Mermaid

Chapter 13

"Change his fate?" Paul repeated as the girl with white hair remained where she stood by the now closed door. "What do you mean by that?"

"I can make your son better, is what I mean." When the man didn't respond she continued. "So? Do you want me to help you or not?"

He narrowed his gaze slightly. "Why would you do that after I saw you destroy that optometrist office?"

The girl placed a hand over her right eye, as if she remembered a sudden pain that caused her eye to cry blood. "I destroyed that place for it harmed my other self; she exists there for so can I, without her I am nothing. But I'm not here for me, I know of your situation and your family's mixed feelings in using chemotherapy to save your son which could also evidently kill him with the cancer that he has. It was some form of brain cancer wasn't it?"

Paul was quite for a moment. "Alright, but I do want to know something first, what are you exactly? You look almost the same but your hair and eyes... they're different."

"I am merely a reflection..." she said as she walked over to the boy who was now breathing through a tube, the girl removed it before she brought her left hand up to her right wrist, the nail of the index finger grew slightly before cutting across the right wrist, blood slowly appearing through the skin before she brought her lips to it before the cut healed then she lowered her head to the boy's mouth. "I should also let you know it will be best to keep your boy here with no visitors for three days." She said as she moved away from the bed when she heard him swallow.

"What did you do?"

"I gave your son my blood..." she looked to the boy once more. "It was either that or part of my own flesh, but that even has a greater risk then my blood."

"Your... why that of all things?"

She looked back to the man. "My blood has a strange component where it can give the one who drinks it a longer life, may it be fifty seventy or ninety years, give or take the person. I myself am not sure why this happens. But it was ether my blood or flesh and I wasn't about to give anything of that to him. Given the side effects ether could bring."

The man merely looked confused. "What side effects?"

"For starters, everything has side effects, like that song that says "everything gives you cancer" kind of thing, be these effects are... different from the norm. The one involving the flesh has three, one in short you die, the other you become deformed or you live forever as you are an immortal. It may not sound like a bad thing but when you put into contrast the other two things that may happen to you... its best not to do that all together."

"And the blood?"

"It only has one side effect, but it wears off in a number of days, three or four depending. It's why I said it'll be best for no visitors. He'll crave more blood, but once my other self is back in control there will be no memory of it. Still, don't speak of this... to anyone."

The man was silent for a long moment. "I won't, I doubt anyone would believe me anyhow."

She turned and headed out of the room, when she opened the door the man added. "There's an old legend about beings like you, my grandfather told it to me once, never thought it to be true. But you... you're a living legend aren't you?

"I am no such thing, I'm just... ...me." she left saying nothing more, but instead of heading back to the room where she awakened in she headed to the roof. The cool nighttime breeze of summer blew gently as she listened to the sound of it rustling through the trees before her red eyes looked up to the moon. "How long," she said softly to herself. "How long do you plan on trying to ignore me?"