by D Wills
I glance up and see what looks like a surfboard. A passing surfer must have watched me go under and thought I drowned. I force my body to go limp and close my eyes as I'm hauled through the water and onto something hard, knowing I need to convince whoever this is that they just saved me from imminent death.
If I act like I'm unconscious, hopefully my bleeding will be enough to make them rush me to the shore, and they won’t be able to ask any questions. I may not know much about the sea, but I know blood equals sharks, and I could do with my rescuer, whoever they are, not being eaten right now.
The fresh air caresses my face, and I'm desperate to take in a deep breath to try and make up for some of the water I’ve ingested. I know I can’t, I know I must pretend to be out of it, so my saviour won't expect an explanation for how my skin has been torn up. My body rests limply on the surf board, and I allow my head to loll to the side while my arms fall lifeless at my side. I'm careful to keep them out of the water. I'm still not entirely convinced my attackers have left. They might be assessing whoever has come to rescue me, and when they realize my saviour is merely a mortal surfer, they’re bound to return.
“Acacia.” Whoever this is turns my face over and brushes my hair from where it’s matted across my cheeks. Wait; did they say 'Acacia'?
“Acacia, can you hear me?” The voice is male and sounds familiar, but I can’t place it. I almost open my eyes, but I'm playing unconscious mortal, so I keep them shut. My rescuer starts checking for a pulse. “Come on, Acacia, wake up!”
A scared tone takes over their voice, and I become aware of the pressure of their hands on my jaw as they open my mouth, checking my airways. Their breathing gets louder as they get closer to me. They must be about to start CPR. Why aren’t they trying to stop the bleeding, though? I haven’t felt him apply any pressure to any of my wounds, and they aren’t in a rush to get me to shore to get them stopped. I don’t understand. I saw the damage to my body in the water. If I was a mortal, I’d have died from blood loss.
I can taste their breath almost at my lips. I certainly don’t want some stranger’s mouth on mine. I snap open my eyes as their mouth is seconds from connecting with mine. I'm about to tell them that I'm OK when everything stops.
“Josh,” I breathe. He doesn’t speak, and he doesn’t move. He looks from my eyes to my lips and back. I mimic him in perfect synchronicity. His lips are parted, as are mine, and our breath is intertwined as we both float here alone. I’ve never wanted anything more than for him to lean down a little further and press his lips against mine. Josh looks as if he wants to too, but something is stopping him. He pulls himself up and sits back at the edge of the board.
My heart breaks as he moves himself away, but I take the chance to look down at my body, not actually wanting to see how messed up I look.
There are no wounds, no blood or scars! Did I dream the attack? The only evidence of the encounter is the dark red lines running down my legs and sides.
I look around me, trying to detect any smears of blood. I'm laid on a bright blue surfboard. Josh straddles one end with one of my legs either side of his bare waist. Not the most flattering position I’d wish to find myself in with anyone, and especially, not with him. But there’s no blood anywhere.
I quickly push myself up, so I'm straddling the other end of his board to try and retain some of my dignity. Josh clearly doesn't want me in any sort of compromising position with him so I'd better save him the embarrassment and provide him with as much space as possible on this board.
“Wait. Be careful. You shouldn’t be rushing to move.” Josh reaches his hand out, and grabs my elbow to steady me as I sit up.
“I'm fine,” I snap back and wish I hadn’t, but I'm still stinging from not being kissed. Why didn’t he just kiss me?
“Well, excuse me. Five minutes ago I saw you almost drown, so allow me to be a little concerned for you,” he answers, the irritation spilling from his mouth.
I look down at the board, talking myself into apologizing.
“What the hell are you doing this far out if you can’t swim?”
The apologies can wait.
“I can swim, thank you very much, I … I … ” I don’t really have an answer for him as to why I almost drowned in his opinion. I’d prefer 'molested to within an inch of my life'. I search for some inspiration for a reason, but when my eyes brush the water, I grip the edges of the board to stop myself from trembling. What if they’ve come back!
