The Call Of Thalassa

“The heart will break,

but broken live on.

- Lord Byron

Sometimes people do reckless things, driven by their need to protect their loved ones. They abandon any logical thinking and act without caring about the consequences they might have. Even if everything is against them, they don’t stop in front of the potential threats. They don’t have second thoughts about their actions. Many would call them ignorant fools, while others would say that cupid had hit them hard with his arrows.

Don’t all lovers behave like fools anyway?

But how far would someone go to protect his beloved?

In what depths would he dive?

How many sacrifices would he make?

A mother would undoubtedly give her own life to protect her child. A brother would instantly lie to his parents so his sibling wouldn’t be in trouble. A truthful friend would immediately help his companion during a difficult time. But what would a lover do? Someone who has become so emotionally attached to a certain person that he no longer cares about anything else?

As Aileen stared at the cold metal adorning her small wrists, she reached a conclusion. Everything. A lover was capable of everything. She always considered herself to be a peaceful person, who did not cause trouble to those around her. But now handcuffs decorated her hands instead of beautiful bracelets, making her delicate skin take a red tint where they were clasped. The sight of them made her furrow her eyebrows in confusion -how did it come to this?

She wasn’t a fool nor was she ignorant. She knew that going out when she wasn’t supposed to would only bring her more troubles. She knew that she would most likely end up in a room such as this one -a dark and empty office, waiting for someone to enter and start questioning her. She was well aware of the consequences that her actions would bring to her, yet she chose to turn a blind eye to them.

Why? Why would she risk everything for a man? No, a merman! Why would she throw all caution aside and try to help him, creating more problems for her in the process?

Well, hope is a strange feeling that will always die last. A small dose of it is capable to motivate the most sensible person to do the craziest of things. Especially, if this sliver of hope is combined with the feeling of love, then you are truly a goner. You cannot even try to explain it -you do what you have to do.

And just like that, Aileen had found herself being held like a criminal in Seaworth’s small detention center. It was an old building that had surely seen better days, but it worked just fine as a temporary prison. It had a few cells for the lawbreakers, decorated with white bars that prevented anyone from escaping them. Most of them were empty as the village was a close-knitted community where rarely anything unordinary happened. Not that this made her feel any better.

Her heart was pounding both from fear and anguish. Her nervousness and anxiousness were urging her to run to the familiar beach and notify Havelock of what had happened. On the other hand, cold sweat came over her every time she thought of the wrinkled photograph in Alastor’s hands. He had found her vulnerability and only God knew how he would use it. All she could do was wait patiently for the events to unfold, even if she felt like she was sitting on hot coals during the waiting time.

She heard him before he entered the gloomy office. His loud footsteps echoed down the corridor as he walked at a steady pace, covering the distance that separated him from her. Aileen closed her tired eyes tightly, commanding herself to be brave. She had never succumbed to his extortions before -she had no intention to start now. When she reopened her emerald gems, her gaze fell upon the rusty handle of the door as it slowly moved down. Her ears hurt from the creepy sound of the old hinges creaking.

His tall figure stood in the doorway for some moments as his scrutinizing dark eyes were observing her form. Her flaming hair was wild and unkempt, both from the hood that had covered it and from her vain attempts to escape. Her skin was paler than usual, making the dark circles under her tired eyes look like prominent bruises. Her mouth was clenched and her body rigid, reacting unconsciously to the danger in the room.

Her eyes were riveted on her tied hands and on her slender fingers that played nervously, refusing to look him in the eyes.

Maybe if she didn’t see him, he’d disappear.

She knew it was impossible, but a girl could only hope.

Ηe walked slowly about the room as if enjoying the panic he was creating to her. He pulled up the chair and sat down directly opposite her. He took the photograph out of his trousers and laid it on the table that separated them.

Aileen looked at the wrinkled paper persistently, wishing to see it rolled up in flames. He smirked pleasantly at her instant reaction, knowing that he had achieved exactly what he wanted. His act reminded her of who would have the upper hand in the conversation that would soon follow -he was warning her that she was treading on strange tides.

“Well”, he began, “Hasn’t the wheel turned?”

She clenched her palms into tight balls before her emerald eyes dared to meet his. Her brows furrowed in confusion at the bright red circle surrounding his brown orbs. How could a human have a scarlet circle around his eye irises anyway?

“This isn’t you”, she mumbled after a while, “What happened to your eyes?”

“Aren’t you quite observant, sweetheart?“, he chuckled darkly at her words.

She gulped her fear down and didn’t answer him back. His gaze made her skin crawl in disgust as it took every single detail of her in.

“Why do you hate me so much?“, she asked after a while.

“You’re a blind ignorant if you believe that, Aileen”, he let a humorless laugh escape him, “I had a crush on you since we were kids. I tried to approach you in different ways -well, whatever a kid can think anyway”, he shook his head as he dived deep in his thoughts.

