Before I knew it I was saved by Andrew. He cut the chains and saved me. We resurfaced, he helped me board the boat, and he gave me a towel to dry myself off with when I took my gear off. It was all over in a blink of an eye.
After that experience, I saw Andrew in a new light. I don't know what it was, but I feel like no matter what happens I have to be by his side and that I can completely leave my life in his hands.
I went over to the mermaid to check up on her status.
As I was examining her I noticed that she was very pale and that her cheeks were very flushed. From the looks of it she looked sick.
As I was thinking about her being sick my head started hurting and I started to see a flashing white light. For a moment there I forgot that I was hit on the head by the boulder when it fell back down. I was tempted to tell Andrew that I had hit my head, but I decided to keep it from him because the mermaid was the most important thing at the moment.
Besides, he just saved my life I didn't want to bother him with taking me to the hospital. Instead, I told him about the mermaid's condition.
"Hey Andrew? I don't think that she's feeling too well," I said. "What do you mean Clair? Let me see," he said. Andrew came over to the tub and observed her as well. "See she's pale, she doesn't have energy, and her cheeks are flushed," I said. "We'll see if she has a fever," said Andrew, "I'm going to check the first aid kit to see what we have."
I reached in to touch her forehead. I could tell she was terrified. "It's okay," I said to her. As soon as I touched her my head began to hurt again and I started to see that flashing white light again, but this time after the light, I saw visions.
The vision started out under water and surfaces onto a island filled with trees and a beautiful white beach. I saw a baby in a white basket sitting on top of a bed of seaweed with some sort of crest embedded on the side. The crest had a picture of a mermaid and a merman holding a trident together.
On the beach stood two people. A handsome young man and beautiful young woman.
They began to come towards the baby as it started crying and picked it up.
The people began to murmur something each to the crying baby.
"It's okay my child stop crying. It's all over for now. We will be sending you somewhere nobody else will find you. The first dimension also known as the Realm of Humans. Nobody else knows that the first dimension exists and that there's a portal that only the royal family can use. You are the princess of this kingdom, so you need to be kept safe," the woman said to the baby.
"It is your destiny to save this kingdom. When the time come, we will find you and bring you home. For now you will live your life as a regular human girl. We will put a spell on you to keep your tail hidden, but the spell will be broken once you touch any form of water that is connected to our realm. Also, meet Kuppa your guardian. He's a shapeshifter and can transform into anything that is suitable to protect you by all means if something was to ever happen to you, but let's just pray to Poseidon that he doesn't have to do any of that. When you guys reach the first dimension Kuppa will transform into something suitable for a child in the human world," the man said to the baby.
As I was listening I began to wonder how in the world is this baby going to remember a single word these people said to her. They were straight up talking to her like she was able to understand it. They were saying things a kid my age would understand.
Anyways I need to get back on track. Like why am I seeing this? Is this connected to this mermaid somehow? What do I have to do with this? Am I like her chosen one from like movies and stuff? Okay I'm getting too excited. Ever since I started touching her I began seeing things. Now that I think about it my dreams were similar to the visions I started having as well.
"Avalon..." said a voice.
Avalon? Who in the world is Avalon? Wait....I heard that name before. Avalon....that name rings a bell so much, but I can't remember where I heard it.
I looked around to find the two people, but they were gone and so was the baby and I was under water.
"Avalon......" said the voice again.
"Avalon you have to wake up now," the voice echoed.
Where is that coming from?
"Avalon...Avalon.....Avalon..........Claire...............Claire!" the voice shouted. My eyes shot open to find Andrew dumping water on my face. As if I hadn't had enough of water today, I wake up from a dream about water to Andrew dumping water on my face.
"Come on Andrew! I just dried off! I'm freezing cold. Why would you pour water on me?" I asked in an irritant tone. He replied as if he was extremely scared about what just happened, "Claire, listen to me. When I went to find first aid for the mermaid, I came back and you had this blank look on your face as if you were brainwashed. I tried calling out to you, but it wouldn't work. Also, you were still touching that thing when it all happened."
I turned to see that Andrew was pointing at the mermaid.
"I asked her what the hell was happening to you, but she wouldn't answer. Then, when I pulled you away from her you completely blacked out and collapsed. You were out cold for about thirty minutes," he continued. "So you're telling me that I was asleep for thirty minutes?" I asked.
"Yea. I tried waking you up, but you just wouldn't wake up," he answered back even more worried than he was before as he thought about how long I blacked out for. Maybe he thinks I have brain damage or that the mermaid was killing me.
This is crazy! Everything he's been saying doesn't make any sense. It felt like only five minutes has passed. How could thirty minutes pass by so fast?
I begin to tell him how everything doesn't add up, "That can't be true. I only zoned out for like five minutes at most six. There's no way I out for thirty minutes."
He looked at me as if I lost my mind. "Did you not just hear what came out of your mouth," he asked as if he was actually confused, "you just said 'for what felt like...' you can't base everything off of what you feel Claire."
"Look all I have to say is that estimating thirty minutes is a bit of an overkill don't you th—," Andrew put his hand over my mouth cutting me off. "Hey Claire. How about you stop running your trap for a moment and look around," he said. I took his hand away as we were getting up off of the floor of the boat. I was shocked at what stood before me.
We were back at the docks behind my house.
"How are we back at my house? The trip between my house and Mako takes around fifty minutes to an hour, so how on Earth are we back at my house if I was unconscious for thirty minutes Andrew?" I asked out of curiosity. "What are you talking about? I'm positive that it was thirty minutes," he exclaimed.
"Dude I'm not sure if you know how long I was out for, but I do know for sure that I wasn't out for thirty minutes." I said. "What are you trying to say?" He asked. "Look I know you're not the brightest bulb in the room, but I think I was asleep for about an hour," I answered.
