I’m a mermaid. To stop the slaughter of my kind, I made the ultimate sacrifice: I came ashore to sing my song to my childhood best friend, Sam Wilkins—now a top-tier scientist and a national sensation in the biomedical field.

For seven days and seven nights, he held me in his arms, as if releasing me—even for a moment—would tear him apart.

But paradise was fleeting.

The next morning, still dizzy from the remnants of his touch and the lingering heat of his kisses, I was jolted awake by a searing heat. Something liquid—hot, corrosive—poured over my head. It hissed as it ran down my scalp, tracing paths of fire across my face, neck and chest. The pain was brutal, savage, an explosion that tore through every fiber of my being.

I screamed, the sound ripping from my throat.

And then I saw him—Sam. He stood there, silent and cold, an empty bucket dangling from his hand. His face was an unfeeling mask, his gaze unblinking, as he watched me writhe in agony.

“So, even immortal mermaids feel pain,” he sneered, his voice like ice, cutting through the air. He crouched beside me, his words like knives slicing through the silence. “But this pain? This is nothing compared to what I felt when your kind kidnapped my parents.”

He leaned in and I could smell the acid fumes still clinging to him. “This is just the beginning. Until you tell me where they are, don’t even dream of leaving this place.”

***

For the next two years, I was his prisoner.

He threatened to slaughter my people if I ever tried to escape. And I had to watch him marry someone else—Jill Combs. His hand-picked bride.

Over and over, he sliced open my chest and carved out my mermaid pearl—my life force—to extract its essence. He used it to strengthen Jill’s frail human body, prepping her to carry his child.

He chained me by the ankles, forced me to clean up their used condoms night after night while they laughed and moaned in the next room.

And when she couldn’t sleep, he made me dance—barefoot on broken glass, grinding my pain into lullabies just to calm her down.

When she got pregnant, Sam began slicing pieces of flesh from my tail to nourish her growing child.

He hated me—that much was clear. But each time I hovered near death, he would tenderly feed me the medicine that kept me alive, forcing me to endure just a little longer.

“You know I love you, Nerissa,” he’d whisper with terrifying calm. “That’s the only reason you’re still alive. So be good. Tell me where my parents are.”

I never answered.

But I wouldn’t have to keep the secret much longer.

Mermaids can’t survive long out of the ocean. Three years is the limit. And I only had three days left.

——

At 3 a.m., the wooden door of the storage room was kicked open with a force that shook the very foundations of the house. I was yanked to my feet, a series of sharp slaps ringing through the air until my lips split open and blood trickled down my chin.

Sam’s assistant dragged me out by my legs, muttering curses under his breath.

“How dare you sleep like a pig when Mr. Wilkins’s wife is hurt?” he sneered, his voice venomous.

The salty, humid wind from the sea carried with it the heavy scent of blood, mixing with the stench of decay. The bloodstains trailed across the floor, winding their way to Sam’s bedroom.

Sam saw the trail of blood leading to me, his brows furrowing as his eyes narrowed in contempt.

“Jill’s hurt,” he said, his voice devoid of concern. “Go treat her.”

I lifted my gaze, my eyes falling on Jill. Her face was flushed, a slight sheen of sweat clinging to her skin, her belly swollen with child.

Slap!

Sam’s hand crashed into my face. He loomed above me, his shadow swallowing me whole.

“I told you to treat Jill. Why are you staring at her? Do you think your eyes are worthy of looking at her?”

I dropped my head immediately.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

Then I crawled—literally—over to the bed.

That’s when I learned what had happened. Jill had woken up hungry in the middle of the night and tried to feed one of the mermaids Sam kept locked up for research. She got bitten—just a small nip on her finger. Just a small wound on her fingertip, but it was enough to send the whole house into chaos.

Over the years, I’d gotten used to Jill’s constant ailments. It was always something—her headaches, her backaches, her sudden allergies. And now, pregnancy had given her a new list of sensitivities.

Without a word, I pulled up my shirt, exposing the skin over my heart. My nails, sharp and hardened like coral tips, dug into my flesh. Sweat rolled down my temples as I pushed past the pain and pierced into my chest cavity, fingers trembling as I retrieved the pearl—my core.

The same pearl Sam had ripped from me time and time again, using its essence to nurse Jill’s fragile body back to health.

My breath came in shallow gasps. Blood dripped freely as I held the shimmering orb in my hands and began the ritual to heal her.

As I endured the pain, Sam’s voice sliced through the room like a cold blade.

“Think your little act would move me? I’ll never pity you, Nerissa.” 

To him, this was just another performance—another pitiful attempt to earn sympathy I no longer deserved. He didn’t care that every time I opened my chest, I died a little more inside.

