Hiiiiiiiiii! I have been so busy flipping a room into a photography office (my old "office" is a desk in my room) and now I can have a professional photography office! I spent a good three days painting the walls and the ceilings (painting the ceiling is HARD WORK), moving furnitures and carrying heavy boxes. I am sooooooo sore and my body aches like I have been hit by a truck.
Also it has been so hard getting back into the grind of juggling with work, school and writing. This chapter dedicated for the students, full-time employee and tired people!
Enjoy~
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Meredith
Light flared bright behind my closed eyelids, turning my vision red. I groaned at the heaviness that weighed my head down. My mouth felt so dry and fuzzy.
I'm so thirsty.
I bleary cracked my eyes open.
Branches.
Tree branches rustled above me as the sunlight pulsated through the green leaves, turning them into a bright yellow. Huh, where am I? My mind slowly regain control of my body. I groaned at the aches and pain. What the hell happened? I noted that I was laying on the cool grass. How did I get here? My brain flooded in recent memories as if answering my earlier question, here you go, Red, look at what trouble you got yourself in! I sighed in relief. Right, we went to find the outer glamour. I closed my eyes for a bit, but I yanked them open–remembering one crucial mess.
Bodhi!
I gasped as I sat up quickly then instantly regretted. I groaned as my head pounded as the blood flowed down my body and the world began to tilt. I shut my eyes as I rubbed the throbbing of my temples away, taking a deep breath once I was able to get my bearings. Now, where is that mermaid! I whooshed my head back and forth searching for the deviant mer, paranoid of what mess she got herself in this time. I stopped at my surrounding.
"Whoa," I breathed. It was a small clearing dappled with wild flowers of all colors. Tall, strong trees surrounded the beautiful clearing, guarding it from the shadows that lingered beyond the trees–cocooning us in this small world. Sunlight bled through the trees' interlaced branches–sprinkling golden lights across the wild flowers. But no Bodhi.
"Bodhi?" I called out hesitantly.
A screech followed and something small fell from above, landing in a heap before me.
I yelped as I scrambled back till my back slammed against a tree.
The person groaned in pain.
"Bodhi!" I yelled angrily. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Red!" Bodhi jumped to her feet, throwing her arms wide. "You're alive!" She cried joyfully as she dropped down to her knees to hug me.
"I never died!" I said muffled, suffocated by a small person's torso and I attempted to push her off. "Now, can tell me why the hell you fell from the tree?"
Bodhi bounced back. "I was trying to get my granola bar back..." She trailed off as she searched the ground. "Ah! There it is!" She snatched the granola wrapped bar and then she stood. "Ha! You have been defeated, you nasty beast!" She shook her fist at the branches above.
"Wha–" I looked up. A small squirrel squeaked angrily back at Bodhi, then huffed before it scuttled away. I blinked at Bodhi who was happily munching away on her bar. Is this really happening? Am I still dreaming? I sighed in defeat. There was no point in dwelling on what just happened. I've learnt that with Bodhi... Anything can happen.
"What happen, Red?" Bodhi sat in front of me on the ground, finished off her bar. "You were fine one moment and the next... You were out."
The cotton feeling in my head was slowly diminishing, but my mouth was still dry as the sahara desert. "I don't know... I remember feeling extremely tired and sore." I searched for my backpack and found it discarded on the ground next to me. I grabbed a water bottle and downed it. I sighed satisfactorily and my mind began to sharpen with clarity, instantly feeling better and stronger. "I just need a long nap."
"You drool by the way." Bodhi smirked.
I scoffed. "I do not."
"Do too."
"Do–" I stopped myself before I fell for that again. "Whatever." I looked to the sky, pegging for the time. "How long was I out?"
"Not long, maybe for about twenty minutes."
I nodded in relief. "Alright, so are we here? The edge?"
"Yep, we are at the edge." She pointed at something beyond the meadow. I looked and there was a fallen log. The fallen log was from a young tree; smooth from wear and insipid with time. And it was at the edge, skirting the dark woods. Bodhi added, "Step over the log and you'll be out of the glamour."
I squinted my eyes, still trying to see the elusive glamour. Nothing. "If a human went through it, they forget that mers ever existed?"
Yep, completely erased from their minds." Bodhi smirked. "Quite handy if you want to forget an embarrassing moment, like touching someone's tail."
I groaned at the memory, bringing my knees and arms up to hide my burning face. "I hate you." I said muffled. How could I forget that?
Bodhi laughed.
I thought about something. "What happens if you step through? Would you forget that you were mer?"
"Wouldn't that be something? I don't think that's how it works. I think I would just forget the existence of the aquarium." Bodhi giggled. "I would be one confused mer if that happened."
I let out a small laugh and nervously glanced at the fallen log. "Do you think this glamour is the same as the one around the aquarium? I mean–do you think I will be immune to this one?"
"It looks and feels the same as the other one. Though the casting of this one required immense power, but it doesn't feel as strong as the other since it's so stretched out, I guess."
