Blood for Atlantis Page 2

  “You’re not twenty-six,” Morgan states before leaning forward and placing his now empty scotch on the table. “You are roughly fifty years old.”

  “Shut the front door! There is no way I am fifty,” I argue.

  “Well, you're a mermaid for one. He could have said you were three hundred, and it could have been true,” Laki says, throwing his voice back into the conversation.

  “I think I would remember being a mermaid. I can’t even swim.”

  “No, I told you that they wiped your memory,,” Morgan explains, sounding frustrated about the situation.

  Two hands land on my shoulders in an attempt to massage them. I bolt from my seat, turning around to see Aden standing there with a surprised expression, “Don’t touch me like I know you. I don’t. Right now, I am Wendy.”

  The hurt that flashes across Aden’s face causes me to soften immediately. “I’m sorry. It is just really hard to believe.”

  “But you have to admit your memories of your life in Florida are already fading,” Morgan counters.

  I glance down at the man who is still sitting upon the couch. I try to picture my cozy house, but nothing comes. Closing my eyes, I make one last attempt and can see my house. When I try to think of my job or the people I know, everything comes back blank.

  Panic grips my chest, and I can’t catch my breath. I heave in huge gulps of air rapidly. Breck holds a glass of water out for me and orders me to drink. I gulp the water down so fast it spills out the side of my mouth, and I choke. I back up and sit on the table.

  “She is losing it, Morgan, can’t we just throw her in the ocean, so her memories can come back?”

  “It doesn’t work like that, Laki, but maybe the pool will calm her. She is a knotted mess because she hasn’t shifted in years.”

  “Shift? Throw me in the ocean? No, I’m not ready for this. Can you show me to my bed? I need some time alone.”

  “I’ll take her,” Aden walks around the couch. I waste no time turning to follow him.

  He takes me down a narrow hall with doors. I notice that there are not enough doors for the number of people on the boat.

  Aden reads my thoughts because he adds, “Laki and Breck stay together. I bunk with Morgan.”

  “What about Charles?” I ask.

  “Charles? He lives on land. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get to travel with us.”

  He opens a door at the end of the hall. We enter into a large suite with a king-size bed and a glass wall as the headboard.

  “Wow, there is no way this should be mine.”

  Aden chuckles in response.

  “Will I be traveling with you?” I question as Aden stays perched in the doorway.

  “It is safer if you do. Someday, your memories will come back to you, and you will understand.”

  I sit on the bed and probe for more from the sexy quiet Aden, “Who were you to me?”

  Aden blushes and runs his hand through his short hair. “We were together in a way. We are bound in our duty and job, although we didn’t get much time together. I wish I could tell you more, but Morgan insists you need to remember on your own. I do want you to know I missed you. All of us did. We have been lost without you.”

  I glimpse at my now bare feet, “I know if this is real, we had to have something between us.”

  “Yeah, we did. We all did,” Aden responds.

  “All?” I ask with my eyes wide in horror.

  Aden laughs a much deeper laugh than I expected to come from him. “Oh, you will remember, and you will see. I promise. But until then, you will be Wendy, and we will be nothing more than your guides. Now, goodnight. If you need anything, my door is the one nearest to the main cabin.”

  Aden turns to leave, and I shout back after him, “Goodnight!”

  I take a gander around the room, knowing it is too early to go to bed. I just needed to take a break from all of the knowledge they wanted to put on me at once. Opening a small door, I find a bathroom with a large multi-person-size bathtub. I have no memories of taking a bath.

  I lean over and turn on the water, allowing it to run over my fingers until it turns the perfect temperature. This is it, I am going to take my first bath. I am creating new memories.

  3

  The bath has been full for ten minutes or more, but I continue to sit on my knees next to it, staring at the placid water. This shouldn’t be so hard. My fingers graze the top, and I watch the ripples spread from my gentle touch.

  “I can do this,” I repeat to myself over and over within my head.

