HIIIII! Thank you for your patience! Sorry I couldn't update the chapter like I have been the past two updatesâposting them at midnight crackhead hour. I actually was out like a baby at a reasonable hour. Tristen's chapter will be posted next week! -<) ) Maybe I'll share my insta so you can see (Just realizing you have never seen my face. Hmm, *rub hands deviously* Maybe I should keep my appearance a secret. Muahahaha!).
ANYWAY, as always, thank you for your support/love, comments and votes!
Enjoy~
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Meredith
"Is that why I couldn't find my toothbrush this morning?" I gave her a scathing glare.
"I'm sorry!" she yelped, "I panicked, so I flushed it down before you saw."
I rubbed my temples and countedâI, 2, 3, don't kill Bodhi. I opened my eyes and eeked. Bodhi's face was right in front of mine. Her eyes rounded as her lips trembled. "Sorry," she said innocently when she's anything but that.
"Are you seriously giving me the puppy dog look?" I gawked.
"Is it working?" Bodhi blinked with her puppy dog eyes.
I huffed. "Almost."
Bodhi grinned satisfactorily. "So what's the question?"
"Question?" I thought back, pre-dated-I-want-to-kill-Bodhi. "Oh, It's about Tristen."
"What about him?"
"Tristen said he swam away from home... Do you know why he swam away from home?"
Bodhi pursed her round lips. "I'm afraid you're gonna have to ask him that one."
I nodded in understanding. I never like to get my answer from a second source. "Fair enough."
Bodhi wiggled back to her seat with a grin. "Let's go home and regroup!" She grasped my steering wheel.
I arched a brow. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Uh... Driving?" She answered like that was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Who said I'm letting you drive my truck?" I crossed my arms, "Do you even have a driver's license?"
"As of matter of fact..." Bodhi searched her pockets of her jean shorts. "Here!" She held up a piece of paper, laminated with tape. She drew her license with crayons and her picture was a stick drawing of herself.
I facepalmed. "Bodhi, you can't draw your license on paper and laminate it with tape."
She frowned. "So I'm guessing that's not how humans get one?"
"Get out of the car, Bodhi. I'm not letting you drive home."
Bodhi eyes dropped and she snickered. "Are you sure you want to get out of the car?"
"Whâ" I looked down. I was shirtless and I was only wearing a lacey, lavender bra. I eyed the compartment and the console that divided the driver's and passenger's seat. I began calculating, maybe I can fit my nearly six feet frame through a three feet of space? I sighed in defeat. "Dammit, Bodhi. If this car even get so much a dust on it, you're dead."
Bodhi blinked. "I know how to wield twenty-four weapons and how to kill someone with just two fingers, yet somehow... I believe you." Bodhi bounced in her seat excitedly, "Beside, how hard can driving be?"
I knew I was going to regret my decision later.
Bodhi braked perfectly at a red light. I am shocked to say this but... Bodhi was actually a decent driver. My tensed shoulders finally eased. I leaned on my car door, slanting my head back and soaking up the sunshine with my eyes closed. "Earlier... What did you mean when you didn't want to accept Gale as a shi-amare?" I opened my eyes, closely watching her expression.
Bodhie exhaled sharply and then chuckled. "Nothing gets past ya, huh?"
"Unfortunately, no." It did not help my anxiety when I remembered every word I said, especially replaying embarrassing moment as I lay in bed waiting for sleep.
Bodhi stared straight ahead and was silent for a moment. The playfulness that Bodhi radiated dwindled and she stared off into the distance as she drove. She spoke, "I denied Gale for a long time out of fear and we didn't complete the bond."
The bond? I'll have to ask about that later. I suppressed my curious cat, not wanting to disrupt her. This was serious Bodhi and that itself was rare.
Bodhi continued, "I didn't realize how much both of us was hurtingâphysically and emotionally." She smiled sadly, lost in her memory. "Then one day, he found me and he said 'You're not leaving me anymore. I'll follow you everywhere and anywhere. Even to the ends of the earth, I'll still follow you'." She huffed. "That stubborn bastard. Since then, he has never left my side. That's when I realized that I didn't leave him because I didn't want to be hurt. I left because I didn't want him to get hurt because of me..." She laughed darkly. "How ironic, a guardian and a soldier matched as shi-amares... Pain is all we know, always throwing our bodies in danger." She briefly glanced at me. "But life is too damn short as a soldier. Anything can happen and I refused to go into death's embrace when I can go into my shi-amare's embrace."
That was... beautiful. I blinked rapidly, trying not to go back into a sobbing puddle of a mess. I thought back to my other question. "You mentioned you not wanting to complete a bond with Gale? What does that mean?"
"When we meet our shi-amares, we don't instantly share emotions, thoughts and pain right away. It only gets stronger with time but not fully till you complete the bond."
"How do you complete it?"
"Sex."
I coughed at how casually she threw that word out. "Oh?"
She smirked at my reaction. "Goodness, you freak at the sight of your own boobs showingâ"
"I do notâ" I bristled.
