Of the Sea

Chapter Eighteen

The rhythmic pounding in her ears was Astrid's first clue that she was alive. She listened to it for a while, waiting for something else to happen or for the thumping to stop. After sometime she did feel something; her chest was expanding and compressing by force. It was an unpleasant feeling that she couldn't control, but at least it was a feeling. She then heard a beeping sound, repetitively ringing in her ear.

"How long have you been here?" The woman's voice was distant and filled with concern. Astrid could do nothing to respond, not that she would know what to say anyway. She knew nothing other than the beeping noise and the air being pumped into her. "You should be home...resting."

"How can be home resting when my daughter is comatose?" A deeper, masculine voice replied. Obviously irritated.

"Have you at least been eating?"

There was no reply.

"They're going to hook you up to another IV if you don't...and then they'll make you talk to a therapist." A pause. "I would know."

"How did you know where to find us?"

"With the marina closed, no boats were allowed out. I figured she'd taken the one that was missing. Mr. Brumby thankfully had a tracking device put on it. Sounds a little over-done, but he had been right to do so."

"Are they still interviewing his boy?"

"No. Now, they're lined up outside the door waiting to speak to you."

The man chuckled. "What am I supposed to tell them?"

"Tell them the truth."

The man chuckled humorlessly. "That I was out hunting mermaids? That my daughter was nearly drowned by one?"

"Something can still be done about this, Donovan." The woman whispered in a hushed tone.

"Right, kill them all," Donovan replied in a sarcastic tone. "That's absurd."

"Was that not what you said to me after we first met? What were you out there doing, huh?" The woman demanded.

"I wanted answers!" He whispered sharpley. "I wanted to know why they chose to kill my wife, like you want to know why they killed your brother. But you can't exactly go knocking on their front door. It's the damn ocean, Celine." There was a silent pause between the two, as if they were letting the frustration simmer down. "The two I managed to net were good."

"Good?"

"Without either of them I would still be adrift at sea, surely dead by now. I watched one kill another of her own kind to save me. That doesn't sound good to you?" No reply. "One of them brought my daughter back to the surface. He saved her when I couldn't. So if you think I'm going to kill him...then you're wrong."

After another moment of silence, Celine, her voice oddly calm, asked, "Then what are we supposed to do?"

"Nothing."

She made a choking noise. "What?"

"We can do nothing. This is a war below the surface. All we can do is be aware."

"And what the hell do you suppose we do when it spreads down the coast?" Celine's voice vibrated in Astrid's ears, stirring her awake.

"We hope that there are more mermaids like the ones that helped me. Like the one that rescued Astrid."

It was all becoming clear now. Astrid was beginning to remember what had happened. She remembered being pulled out of that vice grip, the feel of the water rushing around her as she ascended towards the surface. Those two, electric blue eyes that had looked into hers.