A Mermaid's Heart

Chapter Eight.

I stood by the open double doors, my shoulder leaned up against the frame with my arms crossed over my chest as I watched Rebecca take a seat across from the chair that had been pulled out. Aurella lit a candle and carried it over to the table, setting it down in between them before elegantly lowering herself into her own seat. The witch began to shuffle a pile of cards, larger than regular playing cards, her veil thrown back and her white eyes almost gaping at the redhead across from her. The sun was starting to rise, the tender touch of dawn barely visible inside the darkened room. I had changed into a much longer dress, the skirt of which went down to my bare feet with a high neckline. My arms were hugged by white fabric and the rest of the dress was a dark grey. Aurella placed five cards from the top of the deck, face down on the table in front of her. They were in the shape of a star with three cards going straight down and one on either side of the middle one of the three. She set the rest of the deck aside and allowed her hand to hover over one of them. She slowly flipped it over, exposing the image of a heart that had been stabbed trough with a sword. It wasn’t a regular deck like the ones you saw with con artists or on the streets, no, the images of this deck changed and morphed according to the person being read, their pasts and futures “Your past holds pain-.” the image changed to that of a male African lion, roaring, its teeth exposed to the eyes “Inflicted by a lion” my eyes shot up to her face. She wasn’t looking at the cards with her eyes staring at something only she could see. A storm raged in them, thunder striking whenever she would speak. The lion she spoke of was Caleb and the pain was his mistakes, his rejection of her, having abandoned her for the sea. She flipped a second card. My eyes studied the image of a newly formed heart, one that seemed to beat with the change of the picture to a lock that had been snapped shut. The ancient witch hummed in response to the image and reached for the one above the middle one she had just unveiled. The image of a cherub. She revealed the one underneath to be met with a picture of a bird cage, a sparrow sat within its bars “You are currently experiencing love but you are defiant-.” her fingers danced over the cards, as if seeing them with their tips and not her eyes. Rebecca sat on the edge of her seat, her legs spread with her skirt dangling over them and her elbows propped up on the table. She had agreed to it after having had a few drinks and thought that it would be fun to try “You have fear within your heart and it cages you-.” I could see the back of the dancer stiffen at the words, her eyes watching the raven haired woman while she stared off into space, a faraway place that neither I nor Rebecca could possibly witness “To be truly free you must embrace what is in front of you” the cherub shot an arrow and the bird flew from its cage, free of the bonds that tied it. Rebecca was reluctant to fully return Nolan’s emotions but the cards told her to accept how she felt and to stop causing herself so much pain. Aurella revealed the last card, the image of a sunrise staring up at her “Your future holds a newfound happiness” she informed and I was silent. Rebecca deserved to be happy and even though they were just cards, I truly believed that she would find her happy ending. There was a quick gust of wind and I turned my head to look out onto the open ocean. I felt drawn to it more than ever, the need to jump into its cold embrace enough to drive me insane with need. I knew that it wasn’t the water that I desired but the god who controlled it. I wanted to go to him but I squeezed my eyes shut and tried fighting the urge “Mar?” Rebecca’s use of the nickname she had given me years ago snapped me out of my mental battle, drawing my attention back onto her and the woman capable of manipulating magic “Care to give it a go?” she offered, motioning to the cards. I stared at them, the witch no longer in her trance as she returned them to her deck and began to shuffle it again. I knew what my past held and what my present is but did I really want for her to turn over the card that showcased my future and see a tombstone glaring back at me? I was afraid, I was terrified even though I promised Caleb that I wouldn’t die “One” I said, my tone almost empty as Aurella stopped shuffling her deck and chose one at random, setting it face down on the surface of the table. I stayed where I was, rooted in place when she turned it over to reveal two red hearts, side by side, beating at the same pace. She paused for some time before she dared speak “Love. Your future holds love” was all she said before retrieving the card and getting up from her seat. The cards turned to black mist in her palms when she blew out the candle she had lit. The way she acted was odd but I pushed it aside, figuring that I had only asked for one card so it had to be short and brief.

Ben.

