| Death & Transformation |
| "Okay, so what's the plan?" I asked Kevin as we rode the elevator up to our rooms. "Tell Brynne that we're going to do some deep-sea fishing. Have some guy talk. Something having to do with the ocean. Then I'll drop you off with your mermaid and come back here devestated because you fell overboard and I couldn't find you. Be sure to stay hidden for the next couple days because I'm sure the Coast Guard will do an extensive search," Kevin explained. It sounded like he'd been working on this plan for some time. "I'll meet you at the car in an hour. Say your good-byes to Brynne, but don't make it too obvious," he added as the elevator door's parted and he stepped off. I sighed heavily. Could I really do this? But then Seraphina's words rang in my ears. "But be assured that I will not wait an eternity for you." It was now or never. I opened the heavy oak door and stepped inside the honeymoon suite. It all seemed so different now. Knowing that I would never be human again. That I would never again see my friends and family. That I would make everyone who loved me cry with sadness and misert. But Seraphina was worth it. After all, I hadn't really made everyone laugh joyously in the last four years, had I? I found Brynne sound asleep in the king-sized bed, her breathing deep and methodical. I stood at the foot of the bed and just watched her sleep. Watched her chest fill with fulfilling breaths. Watched a smile toy at the corners of her mouth. Watched her every move in order to have them forever etched in my memory so I could take them with me to the sea. Memories of my human wife. My eyes misted over with tears and silently they slid down my cheeks, hitting my folded hands with droplets of moisture. "Why are you crying, Nicky?" Brynne asked, sitting up in bed and shoving her hair away from her face. "I'm sorry for everything I've done to hurt you and everything I will do in the future," I replied softly. She climbed out of bed and knelt before my seated frame. "Honey, we have many years ahead of us. Couples fight. By I know we can conquer anything," she breathed, wrapping her arms around my waist. I kissed the top of her head tenderly. "I love you," I whispered, resting my chin in the mass of auburn hair. "I love you too, Nicky," she whispered back. She gazed up at me and I planted a warm kiss on her full lips. "I have to go. Kevin and I are going fishing. Do a little talking. He'll help straighten things out," I said, rising to my feet. "Okay, sweetie. I'll be here when you get back," she replied, squeezing my hand gently. "Tell Kevin thank you for me." She kissed my lips again sweetly, a single tear falling from my eye at the fact that I would not be returning to her ever again. I casually walked toward the door, but upon leaving the suite, I bolted for the elevator. I sank to the elevator floor and sobbed into my hands. That was the hardest thing I'd ever had to do in my life. Tell someone I loved that I would see them later when I knew I wouldn't. I sat alone in the car waiting for Kevin to show up. I wiped the staggering tears away with the back of my hand as Kevin opened the passenger door. "Ready?" he asked. I nodded solemnly, staring straight ahead out the windshield. He cupped my chin in his hand and turned me to face him. "Nick, if you're not sure, don't do this. You can always make things work with Brynne. Maybe get some help if you need it," he said softly. "No, Kevin. This is what I have to do. I promised Seraphina. And this is one promise I intend to keep," I answered. I started the car and began the drive to the boat renters to obtain a fishing vessel. We drove in silende and when we reached the dealer, I let Kevin do all the talking and negotiating. An hour later Kevin and I were headed out to sea. Back to the island where Seraphina lived off the coast. We anchored the vessel out to sea from the coast and used the inflatable speed boat to carry us into land. Together we sat on the bleached-white sand and stared out to sea. Kevin broke the silence with one final question. "Are you sure about this?" I thought about it and almost gave into going back to make my life work with Brynne, but Seraphina's head poked out from under the waves just before I said so to Kevin. The smile brightened my face and Kevin had his answer. "I'll take that as a yes," he said with a smile of his own. Seraphina pulled herself on shore and glared at Kevin. Kevin knelt before her and took her hand in his. "I apologize for trying to keep you apart. I'm