Mermaid. A real-life mermaid.
With a splash from her tail, the water descends down on me, showering my skin with droplets. I wipe it out of my eyes and stare, wondering if she’ll resurface.
She does and props her folded arms on the water’s edge, studying me. I make no moves to get up, still not knowing what she’s capable of. She’s stunning. Her yellow eyes take on more of an amber tint, while her hair is a fiery red. Freckles dot over her fair skin, and I wasn’t mistaken when I saw her pointed ears. Gills mirror on either side of her neck, and I notice lash marks littered over her arms.
My hackles rise further when she moves one of her handsfaster than I would like. My body stills, not knowing whether this is a fight-or-flight situation, but somehow, I remain calm. She manipulates the water, juggling spheres in the air, sending them flying across the forest, but not at me—not in an attack.
I mimic her and start by showing her a few parlor tricks with each of my powers—minus one.
“I don’t get many visitors.” Her words are broken—delicate but careful, like she hasn’t spoken in a very long time.
Stunned, it takes a beat before I respond, “You can talk?”
“I almost forgot I could,” she admits, looking at the water longingly. “I’m Marina.”
“Kallie,” I offer cautiously. Without another word, she pushes off the grass and dives back under, letting the body of water swallow her whole.
Waiting there for a few heartbeats, unsure if she is coming back, I decide she’s not, and I quickly get dressed back into the scraps of cloth and continue my venture through the forest.
The chill of the night was unrelenting. I found a cave nestled deep within the forest. Building a fire was out of the question, so I curled up like I did so many times over the last few months.
Flashes of unwelcome memories greeted me each time I closed my eyes. Nights of bone-curdling hunger and thirst. Days of being tortured. And the days nobody greeted me at all. Serena’s face was a prominent part of my unsuccessful journey. Snapshots of her in the cell next door, when they would bring her back from wherever they took her. A video montage of how she fought to get away when I passed her in the hall a lifetime ago.
What made her act that way?A question that will forever go unanswered. Then the worst of the night. Watching her die. Her crimson-soaked cloth. And finally, when I saw the fight leave hereyes for the last time.
Anxiety ate away at me, the nerves so bold I slept with one eye open, keeping one targeted at the single entrance, convinced they would find me.
Hewould find me.
Fatigued muscles scream at me in protest while I begrudgingly leave the small sanctuary. The rainfall last night was a blessing in disguise. Despite the frigid breeze, the morning dew is quite comforting, reminding me of the forests back in Maine.
Finding the water source was a small victory. However, I knew staying close to it was like signing a death sentence. That would’ve been the first place they looked. So I trekked for what felt like miles until the moon was high in the sky, lighting the way to the refuge I so desperately needed.
Water droplets glisten on the surrounding greenery. My bare feet sink into the soft soil, and my toes curl around the earth, grounding me to the present.
You’re safe. You’re free.
Plucking a leaf from the nearest tree, I bend it slightly, creating a funnel. Manipulating water molecules, they collide together onto the pad. I let it roll straight into my open, awaiting mouth.
My body hums as the first drop lands on my tongue—purity at its finest.
I let the leaf fill three times over before deciding it’s time to keep moving. The sunlight breaches between the tall trees, and I love seeing the wisps floating within the rays.
No idea where I’m going, I continue down the same way I was heading the night before, letting nature guide my way.
My movements are sluggish at best, my energy levels running so far past E that I’m basically sputtering down the abandoned path. There are no critters scurrying on the ground or up the trees. No birds chirping in the sky overhead, and it shrouds me in unease. There’s something ominous about the silence.
The growing hunger inside me doesn’t dissipate, only increasing with need. I would kill for a forest bun right now. That’s not an exaggeration—I would actuallykillsomeone.
Oh Benny. What a mess this all is. It kills me to think he was in on it, maybe even Belladonna. They took me in, made me feel like, in the midst of all the unknown, I belonged somewhere. But now I have to question everything, never knowing what was real and what was a lie.
I can’t trust anyone anymore.
Maybe not even myself.
I’m the one that let my defenses down, the walls I spent my whole life building…now I’m afraid they’re too far beyond repair.I’mtoo far beyond repair.
I get yanked out of my thought, stumbling as my ankle twists, stepping wrong onto something in this godsforsaken brutal forest. Fighting my way over logs and boulders, the twigs and pebbles littering the walkway are unforgiving beneath my bare feet. There’s a break in the trees not far ahead, and I put mind over matter as I beeline for the opening.
