Fantasy Tales Series: Rise of The Merfolk

Chapter Eight~ Edited

Dinner was the most painfully awkward thing i'd sat through in my entire life.Okay, perhaps that was a bit of an exaggeration but it was really weird to sit through and I hated it. I wanted nothing more than to be swimming in the sea experiencing my power and testing my limits. Going back to a regular life after growing a beautiful fish tail and gaining control over water wasn't easy at all. I was excited for this new chapter in my life and it was all that I could think about. We were all sitting around making polite small talk and trying to get to know Kalum better, perhaps after we had gotten to know him more we wouldn't feel as threatened by him. It made logical sense but you really do only get one chance at a firstimpression and those were hard to break. Naomi was  fawning over him constantly the entire time, I had never seen someone so infatuated before. It was amusing but also slightly worrying at the same time.

'He's such a great fisherman. He holds the record for the heaviest fish caught off the pier- tell them!' Naomi gushed. I frowned. She had known this guy for barely a week and suddenly he consumed her every thought and she wouldn't stop kissing up to him. Was I blind? I really didn't see the appeal of this guy. The way he sat there with arrogance seeping from his pores and his eyes boring into my own like he was waiting for me to snap.

His laughter was way too relaxed, for his eyes showed the truth. They weren't smiling. 'I have been known to make some great catches. I won the annual fishing competition in my local area three times in a row.' He took a bite of his food. He turned to Cece sitting next to him. 'Is there any salt?' She didn't respond choosing to ignore him instead. When Cece didn't like someone she didn't waste time with pleasantries she made it obvious from the start. In the time that I had known her I had only ever seen her change her mind for about three people, and apologised to only one of them.

Lila elbowed her. 'Are you listening?' Lila on the other hand was someone who tried to keep up smiles so that maybe the person would reciprocate her kindness. It worked mostly but all I knew was that when it didn't work Lila would get very melancholy about the whole thing.  

Cece flashed Kalum a sarcastic smile in response. 'It would be my absolute honour to pass the almighty fishing champion the table salt.' She sassed. I rolled my eyes and even Lila giggled a little, when she realised she'd laughed out loud at Cece's rudeness she coughed awkwardly and downed the rest of her water.

Kalum didn't even blink. 'Your servitude pleases me.' He sounded deadly serious. I wanted to kick him out and tell him to get fucked. It would only hurt Naomi though and I didn't want her to be crushed.

Cece flushed red in anger. 'You little-,'

'So!' I spoke up. Lila ended up passing Kalum the salt. 'Kalum- how long have you lived in the area?' I didn't actually care. I just wanted to extract as much information as possible out of him just in case there was something I could use against Kalum if he hurt Naomi. Or maybe I would be able to sus out if he was a scam artist. If I could find any excuse to dismiss him entirely from our lives I would.

He stared right at me and his eyes seemed to stare right into my soul again, like he was unravelling me and all my past mistakes. I attempted to stare him down in the same way. His eyes were green, what had the psychic said about a man with green eyes? My dislike for Kalum plummeted even more. 'Only a year. I moved here for the nice weather.' He sounded disgusted he even had to talk to me at all. Strange, he had been fine answering everyone else at the table.

'So why did you leave your home town?' I asked. I saw Lila roll her eyes as she caught onto what I was doing. Lila wasn't one for any sort of confrontation, I hated starting drama as well but I was very protective and loyal to those I loved and had no issues letting my temper fly in their face if they crossed a line.