Chapter one
Blue
Music. Drifting through the water and finding its way to me at the bottom of the pool. It’s tinny and distorted, but the tune is pleasing and the beat enticing. It’s calling to me. I want to hear it properly. I want to know what it is.
I swim upwards and then hesitate. I’m pretty sure it is the human newcomer that is up there, playing music. The mundane human. The one everyone else seems to trust. The one that smelled of other men when he first arrived. He’s been used. He is not a user. He is like me and the other harem boys.
I don’t need to be scared.
This is my pool, my territory, my element. In here, I am stronger. Far stronger than one human. I can dive away from him. Ensorcell him. Drown him. I am safe.
Gathering all my courage, I swim up to the surface until my eyes are peeking over the water. The human is lounging on one of the sun chairs, face tilted up towards the hot summer sun. He is wearing only a pair of red shorts and his pale skin gleams. His body is slender and short.
His head lifts up and blue eyes fix on me from under a mop of golden hair. He is pretty.
“Oh. Hi!” he smiles, flashing white teeth. “Blue, isn’t it? I’m Sammy.”
I can’t think of a single thing to say. It’s been a very long time since I spoke to a mundane human. In the harem I was keptmasked, my voice silenced. Sometimes my mind forgets I’m free to speak now, even when I’m with the other boys. And right now, here alone with this strange human, I’m in uncharted waters. It’s all too strange and unknown.
“Oh shit, is my music too loud?” he asks.
He leans over to the chair beside him and picks up his phone.
“No!” I say suddenly, rising more out of the water so he can hear me speak. Seems I have found my voice after all.
The human freezes and turns towards me with a questioning look on his pleasant face.
“I like it,” I explain, and now I’m pretty sure I’m blushing.
His blue eyes widen. His smile intensifies, and he leans back into his chair.
I watch him closely. He seems so at ease. Comfortable and confident in his own skin. Relaxed. I wonder how he does it? What is his secret?
I swim a little closer. His smile brightens as if he is delighted I’m approaching.
“You like ABBA?” he asks.
My head tilts in confusion. I do not know that word.
His blue eyes widen, and his pink mouth drops open. “You’ve never heard of the greatest band on Earth?”
Oh. I know what a band is. It’s a group of people who make music together. He must be talking about the creators of the song he is playing on his phone.
I swim a little closer. He sits up straighter and picks up his phone.
“Oh my god, oh my god. I have to play you all their best songs!” he babbles frantically as his fingers fly over the screen of his phone.
A new song begins to play. The rhythm dances in my heart. The human’s blue eyes sparkle like the Caribbean sea.
“You like it?” he beams.
I nod and drift up closer. I’m right by the edge of the pool now. I could reach out and grab his leg and pull him under. But he doesn’t seem nervous. I don’t think he understands what I am.
“Oh, oh. Oh! I have to play you Waterloo!” he gasps.
His full attention goes on his phone. I really, truly hope he is not this trusting of everyone. How has he survived so long in this world with his innocence intact? It doesn’t make any sense.
He looks up at me in excitement as the new song plays. I stare into his eyes. I’m close enough to see him properly now. Eyes are the window to the soul, and I search his. I see all of him and I see I was wrong.
