Chapter 5
My bare feet pounded on the hot sand as loud as African drums. My heart matching its speed, which at the moment was pumping blood a million miles a minute. My eyes narrowed and my vision transfixed to only see my destination; the ocean. Claws licked at my back and legs, the edges scratching the heels of my feet. The thing chasing me let out a menacing laugh that sounded more like a chortle, as it played with me, leaving me clueless as to when it will pounce. By now I was less than 10 feet from the sea. Soon, 5 feet. Then, 4 feet. 3 feet. 2. The second I hit the water, the creature seemed to stop. I paid no attention as I dove into the water, quickly transforming. I swam for what looked like a yard before noticing there wasn't a sound at all. I swam up to the surface. My eyes swept the beach searching for the golden eyes that had startled me to run away. But there was none. The moon shined above on the white sand, a silence as dead as midnight. Then, out of nowhere a gigantic clawed hand got a hold of my tail, dragging me down with it. I screamed, but no one could hear me. There was no one there. So I struggled against my captor, looking behind me I yelped in a frightened surprise. All I could see was the monster with terrifying golden eyes. The eyes held a fury brighter than a flame come to life. The golden flames angrily taking over the entire eye, leaving no room for anything other than the bright, almost neon, yellow. Though the attempts were useless, I fought with all I had. I fought with all I had until the blue water turned to a black darkness, drowning out my screams.
A strangled gasp escaped my lips and my eyes popped open as I shot straight up in bed. I searched frantically around the room, looking for something, anything, different. If anyone saw me at that moment, they would say I was crazy. I literally looked like a paranoid freak. "Man", I thought "the dream had really spooked me." Once I had calmed down, I raised a hand to my head, only to pull away and see it glistening with sweat. "Ew. Gross" I said aloud as I rose from the bed, but practically fell from the pain in my legs. I went up on wobbly legs, but froze.
Something wet, dripped down my legs in big round drops. I hesitated to look down, scared to see. The second I saw it, I regretted it. My eyes were wide, unblinking. My brain took seconds to comprehend what my eyes were seeing. Falling down my legs like tears coming from eyes, was blood. Redder than roses, it streamed down, leaving a trail on my skin. The blood wasn't what horrified me. It was the source that left me petrified. There were claw marks, two on one leg and three on the other, all which added up to five. Five marks for five claws. A clawed hand.
Coming to terms with that made me snap out of my silence. I screamed and next thing I know, darkness cowers over me, engulfing me like in the dream.
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"Honey?! Aqua!" I could feel someone's hands violently shaking my shoulders. "Huh?" I said groggily as my eyes slowly adjusted around the room. I was sitting on my bedroom floor with my mother's worry stricken face hovering above me and her hands were on my shoulders. My dad and sister were closely sitting next to her, faces relaxing a little once I looked at them, leaving no room for breathing space. Anyone who was claustrophobic would have passed out, like I am guessing I just did now. "A little space please?" I said lightly. After everyone backed away a bit, Mom said, "We heard you scream and we ran up here. When we opened your door, you were past out on the floor." Her face still holding concern and worry, but not as much as before.
Listening to her explanation, I yelped and looked quickly at my legs to see nothing there. "But, but....my legs!" I was stunned. Was it all real? My dad asked me, "Honey, what happened?" I gulped, "I had a nightmare." "Is that why you passed out?" Pearl questioned. I silently nodded. Now Mom spoke, "Are you sure that you're alright?" I nodded again, staring off into space. "Do you still want to go see Alex?" my dad asked me. This time, I made eye contact with him. "Yeah, I'm good" My family got up and headed to the door, but Mom stopped just before going through it, "If you need anything just let us know, alright?" "Yeah Mom, I will. Thanks" I replied.
Getting up, thankfully without shaky legs, I headed to the bathroom to take a bath. "Maybe a relaxing bath will help calm me." I thought to myself, "Water always soothes me." I stepped into the bathroom, locking the door behind me and turning on the water. Looking at myself in the mirror, I looked jumpy. Other than that, I looked a little paler than my usual tan self. Rubbing any sleep from my eyes, I proceeded in stripping off my PJ's. Making sure the water was warm, I slipped into the tub. I looked down at my mermaid form, inspecting each and every silvery scale. I watched the light reflect against them, which in turn, made them appear shiny. I remember doing that all the time when I was scared, or any had any other negative emotion, as a kid. It calmed me almost as much as the water did. Thinking about it now, I guess I never got out of that habit.
