Deep as the Ocean || An OC x Ben Drowned story || Discontinued

Hidden Lagoon

When he awoke it was to the silence of the world. There was no more rain, no more howling wind and no more thunder clashes. He felt like he was still asleep though and he doesn't know what could have woken him up from his slumber. He blinks into the semi darkness of his attic room. Moonlight shines through the curtains, illuminating the dust floating in the air around him. He sits up slightly, straining his ears and eyes for any sounds that could have woke him up. The sea crashes in the background, softly. Something tingles along his senses. For a second his sleep deprived brain wonders if the moon is singing because the dust glowing in the moonlight seems to move with the sound. Silence. He listens intently, there. There it is again, a distant ring of music, like a bell from across the bay.

He pushes himself out of bed and stands bare foot on the hardwood. He blindly fumbled a shirt on. He needs to know what that sound is. The small part of his brain is screaming danger but he has this unbearable urge to know what is making the eerily beautiful sound. Before he even had his shirt fully on he's starting down the ladder. Reaching the first floor, he takes off down the hall, running on his tiptoes so as not to wake the rest of the house up. He doesn't bother to put shoes on as he opens the door and takes a step into the outside. Out here the air is cool, the after storm clouds are still hanging heavy in the sky. His feet hit the damp grass and then the muddy road as he runs towards the beach. He runs under the brilliant night sky. The distant crashing is going closer as he runs. Why is he out here-?

He stops at the beach as his feet sink into the sand. He stands on the edge looking out over the bay and wonders what he is doing. The sound was nothing, he was imagining it. Whatever it was is silent now. But.. without realizing it he starts walking, walking automatically to the pier. Cold ocean water washes against his ankles as he jogs towards the old wooden pier in the distance. As it grows closer he once again hears the sound. It is much closer and rises to notes so high his ears hurt from the clarity of them. The sounds ring through his head. So beautiful.
He climbs on the slick black rocks, hand over hand. Foot to rock, he scrambles up without even realizing what he is doing until.. He's standing on the edge of the dock looking out at the churning black water. He's on the pier. Awareness jerks him into reality.

The pier, the old woman, the myth, the.. the merman. The sound. He blinks rapidly. The water laps against the worn wood. He looks down at himself, messily dressed, his sleep pressed hair waving wildly in the ocean breeze. He looks at his bare, bloody feet and feels the cuts on the bottom of his feet. He had cut himself climbing up the rocks. His hands were jagged with paper thin scraps on the pads of his fingers. The cold air caused his injuries to sting.

Something moved below him and his eyes focused beyond his hands at the suddenly stirring water. The dark shiny surface bubbled and he took an involuntary step back as something moved out of the depths to the surface, spraying his bare feet with cold ocean water. A head of water slicked red hair breached the surface followed by the slim body of the merman Ben had been obsessing over since he discovered him. Bright red eyes shone in the darkness as the creature opened his mouth and an unearthly song tumbled out from between his lips. He tread water and sang up at Ben. The corners of his mouth upturned in a slight smile.

Ben gaped at him, entranced as the merman's haunting tune wove its way through the moonlight. It twined with the world, weaving around him as if it were a see-able force. His voice was crystal clear and reached to the soft high notes, just as well as the lowest gravelly ones. Ben wasn't really seeing anything anymore as he listened to the beautiful tune. Suddenly it reached a climax, a single note left ringing in his ears and across the bay.

The water lapped on the wood and the shore in the distance. The moon shone on the water brightly. Ben's hair was mused by the wind as he stared down at the glowing eyes of the enchanting mermaid in the water below him. The merman, Seth, was smiling as he watched Ben's reaction. Ben himself was awestruck, that was the song of a mermaid? Something people here feared? Its was so beautiful.. And maybe that was the point. He exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. "Wow."