A/N: What up, all of my fantastic viewers? :D
In case any of you are wondering, I have become very interested in the TV show, Mako Mermaids. Ever since I saw the first episode, I just knew that I had to make this mysterious, suspenseful, and shocking story for all of your entertainment. :)
This story takes place during season one, right after the episode "Battlelines." (Episode 14, where Zac and Cam discover that Rita's a mermaid, just like Lyla, Nixie, and Sirena.)
Disclaimer: I only own the plot to this story and my original characters. Mako Mermaids is a Netflix original series that's based off H20: Just Add Water and is now shown on Disney Channel. I do not own it or any of its actual characters. All rights for this amazing show goes to the original owners and creators. Also, I don't own the song, "Fly to Your Heart." It belongs to its original singer, Selena Gomez, and other creator(s).
Warning: This story is rated T for Teen because of language. If it's ever necessary, I'll insert more warnings in upcoming chapters to prepare you for any triggering/gruesome scenes.
Also, anytime you see "italic" print, it means someone is singing.
(More detailed) Summary: Adrian, short for Adriatic, is a mischievous seventeen-year-old merman with enhanced powers and a cutthroat attitude. After living all of his life on land, he's succeeded at blending in with all of the "land people" and keeping his secret hidden. Nonetheless, Adrian now lives by himself in an underwater cave that's connected to a secret grotto on Mako ... and he has received an assignment from a shocking source: find the trident. Unfortunately for Adrian, he is completely unaware that he's about to accept his greatest challenge, considering four mermaids, another merman, and a human are also on the hunt for the trident. And one of those mermaids just so happen to be Rita Santos...
Reviews are greatly appreciated! :) Please share your thoughts! :)
I hope you all enjoy the first chapter of "A Merman's Vengeance." :D :D Happy reading!
Adrian's POV
To me, swimming by myself was more of a luxury than a lonely form of torture. This wasn't my first time swimming alone in the ocean and it sure as hell wasn't my hundredth time either.
For all seventeen years of my life, I've had to deal with constantly walking on legs, being surrounded by all of these land people, and living in this cluttered box that was known as an apartment. And if that wasn't enough, my legal guardian 'suggested' that I got a job to make my land dweller cover even more believable. So, for the past three years, I have been holding down late afternoon shifts at the Ocean Mall. For five hours every weekday, I was stuck arranging countless sticks of deodorant, offering perfume samples, and acting as perky as possible to every damn customer that entered the Fragrance Shack. It might as well have been a piece of hell on earth that wreaked of flowers, woodsy pine, and lavender; but if there was any job that I could force myself to deal with, it was the one that also offered the scents of fresh island breezes, tropical fruits, and the ocean sea.
So, if it isn't already obvious, I've mastered at blending in with the shore lifestyle without having my secret exposed by anyone. I'm not saying that I haven't had any close or extremely close calls before, but what's the point of having a life if taking risks wasn't involved? There was absolutely nothing that restrained me from sneaking away from land at least four times each day to swim by my lonesome. The water could've been engulfed with many boats and tourists - which it has been plenty of times before - and even that wouldn't hold me back.
As of right now, the sky was pitch-black and overflowing with dozens of constellations that I knew better than the back of my hand. Their silvery light shined against the darkened sea, illuminating every calm wave as I slowly twirled a couple of times underwater, basking in the pleasant silence. Finally, within a few more seconds, I met the surface of the sea and my head rose out of the water. I was then wrapped up in the surprisingly comfortable breeze, feeling it caress every visible inch of my wet and bare skin.
I quietly drew in a deep breath of the salty air and released it as a blissful sigh. "Nothing better than taking a swim while knowing I don't have to deal with being surrounded by a bunch of land bitches until morning." I muttered under my breath. After that, as soon as I opened my eyes, I couldn't help but automatically turn my head up towards the dark sky. There were a few minor, practically see-through clouds dancing swiftly through the air. They whisked across the crescent moon, almost perfectly resembling puffs of smoke, but they still failed to hide the moon's brightness.
"You can do this, Adrian..." I narrowed my eyes as I spoke, focusing on the moon's crescent shape. My Australian accent was drenched in bitterness, seeping through my vaguely clenched teeth. "There isn't anything - or possibly anyone - in all of existence that's going to keep you from completing this assignment. The next full moon is in just a couple of weeks. You can do this and you sure as hell will." I rotated myself back around in the water, expecting to see much more of the wide-open sea, but before I could dive back underwater, I stopped myself when I noticed something completely different from the ocean.
After swimming with no direct route for God knows how long, I ended up coming face-to-face with a shore dweller's backyard. From what I could make out in the dim moonlight, it included this two-story box - I mean, house - that was sitting alongside another building that, judging by its much smaller and slimmer size, didn't look like it had much of a story to tell.
They were both enclosed by the same modern white fence and almost every inch of their edges were decorated with multiple herbs and bright yellow rose bushes that looked like they had been recently planted. Other than that, the bulkier house included a large wooden deck that was built right outside a sliding-glass door, providing a BBQ grill and a patio dining set. And lastly, there were a few round cobblestones that led up to this dreary looking dock. It was drained from any of its past color and led a few feet out into the water, reaching to the exact point where I was.
"Oh, for the love of God," I groaned, rolling my eyes at the sight. "I can bring myself to deal with these assholes living their two-legged lives beside the ocean, but they're really pushing their boundaries with building all of these docks."
A tall umbrella that was positioned nearby the patio's table fluttered a bit in the wind, seeming to grab my attention for a couple of more seconds. Til' this day, I still struggled to understand why land people thought they needed those to protect themselves from the rain so much. After all, they weren't the ones who had to constantly avoid getting splashed by the smallest amounts of water and keep their fishy tails from being exposed to the rest of the world. To me, there was only one real reason behind why land people actually needed umbrellas: for tacky decorations.
