Beneath the Painted Ocean

by CS Patra

  The bad part was that they were coming close to their two-month deadline. While Kai was certain how he felt, he could not say the same about Callum. He thought the kisses would be enough but he wasn’t sure. Anytime he wanted to ask Callum how he felt, Callum always had to leave. He didn’t want to tell him the real reason he was pushing so much.

  I told myself I wouldn’t force you into anything. I only want to know how you feel. He thought as he went to see the sea witch. He needed another option now. What could he do when the human didn’t love him back? He wanted an option like death because he couldn’t live in shame anymore. Maybe he needed to turn into foam like the mermaid in that story. It would be painful, but at least he didn’t need to live with the grief.

  Grief. Callum told him all about the grief he felt throughout the years. First there was the loss of his sister and then came the loss of his beloved pet. In between, he dealt with his own sadness. Callum told him that depression was like a big black hole inside. There was no rhyme or reason to how he felt sometimes. It just swallowed him whole and he felt like nothing. He admitted there were days that he couldn’t step out of the house or even out of his bed. He would only go because of work. Even if it was just working on boring things, it was something. His mind would be focused on it.

  Maybe that was why Callum struggled to admit how he felt. He was sad deep inside and he couldn’t fight that sadness. He probably didn’t know what love was and was slowly learning about it. That was why he couldn’t love anyone back yet. He didn’t feel like he deserved it.

  Don’t worry, Callum. I will help you. I don’t know how, but I will help you.

  Kai made his way into Eirene’s lair once more. It was as dark as ever and he could not find her in that darkness. “Eirene, I need to make an amendment to my contract.”

  “My child, if you want to back out of it now...”

  “No,” Kai said firmly. “I want to add something to it. I want to add that if I cannot fulfill the contract, I will sacrifice myself for him. Please do not take him as prisoner. I would rather die than let him die.”

  “Well! This is a turn of events I didn’t expect!” Eirene exclaimed, coming out of the darkness. “What is the problem, my child? What happened?”

  “I think he’s having a hard time loving me,” Kai explained. “There’s a lot about him I still can’t figure out. I don’t think two months is enough for anyone to fall in love. He’s very cautious.”

  “Judging from what you have told me before, he does seem very reserved,” Eirene agreed. “He seems very sad but he wants company. He just doesn’t know how to get it. This is the thing, child. You cannot make anyone love you. You cannot force them. It is a feeling that comes from deep within. For a human, it will come from his heart. You will know when he loves you.”

  “How?” Kai asked. “How can I know? I’ve done everything that humans do when it comes to love! I have held him in my arms, danced with him, shown him things he’d never seen before…what am I doing wrong?”

  “Nothing! Humans take their time.”

  “I don’t have much time left!” Kai sighed. “Please…Please make that slight change to the contract. I know he can love me. I know his heart has a lot of love to give. However, I can’t read his mind. I can’t make him love me if he doesn’t.”

  “Well, maybe he doesn’t feel appreciated enough. Maybe he’s not getting something from you to give you love. Have you ever given your human a gift?”

  “A gift? What kind of gift?”

  “Anything that is a token of affection. Humans want to be loved. They want others to shower them with love. One of the ways they do that is by giving each other gifts. It’s something that says I think you are special enough for my love.”

  “Huh. I never thought of doing that,” Kai murmured. “He must be expecting a gift and I never gave him one. What should I give him?”

  “That should be up to you. Do you know what could make him happy?”

  “That’s the problem. He struggles to be happy sometimes. When he’s around me, he smiles but I feel like nothing makes him happy in the human world. Maybe I should give him something so when he looks at it, he’ll remember me and it will make him smile. Maybe he might feel love.”

  “Then see that you give him something. As for the contract, I’ll make a slight adjustment. Should your human not return your love, you will then sacrifice yourself to the sea. You will give up your tongue, body, and soul to the sea. If you both love each other, you will become human to live with him forever. The only thing is I cannot turn you back into a merman if you get tired of being a human.”

  “Hmm...” Kai murmured. “This contract has so much to it. It’s very complicated.”

  “Those are the rules, child. Either way, one of you is bound to lose. You will lose your family and friends should you give up being a merman. You will lose him if he doesn’t return your love as well as your life. For your sake, I hope the contract works in your favor. Have you told your family about it?”

  “I...I couldn’t.” Kai lowered his gaze. “I’m so afraid of how everyone will react!”

  “You also haven’t told the human about the contract, am I right?”

  “I can’t tell him! I know I should but he’ll try to stop me. He’ll tell me it’s a bad idea. Even worse, I think he may hate me if he learned the truth. He may never want to see me again.”

  “He’ll hate you more if he finds out from another source. I think you need to talk to him. If you are serious about him, you need to let him know what is at stake. It might break him but he will know in the end. He won’t be left in the dark,” Eirene told him. “Look, I cannot tell you what to do. You have to win his heart and time is running out. The contract is now final. No more amendments. You do understand what is at stake, right?”

  “I do,” Kai nodded. “I’m willing to give it all up. Painful as it is, I think I know what I want.”

