◤ SEA BIRTH ◢

               he’s never seen this side of her before. the RAGE, yes, the fury that burns bright in her blood with a PASSION he finds hard to match at times. a passion that he loves, but this anger is new. all rough edges and sharp blades. cutting deep, and for a second, christopher thinks he sees a flash of fear behind his mother’s eyes, senses a slackening of weight against him and he scrambles up once a silent order is given to let him go. breathless and bruising, all he can do is step forward and curl fingers around marina’s elbow, tug her away   …   she needs to get away from his mother, stepping between marina and all this danger. this is his fault, and he’s not letting her get HURT anymore. arm protectively guarding his girl, he glares at old colleagues, familiar faces of the lab.   ‘   get out of my house. now   —   ’

               but his mother just laughs. coldly, without any slither of empathy towards her own blood.   ‘   oh, christopher   …   you truly do take after your weak father. you let her manipulate you, use you. this creature   …   she belongs with me. now step out of the way and we won’t have to do this the hard way.   ’

               now it’s his turn to laugh. pressing back against marina, needing her secure and safe, needing to keep himself between the good and the evil.   ‘   she has a name, mother. and i love, marina. you forget that i helped you design your little pet project, i know what you intend to do to her   …   to others of her kind. see, i know you’re fucking crazy, but you must really be out of your mind if you think i’m letting her go anywhere with you.   ’

               ‘   the hard way it is then, my darling.   ’   he really thought he was getting somewhere, that his mother would give in and leave them be. that maybe, just maybe, he’d have a chance to take marina far away, somewhere SAFE. but the next few seconds happen so quickly, his body reacts entirely on instinct. he sees his mother reach into her bag, sees the familiar barrel of a gun he used to be told to stay well away from as a kid, and he knows his arms shift to push marina further behind him. but then the shot rings out, and he’s not sure what happened, too shocked, too stunned. he doesn’t feel any pain until his brain catches up and he looks down to see   …   the blood, the wound, his shaking hand clutching at his abdomen before he stumbles, stumbles, stumbles back into marina.  ‘   mom   ?   ’   time seems to slow down and speed up at once, a ringing in his ears and a throbbing throughout his body as he tries to focus on the bodies moving towards marina   —   ‘   no   …   ’   but his plea is almost a whisper, a pant and he doesn’t know how to stop them from taking her.

            the flurry of motion scares the shit out of her.   one second she’s so close to his RAGING BITCH of a mother,     almost     scarily    close to pressing the knife into her skin.   the next, and chris   --    the person she was trying to PROTECT     --    has moved in front of her, essentially blocking her from his mother.   marina blinks,   frenetically trying to catch up with the situation when it had truly and momentarily become a blur.

                 and then she hears chris say LOVE,    hears him speak so insistently and protectively,   and marina doesn’t think she could physically love ANYONE more than she loves him in this moment.   and his mother ...      his mother disgusts her.    when marina thinks about the years he’s spent dealing with someone who doesn’t have the slightest bit of love or appreciation for him,   she feels wholly and completely SICK.  her stomach turns.  and although she’s trying her damnedest to follow the events as they unravel,   NOTHING can prepare her for  being PUSHED BACK  --   !   --  and then the cry of a gun as it rings out.   

                   ‘ CHRIS ---- ! ’     the second she sees the blood,  SHE CAN’T BREATHE.   she can’t breathe.  chris -- her chris -- stumbles back against her, slumping to the ground & clutching his abdomen.   marina chokes on her breath and is about to duck down to him when one of the men grabs her arms.  

                        she uses EVERY BIT OF ADRENALINE to take the weapon in her hand and stab the man as he comes.  mermaids are made of rage, yes, but she’d never KILLED BEFORE ; had never wanted to, and the moment she realizes what she’s done, marina drops the knife out of her shaking hand. the other man and chris’ mother both stop their pursuit for a moment, surely threatened by this show of strength. hot tears are streaking down her cheeks ; she’ll use the moment to collapse to her knees next to chris, palms slipping against the hot blood that seeps from his chest.   she can’t breathe.   the wound is bad ; she knows what she has to do.