With a quiet scoff, I turned my back on the shore dweller's property and stretched my arms out as far as I could in front of me, preparing to dive once again. However, just as I folded my right hand on top of my left one and linked my fingers together, I was struck with the sudden urge to stop what I was doing and look up at the sky. It fled through my chest and filled me up with this surprisingly warm sensation, as if a ray of sunlight had lightly melted through my skin. Why in the hell did this feeling come to me almost every night? I didn't have the slightest clue; but it seemed to grow even stronger every time it trickled through me, and it always brought the same thought to my mind: that forbidden song.
It's been two weeks since I last withdrew myself from it. For two weeks, I have restrained myself from singing it. I've even been forbidden to sing it ... but now, I was being drawn into the same pleasant temptation to cave and sing it once again. Unfortunately, ignoring it now wasn't as simple as it had been when I first refused to sing it fourteen days ago. Now, the sensation was unavoidable, pouring through each of my veins and making me feel like I was being hypnotized - except I wasn't. I was fully aware of what I was doing and I still had complete control of myself.
I tilted my head back, feeling my heart beginning to pick up the pace as I watched a few stars shoot across the darkness of the sky. "Damn it, he's going to kill me if he finds out about this..." I straightened my lips, "...but I guess what he doesn't know won't cause any harm." Without another word, I then lunged myself back underwater, feeling both frustrated and desirably overwhelmed by the mysterious warmth.
Within a couple of seconds, I reappeared, poking my head back out of the water's surface from a new post: right underneath the same land person's dock. The bottom of its supporters were rimmed in bubbly patches of sea foam that had small clusters of gray barnacles embedded in them, but that didn't bother me one bit. When it came to certain sorts of sea life that could have some type of affect on land people, mermen like me - as well as mermaids - were obviously left unaffected.
I stared at the moon, shooting daggers at it as the silvery light encouraged me even more to sing. At the same time, the taste and smell of salt seemed to grow even richer. Heavenly. And before I could see it coming...
"Watch all the palm trees dance with the wind. Listen to the waves whisper your name. Feel all the wonder lifting your dreams, you can fly ... fly to who you are. Climb upon your star. You believe you'll find your wings. Fly ... to your heart." My voice was as smooth as caramel, dripping from a spoon and perfectly wrapping around my accent as the lyrics drifted through the air. "Touch every rainbow painting the sky. Look at the magic glide through your life. A sprinkle of pixie dust circles the night. You can fly..." I relaxed my eyes shut, feeling the luminous sensation continue to powerfully surge through me. A minor smile even managed to curl up on the edges of my lips. "Fly to who you are. Climb upon your star. You believe you'll find your wings. Fly ... everywhere you go, your soul will find a home. You'll be free to spread your wings. Fly ... you can fly to your heart."
Zac's POV
Despite how difficult it was, I was slowly beginning to accept how my life was most likely never going to be the same as it used to be. Ever since the accident on Mako Island took place - that 'accident' being when I somehow fell into an enchanted moon pool during a camping trip with Cam and developed the ability to become part fish whenever I got wet - I've clearly gained a hell of a lot more responsibilities. Now, not only did I have to keep my grades up in school and attend to my lifeguard duties as naturally as possible, but I had no choice but to keep this new half of my life a secret from my parents, Evie, and the rest of the universe. And on top of all of that ... I just had to get my hands back on the trident.
Unfortunately, as much as I hate to admit it, that wasn't going to be an easy task. Ever since I discovered the backstabbing secret that Lyla, Nixie, and Sirena were also mermaids, the three of them made it their goal to constantly be on my tail - literally. No matter where I went, whether it was to school, the beach, the Ocean Café, or back to Mako Island, they were always there, watching and trying to convince me that the trident was dangerous in order to keep me away from the chamber. I swear, the only time I was actually able to get away from them was when I was in the bathroom or hanging out by myself in my garage - which, by the way, my dad helped me convert into my own private hangout about a year ago.
When I last managed to grab the trident ... absolutely no words could possibly describe how powerful it made me felt. It was like it had been created for me and only me to hold, and it had been waiting for God knows how many years for me to find it. If the trident had been made for one of those pesky mermaids, then why hadn't they been able to locate it until I came into I came into the picture? I didn't have the slightest clue, but what I did know was that I wasn't going to listen to their 'warnings' on staying away from Mako Island or the trident. I was going to go back and I was going to get the trident, no matter how many attempts it took.
I was currently in bed, buried underneath a pile of tussled blankets and blankly staring up at the ceiling. I had just woken up from another dream, but this one didn't involve the trident, the girls, or me transforming. Instead, it centered around the most recent secret that Cam and I uncovered about Principal Santos. She too was a mermaid, equipped with a series of powers and a bright orange/red-rimmed tail whenever she touched water. I guess it should have occurred to me faster than it did, considering she said a few months back that she was the supposed aunt of Sirena, Nixie, and Lyla; but I've been 'a little' preoccupied with getting used to my new life as a merman.
"Come on, Zac," I whispered as I stared at my poster of Kelly Slater for a couple of more seconds. He was apparently a well-known surfer from the 1900's. I didn't know him, but my mom got me the poster for my birthday and I didn't want to be rude. "Forget about the mermaids and go back to sleep. There's school to attend to in a few more hours."
I closed my eyes, trying to clear my mind and relax. However, just as I thought that I was going to be able to drift back off into a deep sleep...
"Watch all the palm trees dance with the wind. Listen to the waves whisper your name. Feel all the wonder lifting your dreams, you can fly ... fly to who you are."
