A week has passed.
People were coming to see the merman, as they decided to call it.
We had the news coming, and journalists all around the world traveled to our aquarium. Well-known scientists came to our aquarium just to be able to work on this case.
All because of him.
To say that the aquarium was the center of attention in the world would be an understatement.
I saw him a couple of times after they discovered his species.
Every single time I entered a room, he would always know that I was there.
I would always feel his stare burning in on my back.
Like when Peter called me over to give him coffee, his head would turn in my direction.
It was strange.
I felt this weird pull to him, but I wasn't the only one.
The whole female population did.
He had this aura around him; inviting.
I shook my head as I walked into the aquarium.
There was no one at the entrance or the aquarium; I was the only one.
I sighed.
The silence created peace inside my head.
I walked to the office and pushed open the door.
I placed my backpack on a nearby chair and came up to the assignment board.
Feeding duty: C83U-23.
My breath caught in my throat.
What was I supposed to feed him?
It's not like I could give him dead fish, or anything that fish normally ate.
He was something completely different.
I groaned and hit my head against a nearby wall.
Why me?
I looked up at the board in hopes that it would hold the answers.
Nope.
I sighed.
Might as well get over it.
I got out of the office and headed to the food storage.
I opened the door and cringed at the smell of fish.
Maybe he really likes dead anchovies. I mean, his people do live in the ocean.
Right...
I shook my head and headed to his tank.
I walked up to it and tried to find him.
I saw his tail first.
It was softly gliding in the water, like some dance.
It was weird to see something powerful and big look so ... gentle.
Then I saw him.
His chest was carved into strong muscles and abs.
He had a six-pack.
Damn...
He was looking at me with an arrogant smirk through the tank's glass.
My eyes widened as I felt a blush rise on my cheeks.
"Okay.." I said awkwardly to myself.
He arched his brow at me and I walked up the stairs.
I came up to him and his head was already out.
I shook the bucket with the fish slightly showing him that I have food for him.
He watched the bucket sway and then cringed at the smell.
This is not going well.
I put the bucket at the edge and gestured with my hands for him to eat.
He scoffed and his head disappeared underwater.
I sighed for the hundredth time and looked at the sky.
Only a few clouds were present.
I looked back at where he disappeared.
"Hey! Come back!"
I then proceeded to slap my hand on my forehead.
Aria, he doesn't understand you, dumb ass.
Surprisingly, he came right up.
I pointed at the bucket and signaled him to eat it.
He shook his head no.
He was not making it easier for me.
His mystifying beautiful eyes held a slight sight of amusement.
I gave up on not talking.
" Look, can you please eat?"
He looked at me with a blank stare.
I let out a breath, trying to calm myself down.
He is not making it easier for me.
He saw my defeated expression and let out a breath.
I heard some water movement and looked up at him.
He wasn't even looking at me.
He was looking at the bucket with disgust.
I was looking at him curiously.
What is he planning on doing?
He gulped and his tan arm reached out into the bucket of fish.
His arm returned with one of the fish and he looked back at me.
His eyes looked beautiful in the sunlight.
I nodded at him; trying to make him eat it.
I didn't want him to starve to death.
He looked back at the fish.
He shook his head to himself and put the fish back down.
I sighed in defeat.
At least it was worth a try.
~
It was 1 pm and I was on break.
Instead of staying in the office like I usually do, I decided to check on how the merman was doing.
I haven't really looked at him yet and I was really curious about how it works.
How he works.
I felt weird calling him "it" after my encounter with him. He acted so humanly.
When I came by his tank, I saw all the scientists were huddled up next to it, taking notes.
There was one human in with the merman; with all of his scuba diving gear on.
The creature did not look happy.
He had his eyebrows furrowed at the scientists outside of the tank and his arms crossed across his chest.
He didn't seem to acknowledge the terrified human who was in the corner of the tank.
" Oh no," I mumbled under my breath.
This is not going to end well.
He was still looking at the scientists, who ignored his expression.
Instead, they had smiles beaming on their faces.
They were all talking among each other in excited murmurs.
"Matthew, interact with Subject C83U-23." One of the scientists instructed calmly.
Matthew, who I was guessing was the guy in the tank, slowly started to swim up to him.
Even though Matthew had a "mask" over his face, the fear was still evident in his eyes.
The merman stilled, then turned his head to the poor guy.
