Femme Fatale

Chapter 8: Deal with a Diabolical being

When I found out that the Godeth are looking for me, I know I should runaway but instead of getting petrified for my own life, the fact that they also want me dead, enrage me more. They already murdered my mother, my father committed suicide because of that, and now they want me. Our family have an ordinary life in North Eastham and we never did anything harmful to anyone but why does their family want to wipe out our family??

The next day after I passed out during Prof. Godeth’s class, Dr. Tranter brought me home to clear my mind. The Godeth consumed my mother’s flesh because there’s a belief that when humans partake a flesh of a merfolk, they’ll attained miraculous longevity and lived for centuries. True or not, it’s madness, but craziness does exist in this world, humans are part of the animal kingdom, and in that kingdom it’s either you kill or get killed.

I don’t want to be the slave of sorrow and prison of pain anymore, it’s time for me to befriend anger and fight for my life. With a close mind and willingness to take a risk, I went undersea to Adnaran to seek help for getting back at the Godeth.

“Those people obtained amazing longevity from consuming a flesh of us merfolk, those monsters don’t deserve to live for centuries, they must die.” appealing to the royal family to lend me assistance “We can do something to kill them, right?”

“Cherry, dear.” Queen looking at me with sad eyes “Forget about revenge, it won’t bring you any good, but if land isn’t safe anymore, you’re always welcome to stay here, no human can come here so you’ll be safe here.”

“Listen to my queen, warrior.” King giving me a cold gaze “I’ve been into wars before you came, you don’t know how hard it is for us to have this kind of peace, we do know what happened to your mother, she isn’t the first, and believe it or not I also thought the same as you but as the King who rule this kingdom, my only responsibility is to protect Aranda from anyone and anything that could cause harm, starting a war against humans might risk the kingdom’s safety and I can’t let that happen.”

“But your majesty, aside from the royal family, no one can go against those immortals, only you the King could take away their lives and the Queen can cause them wounds that won’t heal.” looking at the King and Queen “Humans are killing us to attain immortality but we don’t do anything to get back at them, is protecting this kingdom more important than the merfolk lives taken?!”

“Cherry, us merfolk belongs to the sea while humans to land, we could cause floods, storms, shipwrecks, and drownings if the humans violated the rules of the sea but we can’t do anything at the crimes on land.” Queen explained

“Do you understand now, warrior?” King resting his forehead on his fingers “Your mother died on land … it’s out of our jurisdiction.”

“That’s bulls**t!” screaming at them “I came here to get help, but I guessed I asked the wrong folks!!” swimming away from the balcony where any merfolk can stand to speak with the royal family because of their monstrous sizes

The moment I got out from the gate of the palace, a beautiful young woman with two fish tails instead of one and long pale green hair and pale skin, and a handsome young man with the lower body of a serpent and curly dark green hair and pale skin, stand in my way. They were just smiling at me while following me around, that I don’t know if they’re teasing me or what, as I’m obviously not in the mood to have fun with them.

“What do you want from me?!!” I stopped and stare at them

“Ah … no … it should be what you want from us.” the woman said “You know, sweetie, our boss, can do anything that those royalties can’t.”

“It’s rare for our boss to do the inviting because it’s always you, merfolk goes to his place uninvited and asks things from him.” the man said

“I’m sorry but who are you? and who’s this boss you’re talking about??” being skeptic about their intention

“I’m Finsa.” the woman replied “I’m Serpento.” the man added “And we are the pair of golden horns of the great and powerful, Phitomond!!” both said enthusiastically “It should only be me luring you to boss’s mansion because you’re a mermaid.” Serpento said “You’re a virgin so I’m also here.” Finsa

“Now, you’re making me feel uncomfortable.” covering my bare chest where Serpento’s looking “Please leave me alone.”

“Oh, don’t be shy, I’ve seen enough and I’m not interested.” Serpento go behind Finsa and embrace her “Aside from hers, I don’t feel anything with others, though yours are perfect for your body, still these are the best for me.” fondling Finsa’s chest

“Aahhhh … wait.” Finsa turned around and wrap her arms around Serpento’s neck “We still have a job to do, let’s save this later, alright.” kissed him passionately before they pulled away from each other “Sorry about that, now let’s go back to business.”

“Look, I don’t know what’s with you two but I’ve got nothing to do with you, I’m out of here.” about to swim away from them but Serpento stopped me

“Are you sure, you don’t want our boss’s help??!” Serpento crossing his arms “The royal family declined your request, right?”