After soaking in the water for about thirty minutes, I, almost, successfully calmed down entirely. Getting dressed in workout shorts and tank top, both of which I had gotten on sale at "lululemon", I tied my Nike sneaker laces and headed downstairs.
Looking for my parents, I noticed Pearl sitting on the sofa watching TV. "Hey, do you know where Mom and Dad are?" I came up behind her. "Uh, I think Dad is in the study and Mom....I'm not sure where she is." she turned around and noticed what I was wearing. "Where are you going?" she asked me. "I'm going for a run" I answered. "Cool. How long are you gonna be gone?" Good question. I looked at the clock. 11 o'clock. That leaves me about two and a half hours until I have to meet up with Alex. "Um, about and hour and a half. I have to meet up with Alex later at 1:30." Yeah, that sounded about right. When I get back, it will give me an hour before I see Alex. "Oh, Mom Dad wanted for you to know that we'll be going to your school..." I cut her off, "I know, Mom and Dad told me last night." She nodded and returned to watching whatever channel she was watching.
I turned down the hall and walked into the office. Inside Dad was setting up the desk with boxes, half of them open, scattered all around the room. "Hey sweetie, how you feeling?" Dad said once he saw me. "Fine. Actually I was going to go for a run. Is that alright?" I asked him. "Sure honey. How long are you gonna be out and where?" he responded. "Um, about an hour or so since I am going to meet up with Alex later on. As for where.....I have no clue. Any ideas?" I hadn't thought about where. I was just gonna run around the neighborhood, hoping that was good enough. If I was lucky, I 'd find a trail or something. He thought for a minute, eye brows scrunching up together. "I'm pretty sure I saw a park about a mile or so from here. Yeah, I remember. It was the one with a bunch of trails that hide behind trees. Your mom thought it was really nice when we were looking for a house in this neighborhood. You might wanna try going there. They have a playground and some tennis courts. Speaking of which, we should go to sometime soon." he smiled. "K great. Thanks Dad" I went over and gave him a kiss on his cheek.
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The sun was bright, shining down on me, as I walked down the front porch steps. With my iPod strapped on my right shoulder and my ear buds playing Ellie Goulding's 'Figure 8' in my ears, I started into a light jog towards the park Dad told me about.
Turning the onto the last block before the park, I noticed two boys tossing a football around. I slowed down my running into a jog. From here, I could see they were about my age. I noticed one had dark black hair that had sort of a "Justin Bieber" hairstyle, while the other had a lighter brown head of wavy hair that was cut short. They looked to be tall, maybe 6ft, but I couldn't exactly tell being so far from them. They seemed similar, but it was the brown haired fellow that caught my eye. He was obviously fit, with a tall and lean form. I could only guess he was a looker and a total hottie. I shook my head, "Stop day dreaming about someone you don't even know. Look ahead before you get hit by a car."
I continued finally getting to the park. Dad was right, I found two trails right off the bat. I chose the one that bended around trees and a small river, or should I say stream. It is literally the smallest river I had ever seen. Oh well. Gotta live with what you got.
Surprisingly, after jogging for about 15 minutes, the stream, along with other small streams, flowed into a huge lake. Turns out there was a small waterfall on one of the bigger rivers.
I paused my music and took out my ear buds, looking out at the calm lake. Everything was peaceful. The lake was filled with lily pads painted with dainty purple flowers. Birds were whistling in the trees and squirrels chased each other on the ground. Coy fish swam gracefully along the edge of water, their backsides barely skimming the surface, gliding along.
I stopped to walk towards the edge and kneeled down. I closed my eyes breathing in the beautiful scene. The slight breeze caused a ruffle to echo through the trees. The breeze, like invisible fingers, pushed stray hairs away from my face and cooled my thrumming heart. After sitting there, enjoying the serene atmosphere in silence. I checked the time. It read 11:45, notifying that I had been out for almost an hour. Standing up, I gradually settled back into running pace and ran another 30 minutes before heading back to my house. And the only thing on my mind the entire time was the brown haired boy I had seen earlier.