The dark waters| ✓

26. FEVER CALLED LIVING

Darkness.
That is all I see, feel or understand now.

I'm trapped in a coffin and thrown into the sea, suffocating, unable to breathe. I thrash at the wood till the skin of my hands become red with bruises. Panic takes control of my body and I let out a piercing shriek, one that I knew wouldn't be humanly possible. Something clicks in my mind and the surrounding changes.

Now, I'm falling in a black abyss.I close my eyes.

And I open them again.

I'm alive.

Somehow I survived.

I take in a deep breathe.But I don't feel the air come into my lungs.

Instead I don't feel air at all.

I feel cold water all around me. It enters  my body through some place near my neck.It goes in and makes me feel alive. Just like air. But somehow much better.

At first, I think I'm still drowning. The world around me is a dark shade of turquoise blue. Silhouettes of creatures form against the water surface. They move, each in a different way, some harmless some deadly.My vision blurs and my eyes start paining. I panic and wildly move my hands around. Bubbles escape my mouth, travel up and burst suddenly. Odd.

I stop when my hands hit something hard. I look down and my vision suddenly gets cleared. It's like someone wiped a frosted glass, bringing the world into sharp focus. I'm lying on a hard stone platform, that is rectangular in shape. I look around and I seem to be in some kind of room, though it hardly has any furniture. There are stone walls right in front of me that are held by pillars having some designs etched on them. The marble walls stop abruptly at a place and then there's just the ocean beyond that.So many confusing thoughts hit my mind at once that I almost pass out due to the swirl of emotions.

"Good.you are awake."

I turn around and I see a girl floating near me. The blue light casts shadows on her sharp face and I can only see her cheekbones and her lips. Her eyes are pools of shadows but her eyelashes are long enough to be prominent even withought light. The golden light coming from behind her makes her jet black hair, that float around her tawny beige body look golden.

She's beautiful.

I know this shouldn't freak me out. I've met mermaids.

But it does. My eyes move wildly around the room. I have difficulty in breathing even though I don't know how I'm breathing as well.I try to look past the girl and I see a door right behind her. More golden light seems to pour out of it.

"Hi Leah. I suggest you calm down. You're condition is not exactly.... stable." She says.

"Am I in heaven?" I ask the first thing that comes to my mind.

"Not exactly." She says chuckling.

"How am I alive?" I ask the question that scares me the most.

"Feel your neck, you'll understand." She says slyly.I bring my hand up and touch my neck where it was paining before. And I gasp.

"Gills. That means I'm half-mer?"

"Leah!" I hear someone shout and look behind the girl to find Nerida rushing in. My whole body seems to relax at the sight of her. She swiftly moves towards me and pulls me into a hug. 

"Oh my god. I never thought I would say this but I'm so happy to see you." Nerida says.

"Nerida, how's...." i stop myself before I can say anything more.

"Evian? He's ... fine. We've all gone through a lot since the day we came back. A lot has happened. I'll tell you all about it once you are strong enough. Till then get as much rest as you can." Nerida says moving back towards the door. She pauses and turns around. "By the way, this is Noelani. Leah meet Noelani, Noelani meet Leah." She says. Nerida whispers something in her ears before leaving.

The girl, Noelani, moves towards and stands right in front of the stone bed. Up close she looks even more beautiful. She has intense dark green eyes that have an odd sparkle. The pale olive colour of her face becomes translucent near her neck and the light dances near the edges of her gills.

" Yeah you are half-mer. Sleep well. You will have to wake up early tomorrow. I've to give you a tour."

"A tour of what?

"so you haven't realised where we are, have you?" She says looking at me with amusement.

I say nothing and just stare at her.

"Welcome to Marinus, Leah."