“How did you know??!” looking at him in disbelief “They told me that whatever happened inside the royal court stays in the royal court.”

“That’s true, but we can detect negative emotions.” Finsa clings onto my arm “Obviously you’re rejected, our boss never turns down anyone.”

“If the royal family refused to help then why would your boss accept it?” looking at Finsa and Serpento “And if he’s that great and powerful, why isn’t he the king, you said he can do anything, right??” still doubting their intention towards me

“This one is hard to convince.” Serpento holding his chin “I guessed human education made her tough, Finsa.

“Alright then, let’s just say that our boss is as powerful as the God of the Sea but because of his size he can’t be a king.” Finsa explained “To be a king a merman must be 2,000 feet tall from his head down to his tail end, that’s how all the kingdoms determine its kings, because the God of the Sea chosen them himself to represent him in physical form for the merfolk to see and believe that he really exists.”

“Yeah, I already know that stuff, tell me something I don’t know, what makes your boss unqualified to be a king?” anticipating for their answer

“You’ll know when we get there, it may not be big as the palace but he lives in a mansion.” Serpento clings to my left arm “It’ll only take a spin from your left to get there.” and without further ado, we’re teleported inside the mansion

“I think I’m going to vomit.” throw out at the corner “Are you sure that it’s just a spin and not hundreds of spins?” relieving myself until I feel fine

“I’m pretty sure it’s only one.” Serpento said “Why do folks always throw up at that corner??”

“Better than throwing up at the door.” Finsa said “Take your time sweetie, we’ll get in when you’re ready.”

“Cherry … my name is Cherry.” wiping my mouth with my hand “Why did you take me here? I haven’t accepted your invitation yet.”

“Hahaha, that’s just for formality, accept it or not, we still take you here.” Serpento knocked the big door in front

“Come in.” deep voice of a man inside the room

“Remember, our boss screams when someone screams at him, if you don’t want to suffer hearing loss, keep calm, alright?” Finsa fixing my hair for me

“I’ve seen all kinds of sea creatures while exploring the sea, what else can surprise me?” moving forward confidently through the open door

“Warriors, they’re not like other ranks.” silhouette of a big fish hiding behind the curtains “Those shiny earrings, you’re the daughter of Hyebni, a golden scales mermaid with violet tail end, your mother’s rank is second to the royal family.” curtains slowly parting from the center and revealing the big fish behind “Which means you’re not just a warrior but a noble one, too bad there’s no war undersea now, we won’t witness your fighting skills.”

“!!!” stunned at the moment when I finally see the true form behind “Wh-what are you??” covered my mouth before I let out a scream

“I’m proud of you, you hold it back perfectly, though I’m a bit disappointed because I’m preparing myself to scream after you.” not quite half-human but has a human male head that have a pair of golden horns, a red belly, three eyes on each side of its torso, and a carp-like tail end “I’m a yōkai, that’s what the Japanese called me, a being with a human face and a fish body.”

“I … I’m sorry … I’ve never seen someone like you.” pulling myself together “Your name’s Phitomond, right?”

“Of course, you never see, I’m not some kind of fish who just roam around, I rarely go outside this mansion because I’m too famous for the merfolk.” Phitomond start to swim around the room “Finsa, Serpento, you may go back now, we won’t entertain another client for today.”

“Yes, boss!” Finsa and Serpento clings onto Phitomond’s horns and vanished as the bright yellow light appeared then disappeared after a few seconds

“Now, I’m at full power, shall we get down to business, warrior Cherry?” Phitomond said with a sinister smile on his face

“Cherry is fine, no need to address me as a warrior.” convincing myself to get it together and not to let my guard down “They said your great and powerful, you can do anything that the royal family can’t.”

“It’s not that they can’t they just won’t, those family they only do something beneficial to them but if not, they won’t give a damn about it.” Phitomond get back to his throne that looks like a giant mussel “Unlike me, I can do and give everything that a merfolk wants and need.”

“Then can you bring the dead back to life?” testing his powers

“No, even the royal family can’t do that, but I can help you to avenge your mother’s murder.” Phitomond said without hesitation “That’s what you came here for, right?” smiling creepily as his long black hair flowing along with the water

“You can take away the lives of those immortals?” looking at him while trying not to get scared of his creepiness

“No, I’m no king, and I’m no queen to wound them forever, but I can cause them neverendingly pain that they would regret living for centuries.” Phitomond said “You only need to ask for it then I’ll give it to you.”

