Mermaid

Chapter 38

The next morning Erika found herself to be in immense pain. Her chest felt tight and her body began to burn like everything that she touched was on fire. Both Sherrie and Alison tried to get her to talk but her throat hurt so bad that each time she even tried to utter a word she'd cough up blood. With every breath her lungs felt like they were burning from the inside out.

What was the time?

Was it day or was it night?

Just how long had she been in this bed?

She was thirsty, hungry, she couldn't breathe, her teeth ached for food but any that was given was quickly vomited out of her stomach. Everything felt like it was out of reach, the sound of people's voices so far away and yet their bodies were so near.

Am I dying? Erika thought with a vague awareness of her friends that kept checking up on her. Worry and fear covered their faces trying to get Erika to respond but it did little good.

"What's happening to her?" Sherrie demanded in a total panic as she gripped her arms, tightly hugging herself. "She was okay yesterday, why the sudden change?"

The doctor looked just as worried as everyone else in the room. "I don't know my father didn't know much about mermaids even though he treated Yara and even Erika when she was born. It must be some type of metamorphosis, like a caterpillar in a cocoon slowly turns into a butterfly but this... this is something I've never seen before."

"Isn't there something we can do!?" Alison pleaded. "Anything that could help her, she's in so much pain there has to be something that can help!"

The man looked to Sherrie. "I have no intention in giving up, and in hindsight it was very wise to bring her here rather than a hospital, if something were to happen while she was there I have no doubt in my mind that they would come after her."

Sherrie looked at the man with confusion. "Who... who is they?"

"It's a group of people that try to look into any means of becoming immortal." Gregory said to them, before his blue eyes looked to Erika. "The same people that tried to take Allen's body from the morgue to see if they could learn anything, and even tried to kidnap not only Yara but Erika also when she was born, but it failed none the less with Yara's abilities."

"Why... why would they even..."

"...there are three things that could happen to you if you eat mermaid's flesh; one is that you become immortal, the second is that you die a pain filled horrible death. And the third is well, those things you both saw on TV when I changed."

Erika's word echoed inside Sherrie's mind before her body became cold. Those people that intended or tried to kidnap Erika and her mother intended to eat them alive? Her gage reflex started as she covered her mouth just imagining Erika being in the clutches of those very people were enough for her to become ill. How could human beings go so far to risk being immortal when the possibilities were so very slim?

No that was a stupid question Sherrie knew why people would be willing to do whatever it took even if the odds were against them to become immortal. They wanted to become immortal so they'd even risk dying a painful death for it.

It was almost like these people, whoever they were, wanted to become gods themselves.

What would living forever accomplish if it would be never ending no matter what that person did; they would never be able to die.

Sherrie was about to ask her father how he knew such things when Erika started screaming. Everyone looked to see Erika writhing in pain as her hands clutched the sheets for dear life, like someone was trying to tear off a limb, her eyes were wide open staring up at the ceiling, but the color was changing, that blood red color slowly enveloped the lavender like ink flowing slowly on a piece of paper. Her hair soon followed suit, from dark brown to white, starting up at the roots it slowly made its way to the ends before all traces of her hair and eye color before where gone.