"âAnd couldn't even bear to hear about Gale and I doing the plonkingâ"
"'Cause nobody wants to hear thatâ"I cough-laughed when I realize what she said. "Why are you saying plonkâ"
Bodhi steamrolled over me. "Now you can't even hear the word sex without being a flustered mess."
I sighed in defeat. "Whatever."
Bodhi laughed. "To answer your question, yes. It's sex, but to shi-amaresâit's so much more than that. It's when we really connect. The first time will be... unforgettable. It's nothing like we ever experience. I probably couldn't even put it into words for you."
"Sounds special," I said, "And what happens if you don't complete the bond?"
"That's not possible."
"How so?"
"We can't... resist. It goes against our primitive nature it seems. The emptiness catches up, what was once an ache becomes an unbearable pain. The longer we deny it, the pain and the ache can actually drive us to insanity. That's when we lose ourselves to the call of the uncompleted bond and instincts takes over, blindly driving us to rid the pain complete the bond no matter what. I've seen it before." She shuddered. "It's not pretty."
"Pain?" I asked in horror. "What was it like?'
"I was physically and emotionally drawn to him. I thought if I could resist long enough, it'll fade away. The ache only grew stronger. I couldn't eat and sleep for days. My soldier training was eventually affected, since I was slowly losing my strength and my mind. I was more agitated and violent. I felt rage and agony like nothing before. I had outbursts and felt the urge to fight all the time."
"That sounds terrible." I tried to imagine free spirited Bodhi angry and I couldn't.
Bodhi chuckled darkly. "Oh, it was hell. In my waking moments, all I could think about was Gale. In my dreams, I always saw him. No matter what I did, he was everywhere. My chest would ache every second of the day and there would be time I thought I was having a heart attack. I eventually looked lifeless. And I was. I was like a swimming zombie." She stopped at a stop sign. Bodhi smiled, glowing. "Now... Gale is the best thing that happen to me."
"Wow..." I watched how Bodhi's eyes burned with such intensity of love and loyalty to Gale. "That sounds unlike anything I have ever heard." I asked, "How did you know that Gale was your shi-amare â oh, my mom isn't here." Bodhi had turned a corner and my house appeared. I sighed in relief that my mom's car was missing from the driveway. It would have been interesting trying to explain to my mom why I didn't have a shirt on.
Bodhi chuckled at me twisting and turning in my seat like a mad woman to see if any of my neighbors were out and about. I didn't want anyone mentioning to my mom that her daughter was running shirtless into the house "Shut up." I snipped at Bodhi's laughter. I hurriedly opened my car door, slamming it behind me and flew to my front door. I hurridly unlocked it and ducked inside. Bodhi laughed as she leisurely walked in behind me. I glared at her as I closed the door behind her.
We went upstairs to my bedroom. I inhaled at the familiar scent of my bedroomâvanilla candles and acrylic paint. The sight of my bedroomâmy havenâlessen my nerve almost instantly. Sunlight leaked from two windows on the left side of my room through blue curtains. Plants in pot lined up on my windowsills. On the left beside us was all the unfinished canvas on stands, covered with tarps. More canvas were on the wooden floor, leaning against the corner. My made bed sat on the opposite side of the room, across from us. Blue, pink and purple decorative pillows were stacked on my icy purple duvet. My closet and bathroom was on the right side of my bedroom. For the first time that day, it was peacefully quiet. I couldn't believe it was only this morning that I helped Bodhi carried the boxes of her shoes to the guest house.
And an hour ago, Gale and Tristen were both stabbed by a dark fay.
The violence left me somewhat nauseated. It was different from seeing it on tv then real life. Shade's face twisted with malice and pleasure at the sight of Tristen writhing in pain. The sound of Burn and Shade laughing at the mentioned of killing mers and humans. Anger surged in next and I clenched my jaw. How dare the dark fay come bringing their war here â in my home and hurting the people I cared about. "Bodhi, we need to do something."
She arched her brows at my steely voice. "Oh?"
"Let's go to the edge of the cityâ" I swallowed, mustering my courage. "âand test my immunity. Also, there's something I want to try..." I squared my shoulder and faced her. "Let's try getting you back to sea."
Bodhi smiled, eyes beaming with something unknown. "Alright." She tugged her bloodied shirt. "I should change."
"Right."
I grabbed a clean shirt and went to the bathroom to clean up. I closed the door behind me and went to the sink. I splashed cold water on my face, washing away the grim and horror of this morning. I straightened my back and jolted in pain. "Ouch," I muttered and rolled my shoulders. Dang, I must've messed up my back for cramping my spine from attempting to transform into a roly-poly earlier when I was trapped in the storage room. I frowned when I realized it was really sore.
I stilled.
No...
I stared at my reflection. I swallowed thickly and then slowly turned my back to the mirror.
Nothing.
