Soul Ties

Chapter 2: Seren

Seren, I think as I swim as hard as my tail will push me through the water. With the meeting being days away, I know I have to get as much time with her as I can. Who knows when the next time I'll be able to see her will be. Let alone the next time I will be able to hold her.

The thought of Seren being out of my life for good pushes my tail harder through the water. My heart is throbbing heavily in my chest, but I force myself to rush.

Seren's cave comes into view and it's like she was expecting me because I can see her floating back and forth in front of the opening. My heart skips at the sight of her. The way her legs softly kick and her tail gently sways off behind her, barely disturbing the water making my heart swell.

Sometimes I wonder where she learned to be this graceful. All the others I have seen never swim this way or move the way Seren does, yet she had to have learned it from somewhere.

I keep myself close to the ocean floor so no one will be able to see me. The light at the bottom is scarce, keeping my skin the coolest it will be and the most comfortable.

My gaze is still fixed on Seren who now has her eyes closed as she spins slow circles. Her face looks so calm and relaxed I almost don't want to disturb her, but I continue to inch closer.

Seren, I call out to her with my thoughts and her eyes fly open, body stiff with surprise but easily relaxing when she finds me. The smile that stretches across her face is contagious, making me want to go up to her and wrap myself around her.

But I know I can't, not here in the open. I tilt my head to the left, signaling her where to go and she nods while searching the water for others before swimming in that direction.

The water is usually quiet around this time in the day, but we know better than to just assume no one could be around watching us. I move first, keeping my movements small as I swim nearer to the floor. Seren does the same but swims closer to the surface.

Although we are swimming in the same direction, we're too far apart for anyone to notice us together. No one would even catch a glimpse of me this close to the ground because rarely anyone looks down here.

She breaks through the surface first, body completely out of the water but I keep swimming, making sure if we were seen that I am the one followed. I stop and scan the area. No one is around even though my heart is hammering in my chest. It's like I can feel someone in the shadows watching but that would be impossible since I am the only one close enough to the bottom.

Still, my instincts are on high alert. Taking a deep breath I push my feet off from the floor and shoot myself to the surface of the water.

The sunlight stings almost instantly once I break through, making me clench my fists to fight back the pain. A few seconds and it'll be over, I tell myself but it does nothing to calm me. I look up at the sun knowing it'll hurt my eyes more than they already do, but I want to feel in control. I don't want the sun to have this hold on me like it does. Immediately, I look away and curse the sun in my head.

The pain now dying down, I swim towards the small island where Seren is sure to be waiting for me. Excitement takes over when I reach the shore. Running through the trees I yell her name, eyes scanning the empty land.

I turn in circles looking for her but she's nowhere in sight. There's no way she didn't make it here before me, she always does. My stomach flips and a panic begins to set itself deep in my gut. What if we were being followed like I thought earlier? What if someone found out about us and took Seren while she was waiting on the island for me? What if-

A loud shriek echoes from above me and someone falls heavily on my back. Shocked, I am thrown to the ground as the body puts it's full weight on my back causing the air to be completely knocked out of me. My head is spinning as I try to push myself off the ground, but the weight is too heavy.