Re: Candlewood [Chapter VIII Finished.]

by **Akeria** 8/21/2009, 3:46 pm

Thanks Arianna. Smile

by **Akeria** 8/21/2009, 5:09 pm

You too Shadow. Sorry, didn't see your post at first.

by **Akeria** 8/21/2009, 7:55 pm

Chapter V:
"Different?" Deryck inquired. Scarlette nodded somberly.

"My race... the mermaids... we're not as calm or... peaceful as we're portrayed in the movies..." She gave a sarcastic laugh. "People only like to think that we're calm and helpful because we're... well, beautiful. Your father, James... He was no different than any of these men." She paused and took a sharp breath, she was clearly crying. "I'm so sorry, Deryck. I had no idea that he was your father. I... I didn't even know you. I'm so sorry." She took another deep breath, she was in hysterics. "He was fishing on Candlewood Lake... It's our territory, and well... we tend to not like people on our territory. Our race is very violent... You saw my teeth, my nails... we can hurt people." She picked up a rock and crushed it between two fingers. "Our strength is far more then most mortals can comprihend." She turned to Deryck. "I'm so sorry."

Deryck looked into her eyes. They were puffy and red, but that dark purple color was still so pretty against her pale cheeks, lush with color from crying. "Tell me." He said finally. His voice showed no emotion, straight, and formal.

Scarlette bit her lip and shook her head. "Deryck... I--"

"No." Deryck said. He put his finger to her lips to keep her from saying anymore. "Tell me. Do not refuse. I don't care if you think that I'll be mad. I won't be mad. I want to know the truth." He told her. She doesn't understand. All of this time, I've known that Dad's death was fishy... no pun intended... He almost laughed at his own joke, but he was in not in the mood for laughing. Know she tells me this. I can't just let it go. I have to know what the truth is, no matter how graphic or dangerous it sounds. I have to know.

"Okay," Scarlette agreed finally. "He was fishing deep into the lake. My father could hear him wistling to himself from inside our castle."

"Castle?" Deryck interrupted.

"Yeah... I'm Princess Scarlette back home... There's an entire city under the lake, it's enormous, actually..." She sighed and continued. "He told me to go pay him a visit, because he was too close to the castle. See, we're terrified of humans finding out that we're living under there. So, he told me, basically... to kill him..." Scarlette burst into tears again. "I'm so sorry. I really am." She said between sobs. She calmed down her breathing and continued, her volume a little quieter. "I went out to the surface and looked around a little bit. He was just sitting there, wistling... and happy. I put my arms on the side of the boat and wistled with him... I... recognized the tune... and he looked at me. 'Did you swim all the way out here?' He asked me. I nodded. 'Basically.' I told him. I flipped my hair a little bit and he came closer. I was... using my spell. The spell that all merpeople can cast. It's a spell to make humans fall... in love with you." She cleared her throat. "I asked him why he was so far out in the lake, he told me that there were bigger fish here. I smiled and flipped my hair again, and leaned a little further over the rail of the boat. He leaned in closer to, and I breathed in on his lips, trying to intensify the spell. He fell for it and leaned in to kiss me." Scarlette paused here and turned to me. "I can stop..."

"No. Keep going." Deryck ordered.

"Well, I killed him. Just then. It was quick, I promise... But, I killed him. And, after I realized what I had done, I don't know what happened. That mermaid nature is gone... I don't feel that hatrid. I guess my human side kicked in. We are half-human, you know. That's why we can come on land. But when our emotions are going bezerk, like mine were this morning, then you transform back. I'm not going to lie to you, it hurts to change from one form to another. Turning into a mermaid gives my human side all those cuts, and turning back gives it more. The point of that is to try and convince mermaids to stay in their true form, I guess. But usually I try and stay human long enough to have the cuts heal. I don't like being what I am. I wish I wasn't... It makes me crazy." Scarlette stopped talking and put her head between her knees.

