The Call Of Thalassa

“We are like islands in the sea,

separate on the surface

but connected in the deep.”

– William James

The sound of men singing loudly, while they hugged each other drunkenly, as the violins played the familiar tune could be heard in the big square of the seaside village.

The Festival of Honor was taking place this fine evening in the central square of the village and all the villagers had gathered around to enjoy the brilliant celebration. There was plenty of food and drinks for all of them and they seemed to enjoy themselves as they sat around the large tables with plates piled with delicious treats.

Most of them had begun drinking before the sun had even set in the horizon and right now they were already tipsy. Some of them actually were so drunk by now that they were dancing carelessly on top of the long tables as the people around them clapped cheering them to continue and encouraged them.

Plates and food were sent around in every corner from their kicking feet, but they didn’t give a damn -not even when one particular plate full of food stained the dress of Mrs. Gloria, the mayor’s wife, who instantly began to screech and shout at them for their idiocy.

“Look, Harold! Look!”

She screamed at her husband as she pointed at the big red stain that now decorated her expensive dress, destroying her supposedly perfect image.

The mayor sighed as he looked at his wife, who kept going on about her expensive new dress that now was completely destroyed. He rolled his eyes at yet another of her usual tantrums and drank the rest of his beer, hoping that she wouldn’t keep shouting.

“It is completely destroyed! Those idiots stained it! Aren’t you going to do something? You’re gonna let them be unpunished?“, she screeched at her husband’s apathy.

“Punishment? What do you want me to do, my wife? To punish some drunk villagers who accidentally stained your dress, while they were having fun?“, the mayor answered his wife, not giving her much attention.

“Yes! I am your wife and they’ve embarrassed me! And you are doing nothing about it! My son would never let this go without doing something!“, his wife pointed a finger to him.

“That’s because you’ve spoiled the boy with your antics. Alastor is a complete brat, because of you. Gosh...how could a son of mine be so...so wicked.”

The mayor shook his head disappointed at his son’s behavior.

“Don’t you dare insult my boy! My sweet, sweet boy...”

Aileen cringed as the loud shouting of Alastor’s mother reached her ears.

Well, her boy was anything but sweet, if Aileen could confess from the multiple encounters she had with him. He was an arrogant and cruel man that took great pleasure in hurting the weaker and more vulnerable people, who were unable to defend themselves.

Aileen was disgusted by the mere fact that he felt powerful by bullying other people. He was the devil in human form, a tormentor who thought he was able to do anything he wanted without any kind of punishment. However, no matter who you are, you will always be an angel in your mother’s eyes.

“Ouch! Aileen!”

She turned to look at Aide when she heard her whine.

“You stepped on my foot, dummy!“, the other girl pouted and Aileen gave to her an apologizing smile.

They were in the middle of the dance floor and moved in sync to the traditional rhythm. Each and every one of them was dancing in pairs, twirling around and making the exact same steps. Aileen shook her head out of her thoughts and focused on dancing with her best friends.

This was a celebrating day, one of the very few that this village had. She wanted to have fun with the other villagers and spend the whole night laughing with her friends, not thinking about her worst tormentor and having her mood dampened.

So, the young woman turned her attention solely on her dancing friend, forgetting completely about him. Aileen twirled in her white long dress as she was dancing along with the happy rhythm of the music with Aide and Petra. They laughed and giggled among themselves as they moved elegantly on the dance floor, having the time of their lives.

They were expert dancers who moved, not missing a step from the traditional dance as did the others around them. Aileen was sweating immensely and her cheeks had reddened matching her flaming hair as she danced in the rhythm along with everyone else.

The bonfire that was right in the center of the whole place was huge. It lightened up the square with its bright orange flames and was warming all of them up in this slightly chilly weather. There were different sailors sitting in a circle around it, while they were telling old stories and legendary tales to the young children that were watching them with great interest.

“...Captain Ross came closer to the beautiful girl that was swimming in the water. He wanted to touch her silky like hair and kiss her plump lips. He approached her as she slowly dissented into the salty waters. He took a deep breath of air, got under the surface and then...PUFF...”

Aileen heard someone telling the infamous story.

Red sparks sprang suddenly from the dancing flames, while the sailor was at the best part of a mer story, frightening the young kids and making them gasp as they jumped in surprise.

“...The girl had turned into a feral mermaid...“, he whispered in a low voice as the young ones watched him with open mouths.

The young girl just shook her head with a big smile plastered on her beautiful face after watching their reaction. The poor children were so easily frightened. They probably believed that those creatures were real.

“Aileen!”

She instantly turned her attention back at her two best friends as she heard them calling for her.

Both of them were watching something behind her intently when she turned her focus back to them. Aide gave her a sad apologetic smile as she nodded her head, confirming her suspicions. Instantly, Aileen’s mood dampened as she had to deal for yet another time with the arrogant behavior of a certain someone.

“Alastor hasn’t taken his eyes from you the whole night”, Petra whispered quietly in her ear so that she was the only one to hear her words.

