Page 2 of Entangled

“Hurry, Merrow. Get into your undine form,” urged Melite. “You know you can swim faster than any of us by using your tail.”

“I’m not sure I agree to this idea.” Merrow looked over her shoulder to the other side of the rock where another dozen of their sisters were sunbathing but starting to slip back into the water one by one because of the approaching weather. “Nerites watches us closely. Too closely.We can’t risk him reporting back to Father that we’re breaking the rules. It’ll get us into a lot of trouble.”

“Since when are you afraid of trouble? Besides, our brother is checking on the fishing boats right now, and keeping the rest of our sisters away from their nets,” Galene pointed out. “Nerites won’t even know we left for the reef. He has his hands full with all his responsibilities. It will take him some time to check on all his fifty sisters.”

“She’s right. Plus, he can’t swim half as fast as we can. Come on, Merrow. Do it!” Melite continued to coax her. “I only need a few more of those pretty pink shells found only at the reef, to complete my necklace. Plus, I want to try to attract my personal shell charm to me, now that I’ve come of age.”

The undines, when old enough, attracted a personal shell charm from the sea to them. It was usually a soft shell that could sometimes even feel feathery. It would connect to their essence and become part of them in every way. It helped to hold their emotions and their feelings at bay. Most of all, it helped to control their sexual prowess since sea nymphs were very sensual, sexual creatures. The undines wore the personal shell charm in their hair. It was something that stayed with them always. It would help to give them strength and control. However, if for some reason it was ever taken from them, it could bring about a horrible fate.

Melite lifted the strand of shells around her neck, clicking them together. “If we wait any longer, the storm will cover all the shells with silt and we’ll have to wait another week until the sea bottom settles in order to go after them again.”

Merrow ran a hand through her hair that had been dried by the sun, glancing up at the sky once more. Even though she was the best at caring for others and maintaining order, deep down she got tired of always being the responsible one. Undines didn’t have souls. However, if she had one, she was sure it would be reminding her that she really did enjoy taking risks and exploring new areas. It was a longing deep inside her that always called to her and kept her alive. The Mystic Reef seemed to constantly beckon her. At times she was awoken from a deep sleep, swearing she heard her mother calling to her from the reef, even though it wasn’t so.

Merrow loved all her sisters as well as her brother, but Melite and Galene were her favorites by far. She would do anything to make them happy. Seeing them smile made Merrow’s heart sing. Plus, it helped ease the sting of no longer having a mother, as well as putting up with an ever-absent father. Merrow was close to her sisters and would do anything to keep that bond strong.

“All right,” she finally answered with a wink. “Why not? I haven’t done anything exciting in a long time now. If we’re fast, we’ll find your pink shells and also be able to attract your personal shell charm as well. We can beat the storm, and be back before Nerites even knows we’re gone.” Slipping into the water, her mermaid-like tail instantly appeared. The tips of her ears grew longer and fin-like. Webbing appeared between her fingers and toes that would aid her in moving through the water in a sleek and rapid way. “Let’s go.” She dove into the sea, not even bothering to take a breath. Undines could breathe under the water or breathe air while on land. They had the ability to do both. However, in the water was where they gained their strength and energy and where they always felt their best.

The lingering rays of sunlight streamed down, lighting up the hidden underwater paradise that Merrow had grown up in and always loved. With Melite and Galene right behind her, Merrow purposely held back as she swam so she wouldn’t lose them in her wake. Instead, she drank in the beauty of the underwater life all around her.

Schools of red mullet fish darted one way and then the other as she came through. Their bright hues of red, pink and orange always reminded her of the sun. A wrasse fish followed her as she swam. This was one of the most colorful fish in the sea in green and blue with red dots that made up stripes. Bottlenose dolphins smiled at her as they encircled her, wanting to play a game of chase. Merrow made a face at some of the puffer fish, blowing air into her cheeks trying to mimic the way they could blow up so easily.

She continued to swim, nodding to a garfish at the ocean floor. Its slim, long snake-like body curled around a rock while its needle nose poked at something beneath the sandy floor. Merrow reached out and dragged her hand across the back of a large sea turtle as it slowly floated past, biting at seaweed and underwater fauna along the way. She swam along with a dusky grouper, a black scorpion fish and even a blue spotted bream.