Deryck sat there, wanting to comfort her. But this was the girl who had killed his father. But was it? Wasn't she different now? Didn't her merperson side... die with my father? Could he give her a chance.

Deryck put his hand on her back and his other on her shoulder. She picked her head up and looked at him. A single tear was falling from her right eye, it glistened as it fell. Deryck wiped it away and then looked back into her eyes. He could see, that she was right. Those eyes felt pain, they felt horrible about their past, and they wanted to be forgiven.

Scarlette leaned in and kissed him, gently at first, and then she adjusted to Deryck. He pulled away for a second, and she looked confused. "I forgive you." He whispered in her ear. He felt her body become happier, happy that she was forgiven, and kissed him again.

by **DreamCatcher81** 8/21/2009, 10:49 pm

Ooh! I love the new part but it's sad! Sad

by **Arianna** 8/22/2009, 3:18 am

I love the new part. It's good, but it's also really sad how she killed his dad. Sad

But it's nice that he forgave her. nod

by **Akeria** 8/22/2009, 7:07 am

Thank you, fellow writers. Very Happy

by **Arianna** 8/22/2009, 8:38 am

Hey Akeria, I don't know if you had it planned, but if you really wanted to put it in the TwigBook, you could split Candlewood into book 1, 2, 3 or something like that so we could put the first one in TwigBook. How does that sound?

by **shadowsowner888** 8/22/2009, 8:41 am

Saaad.

That's saaad. I loved it though. Very Happy

Write more soon!

by **Akeria** 8/22/2009, 9:32 am

Thanks, Shadow.

And Arianna, that sounds amazing! And then I could have like the other parts in the other books! Very Happy

Could I do that? Like, chapters I-V in one, and then like VI-X in another?

by **Arianna** 8/22/2009, 9:35 am

Yep, that would be really smart, and that we we get Candlewood in the TwigBook. How does that sound?

by **Akeria** 8/22/2009, 9:39 am

Sounds great! Thank you so much! Very Happy

by **Arianna** 8/22/2009, 9:41 am

Welcome

by **shadowsowner888** 8/22/2009, 9:58 am

Sounds good to me, too! x3 I'll put it on the list then. And what do you want your name to be in the book?

by **Akeria** 8/22/2009, 2:21 pm

Chapter VI:
"I'll see you tomorrow, Deryck." Scarlette said. She hopped out of the car and walked toward her busted up house. Deryck nodded and drove back to his place. It was well after ten thirty, and it was cold. Really cold. Not like it should be in the end of June. It was like... November weather. Deryck rubbed his hand together and checked the thermostat. It was set to seventy five because his mother was trying to cut back the cost of the air conditioning while she didn't have a job. He then checked what temperature it really was; forty-six.

"Forty-six?" Deryck said out loud. He shivered and went to the kitchen, trying to find a flashlight so he could go search the heater in the basement. As he walked in, he turned on the light. It flickered for a second, and then didn't turn on. He looked around, the power had gone out.

"Perfect..." Deryck mumbled. He continued his search for the flashlight in the dark, but to no avail.

The phone rang, and he went to pick it up.

"Deryck?" His mother asked.

"What's up mom?" He answered casually.

"I'm sorry I'm running late, sweetie." Lydia said. "I got held up at the soup kitchen... I should be home in a little bit. Do you want me to bring you something?"

"Nah, I'm alright. Thanks mom." He told her. He didn't want to bother her after she had worked for a while. Deryck's mother wokrked at the soup kitchen every week to serve meals for the homeless. He hung up the phone and looked at his watch. Eleven. Ugh. It was freezing, it was dark, and he was hungry. He picked up his sweatshirt and stepped out of the house again and headed to his car. He got in and turned on the heat as the engine roared to life.

Deryck heard a tap on the window and almost screamed. Scarlette stood there in yet another outfit; a white tee shirt, black pants, hot pink converse, and a matching hot pink headband holding back her gorgeous black hair. The girl had style.

