Battlefield

Chapter 6

Thanks to the events that had occurred that day and me going over my encounter with Bella and David's father (whom I'd started referring to as 'Barracuda'), I got little to no sleep. The times I did manage to drift off, Barracuda haunted my nightmares. The other reason for my insomnia was the pendant. It'd hung around my neck the past couple days, humming every now and then, but not glowing as it had before.

My movements were sluggish and heavy as I got dressed and swam out of our room. The others hadn't stirred as I'd left, quietly closing the door behind me. I swam into the kitchen and had only just sunk into a chair when a faint glow began emanating from the pendant. As if in a trance, my hand suddenly drifted my neck. My fingers wrapped around the stone, clutching it so hard my knuckles were white.

I closed my eyes, bracing myself as an onslaught of memories crashed into me with the force of a dozen rogue waves. They weren't just random memories, though. They were specific. Tear-streaked faces watched helplessly as armed mermen attacked their city, looting various homes and stores. A brown-haired mermaid frantically searched the crowd, her lips forming the same words over and over as she shouted. Jay. Oliver.

I wondered whom she was looking for, until I noticed a brown-haired merman at the edge of the crowd, holding tightly to a black-haired merman.

My heart stopped dead as I realized whose memories these were. Whose eyes I was seeing through. Jay's mother. This is when she and his father were killed. The black-haired merman turned toward the voice, fear in his brown eyes. He opened his mouth, shouting a single word. Alicia!

Before his mouth even finished forming the word, he suddenly lurched forward, then froze as he looked down at his chest, the arrow protruding from just above his rib cage. Blood leaked from the wound in a steady stream, flowing down his shirt. Jay's eyes widened, a shout forming on his lips as his dad sagged in his arms.

Jay's mother screamed, her eyes widening as she swam toward them, but too late. A heartbeat later, she froze, looking down at where an arrow protruded from her chest. Her eyes went blank in the span of a heartbeat, her body going limp as she fell to the ground.

I was left panting and disoriented as I was suddenly pulled out of the vision by a hand on my shoulder. My own hand opened, the pendant falling from my grip as I looked up at a blurry face. Even with tears blurring my vision, I knew who it was. Jay.

His green eyes were full of concern. My arms shook as I rose from the table, heading for the door. I gulped down water when I got outside, panting heavily. My heart felt like it was going to burst from my chest.

The tears fell harder and faster now. Their souls were still inside the pendant. That's why it'd been humming. Kind grey eyes met mine, filled with concern. You okay? Want me to get Jay? David.

I shook my head, hastily wiping my eyes. No. I'm fine.

We swam back inside, worried faces greeting us. It took every inch of willpower I had to meet Jay's gaze. Every time I looked into his eyes, I saw his mother's face as she looked at her husband, dying in Jay's arms. The sadness, grief, and anger in her expression.

I collapsed into a chair by the kitchen table, putting my head in my hands. He swam to me, lifting my chin to meet his gaze as he opened his mouth. Before he uttered a sound, however, he froze, his eyes darting to the window. His arms slackened at his side, face blanching at whatever was going on outside.

David rose also, swimming towards Jay. The latter glanced at me, fear ripe in his gaze. When David opened the door, a nightmare came to life in front of me. My eyes didn't know where to look first: at Barracuda, his death grip on Meri's hair, or at the latter, whose eyes were filled with fear.

Red-hot anger filled me, overriding any shred of common sense. Both my parents had betrayed me. My own sister had betrayed me. And the merman floting in front of me had helped orchestrate it. My dagger was in my hand a heartbeat later, eyes livid as I started to move.

I'd barely taken a stroke forward before Barracuda struck. Releasing his grip on Meri's hair, he swam to Jay, producing a hidden dagger. David was already swimming toward them, but it was too late.

The next few minutes happened in slow motion. Faster than I could blink, the hilt of the dagger was sticking out of Jay's chest, blood dribbling down his torso from the wound. I lurched forward, mouth open in a silent scream.

Jay's eyes landed on mine, wide with shock, then went blank. I managed to catch him, albeit awkwardly, just before he hit the ground, my fingers shaking as they quickly found the wound. He gasped for water, his eyelids fluttering. Tears ran down my face as I tried to stop the bleeding. I took off my jacket and pressed it against the wound, wincing as he flinched and moaned.

David had moved behind me in the minutes following the attack (How long ago had it been? Minutes? Seconds? Days?), gently slinging Jay's arm around his shoulder and lifting his limp body off the ground. I kept the jacket, now soaked with blood, pressed against the wound as we swam to the castle, Jay propped between us. My eyes were focused on his chest, rising and falling with every spasmodic breath he took.

As soon as we crossed the threshold of the castle, we were surrounded by mermaids and mermen alike, all talking at once. I gripped Jay's limp hand in mine, struggling to maintain my composure. David spoke with one of the mermen, his eyes focused and alert, then swam to me. They're going to take him to the hospital. Do you want me to come? His hands were steady as he signed.

I nodded, a few tears leaking down my face. A merman with blond hair swam up to me, his gaze kind as he carefully wrapped Jay's arm around his shoulder. We arrived at the hospital in minutes, doctors surrounding us. They carefully transferred Jay onto a stretcher, wheeling him into another room.

I followed them into the room, my shoulders shaking with the sobs that had been trapped inside me. David sat beside me, putting his arm around me. You must be exhausted. Get some rest. I'll let you know if there's any change. His gaze was worried as he looked at me.

I wanted to protest, but my body was already succumbing to much-needed sleep. My eyes closed, my head drifting through the water to rest on David's chest as exhaustion overpowered me.

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