Chapter Three

Wasting no time, the odd man reached into his pants and retrieved a small device. A swipe against the front of it resulted in his face being illuminated by light. Astoria would have stopped to watch and listen, if it wasn't for Seraphina's worsening condition. Instead, she focused on comforting her friend and keeping her sat in an upright condition.

"I am so sorry, Sera," Astoria whispered, unsure if the woman could even understand the world around her past the pain, "all this fighting and competition… And for what?"

The man's voice grew in volume with frustration as he seemed to argue with the device. He paced the length in front of him before finally shoving the bizzare thing into his pocket.

"There's a doctor who can check her out. He specializes in the… strange." He trailed off, observing the increasingly odd scene in front of him.

"We'll take what we can get," Astoria finally answered. "How far is the doctor? Could you send for horse? I suppose we could carry her but I'm not even sure how long we can be out of the water."

"There's a truck coming for us. What do you mean you don't know? How do you not know something so important?"

"Seraphina kept a lot of secrets from me. From our entire coven— I didn't even know we could sprout legs until just a few minutes ago. Who knows what else she has kept secret."

Below her, Seraphina gave Astoria's hand a tight squeeze as drifted in and out of consciousness. Her fever seemed to be increasing and her chest heaved with pain and the inability to breathe properly, but at least she was finally able to lay back down.

Loud rumbling approached the beach and upon hearing it come closer and closer, Astoria watched onward. Her eyes were wide with fear as she watched the odd machine, a rusted ruby red, approached them. It appeared to be a carriage of some short. The driver, a man with skin akin to the first man to approach them, sat in what she assumed was the driver's seat. Alongside him was a young woman with bronze hair and big coffee-colored eyes.

"Carlisle said we take the injured one and leave the other with your pack," the man driving the contraption announced upon climbing out.

"You can't separate us," Astoria argued, "we both go. We won't cause any trouble, I just want to get her help and return back home."

"Not going to happen," the other man crossed his arms, "if you're desperate enough for your friend to get help then you will allow her to go with Jacob and Nessie without you."

Eyebrows furrowed and an angry frown twisted on her face, Astoria looked between the two men before turning back to Seraphina. She was officially passed out now, but judging by her pale appearance, Astoria knew her coven leader wasn't getting any better. What other choice did she have? If Sera died, she would lose a friend, along with whatever Rusalka secrest that the other woman seemed to be holding onto. But if she woke and was alone with a bunch of strangers on land, she'd surely go mad!

Astoria sighed in resignation, "fine, fine… But if any of you hurt her." Her eyes scanned between the two men, "your crimes will not go without retaliation."

She climbed to her feet, her knees and joints protesting as she struggled to regain balance. It had been so long since she last walked on two feet that she was partially shocked to find that she was still able to, but then again, stranger things had happened in the past several hours.

"I'll carry her," the woman finally spoke, her voice soft and gentle.

"No you won't," the man Astoria assumed was the 'Jacob' mentioned earlier protested, "I'll do it. Who knows what she'll do."

"She's naked! Besides, she's not really in any position to attack."

"She won't attack you either way," Astoria finally turned her attention to the only other girl. "Only the men. Still, I need to be there when she wakes up. If she wakes in a strange room with humans she will only be angry."

The girl giggled… What was the name the other man had said? 'Nessie'? "It's a good thing we aren't human!"

"That…" Astoria returned her gaze to the large beasts who waited to the side, assumingly to attack if necessary, "is quite obvious. But you three appear as such and if Seraphina awakens to that nightmare she'll understandably to anything to get away."

The man Astoria now figured as their leader butted in, "we'll figure it out later. For now, get her to Carlisle. We'll take the other to my house."

'Nessie' crossed the distance between herself and the two other women. She carefully kneeled down in the sand and with the strength unlike anything Astoria had seen, she lifted Seraphina's naked frame into her arms bridal style. It was as if Sera weighed nothing, and the girl stood back up without breaking a single sweat. Astoria watched in amazement, only snapping out of it when the girl addressed her.

"What are your names, by the way?"

"Oh, I'm Astoria. That's Seraphina in your arms."

She gave a toothy grin that was far too perfect and too white to be natural, "I'm Renesmee, or Nessie, and the guy with me is Jake. The grumpy grandpa over there is Sam."

Astoria looked in Sam's direction just in time to watch him give orders to the wolves. The majority left, but two stayed beside. Afterwards, he pulled the same device he used earlier up to his face.

"Renesmee, what year is it?"

"2012! Today is August 1st. I'll fill you in on what you've missed out when we get back. We should hurry back to my home so Sera can be treated."

Astoria shook her head, "yes, right. Go on, I'll be fine."

The last bit was mostly an attempt to convince herself that nothing would go wrong. Astoria watched as Nessie retreated to the 'truck' with Jacob. It was as the two were finally pulling away and heading down the road that Astoria finally realized something that she couldn't quite fathom.

The call was gone.

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Another carriage of some sorts arrived shortly after Seraphina's departure. The driver this time was a woman with dark hair and long scars across the face. Astoria would have inquired or at least hinted her curiosity if it weren't for the sudden fear she felt when she was finally wrapped in some neatly designed blanket and helped into the back seat.

The journey to Sam's home was a short one, and she was quickly directed into a two-story home made of oak logs with ivy and lush greenery clinging to the sides. There were several other strange carriage-like contraptions in front of the house, but Astoria made no point in asking who else was there. It had finally dawned on her that she was in unfamiliar waters, so to speak. She was surrounded by strangers and would have to play her cards right if she wanted Sera to get better and for both of them to return to their home.

The woman, who was introduced as Sam's wife Emily, led Astoria up the stairs and towards a large bedroom. Self conscious for the first time in a century, Astoria tightened her grip on the blanket covering her figure.