“That’s it??! I only need to ask then it’s done?!” being skeptic about his generosity

“You’re more human than a fish.” Phitomond gaze become serious “In human’s term, I’m a businessman, I’m dealing with merfolk under a contract, I’ll give or do anything in exchange for a price, the royal family want benefits and so am I, there’s no such thing as free even in this world.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s not money, what do you want in return?” talking business with him

“I want human souls.” Phitomond replied directly

“How do you expect me to give human souls to you??!” eyes wide open in surprise

“They murdered your mother violently and ate her flesh to obtained immortality, I can put a curse on them to endure the excruciating pain of having human legs, and inability to speak, making them wish to die instantly instead of living with longevity.” Phitomond appealing his offer to me

“But you want me to kill others in order to punish them.” contemplating whether to accept or decline his offer

“It’s up to you whoever you want to kill, I just want human souls in return, besides you wanted to kill those monsters who murdered your mother right?” Phitomond persuading me to accept “It’s also because of them your father committed suicide and now they’re after you for the same intention.”

“They’re already immortal, why do they have to kill me too?!” thinking of all the possibilities “Their son! They want me for their son!!”

“And the fact that you’re a witness of their crime, the reason they want to erase your existence, just like what they did to those men who helped them to capture your mother, the souls of those two wicked people they must be delicious, it’s a shame they’re immortals.” Phitomond said

“They’re not human!!” cried in anger “How could they do such thing to others??!”

“Apparently, humans are the most dangerous species not us whom they called monsters.” Phitomond looking at me “I’ve seen too many wars before and every time the surface of the sea becomes red because of the blood of those humans, it always reminds me that they’re no different from us.”

“Human souls, you say.” come up to a decision “Where do I sign up for the contract?”

“Now we’re talking.” Phitomond smiles at me “Close one of my eyes at my torso and I’m sending you back on land to meet one of my agents.”

“How many staffs are working for you, anyway?” approaching him carefully as his eyes on his torso staring back at me “This is awkward.” closing one of his eyes as if I’m imagining I’m touching a whale shark because he’s only 35 feet

The moment I closed one his eyes, I felt a quick pulled from the surface, I swear I can’t get used to their teleportation that I throw up right away. Since I’m on land my legs grow after a minute and a half, the next thing I know I’m completely naked and still puking, like I got wasted from a party.

“That’s disgusting.” a man with a pair of golden horns on his forehead, wearing a red suit and pants that looks like made of scales, and a carp-like tail end shoe suddenly appeared standing beside me

“!!!” immediately covered my private parts “Philip??!” looked up to him

“No, I’m not Philip, I’m the agent you chosen, my name is Christopher.” reaching out his hand to me “Take my hand and I’ll make you decent, though I don’t have a problem dealing with naked clients.”

“Oh!” I took his hand and the moment I stand on my feet; I’m wearing a red cocktail dress with a length above my knees “This is a nice dress, thanks.”

“These are the shoes.” violet shoes appeared on Christopher’s palm and handed it to me “Alright, let’s do the contract signing, I’m not here to be your fairy godmother who dressed you up to attend a prince’s ball.” pointing me at the rock formation that looks like a table and chairs

“Of course.” still fascinated with the dress I’m wearing and the shoes in my hand as I followed him to the rock formation

“Here’s the contract, written in Korean alphabet since you’re used to human scribbles and not in merfolk language, tell me if you’re ready to sign it.”

“Alright, I read it carefully first.” reading the writings at the transparent paper

The contract says that I’ll get a knife to be used in collecting a hundred souls, as p*****t for the weapon itself and the thing doom it can bring. The dagger should be stab straight to the heart at the blood and flesh of the immortal I wish to put the vengeance on, which in my case their union since they’re husband and wife. The curse of excruciating pain of having human legs and inability to speak forever will be activated if I become one with the sacrificial lamb, meaning I must make the man fall in love with me. I can only use the knife on our wedding day, just like how mermaids obtain an immortal soul, but when I failed to do so and the man is still alive before sunrise the next day, I will die the mermaid way which is dissolving into foam.

“I got a question, what if their union was a woman and not a man, how am I supposed to do the ritual?” done reading the contract

“The reason the contract is transparent and you can even see your reflection on it, is because the terms and conditions depend on the situation of the one signing it, whatever written in there never go wrong and always right on point.” Christopher explained “Any more questions?”

“This contract makes me a serial killer just to pay for the price, I thought I only need to collect two souls but it says 100.” hesitating to agree

“That’s just a few numbers, I’ve got a client before that his entire wife and four children were killed by humans in war and the contract asked for 1,000 souls.” Christopher said “He said 1,000 wasn’t enough to purify the land of monsters in human form, now he’s known in the history who saved lives of millions of people by killing terrorist who doesn’t care about innocent people lives.”