The waters of their home were so blue and clear. Little islands dotted the area, and Merrow knew each one of them like the back of her hand.

After passing some blue crabs in a nearby lagoon, they came to the Mystic Reef filled with the most colorful coral ever known. It made her happy to see it. She’d heard of humans who painted, and this was none other than the sea painting its beautiful colors below the water, splashing them onto the ancient coral reef. Merrow stopped and held up a hand, telling her sisters to wait. She didn’t want to speak with her mind or the others would hear her.

She thought she saw a glimpse of someone swim by in the distance, but when she spun around to look, there was no one there.

What is it, Merrow?asked Melite using her mind to communicate anyway.

Merrow held a finger to her lips and nodded toward their sisters, Ephyra, Arethusa and Panopea who had finished gathering up the coral and shells into their baskets, having sensed the approaching storm. She waited until they swam off before leading Melite and Galene toward the Mystic Reef.

Collect your shells quickly, she told her sisters, feeling a cold chill wash through her and it wasn’t from the frigid water. Something wasn’t right. She felt it in her bones. There was danger approaching, but she couldn’t place from where it came.

While Galene and Melite scooped up shells and placed them into the bags slung over their shoulders, Merrow kept a close watch. Once again, she thought, or sensed someone or something watching them. She spun around, but didn’t even see a single fish anymore. It was much too calm around the Mystic Reef. Calmer than usual. She supposed the underwater sea creatures sensed the approaching storm and that is why they remained hidden.

Hurry,she told her sisters, noticing Melite clicking the pink shells together. A large smile spread across her face.

These are the biggest and best shells we’ve ever found, said Melite. This will make the best necklace I’ve ever had in my life. Now, I just need to try to attract my personal shell charm to me.

Thunder boomed overhead, sending the vibrations flitting through the water. Looking up to the surface, Merrow could see flashes of lightning in the sky. She was about to tell her sisters it was time to leave when she looked behind her and her mouth fell open in shock. The water at the reef started to swirl violently making what she could only explain as an underwater sideways funnel. Colors of green and blue lit up the inside of the swirls and glowed from within with a fuzzy white color. Then, to her horror, she saw her sisters being pulled toward it.

“What’s happening?” asked Galene aloud, using her voice instead of her mind to communicate now. She struggled to swim away, but it was like a very strong current.

“Help!” cried Melite, shoving the rest of the shells into her pouch as her body was swept toward the swirling waters that started to open wider now. It was some kind of underwater portal!

“Hold on, I’m coming,” Merrow yelled to her sisters. Even though she was a strong enough swimmer to bring herself out of this strong current, her sisters were not. She didn’t think twice about risking her own life to save them.

“Merrow, help us!” Galene’s eyes opened wide and her hand shot out as her tail was sucked into the water portal and she started to disappear.

“I’m scared!” cried Melite, trying to swim upward, but the portal sucked her right to it as well.

“I won’t let that thing harm you!” With all her might, Merrow swam right toward the portal, reaching out and grasping each of her sisters by the arm just as they started to slip away. She pulled with all her might, but the water portal was just too powerful. She would have to either let go of her sisters to save herself, or surrender to the swirling water, just to stay with Melite and Galene.

She chose the latter, not willing to leave her siblings who were in dire need of her protection. Still holding on to them securely, she relaxed her body, letting the water pull all three of them deep into the center of the portal.

Something caught her eye again, and she noticed their brother, Nerites swimming toward them just as the portal started to close.

“Nerites!” she shouted, but it was too late. The portal snapped shut before their brother could reach them. They were sucked through brackish waters that became so dark she could no longer see a thing. Still, Merrow held firmly to her sisters, not willing to let them go.

The crystal clear waters of home disappeared. They were now surrounded by dark waters and also the feeling of doom. They needed to get to the surface to see where they were. Merrow needed to get her bearings. “Swim to the surface,” she instructed her sisters. They did as told, but Merrow never made it there. She felt a jerking motion and realized that her tail was entangled in some kind of netting that kept closing in around her, swallowing her up.

She was trapped and being pulled upward! The net enclosed her, making her a prisoner as it slowly dragged her along with it toward the surface.

Now Merrow knew what happened to their mother so many years ago. And she also felt it in her gut that she and her sisters were never, ever going back home.