Meeting A Mermaid

Dying always happens in slow motion.

My dreams had told me so for as long as I could remember. No matter how big a wave was, or how fast a mermaid swam, I never seemed to get away in time. It’s the kind of fear that aches right in the center of your being.

But the first time I saw you, nothing told me to run.

It was early, that morning when I caught you. Wind shook my ship violently, even though the sails were furled, begging me to fall overboard. It was a miracle that I managed to haul you onto the deck.

The moment you landed, I knew you could survive above water. You coughed at impact, heaving for air like a human. You scrambled to lift your face from the wood long after the other fish stopped jumping.

I’d never seen a real mermaid before. No one told me that you would be so…colorful. Teal scales shimmered under the pounding rain and each time drops rolled off of you, they shifted the color underneath to lilac. Somewhere your tail turned into skin, but your back was covered by purple and orange pearls. Suddenly my ship felt very grey.

Your head had been caught in the net and twisted around your neck. The skin there started to turn red. Each time you moved I winced at the way the rope cut into you.

I bent my knee so I could loosen it and almost got a heart attack when you twisted around to grab my hair. My face landed hard against your shoulder. I lost my vision right before something sharp and cold pressed against my jugular.

I didn’t know I had to bring a body guard to fish. Mermaids aren’t even supposed to be this far north. The one time I went out alone, without hunting gear, one showed up.

Water dripped from my open lips as I tried to slow my breath. My shirt was sticking to my skin, my ear catching a steady pulse, and you smelled like salt.

If I wished for a swift death, I’d let you end me right here. I’d bleed out in minutes, while you would be stuck for days in agonising desiccation. Killing me would be suicide. I scoffed.

Lucky for you, I happen to like living.

My hands found the rope behind your back. The sharp object bit at my neck, but if you wanted to cut you would have. You knew that you needed me.

I felt oddly safe in that embrace as I began to whisper, weakening the ward around the rope. The heat under my palms flew into the storm. Every trickle made me shiver, my heat removing the old magic. No one volunteers to use their powers out at sea. Especially not in a storm. But what choice did I have?

If my attention wasn’t elsewhere I might’ve noticed you relaxing a bit.

As the magic ran low, I searched to find your elbow. It was incredibly soft, and so was the length of the arm leading to your hand. To my surprise, you let me take your weapon. I guessed then that you probably had more.

My hair screamed in your grip as I leaned in closer to you. It was harder than I thought to cut a rope without seeing it, but I made it work. It fell and I skimmed my fingers over the pearls at your back to the root of your neck. Then they curled around the rope and slid it off of you.

Your grip eased and I smiled.

Right when thunder boomed, I pushed your wrist up from my head and flipped you to your stomach. White light burned as I regained my vision, almost making me lose hold of your wiggling body. I shook my head and tugged one last time at my magic. Your hands were bound. A laugh escaped me in my triumph.

To solidify your capture, I dragged you to the mast. With another rope, I started tying you to it. And then you spat in my face.

That was the first time I saw your eyes. I almost jumped. Unnaturally, viscously green. My retinas hurt a second time staring at them.