Love Deeper than the Sea (mer!teen!lock)

i i - j o h n

"Freak!"

A glass bottle shatters against the wall not three feet from where I'm cringing. My mother stands before me, immaculately groomed as usual - soft waves of perfectly curled blonde hair, manicured fingers, flawless makeup. Jewelry polished til it gleams - by me, of course. Outfit perfectly in place.

But my mother's crystal eyes are bloodshot. She is drunk again, and taking it out on me.

"Normal boys don't like this - this rubbish!" she sputters. "Normal boys like sports and football, not this artsy bull -- "

The ringing in my ears drowns her words. I grab my bag and run for it, out the door and down the path that leads me towards my cove.

The cove isn't really mine, but no one else goes there. It's a little cave, secluded from the seaside town in which I live by a forest of pine trees. The sound of my feet slapping against the ground is muffled by the thick carpet of grass and pine needles. I can feel my eyes burning as I run, two words burning in my mind.

Almostthere.Almostthere.Almostthere.Almostthere.

I burst into the cave and stop, staring around it. The roof has a hole way up in the top, revealing stars by night and sky by day. Shimmery reflections of light thrown off by the water dance on the smooth walls, carved by still more water in ancient times. Directly opposite the entrance there is an opening where the ocean floods in; the opening is mostly underwater, but about a foot of it pokes up visibly. A large rock sits by the water - an overhang - and a crack runs down it. This crack is home to some things that I've hidden to keep them from my mother.

Slinging my bag off of my shoulder and depositing it a safe distance from the water, I settle myself onto a little dip in the rock the perfect size for me. My fingers find their way to my short blonde hair, and I tug at it in frustration.

I bend over the surface of the ocean, staring down through the clear water. I'm used to the slight distortion from the liquid, despite its general transparency, and I'm also still festering about the earlier incident with my mom, so it takes a minute or two before I realize that I'm not staring at a piece of seaweed or the odd fish or seashell.

I'm making eye contact with someone - someone with startling eyes. They aren't pretty, or beautiful, or gorgeous; they are intriguing. Green and gold and blue and grey, all blended together in a whirlwind of color and excitement. I hold his gaze for a few moments, stunned, before my reaction kicks in.

This boy might be drowning. I might need to perform CPR (something every citizen of our town is required by law to know) or call an ambulance or - oh God, he could be dead. "I'm coming!"

I kick my shoes off, take a massive gulp of air, and dive into the ocean. The human turns out to a boy, and he looks at me with a puzzled glance. His hair floats around him, black and soft-looking, his eyes practically glow with the sunlight shining in, and his skin glows alabaster white and green - wait, green?

A trail of light green starts around his naval and trails downwards, like it's etched into his skin. I can't stop my gaze from trailing downwards.

He has no legs.

The green deepens, and where he should have legs (and things between them) there is smooth skin, covered in scales that glow an iridescent green. Small fins start at about the midpoint of what would have been his lower leg, trailing down and blossoming into two large fins that split in a "V" shape. A messenger bag woven out of what looks like seaweed hangs over his shoulder.

He stares at me with a confused expression on his face, reaching a hand out like he wants to touch me before wincing and doubling over. That's when I notice the angry red welts on his arms and chest, and there's one on his cheek as well. His tail has a few patches of scales missing here and there. He meets my gaze again, and I realize that I can't breathe. Acting entirely on impulse, I grab him around the chest and swim for the surface.