The wall on her right had become very fascinating. Her ears though took in every single word that came out of his mouth.

“I tried to talk to you so many times, but you were just ignoring me. Perhaps, you were shy or scared -kids always judged you for your family and unusual appearance even at this young age”, he played with the shining ring on his pointer, “I had to make you notice me somehow.”

“And you thought that insulting and hurting me would make me love you?“, she yelled bitterly as her gaze filled with fury, “Did bullying a kid make you feel stronger? Worthy? Did beating someone weaker than you down to pieces -physically and mentally, make you feel proud?”

He let his hand comb through his messy dark locks in frustration.

“No, it didn’t”, he admitted, “But I was desperate and this seemed like the only way you would ever notice me. You had ruined my image back then. I had to do something to restore it.”

Her emerald eyes shined with unshed tears.

“Do you hear yourself right now?“, she whispered brokenly.

“Do you even know how stupid I looked because of you?“, he let a humorless chuckle, “Me, the son of the mayor! The most eligible bachelor of Seaworth! Coming from a wealthy family that the village has a high perception of! And I was constantly rejected and disrespected by the daughter of a fisherman!”

“I could care less if you were a poor sailor!“, Aileen snorted loudly, “Respect is earned! You aren’t worthy of my respect! You made my life a nightmare -hell, you even tried to kill me! And you expect me to fall at your feet?”

He stood up suddenly, pacing in front of the wooden table.

“The fact is you don’t get to disrespect me or reject me!“, he shouted angrily, “I am important! You are not! You are just another normal girl living in another seaside village!”

“And since when did normalcy become a crime?“, her gaze was fiery,” Who decides who is of high importance and who not? With what criteria?”

The scarlet circle around his darkened eyes seemed to become brighter as his anger reached its pick.

"Enough! “, he yelled, “You are in no position to speak right now! You are a prisoner under my mercy!”

The silence that fell in the room was heavy as the two of them tried to catch their breath. The tension was thick -it could be cut easily with a knife. Here they were again like they always ended -threatening and glaring at one another. They could never have a civilized conversation.

“You have two options.”

Emerald eyes met dark brown ones.

“We both know what will happen if anyone else sees this wonderful photo”, he sat back to his chair, “Will they think you’re a mermaid? That you’re helping them? Siding with them? Whatever they might think, one thing is for sure...they are going to be extremely alarmed at the fact. And we both know that fear works in strange ways.”

“These people know me their whole lives”, she gulped loudly, “They would never harm me.”

“Even when they have undeniable proof that you are somehow connected with them?“, he shook his head in amusement, “All they know about these creatures is that they murdered an innocent boy. Do you really think they won’t try to protect their own? Their kids, parents, and friends?”

Aileen took a shaky breath.

“We are a civilized society”, she defended herself, “We obey laws, not animal impulses.”

“Try telling that to George who just lost his only son”, Alastor stated matter of factly, “I am sure he will listen to your words before he kills you.”

Her eyes widened in horror and anguish as her body started to shake in fear.

“The villagers of Seaworth aren’t killers!“, she said to him, “And even then, no one would spend a lifetime in jail to murder a girl!”

Alastor cocked his head to the side at her words, looking at her as if she had grown another head.

“Who said anyone would go to jail?“, he asked as if she was crazy, “The villagers wouldn’t sentence someone who rid them of a traitor! They would most likely congratulate him and protect him. Hell, perhaps they would announce him ′Hero of Seaworth’! It has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”

His orbs met her tearful ones.

“You’ll be the girl that died tragically in an unexpected accident”, he shrugged his shoulders, “And no one will ever care about it.”

The tears that had filled her eyes, fell down her pale cheeks. She couldn’t hold her strong facade any longer -her mask had broken. She didn’t want to believe him, but this would be a logical reaction. Terminate a potential threat to the community before someone else was hurt. If their assumptions were correct then they would have saved themselves. If they were wrong? They would have sacrificed the life of a nonessential girl for everyone’s good.

Either way, they would have one less problem to worry about.

“What’s the second option?“, she finally chanted out.

A cheeky smile appeared on his face, making a shiver of disgust go down her spine.

“Marry me.”

“W-what?“, she stuttered in shock.

“Marry me”, he repeated, “We will both be pleased. I’ll burn the photograph, destroying any proof of your connection with them. And my honor will be restored as I will marry the one that denied me for years.”

She stared at him speechless with a frozen expression, unable to express her emotions in front of him. She wanted to scream her pain and anger out until her throat was sore. She wanted to slap him hard so that he would find the logic he was missing. She wanted to cry at the unfairness of her life and beg to the skies to save her from this nightmare.

Most importantly, she wanted to wake up in her merman’s embrace while he shushed her sweetly and told her how much he loved her.

She opened her mouth, ready to speak but closed it abruptly.

She turned around in shock as another voice was heard.

“No!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

End of chapter 29!!

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Until next time!!