More Than a Glimpse

You sought me out. So, I’ll tell you what happened. Despite your curiosity the likelihood that you’ll believe me is slim. I’m not sure where to start this story. Should I start with what drove me to the ocean? Or perhaps why a dentist decided the underwater depths were something I wanted to see for myself.

Maybe it should be while I was on the boat going over the plan for my voyage. Or by explaining that all those videos and memes weren’t hoaxes but truth. It might be prudent to tell you that I never dreamed what I saw existed. I wasn’t searching for it, nor was I on some mission to prove its existence. I just wanted to explore some already documented caves. To cross something off my bucket list.

The caves are in the Pacific Ocean, I won’t tell you where, but suffice to say they are many miles from the coast. The deep blues and greens under the surface were everything I had imagined. The surreality of it all was breath taking. I spent several minutes twirling in circles, taking in the almost endless view.

How the sunlight traveled through the water, until it could no longer reach, and the blackness took hold. The sheer terrifying nature of not knowing what was lurking in that darkness. I was so caught up I didn’t notice the lack of wildlife. There wasn’t a living thing in sight, even as I made my way to the lurking figure of the littoral cave.

This cave system was vast, with many entrances and exits ranging from the top all the way to the base. The top caves were well documented, having hosted many tours and expeditions. So of course, I focused my attention on the lower caves.

The bottoms were known to be very deep and confusing. Some tunnels connected to multiple exits, while others had no exit at all. It was told to me many times how important it was to monitor my oxygen tank closely, lest I not have enough to make it back to the surface. It was even more important to always know what direction I came from.

I prepared accordingly. Making sure to bring a heavy duty, bright colored line with me. Tying it at the entrance I chose and being careful to unravel it properly. I even sported an extra battery for my light. What I didn’t account for was my apparent ineptitude at tying knots.

Survival is something I’m very fond of. So, when my tank said it was a little more than half gone, I started to head back. By then I was deep into the caves. I had gone up and down, left and right, through big tunnels, but mostly small. It was in one of the bigger ones that I realized I had run out of line.

It had come detached from the rock I had tied it to. In my focus to get back safely I hadn’t realized I was winding it up faster than I was swimming. There were three other openings from the tunnel I was in, and I couldn’t remember which one I had come through, or where the other two ended.

A guess took me to a fork, and another guess took me down further than I thought I had been before. The darkness was starting to press in on me, and my panic was building the more lost I became. But then the darkness started to ebb, and I started to calm a little. Before realizing that I wasn’t any closer to the surface, and my light wasn’t bright enough to illuminate that much.

Another twenty feet and I rounded a curve. Comprehension of what I faced was beyond me. At first, all I could see was the glow. Beautiful hues of purples, greens, and blues lit up the entire dead-end cavern. Reflecting off the walls and all the fish.

That’s actually the moment I realized that I’d seen hardly any fish on my journey until then. And as I took in the number of them, I idly wondered if the fish that would have been scattered throughout had congregated in this one cave.

A sudden snap of movement and the fish started darting around in chaos, and as they put space between themselves, I saw the source of the glow. It was large, slightly bigger than the average human. To guess in hindsight, I’d say at least seven or eight feet long. Tendrils floated about but as I watched, fish were getting caught by the thin threads and shredded like it was made of razor wire.

Clawed, webbed hands connected to scale covered arms, back, and torso, as they snatched the fish like there wasn’t water to hinder such movements. It was so fast I wouldn’t have noticed if I didn’t see the fish disappear. The blood and viscera stained the water, distorting the colors dancing around.

The torso continued down, ending in a large flat tail fin. It reminded me of a beta fish’s decorative thin fins but lying flat like a dolphin or whale. The glow emitted from every scale and strand of what I could only describe as hair.

I’m not sure if I had somehow drawn its attention or if it simply turned around, but my fight or flight kicked in upon seeing its front. Its scale covered breasts and thin waist told me it was female. But its face was horrifying.

Its eyes looked too big for its face, there were no irises only black orbs. Its nose reminded me of a popular movie villain, and its mouth looked way too wide. It opened said mouth to bite into its bounty and multiple rows of needle like teeth stared back at me. It noticed me then, and I had just enough time to spin around to begin my escape.

In the instant that followed she was on me. A flurry of movement as she twisted around me over and over again. I braced in anticipation for the feel of her hair slicing into me, and her claws taking hold. But after what must have been only a moment the spinning stopped, and everything seemed eerily calm.

I opened my eyes slowly, not sure what to expect, and she was staring at me from about five feet away. Her face was human, her teeth glittered pearly white, straight, and flat. She smiled like we were old friends, and she was happy to see me. No different than anyone I might run into on the street. Her hair seemed a lot shorter, and there were no claws on her very normal looking hands. But she still glowed like the moon.

She cocked her head to the side as if in question, then nodded over her shoulder. No time was wasted before she turned and swam away. But she did stop and turn to watch me when I didn’t immediately follow.

I’ll admit I was frozen. Logically I knew she wanted me to follow, and really there was no other direction for me to go. And had she wanted to dine on me there wasn’t anything I could do about it. But the idea of following this creature put me on edge.