               there’s only one thought going around in his head   :   he wants to kiss her. for hours on end, until he can’t feel his lips anymore, until he’s so distracted by her presence that   …   oh, he’s going to get himself into a MOOD. hips shift a little away from hers just in case, fingers twitching sheepishly against skin, brushing just under her t-shirt.   ‘   me not boring   ?   that’s a new one. i think everyone at school would say otherwise.   ’

               well, that wasn’t the reaction he expected. her anger shocks him, leaves him SPEECHLESS   …   he put her initial display of emotions down to fear, but this frustration   ?   it confuses him.   ‘   i should be angry   ?   be mad at you   ?   ’   head shakes and he takes a step closer, brow furrowed and tilting her chin up with gentle fingers.   ‘   this is not your fault. marina, stop this. stop, stop   —   we’re going to deal with this together, okay   ?   together. you’re not alone. we’ll figure this out.   ’

               ‘   you don’t think i’d miss out on SWIMMING, do you   ?   i know it’s not your fave but it beats dodgeball, that’s for sure.   ’

               sighing lazily, out of his lack of sleep rather than any annoyance at the conversation, chris presses a hand to his eyes. after a few moments, gaze softens entirely and hand cups marina’s cheek tenderly.   ‘   honey   …   marina   –   it’s not stupid. not at all. i’d rather have no sleep than know you’re upset or sad or NEED ME. you can wake me up whenever you want.   ’

               ‘   oh   ——   ’   damn. he scratches the back of his neck, eyes downcast.   ‘   it doesn’t matter, okay   ?   it’s nothing.   ’

               ‘  hey  …  hey, c’mon, talk to me. please, i’m WORRIED. what’s going on  ?  are you okay  ?  ’

               her anger and fear snaps and slams into him like a wave wiping him out on the surf, and all chris can think about is that his baby is inside of the woman he loves. it should be a HAPPY MOMENT, something they celebrate, but this is a unique situation  …  unprecedented, unknown. will the baby be okay  ?  will marina  ?  ‘  wow  —  ’  he really is speechless, unsure how to comfort when panic has set in for them both. be strong, be calm, be there for her.  ‘  are you  –  are you alright  ?  i mean, i’m sorry.  ’  this is half his fault, after all  ;  he’s behind her anxiety.  ‘  …  i just  –  i love you, and i’ll always be right here for you  …  no matter WHAT YOU DECIDE TO DO.  ’

               IF HE UNDERSTOOD GIRLS AT ALL, which he doesn’t, he’d almost believe that she was teasing him. putty in the palm of her hand, he knows he’s a lovesick fool, fingers curling some against supple hips  …  drowning in that mischievous gaze of hers.  ‘  you know, i’m quite good at being alone  —  ’  no, no, chris, jesus, don’t say that  !  panic settles in his eyes and he’s quick to remedy his words.  ‘  i mean  !  well, i’m used to being by myself, that’s all, but of course, you’re right. i’d much rather you be AWAKE. but i can help you with the homework  …  you know i don’t mind.  ’

               he knows what she gets like. frowning, sleepy gaze follows her movements to where she hides herself away, quick to talk and reassure.  ‘  hey  …  look at me  —  ’  hand slowly moves to brush aside her hair, shifting in bed to face her properly.  ‘  marina, stop worrying about what i might think. trust me  …  all i think about is how BEAUTIFUL you are. that pretty much takes up most of my brain power, okay  ?  you can wake me up anytime, you know that.  ’ 

               he always worries when she’s out of sight. always. mind wanders to thoughts of losing her to hunters again  …  of losing her entirely to the sea she calls home. and the strange atmosphere that befalls them on her return, the quiet in the air, does little to cease his concerns. what he doesn’t expect are the two words that fall so casually out of her mouth.  ‘  you’re  —  ’  pregnant  ?  she can’t be  …  surely not. he hadn’t thought it POSSIBLE, and they’ve been careful even so. he looks like a dazed boy, blinking mutely for a few moments before he exhales slowly and leans forward a little in the chair.  ‘  wow  …  okay, okay  …  and you took a test  ?  ’

               ‘  ———  marina  ?!  ’  thank god, she’s still in one piece, they haven’t got her  …  yet. panic rises and threatens to drown him whole, straining and grunting in effort to shake off the men holding him down but a skilfully placed knee against his spine summons a groan of PAIN when he tries to get up. the position forces his cheek to rest firmly against the floorboards, eyes left to find his mother’s and he hopes she can recognise the utter hatred in his gaze meant for her. he should’ve known.

               nothing good is safe from his mother’s brutal touch  …  not him, not his father, not marina. he should’ve taken her far away, away from the lab, from his mother, from the home he thought he could protect her in. it was beyond stupid to think he could outsmart his mother, to think he could keep her away from the woman he LOVES. of course she cares more about her precious project than her own son, cares more about experimenting on a mermaid than his heart.  ‘  we’ll be taking it back now, christopher.  ’  that’s all he needs to roar at his mother, surging up in a burst of energy and earning himself a few kicks and punches to knock him back down to his knees with a breathless gasp. they can’t take her, they can’t, they can’t  …  she’ll die with them  ! 

