Mermaids

Nothing Is Ever as it Seems

DAYS PASSED CARELESSLY, WEEKS, MAYBE. I lost track. Day after day a served fried squid and sea food. Sometimes I even made it, turning my hands purple.

Although I enjoyed working, the ocean called to me every day, singing its tauntingly near song to me. I learned to speak some Japanese, although would have loved to have learned it underwater.

"What's the special for today?" I asked Yumi, with my trusty whiteboard marker. I'd also learned to write --sloppily, but nonetheless correct-- kanji.

"Raw fish sushi." She said, and I winced. Yumi noticed.

"Touchy subject?" She joked, and I agreed reluctantly.

I wrote the words on the board, and she turned the open sign.

We chatted in the kitchen for a while when we heard the door ring. She stood up and went to take the person's order.

She could do it by herself, so I waited, staring at the linoleum floors.

"Imouto-chan!" Yumi cried, rushing out to hug her sister. I stood up and looked at the embracing pair, staring right in the eyes of the sister.

A chill went down my spine as I recognized her uniquely slanted eyes.

Minako.

How dare she show her face? She stole everything from me, everything I cared about.

She gave me an innocent little smirk, and I glared. But, now was my chance. I might be able to take my magic back. Somehow.

But if she had it, she was still dangerous.

I could plan a sneak attack. That probably wouldn't work, I realized. With my magic, she'd be super fast. She could turn me into a squid or something, then a chef would see me and cook me.

I'd be helpless. But she had already seen me, and I knew I was toast. She pulled away from her embrace with her sister, and Yumi went to the back room to fetch something.

"It's not nice to glare, you know." She took a step forward, her bare feet making sounds that echoed throughout the restaurant.

"What do you want from me?" I demanded, my voice a loud whisper.

She gave another smirk. "Nothing that concerns you."

It had to concern me! I was in a battle with her! Yumi entered the wide area and I shot her a warning glance, hoping she would take the message and scramble.

She pulled something out of her apron's pocket, something small an black. Although I'd never seen one before, I knew it was a gun. My stomach flipped over.

Yumi held it up, facing me. Her face was set in stone, but Minako looked gleeful.

It was as if time slowed down. A split second before she pulled the trigger, she turned and aimed it at Minako.

Did she deserve to die? My first thought was yes. She took everything from me.

But did she deserve to? She was friendly, talkative and nice when she wasn't annoying. She was innocent. If anyone would be worthy to be a mermaid, it might be her.

She was different, but it wasn't so bad. And we may have shared bad experiences --her being the cause of most of them-- I realized that a lot of them were my fault.

Was she manipulating me? Probably.

I couldn't stop myself. In the split second Yumi turned her gun, I was there, in front of Minako. I wasn't able to explain it: in less than a half a second I had moved to the complete opposite side of the room.

When the bullet hit my chest, Yumi looked horrified. "Idiot!" She screamed desperately.

The second after I took the bullet, I knew I made the wrong choice. I fell to the ground, and watched two boots walk up next to me. And then a gunshot. And another.

I tried to sit up, but I was too weak. My vision started to go black, and my hearing faded into nothingness.

"That wasn't Minako!" Yumi yelled at me, her voice pounding in my head. Pound. Ow.

My face registered confusion, then I floated into inky blackness.

***

Oh no :O what is this.

Haha. Okay. So yesterday was my birthday! Yaya!

Because I am going to participate in NaNoWriMo, I won't be able to update this story until December. :(( I'm sorry, everyone. I'll try, but I really doubt it.

Sorry for the cliff hanger and super short chapter...

I'll post my NaNo story on wattpad though, if y'all wanna check it out? :)

Thanks for being such amazingly loyal fans.

See you in December. (Or before if you read the other book :D)

<3 Rae


PS: (SPOILER)
























Ryan isn't dead.