章 8: The Moon's Light

Pain. Stabbing pain. Blades punctured her everywhere. She was screaming, drowning in pain. She woke with a start, gasping. She sat up in the dark. A strong desire flooded her heart. She climbed out of the hospital wing bed. It felt as though a fish hook had been driven into her heart and something far away was reeling her steadily home. She stood, walked toward the door, and exited in silence. The hallways were dark, thick clouds covering the moon's full light. She stepped out into the grounds and began making her way toward the lake's shimmering surface. Her limbs were trembling, vibrating with the effort of keeping herself on her feet. She approached the edge of the water, staring into its depths. Without thinking she waded into the water, wanting nothing but to be surrounded by it, to feel its embrace, the safety it provided. She let herself sink into the water and a rush of calm overwhelmed her. Her breathing slowed, the water flowing through her lungs as though it was designed to do so all along. Suddenly every muscle in her body began to seize up, causing her to gasp with the pain. Her fingers flexed as her skin began to bubble and boil as though worms wriggled beneath her flesh. As suddenly as it had started everything stopped. Her breathing eased. She opened her eyes. Her back was buried in the mushy clay of the lake's floor, the murky water swirled above her as a fish flashed past. She sat up and went to brush her hair away from her face. She froze as she looked at her hands. They seemed different, they were not pruning even though she had been underwater for several minutes and they were almost pearlescent, shimmering. She went to stand but she felt different. She looked down at her legs, but they were gone. Replaced by a long blue-grey tail, with the same shimmering quality of her skin. The tail ended in a powerful fin, it was wide and much more firm than any Disney movie had every depicted. She tried swimming but it felt as though she weighed at least ten more pounds than she had before. Eventually, with some trial and error, she managed to swim back to the surface. As her head broke the water the moon emerged from behind its cluster of clouds, the moonlight alighted upon her skin she seemed more beautiful and yet more terrible than normal, with shimmering skin and long golden hair. A strange swooping sensation danced through her stomach, sending goosebumps up her arms. Her entire mindset changed suddenly, focusing solely on one desire: to lure men to their deaths.