Chapter Three

When Vanessa got out the shower she wrapped herself in a towel and left the bathroom. She could hear voices coming from downstairs. She didn’t recognize any of them and from the way they were talking it sounded like the police. Her stomach turned, she knew they would ask her a million questions, none of which she knew the answer to.

She hurried into her room and sat down on her bed, wondering what to do. She looked down at her arms where the blue and gold scales were. She got up from the bed and grabbed a random shirt to begin drying off her arms, hoping to make them disappear. She remembered last night when she got home, she was dry and they were gone, but when she dried off her arms, they were still there!

She groaned and dried off her body and got dressed in a tank top and some shorts. She even put some baby powder on her body to make sure she was dry. She began to get frustrated when they still didn’t go away, so she grabbed her dusty hairdryer from inside her closet. She hardly ever used it because it had belonged to her mom and it hurt her to see it.

She looked into the mirror has she blow-dried her hair. As it dried, she noticed something strange about her hair. It was less wavy than usual, and much brighter. Her normally pale ashy blonde hair looked like it had life to it, the way it looks in the summer when the sun brightens it up, only ten times better. It looked like she got fresh highlights through her hair.

She was so focused on her glowing hair she didn’t notice when the scales on her arms disappeared. Her hair wasn’t completely dry, more like damp, but it got rid of the scales. She turned off the hairdryer and brushed through her hair.

She noticed something else about herself—her skin had changed, it didn’t look extremely pale anymore. She actually looked tan, you could even describe her as bronzed. Her skin glowed and shone beautifully. She had no more pimples on her face and her blue eyes sparkled.

“Vanessa?” her father called from downstairs, making her jerk a little since she was so absorbed in her own reflection.

“Coming.” she yelled back before grabbing her sandals and slipping them on her feet before leaving her room.

When she got downstairs, she met her father and two people—one man and one woman—in the kitchen. She stood there like a deer about to get hit by a car as they all stared at her. Her dad looked at her in surprise as the two cops just watched her. It was so painfully quiet.

The police lady smiled at her, “Hello Vanessa, I’m Detective Hurley.” she said, walking over to her and holding out her hand. “But you can call me Anita.”

Vanessa put her hand in hers and shook. “Hello.”

“You gave us quite a scare yesterday.” she said. “Wanna tell us what happened?”

Vanessa looked at her father for a moment and he gave her an encouraging smile. She looked back at Anita, “I don’t know—I mean, I can’t remember. One minute I was standing on the shore and next, I woke up under the boardwalk.”

“The one here in Coasta Sirenas?” she asked.

Vanessa nodded, “Yes.”

“Okay, are you sure you can’t remember how you ended up back there? We searched for a real long time around there before we moved on to the next coast.” she said.

“I’m sure.”

“Okay, so you woke up and then…?”

“I walked home.”

“All by yourself?”

“Yes.”

“That must have been really scary for you”

Vanessa was getting a headache from all these questions, she just wanted to eat and go back upstairs to her nice warm bed. “Yes, all by myself.” Vanessa said. “I came home and I passed out right when I came in. I can’t remember anything, sorry.” she said, her voice rising without her meaning to. She brought her hand up to her head and rubbed across it, “Oh jeez, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to---”

“No, no, it’s alright.” Anita said. “I understand, it can be traumatizing and scary after what happened. The main point is you’re safe now, we’re just here to ask you what happened and to see if you’re okay. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” she said.

“No, I mean physically.” Anita said as she walked around Vanessa. “You have no bruises or anything on you—it’s kind of strange. Not even a scratch, and there are some pretty dangerous things in the ocean. I would recommend going to a hospital just to check that everything is okay, Vanessa.”

Vanessa didn’t really want to go, she hated doctors and hospitals. But she didn’t feel like saying it again, so she just sighed and lowered her head.

“I’ll take her tomorrow.” her father said as he came over to her. “I’m sure Vanessa just wants to eat and lay back down in bed.”

She smiled up at her father, loving how he knew her so well.

Anita nodded, “Okay, but Vanessa, if you do start to remember, I would suggest seeing someone and talking to about it.”

Vanessa nodded and ran her hand through her hair, just wanting to eat the plate of food she saw on the counter. It looked so delicious.

When they said they’d be on their way, her dad showed them out. She walked over to the fridge and grabbed a water bottle. For some reason, she wanted water more than coke or soda. She chugged half the water, she felt so thirsty. She sat down at the island and scarfed down on her pancakes, they were cold, but she didn’t care. They were still so good!

A moment later, her father came back, looking kind of confused. Her eyebrows came together, “What?”

He came over to the other side of the counter and leaned down on it, “I think—I think I just agreed to go on a date with that woman.”

Vanessa almost choked on her pancakes and she stared at him in shock. “What!?”

“Well, it’s more like joining her for coffee. She asked me if I would like to grab some tomorrow.” he said.

Vanessa wasn’t sure how she felt about that—happy maybe? She’d watched her father spend the last eight years alone. It was hardest on him when her mom died. Vanessa was only eight when she died, it was kind hard for her to understand in the beginning and she so upset about it, but it seemed harder for her dad. He pretty much lost it, he stopped eating and sleeping. Her own aunt had to come over a lot just to take care of Vanessa while her father spent all his time in his room crying.