I unfastened the ships sails, watching them fall and open to catch the sea breeze. My eyes caught sight of the nymph seated on the ship’s railing, her foot propped up on it with her gaze searching me. She was far from anything I had ever seen, her skin was like snow and her eyes were entirely made of blue irises, void of pupils. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from her, the way her head c****d to one side causing her navy blue hair that was tied back to fall over her shoulder. One clawed hand gripped the railing between her legs while the other traced her pale blue lips, pink tongue darting out to taste her fingertip as her tail flicked from side to side behind her. I could see her fangs that were usually hidden behind her lips, they were larger than Evangeline’s and appeared even more threatening. There was something about her that drew me closer, maybe it was her unique look or the way she only ever seemed to see me. She never acknowledged anyone other than Eva and I. My body was still, my legs dangling from the mast where I sat a few stories overhead, staring at the unique creature below. A strong gust of wind snapped me back to reality, my hair being brushed back and my eyes moving to take in the view of the Coast from that high up. It was enchanting, the many sights I had seen in just a few short months was beyond description but even those places couldn’t match either Blue or Evangeline when it came to breath taking sights. When I turned my head to look at Blue, I found her ascending the ropes and mast, climbing it like it was nothing but a small tree. There was no fear when she pulled herself onto the part of the mast where I was sat, standing up on her feet and placing one foot before the other to stalk her way closer to me ‘You are sad-.’ she randomly muttered, pausing in her steps to tilt her head to one side. Her gaze examined me closely like I was some specimen she was to dissect then she lowered herself into a crouch, her hands gripping at the wood beneath her ‘No, jealous’ she sniffed the air between us then perked up at the sound of a man yelling and storming off. I turned my attention down to the deck where Evangeline was stood, her eyes locked onto the door to the Captain’s quarters. The woman dressed in black moved closer to her, said something then left for the navigation room. Eva turned to follow the Captain, my heart squeezing at the thought of them together ‘You envy her affections’ my eyes found Blue. She was much closer than she had been before, leaning over so that her face was mere inches away from mine when I placed my attention back onto her. My eyebrows furrowed up in confusion “How did you-?” I began to question, wondering if Nolan had hit the nail on the head when he had assumed she could read minds but she interrupted me and turned, throwing her legs over the side of the mast to sit beside me ‘I can smell your emotions’ it suddenly made sense to me why she’d been smelling me so obsessively before and why she occasionally sniffed the air to check if my emotions hadn’t changed or shifted ‘You long for her but she loves another’ I watched her, big sapphire orbs staring at the place where Evangeline had disappeared off to. Her forehead creased and her eyebrows knitted together in confusion before she met my gaze ‘What is it like to be sad?’ her question caught me off guard. Wasn’t it an emotion that everyone experiences at least once in their lifetime? My lips parted to respond to her but my voice died down in the back of my throat. She looked to the night sky overhead, throwing her head back, causing the shirt Rebecca had forced me to lend her to fall from one of her shoulders, exposing the smooth, pale flesh that resided beneath it ‘My emotions were erased along with my memories’ she explained, her lips never once moving as her voice spoke to my mind. I couldn’t imagine what it must’ve felt like not to know what emotions you were experiencing. I reached for her hand, placing mine over hers, drawing her attention back down to me. She stared at me with wide eyes but remained stark still “Sadness is like pain-.” I began, looking up at the stars, my hand tightening around hers, being careful of her protruding claws that were as sharp as knives “Except it’s usually associated with loss or grief” she blinked and took in the constellations overhead, studying them like she studied the world around her, always fascinated, always curious. I wished that I could see inside the workings of her mind, hear her thoughts or at least be able to smell her emotions but I couldn’t, all I could do was try and piece together the flickers in her eyes “Loss?” she wondered out loud, repeating the word with her lips moving for the first time. Her fangs caught the orange light from below much like the lamps illuminated her bare legs, casting a hue over them that made her skin seem slightly darker ‘Like my memories?’ her eyes filled with wonder turned to me and I nodded, the corner of my lips tugging up at the thought of how innocent she was. It was like she was experiencing everything for the first time “When you try to remember but can’t, you feel sadness” her ear twitched, the webbing moving as if they were fingers than nodded her head, pulling her hand out of mine to support her weight when she leaned closer to me, her knees on the mast behind her and her free hand moving to touch my face. She watched me closely, running her fingers and claws over my lips, jaw and cheeks only to pausing when she noticed something ‘And this?’ she questioned, her index finger lightly pressing her claw to my cheek that I knew was tinted pink from how her fingers had pulled at my bottom lip and how close she was. I took a deep breath in and looked at the open ocean behind her. The shirt she had borrowed hung open at the front, giving me a view of her chest beneath the fabric and I tried my best not to look at her. She leaned closer, burying her face in the side of my neck to inhale sharply ‘Lust’ my entire body stiffened at the sound of the word, feeling like a perverted boy who had just been caught staring at a much older woman undressing. She knew how to identify the emotions but that didn’t mean that she had necessarily experienced them herself. I leaned back, trying to put some distance between us but it backfired, my feet moving to steady myself on the mast only for her to crawl her way in between my legs, her hand pressing down onto my chest ‘An emotion driven my attraction and desire’ I swallowed hard, watching her tongue lapping at her bottom lip, those plump blue lips that I bet were as cold as her skin. I couldn’t help but wonder what they tasted like. Like salt water? Like coral? Sea shells? Grains of sand? She surprised me by sitting back on her knees, her tail swiping at the air at a slow pace ‘Will you teach me how to feel lust?’ her request made my throat dry and my legs tremble. She had no idea what she was asking of me but even so the words she spoke had their own effect on me. Her hand gripped my thigh and my eyes went wide. The only other person who had touched me like that was Sonja, not even Eva came close to what the nymph was doing to me “I-.” I managed to croak out, my teeth gritting and my breathing becoming ragged when she began trailing her hand higher up my thigh. She leaned closer to me, her breath tickling my face with her body pressed against mine. I wanted to run, to flee like a trapped animal but she held me captive like a predator without even knowing what she was doing to me. Her innocent eyes waited for my reply, eyebrows furrowed up “I-.” I choked, her hand stilling to grip my thigh harder. I tried crawling back and away from her my head spinning and my skin a few degrees hotter than what it had been before “Yes” I hadn’t meant to agree to her request but before I realized it the simple word had slipped from my lips and the way her lips attempted to tug upward when she sat back made it impossible for me to retract my statement. What had I just gotten myself into?