Dark Waters

Chapter 1

You bastard! How could you do this to me?

"I'm just in shock, I guess. I never expected this from you."

"I'm sorry babe, it's just not meant to be."

Well, that much was clear. If my boyfriend of eighteen months was going to leave me for a passing Polynesian beauty, it clearly wasn't going to end up as a permanent relationship.

"I hope you're happy, Chris. You know how much I need your support right now. And you're breaking up with me for a one night stand?"

"She's not a one night stand, alright? Besides, that's kind of why I feel like I can't stay with you. You're just so... Needy. You're really dependent, and I don't know if I can handle that anymore."

This was when all the mental screaming that was echoing in my head exploded outwards.

"Why, you jackass! This bullshit isn't happening to you, it's happening to me. If you can't deal with the fact that I have a little home drama that you never even knew the full extent of, I don't think I can handle staying with you! How dare you be so self centered when I never even made a move to drag you into that mess! All I asked was that you be there when I needed someone to be on my side, for once!"

"Oh, stop being such a drama queen. I get that your dad runs a tight ship, but it's not like you have no one defending you or anything."

I'd had enough now. I looked at him with disgust and ripped my tshirt over my head. I could see his initial bewilderment, but I knew how his face changed a second later even though I couldn't see it. I turned to face away from him and gave him a full view of the map of misery that spread across my back. Cigarette burns, a few scarred cuts, several remaining indications of the coffee incident all those years ago.

"There is no one defending me. I have to look out for myself and my little brother, to boot." I put my shirt back on and turned to stare at him full in the face. "If I can handle that all alone, it says a lot about you."

His expression was one of complete shock. "Marin, I never knew... I mean, I guess if you'd have told me..."

"Still trying to pin this on me, huh?" I shook my head and walked towards the door. "Have fun with your stripper. I hope she's as spineless as you are."

I slammed Chris's screen door and thundered quickly down his front steps. I had to get away from this. I threw my leg over my bike and took of pedaling at top speed. I didn't realize I was crying until tears started falling onto my pumping legs. I brushed them away quickly and kept going.

I didn't even think about where I was going. My direction was completely instinctive. I was not surprised in the least to find myself locking my precious bike to the rack at the dunes. I jogged up the steps and hurried down onto the sand. The beach was empty, and I needed that more than anything.

I reached the water and waded out to about my waist. Once I could swim, I dove under the surface of the waves and stroked my way out to my favorite perch. The wooden pilings were damp, and salty water lapped at the thick ropes surrounding them. I scrambled up to sit on top of them. I was safe here.

Now that I was out of the situation, the tears really started to come. They dripped down my chin onto my soaked shorts, and I crossed my arms over my knees and put my head down.

Chris hadn't been the best boyfriend, but when I needed a little support, he had been the best thing I had. I never told him just how bad I had it, only that it was tough for me not to feel like my family was ganging up on me. He didn't know about my old scars, my complete adoration of Tyler, or how much I did not care if my father, mother, and sister vanished off the face of the earth. I would rejoice, but no one ever knew.

A small splash sounded somewhere off to my left. I raised my head quickly and peered over my shoulder, but there was nothing there.

Since I was old enough to swim, I came out to sit on the pilings rather that at the edge of the water. There was more privacy, and I liked the feeling of knowing that I had crossed the boundary between the states and uncharted, lawless sea. However, if I came down to the beach at night, I refused to visit this spot. The water went dark, darker than it was in the daytime, and and I didn't know how much more of that inky blackness swirled underneath the surface. The thing about the ocean was that it demanded respect for its power. Even as it absorbed your troubles, it reminded you that it was not to be trifled with.

Now the sun was going down, I could see the half circle of light painting the dunes orange. The blackness was coming, and if I didn't swim in soon, I would be stranded in the midnight waters, too petrified of it to paddle back to shore.

The splash sounded again, closer to me this time. It wasn't the first time I had heard things when I was out here. Sometimes I even thought I saw disappearing scales and the sprays of a diving animal. As a child I imagined deep sea creatures coming to watch the strange human who had come swimming into their midst, but I dismissed these pondering as tear-induced daydreams when I was older.

Now I was well and truly terrified. I lifted my toes out of the water and held my knees tightly, retreating to the tallest piling. A swell was approaching in the water. Something was swimming towards me with single-minded purpose.

Just as it reached me, the swell dissipated into the surrounding water. I wanted to lean forward to see what had created it, but I was rigid with fear.

As I looked on with wide eyes, a head broke the surface of the water.

It was a girl, maybe a little older than me. She was stunningly beautiful, but when she smiled, her teeth were just a touch too sharp to be comforting. Her hair was midnight black, swept back across her scalp and disappearing into the water. Her skin was pale as a sand dollar, and her eyes were deep, dark brown.

I didn't move a muscle. This woman looked straight into my soul and read it like it was the daily paper. She stared at me and I stared back. She tipped her head to one side, and I saw gills flare on her neck. That's when I knew I was in trouble.

Slowly, as if she didn't want to spook me, she raised her hand out of the water and set it on the lowest piling. When I didn't move, she brought up the other hand. The faintest traces of webbing between her fingers was visible, and she pushed herself out of the water, her arms flexing powerfully. Her upper body was sleekly naked, her hair plastered to her slender back with dampness. Higher out she came, until she had seated herself on the piling.

Just below her navel, where there should have been skin, there were scales. And where she should have had legs, there was a long, hypnotically swaying tail.