Melissa didn’t stop until she was a few blocks away, parked on the side of the road in a nearby neighborhood. Before she went any further, she had to survey whatever damage the water had done to her. If she was on the verge of transforming for good, then she couldn’t very well drive. And she hadn’t had time to grab her phone…
The tingling had died down, but surely something had happened.
The first thing she did was glance at her face in the mirror. It was still her face…but she looked quite different. Her magenta eyes, her bright pink hair, the shiny makeup that wouldn’t rub off. It was like looking at the head of a doll. Or Katy Perry in one of her stupid wigs. Maybe if she couldn’t find a cure, she could join Katy and perform in music videos.
She rolled her eyes at the thought.
A simple glance down told her that her breasts had grown even more, straining at the bra underneath her shirt. She didn’t feel like stripping off her shirt in the middle of the neighborhood, but she did peek down her collar to see that the scales had grown to cover the entirety of her breasts. They itched against the fabric of her bra.
What worried her the most, though, were her legs.
Serenity hadn’t been able to soak her completely, but her legs had been hit, and the tingling was still there.
Glancing around, Melissa made sure no one was around. Then she reached down and tugged down her pants, squirming in the confines of the car. When she sat back up and glanced down, she let out a shaky breath.
Pink, metallic looking scales had sprung up all the way down to her ankles. Her legs were otherwise human looking, but even as she watched, she could see a patch of pink scales spring up on her thighs.
“Oh God…” she whispered, brushing a hand over the newly formed scales. They felt sleek, almost oily, to the touch. She drew her hands away, shaking. The sight of her bright pink fingernails only made her situation more apparent.
Tears spring to her eyes, and she was unable to stop them. How could someone do to this her? She didn’t want to be a mermaid! Sure, it might be fun for an afternoon, and she couldn’t deny that she’d pretended to be one when she was a little girl…but permanently? Fuck that! And the idea of doing this to someone else…doing the same thing to another girl…well, she couldn’t ever imagine herself doing that. It would be wrong. How could she understand that when Serenity couldn’t?
She needed help. And fast.
What could she do? March into the nearest hospital and hope they would have a treatment? That just wasn’t likely. If she went in there and transformed into a mermaid in front of witnesses, she’d be all over the Internet. Her life would effectively be over. The best case scenario, she’d end up being hounded by the media for the rest of her life. The worst case scenario, some branch of the government would swoop in to capture her and study her. Or maybe the hospital would think she was a victim of some disease and quarantine her. Even if she managed to escape, people would never stop looking for her. She’d be a sensation of the worst kind.
No, going to the hospital was out, as was the police.
But she wasn’t going to go to the beach and give up without a fight.
What she needed was…
Emily.
Of course.
Emily had been her friend ever since Jr. High. They’d been through a lot together – heartbreaks, first loves, the emotional turbulence that was puberty. Emily could keep her head under pressure. If anyone could figure out what to do, it was her. But there was one problem – Emily lived across town.
How much time did she have?
The noise of water striking her windshield drew Melissa’s attention up away from her legs. For a horrified moment, she thought that perhaps Serenity had chased after her, and was about to finish the job.
But as she looked, she saw a drop of water appear on the window, and then another – and another. Soon, dozens of drops were appearing, growing in frequency.
Melissa felt torn between crying and laughing.
Of course.
It was raining.
Of course it was. Of fucking course.
She had to move. Now.
Melissa moved to shift the car, but something was wrong…her legs!
While she’d been focused on the windshield, they’d started to move towards each other. She drew them away with a high-pitched shriek. Fortunately, there was nothing connecting them – but she could still feel her legs wanting to close together, like a magnet had been strapped to either leg.
She was able to keep them apart – for now.
If only she’d been able to remember her cell phone…
She couldn’t dwell on that, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to go back for it. No. She had to get to Emily’s. It was her only chance.
Determined to keep her legs separated, she shifted the car and took off, tires squealing on the slick road.