With Flecks of Gold

I felt like my body was failing me. I felt like I was going to shut down. Sure, I could stand up for myself. But in no way was I prepared for this. For him dragging me away. I was so caught up in struggling to free myself from his grasp that I completely disregarded where we were going. I didn’t pay any attention.

I knew there was something fishy about this. I knew there was something fishy about him.

He shoved me through a door in which I believe was one of the many labs in the facility. I didn’t notice which one on account of my heart was about to pop right through my chest. I tried to take deep breaths. It wasn’t working.

He threw me inside and slammed the door behind him, locking it in three different locations. He must have known where he was taking me, there were only heavy locks on a select few of the rooms.

The ones that held the heaviest chemicals.

I gasped as he turned to face me, still a good distance away, although it was plain to see the black in his eyes. The hazel orbs that I was staring into not too long ago had faded completely into something I didn’t recognize at all. I found myself wondering if this happened very often.

“So,” He began, taking painfully slow strides towards my trembling figure. “I never had the chance to properly introduce myself.”

I was shaking like a leaf, aware of the fear in my eyes and written across my face. There was no point in trying to hide it now. I already knew who was in control.

There was an unsettling evil smirk tugging at the corner of his lips, mocking me.

“The name’s Harry.” He was face to face with me now. Our noses were merely inches apart. Centimeters. Millimeters. “I just thought you might wanna know the name of your biggest fear…” He began, leaning in until his lips brushed my earlobe. My breath hitched in my throat. “And possibly of your killer.”

I took a deep breath, it was forced and choppy. I noticed that my eyes were glued shut, I pried them open. I met his gaze, dark as the polluted sea. I tried to make myself look menacing. I raised the palm of my hand and smacked it across his cheek. I grabbed the collar of his shirt and leaned close into his ear, just as he had done to me.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of yourself.” He snatched both of my wrists in one of his large palms and threw my hands behind my back, we ran into a table. I winced as I heard bottles tip over and glass break at the force of my body.

“Let me get something straight,” his grip on my wrists tightened, his breath was hot against my exposed neck. “You will never, ever slap me like that again, understood?” He used his free hand to slightly lift my chin upward to look him in the face properly. “Hm.” He announced, his expression changing. “Maybe I could have some fun while I’m at it.” His gaze slowly lingered down to my chest.

How dare he? I will not be disrespected as such. Alas, I struggled to be free of his grip and his oppressive eyes. But I just could not free myself.

I hated feeling powerless, I hated feeling like an object. I could only watch him as his features tightened and he reached out a cautious hand towards my chest. My brow furrowed in confusion. Why was he acting so nervous? The question quickly passed my mind as I decided to take advantage of the situation.

While he was ‘distracted’ I raised a confident knee right up into where the sun doesn’t shine. He gasped loudly, and I darted for the door. Recovering quicker than I expected he would, he quickly spun around and grasped my forearm tightly and painfully. I knew there would be a bruise there later.

I didn’t know if he was using all his strength or not as he, easily I might add, Threw my body into the lab table with the already spilled bottles and chemicals. The rest of them came crashing down and pooling around my body, lying limp on the floor.

It wasn’t until Harry was directly above me that I realized I had broken the table. The pain was excruciating as I forced my eyes to open for me. I was lying in a puddle of all different colors including a pool of my own blood. Harry gripped my chin and held it up to my face.

“It’ll be interesting to see what those crazy chemicals do to you, babe.” He took a quick look around before meeting my gaze again. “Since this is the marine biology section of the laboratory, maybe you’ll turn into a fish.” If I had enough energy, I would have scoffed at that.

He continued to look me in the eyes. “I just wanted you to know,” He began, pressing his forehead into mine, “This isn’t the last you’re gonna see of me, sweet cheeks. We have a personal relationship now.”

He grinned evilly, and leaned in even closer. My heart was pounding and I could feel it through my ears. He brushed his lips against mine and my eyes could only close in defeat as he forcefully crushed his pink perfection against my own lips. The kiss was desperate, and frankly, I hated it. He pulled away and let my head slump down with the rest of my body. He chuckled darkly.

“Just thought you’d want a little something to remember me by—“ His sentence was cut off by the piercing sound of an alarm. His eyes and facial features grew panicked. “Shit…” He swore, darting towards the door. He didn’t even look back at me before he undid the locks a little too speedily and darted out the door.

The alarm was blasting through my eardrums. I needed to get out of here. I used all the strength that I could muster and carefully lifted my body off the ground, my limbs screaming in protest. My breathing was ragged and uneven. I ignored it. My eyes quickly spotted an emergency exit that I hoped led outside. I heard the muffled sounds of shoes moving about the building and voices shouting. But getting through the door required all of my energy and focus.

I laid a limp hand to the doorknob and twisted it, using the force of all my body weight to open it. As it gave away, my figure stumbled to the dirt. I chuckled lightly to myself.

I was outside.

I craned my neck upward and saw what appeared to be a rather dense forest in front of me. I brought my arms forward and attempted to drag my body to the safe confines of the trees and shrubs. I can’t exactly remember how or where I found the strength to drag myself all the way into the forest, but when I finally did, my body gave up. I slumped lifelessly into the dirt and shut my eyes.

I blacked out.

***

What are you dong here?

What do you mean…?

Well…. You never come to see me.

What… Who…?

Don’t tell me you don’t know who I am.

Well, I can’t say I do.

Ha! No wonder you’re here.

I don’t understand.

Really, Lauren?

What?

Would you remember me if I told you this…

Told me what?…

'Don't do it, Lauren. You have so much to live for.'