My eyes immediately shot back open. When I was a kid, I remember how often my parents laughed about how I had an overactive imagination. Back then, it was very easy to believe them and laugh along. As of now, due to my discovery of the existence of mermaids and magic, I obviously couldn't. 'It's just in your head' I wanted to tell myself so badly, 'you're so tired and worked up over those damn mermaids that you're hearing things.' Unfortunately, even if I did, I wouldn't believe it.
"Climb upon your star. You believe you'll find your wings. Fly ... to your heart."
Almost instantly, the remaining drowsiness vanished from my system, and I shot up into a sitting position.
"What the hell..." My voice was quiet and alert, but also dripping with some confusion. "Is that ... is that somebody singing?"
"Touch every rainbow painting the sky. Look at the magic glide through your life. A sprinkle of pixie dust circles the night. You can fly..."
With my curiosity overpowering me, I snapped my attention over to my nightstand and noticed that the bright red numbers on my alarm clock now read 1:45 in the morning. Who in the hell would be outside - and not to mention singing - at this hour? Instead of giving myself the chance to come up with any suggestions, I reached behind the framed photo of me and Evie on the beach during one of our first dates and snatched up my cell phone, nearly knocking the picture over in the process.
After turning it on and narrowing my eyes from the brightness of the screen, I quickly searched through my contacts and selected Cam's number.
"Fly to who you are. Climb upon your star." The waiting tone rang one time. "You believe you'll find your wings. Fly..." The waiting tone rang again. "Everywhere you go, your soul will find a home. You'll be free to spread your wings. Fly..." Another waiting tone.
"Pick up the phone, Cam..." I muttered in a somewhat firm voice. There went the fourth waiting tone. "Come on, pick up the phone..."
"You can fly ... to your heart. Fly ... fly..."
Eventually, after a couple of more seconds, the waiting beeps were cut off by a recording: "Hey, you reached the voicemail of Cam Mitchell. Sorry, but I can't come to the phone right now. If you would like for me to get back to you, leave your name and number and I'll call back as soon as I can. Thanks and have a good day."
"Damn." I lowered my phone from my ear and clicked off the call, not even waiting for a minute to pass before I went back to my contacts and selected Cam's number again.
"Fly to the heights of all you can be. Fly ... fly..." There went another monotone beep. "Soar on the hope of marvelous things..." And another. "Fly to who you are. Climb upon your star. You believe you'll find your wings. Fly..." And another.
I was now on the verge of believing that no matter how many times I called, I wasn't going to be able to reach Cam at this hour.
"Everywhere you go, your soul will find a home. You'll be free to spread your wings..."
Just then, as I was about to give up on contacting anyone and end the call, the monotone beeps came to an end and I was greeted with an exhausted, "Hello?"
My eyes widened a little. "Cam!"
"Zac?" His voice was gruff, proving that I had definitely woken him up from a dead sleep. "What ... what time is it? Why in the hell are you calling me at..." Cam paused, and I heard what sounded like him lazily shifting around on his mattress before he added in a more distinct and fierce tone, "1:50 in the morning? Really, mate?"
"I know, I know. It's really early and I'm sorry for waking you up like this, but..." I had to hesitate, pursing my lips in thought as to how I should explain the unknown person singing outside. "I just woke up from another stupid dream and I really need to talk to you. Something strange is going on here."
"Fly ... you can fly ... to your heart."
Clearly too tired to notice the song, Cam let out a long yawn, right before he said, "You say that like these past few months haven't been strange for either of us at all."
"Cam, I'm not talking about Mako, my transformation, the trident, or the girls right now!" I exclaimed, but then reminded myself to keep quiet.
"Whoa, Zac, calm down!" Cam had raised his voice to match the volume of mine, but his was from surprise. "I'm just saying..." His tone softened again, "...if you woke me up to tell me about this new dream of yours, I'm pretty sure it can wait until we meet up at school. You know, so we can both sneak in a few more hours of sleep and I won't have to keep talking in a volume that prevents me from waking up my parents and receiving a lecture on why it's so important to get at least seven hours of sleep every night."
"No, Cam! This is serious!" I made sure to whisper, but the urgency in my voice had taken a sharp and obvious increase. "This isn't about my dream! There's someone outside my house!"
In less than a second, I heard Cam lunge up. "What?" His tone was now alert, as though he'd never been tired. "Are they trying to break in?"
"No, it isn't a break-in. It actually sounds like ... like they're singing."
"Singing?" Cam asked, making it sound like a foreign word. I didn't need to see him to know that he had raised an eyebrow just now. "There's someone singing outside your house?"
"Yeah, I heard them as clear as day." By this point, I was cautiously glancing around my room, eyeing some of the dark corners and dimmed pieces of furniture. I knew that this person was outside, but where outside? "And something tells me they're still out there. Just listen, Cam."
On the other end of the line, I received nothing but Cam's obeying silence.
I kept my phone up to my ear, remaining just as quiet as my best mate as we both listened carefully. The seconds that ticked by felt more like hours, providing the sounds of only crickets chirping and leafs rustling together in the wind. A small piece of me began to wonder if this unknown person had heard me talking on the phone and hurried to get away from my house, but the rest of me knew that wouldn't have made any sense. If I could hear them singing, then I surely would've been able to hear them running off.
A couple of more seconds slipped by, and I could tell that it wasn't going to be long before Cam objected to there being no singing. I opened my mouth, fully prepared to convince him that I really had heard someone, but before I could get a word out...
"Come fly with me. Let's soar across the clouds and sea. We can be together, mighty and free, for all eternity."
"...What ... the..." Cam said after a short, five-second pause. His voice was drenched in a mixture of curiosity and confusion. "...Hell?"
