"Sebastian! Sebastian, stop it!" I shout. I run into the ocean, clutch his shoulders, and pull back. He doesn't budge. Mr. Kriss flails in the water beneath him.
"You'll kill him, stop it!"
His arm flies back, shoving me into the water behind him.
Footsteps splash as Luca and April rush to help me. Sebastian's head jerks up, eyes trained on them. His lip curls up, revealing his movie monster teeth. They stop.
I stand up, panic jittering in my chest.
He seemed so... normal before. Human. I forgot about the creature I first met on the beach. The wild animal, running on raw instinct.
"Sebastian," I start slowly. My eyes are locked on the one struggling in the water. He isn't a good person. At least, he hasn't been. But I understand his reasoning. And he's Brevity's dad. I've known him forever. I swallow, thinking of Brev and Spencer when they find out their father drowned... and in my back yard. "Don't kill him. You can't..."
"No," he growls. He turns his head, looking at me. I can feel his anger. His fear and frustration. "You...." I can see the struggle on his face as he tries to find the words, "want me.... let him.... go. To... take us.... We're.... not. Safe."
"I get it," I sigh. "He'll search for you. He took your daughter. He'll take her again. But there has to be another way. There's always another way. You don't have to drown him."
His eyes twitch. "Why."
"Why? Because it's wrong! I... I know you don't get it," I rush. "You don't understand, but we don't kill people. It's-"
"Julie," Luca starts, cautiously, watching Sebastian. "What if he links him?"
His eyes turn to me. "You know what it's like," he gushes. "You share everything. I would do anything for his family and I don't even know them."
And if Mr. Kriss were linked to Sebastian so would he. He would care about the mermaids like he were one. He would never bother them again.
I look at Sebastian, eyes and thoughts pleading with him. "Please."
He looks down at Kriss. His struggles stopped, his eyes drifting shut.
Sebastian grabs his shoulders and hoists him up. Kriss sucks in air. Sebastian places his palm in the center of Kriss's forehead.
Kriss's eyes shoot open.
YOU ARE READING
Beached
FantasyWhen a girl swims out to sea to rescue a figure in distress, she quickly realizes that the reason as to why he was in distress was quite different from the reason she had in mind. He wasn't drowning. Julia finds herself tethered to the mysterious st...
