"Five, four, three..." my father counts, his voice getting louder as he reaches to one. I try my very best to not let out the giggle that was threatening to come out. This is a good hiding spot. He will never find me here.

"One! Here I come!"

I push myself until my back hit the wall, keeping as silent as a mouse. There's no way he can find me behind the gigantic curtains.

Dad's heavy footsteps move away from his original spot and my hiding place. "O where have my little Bubbles gone, hmm? Is she behind the door?" he says, sounding very confused.

I bite my lips to prevent myself from giggling out loud. No, daddy. I'm not there.

The sound of the creaking door indicates that he really did push the door to check. I hear a loud gasp from him. "Nope, she's not here. Where else could she be? Maybe underneath the sofa!"

Dad proceed to check other places of the house, never coming close to where I have been hiding. After about 5 minutes of him attempting to find me, his shadow appears in front of me.

"The last possible place my little Bubbles could have hide is ... behind the curtains!" he speaks with excitement. Before he can do anything, I come out of my hiding spot and attack him with a hug. Dad picks me up instantly, twirling me around until we both are dizzy and gasping from all the laughing.

Dad gives me the brightest smile on earth before giving me a kiss in the cheek.

"I love you, daddy," I tell him, burying into his warm neck. "You're the best daddy in the world!"

Dad chuckles while getting us both seated on the sofa in the living room.

"I love you too, Linda."

The both of us sit in silence for a few minutes, tired from one of our father-daughter activities. Although I enjoy my father's presence, there are times I wonder if I am able to play with people my age. The only people I know in my entire life is dad, Aunt Beth and Uncle Sebastian. Besides them, the other beings I am able to approach are marine animals that were brave enough to come close to me. It saddens me that many animals don't dare to do so.

"Daddy?" I ask timidly, curling into his side and bracing myself for the possible anger I might receive. The nervousness I am experiencing causes me to play with my green dress as an attempt to distract myself.

"Yes? You know you can ask me anything," he replies in a relax tone.

It comforts me a little, but the fear is still there. "Why can't I go with you to town?"

Dad immediately stiffens, causing me to lower my head until my long black hair cover my face and regret asking that question. I knew he would get upset with me, but I still want to know.

"It's dangerous out there, Melinda. There are many bad people who can harm you," he answers.

I gasp a little and then squeak out, "Bad people?"

Dad nods. "Yes, bad people. That's why you have to stay at the beach or in the house. The bad people will not come here."

Somehow, that made me feel safe. "You promise they won't come get me?"

Dad gives me a confident smile and squeezing my shoulders a little.

"I promise."

The sudden loud doorbell makes me jump in surprise. For a moment there, I thought the bad guys are outside to take me away from home. I calm down after dad call out for the person to come in.

"Aunt Beth!" I scream happily, charging towards her.

Aunt Beth's musical laughter fills my ear as I hug her legs. I can't help but breathe in her natural earthly scent.

"Good morning, Melinda! Are you ready for your next lesson?" she asks the moment I release her from my grip.

Excitedly, I bounce my small head up and down. "Will you join us for a swim later?"

Aunt Beth gives a thoughtful look at my question. There are times she has something to do after our sessions, so she can't play in the water with me. To persuade her even more, I stick out my bottom lip and widen my eyes, a face that she cannot say 'no' to.

"Sure, but you better not yawn every ten minutes during my teaching, okay?" Aunt Beth bargain.

The gigantic smile on my face is enough to let her know of my response. "Yay!"

Aunt Beth laughs again. She reaches her fingers towards me and tucks a piece of long strand of hair behind my right ear.

"Go get your books and we will start our lesson," she instructs, nodding her head to the stairs behind me that leads to my bedroom.

Without wasting any second, I dash upstairs to retrieve my books and the exercises for today's lesson. I take the time to walk down the stairs so I will not trip over my feet and fall. My biggest fear is to fall from the stairs and the floor at the bottom will swallow me. That thought alone has given me nightmares before.

I look around in confusion when I notice Aunt Beth is not at the dining table where the lessons are usually held. Dad's and her voice can be heard coming from the kitchen, so I leave my books on the table and walk over to them.

"You can't keep getting Melinda homeschooled until she's eighteen, Augustus! The poor girl needs to interact with other kids and be exposed to the world outside her house," Aunt Beth says harshly. I frown at her tone. I have never heard her sound so angry before. Aunt Beth usually sounds calm and happy.

Dad lets out a low growl. "You don't understand, Beth. Melinda is six years old. It's dangerous for her out there. Once one of them find out who she is, who knows what they will do once they have her in their hands. I am not taking that risk."

The word 'them' makes me shudders. Is dad talking about the bad guys?

"Then teach her to protect herself!" Aunt Beth argues. "You can't protect her forever, and she needs to know about herself. We are all aging, Augustus. We will die one day, and she the knowledge to protect herself without us."

Aunt Beth's statement causes me to whimper out loud. Both their heads turn towards my direction as they were too engaged in their conversation to notice my presence.

"Are you going to die, daddy?" I question in a soft voice, standing still. The tears are threatening to fall.

Dad comes over to my position and kneels down so his face is at the same level as mine. His eyes show no fear when he says, "I'm not going anywhere, Linda. Come on, let's finish learning multiplication and counting to twenty in Mandarin before we go swimming, okay?"

I am assured of my safety after that. Dad succeeded in distracting me by exciting me with the thought of going to the beach outside.

However, the thought of the bad guy out there lingers to haunt me for the rest of my childhood.

Author's Note

Oh my goshhh! It's been a while since I last wrote! Now that I'm done with college, I'm going to be free for quite some time to write an extra book!  In case you have forgotten what happened in the previous books, Beth is an Earth elemental, Augustus is a dragon shifter and Melinda is a mermaid-Siren hybrid. So please do let me know of your thoughts in the comment section below.

Btw: Picture of Augustus above ;)

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-M.