"My thoughts exactly." I flicked my eyebrows up, which was my silent way of telling people 'I told you so.' Even over the phone, I still found it effective. "See? There is somebody singing out there."
"Don't be - never be - afraid to spread your wings. Open them wide and fly to the heights of all you can be. Fly ... fly..."
I quickly turned my head in the direction of my hangout's back door, staring at it with a fierce look in my eyes. "Whoever it is," I whispered into my phone, "it sounds like they're somewhere in the backyard."
"Well, peek out one of your windows and see if you can see them." Cam instructed.
"Yeah, okay. Hang on." I tossed my blankets aside and climbed out of bed, dressed in nothing but a pair of dark red boxers. Noticing this, I immediately placed my phone back down on my nightstand - still keeping Cam on the line - and bent over, snatching up a worn out pair of gray sweatpants that were lying across the floor. I then pulled them up to my knees, eagerly wrestling to get them up the rest of the way as I swiped my cell phone back up and hurried over to the window that was closest to the back door.
"Soar on the hopes of marvelous things..."
I quietly separated two of the closed shades, expecting to see this shady figure as soon as I peeked out. However, when I did, it didn't take long for my expectations to be shot down. Not only wasn't there a single person in sight, but there didn't seem to be anything at all out of the ordinary. My backyard looked just as calm and natural as it always did.
"Fly to who you are. Climb upon your star. You believe you'll find your wings. Fly..."
"This doesn't make any sense." I mumbled for Cam to hear.
"What doesn't make any sense?"
I narrowed my eyes in thought. "By the sound of the voice, it's definitely coming from my backyard, but ... I'm looking out my window now and I don't see anybody outside."
"What? No one at all?" Cam asked. His curiosity had trumped his confusion, just like it nearly always did.
"No. There's nobody in sight," I answered, "but I know for a fact that there is someone out there. Somewhere."
"Everywhere you go, your soul will find a home. You'll be free to spread your wings. Fly.."
"God, this is eerie." Cam muttered. "Shhh! Be quiet, Leo!" In the background, his sister's cat had been meowing in an annoying loop for the past fifteen seconds. In return, I heard the nosy cat hiss, and I didn't need to see Cam to know that he just rolled his eyes. "I swear, I told Sherri a hundred times to keep that aggravating fur ball in her room. She knows that he aggravates the hell out of me."
"Cam," I said, completely ignoring everything he just said about his sister and the cat. "I think I should go out there and take a closer look around."
"Whoa, that's not a good idea, mate! I've seen hundreds of horror movies that began with scenarios like this." Cam cleared his throat, now full of alarm. "As soon as you go out there, this person will creep out from the shadows when you least expect it, quietly approach you from behind, and either throw a sack over your head and kidnap you, or harshly slice your throat with a blade and leave you to bleed out on the lawn."
I smacked my free arm down at my side. "Gee, Cam, thanks. I've always known that I could count on you for encouragement in times like this."
"Pay attention to the fireflies shine in the night. Allow your passion to guide you through life. Let yourself fly..."
"Zac," Cam said in all seriousness, "I really think you should call the police."
"And tell them what?" I asked, sounding almost desperate for a good and reasonable answer. "That I just woke up from having a dream and heard somebody singing in my backyard? They're going to think I'm crazy."
For a moment, Cam remained silent, making me think that the call had somehow been disconnected; but then, he released a deep sigh and said, "Okay, if you're really so keen on going outside to check on ... whoever or whatever is singing, then at least keep me on the line."
"I was planning on it." Without another word, I quickly slipped on my nearest pair of flip-flops and unlocked the back door. After that, I grabbed the knob and just held it for a couple of seconds, trying to get used to how much smaller it felt in my hand before I found enough courage to practically throw open the door. And just like that, I was abruptly slammed in the face by a salty gust of wind that forced me to clamp my eyes shut and stumble back a few steps.
One of the many side effects that came with being a merman was the enhanced smell and taste of salt. It was probably the easiest side effect I could handle, considering I have always loved swimming and I've lived directly beside the sea all my life. Even when I was a full land person, nothing about salt ever bothered me; but right now ... something wasn't right. The taste and smell had gotten even stronger, making me feel like I had just inhaled and devoured moist clumps of sand that had very recently been spit out from the ocean. What could've possibly got the air to be this salty?
And that wasn't the only thing that was strange about this. Somehow, the gust of wind - after it struck me - began to mysteriously fade back into a gentle breeze, even though the strongly enhanced taste and smell of salt continued to linger around. How could that have happened?
I shot my eyes back open, now glaring, and I finally walked outside. With every step I took, the grass swooshed under my flip-flops and I constantly looked from left to right, practically spinning myself around in circles every few seconds to see if I could spot anyone. Not only that, but ever since I flung the door open, the singing had come to an unexpected stop. So, I could no longer follow it.
By the time I reached the center of the lawn, still without spotting anybody, I couldn't help but stop walking and lower my head for a few seconds. I stuck out my tongue and gagged a couple of times. Thanks to the insanely briny wind, my merman senses felt like they had met their ultimate challenge. The smell overwhelmed my nostrils, almost burning them, and my throat was choked up with the thick, dry taste. Luckily, I wasn't in any excruciating pain at all; but there was still this slight queasy feeling beginning to form in the pit of my stomach.
"Cam," I said, now concerned on why I was suddenly feeling this way. "Do you know anyone in our school that's been out sick recently?"
"Uh ... no, no names come to mind. At least not at this hour. Why?"
I examined the back porch from where I was standing, reminding myself of the actual reason as to why I was out there: to see if I could find the person that'd been singing.
"Um..." I pursed my lips and pushed the nausea aside as much as I could. "I'll explain that later."
