Heart of the Sea

Isla stayed with Quinn until he’d finished the tea. She sat next to him and patted his hair as he fell asleep. She could see faint glimmering flecks of magic under his skin; it was from her tears. After a while she felt his face again and he felt slightly cooler than he did before, so the tears must really have been working. They had apparently put him into a very deep sleep while they did so though.

Isla stared out the window for a bit, then looked back down at Quinn’s sleeping form. He had told her she didn’t need to talk to Kent, but Isla couldn’t just sit by while Quinn was worried about his friend. And even if they were careful and Oscar didn’t find her out, he might uncover another mermaid in his search. One could easily swim through the area, and Isla couldn’t bear the idea of any mermaid being caught by a hunter.

If Quinn trusted Kent, then she figured it would be safe to tell him the truth. Isla went to the desk downstairs and rummaged around for some paper and a pen. She scrawled a quick note to Quinn, telling him she was going to talk to Kent and sort everything out because she couldn’t stand to see Quinn so sad and worried. She left it on the small table next to his side of the bed, checked to make sure his fever hadn’t gone back up, and then she slipped out to make the trek to Kent’s house.

She knocked, and he looked surprised when he opened the door and saw her there.

“Hello, Isla. Quinn isn’t with you? Is something wrong?”

“Quinn has a…slight cold,” she explained, remembering the words Quinn had used. “He’s at home sleeping. I just needed to speak with you.”

“Oh. Well, of course. Come on in.”

Isla followed him into the house and sat down on a cushy old chair in the living room. Kent offered to get her some tea or water but she politely declined. He settled on the couch across from her and regarded her curiously.

“So, Miss Isla. What did you need to talk to me about?”

Isla took a deep breath. “I understand why you would enlist Oscar Stein’s help, but I’m not sure you’d really want it if you knew what his miracle cure actually is.”

“I don’t follow,” Kent said, squinting in confusion.

“The cure he’s looking for, it’s a mermaid heart,” Isla said. “That’s why he needed to use your boat. He’s looking for a mermaid and if he finds one, he’ll cut out her heart.”

“There haven’t been mermaids seen around here in decades.” Kent shook his head. “Surely Oscar knows that, so he must be looking for something else.”

“Did Quinn happen to tell you how we met?” Isla asked. “About how he found me washed up on shore and I had nowhere else to go?”

There were a few beats of silence as Kent looked at her blankly, then his eyes widened slightly.

“I‘m a mermaid,” Isla rushed on. “And I think that I can help you, but-“

“You’re a…Isla, I think maybe we should talk about this somewhere else-“

“Quinn told me I shouldn’t say anything, but he’s very concerned about you and I want to help,” she insisted.

“That’s very kind of you, but we shouldn’t—you should go,” he said worriedly, glancing toward the stairs. Isla heard the sounds of footsteps moving quickly above them and realized someone else was in the house. She stood and turned around in time to see none other than Oscar Stein and three other men descend from upstairs.

“So, it’s been you all along, has it?” Oscar chuckled. “You did a good job of hiding from me, fish girl. Kind of a funny twist that you’d walk right into this house on human legs.”

“I never agreed to you hurting an innocent girl,” Kent said, getting to his feet.

“You agreed to the cure I can provide,” Oscar replied, sounding almost bored. “That cure happens to be made from the heart of a mermaid. I should thank you; Isla was it; for making this relatively easy for me.”

He waved a hand at the other three men and they advanced on Isla. She tried to scurry back and reach the door but she wasn’t fast enough. One man’s arms clamped tightly around her, pinning her arms to her sides and making it a little hard to breathe.

“We’ll take her to the boat,” Oscar said. “It’s better to take the heart while she’s in her proper form.”

“Let me go,” Isla gasped, trying to wriggle free of the man’s grip.

“I’m not going to stand by and let you murder this girl,” Kent protested, moving towards them.

“Girl,” Oscar snorted. “She’s not really a girl, now is she? Bring the old man too; I don’t need his cold feet causing us any problems.”

Isla found herself dragged down to the docks and up onto the deck of Kent’s boat. She squirmed and kicked as much as she was able, but the grip on her didn’t loosen. There was a large tub sitting on the deck, full of seawater. Oscar studied her for a moment.

“That dress is bound to get in your way when you change form, little sardine.”

Isla felt a burst of indignation and lashed out with her feet, managing to kick him hard in the shin. He looked surprised and then annoyed.

“Let me go,” she repeated.

“Yes, let her go,” Kent said from somewhere behind her. “For god’s sake, Mr. Stein.”

“You won’t regret it once your health is restored,” Oscar told him. “No sense in getting squeamish now, Kent.” He nodded to his men. “Tie her hands and throw her in the tank.”

Isla winced as her arms were jerked roughly back and rough ropes were tied tight around her wrists. She kept trying to dig her heels in and thrash herself free, but it was no use. She was lifted off her feet and thrown violently into the tub of seawater. It was just barely big enough to fit her; she banged her head against the side as she was dropped in. Her wet dress tangled around her tail as she squirmed wildly and splashed water across the deck.

“Please,” she begged. “Just let me go. Kent doesn’t need my heart to get better.”

“We don’t need to use your heart entirely for his cure,” Oscar shrugged. “We only need a chunk of it for that. I can sell the rest to other people who have need of a mermaid heart’s powers.”

He gestured to one of the other men, who handed him a huge, sharp knife. He sauntered closer to where Isla was still thrashing around in her tub, panicked. Kent marched over and tried to grab Oscar’s arm.

“You are not going to kill this girl,” he snapped. Oscar easily shook him off, almost knocking him down in the process.

“I hate when people have delicate sensibilities,” Oscar sighed. He stood over Isla, watching her try to shrink back from him. But she had nowhere to go.

“I suppose I should’ve suspected,” he remarked. “I thought there was something a little strange about you.”

“Strange about me? You’re the one who cuts out hearts for money,” Isla said. She used her tail to splash him with water, soaking the front of his shirt. He scowled at her.

“I’m really not going to mind killing you,” he said. He slashed at her tail with the knife and she whimpered as it left a gash across her scales. The pain forced her to stop wriggling so much. Kent was still trying to tell Oscar to leave her alone; that he didn’t want a cure if this is what it took. But Oscar just ignored him, and Isla tried her best to curl into a protective ball as he advanced on her and raised the knife.