My heart pattered away. "What if I forget? What if it doesn't work?" What if I forget Bodhi, Nixie, Gale and... Tristen. What if I forget about Tristen? No... that thought was unimaginable.
"You won't forget," Bodhi said with confidence. "You have the immunity."
"But why do I have it?'
"I don't know, some are just born gifted... Maybe it's destiny."
"You believe in destiny?" I asked, surprised.
"Of course!" Bodhi perked up. "How can you not, especially when I have a shi-amare."
My heart slowed down and my stomach eased up on twisting itself. "Let's go over what we know of the glamour."
"Okay!" Bodhi chirped.
"One, it erased humans' minds of mers' existence. Two, it can even erased tech's evidence of mers."
"Three, it doesn't seem to be able to erase drawings."
I nodded, "Right. Four, it seems to detect mers stepping through."
"Five, I can use my strength here, but Gale can't inside the aquarium."
I stopped at that. "You can?"
"I still got that superwoman strength, even in this big glamour."
"It seems that this big glamour sacrificed the strength of the aquarium's to be able to cover the whole city." I continued, "Must be some powerful group of dark fays that is casting this."
"And six, you are able to remain untouched from glamours."
"Right, six." My chest tightened at such hope. What if the other glamour was just a glitch that I was able to pass through? I clenched my hands into a pair of sweaty fists. I can't chicken out now since we've come so far. "Alright, let's get this over with." There are mers depending on me. Nixie's drawing flashed in my mind. Nixie is depending on me to return her home to her parents. I stood on my unsteadily legs. I locked my knees as I walked forward with determination. Time to get down to business.
Bodhi whooped behind me, cheering me on. "Go, Red, go!"
I held my breath as I stopped before the fallen log. It was about twenty feet long, sprouts and moss bloomed among the crevices of the log. It was a nice log to sit and perhaps have a picnic with meadow in sight. Too bad there was a powerful glamour that threaten to scramble a human mind right next to it. I raised my foot to step on the log and hoisted myself up, balancing myself on top of the curve. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I felt slightly weightless, as if something powerful was nearby. I glanced up. Was that the glamour I am feeling? Even though I wasn't Clover, I could still feel something big and brewing. My breath comes out in short puff and I clenched my jaw in determination to slowly walked over to the edge, "Here I go," I dropped to the ground with an inaudible thud and quickly closed my eyes in anticipation.
Nothing happened.
I hesitantly opened my eyes. I immediately called up on a memory of Tristen and his ea green eyes flashed before and I released a relieved breath.
I spun to Bodhi with a big grin.
Bodhi squealed with excitement, she jumped and she clapped. "It worked! It didn't touch you!"
I cheered in relief as I leapt over the log. "It worked! I still remember!" I went over to join her happy dance. I held her hands and jumped with her, laughing with glee. I'm so glad I didn't turn into a drooling vegetable!
A slow clap echoed throughout the meadow.
Bodhi and I stopped, we both stared at our hands in confusion that were holding each other's. Dread filled my stomach. I asked slowly, "Bodhi... Please tell me that you managed to learn how to clap with your ass."
Bodhi shook her head slowly. "I wish."
We both turned to our clapper. Once the clapping stopped, a shadow emerged from the darkness of the forest, revealing a man in his late twenties, dressed in dark jeans and a grunge shirt. The man with brown hair and chiseled jaw grinned. "My, my... what a strange human you have there, fish."
Bodhi hissed. "Dark fay." My eyes widen as I stare at the dark fay. Bodhi grabbed my wrist to drag me behind her as she stepped in front of me with her stance wide, protecting me from the stranger who was watching me with a predatory gleam in his eyes.
His brown eyes glimmered as he watched me. "A human immune to the glamour... Well, I just can't let you go now, can I?" He reached for his back over his shoulder and pulled something out. A soft whish sounded that sent chills down my spine. A long sword appeared and it gleamed under the sun as he whirled in position in front of him–pointing at Bodhi.
We were finally caught by the dark fays.
Bodhi leaned forward to reach into the back of her jean shorts and manifested twin daggers that were not longer than a foot. She twirled them in her hands before holding them at either side of her.
Where the hell did those come from?
"Bodhi?" I whispered in fear. "What are you doing?" My knees trembled at the sight. Bodhi and the dark fay staring down with each other, their weapons aimed to one another. This was not good. Oh god, they were going to fight... And the dark fay didn't look the type to let us go.
Bodhi answered lowly. "He wants to get rid of you." She raised the daggers in front of her in a position. "Don't worry, I won't let him."
I didn't need to be a genius to know what she meant by the dark fay wanting to get rid of me. The dark fay wanted to kill me.
My hands shook as hysterics kicked in. Well, isn't that just dandy?
"My, how did you–" He looked to Bodhi, "–get past the glamour?" The dark fay tilted his head. "Did this human get you past the glamour?" He tsked at that, then–not taking his sight from Bodhi–reached into his back pocket and pulled out a cell phone.