Nothing looked out of place on the porch. It looked just as organized as it did the evening before, when my parents and I ate dinner together during the sunset. And when I shifted my attention over to the herb garden and rose bushes, I knew that I was wasting my time by this point. No one could have been hiding in any of the plants, considering their short height and how they were full of thorns.
"Damn it!" I exclaimed, but then quickly quieted myself again. "Whoever was out here must've gotten away."
"You mean, you don't see anybody?" Cam asked. Knowing him, he just raised an eyebrow. "Nothing suspicious at all?"
I shook my head, despite how he couldn't see me. "No ... and you know what makes all of this even more weird?" 'Other than my sudden nausea.' I thought to myself.
"Is that even a possibility?"
"The singing," I pointed out, ignoring his rhetorical question. "It stopped as soon as I came outside ... and without it, I can't find where exactly this strange person is. Or at least was."
Confusion started to invade Cam's voice again. "Are you sure ... this isn't some type of paranormal activity or something among those lines?"
"Ghosts? There's no such thing." I said with a roll of my eyes. "Wow, you definitely weren't kidding when you said you've watched hundreds of horror films."
"I've also read plenty of fairytales as a kid, and those went on and on about how mermaids didn't exist."
I quietly drew in a deep breath through my mouth, still trying to ignore my stomach's abrupt queasiness. It was actually starting to grow stronger - slowly, but actively taking a strange toll on me. Nonetheless, it hadn't reached a limit that made me feel like I was about to collapse or vomit, so I was able to continue keeping it on the down low for now.
"Anyway, paranormal voodoo and fairytales aside," Cam said, "what if all of this happened because of the trident?"
"What?" I was clearly caught off guard from hearing such a suggestion. "How could the trident be the thing that's responsible?"
"Well, you told me before that you were able to grab it that one time, right? You know, before you turned around and saw the true identities our little fishy companions?"
At the mention of Lyla, Sirena, and Nixie, I shook my head in annoyance and rolled my eyes. Nonetheless, instead of saying anything about them, I focused on Cam's first question and said, "Yeah, I held it. Why?"
"Well, what if there really was nobody singing outside your house at all?" questioned Cam. "What if it was in your head like - like some type of side effect or something?"
I cocked an eyebrow. "Cam, I highly doubt that holding the trident for a couple of seconds would cause me to hear a mysterious voice out of the blue like this. Plus, you never touched the trident and you heard the singing just as clearly as I did."
There was another small pause on the other side of the line before Cam let out a small sigh. "Okay, I see your point. There really was someone, for some crazy and unknown reason, singing outside your house at this ungodly hour. But I still do think the trident is somehow involved."
"Well, whether it is involved or not, whoever was out here is gone now." I took yet another glance around, studying the porch, garden, and around the former garage a final time. "If they ever come back, I'll definitely-" Before I could finish my sentence, my voice trailed off when I shifted my eyes over to something else: my family's dock. All around it, the water was now the same shade of blue as a vibrant sapphire - which, of course, was normal during the day; but during these hours with just the moonlight, the sea was usually as dark as ink. Not only that, but the waves were rippling a little faster than I've ever seen a calm one do before, colliding together and slowly returning to a familiar pace.
"Zac?" Cam said. "You still there?"
I opened my mouth, but no words came out as I continued to eye the water. As crazy as it may sound, it almost felt like the ocean was trying to tell me something ... something that was very important.
"Zac? Is everything all right, mate?"
"Uh..." I tried to think of something convincing to say back, but then, I shut myself up. Could the singing have been... "No way..."
"No way what?" Cam asked, his tone now swarming with anxiousness. "Zac, what's going on?"
"Um ... Cam, I got to go. We can continue this conversation over breakfast. I'll see you then."
"What? No, wait! Zac-"
I silently lowered my phone from my ear and clicked off the call.
I refused to break my focus away from my family's dock. It didn't look like any of the old beach chairs had been rearranged, but this new thought in my brain wasn't telling me to focus on the top of it. Is it really possible that the one who'd been singing was another merman? Thinking back to it, the voice really did sound like it belonged to a male figure ... and now, no matter how hard I looked around my family's land, I still failed to spot anything or anyone suspicious. But, when I looked toward the ocean, I noticed that the ultra-blue water was slowly transforming back into its usual silvery black shade.
Just then, the queasy feeling in my stomach increased a bit more. The salty breeze was still burning my nostrils. And I began to wonder ... what if this unseen merman was the one somehow responsible for the strange changes in the briny air, the water ... and my health? Just at the thought of that, I sharply narrowed my eyes and formed a bold scowl. Finally, without allowing another moment to go to waste, I fast walked back across the lawn, through the opening of the fence, and up the short cobblestone path that led to the dock.
The nausea continued to grow a little stronger with every second that past; but then, as soon as I stepped up onto the dock, my gut settled like I was never ill to begin with. My flip-flops smacked against the whitewashed wood with every step I took as I stepped around a couple of the lounge chairs and a few empty worm buckets. At last, I came to a halt when I reached the edge, looking from left to right and examining the water as closely as I could without accidentally getting splashed.
Surely, the singing and the different appearance of the water was enough to prove that some other type of merlife had been involved here. Right?
"Maybe..." I lowered myself onto my knees and pressed my hands against the wood, careful to avoid splinters and any nearby puddles. My brain was swarming with hundreds of merman-related possibilities. "Maybe there's something under here..."
However, just as I was seconds away from lowering my head to take a glance under the dock, I was interrupted by the sound of a door sliding open, followed by my dad's confused voice calling out, "Zac!"
My heart took a rough leap in my chest from being so caught off guard. I ended up pushing myself away from dock's edge so fast that when I jumped back up onto my feet, I nearly tumbled back and fell right on my ass. With my dad now outside, it was far too risky for me to be so close to the water like this. One little splash from any of the rippling waves and it was all over for me.