“To defeat those monsters, I must be one of them too.” thinking deeply “To purify the land of monsters in human form, I think I can deal with that.”

“Alright then, here’s the quill.” Christopher handed me the feather “Just sign the bottom part with your merfolk name and we’re done.”

“Where’s the ink for this quill?” took the quill from his hand

“Don’t worry about it, just write your name on the contract.” Christopher smiling creepily at me

Without another word, I just signed the contract with the quill in my hand, and the ink that comes from the quill is bloody red. After a minute, I suddenly feel a pain on my back like someone is scratching it deeply and doing scribbles.

“Aww … what’s happening on my back?!” enduring the pain on my back

“Which part of the body does wings can be found?” Christopher took the contract with him

“You mean the ink of this quill is my own blood and what I’ve written in that contract is also engraved at my back??!” still feeling the pain after the strokes of the last cursive letter in my name “You should’ve told me before I signed, I shouldn’t have written my name in cursive letters.”

“It’s alright, at least your wounds are beautiful, besides you’ve got an elite merman as your guardian, he can heal that for you.” Christopher handed me a bag “The earrings and celosia are inside, oh and also the item in the contract, if you put human staffs inside, you’ll find them undersea.”

“This bag is just right with my dress, you’ve got a sense of fashion, Christopher.” the moment I look at to him, he already vanished “And I’m talking to myself, he should at least say farewell to me before he leaves me alone.” muttering to my self “I don’t even know where I am.” looking around

After a few walks at the beach, I reached the hotel grounds where I used to stay in when I first moved in to Busan. The hall was having a party and I blended in naturally without anyone knowing that I’ve crashed their party. Late night and everyone still wild, I made an exit and hailed a cab to get home, if I’m few minutes late, I might be naked before I got inside the house. The magic was over when midnight strikes and the only thing left to me was the small bag where my celosia and knife magically fit in.

The next day, Dr. Tranter came and I told him everything but he wasn’t proud of what I’ve done. When he saw my name imprinted at my back and tried to heal it with the herbs and medicinal plants while he’s in merman’s form, it wasn’t cure as we expected.

“If I’m not wrong this wound will be removed when you drew the first blood with that knife, I’m afraid that if you do, you won’t have a choice but to continue killing people until you’ve got that required 100 souls, but if you won’t you’ll suffer that unbearable pain at your back every day.” Dr. Tranter

“You mean I have to feel like dying every day until I passed it to my first kill??!” lying at my bed with my face down on my pillow

“You wrote your name using a quill, right?” Dr. Tranter asked “What do you know about sirens, Nene?”

“Sirens of Greek mythology were originally half-birdlike, but came to be pictured as half-fishlike in the Christian era.” I turned my face to him

“You said that Christopher asked you where wings can be found.” Dr. Tranter thinking deeply “If I have it right, that quill is supposed to be your feather if you’re a half-bird, the pain you’ve suffered is the same as what a bird would feel if he or she loses his or her wings.”

“I’ll be torturing myself if I don’t use that knife, am I?” looking at the knife at the top of the drawer beside my bed

“You made a deal with a diabolical being, don’t expect good things to happen, I’m still against with violence but if it’s the only way to free you from the curse of the undying, then I’ll help you find a prey.” Dr. Tranter stand up from the couch and left my bedroom

I’m a mermaid but I feel like I’m thirst for blood of humans as if I’m a vampire. The same agony happened to me the next day, at the same time and duration, for about an hour and a half minutes I feel like dying, and if not for Dr. Tranter I won’t be able to feel at ease.

I returned to school and continue my normal life as a college student, but every time I see Prof. Godeth, it always reminds me the ritual. I have to make the son of the people who murdered my mother, fall in love with me and kill him on our wedding day. He’s my last prey but he’s just lurking around me, making me feel like killing him first to get things done and over with.

Three days later, after enduring the pain during the weekdays, Dr. Tranter finally found a prey for me. He told me that the man is quite dangerous because the man abducted young women by luring them to his place and torture them until they die.

“I want to kill him with my own hands when I read his mind this morning.” Dr. Tranter sitting beside me at the bar while we’re watching the man waiting for his next victim “He never regret anything, instead he enjoys it like his hobby, are you sure you can handle him on your own?”

