Haunted

Jonas ran over and knocked Morrigan off of Liriope. "What the hell are you doing!?" He shouted as he bent down to make sure Liriope wasn't hurt. Morrigan had to let go of the necklace. It was magically locked around the mermaid's neck.

"Oh, come on, Jonas! You can't see through her? She's a living, breathing, singing fairytale is what she is. She has to be one of them. She was even singing when we met her, think about it!"

Morrigan lifted her arm up and swung her hand to the side. In the same motion, Jonas was pushed away from Liri rather abruptly. There was no other explanation but magic. He had no idea that Morrigan was so strong.

"Of course you didn't, why would I tell you what I'm actually capable of?" Morrigan said after she read his thoughts.

Liriope opened her mouth to try and belt out a song to enchant her attacker, but as soon as her lips parted, Morrigan was on her again. This time she grabbed the necklace around Liri's neck, said a few words Jonas didn't understand and tore it off.

Liriope's eyes bulged and she clutched her throat. She gasped and squirmed on the ground as her legs began to grow green scales.

"Moonlight! No! Please, you're killing her!" Jonas ran to Morrigan's side and pulled her back away from the writhing girl. She looked over at him, annoyed he was ruining her fun, and angry that he looked so heartbroken and anxious. It made her want to send the mermaid to another dimension right then and there. But she didn't even want to imagine what he would look like then, let alone what he would think of her. Besides, it was his skin the mer wanted, not hers.

"It's your funeral, Jonas. I'm just a paid hand, remember?"

Jonas shook his head at her and grabbed the necklace from Morrigan's hand. He ran over to Liriope who lay fully finned and unconscious on the ground. He fastened the amulet back around her neck and waited.

"She's clearly here to kill you, Jonas. Why are you doing this?"

"She won't, ok. She wouldn't."

"Would you listen to yourself! You're already under her spell."

"No, I'm not. Something changed when you ripped that off. I think I was before, yes. But not anymore. I just want answers and she's the closest I'll ever get to the truth."

They waited silently for Liriope to regain consciousness. Her scales resided and the pink and beige form of her legs reshaped itself. She lay breathing softly in and out, her human body working again under the spell of the necklace. Her eyes fluttered and soon after she opened them.

Jonas was right by her side. He lifted her head up off the ground and into his lap. When she was finally able to focus, she saw his face looking at her and she smiled.

"You're back." Jonas felt relief.

Then in an instant, Liriope remembered what had just occurred. She flung herself away from Jonas and tried to get up and run away. Morrigan didn't allow it. The witch held the mermaid in her powers, Liriope was frozen in mid-step.

"Come on, Moonlight, will you stop messing around?" Jonas pleaded.

"Hey, you're the one who wanted answers. You going to try and get them before she takes off into the ocean and we never see her again?"

Jonas walked up to Liri and put his hand on her upper arm. "Hey, I don't want you getting hurt. Can you talk to me for a little while?"

Liriope couldn't nod or say a word under Morrigan's control. She could simply blink. So she started blinking until Jonas looked over at his witch with an evil-eye. Suddenly Liri's head became mobile and her mouth and tongue began to work.

"Yes, I'll do whatever you say, please, just don't hurt me."

"I won't let her, I promise. You understand the precautions we need to take. You do realize that, right?"

"I understand you know what I am, but I do not understand why you would want to harm me. What have I done to you?" Tears were welling up in the mer's eyes, she seemed visibly shaken by her brush with death.

"Liri, were you not here to capture me and take me back to your people?"

"Capture? No, no, I would never do anything against your will, I..." before she could finish, visions started racing in her mind's eye. The training, the willing of marine animals, the King, the Queen... the Queen was a Sea-demon! She remembered her encounter with the Queen clearly now, how it had entered her and changed her. It had mesmerized her and had made her want to do nothing but return with the right host. To return with Jonas. "No, no, it can't be!" Her eyes filling with tears. She thought of Aoide and felt a sense of betrayal. How could she not have warned her? How could she send her to the surface and let her go without any trials, without knowing the truth?

She realized then, she didn't really know the truth herself. Images ran through her head but she still didn't know why, or what the King and his demon Queen were up to.

"Jonas, I swear, I did not know!"

"What is happening, Liri?" Morrigan felt her sincerity and released the hold on her.

"I don't know, I'm remembering things that happened, but I didn't know they happened, I.." She palmed the amulet on her chest. "The necklace, it's got to be the necklace, when your witch pulled it off, it must have done something to me."

"I broke the link the necklace had on your mind. I only needed to touch it to do it, the ripping it off you part was just for fun."

Liri looked up in horror as Morrigan stood over her smirking. Even Jonas looked at her in disgust. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Nobody gets me." She kicked up some stones and turned away.

"Liri, your people, why do they continue to kill my family? We've been cursed for centuries and have been losing relatives to the ocean all because of some stupid comb. That's why we are here. Do you know what comb I mean? Can you help us find it?" Right when Jonas felt as though he had the answers directly in front of him, a young dead boy walked out of the brush beside the road and began to cry. "What! No, not now! Moonlight, make it go away." He was on the brink of a breakdown. He had been through so much these last few days and the stress was piling up.

"Oh, now I'm wanted."

"What is it, Jonas?" Liri asked sincerely.

"It's your curse! It's ruined my life! I've been haunted since I was little. It's exhausting, and now that I know how to communicate with them, it's more disturbing. Please, please help us find the comb. Tell me you know where it is?!"

And then he was surrounded. As if the dead held at Lizard's Point could hear his plea, they all came to him. Mostly blue and black and bloated creatures like his Aunt had looked. All water deaths, some looked a little worse for wear, torn and broken. Yet all dead. All looking to him for answers. He looked pleadingly at Liri, waiting for her to end his suffering.

"I'm sorry, Jonas. I don't know anything about a comb, or a curse. I'm starting to think I don't really know much of anything at all."