"Yeah, Dad?" I called back, trying to sound as natural as possible. Until now, I had failed to notice that all of the outdoor lights around the back porch had been turned on, and my dad was standing with his arms crossed beside the patio dining set. It immediately came to my attention that he was still wearing the outfit from his meeting at the hospital yesterday: a pair of dark slacks with a maroon button-down shirt and black tie.
"What are you doing out here? You're supposed to be in bed." Dad said. I could feel his eyes following me as I carefully stepped over the few salty sea puddles that were in my way. My heart was having a pounding fit by this point, but before I knew it, I managed to make it back to the dry stairs and immediately retreated to land. Absolutely no words could possibly describe how fantastic the relief felt as I followed the cobblestone path back into the grass.
"I know, but..." I paused for a moment to think, knowing that I couldn't tell him about the voice. "I thought I heard something and decided to take a look around."
"You heard something?" My dad asked, and when I nodded, he raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Hmph, that's strange ... I've been working on some paperwork at the kitchen table for these last couple of hours and I haven't heard anything."
So, that explains why he didn't hear the singing! When it came to my father and anything that centered around his medical career, a bomb could go off and he wouldn't show the tiniest bit of notice.
"Yeah, um..." I forced a realistic smile across my face and shrugged. "Maybe it was just some crickets or ... maybe the wind."
And immediately after I said those last three words, I really wished that I had kept them to myself. Out of nowhere, another gust of the excessively salty wind plowed into me, striking me in the back of the head and almost forcing me to stumble a few steps forward from how strong it was. At the same time, a low growl erupted from the pit of my stomach, causing the phony grin to vanish from my face. I opened my mouth and quietly drew in a deep breath, trying to ignore how much it made my throat tingle from the saltiness, and I gently placed my hand against my stomach. The nausea had definitely returned, but this time, it wasn't teasing me. Now, it almost felt as if somebody's hand was inside of me and slowly twisting my intestines around, warning me that if I wasn't careful, I was going to throw up.
"Zac?" Dad said. He started to approach the edge of the porch, but then decided to stop. Concern glistened in his eyes. "Are you feeling alright?"
"Oh, yeah," I replied, managing to maintain a convincing tone. "I'm fine. I ... probably just need to get back to sleep." 'This has never happened before. This can't be normal.' I thought.
Just then, I noticed that the tall umbrella on the far opposite side of the porch started to flap around harder than it usually did. The only time I've ever seen it do that was during a storm, but the wind - like before - had softened and it wasn't strong enough to have the umbrella rocking around as roughly as it was.
"Well, all right. If you say so." Dad shrugged, but the look in his eyes told me he understood. "But if you decide that you want anything like Tylenol, you can-"
The umbrella's iron holder started to tilt, viciously rocking back and forth, and all of the sudden-
My eyes shot bigger than ever before. "DAD!" I yelled. "LOOK OUT!"
With a split second left to spare, my father whirled around and managed to jump out of the way, saving himself from being slammed by the umbrella. It soared past him, practically at the speed of lightning, and racked against the deck's edge before toppling down to the grass. As soon as it struck the ground, it lied motionlessly beside the herb garden.
I stared at it, my eyes still huge. That thing had been flung right out of its iron holder and all the way across the deck!
"What the hell!" My dad bellowed, right before he pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. "Damn it, I knew I forgot to do something after dinner. This is what happens when the umbrella doesn't get closed. The wind catches it and blows it around."
"Yeah..." I said slowly. "Do you want me to pick it up and put it back in its holder?"
My dad shook his head. "No, it's fine. It can wait until morning. No use putting it back when the wind might blow it back out again."
'Hell will freeze over the moment I believe that it was the wind that caused this.' I thought to myself, but still nodded at my father's words.
As for my nausea at this point, it felt like my stomach acid was slowly heating up, becoming increasingly choppy and sending uneasy waves throughout the rest of my body. I drew in another steady breath, just as the sides of my head began to throb from a massive headache. It turned out to be so huge and unexpected that I couldn't help but cringe.
"Zac?" Dad said with much more concern in his voice. "Are you positive that you're feeling okay?"
There was another low growl in my gut, but I quickly spoke over it. "Yeah, I'm really positive. I probably just ... inhaled too much of the salty air."
My dad opened his mouth to say something else. Nonetheless, he was cut off when the sliding-glass back door slid open, and my mother stepped out. Her hair was an absolute mess, indicating that she had been asleep just minutes before, and she was in the middle of tying her floral robe shut.
"Rob? What on earth is going on out here?" She then turned her confused gaze in my direction. "Zac, what are you doing up? You should be fast asleep. Don't you have a chemistry test to be ready for in a couple of more hours?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but before I could get a word out, my father beat me to it. It was a good thing he did too, because my queasy stomach and headache decided to kick themselves up a notch more. I still wouldn't call what I was in excruciating pain, but it was definitely discomforting.
"Don't worry, Lauren. Everything is fine." Dad assured, just as I shot a fierce glare over my shoulder. I still couldn't spot anyone or anything, but there was no way in hell that the wind caused that umbrella - with a long and thick brass pole - to fly across the porch and almost strike my dad. There had to be magic and another merman involved with all of this. And not with just the umbrella, the sapphire seawater, or the ridiculously salty air, but ... what if my sickness...
...Was something like that even possible?
"I heard a loud crash," Mom remarked. Noticing how scared and concerned she was, I turned my attention back to her and tried putting on the most calming face that I could manage. Unfortunately, with the nausea still hanging over me like a thick cloud, I could only muster a small grin.
