by CS Patra
Callum made it to the edge where Kai was waiting. He did not like the expression on his face. Something terrible had happened and he had to get in there. “Can you hold on a few minutes? I need to get my equipment out of the car.”
“You don’t need to get in the water. Just go to the other side! I will meet you there and you can see what I’m talking about!” Kai insisted. “You have to hurry! I don’t know what else I can do! I’m trying everything and I just…please hurry to the other side!”
“Okay, I’ll see you there!”
Callum ran around to the other side, feeling like his heart was ready to pop out of his chest. He went as fast as he could and finally saw what Kai was talking about. It was a net floating right above the water and caught inside of it was a young mermaid. She was definitely young enough to be a child and looked completely terrified. Kai was right next to her, trying to calm her down. He was also trying to break the net in half but wasn’t succeeding.
“Even with my strength, I can’t do it. She’s tried as well,” he explained, still trying to pull it apart. His hands were cut and bleeding now but he didn’t seem to care. “I...I didn’t know where else to turn to. I was wondering if...”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Callum took his shoes off and dove into the water with his clothes on. The water wasn’t too deep or rough so he could make it to them in time. He also had his Swiss Army knife on him and looked down at the netting. It was tough to break with bare hands but his knife could cut through it easily. “Who did this?”
“I don’t know. It was floating around and she ended up swimming into it.” Kai looked down at the little mermaid. She seemed more frightened by Callum than anything else. “It’s okay. He’s not going to hurt you. He’s going to let you out.”
“Hang on.” Callum could feel the water rushing into his mouth as he bobbed up and down. The waves were now starting to get a little rough and he felt some salt water in his eye. Despite the sting, he began to work at cutting the net. It was harder than he had expected with the rising water. His legs were also getting tired from trying to keep him afloat. “I’ve almost got it!”
“It’s okay, it’s okay…” He could hear Kai telling the mermaid. “You’ll be out of there soon.” Then he turned to Callum. “Do you need my help?”
Callum shook his head as he managed to cut the net. He soon cut enough of it so the mermaid could swim out. “Okay, she should be able to get out now!”
Kai helped pull her out of the net. “There! You are free! I told you he’s a kind human!”
The mermaid looked at Callum who was now soaking, eyes red from salt water, and exhausted. He was happy though. He did exactly what he wanted to do. Nodding to Kai, he closed the knife and kept it in his palm. “You’re very lucky I bought this along. Is she all right?”
“I think so. She’s just a little scared. Her hands are a little scarred from trying to open the net, but she’ll be fine. I’ll send her to Romina who can heal her.”
“How about you?” Callum looked down at Kai’s hands which were also cut and bruised. “Go see her too! This doesn’t look good! You can’t…”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m just grateful you came down here in time. I knew you would. Somehow, I knew you’d be here.” Kai nodded to the young mermaid. “Go to Romina. You know where she stays, right? Tell her that you got caught in a human net and tried to get out. She’ll understand and will heal you.”
The mermaid looked over at Callum as if she wanted to say something. Her mouth opened slightly but she just gave him a nod and swam away. Kai sighed and looked over at the human. He had never meant to drag him into this. Callum probably wanted to spend some time on the shore, just enjoying the sights and forgetting about his life. Instead, Kai pulled him back into the water.
“I am sorry,” he apologized. “I know you didn’t come down here for this. I didn’t know where else to turn to. Then I sensed you. Somehow, deep down I had a feeling you were on the way. Sure enough, here you are!”
“It doesn’t matter what I came down here for. You needed my help.” He looked at the net. “Who left this floating around? Imagine if some other sea creatures or mermaids got caught in it? The sad part is I don’t think this is the only net that was thrown in here.”
“Yes, about that…” Kai sighed. “There’s more that I want you to see and I don’t think you’re going to like it. You have to get out of the water first. It’ll be hard for you to swim there as it’s on the other side.”
“Oh God, there’s more?” Callum grew worried as the water kept rising. He knew he had to get out of it so he began swimming backwards. “All right, I’ll go to the other side. Meet me there!”
Callum pulled himself out of the water and gave himself a second to breathe. His legs felt like jelly and his entire body felt salty from being in the water. His clothes stuck to him and he could still feel the salt in his eyes and mouth. He wished he was surprised by the net catching the mermaid but he wasn’t. People were still careless with where they threw things. Some had no idea that their actions were hurting the place they lived in.
Within minutes, he realized what Kai had been talking about. There was garbage everywhere in the water, bobbing up and down. Oil shined on top and there were more nets and plastic rings floating around. Callum had to put his hand to his mouth when he saw that. He figured it would be bad but this was beyond what he expected. He knew that there were probably some creatures who had gotten caught in all this. He also didn’t doubt that most that had been caught were injured and most likely dead.
“Who did this?” He wanted to know despite being sure of the answer.
“I don’t know. I used to come here all the time and it was never like this,” Kai murmured. “I don’t know what to do about it. I know I can’t clean it up alone.”
“Unfortunately, neither can I,” Callum sighed, getting down on his knees to look at the damage. “Can you do a favor for me? Make sure nothing comes here. No mermaids, no sea creatures, no one. I don’t want them to get hurt.”
