Showdown

I arrived at the forest at precisely 9 PM. The night was eerily quiet, the sky stretched in an endless black void above me. My heart pounded in my chest, but I pushed forward. My loved ones were tied up before me, their eyes wide with terror. My mother, William, and Daniel—bound, helpless. My stomach twisted painfully at the sight of them.

"What do you want?!" I demanded, my voice shaking but firm. Fear coiled in my gut, but I refused to let them hear it.

The head mermaid stepped forward, her dark eyes gleaming with something between amusement and cruelty. She smirked, then casually tossed a strange device at my feet. It clinked against the ground, small yet foreboding.

"Easy," she said, her voice like silk laced with poison. 

I hesitated. Every instinct screamed at me to run, to fight, to resist. But then my eyes flickered back to my mother, to William, to Daniel. The ropes around them bit into their skin. I could see their faces twisted in fury and fear.

"Don't!" Daniel shouted suddenly. His voice cracked with desperation. "Sarah, don't listen to them! They are fiendish monsters with fish tails!"

A sharp pain bloomed in my chest. I am also a monster, I thought. The weight of the truth pressed against my ribs, suffocating. Daniel's words weren't meant for me, but they struck all the same. Would he look at me the same way if he knew?

I clenched my fists. I had no choice. I bent down, fingers trembling as I reached for the device. The metal was unnaturally cold against my skin. I hesitated for a fraction of a second before snapping it onto my wrist.

The moment it clicked shut, agony tore through me. A sharp, electric pulse surged through my veins, draining every ounce of strength from my body. My knees buckled. My breath came in ragged gasps. My vision blurred as if the world itself were unraveling.

The mermaids lunged.

A few ran toward me, their hands gripping my arms like iron shackles. I tried to fight, tried to twist free, but my body refused to obey. My muscles were leaden, my limbs weak. I was nothing more than a rag doll in their grasp.

I gasped as they forced me to my knees, my legs trembling beneath me. The dirt felt rough against my skin, the cool night air suddenly suffocating.

William's voice cut through the chaos. "MONSTERS! STOP IT!" His fury was raw, uncontained, but powerless.

The head mermaid laughed—a low, delighted sound. She stepped forward. "Monsters?" she echoed, tilting her head. "What if your dear friend is one of us?"

She clapped her hands.

Before I could react, a bowl of freezing water tipped over me.

The shock was instant. It was as if the icy liquid had seeped beneath my skin, sinking into my very bones. My body seized, every nerve igniting with a sensation I couldn't control. My breath hitched, my heart pounded. I felt my skin shift, the change creeping over me like a force I could never contain.

I transformed.