"It was just the umbrella. The wind caught a hold of it and blew it into the grass." Dad explained, right before he gestured towards me and added, "As for Zac, he told me that he thought he heard a noise and decided to look around for anything out of the ordinary."
"That's right," I spoke up, surprisingly being able to pull off my convincing tone again. "I was just checking to be on the safe side. Now, since I know the coast is clear, I really think I should be getting back to bed." At the word 'really,' I almost winced again from the headache. It was almost like there was a drum being pounded on inside of my brain.
I could still see the concern for me glowing in my dad's eyes, but I could tell that he wasn't going to risk asking anything anymore. The last thing he ever wanted was to work my mom up.
"Yes, you definitely should." Mom agreed. She crossed her arms, and as the breeze whistled through her tousled hair and blew it out of her face, I realized just how exhausted she was. "Before you know it, you'll be having to wake back up for school. As for you, Rob, please call it a night with your paperwork and come to bed."
"All right, dear. I'm coming now."
Mom nodded, turning away and sliding the patio door open again. My dad followed, his hands on her shoulders, but before either of them headed back into the house, they froze in their tracks and turned their heads back in my direction.
"Goodnight, Zac." Dad said.
"We'll see you in the morning. We love you." Mom then assured.
Despite the discomfort that I was in, I forced myself to put on another realistic smile. "Yeah, I'll see you both then. Goodnight, love you too." While beginning my retreat to the former garage, I kept my pace as calm and normal as possible. However, immediately after I made it around the corner, no longer in the sight of my parents, I couldn't help myself. The staged grin vanished from my face. I threw my arms over my stomach and hunched over, feeling like I was definitely on the verge of throwing up as I took off at the speed of lightning. I don't think I've ever ran so fast before in my entire life - not counting the multiple times of when I've accidentally been splashed and had to hide in public.
I practically dove back into my hangout through the back door, which I had left open the entire time. The sides of my head were throbbing. My stomach was sour and continuing to lowly growl every few moments. Another cringe slipped across my face, and I couldn't hold back the small groan that was pleading to be released. But then, as soon as I closed the back door and locked it behind me ... all of my discomfort dissolved. In the blink of an eye, the headache faded away and my gut settled - just like it had done when I stepped up onto the dock. There was no more gurgling, no more urges to vomit. It was as if I had never felt queasy to begin with.
"What the..." I pinched the bridge of my nose, catching my footing when I almost fell over. Why did I feel so dizzy all of the sudden? "How in the hell did that happen?"
Until now, I hadn't really paid much attention to how scratchy my voice had become due to the dryness of my throat.
I hurried over to my desk, setting my cell phone down before I snatched up the bottle of water that I had left there the evening before. With no hesitation, I twisted the cap off and started to chug like I had been lost in the scorching desert for weeks. The feeling I got with every gulp I swallowed was beyond relieving.
By the time I made it to the middle of the bottle, I decided that I had drank enough. However, just as I thought I secured the cap back on it, I accidentally set it down too close to the edge of my desk and it toppled over. The cap popped off in less than a second, allowing the remaining chugs of the water to rain down and splash against my feet. Of course, my flip-flops provided no protections whatsoever, and the bottom hems of my sweatpants were left soaked.
Out of annoyance, I rolled my eyes; but before I could attempt making a run to my bed or the couch for a soft landing, I familiar tingle swept through my body and I lost my balance. My sweatpants and drenched flip-flops disappeared, leaving me lying facedown on the hardwood floor with my bright blue and white speckled tail flopping behind me.
"Great ... just as I thought that things couldn't possibly get anymore aggravating right now..." I let out a deep sigh and rested my chin on my forearm. Then, for a moment, I remained silent to let everything sink in, and I puffed a few strands of my now damp hair out of my face. "There is definitely another merman somewhere out there in the ocean, and by the looks of it, he has an interest in warning people about him." The image of the umbrella soaring through the air at the speed of lightning and nearly striking my dad kept replaying in my mind, causing me to narrow my eyes. Still, a small hint of satisfaction was able to seep into my voice. "Whoever he is, he's lucky that I didn't catch him ... but I can guarantee that after all of that, I sure as hell will find a way."
And unfortunately for this mystery merman, I can't - and won't - be scared away that easily.
Adrian's POV
I rocketed through the wide-open sea, leaving behind a never-ending trail of bubbles and a fading string of bright blue light.
Despite how I hadn't bothered to focus on my route for the many countless hours I'd spent underwater, I managed to arrive at my targeted destination in under twelve minutes; and that destination was the Mako reef. At first glance, it might've appeared as a gigantic mass of multicolored coral, starfish, and streaked clams that stretched on for miles and was inhabited by multiple schools of fish and lazy turtles; but there was actually a lot more to discover and explore around Mako's coast. Just beyond a group of sea anemones that was intimidating enough to turn pesky scuba divers away, there was this narrow underwater cave that had its entrance perfectly hidden behind a tall and stringy garden of yellowish/brown kelp.
Once inside, the water almost became entirely pitch-black from the absence of sun or moonlight. With every second you spent on trying to swim further and further back into the cave, the more the limestone walls - which were mostly jagged and smeared with algae - slowly closed in. And then, just as you start to think that you're going to be squashed between the rocks and suffocated to death if you didn't turn back, the cold walls spread widely apart, defying their previous narrow state, and you would find yourself surfacing in a humongous grotto.
The walls stretched up and provided hundreds - literally hundreds - of more secret tunnels that were equipped with air pockets and led all around Mako. This place, until I discovered it during my search for a new home a couple of months back, hadn't looked like it held any signs of being occupied by other forms of merlife. In fact, I highly doubt that this cave had been used for anything ever since the mermen were cast out of the ocean after the final battle. It was long forgotten about ... that is, until I found it.
