As we started our ascent, I went limp with relief. I hadn’t realized how hard I was fighting to keep a hold of my human side, and I could barely think to move my fin. I looked back down on the glowing chamber as we slowly ascended; it looked like a constellation in the sky.
So I had fifty moons to choose whether or not to return to this watery world. There was no denying the powerful pull of the ultimate return to nature. There was also no denying the power of my love for Ethan. I closed my eyes and saw his face, holding onto the image with all my might.
Our heads burst into the fresh air of a new morning. Had I really been under the sea all night? All sense of time had vanished in the black underwater world, and I remembered that day and night meant nothing to mermaids. Their world existed without the warm rays of the sun moving across the beautiful blue sky, clouds, wind and air. They had only the pull of the moon and the tides to regulate their world.
The whole thing seemed like a dream. I looked down at the delicate webbing linking my fingers and knew that it was real. We swam to the end of the pier and it was odd to see the cement boat from a mermaid’s perspective. I grabbed onto a broken chunk of concrete and started to cough up water. My hands and tail began the now familiar tingling. With each ragged intake of air I started to become more and more human.
I gathered my courage for the unbelievable pain of transformation. Lorelei kept hold of my arm as I suffered the torture of the change back. Every fiber of my body screamed in pain as I looked into Lorelei’s worried eyes through a haze of enormous suffering. I knew that with every fresh wave of agony I was closer to being with Ethan and I bore it with barely a whimper. I felt my legs slice through the water and looked down, relieved to see my human form restored.
Lorelei started to swim me ashore, a melancholy look on her face. The storm had passed, and the pink light of dawn was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. I could see the beach now, decorated with a fresh layer of kelp and driftwood from the storm.
We continued on until I felt the sand beneath my newly formed feet. Lorelei let go of my arm and I turned to thank her. It was a fresh new day, and I felt like I was being reborn. I waded out of the surf and fell to my knees on the sand, coughing until I ejected the last few droplets from my lungs. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world, and I was so happy I laughed out loud.
I shivered in the clear morning air. I was cold and I was naked, but I was alive. A few short hours ago I had faced down death, and given up an immortal life under the sea to come back home. I didn’t care who saw me; I had to get to Ethan.
An elderly gentleman walking a waddling little pug along the shoreline looked up as I approached him with a wry smile. His eyes flew open wide with surprise when he took me in.
“Excuse me sir,” I asked, “But, may I borrow your sweater?” He took it off slowly and handed it to me in stunned silence.
“Keep it,” was all he said.
I wrapped myself up, pulling it down as best I could, and headed home as fast as my tender feet could take me.
The Jaguar was in the driveway when I reached Abby’s charming little house. I burst in the door, surprising a tired, drawn-out looking Cruz.
“Marina!” he cried, rushing to look at me, eyes as big as saucers, “Oh my God! Where did you come from?” We embraced and he drew back, looking me over, “That sweater’s hella ugly!” I laughed with the sheer joy of being alive and gave him another big hug, “I love you!” I cried.
“What happened?” he asked, clearly in shock, “Ethan said they drowned you!”
“I’m back– I got away... where is he?” I asked, “I have to go find him.” I ran down the hall to put some clothes on and raced back out to find Cruz trying to call Abby. He was having trouble with the hospital switchboard and hung up in exasperation.
“Ethan was at the hospital when I left. He’s been blaming himself all night. Abby stayed behind with Dutch. My god Marina! She’s a wreck– she was about to call your dad...”
“Is Dutch OK?” I asked.
“He’s fine– it’s Ethan I’d be worried about,” said Cruz.
“I have to find him right now!” I felt like my heart would burst with joy, “I’m finally free!
I’ll tell you what happened later.” I left Cruz with a hug and a flurry of kisses before I raced out the door.
“Drive careful!” he called after me. He needn’t have worried.
I wasn’t about to take any chances with my newborn life.
CHAPTER TWENTYSIX
REUNION
I pulled up to the hospital, overflowing with impatient anticipation. Leaving the car parked at a crazy angle, I ran to the reception desk and frantically asked where Dutch’s room was. It seemed to take the receptionist an excruciatingly long time to look up his information while I shifted from foot to foot, wringing my hands. I ran for the stairs, too full of anxious energy to wait on the elevator.
I burst into the room to find Abby lying in Dutch’s arms on the hospital bed. He looked up at me in shock.
“Marina!” he cried, his voice hoarse. Abby’s head snapped up. Her swollen eyes took me in and she jumped up, sobbing as she ran over to wrap her arms around me. She started crying too hard to talk.
“It’s alright,” I said soothingly, patting her back. “I’m back.”
“But…but... Ethan said–”
I cut her off, “Where is he?”
She tried to catch her breath. “I d-don’t know. He must have gone home...” She drew back to look at my face, staring at me like she couldn’t believe I was really there, “What happened?
How did you get here?”
I kissed her on both cheeks and smiled, “Aunt Abby, it’s a long story. There are a few things you don’t know about my mother.”
“Your dad...” she hiccupped.
