off the deep end

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The cool air invaded my lungs as soon as I stepped  outside of the castle doors

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The cool air invaded my lungs as soon as I stepped  outside of the castle doors. The smell of wet leaves and misty air wafted around in light of yesterday's rain. Rays of golden light beamed down, their fading warmth kissing my skin as I crossed the grounds.

I wrung my hands out nervously, each footstep weighing me down. The grass crunched and slipped below me, my feet subconsciously carrying me to the Great Lake.

Theo's body came into view as I made my way down a small hill. I could see that he was sitting by the water's edge, a textbook in his lap and a highlighter in his hand. He was biting the inside of his cheek, his brows furrowed deep in concentration. I smiled briefly to myself, knowing his expression was one that mine often matched.

"Hey," I sighed, taking a seat on the damp grass in front of him.

He looked up, his ocean blue eyes divulging his relief at my choice to join him after all.

"Hey, he replied coolly.

"So, what's up with the voices?" He smiled a little.

"I've been reading this book," he lifted it off his lap to show me the cover, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, "It says that merpeople, including cross breeds, can hear the sound of their colony calling to them. If they've betrayed the community, the voices can be pretty nasty, but if not they can hold conversations with loved ones or other members of the colony."

I nodded, thinking back to all of the times the breathy voices had called me disgusting, telling me to 'face my fate' in the water. But there was always one that was kinder, sweeter.

"What about the woman?" I asked, knowing Theo also recognized her voice.

"I think that was Mom," he said with a frown.

My heart clamped up in my chest, I felt as though the tightness would shatter it to pieces.

"When I moved in with her and Dad," Theo continued. "Her voice, it matched it perfectly."

My breathing was incredibly shaky, as were my hands. I cleared my throat.

"That's why it was so loving," I worked through. Theo nodded.

"I never asked, I didn't really say much to her while I was there," he said, adding a quiet "Maybe I should've," to the end.

"But what does me not feeling any pain have to do with her?"

"One thing we did talk about was the transformations," Theo began again, shaking off the sadness from his previous sentence. "She had asked me if I had symptoms, then she asked about you."

I tried my best to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat. I was still having a hard time grasping the idea that my mom had been alive all these years.

"I told her about the scales and gills," he continued. "But when I mentioned the pain she got sort of weird."

"Weird how?"

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