Lorelei.

Prologue.

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"I remember my father used to tell me stories of the people from land. The people with legs and toes and shoes. I remember he'd say they were dangerous, powerless, and worthless creatures created by God. Sometimes I'd see boats above our land. Their shadows covered our waters and made it even darker to see anything. That was one reason why my father hated them so much. I'd sometimes sneak up to the surface to just look at them. They were very different from us. They'd celebrate and cheer and beautiful lights filled the sky followed by explosions.

My father never knew I'd go above water, and I was scared to see what he'd do if he knew. I once found a small human girl being brought out further into the sea.She was kicking and screaming and crying, trying her best to say above water. But it was no use, she was drowning and she was going to die if I didn't do something about it. I swam up, not even thinking about what I was doing. I held her small body and brought her towards the shore. There was no one else around besides a small boy around her age. Probably her brother.

He was on his knees with his mouth wide open from shock. His clothes were damp as well from running into the ocean to try and save his sister. I set the girl down onto the sand and moved small pieces of her wet hair out of her face. She was shivering as she looked at me with wide eyes. "Do not be scared of me. I saved you from drowning, I was not going to just let you die" I smiled at her, hoping she wouldn't scream and run away. It was the end of me if she did.

"Your a... y-your a m-"

"Mermaid" I interrupted her.

My dark hair was flat and damp as it covered my face. I moved it out of the way and waved a hand at the small boy to come join us.

The little boy slowly crawled towards us with frowned eyebrows. He still had wide eyes as he came closer, this was his first time seeing a mermaid. But I was also shocked, because this was my first time being so close to a human. I just had a better way of hiding emotions.

"T-Thank you" the little girl choked out, she was shivering a lot more now. I looked up at the sky, grey clouds began forming above us. It was going to rain.

"You're welcome" I got a bit closer to the children "you have to promise me something children. What are your names?"

"I'm Su-"

"Susie! Henry! C'mon where are you guys?" Someone shouted making me cautiously swim back a bit. Another human was coming our way, and I was going to be seen if I didn't disappear soon.

"Don't worry, we won't tell anyone about you" the little boy called Henry said. He knew what I was going to say.

I smiled at the two children and waved before quickly diving back into the sea. It felt so right to save someone, but I also felt guilty about it. If my father knew, he'd probably get a heart attack or start yelling at me. He always yelled when I did something he didn't like. And it always involved humans.

I sighed thinking about all this, just one more time. I'd just look up one more time, then I'd go home and never go above water again. I was telling a lie to myself, I always said the same thing and I always ignored it later on, but I still went. As soon as I went above water a strong wave pushed me back down. It startled me, but I swam up again. This time, wind blew my hair upwards and I had to hold it down in place.

I looked out towards the shore and saw Susie and her brother Henry being guided off the shore by another human man. He looked to young to be a father, probably their brother. I sighed thinking about how great life would be if I had legs. Susie looked back out at the sea and I quickly sunk down into the water. She was lucky.

Susie was lucky because she had legs. She could run, dance, spin, jump. All I could do was swim and swim and just... swim.

But that would all change in a few days, my turns coming up. And by that I mean well, when a King or Queens son or daughter turns eighteen he or she gets to walk on land. And by that I mean they get legs! In a few days I'd be eighteen and I'll get to walk on land for one day. Except there's a catch to that great opportunity. You have to bring back a dead human for your family to feast on. It seemed so wrong to me, because I don't like killing. Especially something as innocent as a human. They are innocent. Are they?"

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So that's the prologue! I really hope you guys read it and enjoy it as much as I'll enjoy writing it. I have so many ideas for this story and a lot involves violence. If you don't like violence, (tons of it), then I suggest you don't not read this story. But anyways yeah, please vote or comment!(:

-Megan Wonders