He used to say mermaid blood could heal wounds too. But my blood had lost its magic long ago. I’d been drained dry, over and over again, until only the pearl held any power.

Behind me, Jill stirred with a soft cough. Sam rushed over to her side like a devoted husband in a movie scene, scooping her into his arms.

“Does it still hurt, baby?” he asked, brushing the hair from her face.

Jill bit her lip, her eyes flicking briefly to my blood-soaked chest.

“I don’t know what it is,” she murmured, her voice thick with false innocence. “But ever since I got pregnant, the smell of blood makes me so nauseous…”

That was all it took.

Sam’s boot landed hard against my ribs, kicking me like trash.

“Get out and stay out!”

I crawled away slowly, my limbs numb and listened to the soft murmur of his voice behind me.

“Jill, you’ve been sleeping poorly lately. Is the baby makes you uncomfortable? Let me listen.”

My heart, once long dead, clenched with a dull, slow ache. The wound in my chest reopened, leaking blood onto the cold stone floor.

And I waited in silence for the last three days of my life.

A bucket of foul-smelling water splashed over me, soaking my skin and clothes in cold, salty filth.

The maid’s expression was twisted with disgust and revulsion.

“Freak. Aren’t you supposed to heal? Then why the hell are you still bleeding? Gross.”

The mop smacked against my forehead, hard enough to make me flinch.

“Clean up this mess, or I’m telling Mr. Wilkins!”

I spent the rest of the night hunched over, scrubbing the floors until my arms ached and my fingers bled.

From inside the house, moans of pleasure echoed through the walls—Jill’s voice, high and breathless, calling out for Sam.

A single tear slipped down my cheek.

Sam’s disgusted face kept replaying in my mind, growing sharper with every pass of the mop.

Soon, I told myself. It’ll all be over soon.

Even mermaids—creatures meant to live forever—can still die.

Only three days left.

When I wiped away the last smear of blood from the tiles, the wound on my body finally sealed shut.

Another day at the seaside manor began.

Sam emerged from the bedroom, his neck littered with tiny, fresh red marks. He stopped when he saw the bloodied mop.

“What the hell? Why’s there so much blood?”

I said nothing to defend myself. Just bowed slightly and muttered,

“I’m sorry. I’ll take care of it right away.”

Out in the garden, the maids were clipping flowers. One of them raised her voice deliberately.

“You won’t believe this—she actually asked me how to make someone happy. Can you imagine? That sea witch thinks she can seduce Mr. Wilkins!”

The other snorted. “Please. Like someone like her could ever dream of becoming Mrs. Wilkins. If it weren’t for her, Mr. Wilkins’ parents wouldn’t have disappeared.”

I tried to retreat quietly, but Sam was faster.

With a swift kick, he shoved the cleaning supplies aside and dragged me down to the lab.

He strapped me into the electric chair—the one capable of discharging a hundred thousand volts. The dizziness hit me instantly. My head spun and bile rose in my throat.

Sam sat down, crossed his legs, remote in hand. His eyes were cold.

“Almost forgot... It’s been a whole month since I last interrogated you.”

“Tell me. Where the hell did they take my parents?”

I hadn’t even seen him press the button yet, but my hands instinctively gripped the armrests.

Tightly. So tightly my nails tore into the metal until they bled.

“I don’t know,” I whispered.

Electricity coursed through every nerve in my body. I screamed, muscles spasming uncontrollably, my lower body suddenly soaked with scalding liquid.

Even when the current stopped, my body kept twitching.

Sam stood up, gritting his teeth and stepped closer.

“You’re tough. I gave you that.” He grabbed my jaw with force and spewed another hiss

“Still won’t talk?”

I coughed blood. Every organ felt like it had been roasted alive.

“I’m not telling you.”

I couldn’t. It was a secret—one that held his parents’ lives in the balance.

He didn’t shock me again.

Instead, he motioned for someone outside the lab. Moments later, they returned with a handful of shark pearls—ones I’d hidden under the floorboards, thinking they were safe.

My breath hitched. My eyes locked on them, pupils trembling.

“What… what are you doing?” My voice cracked.

He gave me that twisted little smile he always wore before he did something cruel. “You already know, don’t you?”

Without breaking eye contact, he dropped one of the pearls to the concrete floor and slammed his boot down on it.

The sickening crack echoed through the lab, followed by a scream I didn’t even realize was mine—bloody, guttural, full of agony.

He chuckled, dark and amused. “So, was that your dad’s? Or your mom’s?” He crushed another beneath his heel. “They say mermaids only die for real when you shatter their pearls. Otherwise, you freaks just keep crawling back from the dead.”

“You’re still not gonna talk?” he sneered. “Even after all this?”

My fingers were torn open, nails ripped down to the bone, skin peeled back to nothing but white. Blood dripped from my hands like rain. From my eyes too.

