Wade was always skeptical when it came to the existence of mermaids. It never made sense to him that a half fish half person could actually live and breathe under water. Also, they were creatures that granted wishes. That right there was clear evidence that the tales of mermaids were total and complete bullshit. And Wade had no time for bullshit. No matter how much of a bullshitter he really was.
So, of course when he bought his lake house that sat on Water Clear Lake (that actually connected to the ocean) and the landlord told him that there was a mermaid that would swim in that lake from time to time and that Wade needed to be careful, Wade shrugged it off and called the man crazy behind his back.
He had just finished unloading his boxes of important things (which consisted of various types of magazines) when he looked out the window of the house and seen an old, black boat tied up to the dock.
"Huh," he said with a shrug. "Guess I don't have to buy a boat after all." That came as a huge relief for him. Even though he sits on a giant pile of cash (thanks to his job as a videogame tester), boats are still too expensive. He'd rather waste his money on important things-like those magazines. (Ms. February and Mr. Trickydick are really important objects, okay? They really help with calming things down...)
He decided that later on he would check the boat and see if it was any good (if he gets lucky, maybe he'll meet the mermaid). But for now, he's gonna do what he's been dying to do since he got here: eat chimichangas and play video games. He had already set up the 72" plasma, which he'd named Big Bitch, in the livingroom and connected his speakers to it, which had surround sound. God, he loved that surround sound. It was like having an orgasm without masturbating; spine-tingling, loud, and leaving Wade breathless each time. It intensified the play of the game.
With a loud yawn, Wade walked into his new kitchen, which had fully updated appliances like the new Bosch dishwasher, a stainless steel farmer sink, and customized red cabinets and black granite counter tops. Opening up his new freezer (that came with an awesome fridge to match), Wade pulled out a box of frozen chimichangas.
"Oh," he purred. "Y'all are gonna get it tonight."
He quickly grabbed a plate from the cabinet and tore open the box. His mouth began to water with hunger as he dumped the beautiful chimichangas onto the plate and carried them to the microwave to nuke them for five minutes.
As the 'changas, as he like to call them, heated in the microwave, Wade set up his PS4 in the livingroom and and took out The Evil Within. He had just gotten it in the mail last week and it made him so happy because he got it before PewDiePie. Wade loved it when he got games before Pewds. It made him feel like he had authoritative power.
The microwave beeped and Wade sprang up like a man who accidentally sat on a cactus. The enticing aroma of the 'changas spilled throughout the entirety of the lake house, wrapping itself around Wade's stomach and mouth. He felt like he would probably start floating towards the microwave if he were a Looney Toons character. Once he opened up the microwave, the smell of the 'changas hit him hard. His stomach practically roared with the excitement of being fed.
"Hush, Belly," Wade whispered to his stomach. He took out the hot plate of cheesy goodness and hoisted it up in the air.
"TONIGHT," he yelled powerfully, "WE DINE IN ECSTASY!"
Wade ran to the living room and plopped down onto the ground, shoving a 'changa into his mouth. As the 'changa hung from his lips, dripping long strings of cheese onto his lap, he started his game and became sucked in by the fantastic surround sound.
All but the living room was silent, just how Wade liked it. It was just him and the game. No distractions from others. To anyone else, this probably wouldn't be the ideal vision of living life. But to Wade, it was paradise.
He was used to being alone. He's been alone his whole life. He never really had friends. He didn't want to, didn't want to introduce them to his train wreck of a life. No one needed to experience his abusive father with him. He didn't want anyone to become as emotionally damaged as he was, to be as mentally scarred as he was. He knew making this choice wasn't necessarily a good one, especially for his social skills, but it was for the sake of others.
Which is why he chose to be single most of his life. Sure he's had his share of both of women and men as bed partners. But he never went beyond that. He was so mentally damaged from the trauma he experienced as a child that he didn't want anyone to have to deal with his closed-offness. He'd make such an awful lover.
Being alone, he believed, was all he could ever have Over time, he learned to grow accustomed to it. He picked a profession that dealt with very little human interaction and, despite him learning to talk to others, he made sure to live in places that had very little human life.
This was his paradise.
