MORGANA
"Just follow your heart?" I threw the newspaper away. "What kind of generic advice is that? I can get better ones from fortune cookies."
I sat on my bed, my forehead creasing into a frown after I spend the day doing our activity and buying the local paper.
"Thanks for being no help real-name's-not-Cathy," I grumbled. I really didn't know what to do. This is completely new to me.
I was about to go to take a nap when my phone rang. "Yes?" I answered the phone with no enthusiasm.
"Hey, Morg it's me." Gavin's voice came through the phone.
"Oh, what do you want?"
"Tsk... such rude treatment."
"Seriously, I'm in no mood right now. What do you want Gav?" I repeated.
"Is Kaylor with you?" Gavin asked. This immediately alerted me.
"What? No! Why would she be here? In my room?! Ha! No way. Impossible! I—"
"Are you guys close?" Gavin cut me off.
"Close? What do you mean? Close as in how close? We are just in the same club! She's not my friend. Why are you asking all these?"
Did Gavin find out about my feelings for Kaylor already? He's probably wondering why I was acting strangely.
"Take a chill pill will you? Remember last time you asked me to get information on her?"
"Oh yeah," I felt relieved. Gavin didn't suspect anything.
"I found out that her thesis was about Merfolks."
"What? What do you mean?" I asked, confused.
He took a deep breath. "What I mean is—she's pretty well known because she's the only student whose thesis was accepted for being purely hypothetical on fictional creatures."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, and you owe me a big one for this, cousin. It wasn't easy for me to get into each school's number and ask for their student's archive."
What's going on? Is Kaylor alright in the head? Well, she did mention that she experienced two tragedies by the sea already.
"Thanks, Gav," I said quietly to the phone. "Can you get me a copy of her thesis?"
I could hear him whining. "Come on Morg, that's too much of a favor."
"She's keeping a secret, Gav. You know I love to collect secrets from people I naturally don't get along with."
Another grump came through the line, "Okay, fine. Oh, by the way," Gavin said as if remembering an important detail. "Did she tell you she's graduated from her course?"
"That's what she said to most of us. Why?"
"I hate to break it to you, Morg, but it's either the school made mistake or she lied to you."
"Why?"
"She hasn't graduated yet. She repeated her Senior year for two years. And counting..."
After he told me the last information he got from her, I thanked him and the line went dead. I blanched, staring out my window. It was dark already. At exactly 10 pm, I remember my mother telling me stories when the moon is full and the tides rise high, sea and forest creatures would come out at night. You can't be adrift far too long for the forest, the road and the ocean are known for their many dangers.
However, there was a movement outside my window. I peaked, calming my nerves, and sighed. Relief that it's just someone leaving the loft, I saw Kaylor climb down the tree and head to the woods.
KAYLOR
There were nights where I hear a certain voice calling to me every hour. As if it's pulling me to the seas with a soft lullaby. It was a serene voice like opera singers or Gaelic girls singing along the beach with waves crashing against the dark rocks. It was singing in a certain ancient language. My breath was stolen from my lungs and I felt my heart skipped. I didn't know how to move again. It was like I got caught in a binding spell.
My heartbeat grew louder or maybe it was just the blood ringing in my ears. It added rhythm to the song. The voice in my head wouldn't leave me alone and soon I began to listen to the whisper of my conscience.
It calls for me. I must go.
I threw the sheets off me and stood on the side of my bed. There's a newfound strength within me that came from the song. I walked out sneakily so that no one would see me leave or stop me from going.
I must go to her. I must go to my caller.
There was just dead silence, except the singing crickets from surrounding trees. Walking under the moonlight in any other circumstance alone would be serene, but the fact that I'm walking through a forest, heading towards an off-limits side of the beach was terrifying. But I can't help it. The voice's direction was there. I kept walking, barefoot.
I strolled until I reached the sand. I looked around the beach and it's peculiar. I saw someone sitting on a rock with a devious smile on her lips. It was a beautiful maiden. The moonlight only intensified her glorious beauty. Her black hair was loose down her back adorned with shells and her skin shone luminously and impossibly translucent. As if when immersed in water, she'd be invisible. She was close enough that I could smell her, seaweed scent mixed with salty wind. My eyes immediately traced down to her waist and caught the sight of a glowing fishtail. It was silver in color.
Is it true? Is she a part of the merfolk? Does my thesis tell the truth?
"You've come for me." She said. Her melodious tone was as sweet as churning honey. "Human, you've become my favorite."
She's big and by that I mean she doesn't have an Asian's build. Her skin was pale and her eyes were pale gray. The sight of her caused my heart to pound inside my heaving chest. I tried tearing eyes away from her but couldn't. I dared not to blink.
"Why are you calling for me?" I asked, unabashedly.
