(OLD VER.) When Mermen Run From Their Demons

staying in a three-star motel with a demon

Tape #12 - staying in a three-star motel with a demon

Caleb

I've come to learn that in the dry world, everything hurts. I don't just mean that in a mental or emotional sense— either. I'm talking about how things are heavy, how if you lose your balance, you fall.

Not only that, but the people in the dry world live such...slim lives. Most of them don't have the wisdom that comes with living for more than one century. So they make the same emotional mistakes, over and over, as if they're the same person, but with different faces.

That's one good thing about being among mortals. They're predicable, and I learned this quickly. Trevor and I easily blended into the crowd of fairies and elves and vampires (except vampires are similar to mermaids in that way) or whatever other creatures dwell in Enchantia. The only thing that really set us apart was the damage we took from when the entire student body collectively assaulted us. Trevor's wounds scabbed over quickly, while mine is taking its damn time.

We finally made it to a motel, it wasn't too shabby. Three stars, but we can't draw attention or waste money by going for the luxurious ones. This is long-term until we find out a way to make it short-term.

I let Trevor do all the talking because supposedly my voice alone is recognizable, whatever the Hell that means. I've never met these people, so how the Hell would they know my voice? Anyway, the lady working at the front desk gave a knowing smile when she saw we were together.

I'm confused, obviously. But Trevor doesn't say anything about it.

We get to the room, and I'm so thankful that there's two beds. Because if there wasn't, he'd be sleeping on the floor. We both pick our sides of the room wordlessly, my bed near the bathroom, Trevor's near the exit.

He settles back on his bed and turns on the television while I go to the bathroom and run the shower. I take a look in the mirror as it begins to fog up. It hasn't even been a day and my hair is tangled and I can see a few pimples forming.

I look hideous.

You know at? Who am I looking good for? Maybe it's better if I let my gorgeous appearance wane a little bit.

Who am I kidding? That's not happening.

I slowly strip off my clothes, and put my fork of a trident on the counter. Then I step into the steaming hot water and let it relax my muscles.

This is going to be my life now. Until further notice.

Words cannot describe how much I ache for my friends, and for my sisters. But now that I've risked everything to save Trevor, I can kiss every thought about coming back goodbye. I won't be able to go back to Camelot until the king is dead, and I don't foresee that happening anytime soon.

I would just use my phone to text them, as it's been blowing the fuck up ever since we left, and I've had to shut off my location and double and triple checked that I did. But that would make all our efforts of disappearing for nothing. We risked a lot going to my dad, but I was so certain he'd see reason. Instead, he saw a different type of reason.

And it's scary, because for all we know, we could be being watched right now. Okay, that's a disturbing thought in the shower. But you get the point.

Anyway, a topic I've been hearing a lot about at that point was 'love'. It was all people talked about, and I don't think they seemed to realize that. Always talking about how cute somebody was, or openly expressing the fact that they'd like to sleep with them. It seemed so stupid. Under the sea, as I've said, you only get together and reproduce because you have to.