|Merstuck|

Chapter 4

John quickly darted into the crevice, slowing down as he squeezed himself into the small gap. It was extremely dark, and the ridged rocky walls scraped at his scales and skin, causing them to lightly graze. His tail fin continued to move in a frantic fanning motion as he tried to squeeze himself as far as he could into the hole upon seeing the surfboard approach.

He was so dead. If the human had noticed his fins he would most likely be perusing him for evidence of his find, or worse. To capture him. Most the time humans were skeptical to believe that mythical beings existed, and so when a specimen was discovered, which only ever tended to be part of a skeletal structure, they brushed it off and clarified it as a part of a similar creature. But to be caught alive was damning the whole species. John didn't want to expose his kind, and was terrified of the idea of being dissected for scientific means. He knew that most witnesses of mythical occurrences were brushed aside as crazed madmen, but people who hunted the abnormal were the ones to worry about.

He didn't know if this guy was one or the other, and even though his attire identified him as a typical surfer douche, he just wanted to be extra careful. His eyes widened and glanced up through the murky water to see the silhouette of the blonde haired lad peering cautiously over the edge of his surfboard. He was shivering by now with fear, his Icey blue eyes round with terror. He emitted a sound which was similar to a Dolphins call, but dragged out and almost silent. He was absolutely petrified.

He heard the teenager call out something to him. It was muffled, but he managed to make out the word 'Hello?' Quickly followed by the phrase 'Are you there?' He replied with silence and his gaze never leaving him, his back arching as he tried to slip into a deeper part of the crevice. He continued to glance up at the murky silhouette of the teenager, managing to make out his hands gripping the surfboard, his shades and his hair.

As the teenager began shifting around on his surfboard, he began to worry that he was about to slip into the waters to find him, he had to get away as quickly as he could. His eyes widened and panic washed over him, the creature still shivering. He arched his back and leaned forward, lunching out of the crevice, and with a few powerful thrashes of his tail he darted towards the exit.

He quickly continued to advance on the exit, directing his focus towards the teenager as he glanced behind him, just to make sure he wasn't following him. Relief washed over him as he saw he was making no efforts to stop him, and he turned around, his eyes widening.

His head slammed forcefully into the rock, the pain sparking on his forehead and pulsing down his neck and spine, rocking his body with agony.  It seemed he had missed the exit just a little bit. His eyes scrunched close upon impact, and his back had arched. He almost bounced off the wall and drifted back, a webbed hand raising to grip the left side of his head as he emitted a whimper. His right eye opened slightly, and he realised that his vision had become blurred, his mind was muddled and he felt abruptly more confused and scared then he was before. He heard a faint muffled 'Are you okay?' From above the waters surface.

He didn't pay attention due to the fact he was highly confused, and so after a few minutes at failing to gather himself, he finally dragged his body around and spurred off in another direction. Everything was blurred and muddled, and he only just managed to steer himself away from the edge of the pool, his shoulder scraping against the harsh rocky terrain. He just needed to calm down and think coherently.

He frantically glanced around, his eyes wide as he broke the surface, panting slightly. His breathing was irregular, and it racked his frame. Pretty much now he was as calm as chickens being startled by a fox.

He turned his bodice around and darted off in another direction, slowing down as he tried to find out where he was. His eyes widened in fear as he felt hands wrap around the upper part of his body and easily pluck him from the waters, dragging him out. He let out an Inhumane screech as this happened, only becoming more frightened as he thrashed around.

"Hey hey calm the fuck down!" A currently aggressive sounding voice commanded. It was a males, and he concluded that the barer of the vocals was an adolescent due to the pitch. It was laced with a faint Texan accent which was more obvious when certain words were pronounced. He felt almost threatened by the tone, and immediately stopped moving, staying still. The only thing that could be heard was pure silence. His body went ridged, and he didn't even seem to take a breath, his chest only rising and falling slightly. He was terrified. He shivered, his blue gaze shakily trailing to glance at the lad who had removed him from the water. "Calm down" He muttered more gently this time, and he realised, with a mixture of emotions, it was the same lad from before. He stared at him for a while, before he slowly moved towards his shorts.

The blonde gripped the White fabric, and with a decent struggle finally tore off some of it. He merely watched, his throat dry and his frame ridged as he moved the fabric towards his face, his eyes scrunching up in fear. As he felt hands gently wrap something around his head, he opened his eyes, a confused look on his facial features. What was he doing?

He tied the fabric to his head and let go, blood on the teen's fingertips. Oh. Had his head been bleeding? He tenderly reached a webbed hand to graze his hand across his head, tugging his hand down afterwards. Why had he helped him? He glanced at him with round eyes, and the teenager let go of his torso, since his hands had been gripping it so he hadn't darted off.

The once seemingly nice teenager turned somewhat cold and cleared his throat, his head turning aside. "Get some of your mermaid friends to check it out or what ever" He muttered, abruptly seeming nonchalant and not worried about the situation.

He didn't particularly care though.

Because as soon as he had been released, he dived back into the water.

His kind was doomed. How could he trust this human wouldn't spill?
And how could he trust he wouldn't tell others his hiding place, where he was confined to unless he magically got his sense of smell back?
He was absolutely
Fucked.