Winter's Mermaid (Mermaid Series Book 1)

by Dan Glover

  "I don't care about that."

  "So who is this other girl that you like?"

  Maon dove into the Lake without answering his mother. He didn’t really like any other girl. He was desperately in love with Sileas. Every time he was in her presence he felt as if he had to do something impressive. Still, she acted as if she wasn’t at all sure that he was even alive.

  The waters of the Lake were so crystal clear that he could see deep into the depths where Sileas was twirling around as their kind often did. Maon had yet to develop the knack without becoming dizzy and disorientated and having to surface in a hurry.

  Sileas seemed to catch sight of him watching her. He couldn't be sure but she seemed to beckon to him so he dove deeper into the Lake encountering layer after layer of progressively colder water. The sight of Sileas put the discomfort out of his mind.

  When he reached her Sileas twirled around him close enough that he could feel the warmth emanating from her body. Her long black hair followed her around and when she stopped it obscured her face momentarily. Suddenly she was in his arms kissing him and just as quickly she was gone, shooting up to the surface leaving a trail of bubbles behind her.

  He followed. Sileas swam into one of the chasms that dotted the rocky shoreline surfacing in an underground grotto with sparkling stalactites and stalagmites shimmering in the sunshine reflecting from the underwater cave leading to the Lake. She pulled herself out of the water shaking her head the way she did.

  "This is my secret place, my lovely Maon. I come here when I want to be alone."

  They sat side by side on a sandy surface while the water curled around their feet. Maon was certain he had never seen a more beautiful sight although he was unsure if the cave rivaled Sileas in her splendor.

  "Do you wish to be alone, sweet Sileas?"

  "You're so silly, my darling Maon... if I want to be alone why would I bring you here? You are the first person I've shared this place with. I want you. Do you want me too?"

  Maon answered with a kiss. He felt like a fumbling schoolboy until Sileas put her hands behind his head to draw him closer.

  Though it didn’t occur to him at the time, later he realized he felt at home there in a way he had never felt before. The purpose of his life heretofore obscured behind a veil of longing for the outside world became as crystal clear as the waters of Lake Baikal reflected in his lover's eyes.

  "Yes, my wondrous Sileas... I want you too."

  Maon smiled as he melted into the arms of his lover as they surrendered to each other's desires.

  Chapter 59—Love

  It seemed as if she'd been alone for centuries.

  The village of Kurgan was a short walk from the castle. They all knew her there and though she was a beautiful woman the men shunned her as if they suspected she held the power of life and death over them.

  Through all the years upon land Lauren had never grown fond of the sunshine. Her pale skin burned quickly so she carried an umbrella as they sauntered along the sandy path that led down to the ocean and then meandered through the dunes until ending on a rise just above Kurgan.

  "You two should put your tops back on, lest the boys of the village drown in their own drool."

  She hated telling them to cover up yet she knew how the boys of the village could be, especially in the presence of half naked women who looked as good as her lovers.

  Natalia and Lily both had amorous relationships with the day star. They often sat out on the veranda wearing nary a stitch though Lily too must watch her skin did not burn. Natalia blossomed into a stunningly voluptuous beauty during their weeks along the shores of Lake Baikal. The effects of her twin mermaid lovers were obvious... it was difficult for Lauren to recall the skinny girl whom she met not much more than a month ago.

  Lauren was a thrall to both her lovers... Lily was a golden treasure which she never tired of polishing... and Natalia... unlike her much taller lover, Natalia was more Lauren's height and portions, and in fact, many villagers mistook them for being sisters although Natalia's copper red hair contrasted with Lauren's dark locks. They both wore their hair long allowing it to cascade over their shoulders as their crystal blue eyes cut like diamonds.

  Lauren had spotted a group of young boys moving up the path from the village and she knew Natalia was still a bit bashful showing off around others. She watched as her lover pulled her shirt over her head and jiggled into it. She had a sudden desire to take both her and Lily into a nearby sand dune and ravage them both with kisses and caresses.

  "Later."

  "Did you say something, my love?"

  "Yes, I said later, darling Natalia. You have both gone and gotten me worked up, and you must pay for it later."

  Natalia jutted out her lower lip pouting like a child might who had been caught doing something naughty, her overly-long red bangs hiding her eyes as she lowered her head slightly. She made the same gesture on many occasions and it never failed to endure the girl to Lauren's heart.

  "My word but I love you both so much. I think I shall perish from the earth should I lose either of you."

  "Why do you talk like that, my love? We'll be together until the sky itself splits in two and even then we will hold onto one another. This I know."

  "I keep having the same dream, darling Lily. We are the three of us standing upon separate islands waving to one another. Only these are not islands but the backs of gigantic tortoises, leathery and stocky. I leap into the waters to swim to you my Lily thinking we will both make our way to sweet Natalia but the dark and treacherous current is too strong. It bears me away to the icy lands where my hearts freeze and my lungs cease, and yet still my eyes see.

  "I fear what is coming for us. I believe it echoes in my dreams. I lost you once. I do not think I can stand doing so again. I would rather my bones be piled in the ossuaries of Lake Baikal or in the dusty chambers deep beneath Orchardton Hall than to live a life alone in this world of hatred."

