Lull of the Sea

Chapter Ten: Lucas

I could smell the saltwater and the warm sun. It stunk to high heaven. I detested those damn monsters. Those Selkies. How could anyone not notice the stench on Main Street? It didn’t smell like normal salt water, the smell that lurked at ports and beaches. It was woven with a bitter smell of their magic and the salty water. That’s what made me want to gag and throw up.

I stalked the streets silently, making sure to stay hidden from view. After all, I didn’t want to be seen by anyone. I looked around longingly at the small port town, and I realized how much I missed it. I missed the chilly beach when the moon was at its highest, where I would sit and would watch the water, waiting for those beasts to appear. Hunting monsters was in my blood after all. My father and his father before him were all hunters. They trained me in the art and the thrill of the hunt.

But then I was called out by the fishermen; they needed me back in Scotland, where a war was waging between us and those damned monsters. Those things that had killed so many of us. I was able to escape from the battle. While the rest of the men under my command weren’t so lucky. I’d been out on those waters so many damned times; why was that time different?

I looked up towards the overcast sun, the beams trying so hard to peek through the wispy fortress of the clouds. I leaned against the dank wall of the alleyway. How I wished I could go home, tell her I missed her, but everything had changed… I was hellbent on revenge. I wasn’t the same person Ceria knew six years ago. The fun-loving, down-to-earth man she’d loved. Not… whatever the hell I was now. Not fully human and not really dead. I was somewhere in between. I was saved by the gods that day. Their mark was on me, invisible, but I could feel the stinging of it on the back of my shoulder blade.

I knew I was supposed to die that night, but the gods had other plans. I had to finish what I’d started, then I could finally rest. Finally, go back home, if I didn’t turn into a corpse after they were done with me. After all, you never know what they had in mind. Why they decided to save me was beyond my comprehension. I just knew I had a job to finish. I wanted to end this damned war; I needed it to finally be over.

I sighed heavily as I lit a cigarette and took a long drag. “f**k, this was going to be a long day. Keeping tabs on both the Selkie and Ceria. Making sure she’s not getting into any trouble,” I mumbled under my breath.

I started walking through the alleys as I tried to stay in the shadows. I was headed back to the hotel room I was renting on the outskirts of downtown. I flicked the cigarette butt to the ground when I finished it. I stomped it out as I kept walking.