Wade paused his game. Thinking about his loneliness made him wonder where his cynical attitude came from. It didn't take him long to realise the answer: his disgusting father. His father crushed every little thing he loved. From wanting to be a Power Ranger to believing in things like mermaids and aliens, his father crushed it all. So it was only natural that Wade looked at everything with cynicism.
Whenever he'd seen things like pictures of fairies and mermaids, he would instantly shoot down any inkling of belief he had. Even when hearing stories about mermaid sightings, Wade would wave it off. Maybe it was from the fear of his father or maybe it was impossible for him to believe in such things. It's not something he'd like to think on it too much. It would open a box he hasn't touched in years and could potentially throw him into a void that would shatter everything he's built to hold in the little bit of sanity he has left.
So on that thought, Wade pressed the play button and resumed his mission with the characters Sebastian and Joseph.
Wade awoke later on in the night with a sluggish yawn. He blinked away the blurs of sleep and sat up in the darkness of his silent lake house. The only light came from the TV, which shined on Wade's tired features. He checked the time on his game console. 3:15...
"Shit," he murmured. "Got hit with the itis."
He turned the console and Big Bitch off with a tired yawn before crawling onto the couch and urging himself to fall asleep. In the dark and quiet of his home, he could hear the faint sound of the rushing water of the lake and the chirping of nocturnal insects outside. If he listened carefully, he could hear the black boat knocking against the dock.
"Better be careful," he recalled his landlord saying. "I hear the mermaid out here can easily lure men to the dock and drown them in the lake."
Wade scoffed. As if there'd be a mermaid living in the lake. Again, it is completely impossible for a half fish half human to live underwater. Evolution just hasn't gotten that far yet. But why would the landlord say something like that? Maybe...Wade shook his head. No, it's impractical.
Mermaids don't exist and it'll stay that way.
The clouds outside the following afternoon were gray and the wind was slowly picking up. But, that didn't stop Wade from checking out the boat outside. The waves weren't even high yet. He checked around the inside of the boat to see if there was an oar or some type of rowing instrument that he could maneuver it around with. Much to his luck, he found an old black oar at the floor of the boat. He gave woop before climbing in.
Did he know anything about boats? Nope. But today he shall learn. He wanted to become the master at rowing shitty boats across the lake. Maybe, he thought, once he gets the hang of it, he can read his special magazines out on the boat. Nothing can really beat reading those magazines out on a lake all by himself. Mr. Trickydick's ass would clearly compliment the water and accentuate the boat's wood.
Wade untied the boat from the dock. Instantly, the boat began to float away, knocking Wade backwards. When he landed, the force made the boat rock.
"Don't tip the boat, Wade," he mumbled. "Do not tip the boat." He crawled onto one of the two seats and grabbed the oar. He tried to calm down the thumping of his heart as he rowed the boat down the lake. Carefully, it rocked against the surface of the water as the waves slowly carried it across the lake while Wade rowed.
"Okay," he said with a slight nod. "This isn't entirely bad. I could get used to this." He rowed some more, heading towards the middle of the lake. He looked around, taking in the view. Despite it being a shitty day, the lake was beautiful and the woods surrounding it added to the tranquility created by the landscape.
His arms grew tired after twenty minutes of nonstop rowing, so he stopped and placed his head on the edge of the boat. It wasn't until five minutes later that he felt like someone was watching him. It was a nagging pull at his mind that demanded his attention. He could feel a pair of eyes on him from ahead searing into his skin. It was terribly uncomfortable.
Where the hell is it coming from, Wade thought to himself. He looked in the direction he felt the gaze strongest. His eyes scanned the area, scraping over the trees and the waves of the water. He saw nothing.
"Dammit," he cursed. "I really don't like being stared down. It makes me feel like a virgin at a brothel." Wade let his eyes sweep over the area once more before giving up.
That's when the wind picked up.
The smell of rain was unbearably strong and the waves were beginning to grow nasty, which was an obvious cue for Wade to leave. So he grabbed the oar and rowed towards his home. As the boat moved, Wade could've sworn he heard a loud splash. But it could've been the waves.
