The Turned

by Tracy Kiser

  “I am,” Hyzine lied, smiling on the inside.

  “Okay, Lana, what do you think?” Thomas asked his daughter.

  “Dad, honestly, I really do want to go home. Hyzine’s been the only person down here who’s been honest with me. And I thank him for that because he helped me find you. But I want you to go back with me. At least for a while, Daddy. I’ve missed the past ten years with you. Let’s both get turned back and go home. Then, since everything will be different with the Goddess,” she looked at Hyzine indicating his help, “you can come back to continue researching. Maybe even bring Uncle Danny.”

  Thomas considered what his daughter had said. “That sounds like the perfect plan, Lana. Of course, that’s only if they believe anything I say…”

  “Really?” Lana smiled.

  “Yes. I miss your mom like crazy and I miss Danny too. I just never knew how to get back there after I was turned. I was stuck and started doing research until I could find a way home.”

  “You mean no one ever told you how to go back to being human?” Hyzine interrupted. His voice as nonchalant as his carefully planned movements.

  “No…you know how?” Thomas asked.

  “Every merperson does. Of course I do.”

  “Then how?” Thomas said, attempting to not sound demanding. He couldn’t believe that everyone had known how to turn him back, but didn’t offer.

  “The same way that you turn a human into a merperson.” Hyzine replied.

  “You kiss them?” Lana questioned.

  “Yes. That simple.” Hyzine agreed. “A human kisses the merperson and the transformation begins.”

  “That’s it?” Thomas was astounded.

  Hyzine nodded his head. “The only thing that matters is where it takes place.” Hyzine saw Lana and Thomas look at him in confusion. “If a merperson kisses a human below the water level, the human turns. And if a human kisses a merperson above the water, then the merperson turns human.”

  “That sounds easy enough, but how are we going to find a human and get them to kiss us?” Thomas inquired.

  “Aiden!” Lana exclaimed.

  “Who?” Hyzine and Thomas asked in unison.

  “My boyfriend. He helped me sail here to find my dad. If he’s still up there then he can follow us to the Goddess and when everything is finished, he can turn us.”

  “You have a boyfriend?” Thomas stumbled over the words. The last time he’d seen his daughter was when she was playing with Barbies. Now she was playing with boys? He shook his head in disbelief.

  “Perfect!” Hyzine exclaimed, pretending to be excited. “We can go to the surface, find him, hopefully he’s still there, and we’ll be on our way to Syria.”

  “You have a boyfriend?” Thomas repeated, his voice monotone.

  “Dad, come on. I’m eighteen.”

  “We’ll talk about this later.” Thomas said quietly.

  “What are we waiting for? Let’s get going,” Hyzine pushed.

  The three of them left the cave and swam for the surface. Lana’s heart jumped at the thought of seeing Aiden, though it was still bruised from what she had learned about Merric.

  Chapter 25

  Merric sped through the entryway of Hyzine’s cave with Lillen and Lomi following him closely. The main room was dimly lit, but their glowing blue eyes allowed them to see perfectly.

  “We missed them. We’re too late.” Merric sighed, imagining how horribly Hyzine must be treating his Lana. He fought the images away.

  “What now, Sir Merric?” Lillen asked.

  “Syria.” Merric stated firmly. “Lillen, you come with me and we’ll swim toward Syria. Maybe we can catch up with Hyzine before he gets Thomas and Lana killed. Lomi and Dascus, you go back to the Order and collect a few more mermen to help us.” Merric pointed in the direction of the Order.

  “I can do that,” Lomi agreed, nodding his head. Dascus stayed silent but also nodded his head in agreement.

  “Lillen, let’s get going. I don’t want them to get too far ahead of us. We don’t have time to waste.” Merric waved Lillen forward.

  “Alright Merric, let’s find them.” Lillen’s hands were in fists.

  “You two try to be cautious. You’re the one who said that you didn’t know what Hyzine was capable of.” Lomi warned.

  “We will, Lomi. Thank you.”

  * *

  The surface was full of lights. Boats were scattered across the top of the ocean. Lana saw the twinkling stars and smiled though her nerves were still on edge. She didn’t know how long she’d been under the sea and prayed that Aiden was still up here.

