Chapter 14 - The Fourth

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I laughed at Cleo's story, the two of us grinning so much it made my face hurt as we stumbled up the driveway of Emma's house.

"He really told you that?" I asked in disbelief, trying to subside my giggles, "In front of everyone?"

"Yup," she answered with a short laugh, "I had to tell Lewis never to ask for toenail clippings like that in the shop ever again."

I laughed again, shaking my head as we let ourselves into the house.

"Sorry we're late, we-" Cleo started, falling short as she stepped inside.

I frowned, about to ask why when my gaze fell on a blonde elderly woman in blue seated on the couch in the living room whom I assumed only could be the Miss Chatham I'd heard so much about.

"Hello Cleo!" she greeted my friend happily.

I was about to ask just what she was doing here in Emma's house when her blue eyes rested on me. She frowned then in confusion, clearly caught off-guard by my presence here.

"And who are you, dear?" she asked me warily.

I shot a questioning glance to the other girls but they only shrugged in response, not knowing what she was going on about either.

"I'm Leona," I told her, albeit a bit awkwardly.

The old woman looked from me to Rikki, Emma, and Cleo and back again.

"A fourth?" she asked in disbelief, the tone in her voice caught between panic and fear, "That can't be! There's not supposed to be four, only three!"

I shifted uncomfortably under her gaze as she watched me. Slowly, she began to shake her head.

"Oh, this will not end well...it never does when there are four." she aid so quietly I almost didn't hear her.

But I did and the words resounded in my head, disturbing me to my very core. What did she mean by a fourth wouldn't end well? Did she mean a fourth mermaid? Why wasn't there supposed to be four?! I bit down hard on my bottom lip and quickly excused myself, needing time to think things over. I wrestled with these thoughts floating around in my head as I walked to the JuiceNet Cafe.

Was I not supposed to exist?

𝐈'𝐋𝐋 𝐁𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐃 || 𝐙𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭Where stories live. Discover now