Kai held onto me as swimming to one of the homes. It was very pretty with

 all the coral. B swam ahead of us just laying down in what I think is its bed.

 He laid me down on a soft bed it looked or I hoped. 

“Just take a rest for now Teresa you are safe in my home.”

 I close my eyes just letting all my pain be washed away by the sea. Feeling a 

touch to my shoulder I jump. It was Kai with a bowl of some sea fruit. 

“Sorry...I wasn’t trying to scare you.”

 Sitting up I give him a smile.

 “No, I should be saying sorry to you. You’ve been so kind to me.”

 Kai laughs some sitting the bowl down. The fruit reminded me of sea 

cucumbers. Not wanting to be rude I took a bite which to my surprise it was 

tasty. After eating he leads me around the city. B decided to stay at the house

 being a lazy fish. It made me wonder can clown fish get fat like a cat?

We stop when an old mermaid waves us over. She gave me a tight hug which

 threw me for a loop. Did she know my past life as well? Or was this old 

mermaid just really friendly to new people?

 “Is this your girlfriend Kai?” 

Oh my god she thought we were together in that sense. I couldn’t help but to 

laugh as Kai did too.

 “No ma’am she is just a friend. This is Teresa Vermont.”

 The old mermaid chuckled a little.

 “Sorry about that then little one. It is nice to meet you. I hope you like our 

little city.”

 I nodded giving her a soft smile. This place made me feels safe, even though I

 knew it wouldn’t be permanent. Once the old woman was finished speaking

 to us we headed home. B hadn’t moved a muscle in his bed. I leaned down

 poking him some only to get a tail to my face. Kai starts to laugh at me which

 I didn’t blame him. It was funny to think a clown fish smacked me with its 

tail.

The next few weeks went by so fast. Every day I would help Kai in his little 

shop. B would try to bug me then get teased by Kai. It felt so homey here. It 

hurt to know I needed to leave here already. If I stayed too long what would 

Jacoby do to these people. When night fell I waited for Kai to be sleeping. B 

swam into my face trying to get me to stop. In a whisper I spoke to him.

“I’m sorry B. This is for your safety. There is a real monster who will not

 stop hunting me. If he got anyone to hurt all of you it would break my 

heart.” 

B moved to my side with a sad look to his eyes. This was already hard enough

 but that made it even worse. Swimming away from Kai’s small home felt so

 hard. Every movement had me wanting to turn around. Smacking my cheeks

 I shake my head. 

“You know better then to let yourself stay here. They will be fine with out

 me.”

 I continued to swim till seeing a huge ship overhead. It looked like a cruise

 ship.

Getting closer it looked like this was a theme cruise. Now all I had to do what

 try to figure out what kind of theme. Swimming closer I see people who look 

dressed like all sorts of mythical creatures. 

“Did the luck stick just hit me hard or something?” 

I honestly thought this was too good to be true; but I needed something 

other then raw fish to eat. Swimming even closer I see there is a rope 

dangling from one of the rails. Looked like someone forgot to pull it back 

which helped me. Climbing the rope made me think of high school days. The

 gym teacher had a rope attached to the ceiling that we had to climb. It 

always seemed useless but now I want to thank him. Once at the top I felt like

 a wet noodle falling over the edge. Laying there it felt like an eternity till my

 body wanted to move. A laugh catches my attention as rolling over. Some 

people were walking towards my direction.

Quickly I stood up fixing my clothing trying not to look like a drowned rat.

 Well should I say a fish out of water instead? Thinking this I laugh to myself. 

The people stop staring at me. One of the women run over grabbing my 

hands. She seems super excited for some reason. 

“Oh my goodness! Your costume is so amazing! You have to tell me how you

 got the scales to look so realistic.”

 One of the men sighed behind her walking over. He grabbed onto her shirt 

pulling her back. 

“Sorry about her. She gets excited a little too easy if you know what I

 mean.”

 I started to laugh a little but gave a smile. 

“It is alright. She actually made me feel better.”

 The guy looked to the woman then sighed again.

 “Don’t say that to loud she will go nuts over your make-up. I’m Kevin. That

 hyper pain in the ass is my twin sister Cassi. The other woman is our 

friend Rita. The other man is her husband Terrance.”

 I bowed slightly to them all smiling.

 “It is a pleasure to meet you all. I am Teresa.”

 Cassi ran over grabbing my hands once more. She started to pull me into the

 group.

Her brother Kevin gave me a sorry expression. I waved at him slightly as she

 pulled me down the deck. This was my first time on any kind of ship. We

 ended up in their cabin as Cassi wanted to show me all her make-up. She 

had three bags of nothing but make-up which had me wide eyed.

 “Um..Cassi this isn’t really make-up.”

 The entire group went silent just staring at me. It felt weird to be singled

 out. At least it wasn’t like when I was at the party with Jacoby. After what felt

 like an hour but in reality five minutes Cassi spoke. 

“So those are real scales? You are not human?”

 I nodded to her as she tackled me into a hug smiling.

 “That is so freaking amazing! I can’t believe we get to meet someone who

 isn’t a human. There are so many things I want to ask you.”

 At that moment I placed a finger over her mouth.

 “First please calm down. Second I don’t really know all that much either. I 

lived as a human till my twenty-fifth birthday. I’m not just mermaid but 

also a vampire. Sadly I hate to say this but I’m in need of blood.”

 Looking to the floor I felt ashamed of even needing blood.