"I wanted to see you again. I am, after all, the one who saved you from drowning." She made it sound like I owe her—like really owe her—and to repay my debt, I have to become her servant.
"Why did you save my life?"
"Do you think the merfolk are apathetic creatures?"
"No, I mean. You're not supposed to be real, but I'm not really surprised anymore. I wrote a thesis about your kind. I've become resilient when it comes to the ocean. Aren't you supposed to be in hiding? Why did you save me?"
She's not talking, but she's looking at me like a bacterium under the microscope's lens.
"Why do you want to see me?" I asked another question.
"You have my interest, human."
"You also have my interest. Please, I'm disoriented. Tell me what's happening."
"Curious, I am dreadfully curious of you. You say you're disoriented, then why are you talking to me?"
"Who else can I talk to that will not dismiss what I saw as a mere illusion?"
She motioned for me to come closer, so I did.
Usually, people would fear something unknown but not me. People with anxiety would just do what the stranger suggested them to do when they don't know what to do. They say that not all beautiful things are good. Some are dangerous... and traps, tempting one to move closer.
Spellbound, I'm captured by her.
That's what I felt about her. Like a shard of glass under the light and reflected beauties of the rainbow. Nonetheless, I walked closer to her. Her strong gaze never left me. If she has come to lure me to the oceans then I can't do anything.
I was surprised when she wrapped her arms around me. There's this fragrance like a delicate exotic flower that only blooms underwater.
"I have a favor to ask of you. Can you stay with me until dawn and hear me moan my special song?" She caused a sting of pain in my chest when she requested as if my heart was aching and longing for something out of reach. She took my hand in hers and motioned me to touch something in her tail.
It was slippery and warm. She liked me touching her on that spot. I delved deeper, stirring, stroking, and gliding through all the wonderful places in the paradise to which she motioned for me to touch. She threw her head back and her jaw clenched.
My cheeks were burning hot and I felt the heat stirring inside me. The whole time I could barely breathe. I forgot about myself. She glistened like a million sparkling diamonds from the water droplets on her skin. She arched her back and her hair fell off from covering her full breasts. It gripped me in a binding spell. I couldn't tear my eyes off of the creature below me. The upper body of her is unmistakably human—so human and perfect.
A low moan escaped my lips, surprising even myself. I quickly covered my mouth.
She seized my hand over my mouth then requested. "Hum with me." Then bit her lower lip, eyeing me. She craned my jaw upwards. "Let me hear your voice."
My lips parted and I began moaning with her. I can't believe that I'm humming with a siren.
I gasped and released her from my tight grip. There's something wet and sticky on my fingers. We stared at each other for a long frozen moment. Her face closed the distance between our lips then she pushed me away by the shoulders, leaving me stranded and dazed in the rock all alone.
MORGANA
Thank goodness I brought my telescope with me and with it I can sneak out and follow Kaylor from a distance and see what she's up to.
What I didn't expect was that her thesis wasn't fictional. At all. All I thought was that it's just one of those girls brooding but now I see her silver tail. It's genuine. You can really tell it's not fake. It took all ounce of my strength not to yell.
Perhaps some eccentric scientists knew about this and approved Kaylor's study for research purposes. That could prove why Kaylor isn't freaking out right now.
How can she meet creatures like this? Was the mermaid the reason why she survived when she nearly drowned on the cruise?
I need to talk to her about this.
I took one good look at the sea creature so that I'll remember what she looks like if there came to be more of them.
Scientists had the notion it only took people a few seconds to realize whether they like someone. And I know by the looks Kaylor had on her face that she's bewitched, captivated, lost, and contained.
Then the creature started singing. I didn't even know what I was witnessing. They both looked high. As if they were taking ecstasy pills or like seeing each other had drugged themselves.
I couldn't see what they were properly doing; I couldn't even look at the mermaid. She was naked for goodness' sake. I thought mermaids have some shells for bras or hairs or seaweeds to cover their mammary glands. Seeing a naked woman before didn't appall me but now, I was. I was so damned embarrassed.
Kaylor was lost to the mermaid's mesmerizing pools of eyes when she started humming. The mermaid told her something, probably to continue singing with her.
And just like that after 20 minutes, the mermaid suddenly crashed her lips into Kaylor's and left without any goodbye. Kaylor was left there in a state of confusion and disappointment.
There was something that stirred within me in anger. I grimaced in jealousy. Why would I feel that way towards an unknown woman, much less a woman with a tail? Was it because she captivated the person that I desire? Oh yes, this is jealousy alright.
A new idea comes to me. I will not pry into Kaylor's business just yet. I will continue to watch their meetings and observe her. This is for her betterment. I have to brush my feelings aside. I will save Kaylor from anything that she's gotten herself into.