22.Alin #4
“Luca, first you’re dragging that whore around, and now you’re using her as a shield?” Stas laughs confidently, “Even I wouldn’t stoop so low.” I feel how Stas’s words hit Luca’s pride as he clenches his fists tightly around his gun, ready to respond.
I quickly hold his hand, lowering his gun. I assure him that it’s okay, hoping he will continue to trust me even after what he is about to witness. I don’t want to become a monster in his eyes.
Luca looks at me, seeming to understand, and takes a step back, along with Pedro and Mariano.
Stas starts laughing again, but before he could open his mouth, I raise my hand in the air, aiming it at Stas, and clenching my fingers tightly in a choking grip.
Stas begins to choke hard as I apply pressure to his chest. He grasps at his neck in a futile attempt to breathe, and his men looks confused, not knowing how to react.
I raise my other hand toward his abdomen, twisting my wrist, and clenching it tightly, watching him fall to the ground, writhing in pain, gasping, “Kill... her...” With a flick of my wrist, he flies backward and lands hard on the hood of the car behind him.
As I release his lungs, he lies there, writhing and struggling to catch his breath.
All his men turn; their weapons now aim at me.
It’s time to deal with them too. I turn to Luca and ask him, Pedro, and Mariano to cover their ears tightly and quickly.
They look at me, mouths agape, trying to comprehend what just happened and not reacting.
“Luca, do what I say, please,” I plead, no longer demanding.
Luca still seems to be processing what he just witnessed but nods and covers his ears tightly, as do Mariano and Pedro.
I look back at the Russians, their weapons still aimed at me, uncertain why they’re hesitating—maybe they’re scared too.
I take a deep breath, open my mouth, and let out a high-pitched melody.
Everyone immediately freezes; no human could resist a mermaid’s melody once they hear it.
When I’m sure all the men are under my influence, I stop my singing and, with a quick command, they all aim their guns at each other, ready to kill.
I stop them just before they fire and shout toward Stas, seeing that he managed to cover his ears in time following the brothers.
“The girl is ours. We don’t want war, but if you don’t turn around and leave, you’ll lose all your men here, and maybe you’ll be next. Is she worth that much?”
Stas, still catching his breath, rolls off the car, looking at me with hatred but also a spark of curiosity. He nods in agreement. I nod back, ensuring Luca and the others still have their ears covered.
The melody flows from my mouth again, releasing the men from the trance they were in.
They remain confused, trying to understand what’s happening around them.
Stas signals them to return to their cars while he gets back into his and gives me one last look.
“The girl is no longer important, but you, you will work for me someday,” he throws at me, confident.
He can keep dreaming, I chuckle to myself and turn to Luca with a proud glance.
I feel a euphoric rush; I haven’t used my powers like this in so long, I had forgotten how good the wild sensation felt. I feel immense relief that I saved them, until I see the questioning look on Luca, Pedro, and Mariano’s faces.
My heart sinks, the high feeling vanishes in an instant, and I stand silently, waiting for their reaction. Luca takes a hesitant step toward me, then reconsiders, stepping back. “What are you?” he finally asks, the horror evident in his voice. I knew this would happen.
This time, the tears don’t stay inside and start to fill my eyes.
“Luca, you’re alive and that’s all that matters to me, even if you were never supposed to see this side of me.
I’ll leave... I...” I blurt out quickly in one breath as panic rushes over me and gets worse when I realize I need to leave and be on the run. Again.
I won’t see Luca again, I know I’ve shaken him to the core.
Everyone runs from me eventually. All my friends leave in the end, no matter how old I get.
I lift my head to him, tears streaming uncontrollably down my face.
“Luca, take care of Violeta. I wish we had more time,” I whisper, unsure if he even heard me.
Knowing it was bound to end at some point, I take a step back and look at him, waiting for a sign, but he still doesn’t respond.
I give him one last glance, filled with pain but understanding, and start running as fast as I can toward the pier, just minutes away from us.
The road is long and narrow, with a single lane, and I can see the sea stretching along the entire length of the path to my right.
I turn onto a gravel path and keep running until I reach a small, rickety wooden bridge just above the water.
The morning breeze from the harbor has already dried the tears on my cheeks.
I take one last deep breath, take off my shirt, and reveal my bra.
I quickly unbutton my pants when I suddenly hear footsteps behind me.
Luca. I can smell his cologne mixing with the wind. He stops behind me, panting, staring silently. I pray he doesn’t come closer because I know I won’t be able to let him go. But he steadies his breath, straightens up, and slowly approaches. I turn to face him.
“Alin, why did you run? Why did you say goodbye?” he asks, his usual firm tone now tinged with confusion.
“People shouldn’t know or see what you saw. It’s my secret, and people can get hurt because of it. They push me away, and worse, it breaks my heart,” I say, turning my back to him again, hesitating for a second before I prepare to jump into the water.