He rolled down his window and looked at her. "Yes?" He asked. She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss, and then held out her hand.

"You left your cell phone in my bag." She told him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you." He said.

"So, why are you in your car?" She asked with a laugh.

"Oh, my power's out... and it's freezing." He said. Her eyes widened with curiosity.

"Your power's out? Hmm..." She turned and walked toward and into Deryck's house. Deryck followed after her, dazed and a bit confused as to why this was so interesting.

He entered the house to find Scarlette crouched over something on the floor. She picked it up.

"Uh-oh." She said.

Suddenly, the man who had been attacking her earlier busted down Deryck's basement door. But he wasn't alone. Behind him stood eight or nine enormous men, all wearing tee shirts and swimming trunks. But their outfits wasn't the odd thing. The odd thing was that all of them seemed to be guarding something. But guarding what?

"Father, what do you want from me?" Scarlette pleaded.

A larger man, with white hair and a long beard stepped out from behind the others. He was dressed similarly to the others, but he was wearing a large gold crown on top of his head, and carying a tridant.

"Tridant?" Deryck whispered to Scarlette.

"Not now." Scarlette whispered back.

"Scarlette!" The man boomed. "You have displayed behavior that is innapropriate for someone of our kind. Showing kindness to humans!" He scoffed

"But father, we're half human! We must show them kindness, we're just like them!"

"JUST LIKE THEM!" The King roared. "How dare you disrespect your father! Your king! I hereby strip you of your ability to be a human, you shall remain a mermaid forever!"

He lifted the gold tridant high over his head and then smashed the pointy end into the ground. Purple lightning sprayed in every direction, then came back together to form the shape of a heart. The heart spun wildly spraying white powder everywhere. The powder blinded Scarlette, and caused her knees to buckle. She covered her eyes with her hands and the heart spun straight into her, and went inside her.

Scarlette shook wilidly on the floor. She didn't scream, and Deryck feared that it was because she was unconscious. He reached his hand out to touch her, but her body swung backwards and up into the air. She let out a terrifying scream, as if she was being ripped apart. Her clothes melted into purple strips which coated her entire body until they formed the scales. Her teeth became even sharper, her nails too. Her eyes rolled back into her head. She flopped down on the ground, laying there. Still shaking. A heart, half the size of the purple one, and white floated out of her. It spun twice as fast as the other had, and then disappeared in an explosion of sparkling white light.

The king smiled and looked at Deryck. Before hitting the floor with the Tridant one more time. He and his gang of men disappeared, leaving Deryck stuck with a Mermaid, with the power off, in the freezing house.

by **Akeria** 8/22/2009, 2:23 pm

I was thinking about my name, I want it to be Siobhan Kathleen. But if you could, could we put (Keri) Like in parentheses, next to it?

by **DreamCatcher81** 8/22/2009, 2:24 pm

Ooh! I love it. Poor Scarlette though!

by **Akeria** 8/22/2009, 2:26 pm

Aw, thanks. Smile

by **Arianna** 8/22/2009, 2:28 pm

I love it, it was so well written, but I feel so sorry for both of them Sad

by **Akeria** 8/22/2009, 2:30 pm

Thanks Arianna! I'm just happy that it gets to be in TwigBook Very Happy

by **shadowsowner888** 8/23/2009, 9:25 am

Awesome job! Smile

And sure for the name.

by **Akeria** 8/23/2009, 12:15 pm

Thanks Shads. Smile

by **Akeria** 8/23/2009, 1:33 pm

Chapter VII:
Deryck hunched over Scarlette. "Scarlette?" He lifted her up and brought her upstairs to the bathroom, where he lay her in the bathtub. He started the water, though it was freezing, he thought that it might be able to revive her.

"Come on, Scarlette." He said. he gently stroked her face. She still didn't wake. He tried to kiss her. He tried putting some of the cold water on her face. Nothing woke the sleeping purple mermaid.

