us, ” they chanted in unison. Their combined voices were impossibly harmonic, like a choir of angels. They clung to the side of the boat, rising and falling with the waves. I turned to see Ethan’s eyes filled with alarm.
“I need your help to find a man in the water,” I said, ignoring their request.
“You have been summoned,” they sang.
“No! ” I cried, “I must find this man now! ” They looked pouty, like little children whose toys were being taken away. They all disappeared at once. I turned to Ethan, who was fighting for control as we rode up and over each giant swell.
They popped up again suddenly, only now there were two more in their ranks. Each one was more beautiful than the last. They smiled beguilingly at me and Ethan.
“Please help us find the man,” I cried, “He’s floating out here and we have to find him! ”
“We know where he is, ” they sang melodically.
“Take us to him! ” I demanded. They just smiled, wild and compassionless.
One of them climbed up on the side of the boat. Her face was within inches of mine, “If you come with us we will show you to him. ”
I looked at Ethan and he looked terrified. I thought about Dutch, out here by himself. I thought about Abby, broken-hearted, back at the apartment.
I nodded, and spoke slowly. It was imperative that they follow my instructions. “I’ll come with you, but only if you bring us to the man, and take this boat with both of them in it safely back to the harbor. ”
She smiled and agreed to my conditions. There was no way we were going to find Dutch without their help– I was going to have to trust them to keep their word. The beautiful creatures circled our boat and grabbed hold of it. They started to swim, their powerful fins propelling us through the water as if we were floating on air. Ethan came to my side and held onto me tightly.
Within minutes we neared a figure bobbing in the rough water.
“Dad!” Ethan yelled.
Dutch was clinging onto a white cooler, his face ashen. He had an orange suit on, just as I had seen in my vision. One of the mermaids flipped him on board as though he were weightless, reminding me of their immense strength. Ethan and I knelt by Dutch’s side and his eyes flickered open. He was breathing, but he looked bad. We had clearly gotten there just in time. Ethan looked up at me, awestruck.
“Marina, come with us, ” the chanting started, “Come now! ” A sweet singsong cacophony of voices called out to me. We looked around, and now there were at least ten of them, flipping and frolicking in the water, surrounding the little boat.
I felt sick as I looked into Ethan’s frightened eyes.
I turned to them, “Take them back to the harbor right now! ”
“Yes Marina, ” they chanted in unison.
“I’m sorry Ethan,” a look of horror was dawning on his face, “But I made a deal...” Two mermaids lunged out of the water and clamped onto my arms, plucking me out of the boat and dragging me into their midst. Several more grabbed hold of the boat and started swimming it back. The last thing I saw before they pulled me under the water was Ethan’s agonized face. My vision had come true.
At that moment I knew that he loved me too, and that I had just broken his heart.
CHAPTER TWENTYFIVE
COUNCIL
I prepared to die as they dragged me deeper and deeper under the water. My ears ached with the pressure and my lungs felt as though they would burst. The physical pain was nothing compared to the overwhelming sorrow. I sobbed silently as we descended. I cried for Ethan and my dad; I mourned for all the people I loved that I’d never see again. My vision darkened and I exhaled one last time, welcoming oblivion. I inhaled water, and the shock to my lungs doubled me over.
The two mermaids held me tightly by the wrists and smiled with merciless charm as I struggled. I coughed, and bubbles of air rose to the surface. Water flowed in and out of my lungs, icy cold and dense. My ears stopped hurting as the air drained out of me, replaced by freezing cold water. I looked back at them, incredulous. I was breathing underwater, just as they did. It felt almost familiar, like some vestigial memory of being in the