  It would be hard to say goodbye to his family but he could do it. It was better than losing his life and Callum forever. Somehow, someway, he was going to get Callum to say those words. He needed them.

  Their entire lives and future depended on it.

  Chapter 20

  Kai was pleased with the gift that he had gotten for Callum. It was a sapphire ring that used to belong to his grandfather. Whoever wore it would become invincible and be protected from all harm. No one could ever hurt him if he had it on his finger. The other gift that Kai wanted to give was a small knife with a silver handle. He knew for a fact that Callum didn’t own anything like this. He had seen that tiny knife that he used to cut those nets. They took too long to cut anything. His friend needed something better.

  “These should be good.” He told himself, waiting out on the shore for Callum. He knew that there was a chance he wouldn’t show. With humans steering clear of one section of the ocean, it would be hard for him to come down. Not that this would stop him. If Callum could find a way to the beach, he would be there. No rules were going to hold him back.

  Kai waited for an hour and then saw a dark figure coming down to the rocks. He knew immediately that it was Callum but something was different. He never dressed all in black for one thing. For another, he wasn’t dressed to go in the water. It looked like he was on a completely different mission. He had a big bag filled with something and he knelt close to the edge of the water so he could talk.

  “Are you all right?” Kai wanted to know, noticing the look on Callum’s face. It wasn’t of that depression he talked about. He seemed determined to do something. “Did someone hurt you again?”

  “Yes. However, I think I know what I need to do. I have to fight back,” Callum whispered. “There are some bad people that want to hurt your home. Even worse, they know about us.”

  “They do? How...When...”

  “Don’t worry. They don’t know you’re a merman. They assumed you were a human that I took out to the sea. The problem is that they don’t approve that we’re...well, that we’re men.
Some humans don’t take lightly to that.”

  “What’s wrong with it?”

  “Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Unfortunately, some people don’t approve of it. They’re just ignorant,” Callum sighed. “I don’t want to go into that right now. It will take too long to explain. The point I’m making is that I’m tired of being pushed around by these men. They’ve been threatening me and hurting me for some time. I’m tired of being scared. They think of me as something terrible. I’m going to be their worst nightmare.”

  “Callum, no!” Kai gasped. “What if they find out about you?! What if they hurt you even more?! I can’t let you do that!”

  “Technically, you can’t stop me. I’m doing this on land,” Callum took Kai’s hand. “I know you’re worried about me. You have a good reason to be because I’m also very scared. I’m afraid someone’s going to catch me in the act. They may send me to jail.”

  “What’s jail?”

  “It’s a place where I don’t want to be. It’s where the bad humans go when they’re caught. I would never do anything to end up in jail. At the same time, I’m tired of them pushing me around. They want me to agree to something that I don’t want to do. I know men like this. In the end, all they care about is money.” He closed his eyes. “A lot of humans care about money.”

  “Do you?”

  “It’s important to me, yes. I need it to buy things and pay off debts. At the same time, I don’t let it rule my whole life. Others do.” Callum straightened up. “Look, Kai, I need to go. I just came to tell you what I’m doing. If you hear anything bad about me, know that I’m not trying to harm anyone. I’m only trying to send a message across.”

  “Wait!” Kai stopped him. “Before you go, I have something for you. Give me your hands.” Callum was confused but he held out his hands. In right hand, Kai handed him a knife with a silver handle. “Keep that with you to fight. It can cut through anything.”

  “Fight? Oh, I don’t know if I can…”

  “Just keep it. Now turn your other hand over so I can put something on it.”

  “I’m wearing gloves. I wouldn’t be able to feel it.”

  “I think you can. Look.” Kai found Callum’s ring finger and slipped the sapphire ring on it. “It belonged to my grandfather and I think you should have it now.”

  Callum looked at the ring on his finger. It fit him perfectly and the gem sparkled in the moonlight. “Oh, Kai, I can’t accept this. It’s probably worth so much!”

  “It is worth a lot but so are you. I think it’s a token to show you how important you are. You told me you didn’t feel like you mattered in human society. I think you do matter a lot. You matter to humans and you matter to me.”

  “I...I don’t know if I deserve this...”

  “It’s a gift. I won’t take it back, all right? It’s yours. It’s yours forever,” Kai squeezed his hand. “There’s also something else I have to talk to you about. It’s us. I know you have noticed how much time we spend with each other. Even though you’re on land and I’m here, we’ve never let that keep us apart.”

  “Well, you’re the first real friend I’ve had in my life,” Callum admitted. “I don’t want to lose that friendship. Growing up for me was hard. I had fifteen brothers and sisters so I always got lost in the crowd. My parents were so busy looking after them so I had to learn to look after myself. In the process, I never learned to make friends. Now you’re here.”

  “I’m always going to be here,” Kai assured him. “I’m always going to listen to you even if no one else does. I know you’ll be back tomorrow and the day after. You can’t stay away from the ocean.”

  “I wouldn’t want to.” Callum took his hands. “What else did you want to tell me?”

  “It’s about us,” Kai went on. “I...I know you and I can only see each other when you come here. Unfortunately, I can’t go to you. I can never get on land and run with you. I can’t do the human things that you do because I don’t have legs. I’m not human.”

