From the Dust

From the Dust - Part 6

"Hey, Shark Bait, you still alive?"

I let out a little whimper as I tried to shift my weight. Where was I? What was going on? Why was everything so dark?

"Hold still, little brother. You're not in super great condition." The speaker chuckled and finally, I was able to recognize him. Fractal. I'd been saved by Fractal, of all monsters.

I felt him set me down on something soft and immediately tried to sit up, but he pushed me back down.

"Calm down. You're going to be fine. Father's coming."

No. No. Father couldn't see me like this. He'd send me back to the ocean. He'd kill them for sure.

What happened?

I tried to voice my question, and thankfully, Fractal understood. "I was sent to check up on you, lucky for you." He snickered, then cleared his throat and continued. "The half-blood suddenly grabbed you and bit you - I got there before he got too much, but he was gone before I could catch him. Also lucky for you - since he's a half-blood, he won't turn you into one. That'd be a mess."

Something warm and wet pressed against my neck and I sucked in a breath of pain. "Why'd -" I grimaced as Fractal washed the two fang marks and then tried again. "Why'd you save me? You don't even like me."

"Because you're one of us, whether I like it or not. Do you want me to fill up the bathtub?"

"Yes, please," I mumbled.

"With salt?"

I just nodded, a lump forming in my throat. Not only had I betrayed Father, but I betrayed my friends, the only two who'd ever accepted me. Now I had nowhere to go. I was completely alone. What would Mother say? I missed her so much.

Fractal came back as my vision started to return. I could tell that I was in a dark house now, almost like Leo's and Joel's. I missed them, too - well, Leo ... not so much on a friendly level. I wanted to apologize. He deserved to know the truth.

The ice hybrid gently lifted me up and carried me to the bathroom, where he helped me take off my clothes and get into the water. Almost immediately, I felt relief wash through me, and by the time I opened my eyes again, my scales had covered my entire arm, up my cheek, across my chest, and down my waist. It didn't stop there - no, scales replaced human skin down to my toes, the long, beautiful fish tail too big to fit in the tub.

"Mermaid," Fractal coughed.

"I'm not a mermaid," I muttered. "I'm a siren."

"You have a human top and a fish bottom. You're a mermaid, Shark Bait."

I swished my tail in annoyance, but I was too tired to come up with a better response. I felt dizzy and lightheaded and sick, and I wanted nothing but to sleep. I picked at the bandage at my neck and sighed loudly. Just when I thought someone trusted me, I completely blew it.

"Don't touch that," Fractal said. "It's a miracle you weren't sucked dry. Don't make it worse."

I sighed again and tried to sink deeper into the water. The salt made me homesick. I wanted to go home. "When will Father be here?" I mumbled.

"Soon. In twenty minutes, or so. I alerted him of your condition the second I saw you."

The minutes passed far too fast. I was terrified of what he'd say, and before I could think of a way to defend myself, he was standing over me in distaste. He didn't say anything. He just stood there and frowned. I tried to keep my eyes down, but his reflection was just a blinding as his body, and I had to squint to see anything.