Chapter 9

"Wake up, Chloe," I heard my mom call out. It felt like she was far away yet near enough to speak into my consciousness.

"You can't run away from your fate forever." Her voice uncannily transitioned into the voice of the man that had shoved me inside the lake. My eyes shot open and I jolted awake like someone just threw me off a cliff and I fell to my death.

Which wasn't entirely untrue considering the past turn of events.

I tried to sit up and blinked twice to get a clearer vision of my surroundings. That's when I felt the weight pushing down on my abdomen. I looked at the lump of black silk hair spread across the red comforter that I was lying under.

I startled back and hit my head on the headboard of the bed. Groaning in pain, I looked back at the head of the person that was resting on top of me, he shuffled slightly and turned his head towards me.

Bright emerald eyes peeked at me from under the raven black hair that veiled his features. Dark circles adorned them but despite the exhaustion, the look in them told me he was wide awake.

"Oeric," I mumbled, blankly, finding it hard to look away from the eyes that left me enchanted in their allure.

He smiled and closed his eyes. "You are finally awake."

As soon as he had closed his eyes, I felt the spell break and regained enough of my senses to be wary of where I was. I looked around for the first time and saw that I was in a bedroom.

The floor was paneled with dark wood and the walls were painted red to give the room some perspective on color, but to be honest, it wasn't working. I guess to make up for the depressing color scheme, the room was furnished lavishly.

I was lying on a large canopy bed with it's embroidered curtains pulled to the side by a delicate string tied in a bow. A vanity sat at the other side of the room and to the left were two large windows with a glass door that opened out to the balcony. The window panes were covered with moss and so was everything else but otherwise the room was clean. I felt like I sat in a room made for royalty.

It had a cold and dreary feel to it considering everything inside -including myself- was immersed in water. But strangely, I wasn't bothered by it. And that fact alone, scared me. Everything that had lead to my being here in this situation was nothing but traumatising.

Who tried to kill me? Where was I? And how was I still breathing? I felt these questions eating away my sanity as I tried to come up with answers. There was nothing that could could explain it and honestly I wasn't looking for an explanation. I just wanted to go back home and feel normal again. Then I could just pretend none of this ever happened.

"So it wasn't a dream," I finally spoke, struggling to keep composure. I saw his eyes move under his lids but he remained silent. Was he asleep?

Seeing that all I wanted was to preserve my reality and escape to my safe haven above, so as gently as I could, I eased out from under him. He showed no movement and I grew more confident. With one final tug, I pulled myself free from his weight. My bare feet dropped to the wood and with some effort I got myself to stand.

Do I just leave?

I looked back at him, resting his head on the bed where my stomach should have been and made my decision.

As I took a step away from the bed and towards the door, his hand suddenly shot out and grasped my wrist. My eyes snapped back to him and I saw him looking at me with a dark somber look on his face.

He yanked me back and I fell on the mattress with a yelp. I looked at him wide-eyed as he caged me in with both arms at my sides and looked down at me. The blood left my face when I saw his expression. He was angry.

"I thought, I could finally relax now that I knew you were alright. But you were going to run away. Just like that," his voice was low and exhausted but the words were laced with disappointment. I wasn't sure what it was that I did wrong yet the way he spoke made me feel guilty.

I swallowed the lump gathering in my throat and glared at him. "Do you mind getting off of me?"

"Yes," he answered, completely disregarding my discomfort.

"What did you say?" I sputtered, shocked.

He leaned in closer and whispered into my ears, "I said, I'm not going anywhere. And neither are you." I looked at his face from the corner of my eyes and his expression made my blood run cold.

He wasn't himself.

His eyes were empty and he looked at me like I was just an object of interest. His breath on the nape of my neck made shivers run down my spine. He dipped his head slightly and I felt his lips brush my skin.

I jolted at the sensation.

"What's wrong with you?" I gasped and tried to push him away. "Were you always like this?"

He didn't budge but pulled away enough to look at my face.

"Please don't make me feel afraid any more than I already am." I felt my eyes well up with emotions that I had tried to contain. I desperately tried to blink them away before I realised there was no point. I was surrounded by water. I could cry all I want and no one would see my tears.