I sighed in ressuarance at the sight of my smooth back. No wounds. At the time of the pain, I thought a dark fay injured me as I was running out of the aquarium and that I was caught. When that wasn't the case, I just now had a flashing impression I felt it at that same time of Tristen getting stabbed because we wereâ
I shook my head to stop myself from finishing that ridiculous thought. I was human, not sidhe of any creature. I was just sore from playing contortionist in the storage closet since my life depended on it. I put my shirt on andâ
I looked at the toilet, the water level high in the bowl.
"Dammit, Bodhi." I muttered, my sore back forgotten. I spent the next five minutes fishing my toothbrush out with the toilet scrubber and using toilet paper to throw it away in the trash can. I grabbed the spare toothbrush from under the sink to place it on the sink andâI grimaced. I thought better of it and put it back under the sink, safe from Bodhi.
I fixed myself one last time and breathed to steady myself. Off to see the second glamour. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to manage to get Bodhi through. Maybe she'll succeed in bringing help and all the mers will be free in no time. My chest bloomed with hope. I tugged my jeans up which look like capri on my stature. I felt for my phone in my back pocket where I usually have it since woman pants stopped having front pockets. My eyes rounded.
The cell phone experiment!
I patted my back pockets more feverently. Where was my phone?
The bathroom swung opened and Bodhi stopped. "Why are you feeling up your butt?"
My chest tightened. "My phone!" I searched bra. Maybe I put it there? I came up with nothing. "I think I dropped it in my truck." I ran out of the bathroom and down the stairs.
Bodhi yelled after me. "The photos of Gale?"
"I hope they made it through!" I hollered back as I wrenched the front door open. I ran to the driveway to my truck. I yanked the passenger door open and quickly searched for it. There it is! My phone was on the floor of the seat, forgotten. I snatched it up and unlocked my phone. "Come'on, come'on, come'on..." I chanted.
Bodhi caught up and stood next to me, peeking.
I open the photo album andâ
Nothing.
All the pictures of Gale had been erased. My touch didn't work.
I tossed my head back, trying not to cry in frustration. "It didn't work." I looked at my hand holding the phone. I slumped. "My touch wasn't enough."
"Oh, that's okâ"
"I failed." I whispered to myself in defeat.
"No." Bodhi grabbed my shoulder. "Stop beating yourself. That's not gonna help anyone."
"What?"
"It isn't over yet." Bodhi smiled. "It's another helpful clue."
I blinked and slowly nodded, trying to be optimistic. "You're right. It's another clue."
"That's the spirit!" She bounced on her toes. "I say we should still go to the city limit and scope things out at least." She tapped her lips. "We should go to a secluded area, so that way we are not in the open. And who knows, maybe we can find a hole in the glamour."
I pondered. "Can you see the glamour right now?"
Bodhi looked up. "Yeah, it's there."
I drew up my imaginary map of San Diego. "We can try going to the Black mountain. It's right at the edge of San Diego." I smiled. "Looks like we are going on a hiking trip."
"A hiking trip?" Bodhi asked excitedly. She squealed loudly and I jumped. "I finally have the chance to wear my cute red hiking boots!" She shimmied in a dance.
I laughed, feeling a bit less defeated and more hopeful. "You should grab some water bottles from the kitchen. Imma' go grab my backpack from upstairs."
"Race you back here!" Bodhi zipped into my house.
I yelled after her. "Hey! No fair!" I was grinning when I raced to my room and snatched my backpack. My sketchpad fell out and landed face down, open. I groaned at my clumsiness and picked it up, flipping the exposed pages to me.
I blushed at the drawing of the sleeping Tristen. He was leaning on the coral, dozing away, and the serenity emitted from the page.
I stopped.
Wait.
How did a drawing of Tristen made it through the glamour when a photo of Gale didn't? I didn't draw Tristen's tail. I only drew him from the waist up, so anyone wouldn't have guessed he was a merman but a shirtless man. Maybe that's why it made it through the glamour, since it's not really a proof of mers' existence? No, that also didn't make sense. I took Gale a photo from waist up too since I couldn't fit him in the frame of my phone camera. I sighed in defeat at the lack of answer. I flipped my sketchbook to see if all my drawings were here. All my drawings were here so far and â I paused when I get to the last page.
A new drawing.
And it was not mine.
This was obviously drawn by a child. There were three mers and human in an ocean. The first mer was a littler merchild with long tail topped with a symmetrical fin and long hair. Nixie...
This was Nixie's drawing.
Nixie was holding hands with a human girl that was drawn with massive curls on her head. Me? The other two mers were holding hands, a merwoman and a merman. They even had wrinkles and merman's tail was similar to the mergirl. Those must be Nixie's parents. We were all smiling. In the top right corner was a message written in a child's handwriting.
I'm sorry you got wet and scared. The ocean is not scary. It can be really pretty. I miss it. I hope you can free us. - Nixie
Bodhi later found me crying over the drawing.
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If you wanna see more of my designs and upcoming chapter sneak peeks, check out Glass Prision's tumblr page yourandielexxis. (Out of curiosity, which social media platform do you use the most?)
UPDATE- I just made Glass Prison insta account at andie_s.e
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<3