VII

                                    

                                          
December 18th | Thirteen Days until NYE
                          
The three of us sat silently in dusk. The TV was flickering while we watched the movie, by Maureen's eyes, but our minds were elsewhere. Leah's fingers kept tapping her knee. Benji had a hand in his hair, resting his weight on his arm to look fatigued. I was slowly eating the last of the popcorn, the kernels brushing my nails as I skirted them away, the loud rolling across the bowl made Maureen jump, blink rapidly, and she shook herself awake. 
                          
"Oh..." She groaned, sitting upright from the couch, and looked at the time. "I'm gonna go to sleep early, 'that okay?"
                          
"Sure Gran." Benji blew her a kiss. "Sleep tight."
                          
I said goodnight as she stepped over Leah's stretched legs on the floor. Leah said 'night', and Maureen merely waved, stumbling from the long day into the comfort of sleep. 
                          
We'd spent most of our day hanging out with Maureen, because we knew the long wait we'd have until night fell - until we could go to Siren Bay under the shadow of those sleeping, to not be caught, and not have Henry and the others be caught as well. 
                          
When Maureen's door shut, we waited. Benji held a hand up when Leah began moving, and we heard the creak of a bed being laid in, and the click of a light turning off. Benji slowly lowered his hand after a few moments - then we set my plan into motion. 
                          
I turned off the TV, the last scene of Leah's favourite show The Witcher echoing in my mind. As we packed away the food, being as quiet as we could to not alert Maureen, I replayed the scene in my mind. 
                          
To think that a show with monsters, creatures, humans, and sorcerers, ended with a hug sat warm in my chest. For a world showcasing how evil people could be, how cruel, the last scene between two characters who just wanted to sit down, to be safe, and to not be hunted for a moment - it was a little too real for me. 
                          
I couldn't stop thinking of Henry and his mermaid family - where they monsters? Henry's touch on my waist when he saved me flooded in my mind, even though the golden-tailed mermaid had tried to drown and hurt me. No, he wasn't a monster. 
                          
Just because someone wasn't human didn't label them a monster. Just as someone being human meant they could be a monster too. 
                          
What mattered was who made the monster - was Frankenstein the monster for creating his creature? Or was the creature the monster all along? 
                          
As I finished putting the food away, Leah and Benji wiping down the table and setting the cushions and blankets back to where they belonged after where we'd all gathered on the floor to watch The Witcher, the fridge door shut with my final thought echoing in place. 
                          
Were the mermaids born or created? And if so, where was the creator now? Who was the Frankenstein in this tale? 
                          
"Sylvia?" Leah asked as she grabbed her bag, motioning to Benji, ready to go. They were waiting on me. 
                          
I smiled weakly, nodding as I grabbed my own bag and we edged to the front door. Benji grabbed the keys from the hook and waved for us to get out. I breathed in the hot summer air, my skin sticky with humidity after we bathed in the air-con for most of the day. 
                          
We had done everything we could to stay awake and wear Maureen down enough so she slept heavily through the night. To make sure she wouldn't catch us sneaking out and tell on my parents. The cold, sweat trailing down my spine while Benji, Leah and I walked to meet Henry in Siren Bay was both from the heat and from the fact my best friends knew about my biggest secret. 
                          
I didn't want to think about my parents finding out I was breaking my word to them. Their reaction... I would be grounded for life, and that would just be the beginning.