“I can do that. A lot of them have already been hurt though,” Kai sighed. “I wish I could have told you sooner but you had your work. I didn’t know how I could reach you.”
Callum felt depressed and could feel a headache coming on. He had forgotten to take his medication this morning so the feelings were washing over him. He felt completely helpless. This was something that could have and should have been avoided. It was something he could have stopped if he knew about it. Instead, he felt guilty. He didn’t come here fast enough. He couldn’t run fast enough to stop anything. It was things like this that made him wish he didn’t crawl out of bed. He felt hopeless.
“Callum?” Kai spoke up. “Are you all right?”
He wanted to nod but could feel his eyes watering. Instead, he told the truth. “I’m sorry.”
“For what? You didn’t do this.”
“No, but people like me did it. Humans did it. They did this and I didn’t do anything to stop them.” He covered his eyes so Kai wouldn’t see him tearing up. Maybe the medication would have helped but he would still be depressed over this. He knew it wasn’t his fault but he couldn’t shake the feeling out. “It feels like it’s my fault.”
Kai felt sympathetic. “It isn’t your fault. You’re only one human. You can’t be everywhere.”
“I wish there was a way for me to get here sooner. I just...feel like someone did this to get back at me.”
“Why would you think that?”
“You remember my bruise, right?” He pointed to it. “Well, I wasn’t completely honest about everything. I got mugged, all right, but they called me an eco-terrorist. Those are people who go to extremes to protect the environment. By extremes, I mean they hurt other businesses and people in the process. I...I would never do that. No matter how I feel, I’m not an eco-terrorist.”
“I see,” Kai nodded. “I have a feeling that’s not the only reason you’re upset.”
“No
, it’s not,” Callum sighed, letting a tear fall. At this point, he had given up trying to keep them to himself. He was embarrassed to cry like this. After all, none of this was his fault. He couldn’t save everything. Deep down, he knew that he wasn’t to blame yet he blamed himself. “I’m just...you probably won’t get this at all. I don’t see how you could understand.”
“You can tell me anyway. Who made you sad?”
“It’s no one in particular. It’s something I’ve been dealing with for a long time. It was bad enough when I was young. I just...” He took a deep breath and tried to start over. “I’ve always been alone. I acted like it didn’t matter but it bothered me. I tried my hardest to make friends and I couldn’t. It didn’t help that people kept pressuring me to do so. Whenever I did find someone, they dropped me after a day. I couldn’t keep any relationships. I had no idea what I wanted out of life.”
Kai was silent, slowly taking in everything. When Callum didn’t say anything, he gently pushed on. “Then you suffered all your losses.”
“Yes, then that happened. I only began to feel worse so I started talking to someone. They call them psychiatrists and they give you medicine to make you feel better. It gives you a little boost. I started taking medicine just so I could feel happy even if it’s for a little while. However, I’m not really that happy. I’m just getting through life. Somehow, I’m getting through it and I’m not sure why. I’m just...” He covered his face. “I’m sorry. I really am sorry.”
“You keep saying that and I still don’t know why. You’re crying and I’m the one who feels helpless. I don’t know what I can do to make you feel better. You say it’s your fault but it’s not. We’ll find out who did this.”
“That’s the thing; I think I know who did this. There’s a man who...I think he’s after me. He’s mad at me. I think he’s trying to get back at me and...” Callum shook him. “I’m sorry. I’m just being stupid and jumping to conclusions. I have no solid proof.”
“Well, if that same man bothers you again, I can go after him.”
“I doubt it. He’s a human.”
“Never underestimate the strength of a merman,” Kai held out his hand. “I know you are not feeling well now but would you like to dance?”
“How?” Callum asked. “I would love to but...you don’t have legs.”
Kai rolled his eyes at that. “You act like the only way to dance is by having legs. Mermen can move in other ways, you know. I won’t take you far into the water. You may have to hold your breath but it won’t be bad.”
Callum swallowed, looking at the water rolling in and out. By night, the waves were rough and he already had salt down his body. The only thing he wanted to do was take a long, hot shower. His eyes were hurting from the saltwater and his tears. He didn’t want Kai to see him like this anymore. Instead, he needed to do something about the ocean.
“Another time.” He told him. “I’m sorry but I can’t tonight.”
“Is it because of work?”
“I...I just can’t. Please forgive me but I have to go!”
Kai felt numb as he watched Callum run away. A part of him wanted to call out to him but he stayed silent. It was clear that Callum was more bothered than he was letting on. He understood bits and pieces of what he was saying. According to Callum, he was lonely and it hurt him. He had a lot of pain in his life and he couldn’t find happiness. Some humans called psychiatrists gave him something called medicine so he could feel happy. While it worked, it didn’t fix everything.
Then there was the man that was bothering him. Kai had no idea who that was but he wanted to protect Callum. He didn’t know how but he would find a way. His mind was already made up. As difficult as the decision was, he took Eirene’s offer to become human after two months. The condition was that he needed to be in love with Callum and Callum needed to love him. Eirene told him that it was possible. In those two months, he needed to spend as much time as he could with the human. He needed to learn everything he could about the human world.