               ‘  mari  —  don’t touch her  —  ’  he’s a mess of emotions, a painting of red, black & blue skin, a boy shouting at his mother.  ‘  she’s not yours to take  !  please, jesus christ, please, mom. don’t. don’t do this  …  i was a part of that project, i  —  …  marina  !  are you okay  ?!  ’

                 mermaids were born out of the ocean’s rage.   they are the waves that scream in the thunder,   the   whine  of the wind in the horizon.  a storm is building in her veins.   she does not bargain or bow with those who threaten,   and perhaps this makes her DANGEROUS.  but is she dangerous enough?   humans are what degrade nature, what destroy the very core from which she was born.    but she can’t think of that now.    not while she hears them hurt chris just a wall away. 

                   there are just    ...    so many of them, and she’s having trouble forgetting her time in the lab. marina hears chris shouting from the hallway and her desperation grows like wildfire, heart pounding, lightheaded and nearly dizzy.    ‘ listen ASSHOLES, you have five seconds to get the fuck out before i carve you up. ’    like you did to my mother.  she grits her teeth, steps forward, tries to pretend her hand isn’t shaking so damn violently.     why won’t they leave? 

// @seiized​.

               knock, knock, knock  …  it’s the noise that pulls him from slumber, curled around marina protectively even in sleep. a quick glance to the time and he sees the hour  :  6:32 am. cranky and frustrated, he rubs at eyes and slips out of bed as carefully as possible so as to not wake his girlfriend. can he call her that  ?  the thought tumbles around his tired mind as he shuffles to the door in his sweatpants, scratching at chest as he opens the door. christopher’s eyes squint in the morning light, needing a moment to adjust and expecting to see some lost beach wanderer, the postman, perhaps, even, his dad. what he doesn’t expect is to see his MOTHER and a few of her minions, for lack of a better word, and instantly his blood chills. act cool, chris. keep calm. don’t give her away  –  !!

               ‘  mother  …  this is earlier than your usual trips.  ’  normally he can anticipate the matriarch’s moves, judge when to get marina away and hidden  —  but now he’s helpless to her gaze, strength and courage fading away against its piercing nature.  ‘  look, i really want to sleep, can you come back later  ?  ’  he holds his ground, stands firm in the doorway and tries not to panic about the fact that a mermaid  …  his mother’s test subject  …  is in his bed. SHIT. chris’ relationship with his mother is complicated, and he can’t be bothered to deal with this at such an hour, not with marina’s life at risk, so he goes to close the door but that’s when everything goes wrong.

               the door is shoved into his chest, pushing out a breathless exhale of air as a couple of the men accompanying his mother slam him to the ground.  ‘  oof  ——  hey  !  ’  he scowls, struggles, glares daggers at the woman who’s supposed to love him, the woman who’s not said a fucking word.  ‘  get out of my house  !  mom, i swear  …  get off me  !  tell them to  —  ’  but no, no, no, squeaky clean heels tap against the wooden floor and the older woman gets closer, and closer, and closer to his bedroom  …  no, no, no, fuck, no, no  …  christopher soon realises they’re searching his home, struggling against the ground and turning head against the firm hold to shout.  ‘  MARINA  !!  GO  !  ’  please be awake, please be safe.

             marina hasn’t slept well.  she’s felt the shift in the tides tonight, can feel it tug and sway like a magnet in her veins ; something caused her an unrest that settled deep, deep in her chest. for this reason she’s only been asleep for four hours when she senses chris rise next to her -- at first she ignores it, body still heavy with slumber, burying her face deeper in the pillow ( surely he won’t mind getting the MAIL ------ ) 

             and then SLAM! ; the noise cuts through previously stilled air and marina sits up with a jolt, every nerve pulling taut & snapping with alert. and now chris’s voice ... she hears furious footsteps that muffle out the word MOM.    M O M.   his mother. panic immediately constricts around her throat and she scrambles to get out of bed ---- she kicks her legs against the fabric that’s pooled around her legs. go!, shouts chris ---- vision darts to the window in consideration of possible escape routes, but ... his voice.   she can’t leave him.      SHE WON’T.