CHAPTER 18: A NEW FRIEND
MONICA'S POV.
I watched the mermaid's tail transform into a human's legs and I was shocked. I had heard a lot of stories about them from my mother but it had always been nothing but a fantasy to me which I thought would never be real. Seeing one right in front of me felt so unreal that I had to touch it and feel it before I could accept its authenticity.
The mermaid stood up from the ground and waved at me. She turned her back and walked to the other side of the water while I followed closely while looking at her structure from behind. She had a beautiful face with a sexy body that would make any man fall and with the fact that she was naked, I deemed it my duty to protect her and not let any man see her as I watched around cautiously to see if anyone was coming or not. She suddenly stopped in front of a small mountain and bent down, she dipped her hand into the mountain and brought out clothes which she put on, still keeping the sweet smile on her face.
She wore the clothes and walked over to me. "You're an interesting person. Many would have been scared and would have run away from me but you did not only stay, you still followed after me while I was leaving." She said sweetly and I closed my eyes. I couldn't get used to her voice and it made me excited. I stretched my hand forward and touched her cheeks. "You have such nice skin. I never thought I would see a live mermaid~ This is fun!" I said cheerfully, not responding to her earlier words as I had no explanation to give other than it was fun.
I followed her because it was fun and I loved everything fun. I knew it might be dangerous but because it was fun, I followed her still, and here she was, standing in front of me and smiling sweetly at me. I thought she was going to avoid my hand when I touched her cheeks but she instead closed her eyes and rested on my hand, giving me the chance to feel It as much as I wanted. I removed my hand and smiled back at her. "My name is Monica. What about you?" I asked her and she crossed her arms.
"I can't tell you now. I don't tell strangers my name and as you already know, I'm a mermaid so I can't be free with people that live on the ground." She said and I could feel the pain in her voice. It seemed she had been hurt before and it made my heart ache for her. She turned to leave and I followed beside her. "I don't know what you've passed through and I can't ask because it's your privacy but I don't want you to think that everyone on the ground is wicked. There are others out there that are very nice." I tried to persuade her. Having a sweet girl like her feeling hurt about some experience was unacceptable and I couldn't take it lying down.
She turned to look at me and frowned. "Why are you trying so hard to make me happy when you are sad, yourself?" She questioned me and I frowned. Sad? Who was sad? "What are you talking about? I was only playing by the water because it looked so beautiful. For your information, I'm married." I explained to her and she smiled "And your husband is an Alpha?" She asked and my eyes widened. I didn't remember telling her that much about myself and it made me wonder how she got to know that.
"How did you know that?" I asked her and she started walking again. "I guess you don't know much about mermaids then. When you touch a mermaid, we can read your memories. It used to be so vivid that it would seem like we lived through the life ourselves. Which is why we don't like being touched by others." She explained and that was when it dawned on me that my mother had said the same thing to me then. She told me about how they protected themselves from earthlings by learning about their weakness through their memories and using it against them.
"You don't like being touched by others. Why did you let me touch you then?" I asked her. "I was curious." She simply replied and I frowned. I walked faster and stood in front of her. "Curious? About what?" I asked and she sighed. She looked into her eyes and I saw her sea-blue eyes turn dark for a few seconds before they returned to color. "When I saw you, the first thing that attracted me was your beauty but I was only planning to look at you from afar before swimming away until I moved closer and the pain in your eyes alarmed me. You looked so sad that I felt the water turn bitter and cold, I rushed out of the water to see you. The reason I allowed you to touch me was because I wanted to know what it was that made you so sad." She explained and I replied with an O sound.
We continued walking and we returned to where I sat earlier. I sat down on the stone and she sat down on the ground. "So, Why are you still staying with him when he's not making you happy at all?" She asked me and my face fell. There was no way I could explain my past to her and all I had gone through and the fact that she might have seen it all made it more awkward to explain to her and I could only look away. She stared at me for some minutes before she sighed. "Since when have you been with him?" She questioned and I returned my gaze to her.
"A month. I've been in his mansion for like a month now. Why do you ask?" I replied. She looked around her and turned back to face me. "You only have 1 year and 11 months left to live." She said to me and I rolled my eyes. I already knew about that and it no longer scared me. Although I did not want to die, fearing it was something I couldn't do that either. "You don't need to remind me. That was too harsh." I scolded her and she chuckled.
"So, what are you planning to do concerning your Alpha?" She inquired and I fell in deep thought. It was my first time hearing such a question and it made me wonder what my plan really was. Was I planning to love him for the two years or did I just want to live in the moment? I was confused. I lowered my eyes to look at her and she was staring back at me waiting for my reply. "I don't know yet. Haven't thought about it before but I will start thinking about it now." I said to her and she nodded.
We continued talking and before I knew it, it was already 2:49 am. I stood up from the stone, worriedly and looked around. I knew they would have been searching for me at home and if Alpha Brimstone was at home too, it wouldn't be nice at all. The last thing I wanted was to make him angrier but with what I just did, I was sure he would be boiling with anger. I looked at her apologetically, "I'm sorry but I need to leave now. It's already so late and they would have been looking for me at home." I said to the mermaid who also stood up from the ground. "Okay then. See you another day." She said to me and without saying another word, she walked toward the water and entered it.
I watched her swim away and turned to leave when she screamed. "I'm Alyssa! My name is Alyssa, The mermaid princess!' I heard her sweet voice and my eyes lit up. Did she just tell me her name? I turned back to face her and I giggled excitedly. "Does that mean we are closer now?" I asked her and she smiled at me before disappearing into the water.
"Ain't you going home again?" I stood there, staring at the water with a big smile on my face when Edna reminded me and I gasped. I grabbed the hem of my long dress and started running toward the mansion. The way back was silent and confusing as I had no idea how I got to the water again. I continued walking in circles before I was finally able to get my way back home and my eyes widened when I saw the guards outside the mansion with worried looks on their faces. I walked toward them and their eyes lit up when they saw me. "My Lady!" They all cheered as they bowed their heads to welcome me.