His expression softened and with a tired sigh he finally pulled away.

"I'm sorry," he said and looked away. "I forgot for a second that you are only a human. It must have been very confusing for you. Very frightening, this realm you suddenly fell into."

"Then let me leave," I said, trying hard not to let his words bother me. Did this place exist as an entirely different world from the surface? That prospect alone rose goosebumps on my skin.

He frowned and looked at me like that was the most ridiculous thing I could've said. "I can't let you do that."

I looked at him desperately, trying hard to keep my voice from cracking. "Why?"

"Because it's dangerous. If you hadn't noticed already, someone out there tried to kill you."

"Yes, someone did try to kill me," I agreed. "But what does that have anything to do with you?"

"It has everything to do with me, Chloe. Your entire existence is the sole reason I am still sane."

I stared at him dumbfounded.

Great, just perfect Chloe, I thought to myself. Out of all the people in this world, I had to get it on with a crazy, obsessive merman. As if my life wasn't f^^ked up enough already.

"Just my luck," I mumbled under my breath in frustration.

Softly, he spoke to me in his warm baritone voice, "I know this is probably too much for you. It might be hard for you to trust me and you might not understand the reason for why I'm being like this but believe one thing, Chloe, I will never let any harm come to you. You have nothing to be afraid of when you're with me. That much has been true for a long time."

I snapped my eyes to his and affixed him with a cold glare. "You're right," I said, feeling my composure slipping away with each word that escaped through my lips.

"I don't trust you. How could I trust you? You're a freaking mer— fish for God's sake!" I made an exaggerated gesture at his shimmery black tail that, so far, I had marvellously ignored even existed. But no longer could I pretend that my situation was something I could dispel if I just stopped believing.

"I know how you feel but—" he began but I cut him off when I felt something inside of me break and all the despair I had bottled up for so long came pouring out through the cracks.

"You know how I feel?" I scoffed. "I feel like the reality itself, never existed. Do you know how devastating that is? Utter hopelessness, that's what I'm feeling. I never wanted to go through this again. Thanks for reminding me what despair feels like." I swallowed a sob, and turned my face away.

I was breaking down and I didn't want him to see me like this. The last thing I wanted was to be pitied. I had seen that look on so many faces that I was sick and tired of it.

I got off the bed and said, "Do you think I'm just going to sit here and listen to you prattle on about protecting me from all the dangers of the world? Frankly, what right do you even have to be lecturing me about my best interests? Don't try to drag me inside your fantasies. I belong up there on the surface and you can't do anything to stop me from leaving."

I began to leave for the balcony and heard him sigh before feeling the rush of water around me until Oeric stood between me and the door. "Nothing I say will get through to you, will it?" he said.

I just stared at him not wanting to start another useless argument. I just wanted to get out of here. The wrongness of this place was suffocating me. I tried to get past him but he just held my arm in his fist and stopped me.

"Let me go, Oeric," I seethed. "For the sake of the brief friendship we shared, don't get in my way."

He looked at me for the longest of moments without saying a word then let me go, gliding to the side. I gave him a doubtful look before closing the distance between me and the door and grabbed the handle, pushing it open to something beyond astonishing. I was standing on the balcony of a building that overlaid an entire mythical civilisation.

Bewildered, I staggered to the railing and looked down at the odd miracles that this world beheld. I saw buildings, fallen moss-covered buildings that were ancient but full of life as far as sight availed.

The uneven terrain of this place made the streets and alleys look disorganized and chaotic. On a closer look I saw they were bustling with creatures that looked like they had popped straight out of some book that was a mix between a horror flick and a fairytale.

In short, I was looking down at a dark dystopian world that only existed in fantasies and the inhabitants of this world looked like the aftermath of some nuclear attack. I saw deformed, mutated merpeople soaring through the waters along with schools of fishes that varied in shapes and sizes.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

There were a group of dark caverns behind the tall archaic sky-scrappers to my far left. They looked unexplored and uninhabited and there was something about them that gave me a bad feeling. A chill ran down my spine and I shook it off deciding to turn around and observe where I was.

