Chapter 16

Day by day, the spine of the book grew more pliant in my hands, its pages softened by my incessant thumbing. I was drawn, over and over again, to the section on mermaids – a compendium of myths that felt more like a manual for understanding the impossible. The paper crackled softly under my touch as I poured over each word, each image of creatures that were half-human, half-fish, their lives shrouded in the mystery of the deep.
"Mermaids can really transform their tails into legs," I whispered to myself, echoing the legends before me. I could still vividly recall the night at the swimming pool, the moonlight rippling across the water and casting an otherworldly glow on Mr. Alan's silhouette. His secret glided just beneath the surface of my memory, elusive but undeniable.
A sigh escaped me, fogging the black ink on the page. There was no room for doubt; the way he moved with such grace both in and out of the water, how his eyes held the depth of the ocean – it all pointed to the fantastic truth. Mr. Alan was not bound by the same laws that anchored the rest of us to solid ground.
In the silence of my room, surrounded by the whispers of mermaid tales, belief was easy. It wrapped around me as tangible as the sea foam on the crest of a wave, insistent and wild. I clung to it, this newfound certainty, even as reality loomed beyond my window, ready to challenge the magic of my convictions.
The sun was high, beating down on the sports field as I watched Elodie stride victoriously up to the podium. Her team, a blur of matching tracksuits and glowing faces, accumulated gold medals like magpies hoarding treasures. My own hands were empty, my name never called, but the thrill of competition still hummed in my veins like the afterglow of a storm.
I avoided looking at the water plaza for as long as I could, knowing that the award ceremony there would only draw me deeper into a sea of questions with no shore in sight. But as the crowd began to shift towards the lake's edge, curiosity won over, and my gaze found its way to the floating platform where seven chairs sat, regal and unoccupied.
The reflection of the setting sun danced across the water, turning it into liquid gold, a fitting stage for the day's champions. It was there, amidst the shimmering ripples, that I saw him. Alan stood apart from the others, his tuxedo impeccable, as if woven from the night sky itself. His eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that seemed to pierce through the gathering dusk, acknowledging the secret that tethered us together – a secret I couldn't prove.
My heart pounded against my ribcage, erratic as the waves lapping at the edges of the platform. He was mercurial, this man of myths, standing so confidently in the world of the land dwellers. The image of the moonlit swim flashed before me again, and I was consumed by the need to know, to understand, to dive beneath the surface of Mr. Alan's enigmatic existence.
"Mermaids," I murmured under my breath, a prayer to the beings of the deep, hoping they'd grant me the evidence I needed to pull back the veil on the mystery that was Alan. But the mermaids of lore were silent, their secrets kept just beyond reach, leaving me adrift in a sea of doubt and wonder.
The air, once filled with the hum of celebration, fractured into a cacophony of screams and chaos. A shadow descended upon us, vast and ominous, eclipsing the sun's last rays. My gaze shot upwards, heart clenching, as the silhouette of a dragon unfurled its fiery wings against the twilight sky. Its scales glinted like molten embers as it swooped lower, an ancient terror in flesh and blood.
Instinctively, I turned and bolted with the crowd, our feet thundering against the ground in a desperate symphony of survival. We were a flood of bodies, all humanity forgotten in the primal urge to escape. The heat from the dragon's breath lapped at my heels, urging me onward, but fear was a cruel and clumsy dance partner.
A misstep—a jostle from the panicked swarm—sent me reeling. My balance betrayed me, and the firmness of land vanished beneath my feet. With a gasp and splash, I plunged into the cold embrace of the lake, the shock of the water stealing the breath from my lungs.
I flailed, my limbs heavy and uncooperative, as darkness clawed at the edges of my vision. The weight of my soaked clothes dragged me down, threatening to claim me for the depths. But before despair could tighten its grip, a hand seized mine, strong and unwavering.
Panic was replaced with a sudden surge of hope as I felt the firmness of flesh against my own. My fingers latched onto the hand, wrapping around it with the desperation of a drowning soul clinging to her last lifeline. Waterlogged dress and all, I held on, my knuckles white, refusing to be pulled away by the dark swirling currents below.
The chaos of the world above—the screams, the terrible heat from the dragon's breath—seemed to grow distant. Below the surface, there was a different kind of silence, an otherworldly hush that enveloped me. Through the shimmering veil of lake water, my eyes caught sight of something extraordinary.
A blurry fish tail moved gracefully through the murky depths, its scales catching the fading light that dared to pierce the surface. A cascade of beautiful blue hair accompanied the tail's dance, flowing in the water with an ethereal charm. It was like watching a painting come to life, the strokes of color vibrant against the dim environment. There was no mistaking it; even without clear vision, the evidence was undeniable. This was the stuff of legends, the creature I had read about in hushed fascination—a mermaid, here before me.
The strands of blue hair billowed around us, each tendril a delicate wisp, undulating like seaweed caught in the gentle embrace of the ocean's breath. I was transfixed by the sight, the surreal beauty of it all. This aquatic ballet seemed to belong to another realm, one that whispered of mysteries long lost to the depths.
Then, as my gaze wandered from the mesmerizing dance of hair, I noticed the stark contrast of fabric amidst the water's fluid canvas. The tuxedo swayed behind him, its fine material fanning out gracefully, defying the chaos that had just erupted above the surface. It moved with an uncanny poise, so elegant and composed even in this submerged world.
My heart stuttered as my eyes locked onto his figure, the realization hitting me with the force of the tumultuous waves above. Alan. The man who haunted my thoughts with the same persistence as the sea calls to the shore.
Shock tightened around my chest, squeezing the breath from my lungs as I felt the slippery scales of his tail glide against my lower abdomen. His transformation from myth to flesh unfolded before my very eyes, the stuff of fairy tales morphing into startling reality. My skin tingled at the contact, sending shivers through me that had nothing to do with the chill of the lake water.
And then, there it was—a hard object, emerging unexpectedly. It pressed between my legs, moving in and out rhythmically with the motions of our struggle. My mind refused to comprehend for a moment, disoriented by the sudden intrusion. But the rhythm was not one of aggression; it was a necessary cadence, a means of propulsion as Alan maneuvered us both towards safety.
His grip on me was unyielding, his strength the only assurance I had in the liquid abyss that we would escape the terror that reigned above. As fear mingled with awe, I clung to him tighter, trusting in the merman who had become my savior in this watery realm where legends breathed and walked among us.