Part One

The Awakening

The night air was warm and heavy as she stepped off her sodden front porch into the dripping world outside. The rainstorm had abated for the moment and left the night quite humid. She took off her sweater tentatively and glanced up at the sky above her. The orange-white clouds flew to the West pushed by a strong wind she couldn't feel. She looked over her shoulder at her open door that spilled the inviting yellow light onto the stone steps of the porch. She could hear her family laughing and moving around inside and she felt guilty for not wanting to be with them. Soon they would notice she wasn't inside and call her back. Until then, she had time…

"Celia? Where'd Celia go?"

     She opened her mouth to answer but found she had no voice. She frowned at the door, at the warm night around her, and bit her cheek. She tugged on her sweater and ran silently down her curved driveway to the avenue of trees beyond. She slowed to a walk once she cleared her block and was out of sight. She jerked to a halt and bit her cheek. 'What am I doing?' she thought. She half-turned to go back but shook her head and continued to walk away.

     She had no idea where she was walking to, only that it felt good to be moving. It felt good to disappear from her world and immerse herself in one that was unknown, unexplored, and unfriendly. She walked for hours, the haze of the city lights getting closer and closer as she climbed the hill it sat upon. She brushed past strangers on the broken, uneven sidewalks. They barely acknowledged her as she wished them a good night. They just kept on to their destination, head bowed and their steps dogged.

     She reached the outskirts of downtown and halted. She looked up and down the busy night streets. She took in the heavy traffic, the night people that seized the advantage of the pleasures only a city that never sleeps can offer, and the others that leaned against the thick stone walls of the old buildings, sizing up people as they passed, deciding which to follow and which to let go by unmolested. She toyed with the idea of joining the throng and seeing where they led her but didn't have the courage. She bit her cheek and headed off in a direction she knew would lead her somewhere safe. She didn't look back once.

     She heard it before she saw it. The great sigh the ocean makes as the water is pulled by an unseen force from the shore. A simile popped in her head, half-formed but she shook it off with a twitch of her shoulders. She plopped down onto the soaked wooden dock and pulled of her shoes and rolled up her pant legs to above her knees. She slipped off the low dock onto the rocky sand below that cut into her feet painfully as she landed. She stuck her shoes beneath a piling that was semi dry and tried not to wince as she made her way to the ocean.

     Her skin erupted into goose bumps as she stepped into the water that was a lot colder than she expected it to be. She waded around and splashed the water simply to do something. She grinned sheepishly; the idea of the ocean was a lot more romantic before she had actually been standing in it. She felt a splash on her cheek and looked up at the sky just in time to see the rain pour down. All around her, the surface of the ocean waves were pocked and chipped by the rain drops as they fell into it. The sound was deafening and exhilarating and without knowing, Celia had a huge smile on her face. She splashed a little more to release some thing that was building inside and resolved that it was time to go home.

     A sparkle caught her eye as she turned back to shore. She twisted around in the water to get a better look but saw nothing. She shrugged but kept looking, hoping to see what it was. She felt a gentle pull, stronger than the tides but soft against her skin. First it was just on her legs and she dismissed it as the tide coming in. Then it traveled up through her body. Relax, it whispered, close your eyes. Slowly her eyes grew heavy until she couldn't open them. She felt a strong pull in her midsection and never felt the cold embrace her body as she crumbled into the ocean.

     She felt soft touches on her face, on her skin as it traveled down her body, and through her hair as the force pulled her further and further away from warmth. Then it stopped and she was adrift in cold darkness. Wake. Her eyes flew open of their own accord and immediately started to burn as the ocean water accosted them. Her vision blurred and sharpened as her eyes tried to see through the dark watery gloom. She saw nothing but ocean around her. Her heart pounded and her brain fought to panic but she pushed it away.

     She watched intently as she saw flashes of rainbow silver that sparkled like diamonds. It got closer only to go further away. She could feel her body struggle for air. The sparkle disappeared only to reappear somewhere else. Her veins burned all over her body. It was gone again but she could see something moving not to far way. Her heart sucked in her chest as it struggled to pump her freezing blood. A shadowy face was illuminated by the rays of moonlight that pierced the dark water. Wait, wasn't it raining? Her body seized painfully and a flash of panic swept through her. Random thoughts crossed her mind as it sought to deny the fact that she was dying. She felt like she was dreaming and had no control and nothing made sense. She was half-awake and had to get home. Everyone was waiting, they needed her before they could leave, they had to say goodbye.

     Seized by this incoherent thought, she struck upwards towards what she thought was the surface and had she continued she would have made it before her brain was starved of oxygen and she would have broken through the waves and gasped for breath. Instead, slimy strong hands slipped up her legs and pulled her gently back down. She curled over and under to see what was holding her. She forgot in her awe and opened her mouth to gasp. The water seized its chance and surged through her mouth, down her throat, and into her lungs. She barely noticed.

     A mermaid held her firmly by the waist and kept her in place. Its light hair rippled across its beautiful, radiant face in waves. Its silver eyes pierced Celia's with a deep coldness Celia couldn't understand. Its skin was so much more than pale, almost silver but soft and slimy to the touch. Celia brushed her hands down its body unconsciously to the glittering scales of its tale. Her eyes grew heavy and she slowly began to slip away. She was shaken forcefully, her head whipped back and forth. The mermaid sought her eyes, searched her plain hazel eyes for something it didn't find. It leaned inwards without breaking eye contact and sealed its lips over Celia's. Its tongue parted her lips, opened her mouth, and drained the water from her lungs. It sighed and ran its hands through Celia's floating hair and pulled her tight against its cold, slimy body. Its hands moved to the back of her neck and held her firmly as it began to suck the last of her warmth away through her open mouth. It sucked away her life, her memories, and her emotions until all that was left was a yawning emptiness and an abyss of coldness that threatened to envelop her.