  “Where is he?” Hyzine asked, keeping his neck under the water to breathe easier. Lana saw the water lap against the gills and shuddered. She knew that hers were doing the same but to see it sent the butterflies in her stomach fluttering.

  “He has to be around here somewhere. We brought his sailboat. It’s white with a red stripe around the sides.”

  The three swam quietly toward the group of boats. Lana read the side of the closest one. “U.S. Coast Guard?” She questioned in a whisper.

  “Looks like your boyfriend called for backup,” Thomas teased his daughter. He still didn’t like the idea that his little girl had a boyfriend, but was glad that there was a way for him to get back home.

  Lana laughed. “At least he didn’t give up.”

  “One point earned,” Thomas joined his daughter in her laughter.

  “Let’s just find him so we can be on our way to Syria. I’m just about ready for this adventure to be over.” Lana said, only half joking.

  They swam stealth-like between the boats of the coast guard, trying not to draw any unwanted attention. The U.S. Coast Guard discovering that merpeople existed wouldn’t exactly help right now.

  “Is that…is that Danny’s boat?” Thomas asked, turning to Lana. If his memory hadn’t faulted him, that appeared to be the same boat that he and Danny used to relax on and drink a couple of beers after a hard day’s work.

  “What?” Lana quickly turned to look in the same direction her father had just been looking. “Oh, yea, I saw his boat a few days ago, but I hadn’t found you yet. So I couldn’t go back.”

  “He has the same boat?” Thomas wondered aloud.

  Thomas and Lana swam over to Danny’s boat while Hyzine held back, slowly following them. Lana touched the side of the boat. “Aiden?” She called out. There was no reply. Lana knocked against the side of the boat and called out again a little louder. “Aiden?”

  They heard footsteps coming toward them, lightly echoing. Lana and her father looked up toward the ledge of the boat. The footsteps drew closer and Sarah’s face appeared above them.

  She screamed.

  “Mom, calm down,” Lana told her.

  “What the hell is going on? Am I dreaming? Thomas? It can’t be. It just can’t be. I’m hallucinating,” Sarah rambled. Lana saw her knuckles turn white as Sarah gripped the edge of the sailboat.

  “Sarah, you aren’t hallucinating,” Thomas coaxed. “It’s us.” He kept his voice even and soothing.

  “But, but…” Sarah faltered, her hands gripped even tighter on the boat’s edge.

  “It’s a long story, Mom. Wait. Mom? What are you doing here?” Lana inquired, realizing that her Mom was on a sailboat in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. Lana knew she hated sailing. How was this even possible? Lana wondered if she were the one hallucinating.

  “I came with Daniel. Aiden said that you fell overboard so we came to help him find you. Where the hell have you been?” Sarah’s motherly tone kicked in.

  Lana moved slightly and brought her tail fin up out of the water. Sarah gasped.

  “You have to be kidding me. I really am hallucinating. I can’t handle this. Dead husband and fish daughter. This is way too much.” Sarah’s gaze shifted to the dark horizon. She took a deep breath and tried to focus.

  “Sarah, seriously, calm down. Everything is all right.” Thomas tried to ease her mind. �
��Go get Danny.”

  “He’s down below sleeping.” Sarah struggled. “Hold on. I’ll be right back. You will be here when I come back right?” She shook her head and walked away disappearing. Sarah didn’t want to know that answer. If she were hallucinating, all the better that the visions be gone when she got back.

  Lana looked at her father. “She took that well, I think.”

  “I can’t believe that your Mom’s on a boat.” They laughed loudly until the heard more footsteps on deck above them.

  Sarah, Daniel, and Aiden stood overhead.

  “Lana! It’s really you! You’re alive!” Aiden exclaimed reaching his hand down to her. Lana extended her arm and held Aiden’s hand. “Let’s get you guys on board.”

  “Wait,” Lana insisted.

  “Why? What’s wrong?” Daniel asked. “Thomas! What the, is it really you?” He asked, recognizing his best friend.

  “Daniel, God it’s good to see you guys.” Thomas exhaled a deep breath. He had been away from his family for so long; he hadn’t realized just how much he had missed them.

