Chapter 4

Tristan, Jordan, Kenny, and Joan were sitting inside of a small, makeshift wooden cabin. A massive living room, a small kitchen, and four small bedrooms for each of them.

“You know…we actually did really good.” Kenny said, eating from a bowl of rice and fish they caught earlier that day.

“I know…sort of wish it didn’t take so long though.” Jordan shrugged.

Tristan was texting away on his phone, barely touching his food.

“You good over there?” Kenny asked.

Tristan didn’t hear him.

Kenny flicked a pice of rice that hit his arm, but Tristan still didn’t react. Kenny then grabbed another piece, flicking it and hitting near the same spot.

Joan softly laughed, grabbing his own piece of rice and tossing it, hitting Tristan on the forehead, yet he didn’t react.

Jordan threw it, hitting Tristan in the chest.

The three kept throwing pieces of rice at Tristan, yet nothing made him react at all. He was staring at his phone screen texting somebody rapidly, like he was stuck in a trance with a big smile.

Kenny sighed, flicking a piece of rice that hit Tristan right in the eye, causing his body to spasm and make him fall backwards.

Joan, Kenny, and Jordan all laughed as Tristan got back to his feet.

“The hell man?” He asked, wiping his eye.

They all kept laughing as Tristan got to his feet, but he couldn’t help but smile and softly laugh.

“Who you texting huh?” Kenny asked.

Tristan sat back down, grabbing his bowl.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Is it that girl from the beach?” Jordan asked.

Tristan shot him a look while Kenny looked curious.

“Girl? What girl?” Kenny asked.

“Just…” Tristan started.

“A girl that was *****.” Jordan replied before taking another bite.

Kenny pretended to look shocked, leaning back and putting his hand to his chest.

“Oh my.”

“It was a nude beach!” Tristan replied loudly.

Kenny slowly stood up, Tristan doing the same.

“What happened to being a secret huh?”

Tristan became very animated with arm movements, pointing out towards the beach.

“You were the one who let me go man!” Tristan shouted.

“Because I expected you to be smart!” Kenny yelled, sounding angry.

“Why would you think that? Have you met me?” Tristan shouted back.

The two stared at each other intensely while Jordan and Joan were looking down at their bowls of rice and fish, not saying anything.

“We came here to escape and hide. What the **** do you not understand about that?” Kenny asked.

The two continued to stand with straight backs and rolled back shoulders. They were tense with their eyes locked.

“Are we about to have a fight?” Joan leaned over and whispered to Jordan.

“I hope not. We just built this place.” Jordan replied.

Kenny and Tristan each took a step forward, standing only a few feet away.

“What’s your problem man?” Tristan asked.

“My problem is that we ran away to live the lives we wanted, and we almost killed an island full of people. We have to be responsible and not draw attention to ourselves. This isn’t a vacation anymore. This is our new life, living here on the outskirts of society. So when you go meet some strange ***** woman on the beach, you need to be careful so we don’t get caught as the people responsible. You, me, Jordan, and Joan are a family now that have to keep each other safe and out of trouble. You understand? We are a family of brothers!” Kenny shouted at the end, getting teary eyed as he spoke.

Tristan stared back, his hands twitching from nerves.

“You done?” Tristan asked, his voice on the verge of breaking down while his face and body language tried to stay still and hardened.

Kenny sighed, his shoulders dropping.

“What is wrong with you?” Kenny asked, his voice softer and kinder.

Tristan was beginning to tear up, yet he quickly rubbed his eyes to try and dry them quickly.

“I’m not going to do this.”

He grabbed his phone and quickly went to the door. He opened it, but stopped to look back.

Nobody moved from their spot.

Nobody was trying to stop him.

So Tristan walked out and shut the door rather violently, making the wooden cabin shake.

“Should we go out after him?” Jordan asked.

“No. He needs time to understand.” Kenny replied.

Kenny grabbed his bowl of food and walked off towards one of the small bedrooms, shutting the door.

Joan and Jordan looked at each other in silence.

“Wanna watch a movie?” Jordan asked.

“Sure.” Joan replied.

Tristan was making his way through the thick forest that surrounded their small cabin. The house sat close to the cliff, looking out onto the vast ocean. He continued to walk away from it, away from the empty unknown and more towards the busy unknown. A town and people rather than fish.

He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small silver box. Inside were already rolled joints, filled to the brim with expensive weed he had been carrying with him for a while.

The case had a few water stains, yet the insides were as dry as the desert. He pulled a joint out and looked around while putting it between his lips.

