Hydrophobia

Jack is Not Himself

                                                                          *Rose's POV*

Things were starting to get really weird and I was in the middle of it all.  While I had been packing I heard someone open the door to my house and I didn't think anything of it. It must have been Uncle John. I continued packing then heard footsteps on the stairs. I opened the door and found Jack halfway up the stairs. 

"Oh, Hey!" I said "I'll just be a minute. I have to finish packing. There are drinks in the 'fridge downstairs and we have snacks in the pantry."

He grinned and walked back down the stairs. I finished throwing stuff into my bag and walked downstairs to find that Jack hadn't moved from the bottom of the stairs.

"Ok... Let me call Uncle John then we can leave." I said and dialed his number in my cellphone.

"Hello?" He answered.

I told him it was me and that I was going to Jack's a little earlier then planed. As I talked Jack's face started doing something really weird. It was like it was drying out or something. It was really creeping me out. Uncle John asked when I was going to be home and I tried to tell him that if I wasn't home by 12 tomorrow he should call my cellphone but my phone died.

"Come on we need to get going."  Jack said in an almost hissing sound.

He touched my arm and I pulled away. He felt... scaly.

"Uh... Jack? Are you feeling alright... you look a little... dried up." I said.

"I'm fine." He insisted.

His voice was musical and a bit creepy. I looked at him completely freaked out.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked.

"I'm perfectly fine. Just come with me. We need to go." He said.

His voice was louder and more musical. It was hard not to listen to him. I wanted to go with him. I wanted to believe he was alright. But something about him was off. Different. I felt tired and warn out and I just wanted to give in. I followed Jack unwillingly out the back door and down to the steel fence. He opened it for me and I followed him across the sidewalk to the dolphin tank. He led me around the tank and to the part of the tank that joined the ocean. I shock myself out of my daze and backed up.

"What are we doing here?" I asked him. 

Instead of answering he shoved me forward. I tried to scream but he made a hissing noise and covered my mouth. I struggled but he shoved me into the water. What was wrong with Jack? What was he doing this to me for? I sank deeper and deeper into the water and struggled to keep myself from completely panicking.

"You will come with me." A voice hissed behind me.

Feeling came back into my legs... well my tail... or whatever it was and I tried to swim back to the surface. Something grabbed my arm and I let out a startled scream.

"Come with me." The voice hissed. 

I struggled until I could see the person holding me. He was hideous. His eyes were completely black and his nose had flattened  to look like nothing but slits in his skin. He hissed at me again and I caught a glimpse of his teeth. They were so sharp the looked like they had been filed into tips. He had copper colored hair and his skin was a paler shade that looked a bit gray. 

"What... What happened to Jack?" I stuttered.

The man made a hissing laugh and his face started to ripple. A few seconds later I was looking at the face of Jack. 

I gasped and the man gave another hissing laugh.

"What are you?" I asked angrily.

"I am a Siren. One of your kind." He sneered. "The only difference between us is that I can shift the look of my face and I have no disgusting human blood in me." 

I looked down at his tail and realized that it was like mine. Only his was silver.

"You have a black tail. That's a very rare and powerful color. Usually only our royalty has a black tail. Being what you are though I'm not at all sure how you could have this color. We killed off the entire royal family ourselves at least 17 years ago. Your friend Jackson can tell you this." He continued.

"How do you know Jack?" I asked.

"Every Siren and their pet knows of Jackson and Amanda Switser. They are some of the only humans who are a third Merperson and can dwell with the humans. Amanda keeps her legs when she is submerged in salt water but Jackson transforms as you do. His only problem is it is a painful transformation. It is punishment for him for his family's sin. He is the only male born of the family line so naturally he would be the most severely punished." He said.

This guy wasn't making any sense. How could he blame Jack for what had happened to his family? How could Jack be like me and not tell me? How could I be at the bottom of the ocean with this creepy man? How did he know who I was?

"What's wrong with his family?" I risked asking.

"He is a merman. One of the Sirens most hated enemy. His family also has gone against the long set rule that humans and Sea Dwellers should not be joined in marriage. Once was bad enough but twice is an unforgivable sin." The man hissed.

"What... Who are you?" I asked. 

"My name is Shark. I have this name because of the complexion I choose to keep." He said then seeing my expression he continued. "What? Did you think all of us looked this way? No. Most of us do because we have the gift of changing our face, but some are cursed with the face of a human. As you yourself are. The royal family was cursed with this fate and finally we were sick of it. That is why they are no longer living."

"Oh." I said lost for words.

All the time we had been talking he had been dragging me along after him. I looked around and was horrified to see that I was now surrounded by more people who looked like Shark.

What had I done to make them come after me?