Blue, When the Sea Calls

By Ursula Graetz

On the island sanctuary where her Marine Biologist parents run a marine conservancy, Blue sits on the rock, watching as the tides of the sea go in and out, and is tempted to run into the sea, despite being forbidden to do so. But the call of the sea is so strong that finally she succumbs to its lure and runs into the sea. Blue soon discovers she is a mermaid and a whole new world that she was deliberately kept away from opens up. 

 

Romance, secrets, murder, lies and betrayal are the thread that runs through this supernatural thriller.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ursula Graetz
• Release date: Feb 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005949303

Ursula Graetz

Ursula is a Holistic Therapist offering Hypnotherapy, Psychotherapy and counselling, as well as various Energy Healing modalities. Her love for writing started at a young age. Bullied at primary school forced her to hide in a library, and that is where her love for reading and her journey of writing began. It opened up a world of imagination which she incorporates into all her novels.

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Blue, When the Sea Calls

Ursula Graetz

Published by Ursula Graetz, 2022.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

BLUE, WHEN THE SEA CALLS

First edition. February 22, 2022.

Copyright © 2022 Ursula Graetz.

ISBN: 978-1005949303

Written by Ursula Graetz.

Blue

When the Sea Calls

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By Ursula Graetz

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License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.  This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.  If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.  If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favourite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

Copyright 2022 Ursula Graetz

All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, especially the rights of translation, re-use of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior written permission given by the Author.

Blue, When the Sea Calls is a work of fiction. Names, places and characters are products of the author’s imagination, especially the island. So too are any incidents, which are also of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events, places or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Further Books by Author

CHAPTER 1

The cyan-blue sea rolled out its foam-crested waves upon the warm golden sands of the island’s beach as a cool breeze swept inland. Seagulls gracefully soared through the cloudless summer sky and the entire scene seemed endlessly enchanting; so enchanting that it was almost impossible to believe that a young woman lay washed up on the shore, close to death and all alone.

Warm, salty tears flowed down her cheeks and onto the rough wet sand. The pain had subsided for a while, but Venus still felt numb and motionless. The hour dragged its endless hands across the sands of time while memories came flooding in to choke her with heart-wrenching remorse. The thought of never returning to the sea was too overbearing and an anguished cry escaped her hoarse throat.

Around her neck, she wore a necklace that bore a soft blue gemstone amulet. The blue light radiating from its depths temporarily bathed her in comfort and managed to draw out some of her pain.

Venus opened her eyes and folded her long, trembling fingers around the healing stone before clamping her eyes shut again.

Suddenly there was a stabbing pain in her womb that felt like a thousand electric seals shocking her insides and her screams pierced the thick blanket of silence that surrounded her.

A little while later, and despite her heavy breathing and shallow gasps of air, Venus picked up the faint sound of voices in the distance. Normally she would have hidden, but at that moment, she was far too tired and weak to care about being seen. Instead, she allowed a strangely welcoming numbness to envelop her, and she slipped into the numbing void of darkness for a glorious moment. When she came to and opened her eyes, two humans were standing over her. This would have, in any other circumstance, terrified her, but the sudden return of pain tearing through her womb, drowned her concerns for a moment and her mind began to drift off to a world she knew well; a world that she had tried to change; a world that had spat her out like dried kelp.

Grieving, she turned to the last conversation she had had with her father, the painful memory of which still echoed loudly in the bitter crevices of her mind.

A depth of sadness that could find no comfort moved along the deepest marrow of Jaruwah’s ageing bones as he tried, in vain, to make sense of his daughter’s betrayal. The hurt and disappointment that surged through him were almost tangible and threatened to unhinge him.

Venus. His deep voice cracked as he tried to speak, desperately hoping for a plausible explanation, but despite searching, found none. How could she have done this to him; his own flesh and blood; his only child and the last remaining princess of the sea? This was a question that had plagued him since he first discovered her deeds. You know the law of our kind yet; you chose to break it. Why would you defy our laws and go on land, why? King Jaruwah asked her angrily but still kindling the hope that she would supply him with a credible explanation for her unfathomable betrayal.