His eyes began to glow faintly purple as air swirled around his finger tips. A small flame appeared, burning white hot until the tip of the joint finally caught and lit, smoke pouring out before he took a very long and deep breath. His eyes stopped glowing as the fire disappeared, leaving him with a lit joint that he was smoking rather quickly. His eyes were already beginning to turn red, showing just how strong the drug was.

He continued to walk through the trees, complete silence around him. There wasn’t even any breeze to blow the leaves around. He was just walking around without anything around him.

He continued to smoke, moving to put his hands in his pockets while he just walked and walked without any sense of direction, time, or thought. He was just moving aimlessly through the world as the trees became less and less dense.

Tristan was looking down at the ground as he walked, leaving a trail of smoke that floated around behind him. It took a while for the smoke to disappear. It was floating around like a tail that was attached to him.

Tristan had completely lost track of time. He looked around, unsure of where he was. Unsure of what time it was.

The sun was starting to set as he came to a stop, looking around at the orange and purple sky.

He was standing around a small lake, looking around before looking down at black sand and rocks.

“Where am I?” He asked quietly before pulling out another joint.

He walked around the empty beach area, only the sound of peaceful waves filling the cool air.

He pulled out his phone, but it wasn’t turning on.

“God damn it.” He said louder as he pulled out another joint, using the same power to create a small fire. As he waited for the joint to catch, he looked out into the ocean.

He could see a small cliff that ended with a bit of a rock tower. On top of the tower was a silhouette of a person, long hair flowing. The sun was still barely visible, shining just enough life for Tristan to see them, but not enough to make them very clear.

“Shit…I must be pretty high.” He replied as he continued to smoke.

He kept staring at the rock tower, the body drawing him in.

Beautiful singing began to fill the air, sounding peaceful and melodic.

Tristan’s eyes kept staring, his pupils dilating until they were taking up almost his entire socket. The red, bloodshot veins disappeared underneath the blackness as his legs began to move on their own. The joint in between his lips fell out and onto the black sand as he continued to walk slowly and smoothly, like he had no thoughts leading to his movement.

He walked with his feet dragging across the dark sand and rocks as he began to climb up the rocks and through the grass. He made it to the cliff, staring up the tower as the body was clearer now.

A beautiful woman sitting ***** on top of the rocks, looking down and waving her fingers seductively at him. Her hair was almost as long as her body and blindingly blonde. He moved closer and closer when she began to climb down effortlessly and gracefully.

“Mom?” Suddenly asked.

The singing stopped, and Tristan’s eyes almost snapped back to their normal size as he stared at her.

“Ah!” He shouted as he fell backwards.

The woman in front of him suddenly leaped into the air, a hellish screech filling the air.

Tristan’s eyes began to glow, but before he could do anything, the woman was tackled out of the air.

Tristan watched as the girl he saw on the beach, the one he had been texting for hours and hours, was on top of the other woman.

“Mom! Not this one!” She shouted.

The woman looked over, their beautiful human looking face gone. Under it was a collection of fish scales, massive yellow eyes, razor sharp teeth, and gills all around her neck and behind her ears that had been hidden by her hair.

“What the ****?” Tristan shouted as he struggled to get to his feet.

The girl got up and smiled over at Tristan.

“Hey Tristan, are you okay?” She asked.

Tristan stared at her with a bewildered look.

“I…yeah…but I have to reiterate this…WHAT THE ****?” He shouted at the woman laying on the ground.

Now her entire body was covered in fish scales, a seaweed green color with webbed hands and feet. The hair had changed, more closely resembling seaweed then hair. They got to their feet, moving so fluidly it was like they didn’t even have bones inside their body.

“Oh, that’s my Mom.” The girl replied innocently and smiling, as if this was a normal conversation.

“But…I…” Tristan stuttered, struggling to come up with a sentence to speak.

“Oh hold on, this might help.” She cut him off.

Her entire body suddenly rippled, the skin seeming to flip inside out like it was also scales before revealing the same green scales, massive yellow eyes, not as sharp of teeth, and hair rippling until it resembled coral more than hair.

Tristan was frozen in place, staring with blank eyes.

The girl began to snap her webbed hand in his face.

“Tristan?” She asked.

“Is he a friend of yours?” The Mother asked in an unknown language.

“Friend is…I guess the most accurate way to explain it.” She replied.

She continued to snap her webbed hands in front of Tristan’s face as he stood like a statue.

“Have you shown anybody else Keoryme?” The Mother asked.

Keoryme sighed and rolled her large eyes.

“No Mom. I only showed him so you didn’t eat him.” She replied.

Her Mother seemed unsure but sighed and walked over, taking Keoryme’s other hand.

“We must go before any others find him.” The Mother said.

“I want to make sure he’ll be okay.” Keoryme said.