I tried to scream, seeking help out there. But my head was beneath the waters as I was slowly carried deeper into the abyss.

It is early July when my friends and I go to the beach. It is our day off. We also got our pay as well. We enjoy our time with our lovers as we play beach volleyball.

The time comes when the waves arise. We are excited to surf. We have been surfing since high school when we still lived near a beach. We had to move in to the cities for our jobs.

I work as a car salesperson. I don't really get a lot of money out of it but it's worth it. From time to time as I got professional at this job I started earning more money. I've kept two-thirds of them for me and theremaining third sent to my family. I still maintain contact with them even after several years.

We rent the best quality surf boards the beach has offered. While my friends got the girly and pinkish ones and their lovers dark colored, I got a plain one. I'm not a fan of fancy materials or designs as long as the quality is off the charts.

The beach is kind of clear. We can see some schools of fish interacting with the humans as well as beautiful corals and shells worth to keep safe and collect, respectively. There is also a certain species of sharks called nurse sharks. They usually allow humans interact with them. At the very least, that's what I heard from my boss. He's an animal nerd.

We are on the ocean waiting for the waves. A small one comes as one of my friends impatiently rides. She immediately falls over. We jokingly laugh at her as she gets back up. Then her girlfriend starts comforting her and they both act like we insulted them. We then act back to them.

A bigger wave comes. We prepare ourselves. We look at the beautiful wave coming to hit hs with everything it has.

No one noticed, but there is a woman who beneath the wave, going with the flow. I just assume that's she's a diver or swimmer of some sort.

We time with the wave perfectly as we compete to see who has the best balance and skills. Three of my friends fall over as the remaining three surf on.

The feeling is amazing.

The strong wind going against your directions, cooling you with the coolest of weathers, giving you the sense of flight. Surfing is my way out of stress. It has always been my stress reliever. Sadly, compared to the old times, I can only surf once every three months. Surprisingly, I still got the moves.

I am leading our race when someone or something grabs me by my leg. I fall over on that person. I inhaled the water accidentally as I reach out for help. Luckily my lover immediately came. When they got me back on my board, the person diving a while ago is laughing at me.

Who would've thought.

It was my ex.

My spoiled and stubborn ex. She had been jealous of my lover ever since we broke up. She didn't understand why I'd choose a nonbinary person over her. Well, she was rotten though. She kept bullying my current lover. Even though we were just friends when I broke up with her, because I don't want a bully as a lover, we started having feelings for each other. I'm even planning on asking them to marry me after 11 years into the relationship.

My lover lead me back to our friends away from this creep. I suppose she has been following me all these years. I didn't expect her to be this obsessed.

Regardless, we leave that psycho. We go back to the shore as we wait for that bitch to leave me alone. We go to a different area instead. Luckily, she doesn't follow us.

On the other side of the beach, we witness a riptide. Everyone didn't dare go near it. We grab our boards as one of my friends let hers flow away. We laugh as we notice that the riptide takes the board way too far from the shore. His boyfriend goes to retrieve it through the normal waves. My lover and I volunteer to assist.

Also on this area, the water isn't as clear as the one before. But it's not polluted.

We arrive at the destination. The view of our peers were really tiny. The boyfriend grabs the board when suddenly, we see a hand grab him by his waist.

I shake my head thinking that it could be my ex. I go to him and slap the hand as hard as I can. Something shrieks sharply.

I look back to my lover only to see them being pulled down. I immediately swim to them and take them back.

We thought that people are playing pranks on us. We signal to our friends to wait for us as we head there quickly. As we board back, our friends seems to be warned to leave the area. Although the refused, the police officers push them out of this area. They fight back but couldn't withstand their strengths.

The boyfriend grabs me by my hand and seeks help as he was pulled down. I manage to hold his arm and pull him back. My lover helps me.

Unfortunately, we let go. Something made us let go.

My lover dives the ocean and tries to save him. While I hold on to their boards, there I saw a warning sign not to swim.

There was a warning sign but people were still swimming. Those people come to us. I scream for help. One of the female swimmers approaches and comforts me. Her friends then take the boards. When I look at the female, her eyes were all black. No whites, no iris, no pupils. Just pure black.

She asks me what the matter is. I calm down as I give her my reply. She calmly tells me that there's no way they can help.

The Goddess has fed on them.

She holds me by my shoulders and pulls me to the ocean floor.

This area was as deep as the oceans far away. But for some reason, no one warned others before they could enter the area.

I manage to loosen her grip as I swim back to the surface.

