Mermaid's Obsession

Why did you..

~ ~ JACE ~ ~

"Why did you do that?" I asked, panting heavily as we finally stopped at an alley far enough from the church to hide away from the men who my dad sent after us.

"What did I do?" she asked in return easily. She didn't even break a sweat after we ran non-stop for almost an hour. I am pretty confident in my stamina and I already feel like my legs are about to give out. She on the other hand was looking like it was nothing.

"You just disrupted my wedding," I stated. "Why did you do that?"

"You asked me to help you," she replied. "Isn't that what you meant? Besides I wanted to get back at that old man for calling me names."

"Well, I didn't specify what I needed help with," I said.

"Really?" she asked flatly. "We could go back and say this was all a misunderstanding."

"There's no need for that," I said quickly. "Why are you here anyways? Aren't you supposed to be on your way to Korea?"

"Your friend tricked me," she replied. "The map got wet and tore into pieces the minute I got to the sea."

"How is that even possible?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "Didn't you have a boat or a ship?"

"What's that?" she asked, looking at me curiously. Her arrogance just feels off considering her naivety.

"Nevermind that," I sighed. Right now I don't have the time or strength for her mind games. "A better question would be how did you get to New York, and why were you naked again?"

"You sure do ask a lot of questions for a grumpy guy," she eyed me. "I don't like the thing you call clothes. It's itchy and it gets heavy when wet. Also, some girls asked me to take it off, saying I would catch a cold. Whatever that means."

"What are..." I started before I was interrupted by the voices of my dad's men as they searched for me. "Come here," I whispered quickly as I dragged her into a tiny segment at the right side of the alley.

The space was tight and could barely fit us both since this pink-eyed i***t was pretty endowed, so much that it was hard fitting in with her. We were pressed against each other as our backs were tightly pressed against the walls. My shirt tore, exposing the skin on my back as it dragged against concrete.

Pinkie on the other hand didn't seem to care about how inconvenient it was to have her boobs pressed against a guy's chest and I wasn't gonna point it out either. I've been with enough girls to be used to being in close contact with the female body. I was more concerned that she might think of me as a p*****t and I was grateful she didn't.

"Why are we doing this?" she asked calmly.

"My dad's men," I whispered in reply. "It seems like they are still in search of us. I can hear their voices."

"Why are you so scared of your dad?" she asked. "Is he gonna kill you?"

"I don't think so," I replied. "I'd rather die than live the way he wants me to though. I don't want to be caged by his will."

"So you actually didn't want the wedding," she said nonchalantly. At first, I thought it was to spite me for denying it but I realized she wasn't since there was no sarcasm in her tone. "Why didn't you oppose it then? You are a grown man. The only person you can't oppose is the queen or kingdom of this kingdom. Your parents should be able to let you live the way you want, right?"

"What was that about a king or queen?" I asked in confusion but decided not to dwell on it as I sighed. "I can't oppose my dad. He's a devil. The worst of the worst. He's as brutal as they come. No one is left unscathed after disobeying my dad's order. Not even his family."

"What about your brother?" she asked. "He was there too. You both can beat up that old man if you wanted to, right?"

"Brother?" I asked but immediately covered her mouth to stop her from replying as I heard the voices of the men as they entered the alley. "Shhhh."

They searched for a few minutes, checking the dumpsters and trash in the alley in the case that we decided to hide in it but turned back when they got nothing. Luckily for us, they didn't deem it worth their time to search an empty alley until the end.

We stayed in that position for a few minutes until the voices of the men in pursuit died down. I decided to stay put for at least a few more minutes to be sure I was safe before deciding to come out.

Coming out from that tight spot was a different struggle. I scalded the exposed skin on my back as I dragged it on the wall while I made her stay put as I shimmied out of the tight spot without inconveniencing her even more.

"That was uncomfortable," she said once we got out. "I've never been in such a tight space once in my life."

"What were you saying ab....."

"Why did you tell me to shut up?" she asked.

"I told you to be quiet," I replied. "They were close and we can't have them hearing us."

She looked down like she was thinking about something before looking up again. "Is that a popular gesture around here?"

"Yes?" I said hesitantly. This girl is being even weirder by the second.

"So this is where Dessa learned this gesture from," she said to herself. "That girl has been to the surface a lot more times than she told me."

I nudged her to get her attention. "Who are you talking about?"

"My sister," she replied. "We were separated during a storm so I need to go search for her soon."

