With so many things going on in Neha's mind, it took some time for her to get into the sleep.
When she woke up, it is too dark to see anything. Even then she could feel that something was odd. Something was out of place.
She got up to sit in her bed. She then realized what was out of place there. She was not under the water, but out of it. She doesn't know where she was.
She looked around her but couldn't see anything due to the darkness. Slowly she raised from her bed and then she noticed that her fins were missing, and it was replaced by legs!
Her eyes widened. "What the hell is happening? Nixie, are you there?" She tried to call her pet. But she was greeted with no response. She somehow knew that she was alone there.
She took deep and slow breathe to calm herself. She was so confused with all those things that were happening. She didn't understand why all the weird things were happening for her in a single day.
She was not sure whether she was dreaming or not. First, she was attacked and now this. It felt very weird to have the legs and she stumbled when she took a step. She managed not to fell by gripping the edge of the bed.
Her eyes now adjusted to the dark and she could see some of the outer line of the things. She stood up and then took few steps to get used to the feeling of her legs.
Once she learned to manage her steps, she started to find the way out of the room. By touching the things and taking few steps at the time she started to move around the room to find the door.
It took some time for her to find the door which was locked inside. She unlocked her door and came outside to be greeted by dark long corridor.
One thing is sure, she was not in her room and not definitely under the ocean. It felt like she was in the place where the creature of the land resides.
May be perhaps she was having out of body experience and the body that she was in now belongs to someone else from the land. She was not sure. Looking down she saw herself, but she could not see anything in the darkness.
Very recently after she turned sixteen, she was discovering her abilities one by one and this could be one of those abilities, she thought. Each mermaid and mermen are special in their own abilities. Most of the abilities that the mermaid poses are distinct.
She made a mental note that once she returned home, she would enquire about Mermaids having out of body experience.
She found the way out and went outside the place. She became anxious with the things she saw. She now stood in the middle of the forest outside the building that were abandoned. All around the place only trees could be seen.
Neha looked down and as she thought she wasn't in her body. Above the forest full moon adored the sky. She stared at the enchanting moon for few minutes. Looking at the moon gave some sort of peace to her.
With the recent encounter with the dragon that almost killed her, she feared for her life in the place that is foreign.
"I have to get back to my body. But how can I do it?" She thought in frustration and worry.
She thought of lying down and sleep so that when she woke up, she might be returned to her body.
But before that she wanted to make sure that nothing dangerous was lurking outside and attack her. When she was thinking about that, wind around her picked up the speed.
Something landed behind her. She froze with wide eyes and turned her head slowly to see what that was.
When she turned, she found nothing odd. Her eyebrows furrowed and everything looked same as before. She squinted her eyes to see at the dark side of the forest behind her for any movement.
She waited for something to move. But nothing happened and everything seems alright. She let out the breath that she was holding until now and turned.
Her eyes met the dark red eyes that looked dangerous and mesmerizing. Her breath hitched. Infront of her was a dragon that was big and black with red eyes.
She didn't have the courage to move with the proximity that the dragon stood above her. Its breath hit her. She was not sure whether the dragon she saw in the shore and that in front of her is same one or not. She didn't remember the color of the eyes of the dragon which attacked her on the shore.
What can she say, she didn't find the time to notice the features of the dragon when being chased.
"Hi", she smiled at the dragon. The Dragon held mischievous smile that agitated her.
She could make a run and if she was attacked by the dragon and died she might go to her body, she thought. But she could move the Dragon towered over her and took a step towards her, Neha took two steps back. A chilling sound came from its mouth.
Neha raised her hands up and said," See I am not going to be a threat for you. Please let me go and I won't look back at this place."
Her words felt stupid even to her ears. Dragon narrowed its eyes, but somehow Neha didn't fear the dragon as last time. Somewhere she hoped that she would return safely.
Dragon bared its teeth. Neha looked at its clean and white teeth. For a dragon, it kept its teeth clean Neha thought.
With one shift, it picked Neha in its claw and started to fly upwards. Neha panicked and closed her eyes and shrieked. When she opened, she wished she was back in her home. But instead she was going up and up. Imagine how it is for a creature which resides deep under the sea to fly above the sky.
Neha felt sick and she was sure she would throw up soon. When she looked up at the dragon, it had its eye on her. Something crossed its eyes. Before she could decipher it dragon released its claw around her.
Her stomach dropped. With loud scream she started to fall from the sky with closed eyes.