I try to scream, seeking help out there. But my head is beneath the waters as I am slowly carried deeper into the abyss.

I wake up in what seems to be a room, on land. I move to my side as I see my lover smiling genuinely at me. They greet me a sweet morning and ask if I had a nightmare. I just look at them as I slowly start sobbing. They comfort me until I stop.

We both go to the kitchen as soon as I finished and prepare our breakfast. Today was the day we go swimming with our friends.

I look at the clock. The time is 8:30 AM, the exact time I took my breakfast on the day we went surfing... in my dream... or nightmare. I shake it off as some mere coincidence.

After we finish preparing, we head to our friends who have been waiting for us. We ride the vehicle and head to the beach. It is a long trip so I fell asleep.

I see the same woman with black eyes. She imprisoned me in some sort of seaweed chains. Yes. Seaweeds. But it was as sturdy as the metallic ones. She swims a bit far from me to reveal her identity. Before I could take a proper look, something pulls me away from her, a tongue wrapped around my hips, as sharp teeth close.

My friend and his boyfriend sprinkles me with water to wake me up. I stand immediately out of shock. They laugh as they gesture to head to the beach as soon as I feel better.

I smile, shaking off the feeling and sensation of that dream. What happened in that dream, happened in real life though only up until we see the riptide.

When we arrive at that area, I look around. There were no signs. People had normal eyes. A friend of mine flows his board on the riptide. His boyfriend goes to grab it as my lover and I follow.

There, we succeed in retrieving the board. Someone approaches me. A female. She had normal eyes. She asks us about our basic information and is basically flirting with my friend's boyfriend.

We wait for them to finish as the boyfriend rejects her politely. But she was too persistent. My lover insists to go ahead and takes the board. I permit him to do so as I watch him swim back to the shore.

I look back at the female. Underneath the surface, there seems to be a big colorful fish. I stare at it until the image becomes vivid.

The scenario when I met that female with black eyes flash before mine. That female I saw had colorful fins. She was incredibly beautiful. She waves to me as I was being pulled by that tongue.

What I also remembered was I was enchanted by her beauty. Before the sharp teeth closed, she warned me to stop what seems unnatural.

I open my eyes and see that the female and my friend's boyfriend are still talking. I look back at the colorful fins I saw and it was indeed the female in my dreams.

The boyfriend succeeds in rejecting her. She grabs the boyfriend by his waist as I hold ger arm and gently pull her away. I ask her to stop and told her that this man is gay and has a lover. She smiles in pain. My friend goes back first as I follow behind.

The female calls me. I look back and see that her eyes have finally turned black. She gives heinous smirk and tells me to watch out.

They aren't done with me yet.

We get back to the shore and leave the area. We go surfing once more.

After the long day, I ask my friends to drop me by the public library. As we arrive, my lover grabs my things and goes with me inside.

They wonder why I want to come here as I grab a book of mythical creatures.

There on the hundredth page, a mermaid of colorful fins emerges from the ocean and leaves a trace of scent on its victim.

The victim is entranced by the mermaid's scent which will lead them back to where they met her. Record showed that people had been missing these past 50 years. They had the same mark on their neck. I ask my lover if they saw anything on my neck. They tell me nothing but a kissable neck is all there is. They kiss me on my neck as I giggle. I shake it off as a dream as we both head back to our apartment by midnight.

Since this event, my lover no longer permitted me to go to the beach after showing signs of possesion.

I don't question them. Our friends and us still hang out but not at the beach. They understand my lover's decision and think of destinations to visit instead.

I didn't tell them that I actually know the reason.

That night when my lover told me not to surf again, I eavesdrop on their conversation with my friends.

Apparently, this "Marina" lady, the mermaid with black eyes, is a sister of theirs. They disagreed with her ways and headed to the surface where they start new lives as humans. They never told anyone else about these secrets.

Marina wanted them back but they refused. That day when we met her, my friend's lover was actually trying to refuse her to return to the ocean.

She admitted that she invaded my dreams in hopes of bringing me to the ocean. Regardless the scenario of that dream, no one could have escaped her.

After hearing such, I head back to our bedroom and try to dose off. A few minutes later just as I was about to finally sleep, my lover holds me by my waist and tells me to keep it a secret and that they'll will protect me at all cost.

I can sense myself about to cry as they hug me tightly until I fall asleep.

It's only been a month since that incident. I still can't help but feel that Marina is following me in the human world.

I've gone mad of these events and lost track of all of it.

The only thing I can manage of myself is that I can feel my friends and lovers are going to betray me.

The sharp teeth starts to close.

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