The Mermaid And the Sea Snake

Chapter 6

     I awoke with Jet's arms wrapped around my waist. It's strange I thought to myself we were never this close before. He would always comfort me with a hug and wipe away my tears but as for holding hands and falling asleep together, that never happened. We were probably just saving ourselves from Vivian's wrath.
     I had just managed to drift off back to sleep when I heard a voice, 'Ava, are you awake?'
     My eyes snapped open to see Sonia standing over me.
     I instantly sat up, unsure of what was happening.
     'And you say that you two aren't a couple!'
     I rubbed my eyes sleepily, 'we aren't,' I yawned.
     'You look very couply to me.'
     I sighed, 'I'm sorry Sonia but what are you doing in our house?'
    She visibly straightened, 'Right sorry, where are my manners!' she turned and sat in the armchair making herself at home, 'I was taking my morning walk when I saw your door open, I just thought I'd pop in and say hello, see how you are.'
     Jet stirred next to me and mumbled, 'what's happening?'
     'Sonia has invited herself in,' I turned my attention back to Sonia, 'we are doing amazing thank you very much.'
     Sonia tugged at the hem of her shirt, 'may I ask why you are sleeping in here? With the door open no less.'
     I yawned again it was way to early for this, 'as beautiful as the rooms are we wanted to be near the ocean.'
     She perked up at this comment, 'have you been in the water yet?'
    'Yes we went in yesterday. It was breathtaking.'
    'Oh how lovely, you didn't put your head under the water though did you?'
    What an odd question I thought to myself, 'no....why? Would that be a problem?'
    Sonia shifted in her chair, visibly uncomfortable now, 'oh no no no, it's just not quite summer yet, wouldn't want you to both catch a head cold.' With this she stood up and walked over to the door, 'I'll see you soon darlings,' she waved as she returned to the beach.
     I poked Jet, 'thanks for pretending to be asleep'
     I watched as the corners of his mouth creeped up into a cheeky grin, 'any time princess' he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me back next to him.
     I snuggled my head into my pillow, 'She is beautiful. A bit strange but beautiful.'
     'Hmmm if you say so'
     I quickly whipped around so that I was facing him, 'You can't seriously tell me that you don't think she is beautiful. She took my breath away and I'm not usually attracted to girls!'
     Jet looked me in the eyes, 'She is not my type.'
     'So beautiful isn't your type, what is your type then?'
     Jet thought about it for a bit, 'Cute, yeah cute is definitely my type.'
     'But Tia was beautiful.' I pointed out.
     Jet scoffed, 'Yeah and look how that turned out.'
     'Touche.' I kept my eyes on him, 'So cute hey, I'll have to keep my eyes open for you.'
     'Please don't.' he moaned, his eyes still on me, 'at least I know who your type is.'
     I pushed him away, 'Sonia is not my type, I have just never seen a woman like her before.'
     'If you say so,' Jet sat up and looked out towards the beach, 'Swim?'
   'Of course!' I pushed myself up and out of bed, 'and then breakfast and coffee in town.'
    Jet headed towards his bedroom, 'Sounds perfect, it will give us a chance to see just how famous we are!'
    I groaned inwardly, I know they meant no harm but I would like to be left in peace.