Wade watched the rain smack angrily against the windows of the livingroom as he waited for the cutscene of the game to be over. It was dark outside and the lightning lit up the sky. The wind whistled and pushed the lake water around. Wade wondered how it became so angry outside when it was bright and sunny just yesterday. He hoped the weather here wasn't like this all the time because it would suck not being able to be on the boat everyday. As his attention turned back to the game, the weather outside only grew worse. The thunder and lightning ripped across the sky, the wind howled out in anger, and the rain punched the windows with brute force.
Wade hoped his windows wouldn't break. He really didn't want to pay a repair fee (he knows from experience how bitchy those can be).
Wade was about to face off with the weird wolf creature when out of the corner of his eye through the all the rain and wind, he'd seen something crawl onto the dock.
He paused the game. "What the fuck," he said, moving closer to the window. Despite it being a total shit storm outside, Wade could clearly see the outline of a body on the dock.
"Oh god, please don't be dead!"
He quickly rushed to the front door and took a deep breath before swinging it open. Immediately, he was hit with rain and wind. With a groan, Wade stepped outside, arms over his forehead to protect his face, and slammed his door shut. He made his way to the dock while being pelted with furious drops of rain. As he drew closer, he could see the body laying on its back naked.
He began to wonder who this person was and how they managed to to get on his dock in the middle of the storm. They had to be crazy.
The moment he approached the body, he heard the person groan in pain. Then, as if on cue, lightning crackled and lit up the sky. Through all the rain, Wade saw the perfectly naked body of a boy who had to be at least eighteen at max. Wade still felt bad for blushing.
"Aw shit," Wade cursed when he noticed a cut on the kid's forehead that was leaking fresh blood down his brow. "Hey!" he nudged at the kid with his foot. "Are you okay!"
The kid groaned again as his eyes opened halfway "H-help me..." he said weakly. He turned over onto his stomach and tried to get up but failed. His legs and upperbody wobbled before he fell back down with a hard thud, causing him to cry out in pain.
Wade began to feel bad. The poor kid was obviously injured from his head-wound and its effect was taking a toll on his ability to walk.
"Hey," Wade said, "just, don't move, okay?" He carefully scooped the kid up in his arms, who released another groan of pain. Only then did Wade notice that the kid was trembling.
"I'm innocent..." mumbled the kid before nuzzling his face into Wade's chest and sobbing.
What the hell is he talking about? Wade thought as he carried the kid to his house. And why is he crying? He maneuvered the door open and walked in. With a swift kick that closed the door, Wade lead to the couch and carefully dropped him onto it.
Wade felt himself blush again when he saw the full on naked body of the kid. God, why is he such a creep? More importantly, Wade thought, why is the kid naked?
The kid cringed before turning over and groaning. Wade shook his head. Now was not the time to be thinking of that fine pair of asscheeks that just exposed themselves to the world. This is a serious matter (but these things knocked Mr. Trickydick right of the ball park and that takes skill).
Wade cleared his throat. "I'm gonna call the police, okay?"
"No!" the kid cried, reaching out towards Wade. "Please," he begged. "Don't let anyone know I'm here." he got up from the couch on wobbly legs and, like Bambi, he fell to his knees and cried.
Wade watched the kid with pity. He wondered why he was so worked up. And why didn't he want Wade to call the police? He's injured for fuck's sake. Doesn't he have family that's worried about him?
"But you're injured," Wade said. The kid only gave a pathetic whine in response. Wade sighed. "Look, I'm not really great with people skills. So if you were looking for emotional support, you came to the wrong lake house."
"Just let me stay here over night, please." The kid looked up at Wade with quivering brown eyes. His brown hair was matted to his forehead and the blood from earlier was now smudged across his brow. He looked so pitiful and him being naked on the floor made it worse.
Wade felt really bad. "What's your name?" he asked.
"Peter," the kid said quietly.
"Well, Peter," Wade said as he walked to where Peter was and helped him onto the couch. "You can stay for a night if you tell me what happened."
Peter sighed and turned to his side. " I was exiled from my home because I was framed."
"Where the hell do you live?" Wade asked. "I didn't even know exile was still a thing."
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Wade just looked at him. Peter gave a sad sigh.
"I'll just tell you this: I'm what you call a 'Merman.'"