The water was still as I trudged along the shoreline, dragging my toe in the sand, leaving a long trail behind me. It was cold out, the frisk air dancing along my skin, causing goosebumps to rise. Despite the temperature, I was shirtless, dark shorts hanging low on my hips, my feet bare as well. I shuddered for a second, filling my lungs with frigid oxygen.
I needed this right now, the calmness and quietness of the beach. It had been a long day, full of yelling foster parents and bullies at school. I was never the one to give into them, physically or mentally, but today was especially tiring. Mikey Way; always stoic, always dull, actually really hurt.
I loved living in Florida, always just a few minutes away from the beach. Saltwater and warm sand always calmed me, but it was winter now, and even with its subtropical glory, it got pretty cold at night. But after all that, I was still here, enjoying solidarity and peacefulness.
A ripple rang out across the water, catching my attention. Probably just a fish, but my curiosity urged me to look into it further, so I inched closer to the water, icy liquid lapping at my feet. Peering into the ocean, I shrugged. Like I thought, probably just a fish. Turning away, I heard a plopping noise. I spun on my heel, now slightly scared.
"Hello?" I called out to the water, shakily stepping backward. "Is there someone out there?"
The water was silent, small waves pushing theirselves up onto the sand, then pulling back into the expanse of the sea. I gulped, tearing my gaze from the water and beginning to walk away when I heard it. A melody so sweet that my whole body listened to it, slowly turning around and walking back towards the water. A small part of my mind told me to turn back and run, but the wonderful noise filling my ears pushed all such thoughts away. A glowing orb was floating over the surface, a swirling mixture of blue and gold and green. I was transfixed by the beauty of the light and the sound of the music.
The sound lulled me into a half awake/half asleep state, my body swaying. I continued to slowly enter the ocean, the sound of the orb distracting me from the freezing water. My body was numb, the loss of the sense of touch was so disorienting that I almost toppled over into the water. I was up mid calf when I came to my senses. Panting, I scrambled back to the shore, tearing my gaze from orb and blocking out the music.
Still in slight shock, I fell back into the sand, a thousand thoughts racing through my head, the main one being what the fuck?
It took a second for me to gather up the courage to sit up and look to the water again. I braced myself for anything... a shark, or a dead fish- or a dead body.
Let's just hope it's not the latter.
With my luck, though, it was probably worse.
And boy was I right.
The first thing I saw was his face. A beautiful face, stunning with long lashes and big eyes and perfect lips. His skin looked so soft, his cheeks the kind that old people would squeeze. He had a small smirk settled on his mouth, as if he was daring me to say or do something.
The second thing I noticed was that he was shirtless, intricate blue and green patterns laced up and down his chest, like some sort of tattoo. Only his upper half was visible, but I still hoped that he was wearing something down... there.
And the last thing I noticed was the gorgeous multi-chrome scaled monolith that was protruding from the water from behind him. It was a tail, and beautiful oil spilled tail with spiked green tips that reflected the moonlight into my eyes.
"What kind of fish is that?" I asked in awe, looking back to the boy. He tilted his head, pulling his eyebrows together.
"Excuse me?" His voice was deep, echoing across the water, as if the ocean itself were speaking to me.