Not being allowed to go on land is a stupid law, father. Humans are not as dangerous as we have been taught to believe, she argued.

Hush! How dare you! You defy not only our laws but me, your father and king. Jaruwah bellowed, raising his voice at her for the first time since she befriended a shark when she was three.

Why won’t you listen to me? Venus pleaded. I speak the truth.

Jaruwah huffed. You know nothing of the truth. Our laws, especially this one, were promulgated for a good reason, and we need to uphold them, no matter the cost, or suffer the consequences. You, a princess of the sea, should know that.

Yes, well, this stupid law should be revisited and amended or even removed. And since you are the king of the seven seas, that power rests in your hands. And really father, it is time for a change, Venus said, challenging him.

That’s enough! he blurted, his anger soaring to new heights. He glared at her for several emotionally charged minutes before speaking again, his voice trembling with anger. If your mother was still alive to witness this rebellious behaviour of yours, it would have broken her heart. How could you do this to us?

Several soul-wrenching seconds passed before either of them said another word. Venus winced at his words and they mirrored the depths of anguish that lined his aged face. She loved him dearly and had never intended to hurt him so, and it tore her heart in two seeing the hurt and disappointment portrayed in his eyes, but she would do it all again. Their laws were wrong. That is just plain wrong. There was nothing wrong with humans and the mermen's discrimination against them had to stop. Humans and the merman people could live in unity, together, accepting of each other’s differences, she was certain of that.

You know the penalty you have to pay for breaking the law. His emotions were rife, but he dispersed them and turned to face her, suddenly gracing her with a cold gaze of indifference.

At that moment Venus felt the strong connection between them sever, and the intensity jarred the airway to her lungs. She coughed, battling to breathe.

You are, from this day onwards, exiled from the sea. You are to live the remainder of your life as a human, and you will never be allowed to return to the sea, no matter how great the call of the sea has on you.

The finality in his words pierced her like a shark’s tooth, puncturing her heart. Yes, she was all too familiar with their ancient laws, but she had silently hoped that her father would understand and hear her out. He had always been a fair king and she had hoped he would have taken a stand against the senseless traditions and outdated rules of the sea. Although they had a council, the authority to change rules ultimately still lay in his hands, yet his inflexible stance on tradition and his inability to let go of the past blinded him from progress. It blinded all mermen. No wonder they were a dying breed, she thought sadly. There were only two thousand nine hundred mermen left.

You will pledge an oath of secrecy regarding the existence of mermen, he continued. You will not be allowed to make any contact with our undercover mermen land officials.

He noticed tears sliding down her cheeks and a slight waiver to his harsh sentence tried to surface, but he forcefully shoved it away. It was his responsibility to keep his kind from becoming extinct, as was it the mermen's responsibility as keepers of the sea to keep the seas and all marine life safe. This responsibility far outweighed his responsibility towards his own daughter, especially since she had deliberately broken their most sacred law – having contact with humans. This was a privilege only bestowed to a chosen few appointed as land officials. Being undercover on land was a necessary evil. It was a way for mermen to keep abreast with humans and their activities as well as keep up with the various languages spoken around the world.

With firm determination, he finished reciting his sentence and then turned and walked out of the hidden large palatial cave which had been home to royalty for thousands of years, and which sadly now only housed five hundred of their mermen people. The rest were scattered across the seven seas.

An irresistible urge to change his mind and forgive his daughter once again threatened to weaken his resolve but with steel determination, he ignored the temptation. He could not dismiss her crime for that in itself would be a crime. The rules of the mermen people had been created and enforced thousands and thousands of years ago. Their main law was to keep their existence a secret, especially now, as there were so few of them left. The memory of the past flashed in his mind. There was a time in history when they had allowed their existence to become known, but that had been a tragic mistake. Not only were they hunted down and killed, but some were caught and experimented on. They had fought a war back then, but tragically, it had wiped out not only those who knew of their existence but also most of the mermen people. Their victory of bringing their existence back to one of secrecy had come at a great cost. No, the laws had to remain, and his daughter had betrayed them. She had hurt him more than she would ever know.