“No, I’m not … but based on what you told me he’s not a human being.” watching the man carefully “Someone take his bait, you really can’t tell with the face if you’re dealing with a psychopath or not, tell me what you’re reading.” depending on Dr. Tranter’s ability to read minds

“The lady is totally smitten by his good looks but our predator thinks of her as a prey.” Dr. Tranter said “I don’t want to go into details but that’s their situation right now, we’ll move once they do … are you sure you want to do this? I must call a cop instead of making you risk your life here.”

“I can do it, if he’s the one whom I get my curse pass on, I’ll be happy to give him a death sentence.” watching the guy and the lady thoroughly

A few minutes later, the two people we’re monitoring just kissed and Dr. Tranter told me that we need to move out from the bar as they’re about to leave and go to the man’s place. We followed the man’s car and arrived at a house in the middle of the field, a perfect place to live for a felon.

“I thought this only happens in movies but there really is this kind of person who torture others as a hobby.” getting out of the car

“I must come with you, I’m the man I should be the one doing the action and not waiting in the car.” Dr. Tranter insisting to come with me

“I can handle this, I’m the warrior here and you’re a healer, let’s be clear with our roles, alright?” getting nervous “I can do this, I can do martial arts so I can defend myself and I have my blade, I only need to stab this monster straight to his heart and save the girls.”

“Wait …” Dr. Tranter sensing something “Be careful alright, holler me if you’re in danger.”

“I will, just stand by.” run towards the field “I don’t want to feel like dying again tomorrow, why should I suffer if there’s this kind of person who didn’t deserve to live?” muttering to myself “I never thought I’ll be playing hero now that I’m 20.”

I’ll be more effectively to perform underwater but even if I’m on land I still have my superhuman strength and speed for actions. I know that Dr. Tranter can help me too but I have to do this alone, it’s me who should kill the bad guy with my own hands. My legs are for agility but my hands got powerful grip that I could simply grab my opponent and pull him or her to defeat.

With the right distance and velocity, I jumped off the fence like the cat who showed me how to infiltrate the house. Dr. Tranter said that it’s better to be anonymous, so as ridiculous as it is, I’m wearing a cat’s mask to hide my identity, but thanks to the mask the real cat is showing me the way.

“So, you live here huh?” watching the cat get in through the backdoor “I hope it works for me too, it’ll be embarrassing if I get stuck there.”

Thanks to my small waist that I fit in and made it to the kitchen, I’ve never intruded someone’s house before but I just know I have to move as quiet as possible. The clothes are scattered on the floor leading to the second floor but I don’t want to see what those two doing at the moment so I’m off to save the other girls at the basement first. The cat showed up to me again and follow her towards a room, she was circling in a certain spot of the carpet as if gesturing me there’s something underneath it.

“If you were a fish, we can better understand each other, but this works too.” put the carpet away and saw a door “Is this where your master hiding his victims??” open the door gently and the cat run down the stairs immediately “Wait for me!” shout in soft voice as I chase after her “What the …”

The lights automatically turned on the moment I climbed down the stairs, and even if I’m still on the stairs I can see clearly the two women soaked with their own blood while being chained at the wall. When they saw me, they started screaming and even if there’s tape on their mouths.

“Shh … I’m here to save you alright, but we have to do this quietly.” noticed the keys to their chains hanging at the wall by the stairs and get it to free them “Can you ladies walk?” done with their chains “Listen there’s a blue car outside of the field, the person in that car will help you, he’s name is Dr. Tranter … I need to save the new girl upstairs, can you two carry on?”

“Thank you.” two ladies crying at me “Thank you for saving our lives.” Lady A “He’s dangerous, you should come with us.” Lady B

“I’ll be right behind you, just make yourself a way out of this hell, alright?” leading the two out from the basement to the backdoor kitchen

“What the f**k?!!” a man’s voice coming from behind “Who the hell are you to let go of my precious collections?!!”

“Run!!!” closed the door immediately after the two got through

“You should run with them too, catface.” man walking towards me after getting a knife from the drawer “You think I’ll let you live after what you’ve done, I’m gonna f**king kill you right now!!” charging at me while pointing the knife to stab me

“Let’s see who’s going to die first!” defending myself perfectly with martial arts but if I’m just a normal human woman he can easily overpowered me

“It’ll be nice to add you with my collections, I’ve never met a lady who fight like a man.” man continue to attack me with his knife

“You talk too much for a man.” punching and kicking him until he grabbed my foot and throw me down at the floor “Ahh!”

“Game over catface!” man sits on top of me and pinned my arms on the floor “Your punches are stronger than your kicks, it’s a shame but I’ll kill you.”