Luca grabs my hand, pulling me into his embrace, my back against his chest. “Where do you think you’re going? Are you really planning to leave me now? I’m sorry for my delayed reaction, I was just processing” he says, and I don’t want to break free from his hold.
“We come from different worlds, Luca. I understand that. You don’t owe me anything. Thank you for trusting me,” I say quickly, my voice trembling, trying to pull away from his grip.
“Alin, it’s just a shock to see something like that. I didn’t believe powers like that existed” he says, looking out into the distance.
“I’m not afraid of you, if that’s what you think. I live with risks every day, and I’m not willing to give up on you. You’re staying with me, you don’t have a choice. I’ve already told you, your home is with me.” His words make my heart ache, but I know our worlds are too different.
“You’ll get hurt. I can’t let anything bad happen to you because of me.
Our worlds are too different, Luca. I don’t know what I was thinking.
I thought if I kept my secret, I could live with you, among you.
But I was wrong,” I say, burying myself in his arms, inhaling his scent as tears wet my face again.
“You weren’t wrong. We’re not afraid of risks, and the only way you’re a risk to me is if you leave me. I’m not giving up on you; you’re staying, and that’s final.” Another tear escapes and lands on Luca’s hand.
“Okay, I’ll stay if you think you can accept me as I am,” I say.
Luca looks at me, smiling. “Listen, you might have drove away my enemies in a way I can’t yet understand, but you’re no different to me. You’re my Alin.” he declares.
My heart swells with warmth, but I know I need to show him the full truth. “You need to see everything before you decide,” I say.
Luca watches every move I make, mesmerized.
He waits for my next step, continuing to watch as I strip.
A spark lights up in his eyes for a moment, but when he realizes what I’m doing, he quickly looks around, his familiar anger surfacing.
“Only I get to see your body like this! Why are you stripping in such an open place?”
I ignore his comment and take off the last piece of clothing.
Luca quickly takes off his jacket to cover me, but before he can, I dive into the water.
He runs to the edge of the bridge in a panic, searching for me with his eyes.
I surface, and he seems to relax. I glance at him sheepishly and lift my long pastel-colored tail out of the water.
He stares for a few seconds before exclaiming, “A mermaid?”
I’m sure he wouldn’t be able to handle this information, and I feel the smile fade from my face.
He tries to stifle his laughter but fails.
He sits at the edge of the bridge, and his laughter erupts, uncontrollable and loud.
“Now I’m funny?” I glare at him, annoyed, but within seconds, I catch his laughter, and my own joins his, echoing around us.
After we calm down a bit, he takes a deep breath and looks at me. “Unbelievable. I am sitting here talking to a mermaid. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes and you just tried telling me, I’d have thought you were on drugs,” he says.
I giggle a little, looking at him worriedly. He reads me immediately, saying, “No tail, fin, or gills will come between us,” with that melting smile of his. If I didn’t have a tail right now, I’m sure I’d feel that familiar wetness between my legs.
I can’t take my eyes off him as he examines me intently from tail to head.
“I’ll make it easier for you,” I say, lifting my hand, causing the water to lift me back to the top of the bridge.
I sit at the edge, my tail dangling over.
Luca’s eyes widen, but there’s no fear or disgust in them anymore. I breathe a sigh of relief.
He looks at me, studying my face, which remains the same except for a few greenish-purple scales along the sides of my cheeks and forehead.
His gaze moves down, inspecting the gills on my neck and the light purple scales covering my chest and blending with my skin.
Finally, he looks at my pastel-colored tail, a mix of purples, pinks, and greens.
He seems a bit troubled as he looks at my tail, but then he reaches out and touches it gently. “Wow,” he says. “Even as a sea creature, your beauty is unmatched.” I smile warmly at him, hoping with all my heart that this might work, that I could stay with everyone.
“You’re a great liar,” I laugh, running my hand over my tail, transforming it back into legs. Luca doesn’t take his eyes off me until my legs reappear, and I sit naked at the edge of the bridge. He quickly wraps his large jacket around me, and I put my pants back on.
Luca grabs my hand again. “You’re not running from me again. You are mine and you can only be with me,” he declares with his familiar primitive assertion. I smile at him, then remember Pedro and Mariano. They must be waiting for us.
“I’ll have to explain everything to Pedro and Mariano too. Let’s go back to the apartment, and I’ll tell you everything.” Luca nods in agreement, and we walk hand in hand back to the car.
As we leave the gravel path, I hear a car approaching. I look ahead and see Mariano in the driver’s seat and Pedro next to him. They roll down the window and shout at us, “Done? Our princess is hungry,” pointing to Violeta and laughing.
I smile broadly at them, pull Luca’s hand, and we run to the car.
I’m staying.