  “Why are we waiting?” Aiden echoed Daniel’s question turning back and forth, wanting someone to answer him.

  “Look at their legs,” Sarah shouted, not in control of herself. Control was a word her body didn’t know at the moment.

  “What about them?” Aiden asked before focusing on Lana’s legs. “Oh.”

  They all froze.

  “Is this seriously happening right now?” Daniel asked, also feeling like he was losing control.

  “At least I’m not the only one hallucinating,” Sarah chimed in again, a smile suddenly appearing on her face.

  “What happened to you?” Aiden looked at Lana.

  “It’s a very long story. But right now, we need your help.”

  “Anything, Honey. What do you need us to do?” Aiden’s face turned serious. He would worry about the legs later. He had to help Lana and it was half his fault that she was in this mess to begin with.

  “Sail to Syria.”

  “What?” Daniel and Aiden retorted together.

  “We have to go there to become human again because of the Goddess,” Lana tried to explain. “We have to talk her into changing how merpeople are towards humans for Dad’s research.”

  “Is that supposed to make sense?” Daniel asked, confused.

  “Like she said, it’s a long story,” Thomas continued for Lana. “But we’ll need you all there to help us transform back into humans.”

  “Still doesn’t make sense,” Daniel argued.

  “You have to trust us. Sail to Syria and we’ll meet you there.” Lana finished, squeezing Aiden’s hand.

  “If you say so. I still don’t get it though, and that bothers me,” Daniel sighed. He felt heavily frustrated.

  “We’ll be there,” Aiden said matter-of-factly.

  “Thank you,” Lana told him.

  “I have to be hallucinating,” Sarah murmured. “I’m dreaming. I know it.”

  Lana kissed the top of Aiden’s hand. “See you in Syria?”

  Aiden nodded. “I’m so glad that you’re all right, Lana. I didn’t know what I was going to do if..”

  “Shhh, everything is fine,” Lana whispered. She felt tears creeping up her throat. She’d never been so happy to see Aiden. He had always been there for her. She wondered if he had thought that she had died, just like her father, and then kept on searching.

  “I love you, Lana.”

  “I love you too.” Lana looked up at her mom and Daniel. “We’ll all be back together soon. I love you guys.”

  “We love you, too.” Daniel said with Sarah echoing.

  Thomas nodded at Daniel. “See you in Syria.”

  Thomas and Lana turned to Hyzine who had stayed silently behind them witnessing the reunion. Hyzine motioned for them to go below, away from the ships that dotted the water.

  Sarah, Daniel, and Aiden watched Lana and Thomas sink below the water’s surface.

  “Did that really just happen? Are we in some Disney movie or what?” Sarah inquired, throwing her hands in the air, her nerves going haywire.

  “Definitely just happened,” Daniel sighed.

  “I guess we should sail toward Syria.”

  “Where is that?” Aiden chimed in, coming back to earth after seeing Lana. His heart soared. She was alive.

  “We’ll find it,” Daniel assured them.

  Chapter 26

  Lomi swam through the halls of the Order’s grotto as quickly as he could. He exited the long corridor into the main chamber. There were only two Order members present. Both of the mermen turned to face him as he swam up to where they were seated. He could see the surprise in their eyes.

  “Lomi? Where are Merric and Lillen? Why aren’t they with you?” The words came out rushed and Lomi heard the confusion dripping from their words.

  “They are both in route to find Hyzine, Lana, and Thomas.”

  “They went alone?” The Order member questioned with disbelief and with an angry undertone, his teeth on edge.

  “Yes, Merric believed that he and Lillen could catch up to Hyzine before they reached Syria. They sent me to gather others to meet them there.”

  “Do we know for certain that Hyzine is taking Thomas and Lana to Syria, then?”

  The second Order member spoke for the first time. “We have to assume that this is the case, Kylone. Since Lana is from Syria doing research for the Goddess about the Turned, if Hyzine told her that Thomas was one of the Turned then they would take him to be killed.” The Order member voiced his thoughts.

  “You make a good point, Job.”

  Job nodded in appreciation.

  “Lomi, take six other Order members and start for Syria. Hope that we catch Hyzine and the others before they reach the city. If the Goddess knew that we’d hid a Turned for these past ten years there might be punishment for all of the members here,” Kylone explained. “We cannot let that happen.”