I don't think Andrew estimated the time correctly. We live in Gold Coast which means it would take around an hour to get to and from Mako because of how far our city is compared to the other cities that are closer to Mako.
"Damn you're right! I'm sorry for calling you out, but I guess now we both can admit we were wrong," he said. I nod agreeing with him even though he was being rude about how I see things in life. I still love his goofy personality though, so I'm going to let him slide this time.
I turn towards the mermaid still sitting in the tub. "Did you find anything useful in the first aid kit?" I asked. "I did, but I didn't give her anything because I thought she was hurting you and I didn't want to help a monster, so I didn't help her," he explained. "It's okay. We can just give it to her now," I said. I looked towards Andrew. He had a concerned look on his face.
He grabbed my arm, pulled me aside, and said, "I think there's something off about our new fish friend. I have a very strong feeling that she knew what was happening to you and she said nothing about it. Bruh, I'm starting to have second thoughts about bringing her home with us," he explained very vividly.
I thought to myself for a second. "Okay. When she feels better we'll ask her some questions starting off with if she's okay and offer her help. We want her to trust us if we want to get her to talk. Then, we'll ask questions about who she is, where she came from, and why she's here in the first place," I said to calm him down.
He faintly replied with an alright.
"What did you find in the first aid kit?" I asked. "I found some pain killers, some day quill, some Neosporin, and some bandages for her tail," he replied. "Alright lets give her the medicine now and patch her up in my room," I said.
We gave her all the medicine and waited for it to kick in. We unloaded the diving gear and any souvenirs we found. When I got to unloading the tank I almost forgot that I almost died today.
"Hey. Don't let my dad see the tanks because if he notices that my air tank is empty he's going to know something has happened and if he finds out, then we can kiss diving goodbye," I said with so much fear in my voice. "Don't worry. I can just take your tank home with me and replace it with a half used tank," he said.
"Thanks Andrew. You're a life saver. I don't know what I would if I couldn't dive anymore. I love the ocean. The animals are very beautiful and friendly," I explained.
"Yea. I still can't believe that shark helped you out of that seaweed bed instead of taking the opportunity to tear you to shreds," said Andrew. "Me either. It was either that shark was a vegetarian or I was extremely lucky that day," I agreed.
Now that he mentions it sharks are the animals most people would run away from because they're always trying to kill everything in their path. I'm curious as to why that shark saved me instead of killing me.
We continue to unpack our stuff from the boat. When we finished directed our attention towards the mermaid. "The medicine should be in affect now, so we can take her to m y room now," I said. "What if your parents hear us?" He asked. "Don't worry. Just try not to make too much noise or else they might notice," I replied. He responded with a simple okay as if he was nervous that my parents might figure out.
We got her out of the tub, but we noticed that she was a little heavy to carry all the way to my room. We placed her on the deck. "Don't you have a wagon of some sort that we can carry her in because she weighs like a ton?" Andrew asked. "Umm....did you just assume her gender?" I jokingly asked Andrew, "That's very rude of you."
Really Claire? Come on stop playing around. Do you have a wagon or not?" He asked. "Jeez lighten up. Of course I do," I answered, "my dad keeps one in the gardening shed. I'll go get it." "I'll dry her off so that way she won't be slippery when we pick her up," said Andrew. "Alright," I replied.
I snuck pass the house to the gardening shed. I grabbed the key from the flower pot and carefully opened the shed making sure not to make any noise. I wheeled the wagon out quietly locking the shed back placing the key in the exact same spot as if it was never touched. I brought the wagon back to the boat. When I arrived I was greeted by a very strange sight.
"What the fuck Andrew!?!?" I yelled, "I was only gone for a minute and you can't keep it in your pants! Where the hell did she even come from and where did the mermaid go!"
I was confused as to where the mermaid disappeared to and why there was a naked girl present with her arms wrapped around Andrew.
In that moment my heart ached. I've never felt this feeling before. It feels like my heart's being stabbed over and over and over again.
"Shh! Claire, you have to listen to me. Someone might hear you," he said. In that moment I hear my mothers voice.
I turn to see her poking her head out of the door, "Claire? Andrew? Are you guys back from your trip so early?" Shit she must've heard me yell out at Andrew. "Yea mom. We just got back," I answered. "Okay...well I can help you unpack. Do you guys want lunch as well?" She asked with the kind thought of helping us out, but I couldn't let her come out here and see Andrew with a naked tramp.
"No!" I yelled as she looked at me confused, "we're almost finished. We're just making the last run right now. As for lunch, we'll be right in after this last haul. Lemonade and a turkey sandwich please and you already know what to get for Andrew."
"Okay be sure to let me know if you need any help with anything. I'll be in the kitchen making lunch," she said while closing the door behind her. Once it was all clear I directed my attention towards HIM.
"Now before you freak out, this girl isn't a random girl that I hid on my boat just to get down with when you weren't around because I know that's what your thinking," he explained. How did he know that THAT'S exactly what I was thinking. "What are you talking about?" I asked as if I didn't know exactly what he was talking about.
"You and your thoughts. You are always jumping to conclusions and assuming shit. Just here me out and listen to what I got to say before you start getting any other ideas and saying something else," he replied.
Is he done talking yet? I can't hear him. Anytime something bad happens to me I tend to drown everything out. I'm pretty sure that whatever he's saying isn't even important. Especially not in this moment. In moments like this I need to runaway. In this moment I NEED to run away.
I responded lightly to Andrew with no argument, "You know what...I really don't want to here what you have to say right now. Just go home because I really don't feel like talking to you or looking at your face right now." With that being said, I completely drew a blank and drowned out everything and anyone around me and I ran. I ran to my place of Euphoria.