She would sleep in the same bed with him because she didn’t want him to feel alone. But when she woke up in the middle of the night, he wouldn’t be in the room anymore. She would find him in the living room watching old family videos. She would always get on his lap and try to comfort him the best she could. It was like that for almost a year until he finally started seeing a counselor because he almost lost Vanessa and that opened his eyes to the fact he didn’t want to lose her too.

He hasn’t dated much since then even though his friends tried to put together blind dates for him. He would go, but they never seemed to work out. She wanted her father to be happy again, to have someone to love him who wasn’t his daughter. She knew he’d always love her mother, but it’s time to move on. Her mom would want that.

“Do you like her?” Vanessa asked.

Her father shrugged, “I don’t know, I barely know her Vanessa.”

She smiled, “She is pretty. Are you going to go?”

Her father stood up from leaning on the counter, “I don’t know, noisy.”, he said. He leant down on the counter again next to her this time, “Would you be okay with it I do?”

“I wouldn’t be smiling if I wasn’t.” she said. “She seems nice, I like her.”

“She does seem nice.”, he said. They looked at each for a moment before he chuckled, “So what am I going to wear?”

She giggled at her father, shaking her head as she ate.

{}

Around five o’clock, her doorbell rang. Vanessa paused the movie she was watching and threw off the blanket. She slipped on her sandals and went downstairs. Her father had gone out grocery shopping but she wasn’t feeling up to going. She went over to the door and opened it.

She was surprised to see her substitute teacher behind the screen door. On the other side Ms. Freya smiled and waved at her.

She opened the screen door, “Oh, um, hey Ms. Freya.”, she said as she stepped out onto the porch. “What are you doing here?”

“You weren’t at school and I was curious as to why.” she said.

Vanessa gave Ms. Freya a strange look, curious and confused about why she cared so much. “Oh, well I’m sure you’ll hear soon. Coasta Sirenas a small town.”

“I know,” she said. “But I also came here for another reason. It’s time for you to start training.”

“Training?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “For what?”

“Can we go in first?” she asked, but didn’t wait for an answer since she let herself in. Vanessa was surprised that she just did that, but followed her inside. “Oh, this is nice. Looks cozy.”

“I’m sorry Ms. Freya, but I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” she said. “If it’s about history class, I’m sure I can pass the class with a B.”

Ms. Freya chuckled, “No dear, not school. And call me Adalyn please.”

“Okay…?” she said a little confused.

“Please give me your hand.” Ms. Freya said as she held out her own toward Vanessa. “I would like to show you something.”

Confused as ever, Vanessa hesitated before reaching her hand out to put it in Ms. Frey’s—Adalyn hand.

Suddenly everything went—blue. She wasn’t sure what was happening when she realized she was staring up from the ocean. Fish were all around and she saw the silhouettes of figures moving around. They were long and tall—they had bodies like nothing she’d ever seen before. The top half seemed to have the body of a human and the bottom was like a fish.

‘Vaaannneesssa’ she heard and turned her head turned to see Adalyn in front of her, only a few feet away. She smiled at her kindly and reached her hand out. Not sure how, Vanessa recognized her own arm and fingers entwined with Adalyn’s. Her hand felt warm and gentle. ‘We welcome you, sister.’ she said, but her mouth wasn’t moving at all. It was like she said it in her head. Then a burst of white light flashed from their entwined hands and it was magical.

Vanessa was brought back to her living room and she snatched her hand back, her chest rising and falling quickly as she gaped at Adalyn for a moment before asking, “What was that?”

“I’m helping you remember.” she said. “You’re the last to join our coven.”

“Coven?” she asked. “What coven? Who are you? What are you?” she questioned, her voice rising in panic.

“Remember we were talking about the mermaid legend of Coasta Sirenas?” she asked and Vanessa hesitated, not wanting to believe it, but she nodded. “They’re real and they’re back.”, Adalyn grinned.

Vanessa stared at her before walking around and pacing back and forth. Okay, so this strange woman is trying to tell her, what? She’s a mermaid and Vanessa is now mermaid too? “You’re joking, right? You have to be.”

“I’m not, you’re the last mermaid ever of Coasta Sirenas, I’ve picked you because I felt that you were just right.” she said.

“I’m not a mermaid.” Vanessa said.

“Of course you are, haven’t you noticed the changes?” she asked. Adalyn then pointed her pretty pointer finger at Vanessa’s arms, “It always begins with your arms, but if you tried, you could hold your breath under water for three minutes. In time, you’ll learn how to hold it for longer.”

“This is crazy.” Vanessa said, stopping in front of her. “Mermaids are not real.”

“Of course they are—we are real. We’re standing right here.”, she said. “Watch.”

Adalyn walked around her and went into the kitchen. She turned on the water and put her hand under it. Nothing happened at first, but five second later, a sparkling cloud appeared around her. It was like watching fire works going off and suddenly, her clothes disappeared and her legs were replaced with a tail! Vanessa eyes widened and she went forward, attempting to catch Adalyn as she fell forward, but she only managed to break Adalyn’s fall since she was heavy as heck!

Adalyn giggled as she removed herself from Vanessa’s hold and rolled onto her back. Vanessa’s eyes traveled up and down Adalyn’s body Her chest was covered with greenish-gold scales, acting as a bra that didn’t cover her back and faded as it came close to her belly button. Then from her waist down was a long greenish-gold tale. The top of her hand was scaly like Vanessa’s and the scales went up her arm to her elbow.

Vanessa couldn’t believe this—she just couldn’t. But evidence was right there in front of her eyes.