"I have some spare clothes that should fit you," Emily spoke out loud as Astoria trailed behind her, "they might be a big but it will do for now."

Once in the room, Emily pulled out a green blouse and some sort of pants that she called 'jeans'.

"Go ahead and put these on. We'll figure out an underwear situation after we have a discussion about where to go from here. Just join us downstairs when you're ready."

Emily gave Astoria a kind smile, before exiting the room and closing the door behind her. Astoria waited until she could no longer hear footsteps before laying the blanket down the bed and getting dressed.

The shirt was by all means scandalous with its short sleeves and v-neck line, but it was definitely softer than any clothes she had worn before. Astoria decided that night after slipping jeans on that she absolutely hated them, and longed to once again wear a long skirt— perhaps one made of intricate laces and a smooth silks, much like the ones her mother bought her as a child?

For the first time in what felt like forever, Astoria actually felt homesick. Her thoughts flickered by to her previous husband the torment he put her through. 2010. It had been 120 years. He was officially dead and gone from this world. She had hoped he suffered through the remainder of his life but the reality of it was that he probably had a new wife within a years time to take his beatings.

Astoria forced herself to swallow down her emotions and compose herself. She had to be diplomatic right now, there was no time to dwell in the past. She double checked to make sure she was wearing the clothes appropriate before heading out of the room and down the stairs.

She followed the sound of hushed voices that seemed to argue back and forth until she stood in the doorway to a large dining area with an adjoined kitchen. Sat at the table were several men, all shirtless and sporting a similar tattoo as Sam. Emily was in the kitchen now, pushing something into the oven. Finally, Astoria's gaze rested onto an older man in a wheelchair. His hair was long with hints of gray, though the cowboy hat on top of his head did a good enough job to hide the majority of his aging. Their arguments and whispers immediately died down upon realizing she joined them.

"Astoria, let me introduce you to everyone," Emily spoke up after finally turning away from the oven. She had introduced several of the men before shrugging, "the only ones missing are Paul and Jared, though I'm sure you'll meet them later…"

"What are you?" The boy who had been introduced as Collin finally blurted out. He seemed no older than sixteen— definitely the youngest of the bunch.

"I could be asking you the same," Astoria looked from Collin to Sam, "werewolves?"

"Good guess. Not exactly, but close enough… Billy, what was it again that you were saying earlier?"

The older man sighed, "we have had our own legends of women of the waves, but not much information. It was always just warnings— never to fish alone, don't stray too far west, otherwise half-fish women would drag us to the ocean's depths. They weren't the main concern, as long as we kept our distance and our wits we were fine. Then the Cold Ones came along and our ancestors had a much larger problem to handle."

"Is that true?" Sam asked, facing Astoria once again.

"On some level," she crossed her arms, opting to stand than take the empty seat at the table. "I don't know about any 'Cold Ones' but we do drown men when we feel the need to."

"Now that is some demented Ariel crap," Collin laughed.

Astoria frowned, unsure of the reference, "if it is of any comfort I don't feel an urge to kill any of you. It usually feels like a strong tug at the soul, and granted the fact that a lot of us are bitter, we tend to go along with it. But with you men, I feel no such instinct. Maybe it is because you aren't just average human men?"

"How did you become a…. mermaid?" Emily dared to ask.

Astoria bit down on the inside of her cheek in thought. She had to play it careful— if she said too much she could put herself and the others at danger. If she said too little, then they would only be suspicious of her. She assumed there was no harm in telling the truth to Emily's pressing question.

"Rusalka. We are Rusalka, but calling us mermaids is suffice. We are turned into the things we are in the result of a traumatic death, typically at the hands of lovers or husbands. Occasionally, we have had women who died at their own hands... The chances of being turned are higher if you die near the ocean or rivers."

"Can't you just stop killing, though? t's not like all those men you killed were like the ones who hurt you. Some of them were innocent, had families..." Brady asked, his eyebrows furrowed together in disapprovement.

"You can't just ask a fish to stop swimming. Nor can you ask the moon to shift the ocean's tides. In other words… No. You can't. It is natural of us— whether the route of our 'condition' was graced by whatever God there is or not. We were made the way we are and so we must stick to that role, otherwise we will find ourselves in an undesirable condition."

"How did your friend end up in the position we found her in?" Billy pushed back into the conversation, "it was because the oil spill, wasn't it?"

Astoria nodded, "I tried to warn her and the others that we should move on but Sera wouldn't budge. She was so stubborn! Then Hanna woke me up earlier and told me Sera disappeared, so I went out looking for her… I found her the way she was, covered in oil and coughing up blood. She managed to tell me that she had been cornered by some humans who were able to breath underwater for an unnatural amount of time with the use of some innovations. She tried to get away but she got caught between the pressing oil spill and the humans."

"How many are there in your pack?"

"Our coven is… made up of several women. I think you could understand why I don't wish to reveal how many and where they are."

Billy hummed in agreement, "that is understandable. Though if you wish for your friend to get help then we should speak terms. After all you did wash up on our beach and ask for our help."

She nodded at him to go on.

"We will allow you shelter while your friend is treated and on her path to recovery. For this favor we ask that you no longer hunt on this side of the coast. I'm sure we lost many brave men over the past several centuries to your urges."

It was a bitter pill to swallow, but she had no position to argue. Astoria could only hope that Sera would recover soon so the two could return to business. After all, she was the one who said that them not killing would lead to them possibly dying. A part of Astoria began to question if that was even true now, but there was no time to contemplate.

"Fine." Astoria uncrossed her arms, "but only if you tell me what you men are and what a 'Cold One' is."

A smile made its way onto Billy's face, "why don't you take a seat? It's a long story."