I couldn’t stop smiling, happy to see the look of relief on her face, “Call dad and tell him I’m fine. Tell him I know about Adria, and that it’s okay... I’m okay. I need to go find Ethan now.” I turned to leave.
“Marina,” Dutch called, struggling to sit up. I went to his side and took his outstretched hand.
“Ethan told me what you did... how you knew... I want to thank you, you– you saved my life.” He glanced over at Abby, who was still drawing shuddering breaths, “Find Ethan. I’ve never seen him so torn up.”
I bent down to kiss him on both cheeks, “Take care of Abby,” I said, and raced out to the car.
I drove as fast as I could safely manage to get to Ethan’s apartment. Disappointed to find his truck missing from the parking lot, I sat drumming my fingers on the steering wheel, trying to imagine where he would go.
A flash of inspiration sent me out onto the freeway. I drove south, trying to remember what the exit looked like as I passed farms, fields, and cliffs that were crumbling away into the sea.
Turning off the freeway, I rolled down a lonely road to the edge of the bluff. When I saw the blue truck a tremendous wave of relief washed over me.
I was almost home.
I pulled up and parked, looking around for any sign of him. I remembered the spot where his house would be and hiked across the field towards it, breathing in the earthy smell of the freshly turned soil, noticing the sea breeze skipping lightly across waving tufts of grass. Everything seemed new to me, and I silently thanked God for giving me a fresh start.
A lonely figure was sitting at the edge of the bluff, facing out to sea. Even from a distance I knew it was him, and as I drew closer I called out his name. His head turned, and he rose to his feet as I raced up to him. He looked at me like I was a hallucination.
“Marina?” was all he could choke out before I wrapped my arms around him and kissed his sad and weary face. We fell to our knees, locked in a tight embrace, clinging to each other desperately. I kissed him harder, my hands in his hair, breathing him in like air. He pulled back and took my face in his hands, looking into my eyes.
“Are you really here?” he asked.
“I love you,” he said, looking into my eyes, “Don’t ever leave me again.” I remembered how helpless he was, lying in the hospital bed. I never wanted to see him hurt again.
“I won’t… I couldn’t,” I said, and I meant it. My dad and Evie were going to have to do without me. I was finally home.
We stood up and walked along the path, still clinging to each other. We stopped to sit on a grassy spot in the bright sunshine, arms entwined. He asked how I got back, and what had happened after I was taken underwater. I started to slowly recount the whole strange experience, halting at points in amazement at my own words. The memory was already taking on a dreamlike quality, starting to feel as though it had happened to someone else.
Ethan listened quietly as I told him how I’d expected to die, and how strange it felt to start breathing the water into my lungs. I described the mermaid council, the black undersea chamber, and how they all glowed with their own light. I told him how I fought them as they tore at my clothes.
“It was as deep as you said,” I looked out at the sea, “They dragged me all the way down to the bottom, and had their meeting there.”
I described struggling furiously to escape their iron grip, desperate to get back to him. He kissed my wrists where the mermaids had clamped onto me.
“How could you be so brave?” he asked.
“I was thinking of you,” I said, “I thought about you telling me to fight them.”
“You saved my dad’s life,” he said as he pressed his lips into my cheek, “He would have died if you hadn’t have known... hadn’t convinced me to go.” He drew a shuddering breath, squeezing his eyes shut, “Why did you have to go with them?”
“They wouldn’t help us if I didn’t agree to it.”
“You gave yourself up for him– you could have died,” his voice trailed off and he burrowed his face into my shoulder.
“I had to do it… for you, and for Dutch. He needed me... And poor Abby–” I tried to explain.
His voice was muffled, “I need you.”
I rubbed his back, turning to kiss the side of his head “It’s over now. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Then what?” he asked, his breath warm on my neck, “How did you get away?” His arms encircled me tighter as though he thought I might vaporize into thin air.
“Something else happened. I started to become one of them. The pain... it was awful at first...” I cringed at the memory, and he straightened up and hugged me into his chest. I looked up at his face, wondering what his reaction would be. He didn’t seem surprised.
“Afterward, it was like a dream. Like becoming part of the ocean.” I looked out at the horizon, staring at the line where the sea meets the sky. “I started to forget that I was human, it was like being… I don’t know– wild. I could understand what it was to be one of them,” I looked down, “Like my mother,” I said quietly.
He started stroking the back of my neck, whispering, “That’s what I’ve been afraid of all along. I was scared to even say it... I knew your mother changed. I was afraid they were going to take you to replace her.”
“You were right... it was something like that,” I said.
“How did you get away? How did you change back?” he asked again.
“I thought about you, and about my family... everything I couldn’t live without. As long as I focused on you I could fight it off,” I sighed, remembering seeing the lights of the harbor and desperately trying to cling to memories of him, “I’d still be down there if it wasn’t for you.”
“Really?” he asked, smiling for the first time. He tipped my chin up and gave me a lingering kiss that made my toes curl up inside my shoes.
