I felt like I had slept for a long time before waking from my slumber. Rays of warm light from the morning sun shone onto my body as the gentle breeze caressed my face. The comfort felt like a luxury. Ever since I embarked on the voyage, I couldn’t recall a day where the weather was this nice. This was a rarity, so much so that it felt somewhat out of place. I slowly got out of my daze and pushed the blanket away, wanting to bask in the sunlight. As I did that, I noticed a thin transparent membrane enclosing my entire hand, including all five of my fingers. The silver sheen of the membrane in the sunlight had caught my eye. Then, my nails became long and sharp, just like a webbed claw! I was so shocked that I jumped up from the bed, and the sleepiness I felt a second ago had vanished. I raised my hand and looked at it intently, but my hand was the same as it was before. It seemed like I had just hallucinated it being a webbed claw. ‘Even if it looked real, I must just be seeing
In frustration, I grabbed a stool next to me and threw it at him. I shouted furiously, “You despicable beast! You’re disgusting! A pervert! Screw off! Stop following me!” Before I finished yelling at him, a wave of water came my way. I couldn’t evade the splash, but I suddenly felt a cold claw holding the nape of my neck. He dragged half of my body out of the window, and his face was just a mere inch away from mine. Surprised that it all happened so fast, I started to scream. But less than a second later, my screams were muffled. He had fully enclosed my lips within his. His tongue tasted mildly salty like water from the sea as it pried my teeth apart and started twirling around in my mouth. I regretted venting my anger at Dicken as it was no different than provoking him. I forced myself to retain my grip on the edge of the window, or else I would’ve been dragged into the deep. But having no free hands seemed to work in favor of Dicken as his kisses became more vigorous than ever
Suddenly, I heard banging against the cabin door. At the same time, the sound of a gunshot reached my ears, followed by a large splash of water behind Dicken. “Quickly! The merman has appeared again, and he’s in Linda’s cabin. Prepare some tranquilizing darts! We can’t let him get away again!” It was the commanding voice of a woman – Laura. A voice that I hadn’t heard in a long time. At that instant, I was surprised that I was worried for Dicken. “Linda! Are you alright?!” Gary was banging on the door repeatedly as he shouted my name. Dicken jumped up, and his expression changed into a dark one. Ticked off, he glanced at me, then swept his eyes to the torrent of bullets raining onto the sea. He must have known that he would be done for if he didn’t leave soon. Dicken released a deep and threatening growl and leaped out of the window. I could only see a dark curved blade resembling a sickle right before he plunged into the water. The splashes of water caused by the bullets i
The idea of escaping disappeared the moment I laid my eyes upon the island. Instead, my heart was filled with eagerness to arrive at the island. It was a bait that no marine biologist could deny. But at the same time, I couldn’t help but recall what Dicken had told me when we were locked in the cargo hold as well as the red-haired merman I met. My excitement dissipated, and my heart sank as I now felt conflicted about going to the island. I was worried something terrible would happen once I got there. I hoped that the unique characteristics of my body wouldn’t catch the eye of another merman aside from Dicken, including that red-haired merman. Regrettably, I didn’t pick up any self-defense skills, so I was just an utterly defenseless woman. The only thing I could do was establish a cordial relationship with Gary, as he was the only one I could rely on when we arrived. As for Laura and the other military-affiliated personnel, I couldn’t trust them at all. ‘But how can I mend my re
I flopped onto the bed and covered my whole body with the blanket. I could still feel the sensation of Dicken’s wet claw caressing my back before moving downward along my spine. His soft but cold lips had littered my body with tender kisses, causing my body temperature to rise gradually. I hated admitting that my body and mind yearned for Dicken when he wasn’t around those few days. He was like a drug, tempting me with its effects but lethal when overdosed. On the one hand, I wished to see him, but on the other, I hoped he would never appear before me again. I was worried that I would welcome him with open legs if I saw him again and let him ravish me like the beast he is. ‘That damn beast has ruined me. He turned me into a sl*t…How will I accept a regular man as my future husband now…’ I gritted my teeth as I curled my body. I hadn’t realized that I had been squeezing the blanket between my legs. A week later, the ship finally arrived right next to the group of legendary islan
As the lifeboats ventured deeper and deeper, the cave seemed eerily similar to the interior of a sea monster’s skeleton. The air within it was cold and stale as if it reeked of death. I could imagine countless souls of the dead floating around in the cave.I knew that there were no ghosts in there. Rather, there were only numerous beings scarier than ghosts—merpeople. This island was their turf, and they could be secretly watching us from one of the tunnels or the waters beneath us. Fear crept up my spine just from that thought. I stayed alert, and I gripped the handgun that was holstered at my waist. My gut feeling told me that the sparkles in the darkness were the light being reflected on some of the merpeople’s eyes. I had hoped in my heart that none of the merpeople noticed us humans entering the cave. If we managed to get through this tunnel successfully and arrive on the shore of the main island, we would undoubtedly be safer there. “Miss Laura, you weren’t making things u
In anticipation, I held my breath, and my body froze. I opened my eyes as wide as possible as I observed the unnatural ripples on the water. Then, I heard a splash, and a pale but unfamiliar face appeared above the water, followed by another, and another. Eventually, countless faces I didn’t recognize appeared in the waters around us. They were merpeople! They had already been hiding here before we arrived. Now, other than their faces, they had also extended their claws out of the water and positioned them toward us. An eerie light reflected in their eyes against the darkness of the cave, making them look like demons that had just climbed out of hell. But I had to admit, they all looked beautiful and handsome, and young too. But being surrounded by them like this only brought me fear. As they slowly closed in on our lifeboats, something caught my eye. It was the red-haired merman who had tried to snatch me away from Dicken. He sensed my presence and rose from the water, staring
A second after the initial shock, I finally reacted. I had expected that she would abandon me. I whipped out the gun from its holster and gripped it with shaky hands. I waved it at the people around me and warned, “Don’t touch me! I will shoot whoever who dares touch me!” Then, I glared at Laura in anger and said, “Don’t force me off this boat. You have no right to determine whether I live or die. I am not one of your men! If you want someone to go down, why don’t you go down yourself, you despicable woman!” Laura’s brows wrinkled in frustration as her eyes reflected a venomous glare. She said, “Every success comes with a price. It’s a pity that you were born unlucky, Linda. You were destined to be bait, so now’s your chance to fulfill your destiny.” After that, she raised her voice and spoke to everyone else on the boat. “What are you all waiting for? Do you all want to die here?” The sailors on board were eyeing each other in hesitation before glancing at me. They used to b