  "We will face this danger together, lovely Lauren. I'm so sorry you are troubled by dreams. You must wake us up when this happens; is that right, lovely Natalia?"

  "Oh yes! Wake us! Together we'll chase away your vicious dreams and replace them with those of tenderness and love."

  The village slept in the glare of the midday star. A slight breeze rocked the sign hanging over the general store where they purchased food and drink. The chirping sound of the sign reminded Lauren of springtime sparrows returning to her beloved homeland so many thousands of kilometers away. A wave of nostalgia washed over her as they stopped on a sidewalk in front of a clothing shop to browse the many-colored silken scarves waving in the breeze.

  "There is a man staring at us."

  Lauren was instantly alert as Natalia spoke in a low whisper. Though Lauren wanted to look up to see this man she sensed it might be better to remain nonchalant, at least for now. Lily mimicked her movements as well... she was perhaps picking up on the vibes Lauren's body sent out even now, hundreds of years removed from the Lake... their old way of communicating deep under the waves.

  "Where is he, my darling Natalia?"

  "Across the street sitting at a table outside the café... he is reading a newspaper but he isn’t really looking at it... he is staring at the three of us. I noticed him right off. He's very dapper but he gives me the creeps."

  "Perhaps he is overwhelmed by your beauty, my darling."

  "Perhaps, although I do not think I am the one who he is concerned with. It is sweet Lily who he watches so intently."

  "Is he alone?"

  "So far as I can tell, yes... do you think he is one of your pursuers, precious Lily?"

  "Let us wander around as if we do not notice him. I need to get a better view so I will know."

  Still fingering the scarves as if trying to decide which ones to buy she watched Lily drift to a card table filled with sea shells. Lauren stole a quick glance at the café where she saw the man whom Natalia described. He was sitting down with a newspaper in both his hands b
ut his eyes darted over the top following her lover as she sashayed about the shop examining each article for sale as if it might be a rare find.

  The man was balding, an older sort of gent who reminded Lauren of the English manservant her husband once employed. She knew it couldn't be the same gentleman as that happened so long ago that he would be elderly if he yet lived.

  Natalia was right... this fellow was creepy... his eyes were cold and filled with purpose. Lauren decided she was not going to let anyone take Lily sans a fight. Without a word to her lovers she walked across the street to the café where she ordered a half and half before sitting down at a table right next to the dapper balding man who hadn’t noticed her arrival. His eyes were still trained upon Lily.

  "Excuse me, sir... are you from this area?"

  A calm and collected sort, he seemed perturbed at being disturbed until he put down his newspaper to look into Lauren's face. She knew she effected certain changes in human beings just by being near to them and this man was no different.

  "Um, yes, or no, not really... I'm from Scotland but not from this area. May I help you, miss?"

  "I'm afraid I am a bit lost. I took the bus from Edenborough and now I suspect that I got off at the wrong stop."

  "Just where are you attempting to get to, young lady?"

  "A friend of mine lives at an estate somewhere along the coast. I planned on visiting her, surprising her as it is. So I cannot call her to ask the way. She lives in a castle, you see. It's called Orchardton Hall. Have you heard of it?"

  The blood drained from the man's face as his eyes widened in surprise. It was clear to Lauren that not only had he heard the name but it was his destination as well.

  "Why, why no... I... I can't say that I have ever heard the... the name before. You... you say it is around here?"

  His mannerisms had changed from one of bravado to a childishly stammering sort of speech that betrayed his nervousness.

  "I think so... but of course I may be mistaken. Oh, how I wish my late husband was still alive. He was such a great man about helping me when I was in distress. I used to call him my knight in satin armor. You remind me of him a great deal, you know. That's why I approached you. But I can tell I'm only being a bothersome woman. I'm so sorry. I'll go now."

  "Wait just a moment, young lady... maybe we can find this place... what did you call it?"

  "Orchardton Hall."

  "Yes, that's it. Perhaps if we put our heads together as it were we might discover the location of this Orchardton Hall together."

  "You would do that for me?"

  "I will, yes... first I must make a phone call, however. Please excuse me?"

  "Before you make your call, I must tell you something of importance. Come with me please. We should have a bit of privacy for this discussion."

  The man stood and followed Lauren without a word. In his haste he stumbled over a rogue chair right into Lauren's arms. She seized the moment to kiss him full on the mouth, her tongue finding his in a darting frenzy. He tasted of tobacco and coffee as he returned her amorous advances before pulling away, a look of consternation running across his brow.

  "I say... what did you just do to me?"

  Lauren heard the words over her shoulder as she walked away from him without looking back. Seeing her lovers staring at her from across the street she desired more than anything to go to them but instead she snaked her way through one narrow alley after another until she was sure she was not being pursued.

  Wending her way down to the ocean she took a barely-discernable path back to Orchardton Hall where she called Lily's cell to let them know what had just happened. In a few moments they joined her at the castle wall where she awaited.

  "He is here for you, my special Lily."

  "How do you know that? Did he tell you?"

