Chapter 7- Meet Me At Sunset
Calvin looked so serious in front of me, scared even. I couldn’t shake the feeling that he really thought his family was after me. The picture in my hand was obviously of me, the markings on my arms a dead giveaway.
Suddenly, I couldn’t help but wonder if he had some other motive for coming here. “Why are you doing this?”
“What?”
“Being here ... helping me. Showing me this,” I said, holding out the photo. “All of it.”
“You didn’t have to save me last night either. But you did. I told you that I owe you one. And my family ... they mean well ... but sometimes they’re just wrong. It’s not right what they’re doing.”
I turned my back on him, squeezing the photo in my hand. My head felt like it was going to burst. I needed space, from everything. It was all too much, between the Sireneans and now learning that some family was after me. I needed time, to take it all in, figure out what I was going to do.
“Kova—“ Calvin interrupted my racing thoughts.
I spun back around.
“You don’t actually believe this stuff do you? The shipwreck and the curse...”
I dropped my eyes. Where could I even begin with that question? I didn’t know what to believe, what I was, or why some treasure-mad family was after me. I didn’t even really know about the shipwreck or curse. Everyone else seemed to know ten times more about me than I did. The questions tugged at my mind.
Glancing up at Calvin, he seemed so patient just watching me. I wanted to be able to trust him. He knew things ... he was involved in this. Whatever this was. I’d never had any one before, besides Gramps, who had even the slightest clue about what I might be. But Calvin was an Aramour. I wasn’t supposed to trust him. Even though everything in me was screaming to confide in him.
I shrugged my shoulders and met his gaze. “I don’t know what to believe.”
Calvin took a deep breath. “That’s not exactly what I wanted to hear.”
“You want me to tell you it’s not real? My Gramps hates you for some reason and your family is after me! It seems pretty real to me.”
Silence fell between us. It was the first time I admitted that the girl in the photo was actually me.
“But if its real that means you...” his voice faded off as he stared at me, looking scared.
“What? What’s it mean?” My voice came out over eager, and I stopped myself.
“You don’t know?” He said, cocking his head to the side. “How can you not know?”
“No one will tell me,” I said softly. “It’s all a secret or something.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. You mean your grandpa hasn’t told you anything?”
I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head. “He can be kinda head strong.”
Calvin gulped, staring off towards the ocean, like he was thinking something over. “Well ... I can at least tell you what I know. But not now. My dad is expecting me back. And I definitely don’t want him to come searching for me.”
“Yeah, I understand.”
“Meet me tonight at sunset? Where we had the bonfire?”
I nodded my head. “Sure. I’ll see you then.”
“And Kova ... Us meeting tonight has to be a secret. It could be dangerous if the wrong people find out.”
“What’s that mean?”
“I’ll explain what I know tonight.”
Calvin walked off, and I couldn't help hoping that he would lead me just a little bit closer to figuring out just who or what I am.
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Submerged: The Mer Chronicles
FantasyI am a predator. Humans are the prey. I feed off their fear as they drown in my arms. But life didn't used to be this way. I wasn't always half-human and half-fish. I used to be one of them. A human. This is my story.