Finally, just as he was about to lose hope, she opened her eyes. At first she said nothing. She just looked down at her tail.

"Crap." She said finally. She went underwater and stayed there. Which of course made Deryck nervous.

He reached his hand under the water and tapped her arm. Her eyes looked up first, and then she raised her head out of the water.

"Sorry." She said. "I forgot you didn't know I can breathe underwater..." She leaned back in the tub as purple tears rolled down her face.

Deryck touched the purple tear, as it turned normal on his skin. Scarlette smiled.

"There's so much about me you don't know." She sighed. She rolled around in the water and then resurfaced.

"Then tell me." Deryck answered.

Scarlette leaned over and kissed Deryck gently. "I have a better idea." She whispered. "I'll show you." She smiled and looked at her tail. "Uh... can you help me to your car?" She asked. She frowned and turned to Deryck.

"Sure." He answered. He reached into the tub and picked her up, carying her dripping, scaly body out the door downstairs and into the passenger seat of his car. He went to put her down and one of the scales ripped through his arm, causing it to bleed.

"Oh no." Scarlette said.

"Don't worry, Scarlette. It's just a scratch. It does hurt an aweful lot though... thought Deryck.

"No, you don't understand. We have to go. Drive!" She screamed. Deryck followed her orders and got in the car and drove.

"Where?" He asked as he drove down the street.

"Water! And fast!"

"The public pool?" Deryck asked. He pushed his foot down harder on the gas, trying to turn his headlights on in the process.

"No!" Scarlette yelled. "A lake, an ocean, anything but a pool."

"We could go to Candlewood again?"

"Yes!" She sighed. "Go!"

Deryck slammed his foot on the gas and sped the car to Candlewood. The cut on his arm was tingling, and he saw that it had turned green.

He parked and went and got Scarlette out of the passenger side of the car, carrying her to the edge of the water. He placed her in. She was safe.

The cut turned from green to dark blue, to purple, faded to pink, and then turned gold. It was glowing. Scarlette watched the cut with horror, but Deryck couldn't figure out what was wrong.

Deryck reached his hand out to touch the cut.

"Deryck, don't!" Scarlette screamed, but it was too late. Deryck's fingers touched the cut and he jumped back in horror. Gold bands were circling his arms, and legs too, rushing up and down them. He felt the skin rip off of the sides of his legs, tearing them, and then pushing the two bleeding limbs together to form one. They were wrapped in the gold bands, and gold scales burst through his legs, forming a gold tail.

His spine jerked backward and he felt himself twist and contort as his fingernails became increasingly sharp, and his teeth became slightly pointed. His eyes rolled around his head and then, he was fine.

The pain was gone, and the cut on his arm was gone too.

"Deryck... I'm so sorry..." She said.

"I'm a... merman?" He asked. He looked up at her, and she gasped. "What?"

"Your... your eyes!" She exclaimed. "They... they're gold!"

Deryck looked into the water, but he couldn't see his eyes. Instead, he could see everything differently. Everything. The sky was white, not blue, white! He studdied the purple clouds, and looked at the green water. All of the colors were messed up. But gold? No, gold was the same.

"Gold is a powerful color in my culture... You only have a gold tail if you're... well, a king."

A king? Deryck thought. I'm scrawny seventeen year old... I just finished my junior year of high school. I can't be a king. They have the wrong person. That scary guy with the big gold stick? Yep. He's a king. He can be a king all he wanted. Not me. I don't want any part of it.

"Deryck..." Scarlette said. "You could change me back. You could make it so I was half human again!"

"No... I can't!" Deryck screamed at her. "I can't be a king!"

"That's for sure." Said a familliar voice.

by **shadowsowner888** 8/23/2009, 2:27 pm

I like it so far. x3

by **Arianna** 8/23/2009, 2:29 pm

I like chapter VII already, I can't wait for more Wink

by **Akeria** 8/23/2009, 8:12 pm

Haha, thank you. Very Happy

I'll post the rest tomorrow.

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