Chapter Text
The ocean had grown monotonous, the same storms, the same waves, the same lonely men driven by lust. It had become dull and unsatisfying, with each victim becoming more and more mind-numbing. Even the thrill of hunting those with stronger willpower had subsided, the taste of sea salt on terrified lips had lost its value, though it was the only way to stay sustained.
As the tide receded, she lifted herself on the peaking sand dune, her tail submerged in the seal-infested waters. The swim to the coast of the Outer Banks had been smooth, the currents pushing her to the destination faster, and with each mile passed, the waters became colder. In the midst of late May, the waters were a soothing sixty degrees, the cool waves tranquilizing despite the incessant need for more.
She pressed her palms against the wet sand, the breeze warm against her wet skin, almost muggy. The bright sun had subdued her vision somewhat, for her eyes had been used to the darkness of the ocean, only breaking the surface at night to feed. Vainly, she preened at the sight of her skin almost glowing against the sunlight, soaking up the heat.
It was easy to see how humans found the land beautiful, with its white beaches and lush, green grass. From her position on the rising sand dune, she could see it all, the division between wild and civilized, where the calm ocean met manicured sand, and the sand to her food. Beyond the beach lay land too polished, too evenly trimmed to be natural, with small, white flags flying in the air. People swung metal clubs on the ground, abusing the Earth as dirt flew up with each swing. The laughter grated her ears, the urge to childishly veer them away overwhelming as the sounds of old and young men chattering filled them.
A fleeting thought later, and she finds herself propped fully on the sand, tail out for anyone to see if they so glanced over. Perhaps they’d think she was a seal, such as the ones they so eagerly wanted to rid of.
The hunt on land would be slightly harder, she thinks, eyes roaming the golf course. With senses dulled and instincts dampened, she would have a harder time lunge on her prey. But the meal would be so much more savory and delectable. She couldn’t pass up the hunt of her life, even if it meant disconnection with the sea.
The ocean made everything too easy: a single sentence to lure them out, a flick of her hair to show off the creamy skin hidden underneath, and men would salivate, willingly throwing themselves into their early graves. On land, she’d have something new, an exciting experience.
A group of young men laughed too loudly, dressed in pressed pastel polos, moving from hole to hole, bodies relaxed and oblivious to the danger lurking in the waters. One bent at the waist, lining up a shot, another sitting in a golf cart nursing a drink, the last standing behind him, offering useless advice. All too boorish and aggravating.
An easy kill would make the trek on land redundant, something she was trying to swim away from. Her attention drifted past them, uninterested.
Then she saw him.
He stood a little away from the others, glaring down at his phone with furrowed brows and thinned lips, club leaning against his leg. Buzzed dark blond hair, tension-filled blue eyes, sun-kissed skin, and a jawline that would make her sisters fight to feed on. Her gaze lingered, slowly tracing the tension in his posture, the way his fingers flexed around the phone as if resisting the urge to throw it.
Making her decision, she submerged herself back into the water, swimming closer to the long stretch of sand, where very few people were scattered across it. Once close to the shore, she pushed herself into a sitting position, dragging more of herself out of the safety of the sea and hidden behind the large dunes of sand and beachgrass.
Her tail shimmered in the sun, as if begging her to rethink her choice, and the sudden dryness almost made her reconsider, but she pushed on. Bones cracked softly beneath her dark blue scales, protruding against her skin as the scales receded like the ocean waves. She bit her tongue in pain; the feel of her tail being broken into two separate limbs was unlike anything the ocean had ever demanded of her.
The ocean screamed in her ears as the bones shifted, cracking back in place, feeling each bone as it moved, knees bending where none had been before, joints forming with a sickening crunch that joined the agonizing music in her ears. Her scales receded, dragging against her nerves as they dissolved into her new flesh, leaving behind hypersensitive skin that shivered under the sun and wind.
Her spine arched violently as something deep inside her shifted, a loud splintering sound filling her ears, her spine tearing itself from her tail, splitting her tail at its root, before slowly settling, growing back steadily. Muscles seized, forced to relearn their purpose, her tail splitting as the fleshy skin holding her new legs together gleamed in the sun.
Gritting her teeth, she grabbed a nearby rock, too impatient to deal with the slow change, feeling as if hours had passed, though the sun overhead told her otherwise. It looked as if she had a grotesque birth defect, she thinks unamusingly, disgusted with the wet, sagging skin holding her new limbs together.
She takes the sharp rock, using the edge to slice the extra flesh off, blood gushing down her legs with each cut and dripping onto the sand. With each second, the skin grew weaker, drying up enough for her to painlessly cut it off her legs. Tossing the now dried, flaky skin beside her, she looked at her new, bloody legs. They were raw, streaked with blood, and trembling slightly from the transformation.
Useless, she thinks bitterly.
Pretty, she preens a moment later.