When I woke up my head was pounding. I didn’t remember going to sleep. I didn’t remember making it to the couch, honestly I didn’t remember leaving the closet. My head shot off the couch I was laying on, my eyes blurry. “Where am I?” I whisper to myself trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes.

    “Oly,” I heard Gage’s voice. It was hoarse, like he had been crying. I turn to look behind me, he sat on the edge of the couch with a blanket covering his legs. His eyes were sunken in, dark circles had formed around them. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all last night. I turn to look at the other couch, Sammy slept peacefully, her chest falling in succession with her breaths.

    “What happened?” I rub my head, a pounding sensation taking over.

    “You collapsed last night, as soon as I opened the closet door, you hit your head on the door frame. Are you okay?” Gage pushes the blanket off of his moving towards me to check on the injury I had across my forehead.

    “Better question is are you okay?” My body felt numb, my heart worried for the boy looking back at me.

    “I’m fine,” He grumbles, his hand grazing the skin around my wound.

    “You don't sound fine,” My eyes follow him carefully taking in his movement. “Did you get any sleep last night?” I question, wincing as he touches slightly too close to my wound. I could feel the crusts of scabs forming around the edge of it everytime I scrunch my forehead.

    “No, but stop worrying about me, we need to get you ready, you have to meet Asada tonight at sunset,” I could almost sense the worry in his voice. My heart pounding in my own chest as I push him off of me.

    “I’m going to take a shower,” I wince again, the pain of knowing I was going to die physically attacking me.

    That Night…

    The wind was blowing through my hair, Sammy and Gage standing behind me as we watch the sun slowly set on the horizon. This could be the last time I ever got to see my friends, but I was too nervous to turn around to look at them for fear Asada would come from the water and kill me when I wasn’t looking.

As soon as the sun falls behind the horizon and the night sky begins to cast over us, the water begins to bubble, forming into a cylinder as Asada appears out of the sea. I place my foot back trying to better stance myself for a fight.

“Stop, I’m not here to fight you Olyvya,” It’s like Asada could read my mind, my body stiffens up as I watch her come closer, her body balancing on the water. How did she still have legs? A pink crystals sits delicately on her chest, throbbing as she moves forward. Was it matching her heartbeat? I swallow hard as she hits the sand. Her legs working flawlessly as she strolls towards us. “We simply need to talk,”

“About what?” I mumble, Asada standing directly in front of me.

“About you, and how you don’t listen. You are a danger to our kind and I need you gone. Taken care of,” Asada whispers, her voice dancing around my skin.

“You can’t kill her,” Gage shouts. Asada turns throwing her hand in the air as a band of seaweed flies from the water, wrapping around his face before covering his mouth.

“She is a danger to our kind, I need more mermaids but she will out of us, I shouldn’t have to kill any mermaid, but ones of no value to the growth of our race must die,” Asada places her hand on my throat, squeezing tightly as she holds me in the air, my feet dangle as I struggle to reach the sand.

“What if we can help, let’s work together to get more mermaids, we don’t have to kill them off. Are you guys going extinct?” Asada drops me before turning on Sammy.

“Don’t act like you know what’s going on!” Asada screams, the gills flaring on the side of her neck as she projects her voice fiercely on Sammy. Sammy cowers under her. I rush to protect her before Asada turns on me again. “Stop!” She yells in my direction.

“Asada it doesn’t have to be this way,” I shout back at her, standing steady on the sand. My throat throbs where her hand once was.

“Yes it does!”

“Look, you need more mermaids and I’m here, I’m another mermaid. Teach me how the waters work, teach me what I need to know, there is no need to lose yet another mermaid,” I tried my best to beg, going off of what Sammy had said.

Asada lunges towards me, her nails sharp like claws Sammy rushes in front of me guarding me from the demon. Asada stops dead in her tracks her hands wrapping around Sammy’s throat as she pulls her away from me.

    “Don’t stand in my way,” She growls, showing her sharp teeth as she did so.

    “Take me instead, don’t hurt her. I sacrifice myself!”  Sammy whimpers in her grip, the words barely audible. She was losing oxygen. Sammy was going to die if Asada didn’t let go soon.

    “Fine, come with me, I’ll make you a mermaid instead,” With that Asada slithers back into the water dragging my best friend with her.

    “No!” I shout, my body feeling numb as Asada throws a rope of seaweed towards my ankles, tying my feet together before I could make it to the water. My body crashes into the sand as I watch my friend disappear below the waves. I know I told myself I couldn’t cry, and that I wouldn’t cry but I couldn’t help it. As I watched Sammy disappear I felt a single tear rolling down my face.

    Within minutes the beach was lined with blue crystals.