  I gulp in a big breath of air while forcing myself to stand, shaking my arms out and then stretching each arm in front of me. There is no way I am a mermaid. My fear of being submerged in water comes from something else. I dance on my toes as I build up my confidence. In one solid movement, I pull my white sundress over my head and shimmy out of my panties, leaving all of the clothing puddled together on the floor.

  I crack my neck to the side and shake out my arms one more time. Lifting my right leg, I let my toe dip into the water. I instantly pull back, losing my balance and landing on the hard floor. Hopefully, I am far enough at the back of the yacht that no one can hear my ridiculous antics.

  That’s right, I am being ridiculous, “It’s only a bath, Wendy!” I chide myself out loud.

  Picking myself off of the floor, I quickly step into the bathtub before I have a chance to change my mind, although I don’t sit down. My heart is beating hard in my chest.

  “Okay, I did it. I am in the water, and nothing is happening.” I am now talking to myself, great. One step away from being certifiable.

  I squat down with my hands on the sides of the large tub. My butt cheeks grazing the top of the water. Breathe in. . . . Breathe out. . . . Breathe in. . . . Breathe out. In one fluid motion, I launch myself backwards into the curve of the tub. My arms stop me from going fully submerged, and I note the copious amount of water that has splashed out on to the floor.

  My hands grip the porcelain edges so hard, my fingers and knuckles are white. Nothing has happened. I am still me, Wendy. I let out a relieved breath and lean my back against the tub, relaxing. This is nice. Water isn’t so bad.

  My eyes drift close. On the backs of my eyelids, colors start to dance–greens and purples. My entire body begins to tingle, and my legs are forced together. I try to open my eyes, but they stay glued shut upon my cheeks. My mouth does open, and I begin to scream, but the sound I hear is nothing like my own voice. Instead it is more of a ghostly wail, which on a cold night, could drift miles across the water.

  The scream I let loose seems never ending. That is until the smell of men enter my rooms. My wail ends on its own, but my mouth stays open salivating. I am hungry, and I am not sure what for. I thrash my tail. Giant fin, oh God, I’m half fish! In my panic, I begin to wail again.

  “Splash water in her face! The lass needs to open her eyes!” Morgan yells with a hint of the gaelic accent I picked up earlier.

  Water hits my face, and my eyes burst open. I see all the men standing around me. I am scared to look down at my body, so I keep my eyes fixed on Morgan.

  “What have you done to me?” I plead with him for answers.

  “I told you what you are,” he responds.

  I go to speak again when something sharp grazes the top of my tongue. The sweet metallic taste of my own blood causes me to hiss. The sound frightens me so much, I lift my hand from the water, covering my mouth. My eyes are wide in fear.

  “I’m a monster,” I mutter from behind my hand.

  “No, you are beautiful and perfect. You are only starving now that you’ve found your form,” Laki answers in an attempt to comfort me.

  “Starving? What do I eat?” I don’t want to know the answer. The way my mouth is watering while I look at my men tells me the answer. My men?

  “You know the answer to that,” Breck says from the foot of the bathtub.

  His voice draws my eyes his way, and I see my body for the first time. M
y fin is hanging over the edge of the tub. My scales are luminescent shades of green, purple, and blue. I breathe deeply as my eyes move up my softly shimmering abdomen. Spare scales dot their way up my hips and along the sides of my bare breasts.

  I pull my hand from the water again to observe the sharp nails that are a dark green in color. There is iridescent webbed skin between each finger that only extends to the center knuckle allowing me full use of each finger. On my forearm, I have a small razor-sharp purple fin. I bring my finger up to touch it, but Aden interrupts me, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Those are sharp and used for protection.”

  My head snaps up to look at him with razor focus, and I find myself licking my lips. I am losing the ability to be disgusted by my desires. Instead, pure instinct is kicking in, and I want to devour Aden. I hiss and roll my body over in one strong movement.

  “Okay, we need to get her in the water with us. She needs to relearn we are not that kind of dinner,” Laki suggests.

