A few days later, Vickie did return to explore the shipwreck. It was a brilliant day, with sun dappling down through the waves to illuminate the depths.
Vickie’s eyes kept being drawn away to little brightly-colored wonders of the sea.
Which was why she was so surprised to see him when she looked up.
Don’t hold your breath, she reminded herself. Holding your breath while diving was a quick trip to the hospital with compression damage.
It wasn’t as if she’d never met a mermaid before. She drew close and waved her hand in a universal underwater greeting. He just stared at her before swimming away.
Winston was invited to perform under the tent at the Wings Over Camelot Fun Faire. If that weren’t prestigious enough, he drew his largest crowd ever.
When he wrapped up his set, the audience went on cheering until the MC pushed him off the stage.
“You should have seen me, Ma!” he crowed when he finally made it home. “I was amazing! The pub offered me a regular gig on Fridays. They like me. They really like me!”
“I always knew you’d be a star,” Andria said. “That’s my boy.”
Edmund was cleaning the town of vampires, and it was getting easier.
He was out almost every night, prowling for the creatures of the night.
“Well, that was unexpected. What am I supposed to do now?”
“What’s that?? Don’t stake me!”
“Hey this feels pretty good!”
Before sunset, Victoria took a long walk on the beach behind the house. The rolling waves and the smell of salt in the air brought her peace in the way nothing else could.
A splashing sound caught her attention. What was that? A giant tuna?
No. It was something else entirely.
The merman transformed and stepped out of the water. His wild eyes bored into her.
Vickie took a step backward. “Hello?” she said in a wavering voice. “Are you new to this ocean? Welcome to Avalon. I-I’m Victoria Sample, and I live nearby.”
He stepped closer, raised a hand to brush against her cheek. His skin was smooth and cool.
In a low voice, he said slowly, “Victoria.”
Sorry for the blurry backgrounds. I was experimenting with my graphics settings, and the world lot looked terrible for a little while.