Bodhi stepped forward and the dark fay smirked. "Ah, ah. One more step, I'll throw this straight to that pretty human's head." My breath hitched at the threat. Bodhi stilled–not wanting to leave me open. The fay hit a button and it begun to dial. When someone picked up, he spoke, "Hey, this Ash. I am reporting to–"
Bodhi hissed then launched herself to the dark fay named Ash. Ash growled, dropping his cell phone and jerked his sword up, blocking Bodhi's swing of her daggers. While Bodhi pushed against Ash's sword, she stomped the cell, sending the cell in pieces with her mer strength and silencing the hellos from the cell.
Bodhi didn't let up her charge, she went in for another attack and he easily parry her daggers. She was fast that my eyes could barely keep up with her. I stared in awe–this was nothing like in the movies where all the fight scenes were carefully and artfully choreographed. Bodhi and Ash certainly didn't wait for each other turn like in the movie and it certainly wasn't slow and clean; It was brisk, vicious, and chaotic.
Bodhi shuffled around him, looking for an open. Ash grunted as he side stepped she attacked and he blocked her daggers with a thwack. She cursed and did a backflip, dodging his strike combo and landed neatly on her feet. He swung his blade, aiming for her torso and Bodhi grunted as blocked it with her left dagger. Bodhi immediately swung her other dagger, aiming for his throat. Ash hissed and raised his sword handle upward to deflect with the base of his sword while the tip of his sword continued to block her left dagger.
The metal on metal clashes echoed over their grunts and cusses. Bodhi heaved as she dodged the long sword as it arc downward. She didn't waste a second as she darted forward, taking the opportunity that his sword was down. The dark fay eluded her strike but not fast enough.
A gash appeared on his upper arm and he hissed as black blood dribbled down his arm. "Bitch, you're gonna get it for that."
Bodhi stuck her tongue out and raspberry at him.
I internally groaned. Was she trying to get herself killed?
Ash roared as lifted his sword and lept. He jumped inhumanly high–about ten feet in the air. Bodhi quickly spun around, searching for him.
My heart thudded when he landed behind her. "Behind you!"
Bodhi's eyes went wide and tried to turn, but her legs twisted and gave out.
I gasped as Bodhi fell to the ground, landing on her butt. "Bodhi!" I shouted as the sword came down on her head. She speedily raised her daggers horizontally in front of her.
Clang!
She muttered, "Stupid human legs,"
Ash grinned malevolent. "Still have your sea legs?" He pushed once more, getting closer to her face.
"Still have your pea brain?" Bodhi retorted through her gritted teeth.
He growled and pushed her further to the ground with his sword until she was flat on her back, his sword was getting closer to her neck and the only thing that was protecting Bodhi from being slashed was her twin daggers.
My throat seized as my heart thudded. I have to do something–anything! Without thinking, I ran towards them and–
Something dark moved behind the dark fay and a light glimmered. A metallic shing sounded next. Ash dropped his sword as he lost his head.
He literally lost his head.
Black blood spurted from the neck where his head used to be, spraying it everywhere. The body crumpled forward and his head rolled somewhere off to my right into the woods until I couldn't see it anymore. Bodhi, covered in black liquid, gasped as she crawled out from under his body. She jumped to her feet, gaping at the headless fay. The blood continued to flow, staining the green grass and painting the wild flowers black. I stilled as I stare, unable to look away from the body that continued to twitched. Bodhi jerked back. "What the–"
I finally cracked.
I screamed at the grotesque sight.
Someone stepped out of the shadow, stepped over the fallen dark fay's body and under the sun. He was inhumanly beautiful; his dark skin gleamed enough to make a marble statue jealous, long dreads framed his sculpted face and his dark eyes lit with amusement. He looked to be around my age. The stranger's plush lips twisted in a cruel smile as he glided closer. "Nyx... I bet you're a screamer, huh?" he said. He swung his ax to rest it on his shoulder. "No need to lose your head." He laughed at his own joke.
I stilled as I trembled. My throat constricted once more and I turned to gape at the man with the ax. Bodhi stiffened when he didn't stop till he was about seven feet from us. "Don't move any closer, dark scum." Bodhi threatened darkly.
Another dark fay.
The dark fay raised a brow at Bodhi who stepped in front of me with her weapons in her hands, readied once more. He ignored her by staring over Bodhi and right at me. A broad boyish grin filled his face and I stilled. "Meredith Tesifa Pierce," He breathed as his eyes twinkled alight, "Finally, we meet."
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I have been trying to find out who this model I found on pinterest and I can't find his name anywhere. Anyhow, I'll keep trying. Also, it feels important to mention this. I have spent a good six weeks trying to find the perfect picture of Obsidian. Not because I am picky or have high standard. The reason is actually a sad one– the reason is because there is NO DIVERSITY in the modeling industry. It was the same when I was searching for Meredith and Bodhi's profile photo. I just wanted to mentioned this for awareness of the flaws of the modeling industry and show that ALL HUMANS OF ALL COLORS ARE BEAUTIFUL.
Anyhow, If you wanna see more design and chapter sneak peeks, you can follow Glass Prision's insta at andie_s.e or tumblr at yourandielexxis
Don't forget to vote, show your love!
<3