Chapter 2X
A bucket of foul–smelling water splashed over me, soaking my skin and clothes in cold, salty filth.&
The maid’s expression was twisted with disgust and revulsion.
“Freak. Aren’t you supposed to heal? Then why the hell are you still bleeding? Gross.”
The mop smacked against my forehead, hard enough to make me flinch.
“Clean up this mess, or I’m telling Mr. Wilkins!“&
I spent the rest of the night hunched over, scrubbing the floors until my arms ached and my fingers bled.
From inside the house, moans of pleasure echoed through the walls–Jill’s voice, high and breathless, calling out for Sam.§ A single tear slipped down my cheek.
Sam’s disgusted face kept replaying in my mind, growing sharper with every pass of the mop.
Soon, I told myself. It’ll all be over soon.
Even mermaids–creatures meant to live forever–can still die.
Only three days left.
When I wiped away the last smear of blood from the tiles, the wound on my body finally sealed shut.
Another day at the seaside manor began.
Sam emerged from the bedroom, his neck littered with tiny, fresh red marks. He stopped when he saw the bloodied mop.N “What the hell? Why’s there so much blood?”
I said nothing to defend myself. Just bowed slightly and muttered,
“I’m sorry. I’ll take care of it right away.”
Out in the garden, the maids were clipping flowers. One of them raised her voice deliberately.
“You won’t believe this–she actually asked me how to make someone happy. Can you imagine? That sea witch thinks she can seduce Mr. Wilkins!”
The other snorted. “Please. Like someone like her could ever dream of becoming Mrs. Wilkins. If it weren’t for her, Mr. Wilkins‘ parents wouldn’t have disappeared.“}
I tried to retreat quietly, but Sam was faster.}
With a swift kick, he shoved the cleaning supplies aside and dragged me down to the lab.
He strapped me into the electric chair–the one capable of discharging a hundred thousand volts. The dizziness hit me instantly. My head spun and bile rose in my throat.
Sam sat down, crossed his legs, remote in hand. His eyes were cold.§
“Almost forgot… It’s been a whole month since I last interrogated you.”
Tell me. Where the hell did they take my parents?”
I hadn’t even seen him press the button yet, but my hands instinctively gripped the armrests.
Tightly. So tightly my nails tore into the metal until they bled.
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
Electricity coursed through every nerve in my body. I screamed, muscles spasming uncontrollably, my lower body suddenly soaked with scalding liquid.
Even when the current stopped, my body kept twitching.
Sam stood up, gritting his teeth and stepped closer.
“You’re tough. I gave you that.” He grabbed my jaw with force and spewed another hiss
“Still won’t talk?”
I coughed blood. Every organ felt like it had been roasted alive.
“I’m not telling you.”
I couldn’t. It was a secret–one that held his parents‘ lives in the balance.
He didn’t shock me again.”
Instead, he motioned for someone outside the lab. Moments later, they returned with a handful of shark pearls–ones I’d hidden under the floorboards, thinking they were safe.
My breath hitched. My eyes locked on them, pupils trembling.!!
“What… what are you doing?” My voice cracked.
He gave me that twisted little smile he always wore before he did something cruel. “You already know, don’t you?”
Without breaking eye contact, he dropped one of the pearls to the concrete floor and slammed his boot down on it.S
The sickening crack echoed through the lab, followed by a scream I didn’t even realize was mine–bloody, guttural, full of agony
He chuckled, dark and amused. “So, was that your dad’s? Or your mom’s?” He crushed another beneath his heel. “They say mermaids only die for real when you shatter their pearls. Otherwise, you freaks just keep crawling back from the dead.” You’re still not gonna talk?” he sneered “Even after all this?”
My fingers were torn open. nails ripped down to the bone. skin peeled back to nothing but white. Blood dripped from my hands like rain.
22 22.29
3.58 AM
riom my eyes 100.
“Sam,” I rasped, voice shaking with hate, “I hate you.”
He didn’t flinch.
Instead, he grabbed me and kissed me. His kiss was so hard and brutal, it felt like he wanted to bite my tongue clean off. That kiss… made my head spin.
Lately, I’d been growing weaker and sometimes I almost forgot how deeply we once loved each other.
Mermaids have always been drawn to humans. It’s in our nature to come ashore, to fall for them, to bind our lives to theirs.
I was three years old the first time I met Sam.N
The moment he saw me, he turned to his mom and asked with serious eyes,
“Mom, is she the bride you picked for me?”
Mrs. Wilkins burst into laughter and flicked his forehead.
Our families became close after that. We visited often, celebrated birthdays together, even vacationed as one big unit. But everything changed when I turned fifteen.N
The merfolk were being hunted, driven off by humans who feared and coveted us. We had no choice but to disappear.