He was emotionless; assessing Matthew and trying to figure out his next move.
Like a predator to prey.
No one moved.
Matthew was looking at the merman, afraid of the creature's unpredictable actions.
The Merman was looking at Matthew, expecting for him to do something.
Something bad.
It happened so fast.
One little movement from Matthew and the merman went feral.
The merman uncrossed his arms and turned around, his tail trailing behind. The big tail smacked Matthew away.
My eyes didn't even register the movement. Matthew went flying.
He crashed into the glass of the tank; cracking it in the process.
The blood was slowly oozing out of the wound in his head.
I gasped.
The merman looked up to me as if he just noticed me.
The scientists didn't even care about Matthew.
They were all just taking notes.
Matthew wasn't moving.
He was either unconscious or -
Dead.
I gulped.
"We have to save him!" I cried.
The scientists turned around.
I couldn't take this anymore.
I ran up the stairs and faced the water.
The ripples moving gently across the soothing blue surface.
There was a moment of hesitance.
Matthew could be dead. You can't be the reason behind his death, my mind pestered.
I shook my head and dived in the water.
The cold water enveloped my body. I felt it everywhere. In every nook and cranny.
You have to save Matthew.
My mind repeating the same mantra, over and over.
You have to save him. You have to save him.
I pushed my legs to move and started moving towards the unconscious man.
I forced myself to think that he was unconscious. Matthew couldn't be dead. He couldn't be.
The frigid feeling wasn't getting any better, if anything, it was getting worse.
I dived deeper, my surroundings turning fainter and darker.
The tank was deep, giving lots of space for the merman. But a longer time in the water for me.
My chest was starting to burn from the lack of oxygen.
But I still pushed myself to save the man.
I finally grabbed Matthew's arm and turned around to get back to the surface.
I was met with the merman's mesmerizing eyes.
With the merman's eyes.
It finally clicked inside my head that I was face to face with a creature that can kill me at any moment.
He was right there.
A few feet away.
I swam away from him. Better to keep a safe distance. At least the merman didn't look as frightening as he looked when Matthew was in the tank.
I couldn't see anything clearly anyway; everything was blurry.
But his form was so easy to find in the blue water.
My eyebrows furrowed in fear when his form started to approach me.
My mouth opened in a silent scream.
I started swimming faster up to the surface.
My chest was hurting so much to the point where I considered breathing in the water.
The surface was so near at this point.
I pushed Matthew up on the surface and was about to get out myself, but something stopped me.
I felt a warm hand on my ankle, stopping me from moving to the surface.
No, no, no.
I looked back; already expecting what I was going to see.
It was him.
Holding my ankle.
I wanted to cry.
He swam up to me, so our faces were inches apart.
He held me by my wrist; firm but gently.
I tried to get out of his hold, but I couldn't.
I'm going to die.
I gave up on struggling.
I already accepted my fate.
But something else happened.
Something that I would never believe happened.
His face moved closer to mine; now only centimeters apart.
The color of his unusual yet bewitching eyes invaded my pool of sight.
I felt one of his warm hands move into my hair; grabbing it.
He started to lean forwards.
His lips met mine.
His lips; so soft yet a little harsh on mine.
They were moving so gently on my lips; as if I was a porcelain doll and he was afraid to break it.
I didn't move.
My eyes were wide, full of surprise.
What the heck?!
I then surrendered, joining in on the kiss.
My eyes finally closed.
Damn.. he was good at this.
He deepened into my lips.
It was like a dance; full of passion.
I forgot that I needed oxygen.
At the moment, I only needed...
That kiss.
I didn't know what was the reason behind this or had the will to figure out.
The kiss was what occupied my mind right now.
Nothing else.
Not the thought of why he would be doing what he is doing right now, or the thought that he stole my first kiss.
I have never imagined my first kiss with a fictional creature in a tank.
With that thought, I almost laughed.
My vision was slowly darkening, like a light bulb; flickering. Darkness was eating up the edges of my vision.
His lips haven't left mine.
I felt my eyes droop as my heavy eyelids weight tons.
Only then, did I finally notice again, my chest burning and constricting for the need of oxygen.
I tried fighting him off, but he was much stronger.
One of his arms were wrapped around my waist, pulling me in closer.
He was so warm. So comforting.
As if my eyes were a cup and the darkness was slowly filling it, the cup spilled over. The darkness has won.
I felt myself going into a heavy sleep.
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