“Hey, everything's ok.” He reaches for me but stops short. “Did something grab you?” Josh reaches further towards me and moves my arms from where I’ve subconsciously wrapped them around myself. I look up at him, and he’s staring at the sides of my waist where four swollen red strips stand out on either side. The merman’s marks are prominent on my skin. I look down at my legs, and Josh follows I listen to him gasp as we both take in the marks covering every part of me from my thighs to my toes.
“Are you ok?”
Josh’s face is full of concern for me. His fingers are still reaching towards me, but he stops himself short of touching my skin. I look at him sitting in only his swim shorts. The last of the water streams down the channels of his stomach to the small trail of hair that ends above the band of his shorts. I’ve never wanted him more.
“Erm … ” I struggle to speak at the sight of him, “yeh, I don’t know happened, something… erm… tangled me up. That’s why I went under.” I swallow hard and force myself to look away from his body and to stop imagining what could be. I need to downplay these marks, so he doesn't start asking too many questions and to do that I need to be focused.
Staring at his abs isn’t helping my concentration.
“You didn’t see what grabbed you?” he asks sceptically. He doesn’t look as if he’s buying my story but why wouldn’t he unless he knew what was under the water and wants me to admit it to him, or maybe he sent them so he could come to rescue me.
“Must’ve been sea weed or something” I suggest. What if he’s one of the merfolk and he’s done some sort of deal with Poseidon, so he got given legs to come on land, Ariel style? Is that even possible? I’ll need to try my theory out on Allana later if I get a later.
I start to look anxiously around the water, sure I'm going to find their eyes somewhere in the depths. But now I'm not too sure who I'm more scared of, them or Josh?
“What are you looking for” he asks, breaking my thoughts. I don’t reply. I can’t give him a straight answer, so I think staying silent is the best option.
“Let’s get you back to the beach then”
I nod, relieved he isn’t going to hurt me, but a part of me wants to stay out here with him alone and find out some answers. I'm too on edge from the attack, though, and I know they could come back at any moment.
I suppose I owe him really.
“Thanks for, you know, saving me.”
Josh laughs at my afterthought. “You’re welcome,” he smiles, the most relaxed smile I’ve ever seen. His eyes shine happily, but I can see his concern for me behind them. Josh thinks I’m human, that means he actually thought I was drowning, and he actually cared enough to come in and save me.
My stomach starts to do flips. He must like me, and he was watching me if he saw me go under. I'm not reading too much into any of our brief meetings. There genuinely is something here and maybe I should be brave and somehow co-ordinate myself down to the end of his surfboard and thank him properly for what he’s just done.
I lean forward, but he interrupts me. “My job is to rescue people. I'm a weekend lifeguard here”
Oh.
My stomach stops flipping with a thud. My image of our happily-ever-after shatters! He wasn’t watching me or worrying about me. He was doing his job. The weight of the waves seems to crash over me crushing me with his blow. Maybe I should hop off his board and swim back; being kidnapped by merfolk couldn’t be as painful as Josh pretty much spelling out for me that he was only doing his job.
I look at either side of the board, checking for the eyes as I get ready to dive back in. Josh reaches forward and places his hands on the tops of my legs, no longer stopping short of touching me. Electricity shoots through every part of me from his touch. He looks down to where my eyes are still searching the water, trying to get me to look at him. I don’t want to meet his eyes. I'm too scared that simply looking at him will cause me to fall into his arms and do something he doesn’t want me to do.
“Doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy my work,” he whispers and leans further towards me.
The flames in my stomach return but not in a painful way. I turn myself to him, desperately hoping he means that. He’s leaning in to kiss me. I await his lips eagerly. Only a few seconds and we’ll be together properly. What I’ve been dreaming about will finally be a reality.