bringing him back to you and I beg your forgiveness," he stated quietly. Seraphina pulled herself up to sit on her tail and embraced Kevin in a tight hug. She wiped the single tear that cascaded down Kevin's cheek away with her thumb and placed a gentle kiss where it had trailed. Staring him in the eyes, ocean blue locked with forest green, she stated a string of blabber slowly to him. Blabber that I understood but he didn't. He glanced back at me for translation. I smiled. "You are forgiven. She knows you were just doing what you thought was best for me because you love me so much," I said, translating Seraphina's Ocetal tongue into English. Kevin turned back to Seraphina's smiling face, cupping her sun-bronzed cheek with his hand. "Take good care of him for all of us that love him. Okay?" Seraphina nodded gently. He turned back to me. "Ready?" he inquired. I nodded and joined Kevin. "I'm ready to be with you forever, Seraphina," I said in hushed tones. Kevin retreated back as to not interfere with the spectacle that would forever be with him. With the sharp edge of a broken sea shell, Seraphina sliced a small slit in her wrist. She then placed the razor edge against the delicate skin of my wrist. "Wait!" Kevin cried. He knelt beside me and engulfed me in a monstrous hug. "I'm going to miss you, kid. I don't think I told you often enough how much you mean to me. I love you," he wept softly, burying his face in my shoulder. "I know, Kevin. I love you too," I whispered. He pulled back and sat on the sand behind us while Seraphina replaced the razor edge against my wrist. With a small stroke, she cut the tender skin, leaving a gash in the wake of the shell's edge. I stared as the sanguine blood oozed from my open wound, bubbles of life-supplying nutrients breaking at the surface. Seraphina covered my open wrist with hers, our blood mixing together. She sealed her lips with mine and kissed me deeply as she removed her wrist and returned to the salty waters behind her. I fell back on the sand and watched as my wrist closed itself. It didn't look like anything had ever once grazed my soft flesh. For a while nothing happened. But suddenly transformation began. Kevin sat at my side and held my hand as the frist twitches of transformation began. I felt a burning in my lower body as my legs melded themselves together, my feet spreading out into a glorious fan. The rough scales on my newly-formed tail were a brilliant grayish-green that sparkled under the bright tropical sun. Then it started to ache in my chest as my lungs shrank from their normal size and the gills developed on my waist. Kevin stared at me with wide, misty eyes as I became a mermaid before him. He hesitantly reached out a finger and traced the edge of one of my gills, feeling the flutter in and out as I tried to breath. I motioned to the water and Kevin hefted me into his arms and carried me to the waves where Seraphina waited. He set me in the waist deep water and I scuttled out of his grasp, diving under the surface to wet my new tail and to breath through my new gills. My head popped out of the water as I surfaced in front of Kevin. I tried to speak, but as I should have expected, only babble spewed forth from my lips. Kevin just smiled at me. He didn't understand what I was trying to say, but I think he got the basic meaning through my eyes. That wasn't good enough. If I was going to be a merman, I didn't want everyone I loved to never be able to understand me again. I pulled his hand and he squatted so we were nearly eye level. I grasped his head in my hands and pressed my forehead to his. As Seraphina had done with me, I made Kevin understand Ocetal through thoughts as images of the ocean displayed in my pupils. The final impulse sent us both reeling backwards, splashing into the cool waters. We resurfaced and I pulled him into another tight embrace. I kissed his lips lightly. "Thank you, Kevin. For everything," I said in my now native Ocetal. "You're welcome, Nick," he replied. I watched him climb back into the speed boat and jet back to the awaiting fishing vessel. Seraphina floated at my side and together we watched the vessel venture back to the mainland to break the news of my passing to my now widowed wife. "Take care of Brynne for me," I whispered, knowing that with Kevin and the rest of the guys at her side, Brynne would be okay. Seraphina kissed my cheek lightly and I smiled. Taking her hand in mine, we dove under the placid surface to begin a life together. I had returned to the sea. |