When Molly looked around, she suddenly became afraid and upset. Her eyes widened at the sight of a naked young woman, a beautiful brunette, holding Amaya in the air. Amaya's body was streaked with lines of blue from the blood seeping out of cuts on her neck where the woman's fingertips dug into the skin.
"What's going on?" Molly asked.
"We made a deal." the woman said. It suddenly registered with Molly that this woman had to be the siren Amaya told her about. "She traded your life for hers. Now, run along, pet. Leave us to our work."
"Go!" Amaya commanded, tears streaming down her face. "Please." Her voice broke on the word.
Molly nodded.
The siren looked away from Molly to Amaya. "I held up my end of the bargain."
Amaya was still staring at Molly, pleading with her eyes for Molly to leave. Molly started to back away just as Amaya's whole body began to glow, stopping Molly in her tracks. Molly watched in amazement as Amaya's legs fused into a beautiful silver tail that stretched out to be at least five feet long. Silver scales grew up from her tail to cross her torso, across her shoulders, and down part of her arms. Her nose flattened, her nostrils shrank to become two slitted lines, just like the lines on her neck that opened up.
Molly was awestruck by the sight of the woman she'd fallen for transformed into an otherworldly being. It was one thing to see mermaids in her mind, it was quite different seeing one live and in person in front of her.
But, as much as had changed about Amaya, her clear blue eyes were exactly the same. Even if she did have a second set of translucent eyelids beneath the first set. Those eyes still begged Molly to go.
With every part of her screaming not to, Molly turned and ran from the chamber. Hot tears fell from her eyes as she made her way through the snaking tunnels, glad of the cracks in the ceiling that allowed daylight in, so she didn't fall down.
The twisting cavern came to a stop at a rock wall where a crack overhead was large enough for a person to fit through. Molly scurried up the pile of rocks and climbed through the hole, only to find herself on top of the giant cliff on the east shore, which she had only ever seen from a boat. She turned away from the edge and ran down into the trees.
Maybe she could find help. Mr. Culver might know what to do. He knew about all this mermaid stuff. Maybe she could get back before the siren killed Amaya.
Molly ran through the forest as fast as she could, hoping beyond hope that it wouldn't be too late.
Molly froze when she heard voices in the forest. She closed her eyes to listen for which direction they came from. When she thought she had it, she hauled off at top speed, leaping over felled trees and breaking through thick bushes. Her damp clothes chafed her thighs and her sides where she pumped her arms back and forth, but that wouldn't stop her. She rounded a large tree and skidded to stop when she saw Gretchen, nearly colliding with her.
Gretchen's eyes went wide. "Oh my God! I never thought we'd find you."
"What are you doing out here?" Molly asked.
"Looking for you. I was supposed to go back to Mr. Culver's to meet him and Amaya to regroup, but genius over there broke the compass and got us lost." Gretchen pointed over her shoulder to a young Hispanic man—Molly recognized him from around town, and the night of the big storm. The guy grinned sheepishly and offered a small wave.
Molly barely gave him any notice. Her eyes fixed on the machete in his hand.
"I guess it's a good thing we did though, since here you are." Gretchen held her hands out toward Molly.
"Can I see that?" Molly pointed to the machete.
The guy—Jesse, she suddenly recalled—shrugged and offered it to her. "Here ya go."
"Thanks." Molly took it.
Without another word, she turned and ran back the way she came, ignoring the cries from Gretchen and Jesse and kept going. She hoped she could find her way back to the cave.
Molly was drenched in sweat by the time she finally found the cave entrance. She heard the rustling of leaves as Gretchen and Jesse ran after her, but she didn't wait for them to climb down into the cave. She rushed down the twisting path until she found the large chamber.
Somehow, Amaya had escaped from the siren's grasp. There were four deep slash marks on the siren's shoulder. When Molly noticed Amaya's silver claws, she realized how she'd gotten free. She was now swimming in the pool, while the siren stood over it, screeching with rage.
Amaya threw up her hand and a geyser of water exploded out of the pool and crashed into the siren. The dark haired woman was knocked off her feet, but she quickly recovered. She twisted her hands in the air. Molly didn't get why until the water around Amaya started to swirl. It soon became a full on whirlpool, whipping Amaya all around the pool, knocking her into the walls.
Molly crept up behind the siren, but she froze when Amaya cracked her head against a rock, spilling a river of her strange, glistening silvery-blue blood from the gash. Molly made the mistake of gasping upon seeing Amaya get hurt.
The siren turned to face Molly. A devilish grin grew on her lips. "You never should have come back here."
"Molly, run!" Amaya sounded groggy, holding a hand to her head to stop the bleeding.
Molly didn't even have time to turn before the siren opened her mouth. Molly dropped the machete at her feet as the woman used her voice to pull Molly back under her spell.
YOU ARE READING
A New Tide Rising
Fantasy[COMPLETED] After completing her task of going to ground to bring her sister back home, a mermaid - Amaya - is drawn back to the small island of Linda Cove to find a young woman with whom she had a brief encounter during her time there. She yearns t...
