The Mermaid Disease

6/Holding

 Kelsea felt the water move across her face and the drag created by her clothes. She felt the water pulses made by the merman's movements. She felt her lungs burn as the need to breathe increased with each passing second.

The human could not hold her breath any longer. Much to the merman's obvious displeasure, she squirmed around. He did not get the hint and kept swimming. Kelsea let go of his shoulders and pushed against him, but he adjusted his grip on her and continued to ignore her. She wanted to throttle the idiot. As her last-ditch effort, she reached up to touch his gills.

The slightest brush of her fingertips on his neck caused the male to let the girl go. Suddenly free, she had no idea what to do. Which way was up?

No sooner had she been freed than she found herself being manhandled by the merman once more. They broke the surface. Her lovely reunion with oxygen was soured by his voice. "Never put your grimy human fingers near my gills again or else you will find yourself lacking a few digits."

Kelsea risked looking into fish boy's gold eyes and couldn't help becoming enraged. "I would rather lose some fingers than lose my life, you moron," she seethed. "I don't have gills, in case you forgot."

Snarling, the merman flashed his fangs. "Yet!" And with that one word, the anger seemed to drain out of him. For the first time, Kelsea saw the merman looking just plain tired. He let out a huff and said, "Hold your breath, human. We still have a long way to go."

Her anger was not as quick to completely dissipate, but neither did she let it consume her. "Can't you swim with me above the surface? You know, like a dolphin?"

The rest of the trip to wherever this guy was taking her was no fancy dolphin ride, but it could have been worse. Her gilled captor mainly kept his lunged companion above water, but the two swam under the waves in short spurts when he spotted a boat.

The swim was long, boring, and silent. Kelsea was beginning to think she would die of boredom when the he said, "We approach our final destination." She immediately filled with relief.

She quickly took in their location. The coast wasn't visible from where they swam, but a spattering or rocky islets jutted out of the water nearby. She wondered if the patches of land were to be her new home as a hostage. With each kick of the merman's tail, Kelsea became more certain.

They swam up to a small island that was slightly larger than the others, and also less rocky. White sand lined the perimeter while dense plant growth filled in the land formation. The water not quite encircled by the land was so shallow Kelsea doubted it would reach her waist if she stood there.

The merman avoided the shallows and swam around to the other side of the island. To Kelsea's surprise, a small cuddy boat came into view. It somehow stood upright despite resting completely on the sand, away from even the high-tide water levels. The boat was nothing large or fancy and it looked like it was missing the engine and propeller, but if it had a little cabin like Kelsea suspected it did then she was already halfway in love with it.

The merman pushed Kelsea away from him when they neared the shore. Kelsea had not been expecting the shove, but quickly recovered when her feet scraped against sand. She waded closer to the islet to stand on higher ground.

"This is your temporary home," the merman's smooth voice cut through the girl's splashing. "The human vehicle will serve as your private quarters. I presume a tiny girl such as yourself will have sufficient space."

"How generous," Kelsea halfheartedly mumbled. Frankly, her face and arms were burnt to a crisp from being in the sun and taking shelter in the shaded cabin sounded like heaven. Plus, it would be nice to dry out her pruned body.