  “I understand,” Lomi agreed. “I’ll go recruit the others and be on my way to Syria as quickly as I can.”

  Lomi left the chamber to find six mermen to join him. When he had left Kylone turned to Job. “This is becoming quite serious, Job.” Kylone sighed.

  “I agree. The Goddess is not of an understanding mind.”

  “I don’t know, Merric’s father has a lot of sway with her.”

  “Good point, but if Hyzine and Lana do make it to Syria before Merric and Lillen, Thomas won’t be the only one killed if his father doesn’t persuade Atargatis.”

  “She’ll make an example of us all,” Kylone finished.

  “Let’s hope Merric’s father has more than enough persuasion techniques to convince the Goddess.”

  “He’s left already, has he not?”

  “He set out for Syria earlier. A routine visit unless things get out of our control,” Job said shaking his head.

  * *

  Merric was becoming frustrated. He and Lillen had been swimming with all of their strength for hours. There had been no signs of Hyzine, or Lana. Merric’s heart cried out for Lana. How could he have let this happen?

  “They can’t be much farther ahead of us,” Lillen stated, interrupting Merric’s thoughts of longing.

  “I don’t understand it.” Merric admitted aloud. He struggled with his feelings toward Lana and what her feelings toward him could possibly be. A war was waging internally led by guilt and the determination to fix everything.

  “Understand what?”

  Merric shifted his thoughts back to the task at hand. “We should have caught up with them by now. They didn’t have that much of a head start,” Merric explained, mostly to himself.

  “You’re really worried about what will happen if they reach the Goddess aren’t you?” Lillen asked, his voice hushed. He had caught the undercurrent in Merric’s explanation.

  “What if she kills Lana? I don’t know what I’d do if…” Merric trailed off.

  Lillen realized that the r
easons he assumed fed Merric’s motives were wrong. “The mermaid? You’re worried about her? I was talking about your father and repercussions of hiding a Turned.”

  Merric looked at Lillen with anger in his eyes. “It’s not that I’m not worried about my father, it’s just…” he stopped. Could he trust Lillen with the information he had about Lana?

  “Besides,” Lillen continued, “nothing would happen to Lana anyway. Why would the Goddess punish a mermaid who works for her? Especially seeing as she did her job and found a Turned and is bringing him to Syria. Even if Hyzine is betraying us, Lana isn’t betraying anyone. She’s doing her duty.”

  “You don’t understand, Lillen. It isn’t exactly like that.” Merric said with uncertainty at how this conversation would play out and how Lillen would react to the news.

  “Why not?”

  “Lana isn’t a… she’s not really a, um, mermaid exactly.” Merric stuttered. He prayed to the Goddess that he could trust Lillen.

  “Merric, you didn’t. Please tell me that you did not turn a human.” Lillen couldn’t believe it. Merric, the son of an Order member had turned someone. He shook his head thinking about the repercussions this would cause.

  Merric became defensive. “She would have died if I hadn’t done something.”

  “So you turned her? Without the Order’s permission?”

  “We are the Order,” Merric argued.

  “Merric, you know what I mean. We might be Order members, but we are not of the High Order, not yet.”

  “There wasn’t time Lillen. I had a moment to decide. Who am I to condemn a human to die?” Merric finished the though internally, especially if she is meant to be mine?

  “It wouldn’t have been you condemning her. It’s not like you brought her to the ocean to drown…”

  “Well, actually, I kind of did.” Merric added sheepishly.

  “What? Merric what are you doing? Your father is going to kill you!” Merric heard the anger in Lillen’s voice.

  “Lillen, stop. I know it was wrong but I had to.”

  “Why?” Lillen challenged.

  “Because Thomas is her father.”

  “At least they can die together now,” Lillen said sarcastically, his anger getting the better of him. “Goddess, Merric, I don’t understand you right now. What were you thinking? And now you’re so worried about her when it was you who brought them together and sealed their fate.” Lillen was boiling and his words dripped with poisonous confusion. He didn’t think humans were all that bad but Merric had interfered. Now, they would both die if Hyzine reached Syria.