I slowly span in a circle and saw that I was standing on one of the balconies of a large building that closely resembled a castle. The castle was a concave structure that enclosed a large garden at its core that was immediately below me. It was decorated by coral reefs in a labyrinthine like sophistication.

The castle was at some height from the rest of the underwater city. Just beyond the rusted metal gates sat a giant chasm that separated the castle from the city and the only way across was either by swimming over it or through the long roofed bridge of stairs that descended down to civilisation. It was beautiful yet intimidating. Just like the man that stood behind me.

"Are you afraid?" he asked.

After some hesitation, I answered, "I only see a world full of monsters. Monsters like you. So yes Oeric, I am afraid."

But despite what I said, I was more fascinated by it than scared of it.

I looked up to see the moonlight casting shadows of colourful fishes that roamed overhead. It was just there still in my reach, the surface of the water that separated me from my home. All I had to do was reach my arms above me and pull myself up.

I looked back to see Oeric standing there, looking at me curiously but made no move to get in my way.

I took a few steps back and readied myself to take a chance at my freedom. There was a small part of me that hesitated, fearing the outcome that could be just as unexpected as my predicament.

Maybe the gravity worked differently here. What if I fall? Shaking my head to dispel the pessimistic thoughts, I mustered all my courage and sprinted for the railing and then I leapt off.

The water was heavy or more like it got heavier the more I climbed the tides towards the surface. My arms strained with the effort to keep myself afloat.

Almost there..!

With one last stroke, I reached up towards the surface but what greeted me was the same disappointment I had faced the last time I had tried to escape the lake.

I was trapped.

The water caged me in like a prisoner and no matter how many times I tried to break past the barrier, it kept pushing me back in. The moon shone above, hauntingly as I finally gave in and stopped trying. The water took my surrender as an opportunity and hurled me back to the fate that I couldn't seem to run away from.

I couldn't bare to see my own freedom slipping right through my fingers so I closed my eyes and sank down endlessly. But before I knew it, I felt cold arms under my legs and shoulders, gently lifing me and breaking my fall.

I opened my eyes and saw Oeric holding me against his bare chest, his face alight with the gentle moonlight seeping in from above. I could see him vividly from this angle, all his shapely features and the slightest twitch of muscles were as clear as daylight to me.

But despite it all, I couldn't tell what he was thinking. He had the best poker face I had witnessed by far. Mine couldn't even compare.

What would he make of my pathetic attempt at escape? Was he secretly enjoying seeing me confused and hopeless? Or was he disappointed, like he was before when I had tried to leave? Or maybe he was just plain annoyed.

What are you thinking? I wondered as I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes.

I couldn't tell. It was like looking at a blank space; there was absolutely nothing shown on his face. And that vacancy frightened me more than anything. More than the fact that I couldn't escape this wretched place even if my life depended on it.

I tore my eyes away from him and looked back up once more. The moon was growing farther and farther away from us as we floated towards the bottom. I swallowed hard, the lump in my throat and cursed myself for opening my eyes. I wasn't scared that I couldn't leave this place anymore. I was just sorry.

My aunt, my uncle, my father and everyone else, I felt like I was leaving them all behind and entering a different side that they probably couldn't even fathom existed.

How long would they search for me? How long till they give up? Would they even notice my absence after a few days without me?

I breathed out. I couldn't even see the air I breathed for there was none. It was just water. My breaths grew rapid as I felt the threads balancing my rationality snap. Nothing made sense anymore.

We slowly descended down and landed softly on the ground in his garden. He let me down gently and once I was on my feet he took a step back and looked at my face. "I'm sorry."

I looked back at him, evenly. "For what?"

"For everything," he said and let his eyes fall to the ground.

I didn't say anything, just looked at him with the same blank stare.

"I can taste them." He lifted his eyes to meet mine and said, "Your tears."

I blinked back in response. I didn't realise it until he had said it but I was crying. There was moisture seeping out of my eyes like a broken tap. I was crying. And for the first time in my life, I didn't try to stop my tears.

I was underwater standing next to a merman and there was no escaping him. This was my reality now.

So I cried like there was no tomorrow.

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