Who are you?
Hello?
HELLO?!

***

I gasped and sputtered, My head jerked up and sliced through the air, an action I immediately regretted due to the pounding headache I found that I had been blessed with during my slumber.

Humph, some slumber.

I glanced around me briefly to scan my surroundings for any signs of danger. There were none.

Although, I found myself feeling out of place, like something was wrong. That’s when I remembered. Harry. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried my best to forget about the scene playing itself out again in my head.

The bruises I discovered all over my body were not helping the thoughts depart from my mind that I so desperately wanted gone. I took a deep breath and continued to observe myself.

A small gasp escaped my lips as I took a good, long look at my wrist. There were bruises all over it that looked like fingerprints. Really big fingerprints. It was as if he marked himself upon me. That he had claimed this pain that he brought upon me as his and only his. This was his doing.

I felt the anger boiling up inside of me at that moment. I wanted to force myself up and seek him out for one reason, and one reason only, I wanted revenge. Nobody has a right to treat me like he had. Not anytime, not anywhere.

With this new found energy and motivation, I threw myself to my feet, another thing that I had instantly regretted afterwards. I slumped back down to my feet and moaned at the pain that was pulsing through my body, it was as if the blood that was coursing through my veins had been replaced with the worst pain I had ever experienced.

I had decided that revenge on that asshole would have to wait until later. I needed to get my strength back. I whipped my head back and forth looking for any sign or place of salvation that I could find refuge in. There was nothing. What exactly had I gotten myself into?

I cringed at the pain shooting up and through my body as I pushed myself to my feet and forced myself up.

I slowly began to limp to what I thought was a way out of the forest. With every step I took my nerves would constantly be reminding me what had happened to me. Tears were threatening to pool through my eyes as I slowly but surely made my way through the forest.

This continued for I don’t know how long, but after a few steps I found a somewhat comfortable rhythm that allowed me to glide through the dense trees and ferns that I came upon.

I caught sight of a small river up ahead as I continued to walk along. I decided that that would be a good place to rest for a while, maybe get some water if it looked clean enough.

As I continued to walk towards it, I strangely found the pain in my body going away. I estimated that I was probably so keen on arriving at the river that I had just forgotten about it momentarily. But then again, I also had no idea why I was so drawn to it. It was as if I needed to be there, and I needed to be there now.

My paced increased, and before I knew it I was sprinting towards the water. I took a dead stop right before my skin come in contact with the water and looked down. I smiled. The water copied my movements, it captured my soul in it’s very reflection.

It danced and sung, complementing the curves and shapes of my body. Reproducing them exactly, if not more beautifully than I actually was.

For the first time ever I felt like I saw myself, yet, I was only thinking of one thing, I needed to get into the water.

I took a deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut, preparing for the water to envelop me. I heard the birds around me begin to sing a tune. I knew they were cheering me on, they were celebrating this moment with me. My smile grew bigger as I put a tentative foot into the water. I sighed in relief. There was no pain, the water wasn’t even cold. It was warm and promising.

Then all of the sudden my smile faded, faster than it ever had before.

A large, thick column of water travelled upwards and wound it’s way around my legs. I panicked, I wanted to scream but I couldn’t. My heart was pounding through my chest. The water stopped right at the base of my waist and I just noticed that another stream came up behind me and was now wrapping it’s way across my chest. I took a deep breath in, possibly the last breath I would ever take, and squeezed my eyes shut. I thought, if I tried to breath normally, maybe I would live.

All too quickly the water dropped back into the canal. My eyes shot open and stared straight ahead of me. What had just happened? Before I had the chance to process the thoughts inside my head I fell into the canal.

Obviously, it wasn’t that deep. Only around 5 inches of my body was submerged in water.

I squinted briefly in thought, why had I lost my balance? The look was slapped off of my face as I glanced behind me.

I have never let out a more terrified scream in my entire life.

Scales. I had scales.

They melded into my skin at my waist and cascaded down my back like a blanket of magic. They were pure, snow white, covered in small flecks of gold. They gently wrapped around my figure and finished off with a beautiful tail fin at my feet. I looked down at my chest. The same beautiful layer of scales caressed my skin in a bra-like form. For what seemed like the fifth time that day, I squeezed my eyes shut.

I was a mermaid.

I took a deep breath and opened my eyes again. And all of the sudden the feeling returned again. The feeling of euphoria. I felt like I belonged in the water and that it embraced me like nothing else I had ever felt before in my life. It was calling my name.

I’m still unsure why I did this, but I smiled. I turned my gaze back at my tail and slowly lifted the fin from the water. Droplets trickled down as I gawked at it.

Really, it was beautiful. The sun shone threw it and highlighted the natural sparkle and shine that it emitted. I casually released the muscle, letting it drop effortlessly back into the water.

I slightly gasped, My body lurched forward. I laughed to myself in shock. This tail was powerful. I tried it again, putting a bit of a push behind it. I laughed once again as my figure shot ahead a couple feet. I didn’t even put into it everything that I had.

I was so entranced at my new-found body that I hadn’t even begun to hear the sound of a voice emitting from the forest. It was calling my name.

I’m not quite sure why, but I had the strong feeling right then like I needed to hide. Using a little more strength than I previously had, I flew behind a large rock structure in the small river. I held my breath and closed my eyes. I couldn’t let them find me here.

Not like this.

Notes

YAY!
Chapter 2 is DONE!
I'm currently working on chapter 3 and HOPEFULLY it will be up very very soon!
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ALSO....
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