“Sam,” I rasped, voice shaking with hate, “I hate you.”

He didn’t flinch.

Instead, he grabbed me and kissed me. His kiss was so hard and brutal, it felt like he wanted to bite my tongue clean off.

That kiss... made my head spin.

Lately, I’d been growing weaker and sometimes I almost forgot how deeply we once loved each other.

Mermaids have always been drawn to humans. It's in our nature to come ashore, to fall for them, to bind our lives to theirs.

I was three years old the first time I met Sam.

The moment he saw me, he turned to his mom and asked with serious eyes,

“Mom, is she the bride you picked for me?”

Mrs. Wilkins burst into laughter and flicked his forehead.

Our families became close after that. We visited often, celebrated birthdays together, even vacationed as one big unit.

But everything changed when I turned fifteen.

The merfolk were being hunted, driven off by humans who feared and coveted us. We had no choice but to disappear.

But sometimes, I’d still sneak ashore to see Sam.

When people asked who I was, I would be ready to lie and say I was his sister.

But he never let me.

“She’s my girlfriend,” he’d say, eyes serious. “And one day, she’ll be my wife. This is Nerissa.”

That moment had made my heart flutter for real. I was falling for more than I could imagine. 

Later, my people, the merfolk, struck a deal with a group of top-tier humans.

The ones facilitating the negotiations were my parents and Sam’s parents.

But Sam’s parents disappeared.

And I was one of the suspects.

I knew he hated me, but I couldn’t tell him the truth.

Years passed and Sam became a top-tier scientist.

And I, I had to get close to him for the sake of my people.

Many times, I wanted to tell him the truth directly.

But I couldn’t.

Well, it didn’t matter. Soon, I wouldn’t have to endure it anymore.

***

Sam’s fingers set fire to my skin.

But then he stopped suddenly, his eyes fixed on the blood coating his hands.

Only then had I noticed—those old wounds, the ones from tearing out my flesh for healing pearls, had reopened again.

I gave him a numb smile, “I’m dying, Sam.”

It was like the word "die" had triggered something primal in him. He snapped. He tore open a bottle of pills and shoved one into my mouth with shaking hands. His voice was ice. Sharpened. Shaking.

“You don’t get to die unless I say so.”

He unshackled my wrists, dragged me across the lab and shoved my head into a tank of healing serum. I choked as water rushed up my nose.

I choked. Water shot up my nose.

His hands trembled, breath coming in ragged bursts. His eyes—bloodshot, crazed—watched like he was the one suffocating.

I forced myself not to breathe, trying to keep the serum from flooding my lungs.

Everything went cold. My face turned purple. But eventually, the pills kicked in. The bleeding stopped.

He yanked me out of the tank by my hair.

I was barely conscious when he clicked the shackles back around my wrists, chaining me to the headboard like an animal.

And there was Jill.

Leaning into him, all flirtation and fake sweetness, like this was just a twisted honeymoon. Her eyes found mine, brimming with venom: I want you dead, Nerissa.

***

Half-conscious, I felt someone gently stroke my hair. Tears from that person dripped into my mouth, salty and bitter.

“Nerissa... if only none of that had ever happened,” the voice called softly. "Wouldn't we be okay now?”

Was that Sam?

Was… he crying?

I forced my eyes open—but there was no Sam.

Instead, his assistant was there, tugging the rope around my ankles and dragging me into the estate’s courtyard.

Mermaids hated the sun. Especially me—who was barely clinging to life. 

Jill stood there, smiling sweetly when she saw me.

“Aren’t you hungry, Nerissa?”

I could see Sam holding onto her, his body relaxed, almost possessive. When I didn’t answer, he kicked me, his foot landing hard on the exact spot where my wounds were threatening to tear open.

Blood seeped through my clothes, soaking into my stomach.

Sam barely looked at me. With a look of pure irritation, he couldn’t even spare me a glance. Just tossed his jacket from the lounge chair at me.

“Cover that up. Jill can’t stand the sight of blood.”

Jill’s eyes sparkled for a brief moment and she turned, throwing a pile of raw meat and dirt-streaked vegetables in front of me. Her voice dripped with false sweetness.

“Eat up.” 

I don’t know why—I lifted my head and looked at Sam.

Why did I think he actually… pitied me?

Expressionless, I bent down and began gnawing on the dirt-covered cabbage. My fingers clawed at the ground, desperate, ashamed.

Jill’s concerned voice reached my ears.

“Why aren’t you eating the meat? You need meat to stay strong.”

Without thinking, I tore into it. My senses had dulled so much I couldn’t even tell what kind of meat it was.

“Does it good?” Jill giggled. “They say mermaid meat is really nutritious.”

I froze mid-chew, staring up at her.

What… what did she just say?