I knew which tunnel was mine by heart. Its entrance was hidden behind a curtain of seaweed, in which was almost the exact same shade of green as the algae. If any scuba divers ever found a way to get in here, I can guarantee that the chance of there being a camouflaged cave wouldn't cross their minds.
In my official cavern, I was provided with both sun and moonlight through the translucent red and turquoise colored curtains. Thanks to a few dozen of old stalagmites that had broken off from the high ceiling, doable-sized holes had been left behind. Not only that, but I had an unbelievable amount of merchandise spread all over the place in my cavern. There were wooden chests stacked around, but while some remained closed and showed off their fancy carvings of waves and flowers, I had unlocked others and left them open. In one, there was dozens of rings, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings that were created out of a variety of jewels - sapphires, rubies, emeralds, etcetera. And in another, gold and silver treasure coins were piled up on top of each other, almost overflowing.
Barrels, candles, books, empty glass bottles...
A grandfather clock - an hour off the correct time - sat against a small ebony table that had an underwater camera and some picture cubes that were arranged into a pyramid placed on it. Each one contained six different photos of many creatures: seagulls, dolphins, crabs, etcetera.
Multiple hour glasses, old-fashioned globes, figurines of angels and sailors, and neatly painted pieces of pottery were also stashed here. Plus, there were shells, chalices, lanterns, handbags ... hell, there was even a staircase that led up to a coffee table, a love seat, and some footstools. And lastly, at the far left corner of my private grotto was a crack in the wall that was just wide enough for someone to mange to slither through. Strings of wooden beads and glittery rhinestones hung down in front of it, as if it was an ordinary door, and on the other side of that gap was a flood of plump pillows, thick blankets, and a hammock. My personalized bedroom.
Half of this stuff, of course, came from the sea after they had drowned in shipwrecks or were abandoned on the beach and pulled out during the tide. As for the other half ... well, let's just say that I admired "borrowing" from the land people on a regular basis.
"What in the hell was that?" I blurted out as soon as I made it to the surface of my medium-sized moon pool. "For these past few months, I've been working hard to keep on top of my assignment and find the trident, but while I continue to swim all over the ocean and search all of Mako for it, I overhear that two shore dwellers ... Zac and Cam..." Saying their names left a bad taste in my mouth. "Know about it! They know about it and this Zac has actually held it!"
Visibly seething in anger, I hauled myself out of the salty water and flopped over onto my ass. After that, as soon as I turned my head, the first thing that I saw was my reflection in this full body mirror that was prompt up against the wall. Aside from my naturally pale complexion, I had round eyes that were this mixed shade of greenish/brown, often glazed with bitterness and shooting daggers. Also, there was my hair: shoulder-length and as dark as the feathers of a raven, currently sleeked back with the seawater and exposing my bold face.
And, of course, there was my tail; but be warned, it isn't anything like the typical merman tail.
Right below my navel, my skin dissolved into a dark green tail that had all of its speckled scales rimmed in vibrant shades of blue and purple. Not only that, but placed in each of their centers, there was an oval-shaped black speck, making it look like my tail's appearance was inspired by the backside of a peacock. A small dorsal fin, which was a few green shades lighter and rimmed in black, stretched from the middle of my tailbone to about my mid-calf. As for my wider fin - the one that took the place of my feet whenever I touched water, - it matched the design of my dorsal fin and resembled the shape of a shark's tail.
Also, instead of wearing a choppy and girly moon ring like all other forms of graduated merlife, I wore this necklace that was given to me as a young kid; so, no ... I haven't technically graduated from so-called 'merman lessons.' But that didn't stop me from wearing the necklace. No matter where I went, I always made sure to have it around my neck, just like I did right now. It was a simple, thin chain that had a silver pedant shaped like a perfectly detailed sword hanging from it. The sapphire-colored moon stone was inserted in the part where the long blade was connected to the grip.
"How in the hell do they even know about the trident?" My voice furiously echoed through the grotto, practically trembling some of the leftover stalagmites. "They are land people! They're not supposed to get involved with my kind, especially with something as strong as the trident!" I then started to cuss under my breath, closing my eyes and waving the bottom part of my tail up and down so it repeatedly splashed in the moon pool. "Those two are messin' with the wrong merman..." I curled my hands into tight fists, recalling the conversation I'd heard these Zac and Cam people exchange while I was under that dock. "The trident doesn't belong to them! I need it to complete my damn assignment, but it's not going to help at all if those two are constantly one step ahead of me. Previously, Zac held the trident. The next time he manages to get it ... my God, he'll try to claim it."
Just then, it was as if everything had fallen into place; and as much as I despised the thought of socializing and spending time with shore dwellers just for the hell of it, I knew exactly what I had to do.
"So ... Zac and Cam think they can steal the trident right under my nose, huh?" I extended my arm out, focusing on a nearby vase that was surrounded by a few glass jars of wristwatches and tattered wallets. Almost instantly, I felt a familiar tingle race through my fingertips, and a small smirk curled up on the corners of my lips as I watched the vase begin to rise into the air. "Well, well ... it looks like it's time for me to swoop in and burst their precious land bubble. Cam, Zac ... you both better watch out, because Adriatic is coming."
I snapped my fingers and watched as the vase exploded into hundreds of pieces.
A/N: Phew! This took me over a month to write! :)
I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of "A Merman's Vengeance." Please share your thoughts! Reviews are very much appreciated! :) :) :D :D
I am currently in my final nine weeks of school, which means I'm still juggling around homework, studying, and projects on the side of my writing. Nonetheless, I'm not giving up on any of my stories, so don't worry about that. :) I get out on June 2nd! :D
Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter! :D :D :) :) Happy writing and reading, everyone! God bless! :) :) :D :D