  “That doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”

  “No, it doesn’t. It does make things hard though. I just...I just want to make you happy. I want to be with you when you need someone on land too. You’re probably sad because there’s no one out there who can make you happy.”

  Callum swallowed. “My sadness goes deeper than that. You aren’t wrong but my sadness is something I can’t explain. I need to take medicine so I’m not always sad. I take it so I can actually do something. If I don’t, then there are times when I don’t do a thing. I just stay there and wallow in my pity.”

  “Then allow me to help you to stop you from wallowing in your pity. Let me be the one who listens to you when you need it,” Kai said. “I want to be human for you, Callum. I want to be there when you need me and I can’t. Not as a merman.”

  “I wish you were human too, but...it is what it is.”

  It doesn’t have to be. Kai almost said. “Callum, here is the thing. I...”

  Callum looked down at his watch. “Oh, I’ve got to leave! This is the perfect time for me to do some investigating. Can you tell me tomorrow?”

  I’m running out of time, Callum. I only have tonight left! I need to know how you feel and you’re still not saying those words!

  Out loud, he couldn’t say that. Instead, he nodded and accepted the answer. “I’ll tell you as soon as I can.”

  Callum ran off and Kai began to dread the worst. Hours were going to pass by now. If he didn’t know the truth by midnight, he could very well say goodbye to everything.

  ~ ~ ~

  Callum kept looking at the ring and wondering just how much it was truly worth. Both that and the knife probably cost a fortune. He knew he would get a lot out of them if he took them to a pawn shop. However, he wasn’t about to let them go. Carefully, he took the ring off and then took off one of the gloves. There was no need to show it off now. He had business to attend to. He put the ring on his finger and then pulled the glove over it. It looked a little lumpy underneath but it would be fine.

  Right now, he was standing in front of the building where Knoll worked. Thanks to some coworkers, he figured out where the man currently did business. It wasn’t too close to the ocean but he didn’t like anything about it. This man was threatening him and he couldn’t understand it. Why did he think Callum was a problem?

  All I did was tell him no. I’ve done that with other people. They’ve never thrown a fit. Callum shifted the bag on his shoulder so it was easy to carry. He clearly wants more from me.

  He looked around and saw that there was no security at night. That also made no sense. He would figure someone like Knoll would want to keep his place locked up. It would be easy to waltz in and cause some damages but something was up. Something did not feel right about the whole situation. It was like they were expecting him.

  Okay, I’m not going until I can find the traps. Callum decided, looking around the lot. There have to be some. They wouldn’t leave this place for anyone to come in and go as they please. What are you up to?

  He began to search the rest of the lot, looking at the few cars that were there. Employees were still around so he had to be careful. From peeking into some cars, he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Car seats, magazines, clothes…all of that seemed normal.

  Just then, he heard some voices so he got behind one of the cars and listened in. The first person was definitely Knoll but couldn’t see who he was talking to. He tried to look but something was obstructing his view. Still, something told him that things weren’t right. Something felt off.

  “Thank you for being so understanding. I tried to talk to him but it just didn’t work. He is so stubborn.” Knoll was saying. “I trust the money will be enough?”

  “It will be more than enough.” The other person was saying. “I get that he’s very passionate, but the fact that he shut you down...that’s not like him. He needs to understand that we need the ocean too. We need to use it for our resources.”

  �
�Ah, he’s one of those environmentalists. They think one black smudge ruins the whole planet,” Knoll sighed. “I don’t know how you dealt with him the first place.”

  “He’s quite different from his twin sister. Dani was my good kid.” Callum’s jaw dropped when he realized that it was his father. He should have recognized it from the voice but he didn’t want to believe it. He was even more horrified to see them exchange hands and take money. “Now let’s get this moving. I’m sure we can do something about this ocean.”

  “Dad, no!” Callum couldn’t help himself. He came out of hiding and ran over to where his father was. “You can’t hurt the ocean! You promised me you wouldn’t do business with him!”

  “Callum! What are you doing here?” His father demanded.

  Callum ignored the question and stormed over to him. “I can’t believe you! You promised you wouldn’t do anything with him!”

  “Business is important too, Callum. Why can’t you understand that? I need this! I need it so I can keep supporting my family, which includes you! You are so stubborn that you refuse to see the other side. You refuse to take advice from anyone who doesn’t fit your ideals. This is why I get so frustrated with you! Ever since that accident, you’ve been so...so...”

  “So unlike your perfect daughter?” Callum finished off. “I overheard what you said. You don’t want the son that has a million issues. You want your daughter back. She would never try to stop you, is that it? Is that what you want to say?”

  “You’re not Dani, Callum.”

  “No, I’m not. Dani’s perfect. I’m a mess. I get that I’m stubborn and you don’t like that. However, this man attacked me earlier.” He glowered at Knoll who merely shrugged. “He threatened me and gagged me and he’s the one who sent those guys to mug me. I bet he didn’t tell you that part.”

  His father looked at Knoll. “Is this true?”

  “The bruise might be faded now, but I still remember how I felt.” Callum whispered, touching the side of his mouth. “You tried to force me to change my mind. Had I known you were already making plans with my father...”