Mermaids

Confrontation

"You love her."

*************

I stared at Yumi with widened eyes. I'd never really considered it before, but the twist in my stomach at the idea of Hayden instead of me, my stomach sinking at her leaving me confirmed it. It was obvious, and I had been so blind.

I loved Holly. I whispered that to myself, to say it out in the open. Yumi stared at me concernedly, but it didn't matter. I was in love.

I felt the smile creeping on my face. "You have to tell her!" Yumi shook my arm excitedly.

I opened my mouth to agree, but I remembered the purpose of our excursion. "As soon as we figure out what happened here." I settled.

Yumi nodded. "Agreed. But not a moment less!"

I smiled bigger. "Let's find them and figure out where the people are. If we start with the king, Holly might be able to find him, and he might know either what happened here or where everyone else is."

Yumi nodded. "Good start."

We swam around the rocks and into the heart of the city. The water here was cold, and the currents were strong, nearly knocking Yumi over a few times. I pressed onwards.

"Holly?" I called out into the open waters. She had just taken off, so I had hoped it would've been easy to find her. Unfortunately for me, the entire village was full of places to sneak into, especially now that it was abandoned.

"Holly!" I called in frustration. They had just taken off, how far could they have possibly gone?

I heard a small noise to my right. I looked over, and noticed a shape on the floor, like some poor mermaid who had been knocked unconscious. My heart stopped, and I swam down to turn her over. Yumi copied me, and I shook the mermaid's shoulder in an attempt to wake her.

"Miss?" I asked, but she didn't stir. I looked up at the horizon. Something was terribly wrong here. My stomach lurched.

"Yumi," I lowered my voice down to a whisper. "Take this girl out of here and swim towards your house."

"In Japan?" Yumi asked, a little too loudly. I nodded in response, placing my two fingers on the side of the girl's neck, checking for a pulse. There was one, but it was weak. I bent over and wrapped my arms around the girl, lifting her and placing her in Yumi's arms.

"Go!" I told her, and she turned away and swam off. I knew i was being harsh, but something was up here.

The water was too cold and everything was a shade darker than it should've been.

I swam slowly, trying to reduce the currents I made from my tail. Rounding around a small building, I again saw no one.

I pushed on, focusing on small, controlled movements of my tail, even though my hands were shaking and my stomach felt like it had flipped over.

"Hello?" I whispered, which probably wasn't the best idea, but the emptiness was too creepy.

I stayed still for a second, listening for a maybe weak response from a mermaid. One in particular, I had hoped.

And then, I heard a sound to my right. I swam up to the wall closest to me, the small noise echoing around me.

I stared to where it came from, and all of a sudden, Minako swam out of a shadow.

I instantly relaxed. "Minako? What are you doing here?"

Minako looked over at me, but her eyes were harsh. Not bubbly, like I had known her as previously.