  They all agree because the next thing I know, I have four men holding my arms dragging me through the hall. I twist my head, growling, trying to bite into each arm, but they are stronger than they appear. Once we are in the open area of the cabin, I am able to freely flap my tail around in an attempt to get free. The strong urges flowing through me make me unnaturally strong, or it is just how typical mermaids are? I don’t know, nor do I care.

  They release me and jump back. Morgan shouts, “Shift, you louts!”

  “I hate dry shifting!” Laki yells back.

  Aden and Breck shift first and drag themselves through a wide-open sliding door on the far side of the room. Soon Morgan and Laki are following them through. Unable to resist the urge to go after my meal, I am pulling myself across the room as fast as I can.

  Once on the deck, I witness each man go over the edge one at a time into the water. I speed through the cool air towards the water like a torpedo. My arms are naturally pinned flat to my sides, and my chin is tucked to my chest with my eyes closed in reflex. When I hit the water, my entire body tingles all the way down to the tip of my fin.

  I open my eyes to see the dark world around me. Hunger still drives me until I see a bright-blue light pulse out from my body then continue through the water for as far as I can see.

  “What was that?” I spin in the water, bewildered gradually regaining my senses.

  “No need to yell. The ocean knows you’ve returned. Your enemies now know. We don’t have time to leave in the morning. We will need to leave tonight.” Morgan’s voice sounds in my head. I spin around awkwardly in the water until I see him and the others.

  Morgan’s dark-blue and black tail would be camouflaged in the dark water, if it did not emit a soft blue glow lining each scale. I turn my attention to my own and see the greens, purples, and blues, softly shining with a thin pink glow emitting from between each scale.

  I turn my attention to my other men, all of them glow a different color. Aden is long and lean like Breck. Although, while Aden has a soft green glow, Breck’s is a yellowish orange. I turn to see Laki who is built wider like Morgan. Laki has red and is the hardest to see in the dark. Unlike the others, his eyes glow red in the dark. Everyone else–mine included, I assume–glow white on the edges of our pupils.

  “Are you still hungry?” Laki asks within my head. I am not sure how I know it is him, I just do.

  “Yes,” I attempt to project more carefully.

  “Do you still want to eat us?” Breck questions.

  I shake my head back in forth, catching sight of my long blonde locks floating through the water. “No,” I send.

  “Good. Let’s swim and get you tired. You will have to feed off of us in human form. In mermaid form, you desire blood and flesh. In human form, blood will suffice,” Morgan explains.

  I begin to follow the men in the water. Swimming feels good. I want to go faster, but something in my gut tells me I need to stay close to the yacht.

  “I am sure you have heard stories of seamen being lured to their death. That is what a Siren such as yourself can do. However, I know there are also tales of men who spend the night with a mermaid whilst she is on land. You don’t have to consume men. You only have to take what you need for your abilities,” Morgan gives more details while still being cryptic.

  “Who do I feed from?”

  “Us,” Laki answers.

  I stop swimming, panic rising through me again. I don’t remember doing that, “I have ‘fed’ off of you before?”

  “Yes, we willingly gave to you. You are the Key,” Aden’s voice enters my head.

  “I’m the Key,” I repeat.

  “Are you remembering something?” Morgan asks.

  “No, I am hungry and tired,” I reply.

  “We will head back. The first shift in so long is hard on the body. We will take care of you,” Aden says in the most comforting way. It is as if his voice gives me a hug.

  I smile in response and follow them to the surface. When we pop above the water my body naturally treads to hold me at shoulder level with the sea. Panic begins to rise in me when I realize I don’t know how to shift back. I voice my concern, “How do I shift back?”

  I follow them around the side of the boat and watch Morgan hit a button. A platform begins to lower from the deck. As we watch it come for us Morgan answers, “All you have to do is think of having legs and be free of the water.”

  The platform slowly lowers a foot beneath the water not even creating a splash. It is big enough to hold all of us, and there is a bag tied to the strong support cables. They urge me on first. Once on, they all follow, and Breck reaches up, untying the black back. Morgan hits a button again, and the platform begins to rise out of the water.

