The Sirens Gift

Chapter 16

“Hey uh… don’t let Marci bother you…” Caspian finally said as we made our way out of his home. We came into a spanning area that was blocked overhead by a mass. Large glowing orbs on lamp posts emulated sunlight on the corners of streets. There were “roadways” leading in all directions with other merfolk traveling to and fro with baskets and bags and little merchildren with toys and tiny sea life following at their sides like pets. “She has a bad history with helping humans…”

“It’s fine… I get it… I’m an outsider.”

“No she… I mean…” he sighed as he pulled me to a stop and turned to me. “Marci… she’s older than me… she had a fascination with humans long before I did… she used to be in the guard specifically so she could be near them… the same way I am…”

“Used to be?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.

“She… was on patrol with another mer a few miles off of the reef when a storm blew in. They came across a fishing trawler that got stuck in the water and the fishermen had gotten into a fight about how they shouldn’t have come out and…” he shrugged his shoulders, “One thing led to the next and one of the men was shoved off the boat… Marci and Ross tried to save him but he ended up panicking and stabbing Ross in the chest… the fisherman drowned and… Ross lost his life…”

“Oh… oh my god…”

“Marci still blames herself and the humans for the loss of her friend… so she has little trust in them…”

“I… understand…”

“She’s been really upset with me seeing you… and the elders were upset with you coming here, but I couldn’t take you back to the beach… the elders at least value human life enough in these cases…” Caspian looked toward me and smiled, “Mar did stitch up your arm though at least.”

I looked down at my arm and smiled at the neat line of fishing line stitched around the jagged skin. “When you get back… tell her I’m thankful to her for this.”

He smiled back. “I will…”

He offered his hand to me once more and I gratefully accepted. He pulled me along the little street with him. People stared when they saw me, I could hear whispers and hushed murmurs around us as we passed couples and groups of children.

“A human” the adults whispered, “there hasn’t been a human here in years.

“A real life human…” the children said in awe.

I felt like a spectacle being paraded around. Caspian looked back at me floating behind him and pulled his arm up past him as he slowed, then he let that arm rest around my waist, holding me to his side while offering his other hand for me to hold so that we would swim side by side instead of me trailing at his arms length behind him.

“Hey, don’t worry.” He said in a whisper into my ear, “humans are uncommon down here… but it’s not unheard of…”

“I just… feel sorta… out of place…”

“Same way I feel when I’m close to the bay.” He chuckled and I joined him.

“Oh, how the tides have turned…” I joked.

“Oh, clever.” He mused. I giggled.

The further through the little town we got the more little shops and merfolk I saw, filled with all sorts of dazzling colours and variations of fin types. Most would look toward us and give confused glances, but some would ignore us and go about their business.

We came upon a large circular passageway in a wall of coral and stone. It shimmered with a rippling purple and blue hue that blurred the space beyond it.

For some reason, the portal filled me with uneasiness. The space within it felt safe and calm, but recalling Otis being somewhere on the other side filled my stomach with dread. I tried to swallow down the lump forming in my throat as my stomach churned at the idea.

“This is the portal that protects our people from the humans… this leads to a secluded part of the reef and masks our community from humans… only mer and those with the Oceans gift can find and pass through this portal…”

“The Oceans gift?” I asked.

He nodded and his cheeks flushed red. “Like… me kissing you… that stuff…”

“Oh! Gotcha…”

“Whenever you’re ready… I’ll guide you back to the bay so you can get home…”

“I… Don’t feel ready…” I said softly.

“If you aren’t ready you don’t have to…”

I shook my head, “No… I mean… I’m not ready for all the consequences that are going to pop up when I go through this… portal…”

“Just… stay down here then.”

I chuckled and shook my head, “As much as I would love to…” I began.

“I understand…” He agreed before I could finish. I stared at the portal for a little while longer before I took in a deep, wet breath and nodded.

“Lets… go…”

Caspian put his arm around my waist again and pulled me along with him as he broke the barrier of the portal into the open ocean. This looked more familiar, like how an ocean is supposed to look. But when I looked back to the portal which rippled as our bottom halves glided out of it, a familiar empty feeling washed over me. It was like I was standing back on the shore watching the ocean live on without me, feeling as though I was once again out of place where I was expected to be.

Caspian's tail propelled us over the reef into the open water where schools of fish swam past us. Caspian followed the ocean floor where coral deposits and rocks covered and housed the marine life that called the area home.

“Look.” Caspian used his free hand to point to the sand and I watched as a baby ray, the size of a dinner plate, wiggled its fins into the sand as if it were playing. I giggled and looked at Caspian as he smiled down to me. He pointed to small creatures living their lives on the ocean floor and in the coral shelves as he swam slowly. A sea turtle flipped around as it neared us, doing a small loop as he went around us. “He’s showing off.” Caspian whispered.

“How do you know?”

“Because he likes humans.” he laughed. I laughed with him before he turned and propelled himself upward. He quickened his pace and soon I could see the cape overhead where the lighthouse sat. It was late in the evening and a light rippled over the water from the lantern house atop. It spun in a slow circle, lighting up the water and then darkening the area before it came back around.

Caspian slowly neared the surface of the water, pulling me with him as we neared the banks. He scanned the area before turning back to me.

“Ready?” He asked.

“Yeah… I have to get home.”

“Just… Be careful, okay?”

“Of course…” I said softly, looking into his green eyes. He sighed and quickly moved his hands to my cheeks, pulling me into a kiss that I leaned into gratefully.

“Promise me… Addy…” He breathed as he released my lips. When I looked into his eyes again, they were worried, he scanned my eyes and I saw sadness in his gaze, as if he didn’t want to let me go. “Promise me you’ll be safe…”

“I promise, Caspian…” I responded before wrapping my arms around his shoulders and squeezing him tight to my body. He wrapped his hands around my back and buried his face in the crook of my neck.

“And… Promise me you will still come see me…” he whispered into my neck.

“I promise…” I responded. “Same time tomorrow?”

He pulled away from me and nodded, “Same time tomorrow…” he gave me a small smile before we breached the surface of the water just beyond the lighthouse and he guided me to the alcoves beneath where I stood and shivered against the cold wind as it licked my skin.

My chest burned and I coughed as sea water came up my throat. I spit it into the sand. I looked back at Caspian and he shrugged, tapping his throat with his hand.

“Ah yeah… you can’t talk up here.” I said in a scratchy voice. He nodded.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” I croaked. He nodded.