    I put my bathers on and we headed down to the shore. The water was unbelievably refreshing and we enjoyed laying at the waters edge as the waves crashed on us.
    I rolled on to my stomach and sighed, 'I think we made a mistake.'
    Jet looked at me, confusion written all over his face, 'what do you mean?'
    'There is no way I can get out of this water and go have breakfast now.' I kicked my feet behind me making small splashes.
     'Ahh yes, I know what you mean but we do need to eat.'
     'Do we though?!'
     'Apparently if we want to go on living.' he turned on his side, 'I could make you breakfast, there would be no locals staring.'
     'That does sound tempting, do we have coffee?' A coffee was much needed if I was going to chase away the morning fog.
     'I do believe that the store clerk gave us some.'
     'Oh well then you have yourself a deal.'
Jet stood up and grabbed his towel, 'I won't be long.'
     I laid my head on my hands and let the warmth of the sun heat my body, the waves hitting my legs almost rhythmically. It was so relaxing, so therapeutic, like it was washing away all those years of pain and turmoil. Vivian and Sam felt like a distant memory. It was hard for me to believe that a mere 24 hours ago I was bracing for another day, just trying to avoid Vivian and Sam's anger, counting down the days. I don't know why but I felt safe here, I felt like they wouldn't find us. I just prayed I was right.
    'Did you even move?'
    I lifted my head up to see Jet looking down at me carrying a tray. 'Was I meant to?' I eyed the tray he was holding, 'did you really bring me a food delivery?'
     He stepped back and placed the tray on a towel, 'Of course, you deserve it.'
      I washed my hands in the water, and made my way to Jet. I wrapped my towel around my waist and sat on the sand. I reached for my coffee, it was instant gratification as soon as it hit my tongue. 'mmm a girl could get used to this.' I picked up a pancake, 'you really are spoiling me.'
      Jet finished his mouthful, 'not nearly enough. You deserve this and so much more.'
     We sat eating and thinking quietly, the quiet between us didn't bother me, it was a comfortable silence.
     'Hey Jet?' I asked as I looked out to the horizon.
     'Yeah?' he answered breaking out of his daze.
     'I think I'm confident enough to put my head under the water now.'
      'Are you sure?'
      I picked my coffee back up, taking another sip, 'Definitely, care to join me?'
     'Wouldn't miss it for the world.'
     We finished eating our breakfast and walked back to the waters edge. Jet reached for my hand again, then stopped himself.
     'What's the matter?' I asked unsure why he had hesitated.
     He rubbed the back of his head, 'It's just.... Well..... Ummm.....'
    I turned to him, 'Jet what's the matter?'
    He took a deep breath in and let it out again, 'Do you mind me holding your hand? We've never really done it before and lately I just feel like it feels right but I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable...'
     'Jet,' I said cutting him off, 'I have really enjoyed holding your hand.'
     His face lit up instantly, and I held my hand out for him to take.
     I turned my focus back to the water, 'Now do we go under together?'
     'I think you should go first, this is your dream.'
     I couldn't help but smile at him, he was doing everything to make this right and it made me feel so blessed to have him in my life.
     We walked further into the water, going until it was up to our waists. We turned around to face each other, Jet taking both my hands in his, 'Okay on the count of 3.'
    I nodded my head at him to let him know I was ready.
   '1,2,3'
    I ducked myself under still holding onto Jet's hands but something was wrong, I couldn't get back to the surface, I tried kicking and pushing, I could feel Jet's arms wrap around me as he tried to pull me to the surface, my legs felt an incredible pain, I tried to scream out but nothing came out under water, I twisted and turned until finally the pain stopped and I was able to rise to the surface.
      I searched for Jet but he was nowhere to be seen, dread washed over me, I hope he's okay, I hope he didn't get sucked under as well. I tried to stand up to start looking for him but my legs wouldn't co operate. It was then that I looked down to see a majestic mermaids tail of pink, purple and turquoise, it sparkled like diamonds in the sun everytime I moved. I was mesmerised watching it move and sparkle, 'Was this mine?' I thought to myself, as I caught sight of a black and yellow sea snake slithering past my now tail. I thrashed my tail in terror trying to swim away.
     'Ava,' I heard Jet calling me, where was he? I needed him to save me from this snake. I tried to turn to swim away but the snake had wrapped itself around my wrist, 'Ava, stop it's me. I'm the snake,' I stopped trying to move, looking at the snake in fear, 'It's me, Jet,' the snake said.
     I stared at him and then at my tail, 'I don't understand. How?'
     The snake shook its head, 'I don't know.'
     'It's because you are the long lost mermaid princess,' we heard a voice say from behind.
     We turned to see Sonia swimming towards us, she too was a mermaid, her tail bright blue in colour and sparkling in the sun.
    'You, you're a mermaid too?' I stammered, very unsure about what was happening.
     She nodded, 'We all are in this town.'
     My eyes met Jet's, 'Okay so then why is he a sea snake then?'
     She lowered her head not wanting to look me in the eyes, 'Because he is the enemy.'

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