  Breck hands me a giant pink beach towel as soon as we are clear from the water. I lay the towel over myself, and the change begins. It is as painless and as natural as turning into a mermaid was. Once on the deck, we all have wrapped ourselves in towels.

  “We don’t usually bother with towels, but we always have them ready, just in case,” Breck explains.

  On the deck, I fight off a big yawn. My legs tremble as I attempt to walk towards the cabin, “Is it always so hard to walk after shifting?” I ask.

  “No, you are just weak. You need to feed,” Breck says nonchalantly, like it is no big deal.

  “I can’t just feed. It sounds more complicated than that.”

  “It is. Mermaids would lead seamen to their death after giving them a night of pleasure. All you have to do is sleep with one of us and then eat us.” Laki chuckles at his choice of words. “Or you can drink blood, sex is just a bonus.”

  I cringe at the thought of drinking blood until I remember the sweet metallic taste of my own blood, and my mouth begins to water again. Realization hits me like a sledgehammer, “I am a vampire!”

  All four men erupt in laughter. I stare at them wide-eyed and embarrassed at first. Then, my emotions switch, and a fury I didn’t know I possessed rises up from my belly.

  “Don’t laugh at me! It’s not my fault I don’t remember!”

  The words ring out, echoing like a megaphone. I am breathing hard, and my fangs have extended again. The men are silent due to the tension in the air. In the next moment, Morgan lifts me into his arms and rushes me inside, placing me on a sofa. My breathing is rapid and unstable. I place my hand on my chest to try and steady my breathing, causing me to notice my gray-tinged skin. “What’s happening to me?”

  “You are using too much energy without feeding,” Morgan explains.

  I see Breck cut the palm of his hand and drip blood into a glass. Laki repeats what Breck did into the same glass. They pass it around until everyone’s blood except for mine fills the whiskey glass to the rim.

  There is no doubt that the glass is meant for me. My stomach flips in horror at the creature I am. I don’t want to drink blood or to live in the ocean. I want my old life back.

  Morgan places the glass in front of my face, “You need t
o drink.”

  “I can’t. It isn’t natural,” the appearance of the thick blood causes me to gag.

  “You are going to die, if you don’t drink, love,” Morgan’s voice takes on his gaelic accent.

  “Close your eyes, it will make it easier,” Aden suggests.

  “I think I’d rather die than be a monster,” I try to reason.

  “Ah, but ye can’t die on us, lass. We finally found ye, and we want to keep ye with us forever,” Morgan whispers in my ear.

  “Without you, we are lost, and our purpose is empty,” Breck adds in.

  “I have no one–no family, no memories, no life,” desperation fills my voice and my heart.

  “Not true, you are Meri. You are our heart and the Key to Atlantis. Without you alive, Atlantis will fall. They took your memory, and your life, in anger. You are not made for the land they banished you to, love. You are made for the sea, and you are a fierce warrior who keeps her home safe. You can end the current threat to Atlantis and save an entire world of people, but you have to drink and choose to live,” Laki urges me on with a fantasy tale that can’t possibly be true.

  “I am no warrior,” I argue, my voice growing weaker.

  “Lies, you were the best warrior, that is how you were chosen. And we are the landborn who you chose to fight by your side. We are forever grateful for gaining admittance to Atlantis and being chosen. We are nothing without you. Drink, and remember. Please?” Aden encourages me again. I don’t remember him ever being so forceful.

  Wait, I am remembering vague bits of each of them. That is why I think of them as mine. I open my eyes, looking at the thick dark liquid Morgan is still holding out for me. My hand trembles as I reach for the glass. Morgan holds on tightly for fear that I may dump it out. With Morgan’s hand guiding mine, we bring the whiskey glass brimming with blood to my lips.

  When the warm liquid touches my lips, I become lost with the need to feed. The smell of iron assaults my senses. The taste of metallic sweetness flows into my mouth, and I begin devouring every drop the glass has to offer me.