I thought for a minute, “I have no idea how my mom did it. She must have really loved my dad.” I looked at his face, comprehension dawning in my mind, “She must have loved him as much as I love you.” He kissed me again, and I snuggled into him.
“So they just let you go?” he asked.
“Do you remember when Lorelei said they had something for me– my birthright?”
“Yeah,” he said, his face darkening.
I continued, “I gave it up, I traded it to get away,” I smiled at him, “I think they were all surprised, but even though Lorelei was sad about it, she still took me home. She stayed with me while I changed back. She really helped me…”
“But why did they force you to come with them? I mean, if they were willing to let you go anyway…”
“They didn’t think I’d be able to resist. They thought that once I swam with them I’d never want to leave. They thought I’d be too afraid of the pain to change back. But it’s over now. I don’t think they’ll bother me anymore.”
“Was that it?” he asked, “Is that what you gave up… being one of them?”
“Yes, but it’s more like what I promised to give them, what my mother gave up.” I remembered what Naida said, “How long a time is fifty moons?”
“What?” he asked, confused.
“They wouldn’t take it back right away, they want me to take some time to decide. I don’t understand the moons– I guess that’s how they tell time. After that, I can’t change my mind... or change back.” I shuddered, and a chill ran down my spine, thankfully stopping at my legs.
“Change your mind about what?” he asked, lacing his fingers tightly through mine.
I looked out across the water again, “Immortality. They never get old. They never die.” He let out a long hard breath, “You could live forever?” he seemed shocked.
“As a mermaid,” I said with a sour face.
He looked down, shaking his head in disbelief, “Yeah, but– still…” I kissed his ear and whispered, “I’d rather be here with you, right now, than down there forever.”
He looked thoughtful, and was quiet for a moment, “That gives you a little over four years to decide for sure,” he said, looking at me with worried eyes.
I sighed and reached up to stroke his cheek, “I’ve already decided. I don’t want to go back down there ever again.”
He took me in his arms, laying me down on the grass. I rested my head on his shoulder, perfectly content.
His voice rumbled in my ear, “I haven’t been able to get you out of my head from the first minute I saw you. All I’ve been able to think about for months is how to be around you… how to get you to stay. I love you Marina… I just love the way you… are.” I burrowed my face in his neck, thinking that I didn’t know it was possible to feel so happy.
He went on, “I should have told you yesterday. I wanted to, but I chickened out.” I smiled, remembering him in the morning.
“I thought you were gone forever,” he said, stroking my hair, “I thought I’d never get the chance to tell you how much I love you.”
I turned my face up to kiss his jaw. “I love you too,” It felt so good to say it out loud I shuddered with joy. He held me close, warming me all the way through.
“So you can really see the future,” he mused. He still seemed to be surprised about it.
“Only randomly, and just quick flashes, like pictures.”
“How can that be?” he wondered out loud.
I thought for a minute, “Must be a mermaid thing.”
We both sighed.
We laid there quietly for a long time. We both knew we had to get up eventually. We were going to have to get back to work, back to school and back to living our everyday lives. At this perfect moment we just embraced, lying on the grass in the sun, the ocean at our feet. Listening to each other breathe, all we needed was simply to be together, earth and water in perfect harmony.
-THE END-
EPILOGUE
Excerpt from book two in the series:
The Moon And The Tide
The noise picked up again as the helicopter departed, leaving an eerie silence in its w
ake. I was all alone, stranded in the vast blue Aegean. I swam around aimlessly for a while, circling the small island. The euphoria I’d experienced swimming as a mermaid wasn’t nearly as strong this time; it was overshadowed by an intense loneliness that was like a great crushing pain in my heart. I wanted Ethan and my father, and I was having a difficult time thinking straight. I laid down on the sea floor, sobbing in confusion, my mind clouded with hazy muddled sorrow.
I drifted off to sleep on a bed of sea grass, dreaming of walking through a dense green forest holding hands with Ethan. When I woke it was pitch black, and I held my glowing hands before my eyes in wonder, examining the fine mesh of webbing that had grown between my fingers. I felt better after my sleep, and I stretched out my spine, amazed at the way my backbone ran all the way down to the end of my fin.
Working hard to think rationally, I began circling the island again to look for a suitable spot to transform and come ashore. I would be naked, alone, and on an unknown island where I didn’t speak the language. Most people in Europe knew some English, I just hoped I could get to a phone and contact Evie without any trouble. I wondered if Dad had already called her and told her the truth.
The sky was rosy with dawn when I settled on a small cove that had a path leading up to a little whitewashed house. If I could just find a towel or a blanket maybe I could say I fell off a boat or something... I was swimming back and forth, working up to it, fearful of what might happen. I thought about the attack at the point and was suddenly terrified. I submerged, deciding to circle the island one more time while I worked up my courage.
“Sister! Where did you come from?”
Every hair on my head stood up as I turned toward the first voice I had heard since my father’s. I hovered in the water in shock for a moment, beholding one of the most astounding sights of my entire life.
Derrolyn Anderson - [Marinas Tales #1] - Between The Land And The Sea Page 29