Instead of the sweet taste of Josh’s lips, I get a mouthful of salt. A stupid wave tipped the surf board, and now I'm back in the water. I panic; sure whatever knocked the board wasn’t actually a wave but the merman and his escorts. Josh grabs my arm and pulls me back onto the board. I lay still on my back as he leans over me. I can see my chest rising rapidly as I shiver from the thought they could have returned.
Josh moves my hair again from where the strands are stuck to my cheek. “Everything’s ok, I'm here now, and you’ll always be safe with me”
He strokes my cheek and his gentle touch stills my body. He holds himself perfectly above me as drops of water from his stomach splash against the ones pooled along mine.
I daringly place my hand on his chest. My heart ignites from the warmth of his skin. His heart rate begins to speed as his body lowers further towards me.
“I’m sorry.” He closes his eyes and sighs. My heart extinguishes.
“We really need to get back to the beach. I'm still on duty” As he looks at me apologetically, I can see the frustration in his eyes. I almost laugh in relief from how innocent his words are, I was convinced he had something more sinister to say.
Josh moves himself to the back of the board and pulls me up, placing one arm carefully around my waist, avoiding the welts as he does “Just lay down on your front and I’ll paddle us in,” he instructs me.
I carefully turn myself onto my front, not wanting to fall back into the water. I lay my head against my arms and welcome the caress of his body pressed lightly against mine as he takes us back to shore.
We glide back onto the beach on the back of a wave. Josh jumps off once we get into the shallows and holds the board steady while he reaches his hand out to help me off.
“Thanks and thanks again for the rescue,” I say. His hand stays wrapped around mine as he looks over at the lifeguard hut. I pull my fingers free of his, knowing I should allow him to get back to work. My body starts an internal war to get me to touch him again the minute our contact breaks. My head wins as I quickly head back to where I’ve left my towel.
As I head back to my stuff, I faintly hear him say “You’re welcome”. But his voice should be clear to me from any distance? I stand at my towel and watch as he jogs back to his base.
I experience the full force of what his touch does to me now I’m no longer experiencing it. With his touch, my body felt full of warm lava; now he’s gone, the lava has solidified and I can no longer relax. I can’t keep away from him Allana is going to need to figure out another way to pacify Eros!
Revelations
~7~
“Allana!” I slam the front door shut failing to control my strength as I do which causes the frame to splinter. Sorting that will need to go to the bottom of my to-do list.
“Allana!” I tear through the house, throwing every door open downstairs. “Allana!” Still no answer. “Allana!” I throw my bag and keys down on the couch in the lounge and walk through to the kitchen, straight to the cupboard, and grab a glass and start to fill it with water. My heart is pounding, and I need to do something mundane to try and calm myself. If I am in love with Josh then why; that’s not what I'm here for! Why did these freaky flames choose to find me? Maybe falling in love is my reward for dedicated service. I’ve helped find so many couples happiness, now Zeus, or maybe Eros, is rewarding me. That might be my dumbest, most optimistic, explanation so far but maybe that is the answer.
“It’s not”
The glass falls from my fingers as I spin round startled to find Amora leaning against the door frame to the kitchen. The glass smashes into a thousand pieces. The glass, like the door, looks like waiting, I need to deal with Amora first.
“It’s not what?” I question her. I’d always suspected some Gods can read each other’s thoughts, but I’d never asked to make sure. Now I don’t need to. She can hear me and that means Allana can too. Oh god depending on what Josh is he probably can. I don’t contain the room in my body for the embarrassment of Josh listening in on some of the thoughts I’ve had about the two of us. I’m using all of my strength to wait patiently for an answer from Amora. Really I want to get away from her as I know whatever comes out of her mouth is only going to be more lies.
Amora’s in no rush to answer me. She’s too busy admiring her nails. Her skin-tight dark jeans look practically sprayed on and the cream sheer top she’s wearing shows off her tanned stomach; she looks innocent as she stepped out of a country love song video. But looks can be deceiving.
