MADE

Fire Hydrant

I felt as if I had been turned to glass and one wrong move might shatter me into a million pieces. My stomach threatened to come up as panic whipped its way through my body.

The glimmering blue help my attention, keeping it fixed there as my head began to pound in time with my heart. I grit my teeth, feeling them threaten to shatter.

Silver specks lit the water, hidden beneath the dark sapphire glow.

"Mari?"

I didn't know who said it. I didn't care.

Their gazes were hot on my face, like white fire.

My stomach tightened as I sat up more, eyes wide as I tried to take in what had happened to me. Alaric's fingers dug into my waist.

I couldn't see the end of glittering blue. It dipped too low into the water, too long that the end fell into the sand on the lake bed.

I could feel it, laying there in the cool sand... as if it was my toes.

My eyes moved away from the dark parts of the water. Just below my hip bones, they began. Scales glittered there, jutting out like tiny knives. A piece of my tank top lay around my waist, shredded from the scales that had formed over my breasts. My bra lay in the water beside me, torn into ribbons as well.

The scales over my chest barely covered enough to seem decent. They didn't travel around my ribcage, just sticking to my front. I had bikinis with more coverage.

There were also small patches of scales on my shoulders and elbows, just as sharp as the rest.

My mouth wouldn't form the word, couldn't bring anymore from my lips than "m- mm-mer."

"Don't say it," Alaric cringed. "It's really a terrible word."

Elijah scowled at him from over my shoulder as I gaped. "They don't like to use that word," Elijah corrected.

"Do you want to try it?" Alaric asked, a small smirk forming on his mouth as his hands finally loosed.

I was nodding without even know I was.

But they both slowly released me, letting me sink deeper into the water. I waved my hands in the water, trying to keep my head from going under the surface. I closed my mouth, filling my cheeks with air as I tried to hold my breath.

Alaric scoffed, "you can breathe underwater." He rolled his eyes, black hair tossing in the wind.

"I- I can breathe?" I asked. "Under the water?"

Alaric rubbed his eye, pulling his skin down on his face with an exasperated sigh.

My head slipped under the water, and I was immediately choking and sputtering water.

"It takes some getting used to," Elijah said placing a hand on my lower back.

With the struggle to get my head back out of the water, the fin attached to my body surfaced enough for me to see. It was tipped with a blue so dark it looked nearly black. Silver streaks ran along it, faint but still somehow vibrant.

My fingers found the scales on the back of my neck.

I rolled in the water, belly down and sunk under the surface. I held my breath until my lungs began to scream for oxygen. I felt the water enter my body before I was aware I had let it happen. The scales at the back of my neck pulled water in through the gills hidden underneath. I wanted to throw up all over again as I coughed again as I struggled to adjust. I glared at the sand.