WritingCamp - A New Tide

Week 3 A New Tide Worlds' Edge

  The throbbing of the music was audible even in the water, and as she moved out of the water in the darkness under the pier, she could feel the throbbing of the bass in her bones.  Blinking her eyes to adjust to the lighting, she used the towel she had hidden here last time to dry herself enough, and then slid into the clothing she'd hidden with it.  A pair of short shorts, the black denim patterned with a fleur-de-lys design that was elegant, and a light green crop top that barely covered her breasts.  Ela didn't take off her binder, the shells were just the right fit and she didn't need to be showing the young men everything.  Setting the last piece, sunglasses, on her face to hide her luminous eyes, she shook her long white hair back, the strands of bioluminescent seaweed braided through it keeping it from being a tangled mess without making it look completely tamed.  Looking herself over, she nodded, then headed for the huge crowd of college students partying up on the pier and the beach surrounding it.

  Dane was bored.  The majority of the 'entertainment' was the DJ, who was doing very well, but the other parts seemed to be divided between drinking games and apparently trying to hook up.  While he was a bit of a playboy, he didn't do one night stands or random booty calls.  He was not ready yet to face the emotional dangers of a family, of having, maybe losing, the love of his life.  He'd seen how much it changed his Dad, seen Donald change from a warm, relaxed but successful businessman to a cold, ruthless businessman who didn't seem to care for anyone else except himself and Dane.  He'd bent enough to let Dane hire Kane and his family when Dane was 10 after running into Kane in the Mediterranean, on vacation, and seeing his family's tiny house.  He'd demanded his father hire them, and so Donald had, just to make Dane happy.  He hired them to watch over Dane, take care of him, and be his personal retainers, and they had been happy to do so, as it gave their son a chance to have a better life too.  Dane looked at Kane, and asked him quietly "Are you certain we aren't wasting our time with this beach party?  I see more drinking than anything else going on."

  Kane's  answer was simple.  "It beats that socialite ball your father wanted you to attend, with the blonde brigade that has 'maneater' tattooed on their foreheads, now doesn't it?  Besides, dancing with someone here might actually be fun for you."

  Dane rolled his eyes, but then caught sight of a platinum blonde (or was that white?) who looked to actually have bioluminescent seaweed in her braids.  He tilted his head, and then strode toward her, even as the DJ spun up the next song, the throbbing beat a good argument to try the dancing, at least.  He reached out, lightly touching her shoulder as he said "Pardon, but could you spare me a dance?"

  She turned, and he was surprised to see she wore sunglasses, hiding the color of her eyes, but her face was stunning.  Beautiful bone structure, luscious lips in a coral shade, pale ivory skin that looked kissed by the moonlight, and reminding him somehow of the ancient sculptures of Helen of Troy.  She answered him with the oddly accented words "A dance?  I think I would like that, although I have not danced before."  She laid her hand in his, her skin cool and soft in his hand as she followed him to the dance floor.  Her hands moving to rest on his shoulder and him, as his own circled her waist, discovering she was petitely built, but had gorgeous curves, the green crop top and black denim short shorts leaving very little to the imagination.  He began to move to the music, and she  followed his lead, looking amazing as she did.  He said, between verses of the song "I'm Dane.  What's your name, and where did you come from?"

  That exotic accent teased his brain as she answered "I'm Ela, and I just dropped in to experience the party.  It's very different from the parties where I live."  Ela didn't want to tell him too much, but this man, this human, he was very handsome.  The way the moonlight and the colored party lights kissed his tanned skin, it made her want to see how far that suntan went, but she didn't touch more than she was already.  She didn't run as hot as humans did, and she worried that he might notice her cooler skin.

  They danced for three songs, then Dane led her off to the side, where he got her a glass of lemonade that he made certain had no alcohol in it, and offered her some of the cheap pizza.  She accepted, and asked him "What brought you here, Dane?"

  He half smiled, and said "This is a more promising place to spend my evening than at the party I was supposed to attend, where the rich and money hungry are looking for husbands and wives to pay for their mistresses and lovers.  At least at this party, if someone decides to hang out with you, they aren't evaluating your cash worth versus your family name.  Haven't you been to a college party before?"

  Ela shook her head, and said "No.  My country doesn't have college parties like this.  But I think it's fun.  It's a new thing, on the edge of two worlds, where they meet."   Ela shot him a smile, and added "I'm a huge fan of the ocean, if you hadn't guessed.  It's very special to me."

  Dane nodded slowly, and he said thoughtfully "I do see that.  The ocean is huge.  It's got so many secrets yet, we know more about the moon and outer space than we do about the oceans on our own planet.  Less than 5% of the oceans have been explored, it's like half of us are looking outward and wanting to discover, when there's still so much to be discovered right under our noses."  He realized she was looking at him a  bit strangely, like he'd said something completely unexpected.  He said "I've always been drawn to the water.  Since I was a boy.  But I can't remember why."

  Ela's eyes widened behind her sunglasses, and she asked him "Did something happen?"

   He said "Yeah, but that's not a story for a party.  Meet me in the morning at the docks over there?"  He pointed to the marina down the beach, where his yacht was moored.  "We can go out to the coral reefs, and I can show you some of the neat things out there, if you like?"  He wanted, oddly, to see this lovely lady in the water.  Wanted to see her surrounded by the colorful fish and corals, and see her face light up in wonder.  But he didn't know why.  He didn't remember, yet.

        *        *        *        *        * Flashback     *    *    *    *

  The crystal blue of the waters around the Greek islands were beautiful.  He'd spent half the night last night listening to Kane's mother telling stories about the mythical mermaids who had once been sighted here.  The color and clarity of the water was deceptive, and he was going to go freediving with his Father this afternoon.  There was a ruined temple to the Greek god Poseidon down there, and he was itching to see the large statue that was supposedly still intact.

  When they reached it, he'd been excited, and hadn't listened to his father's words of warning.  He didn't hear him talking about the sharks in the water.  They dove deep, the little spare bottles with just a little air in them belted to his waist, along with the lead weights.  Both of them went down fast, knowing that the swim back up would take longer, and then into the ruins.  He went toward the main sanctuary, wanting to see the statue.  He hadn't expected to see someone else there.  He'd moved close, tapping her shoulder as she sat on the bench, her long white hair a crystalline cloud in the water, and she'd jumped, looking up at him with luminous eyes that glowed a pale amethyst.  She didn't have a rebreather on or anything, and her eyes had gotten huge.  His had too, as she'd jerked back, the scales shimmering along her tail as it uncoiled from the perch, and he realized she was real.  Just before the shark swept past them, and he dove under the bench.  His foot got caught, and he frantically tugged at it, slicing himself on an ancient bronze knife that was hidden under the  stone.  He'd looked up, terrified as the  shark had swept around again, the blood in the water whetting it's appetite.  And then she'd grabbed him, that girl who looked a little younger than him, the mermaid.  Stars erupted in his vision, and he felt the air-bottle pressed to his mouth as he blacked out.  He'd awakened on the boat, no idea how he got there, and his Father had told him they barely got him away from the  shark in time.

  But the thing was, he wasn't the one who used the flare, he had already been out, and nobody else saw her.  Donald told him he dreamed her, but he didn't imagine the small, deep slice.  The scar never went away.

*    *    *    *    *    *    * End Flashback       *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Ela considered, then said "Okay.  I will meet with you at the docks.  I am curious how you see the coral reefs."  She was curious to see them in the daytime, from the air.  Something haunted her about this man's eyes, but she could work on that later.  In the morning, she would meet him in the sunlight, and they would go to her world, even if he didn't know it, yet.