered that mass in which I am in is 's when I went to move my feet and legs I was met with loud solid thumps against what I was laying on. I looked down at my lower torso and saw a fish tail. 'What the hell?' I screamed in my head, my lungs burning with the need of oxygen. I removed my hands and grabbing the thing I was on, pushing myself up into the water above it and I continued to thrash my tail which shot me into the wall head first.
That caused me to hiss in pain, filling my lungs with water yet again and easing the burning, but the panic was still there, logic not connecting the affect. There was a loud crash and I felt fast movement in the water to the right of me as I got the sense of worry and panic in the ripples. I looked up and saw a man with long red hair and beard come in through an archway as I floated to the floor, my mind and body instantly locking up in fear for in not knowing who this stranger was.
As he approached me, he leaned over me, making a soft shushing sound to me, calming my mind from wanting to scramble away from him. "Who, who are you?" I asked, the calm still lingering in me, my voice hoarse and soft. "I am Fernt I am the medical director for changes and transformations. You my girl have had one of the fastest transformations I've seen in many, many years. What's your name?" Fernt asked. "Quinn Longston." I told him but by now the calm was starting to wear off and I became more alert. "Sir, how is this possible? Is this even real? How am I breathing underwater? Where am I?" I asked him grabbing his helping hand and sat up quickly.
"Yes dear girl, this is very real. It's an old magic that is passed down through families ever since dinosaurs were on the planet. You are in south Pacific Sea in the medical quadrant, specifically for first time transformations into Merfolk, which is how you are capable of breathing. You are a mermaid." Fernt explained with a steady tone and pace to allow me to absorb all of what he was telling me. "So that means that someone in my family was a mermaid? Then why isn't my entire family in the ocean?" I asked, my mouth asking my mind.
Fernt gave a hearty laugh and told me, "Because your theory of mermaid from your junior year in high school is correct. We can leave the water. But once we change, we look different so that we don't scare the land bound people." This caused me to straighten up in alert. "How do you know I came up with that theory?" I asked. "We Merfolk of the medical field keep track of our kind to ensure that we are there for the initial change and the Merperson doesn't drown or dry up." He told me obviously trying to ease my stress and suspicion.
I started to ask another question but Fernt interrupted me. "You will get all of your answers soon enough, little one, but for now you need to rest a little longer. The change takes a lot out of us and then you will need to adapt to your new life when you wake again." Fernt told me, placing a firm hand on my shoulder. There was that warm liquid again but it didn't knock me out as quickly as when he touched my forehead but I still passed out right there trying to ask him what he meant, only to have it come out in a mumbled jumble. "No dreams…" Was all I said after my eyes finally fluttered shut.
"She is an interesting girl indeed. She sleep talks, was able to propel herself off of the table. Her body temperature is high though, she burned through my calming spell almost instantly. Nurse, what is her status?" Fernt asked the red headed nurse who rushed in the room with him. "102, I don't think she's eaten anything since that day, that's the only that I could think would cause this, it's like when Evangeline changed." The nurse told him, looking through records that she pulled up. "Hmm, thank you nurse, please prepare for transportation to the surface." Fernt said, dismissing her, and watching me as my face distorted from the contents of my dreams. "This child might just be the same as her real mother…" Fernt murmured. He then left the room and soon swam out of the building.