At least until she came back and tapped my oxygen gauge. Then I realized I had very little time to make it back to the surface. When she swam away again, I didn’t hesitate. The idea came to me to let her lead me out of the dead end and take another tunnel when she wasn’t looking. But my time was running short, and I couldn’t guarantee I’d find my way out. So trusting her was the best option I had.

The thing I’ve always loved the most about swimming was the weightless and graceful feeling it gave me. But she made me feel like a bumbling, uncoordinated fool. She glided with so little effort with her twists and turns.

Her glowing scales looking iridescent and gave me an up-close view of her body. Detailing everything from her deep green eyes, her webbed looking ears that sat almost flat against her head, and the malleable fin that ran from the base of her back to the end of her tail. Her scales were so dark in color she would be invisible without her glow.

She twirled and danced around so much that by the time we made it out of the caves I felt like she was showing off. Her glow dimmed as we made it to brighter waters, and she swam out ahead. Looking around before she waved me forward. But when I made it over to her, she tapped on my oxygen gauge, and pointed at the boat waiting for me at the surface.

Like she was telling me I didn’t have time for a long goodbye. I had just enough oxygen to make it to my transportation, but I stared at her for a moment longer. She looked…young. Still a bit more like a girl than a woman. She gave me a wide smile, and a friendly wave before swimming off around to the other side of the caves.

As I made my way to the open sky, I looked back. She was pretty far off, but I distinctly saw a clawed hand glide through the water. Back on the surface I checked my gear. Everything was intact except for my chest camera. It was gone.

I had no evidence, but I sat in that boat on my way back to shore marveling. Mermaids are real, and they are as terrifying as they are beautiful.

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Didn’t take me long to circle around the caves and head home. I didn’t want to scare the diver, but controlling my form underwater requires a lot of focus and energy. I’d already terrified her with my eating habits.

But I assuaged my conscience by giving her a show. And I was confident I destroyed any signs of evidence, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t double back with more numbers. Humans are notorious for their self-destructive curiosity.

I swam deeper than usual just in case and kept to the darkness without illumination. I didn’t need light to see anyway. The glow was just to attract prey. But it was too dangerous to hunt where humans frequent. That’s why I always went to the bottom caves. Sure, it was a long way off from home, but when you can make a hundred-mile swim in roughly a half hour, distance stops meaning so much.

Humans feared those caves due to their intricate systems and the number of those that have been lost. I’ve discovered many skeletons and equipment over the years. So, its typically a safe place to hunt without interruption. With a few exceptions apparently.

I made it to my home cave on the shore without incident. The cave released into the ocean but hid an entrance to a shallow pool that opened into a cavern. My family owned almost all of the shore-based caves on the coast. It was essential to our needs in taking care of the tribe. We always needed free access to the ocean, especially for reproductive and feeding purposes

Due to our metabolism we needed to eat a lot on a regular basis. If we get too hungry, we are less than pleasant, and more than dangerous. It took a bit too long for my scales and fins to retract and my stomach growled in protest. I had really needed a good hunt. I’d barely gotten started when I was interrupted. Tourists really know how to kill a good time.

As my feet touched the stone floor, I resigned to hunt the less old-fashioned human way. I would just have to deal with my mom complaining about the food bill. I couldn’t afford to break down into a frenzy.

The hidden door in the cavern wall was found without thought, and I stepped into our large kitchen focused entirely on the refrigerator. Again, I was interrupted in my hunt. “Gods, put some clothes on!” my older brother growled as he set bags on the counter. I hadn’t even heard them entering the garage. Which was a good indicator of how hungry I really was.

I looked down on reflex, my scales were still covering the important bits. It was instinct that our scales cover us when feeling vulnerable. The more threatened we feel the more coverage we get. At that moment I had the equivalent of a bikini top and shorts. “Shut up Marin, I’m decent,” I grumbled back as I resumed my foraging.

“Didn’t you just get back from a hunt? Are you really that much of a pig?” he asked, moving around me to put groceries in their proper places. “You are such an ass. If you must know, I was interrupted.” I snapped. He paused his activities to look at me, “Not another tourist.” It wasn’t a question, but I shrugged in response.

We heard the kitchen door open, and I kept my eyes down as our mother brought in the rest of the shopping list. “Mom how can you expect her to lead one of the biggest Nereid tribes when she keeps giving glimpses to humans?” he asked in a mix of exasperation and humor. I heard the sharp intake of breath as my mom soaked in this information, but I couldn’t help myself, “Oh, it was way more than a glimpse.”

“Kailani! You’ve been seen…again?” Mom asked, looking concerned and fed up all at once. I was quick to explain, “It was a single diver that came out of nowhere to explore the east caves. I killed her camera and directed her back to her boat, then skedaddled. She was already lost down there; I couldn’t leave her to drown!” I finished with a hint of desperation. I really didn’t want to be landlocked.

She took a deep breath and released it as she grabbed her keys. “Well, come Marin. We must go back to the store since she’s going to clean us out.” She headed out without looking back and Marin sighed, “You suck. Serious pain in the ass.” He followed her out with my tongue pointed firmly in his direction.