Tammer grabbed a towel and Mom helped dry me off. I felt eerie – lightheaded and groggy. I couldn’t stand and Tammer picked me up. They took me to my room and set me on my massive bed.
“I’m tired,” I said.
Mom curled up with me and pulled the blanket around the both of us. “I know, baby.” She stroked my forehead. “It’s been an overwhelming day. If you want, let’s just go to sleep and put it behind us. Tomorrow will be better.”
I nodded and closed my eyes. I was hoping to find Thayde somewhere in my dreams. Even thinking about him brought an intense reaction to my body; my heart raced and I felt pins and needles. I hadn’t even met him! Where was he? I concentrated on those beautiful deep blue eyes. I was asleep before I knew it.
Chapter Four
Phasing
I didn’t find Thayde in my dreams. I didn’t dream at all. Everything was just black. I don’t like not dreaming. It’s a waste of time, if you ask me. I’d rather fall asleep and be whisked away to another world. Anything would have been better than facing boring old blackness for hours on end.
Groaning, I opened my eyes. A beautiful pink light filtered in through the windows, covering my bed and me in its warmth. I looked down at my legs, which I still feared would feel paralyzed. Instant relief washed over me when I found I could wiggle my toes, but my relief turned to shock. My legs looked weird. They almost shone in the light.
Startled, I sat bolt upright and grabbed my shins. The color of my hands was a stark contrast. My legs were almost iridescent.
A knock on my door made me jump and I pulled the covers over me. Mom peeked into the room and when she saw I was up, she walked in, closing the door behind her. She stood at the door looking at me.
“How are you feeling?” She asked, a bit formally.
“Okay,” I shot back. “Apart from some weird things going on, I think I’m okay.”
She looked uneasy as she moved to the edge of the bed and stood with her hands together.
“Honey, what I have to tell you isn’t going to make any sense at all. You’re not going to believe anything I’m going to say, but I promise you, it’s all true.”
She bit her lip. I didn’t say a thing. She sat down on the bed, facing me.
“Baby,” she began and stopped. “This is so hard. Naira didn’t have to be told, she just knew.” Pulling her braided hair from behind her back, she held it in her hand and ran it through her fingers. “We are much different from other people. You’ve noticed that, I’m sure. All your life, you’ve been able to tell when something wasn’t right or something was about to happen. You’ve also noticed that people seem drawn to you.”
“Yeah, but it’s always sick people or people with problems,” I added.
She nodded and continued. “There’s a reason for that. You have the ability to heal. That’s why they are drawn to you. In some way, they sense you can help them.”
“Ability to heal,” I said. “Like you think I should be a doctor?”
Shrugging, she said, “I think you’d be incredibly good at it, but no, that’s not what I mean.” Pursing her lips, she then spoke quickly. “We are merpeople.”
I grinned and started to laugh, but her face made me stop as quickly as I started. She was serious.
“What? Really funny! You’re joking, right?”
“No, Morgandy. This is no joke. Look at your legs.”
I didn’t have to. I knew what they looked like. That was why I was hiding them.
“Come on,” she pulled the covers back and there they were. She ran her hand over them lightly and smiled. “You’re beginning to change.”
This was all too weird for me. I jumped out of bed, but when my feet hit the floor, the paralyzing pain I’d felt earlier returned, jolting down my legs into my feet.
“What is going on?” I shrieked, crumpling to the floor. Mom was beside me in seconds and helped me sit on the bed.
“Honey, please listen to me.” She knelt before me and felt my shins. “This is completely normal in the phasing.”
“Normal?” I cried in frustration. “You call this normal? This is not normal!” Fear and panic started to grip me. “You’re telling me that we are mermaids? Do you know how ridiculous you sound?”
“Yes.”
“What are you going to tell me next? That there are such things as fairies and leprechauns? Vampires?”
She didn’t answer, but her look said it all: yes there were.
“You’re off your rocker!” I gasped as the pain intensified.
“The angrier you get, the more it will hurt. If you stay calm, it will be much easier to handle.”