"A storm...." I said as I thought about it. I widened my eyes as it hit me."You were in that storm?"

"I don't know what storm you are referring to but yes, I was in a storm," she replied.

"How are you still alive?!" I asked. "It was a storm too big and strong for even a professional swimmer to swim through. How did you do that?"

"I was knocked out when it hit me," she replied simply.

"Then how did you not drown?" I asked flatly.

"Only weak humans drown," she replied earnestly. "I'm a noble. That concept can't be associated with me."

"Nevermind that," I said as I looked towards the open end of the alley. It's been a while since my dad's men left. It should be okay to leave now. "I think it's safe out there now. We should leave soon."

"To where?" she asked. "I just need a map to Korea so I can be on my way."

I gave her a blank stare like she just said the most stupid thing in the universe, which she just did.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked. "Do you have the map or not?"

"There's no way you can make it to Korea tonight," I said. "Why do you have to go there anyways?"

"I don't have to tell you that, do I?" she said firmly.

"No, you don't," I replied holding back my curiosity. I have no rights to be asking her such a personal question anyway. "But the fact remains that you can't go to Korea today. You don't have a passport, I doubt you have any money, it's late and even worse, you are naked. It's impossible to go to Korea today or anytime soon."

"How long would it take if I swim?" she asked.

I gave a puzzled look. "How about never? Because you would die before you even get anywhere close to it."

"What do...."

"How about we talk about this tomorrow when we are well rested?" I interrupted her. My head was aching, the wound on my back is throbbing and I was hungry since I haven't had anything to eat all morning.

"Will you help me with a map when you are well rested?" she asked.

"Yeah, whatever," I replied dismissively. "Let's just get the hell out of here before they find us again."

She gave no reply but instead began to fiddle with the button on the suit I gave her as she tried unbuttoning it.

"What do you think you are doing, you crazy woman?!" I yelled as I grabbed her hands immediately.

"I'm not crazy," she replied calmly. "You have a wound on your back and it's bleeding. You need this more than I do."

"What sort of twisted logic is that?!" I retorted "You can't walk around naked. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"Why is that?" she asked, this time she was glaring at me. "Why do I have to abide by your stupid laws when I've never had to do any of it where I came from?"

"Where on Earth did you come from, a nudist country?" I thought of asking her but decided against it as it would only escalate things further. "Ahem," I cleared my throat loudly. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. You might not have had to do this where you come from but here it's a felony to be walking around nude like that. You could get arrested."

"You only get arrested for committing crimes," she said. "The queen has never arrested anyone over trivial things like this. Unless she is insulted though."

Again, I thought of asking her where on Earth she came from. Everything she says creates even more questions for me than answers. "Can we call a truce and talk about this later too?"

She gave me a puzzled look. "What is a truce?"

I sighed in frustration. "I mean a compromise. A sort of agreement where you do what I want and I'll do what you want?"

"You humans sure do come up with complicated words," she said with a sigh. "Okay. An agreement it is then. I'm hungry."

"Me too," I said gratefully. Let's leave this place and I'll take you somewhere to eat something nice."

She agreed silently and I quickly led her out of the alley before she finds a reason to talk again. I hailed a cab and it stopped just in front of us.

"What is this strange thing?" she asked. "It looks nothing like anything I've seen before."

"I'll explain it to you while we are inside," I said hurriedly as I tried to shove her inside.

"It's going to swallow us?" she asked.

"Who is this retard?" the cab driver asked, getting annoyed for the time we are wasting. "Get in if you want and stop wasting my time."

"Shut up," I ordered. "I'll pay you double and even triple the fare so keep your mouth shut and wait." I might be in this situation but I'm still Jace Mandi. No two-bit cab driver talks down on me.

"Fine," he said calmly and looked forward. "Just hurry it up."

"Why was he being rude?" she asked.

"Ignore him. Just do exactly what I do." I said as I got in front of her. I got into the car slowly, making sure she understands what I did and then gestured for her to do the same. She stood still for a while as if suspicious. The driver looked between us impatiently but held his tongue. "Come in. I promise it's not gonna hurt you."

She gave me one last look before slowly and carefully tiptoeing into the cab. "Wow. It's soft," she said as she bounced on the car seat, her braless boobs bouncing along with her. The driver was so lost at the sight of her boobs through the back view mirror that he forgot to drive.

"Stop that," I scolded her immediately. "And drive, you f*****g p*****t. Take us to the farthest hotel from here within the city."