Aileen turned her emerald orbs slowly and discretely towards his huge form, only to find out that his attention was already turned solely on her.

He was leaning casually on a stone wall surrounded by his group of friends as a cigarette was hanging from his lips and a beer bottle was held in his right hand. They were joking and singing among themselves, but he completely ignored them and didn’t join them. His eyes were pinned on her small form, taking in her every movement.

Aileen turned away from his watchful gaze, a shiver running down her spine from the intensity. After their last encounter, she avoided him like the plague, taking extra measures in order to not come across him. Until now it had worked just fine with her as she hadn’t come face to face with him, although he was always trying to approach her.

“Not again...Can’t I ever have a moment of peace without him?“, Aileen whispered back at her friends as she turned her back to him.

“Apparently not”, Aide murmured irritated by his behavior as the three of them made their way to their table to rest for a bit.

“Some people just don’t get it, do they?“, Aide shook her head as she watched Alastor from afar.

Aileen couldn’t argue on that one. She had caught him watching her with his cunning eyes many times during the celebration, making her squirm uncomfortably. She didn’t know why he was always tormenting her like this, why he was so set on making her life as difficult as possible. She ignored him, thinking that he will get the message and let her be, but alas... this boy seemed to not understand.

Aileen took a small sip from her sweet wine in order to quench her thirst as her friends sat beside her. All the dancing had made her thirsty and tired, she needed to breathe for a little bit.

“You could give him a chance you know? If you get to know him, perhaps you’ll like him...“, Petra said absent-minded, making both the other girls look at her like she grew another head.

“No... no, I won’t”, Aileen answered slowly to Petra, hoping she wouldn’t ask her something like this again.

“Why won’t you? I mean you can’t deny how handsome he is”, Petra questioned twirling a strand of her golden hair around her finger, unbothered by her friend’s awkwardness.

“He is too arrogant and immature”, Aide said playing with the bouquet of flowers on the table, coming to her rescue.

“Sometimes, I feel like the only reason he is after me is that I’m the only one not wanting him”, Aileen agreed with Aide, explaining her thoughts to her other friend.

“Well, although I get it...you are the only one who doesn’t want him”, Aide hit her shoulder with her own as she giggled.

Aileen laughed along with her friends trying to ignore the burning gaze from the other side of the square. However, luck wasn’t on her side as a few moments later, she saw Alastor drinking the last remains of his beer before he started to make his way towards their table.

“Oh not again”, Aileen sighed miserably as he watched his huge form approach them.

“Run”, Aide said pushing her friend to stand up.

Aileen watched in bewilderment her best friend as she hesitantly stood up. How could she possibly get away from this in front of so many people?

“We’ll distract him”, her friend encouraged her yet again as they saw the man making his way through the tables pumping into stray chairs.

The young girl gave a thankful smile to her friends before she started to run as fast as possible away from the celebration. She moved swiftly through the dancing floor and disappeared inside of a small pathway that was behind the orchestra.

She took hold of her long dress, so she wouldn’t step on it and tumbles to the floor, and moved her legs as fast as she could. She looked just once over her shoulder to make sure that nobody had seen her as she made her leave, and most importantly, that nobody was following her.

She knew a place where she could find refuge at -a place that nobody other than she knew about, not even her best friends. It was a small rocky beach filled with huge sharp rocks and deep waters, right at the bottom of a huge steep cliff.

Aileen had discovered a secret passageway to get there when she was younger in her attempt to get away from everyone and everything. It was a long stairway that was sculpted into the hard rock, dangerous to climb down from since a small slip could send you a hundred meters down the cliff.

She enjoyed the beach as much as she enjoyed the library, if not even more. She could spend hours swimming in the deep crystal waters and discovering the numerous underwater caves that were scattered around the whole sea bottom. She enjoyed the sand that stuck on her body as she read a book on the shore, hearing the music of the crashing waves and flying seagulls so close in her ears.

It was her personal piece of paradise -her safe haven, where she could do anything she wanted away from the prying eyes of the villagers, and that’s exactly why she absolutely loved it. Plus, the fact that it was close to the sea, with which she always felt a connection, was only adding to the positives.

The young woman run through the flower meadows that were stretching beyond the village’s homes as the chilly wind caressed softly her flaming cheeks. She could still hear the music from the village and the singing of the men as if she was right beside them and not so close to the dangerous cliffs of Seaworth.

As soon as she reached the end of the flowery field, she stopped running and slowed her pace in order to calm her wildly beating heart and her labored breathing. She found the beginning of the familiar stairway and took hold of her long white dress as she got herself ready to descent the long distance that was separating the village of Seaworth with her own safe haven.

However, she didn’t manage to climb down even the first step, before she turned around in panic. The sound of a voice echoing through the silence of the beautiful night and disturbing her plans.

“Aileen!”

She heard someone screaming her name.

And then a black figure appeared in the darkness of the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

End of chapter 8!!

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