Chapter 15- Cole

I woke up late since it was Saturday and looked at my calendar. September 17, my 17th birthday. I got out of bed and went to the kitchen. Mom had already left for work but had left breakfast for me. She was so upset when she found out she had to work today but I understood. I sat and started eating, glancing at the time. It's 10, I have to meet Sam and Cora at the beach at 11. I was hanging out with them for my birthday, first at the beach then at Sam's house later. It had been a week and a half since they had started acting a little strange around me and I still didn't know why. I finished my breakfast with a small shrug. Oh well. Daemon wasn't coming because his parents were forcing him to go out with them for family bonding. I went to my room and got changed into swim shorts and a T-shirt, putting a regular pair of shorts and another T-shirt in a gym bag in case my clothes got wet even though I probably wasn't going to go in the water. I finished getting ready and left the house, heading for our usual spot on the beach that we always hang out at. Sam and Cora were already there talking quietly when I got there. They were sitting on their beach towels and looked up as I approached. "Hey."

Sam smiled. "Hey, happy birthday!"

"Happy birthday."

I spread out my towel and sat down. "Thanks." I saw them exchange a glance.

Sam looked at me again. "It's Cora's birthday too."

I blinked and looked at Cora. "Really? Happy birthday."

Cora shot Sam a look before looking down, mumbling. "Thanks."

I sighed. They're acting weird again. I looked out at the water and suddenly got this strange feeling, a sort of longing, to go in the water. I got up. "Let's go swim around for a bit."

Sam blinked, surprised since she knows I don't really like going in the water much. "Oh, okay." Her and Cora got up. Cora jogged over to the water and Sam walked with me.

"Is it really her birthday or was it just a joke?"

"It's her birthday."

"Huh…" I was about knee deep in the water now but the feeling didn't go away. If anything it was stronger and I now also felt a strange tingling sort of sensation. I could see Cora pop out of the water a little ways ahead of us, hair wet from going under. Go under...that might help… I went deeper and dove under the water. I was surprised to find that I could see perfectly clear even though the water looked murky when you looked at it above water. I swam around a bit, fascinated, when my legs started to feel weird. What the-? I stretched them out and felt better as something shiny at the bottom caught my eye. I went to swim down to see what it was and realized that I couldn't move my legs and started to panic. I looked down and saw a huge fin instead of legs and screamed. Something has me, something has me! I tried to move but couldn't. I looked over when I saw Cora swimming over out of the corner of my eye. "Help! Help!" I blinked as I heard myself speak clearly. What-?

Cora came over, looking a little sympathetic but otherwise happy. "Relax, it's alright."

I blinked again at being able to hear her clearly. Is this a dream?... "H-help…"

Cora studied the fin for a moment. "Can you move it?"

"N-no...I can't move...g-get it off…" I was surprised that I wasn't in any pain despite the fact that something was eating me.

Cora tilted her head slightly. "Get it off?" She looked confused for a moment. "Oh!" She looked like she had realized something. "You don't realize it's you do you? You think something has you."

I just looked at her, very confused and scared. "C-Cora...please help…" Surely she wouldn't let me die? I know I haven't known her long but still…

"Relax Cole, it's okay. You're fine, nothing has you. It doesn't belong to something else, it belongs to you. Try to move it."

"W-what?...Cora stop talking nonsense, please help me…" I was practically begging at this point.

She shook her head. "I'll show you." I watched at her legs fused together and formed a fin. "See? I have one too." Her fin flicked slightly and she moved a little closer to me. "Just give it a little flick."

This must be a dream… I flicked my fin and bumped into her. I looked down at it, examining it more closely and realizing that it was actually attached to me. I reached down and touched it, blinking when I could feel it. "C-Cora...what's going on?..." This doesn't feel like a dream...but it can't possibly be real…

"Don't think about it too hard, it's a lot easier than you think." She moved out of the way and watched me flick my tail again. "Swim around a bit, get used to it." I only swam in short little bursts at first but then got more comfortable. Cora followed me as I swam around and stopped next to me when I stopped. "Better?"

I nodded. "Much, thank you." I looked down at my fin again. "What's going on?"

"Let's get back to land and I'll explain things." She started swimming to shore and I followed her. Her fin split back into legs and she walked onto the beach.

I poked my head out. "How do I do that?"

"Just think about it."

"That sounds too simple." I did what she said though and easily changed back. "Huh, simple." She tossed me my shorts. I looked around. "Where's Sam?"

"She went back to the house. We've been here for a while." She got our stuff together and handed me mine.

"Thanks." I took my stuff and we headed for Sam's house. "So…"

Cora sighed. "It's not something that should be discussed out in the open Cole, let's get back to the house. Sam knows so it's fine to talk about it around her."

I nodded. "Okay." Sam knows about whatever this is? Is that why they've been acting weird? Cause they share some crazy secret? We walked in silence the rest of the way to Sam's house and went in. Sam was waiting for us in the living room and jumped up when she saw us.

"Cole, Cora!" She rushed over and looked at me, obviously worried. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "I'm fine…"

Sam looked at Cora. "Have you told him anything yet?"

She shook her head. "Not yet, it's not safe to talk about it in the open, people could overhear."

Sam nodded. "Right, let's go upstairs and talk then." She went up to her room and Cora and I followed. She shut the door once we were all in and went and sat on the bed. She had a pretty big bed so we were all able to sit on it with some room to spare. We sat in a circle so we were all facing each other.

I looked at Cora. "So I'm a mermaid right? Well, merman. You're a mermaid."

Cora made a face. "Right idea, wrong term. Mermaid and merman are human terms. That's not what we are. We're called Syrena."

I nodded. "Right, Syrena. So how did I become one?"

"You can't become a Syrena, you have to be born as one."

I was slightly confused by this. "So, like, there's a percentage of people that are born as Syrena or something?"

Cora shook her head. "It's hereditary Cole."

I blinked. "But my Mom isn't a Syrena. Does that mean my father was one? Is that why he left?"

"If your father was but your mother isn't than you'd be a half breed. Half human, half Syrena with only some Syrena traits not including being able to change." She sighed as I gave her a confused look. "Cole, Emma is Syrena."