When she’s done inspecting, she looks up at me with a calculating glint to her eyes. Nothing she could wear would mask the poison that lives in her heart and emanates so strongly through her eyes. Something’s different, though. She’s always irritated me, but in a sisterly kind of annoyance way; but now something about the way she’s staring at me sets me on edge as if she’s done being a constant irritation and she’s ready to go for total destruction.
I reach my hands behind me until they meet the cool granite of the work top. I grip onto the cool stone for support and feel it crumble beneath my fingers. Amora starts towards me. Her every movement is terrifyingly fluid as she slides towards the breakfast bar opposite me. As she rests her hands on the counter top, she looks at me and smirks.
“Josh isn’t some big reward for all your hard work, he’s, and I'm not playing some stupid trick on you. I haven’t manipulated your mind and made you love him. Didn’t you pay attention to anything when you were made? Manipulating the mind of a God of love isn’t possible. If the possibility existed, you wouldn’t be here. Zeus would have ordered Aphrodite to make Eros fall in love with Allana and then neither of us would be alive”
I forgot all about that, but I knew deep down these feelings I hold for Josh are real.
“Yes, they’re real the flames don’t go around marking people for fun! I’d get them out of your head though because Allana’s right if Eros finds out you’ll be slaving in the Underworld! Eros owns you, every part of you. You can’t go throwing yourself at him whether nature intends you to or not!”
She folds her arms, satisfied that she’s ruined my life enough for tonight.
“If natures wish for me is to be with him how am I meant to fight it!”
“How in Hades should I know, I'm not an oracle you know I can’t tell you anything apart from what I know”
“Why are you telling me anything at all, why not just let me mess my life up with Josh so you can run to Eros and get rid of me”
“Who would I torture then?”
I'm about to scream some colourful words at her when the front door opens and in walks Allana. Her cheerful smile disappears when she sees the scene before her, me looking infuriated, Amora looking smug and a smashed glass carpeting the floor. Allana races into the kitchen dropping her shopping bags onto the kitchen table between us.
“What’s going on?” She looks at Amora and then to me. I open my mouth to spill to her, but Amora beats me.
“I was only having a chat with our youngest Goddess here all about her infatuation with Joshua, and of course how their little bubble of love will lead to her most untimely demise. Wouldn’t you agree?” She lau
ghs and turns to leave the kitchen while I sink to the floor, her words weighing so heavy on my shoulders I can no longer stand.
I can’t console myself as I usually would by telling myself anything she said is a lie. Everything she said is what I’ve been trying to stop myself from thinking ever since I met Josh. My heart slows to a dull thud as my stomach fills with a sickly cold dread that it genuinely is all over.
Allana rushes to my side and cradles me in her arms. “This can’t be true” I cry at her hoping she will tell me there is some sort of hope.
Allana is unusually silent, which tells me more than all of her words ever could. She takes a second to compose herself and sits back next to me. After a deep breath, she begins. “I’m sorry” Allana looks down into my eyes and sees I'm as confused as ever. She brings her knees up to her chest and hugs them. Suddenly she looks young to me, and I don’t see her in that moment as my motherly figure, the one who encourages me, helps me and guides me. Now I can see she’s as lost as I am. She can no longer tell me the answers I’m looking for. The only ones left are the ones I’m avoiding.
“If Eros did find out about your infatuation with Josh, then no he’s not going to be the happiest God in the world but I highly doubt your relationship would lead to you being banished to the Underworld.” I gape as what she’s saying sinks in.
“Really! I thought the Underworld was pretty much a done deal if I did anything with Josh, but you don’t think he would send? I knew he didn't care enough about me to banish me!”
“Hey, hey, hey don’t get ahead of yourself, I'm not saying he wouldn’t – I'm just saying it’s unlikely”
Hot tears begin to spike my eyes as my options form in front of me: a life of misery in this world or a brief happiness that will possibly lead me to a world of darkness. But why would Zeus create a mortal that would lead to my end? Having me made would have been a complete waste of time. The fog of questions clears from my mind. Josh isn’t mortal; he’s from the Underworld that’s the only explanation for all of this.