“Remember, everything you do in these two months is going to matter. It will affect your future as well as his,” Eirene pointed out. “I realize he is beautiful and I don’t blame you for wanting him. However, love is not a one-way path. Both of you need to feel the same thing for each other. That is why I’m giving you time. Do you understand?”
“I do.” Kai thought about what she had said earlier. “You said if I failed, we would both be yours. What did you mean by that?”
“You didn’t figure that out?”
“Please don’t hurt him,” Kai whispered. “My human hasn’t done anything wrong!”
“Your human? My my, you’ve gotten a little possessive already.” Eirene chuckled. “I say you better find out how he feels before you call him your human.”
“Please…” Kai began again. “If I fail, I don’t want you to hurt him! He doesn’t know about this!”
“And he shouldn’t know about it. He has to fall in love with you without feeling obligated. If he doesn’t, then he belongs to me just like you. You shouldn’t fret though. I won’t kill him. I’m not cruel in that sense. He will just sleep for eternity.”
“Sleep? No no, you can’t!” Kai was panicking now. “I won’t let you! I change my mind! I want to change the contract!”
“It’s too late, child! You signed the scroll! Besides, you don’t know if you’ll fail. Maybe he will fall in love with you. For your sake and his, I hope he does.”
He knew Eirene was not going to change her mind. Kai had sealed the deal and now he had to work with it. Callum needed to fall in love with him and he had to show he was worthy of love. He deserved it. If it took everything out of him, Kai would make him feel love.
It was the very least he deserved.
Chapter 16
Callum felt bad that he had to reject Kai but he was in no mood to do anything. He had a thousand thoughts running through his head and none were pleasant. Everything felt so cloudy and dark inside. He had no idea how he managed to drive himself home because he wasn’t paying attention to the streets in front of him. He was certain he had run a few red lights in the process because people were honking at him. He had no idea why no one gave him a ticket during this. In any case, he was happy he made it back in one piece.
He didn’t think about eating or checking the million messages that he had. Instead, he just wanted to crawl into bed and stay there forever. If it weren’t for the fact that he had a job, he would have stayed there. He looked at the medication on the counter and wondered if he needed to take it now. The problem with it was that one of the side effects was the insomnia. He had taken it once at night and never got an ounce of sleep. From that day forth, he vowed to start taking the medication in the morning.
I guess I should take it in the morning. I better keep it by my night stand so I don’t forget. He decided, looking for his Ambien. The sleep issues had always been there and his doctor had prescribed him a small dosage. It was enough to knock him out for the rest of the night. Putting a pill into his pill box, he took a look at his phone. He was leaving work early because he had an appointment with the psychiatrist. That was good. He had someone he could talk to.
I won’t talk about Kai but I talk about everything else. He realized. Maybe I can make a subtle mention about Kai. I can say that I started dating someone but we are different. I could mention we live in different states. Yes, that will work.
After a quick shower and a light dinner, he decided he had no time for anything else. He lay down in his bed and looked at his phone again. Eighteen messages from his family and five from co-workers. He would try to answer them in the morning. Right now, he wanted to think about Kai. It seemed like Kai was growing closer yet Callum didn’t know how he felt. Was it love? Was it just a simple attraction? There was something between them but he didn’t know what.
Callum closed his eyes and tried to force Kai’s face out of his mind. Still, those brown eyes were haunting him. No matter how much he
wanted to forget Kai, he could never forget the eyes.
The eyes of an angel.
~ ~ ~
Kai was feeling terrible about the deal he had made. As of yet, he had not told anyone that he planned to become a human. Not even Romina, who knew about Callum, was aware that Kai wanted to do this. Eirene had given him two months to win love from Callum. It seemed like a short time and each day was passing by. As of yet, it didn’t seem like Callum was in love with him.
“You have to win his heart,” Eirene reminded him. “Love is not something that you can throw at anyone. It is a force that comes from within. Remember what you are dealing with.”
He couldn’t forget about it. He was doing everything he could to win Callum’s heart. It was the sole reason he had come out that night. He wanted to show Callum his new dance. He would even sing for him. Those plans went out the window when he saw all the garbage in the ocean along with the poor mermaid in the net. He had done everything he could to get her out but to no avail. It was a good thing Callum had come down or else no one knew what could happen.
News about the pollution and the mermaid being caught spread all over. Kai’s father was more wary than ever about humans. He had gathered his children and friends around to warn them. As far as he was concerned, it was getting too dangerous to go to the shore.
“The humans can’t be trusted. They are incredibly careless,” he told them. “If you see one, turn around and come home. Swim so far and deep that they cannot follow you. They have never been our friends and this just proves why.”
Kai wanted to fight back but his father had a point. Not all humans were like Callum. Most of them were very careless when it came to the ocean. Still, nothing was going to keep him from watching them. He wanted to see Callum again tomorrow. He wanted to sing and dance for him. If they were lucky, they could dance together in the water. Callum was foolish to think merfolk couldn’t dance because they didn’t have feet. Well, he would show him.
“Kai, can I speak to you for a second?” His father asked, pulling Kai out of his stupor. By now, everyone else was gone so this felt strange.