It started when he was three. He and Jack were playing in the yard when Callum let out an unearthly scream. Naturally, his parents had come running. They immediately took their son to the emergency room to find out that nothing was wrong. With his brain or otherwise. They thought it was just a fake, but he kept having these episodes. He was given pills after a couple of doctor visits that stopped the episodes, but he had to take one every day. The doctors did many MRI scans but none of them gave signs of a known mental illness.

So Calum was watched carefully in cases of it happening again. And it did. Often. Usually when he hadn’t taken his pill. Calum tried to not let it phase him, but it did.

Then, on Jack’s and Calum’s eighteenth birthday, the worst episode, which was what the family had begun calling them, happened. Calum was in the ocean when it began. He was so shocked and crippled with pain that he couldn’t swim.

His mother, who was the closest to him at the time, swam over to save him. Before she reached him, though, she was sucked into the deep ocean by a riptide. She drowned minutes later. The authorities never found a body.

The family had slowly been getting better. They slowly had been healing. Calum blamed himself for his mother’s death, but he, for some odd reason, couldn’t stay away from the ocean after that. He always felt drawn to it, especially after Amy, their mother, passed.

Calum snapped out of his memories to see his remaining family. Jack looked at him as he seemed to register what Calum just said. “Are you sure? Do you want to come out to the beach tonight?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I think I just need to get out tonight.”

Jack glanced at their father before giving Calum a small smile. “Okay. If you’re sure, we’ll be leaving for the beach at 8. Be ready by then.” Jack gave Calum one final glance of worry before heading upstairs.

Howard helped his son sit up. He gave his son a pained smile. “Are you okay? Was anything different from this episode?” Calum’s father had learned to ask that after every episode when Calum had a seizure after one.

Calum’s smile flickered as he felt the pain in his chest once more. It was still there. Not to mention those sunset-colored eyes. That had never happened before, but he won’t tell Howard that. He didn’t want to worry his father. “I’m fine, Dad. Now, how about I teach you the basics of cooking.”

~~~~~~~~

Calum was standing by the door impatiently as he waited for his brother. He was already dressed in his swimming trunks and a plain yellow t-shirt. His mind drifted to the pain in his chest. It was getting worse by the minute and he didn’t know why. It hurt even more when Calum thought of the eyes.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Hey,” Calum snapped his head up to see his brother grinning at him. “You ready?”

Calum gave him a ghost of a smile. “Yeah. Just waiting for you, lazy ass.”

Jack feigned shock and placed his hands over his heart. “You wound me, Cal.” The two brothers smirked at each other before heading out. “And besides, how many times have I had to wait for you to hurry up because you can’t get your ass out of bed? Huh?”

Calum sped up, making Jack jog after him to catch up. “What? No retort? You’re losing your spunk, kid.”

“Don’t call me kid. I’m only 4 minutes younger than you.” Calum turned around to walk backward as he watched his brother. “And I’m more mature than you. Don’t even try to deny it. You and your friends-”

“Are you talking behind our backs, little Cal?” A familiar voice came from behind Calum as a tanned arm slid around his shoulders. “I’m hurt. I thought we were friends.”

Calum grinned cheekily as he slithered out of Evan’s grip. “First, I’m not little.” Evan scoffed at that. Calum was little, with his small form only reaching 5 '2''. “And second, serves you right for last weekend.”

“Hey, you didn’t drown! You were asleep!” Calum started walking to the beach at a faster pace. “What? Did you expect me not to throw you in?”

A smirk started to form on the boy’s face. He had almost forgotten about the pain in his chest. He began to hear the waves crashing against the cliff’s face. Calum grinned as soon as he saw the ocean and smelled the salty air.

He tore off his shirt and ran towards the beautiful water. The full moon reflected off the dark surface.

“Be careful, Cal!” Evan grinned at his best friend’s brother. “There’s been mermaid sightings in this spot! Don’t want you to fall in love!” Evan laughed as Calum flipped him off.

He was safe. He was in his haven. He was home.

~~~~~~~~

Hours later, Calum was sitting on the shore staring at the ocean. The pain in his chest had died down, but it was still there. He still had no clue what was causing the pain, but as of right now, it didn’t matter. He was having fun. Calum looked over at the group of boys drinking like it was the end of the world. Well, as much fun as he could have without getting drunk.

Evan surprised the younger twin when he plopped down next to him on the beach. “Hey, Cal. How are you enjoying the party?”

Calum relaxed when he smelled no alcohol on his breath. “It’s fine. I guess I just wished that Jack didn’t get drunk.”

“Yeah, well, we can’t help with that, can we?” Evan looked over at the group of boys waving him over. “Looks like I’m being summoned. Enjoy the rest of the night, Cal.” Evan stood up and ruffled the boy’s hair before heading over to his friends.

Calum smiled. He had always liked Evan, but he couldn’t help himself when that boy was nice to him. He always got giddy. The boy was very attractive with soft chocolate eyes and long brown hair that shaped his face nicely. Sharp cheekbones and a nice chin increased his attractiveness. But Calum was crushing on him because of his personality. He was sweet and kind but could be very sarcastic at times. Evan was, in Calum’s perspective, perfect.

Calum blinked and tried to force his blush away. He looked back at the ocean and stopped.

“What is that?” He breathed.

In the moonlight is something he had never witnessed before. A slightly tanned face with wet blond hair in the ocean and eyes like the sunset. Lashes as dark as the night sky. The rest of the face was hidden beneath the waves. Calum’s breath hitched as he realized those eyes were the same eyes he saw during his episode.

The creature realized it had been spotted and turned to swim away, splashing an orange and purple tail in the process.

What did Calum just see?