His legs were aching to transform into fins, so Jaruwah took the quickest route out of the cave and then jumped into one of the cyan-coloured seawater pools that flowed out into the ocean. As he reached the open waters he raced through the deep, trying to rid himself of his unstable emotions or that he had just lost the most precious thing to him – his daughter. But he could not and would not change his mind, no matter how painful.

CHAPTER 2

Despite her eyes being tightly shut, Venus’s tears still managed to escape their confines and they slid down her cheeks in torrents. The memories were still fresh in her mind, as though the last eight months had not passed since that tragic day when her father had exiled her from the sea.

Opening her eyes again, she glared at the humans who were now kneeling beside her.

Don’t worry, the man assured her. We’re here to help you! Everything’s going to be okay! The stranger’s voice provided a sort of comfort and a way to escape her emotionally charged memories.

Then the female spoke. Don’t worry, my husband Larry has had ample experience in delivering babies.

Venus tried to force a smile. The humans seemed kind. But the pain came again, and immediately wiped away her smile as her screams tore through the air again.

Push! the man urged.

Venus tried but she knew that her strength was fast abandoning her.

Audrey was worried. She failed to divulge the fact that her husband’s delivery skills only pertained to animals. But there was no need to distress the poor woman even more. Besides, what good would it do to tell her? There was no way they would be able to get her off the island and to Long Island’s hospital in time.

As the enchantingly beautiful woman’s screams stopped, Audrey could not help but feel a slight twinge of envy growing inside of her at the thought that this woman was having a baby. She, herself, would never be so fortunate, a fact that pained her to no end. She would never get the chance to partake in the formation of a miracle of life within her own sterile womb.

Push, you’re going to be okay, Larry Goldman assured her, biting back his concerns which were to the contrary. The woman they had just found, lying naked on the beach, was losing far too much blood and the daunting realisation that she was haemorrhaging and there was nothing he could do to stop it, overpowered him. He hated feeling so helpless. This poor woman was so young, so fragile, and so beautiful, still at the beginning phase of her young adult life, yet sadly, her life was nearing the end. Where was the man who placed her in this position? Anger flared within him. Then he wondered how she had ended up here on this island. He was certain she wasn’t from around these parts. The colour of her skin was like toasted almonds with a hint of milky glitter. Her long white hair lay sprawled around her like a garment, covering her nakedness and the dark green streaks of green running through her hair must be the latest fad, Larry assumed. Perhaps she was European.

It still remained a mystery to him how she had ended up here, on the island’s beach since the island was a marine life sanctuary that never entertained unauthorised guests.

Her screams pierced the air again and Larry forced himself to focus on delivering her baby, even if he could not save the mother.

Push harder. You must try, for your baby’s sake, he pleaded with her.

She screamed and pushed.

That’s it. The head’s crowning. Push, he encouraged her, pasting a smile on for her benefit.

But his smile soon faded, and his face turned to horror when the baby came out with fins instead of legs.

Larry sat frozen in disbelief as the baby practically slid into his arms. His mind swirled around like a hurricane as questions bombarded his sanity while this half-human, the half-fish-like baby started to cry.

Larry, quick! The baby! Audrey quickly shoved aside her own disbelief.

Larry forced himself to focus on the task at hand and cut the umbilical cord with his oyster knife.

Please... Venus attempted to speak.

Larry crawled to her side, still holding the infant, and began to ask, what – who...

We are mermen, Venus replied weakly. My name is Venus. She paused to draw on her last energy reserves before continuing. She must never find out that she is a mermaid! Please, she must never ever be allowed to set foot in the sea. No one must ever know of our existence. Promise me. She won’t be safe if they find out. Venus could feel her energy fading. She had very little time left.

Weakly she added, take good care of my little girl! Venus’s tears poured down her flushed cheeks and her lips trembled.

Both Larry and Audrey found themselves agreeing to her pleas.

Give her this amulet. Venus was weak but she wanted her daughter to have something that came from her. She had to make sure that the child would never find out what she truly was. Her secrets and regrets were to be buried along with her and not burden her precious daughter.

Larry helped