  "He didn’t have to tell me. I saw it in his face when I asked him about Orchardton Hall. I am sure he isn’t alone either. We must be ready for others to appear."

  "You kissed him. I saw you."

  "I did. I am determined not letting anyone take you from us, my lovely Lily. If they come looking for you they'd better be prepared to die for it."

  "Thank you, lovely Lauren... have I ever told you how much I love you?"

  "You never tell me enough, my sweet Lily. You never tell me enough."

  "What will happen to him?"

  "He will sicken quickly and die, my darling Natalia, as all human beings do once we have engaged them and then leave them alone."

  "Not me."

  "Absolutely not you, my sweetest Natalia... we'll never let that happen. That's why we must fight to stay together. If we're ever separated, dreadful things will happen to all of us. We must remember that if we're ever cornered, we shall kill with kindness. They never suspect such a thing. Human beings are so prone to violence they expect hate from others, but they never suspect kindness."

  Chapter 60—Endings

  Though he told himself how he could have any woman he desired Kirk was bored.

  Running races tired him. He tried painting portraits but he could never seem to get the lines right and his sense of color was off. He attempted to learn how to make pottery but the wheel spun out of control ruining all his careful work. For a time he tried weaving his own cloth but he soon gave up when it wore out more quickly than the clothes still found in deserted stores.

  He often walked alone into the vanishing village of Kurgan that was once his home. Though wandering so far away from the Ladies caused him to feel ill he learned not to stay too long to mitigate the symptoms of the disease he was apparently saddled with for life.

  He wondered if it might have been better to die with the rest of the village on that day so long ago. He never asked to be saved. He was ill when he woke that morning, barely able to rise. When he discovered his mother and father were dead he stumbled into the street to find help but no one paid him any attention. He saw many other people sick too and more, there were bodies laying about where they fell.

  He saw Lucich Drummond staggering into the drug store. He knew the boy from the few times he'd been to school. The thought entered his mind that there might be medicine available in the pharmacy so he followed the kid. But the shelves were bare of medicine and the back wall was on fire.

  Kirk collapsed. His strength gone he gave himself over to the fast approaching flames when all of a sudden Drummond was helping him to his feet and out the door to fresh air. It seemed to Kirk all that has happened since went by in a flash and here he was back where he started all those years ago.

  The wooden framed houses had crumbled to dust as they sank onto their foundations though a few shells of the brick buildings still stood. Over the years he broke out all the window glass by throwing stones as he passed by his old haunts pretending it was his father's leering face that he aimed for; his dad whose constant badgering he could still hear on quiet nights.

  Kirk tried to remember how old he was but the years all ran together. He was no longer even sure of the century. The trips to Lake Baikal came and went seemingly with ever greater frequency and each time he hated it more. There was a time when he envied Drummond and his easy way of living... now he envied his easy way of dying.

  Kirk found himself in a quandary: he didn’t want to live but he was afraid to die. He remembered how his mother made him go to grandmother's funeral, the way the old lady's cheek felt like icy clay when he kissed her goodbye, the odor of her dead body permeating the air and how the smell stuck in his nostrils long after she was lowered into the embrace of the cool damp earth.

  In the village birds made nests on streetlamps forever dimmed and rats scurried in front of him as he walked down dirt paths that were once concrete. Weeds grew ever more thickly as time went by and he knew it would not be long before the village disappeared back to the lush forest from which it sprang.

  The sun was going down. He hated the thought of going back to the castle just as he recalled the dread of going home as a boy to face the wrath of
his pretense of a father. Ever since the failed coup with Marilyn the People all looked at him with distrust and pity. Yet he was the last real man on earth: who was he to be pitied?

  He thought back to his brief time as king. He had such plans for the future: millions of adoring subjects worshiping him and his queen as true immortals akin to gods. Marilyn promised him that once the Ladies were gone the disease they carried would fade away too and the People would once again flourish. Boys would be born and together he and his queen would populate the entire world with their offspring.

  Movement in the corner of his left eye startled him out of his reverie. A pack of wild dogs emerged one after the other from the dense forest crowding close to what used to be the village of Kurgan. They howled like wolves and with ribs showing they looked famished.

  As a boy he was warned to watch for such dogs as they might well be infected with rabies, especially during late summer days known as dog days. His father often told tales of his older brother being bitten by a rabid dog never failing to embellish such stories with all the gory details of the boy's descent into madness and death.

  The dogs noticed him.

  Kirk looked about for a safe place but the dilapidated buildings offered scant protection from the bounding hounds heading his way in a hurry. He climbed to the top of a rickety shack which swayed precariously under his weight. He sat down holding as still as possible while willing the walls to stay upright.

  The dogs leaped into the air in a futile attempt at reaching him... failing at that the pack soon settled down to a game of watching and waiting. They seemed to sense he couldn't remain out of their reach for long.

  Kirk thought of the day he pushed Ginger into the dungeon, the terrified look in her eyes as she flailed about trying to regain her balance, the sickening sound of bones snapping as she tumbled down those awful stone stairs. He genuinely liked Ginger. What he did he had done out of a sense of obedience to Marilyn, not out of hatred. He wished for the unconsciousness that must have overcome Ginger there in the black.