Chapter Text
The lake by their house had always been Donna’s favorite place. It was the ideal spot for peace and silence whenever she wanted a reprieve from her busy day or overbearing relatives. She never understood why no one ever really came here. It never disappointed her with unexpected company any time she wanted to be alone and the bench which she made with her grandfather many years ago along the banks was always vacated and waiting for her.
Right now its comforting bliss welcomed her and soothed her aching mind after having a bad day at work and then being berated by her mother for not doing better. Donna didn’t have the energy to listen, so instead she opted to abandon the discussion entirely and try to compose herself. The chilly winter air cooled her face and she closed her eyes, the serenity of the scene further helped her to shut off the rest of the world.
She let herself focus on the present moment and allowed several minutes to pass in content silence broken only by the sharp air cutting through the grass around her. The familiarity of the place, which she has known all her life and could find solace in even in the worst of times, along with the vague calmness that nature generally had on people’s minds calmed Donna’s constantly anxious heart and she felt her body relax as she stared out at the lake, the undisturbed waters shone with the light of a sky covered with clouds and the trees surrounding it generously concealed her.
She didn’t know how much time passed while she sat there, nor did she really care, by the time she got back the tension in the house would hopefully be blessedly alleviated. The sun was not shinning today and the coldness of the snow which covered every surface was starting to creep in. She hugged her jacket tighter around herself and reluctantly got up to head back in when she heard a soft rustling nearby.
She turned her head trying to discern where the noise was coming from. It was probably a cat or a mouse she supposed, even though there were low chances of either being out in the open during these temperatures. Taking a look around she waited to see if the sound would repeat itself.
A few seconds passed before she heard it again. Almost like a gentle breeze, there was a soft ruffling in the tall grass and reeds that littered the borderline of the lake. Odd, there usually weren’t many fish in the lake Donna thought, suspicious, but her curiosity got the better of her and she made her way towards the scuffle.
Careful not to get her shoes wet she looked out into the waters, timidly moving the grass aside so she could get a better view. It took her a moment to see it, but eventually she locked onto it. There, in the thick of the reeds, was movement.
Whatever it was it was small, barely noticeable if one wasn’t looking for it. She stepped closer trying to get a clear image and gasped at the sight.
She had expected a fish or a rodent, or even an eagle for that matter, either one of those would have been more believable than what she was currently staring at.
Or, should she say, who?
There, caught it the blades of the grass that grew under the water was a small creature no larger than a forearms length. Its lower half was a tail, but its upper half… was human.
It was thrashing and moving. Donna could only stare at it, her mouth agape as her mind was reconstructing reality and she made a mental note to start visiting church more often.
“Oh. My. God.”
She tapped her fingers to make sure this wasn’t a dream and took several deep breaths. It didn’t feel real, this couldn’t be real. She wasn’t sure how long she just sat there, crouched down staring at it, it could have been seconds or it could have been hours. Time was reduced to merely a concept as everything she thought she knew about nature and about the world rewrote itself.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
She was brought out of her reverie when the little creature made eye contact with her. She ineffectively blinked the shock away and only now noticed why the waters were so murky in that area. It started to squirm and wriggle more intensely the moment it noticed her and she could see the water being stained with red the more it moved. It was blood.
“What happened to you?”
As she stared down at the small person she felt a pang of guilt for having scared it. Twenty times its size, it was no shock that it was probably terrified of her. If it didn’t die from natural causes then it would have found itself in the hands of people who would either kill it or hand it over to higher authorities, who would experiment on it and then kill it. Looking at it, at the way it was thrashing trying to free itself, she made a decision.
Reaching into her pocket, she took out a spare transparent bag used for groceries and dunked it under the water, a little further away so she didn’t accidentally harm the small mermaid. It was no good carrying it by hand, not if it was injured and especially not in this freezing winter air.
She took out the plastic bag once it was full and headed back towards where the creature was entwined.
Careful not to hurt it even more she reached down and gently prodded and detangled the grass, the task was made all the more difficult by the, frankly, glacial cold water. Its panicked movements had only webbed it up even more and it took her a while to get her hand around it. She knew the action would only cause it to be more afraid but there was no way around it, she had to get it inside if it really was injured.
Now that it was free it used the opportunity as an opening and slipped her grasp to make a beeline deeper towards the lake.
“No no no, wait!”
Donna made a move to grab it before it dove too far away, but she needn’t have bothered because as soon as it started swimming it lost its direction. Its movements were now even slower and less steady than they seemed before, rotating up and down almost as if it couldn’t differentiate between the two and whenever it mustered up the strength to propel itself forward and get away it swerved astray and lost its course.
It was still at arm's length and Donna’s heart nearly dropped out of sadness. She didn’t want to pity it, but she couldn’t imagine how petrified it must be, hurt and bleeding and barely able to stay conscious enough to save itself.
“I’m sorry, I really am, but I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.” She said mostly to herself and once more reached out a hand towards the mermaid.
As expected, it tried to swim away once it noticed movement in the water, but it didn’t get far. On the contrary, its movements were so misdirected, disorganized and weak that Donna barely had to concentrate to catch it. She grew increasingly worried and there was no doubting now that it needed immediate help.
All it could do was watch as Donna gingerly wrapped her fingers around its middle and brought it out of the water. She wasted no time putting it in the bag so she only had a few seconds to devote to being awestruck at the fact she was holding a mythological being in her hand.
She gently placed it inside and brought the bag up to eye level so she could see it better now that it was out of the dirty water.
And sure enough, it was a mermaid.
“No. Way.”
He must have come from the river leading to the lake. His tail was a bleak shade of blue and she wondered whether the lack of vibrancy was due to the coldness of the lake or the blood loss the creature was suffering from, or both. On each side of his tail were small fins, and the scales along his lower abdomen smoothly faded away into skin. His upper half was entirely human, with arms and a head and all the facial features one needs.
He was now turned towards her, weakly trying to grab at the walls of the bag he was now confined in. She could see his hair was brown and his face had a gentleness to it that one doesn’t see too often in most humans. His eyes were a soft brown, and they would have been lovely and comforting if they didn’t look so terrified.
He was looking at her wide eyed, his face was pale and Donna felt a pang of guilt for wasting time and staring instead of getting him inside as fast as she can. Holding him this close she could also see a part of his middle was bandaged. He had tried to stop a bleeding wound. The water inside the bag was already streaked with threads of red so she draped her jacket over it and hurried towards the house.
“Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.” She was exclaiming the whole way there, mindful not to slip on the snow or drop the bag.
Once she got inside she closed the door and headed towards the kitchen only sparing a look around the place to make sure no one was present. Thankfully, everyone had retired upstairs, but Donna still made sure her steps were quiet and inconspicuous as she placed the bag on the counter and took out a metal bowl from one of the shelves.
She wasn’t exactly sure what she was doing, but she did know the basics of treating wounds and the first thing to do was clean it. So, she filled the bowl with clean water from the sink and went to tentatively pick up the mermaid and put him in.
She carefully dunked him, making sure not to irritate the injury any further, and then changed the water. “Sorry about this.” She highly doubted the water from the lake was sanitary and if the wound wasn’t infected it was going to be unless she sterilized the environment as well so she repeated the motion once more, eventually filling the bowl and leaving him inside.
She made to unwrap the bandage he had circled around his waist and was rather surprised by the lack of resistance. She looked up and saw his eyes were closed. His whole body had grown limp and it made Donna’s heart pick up its pace.
No no no no you can’t die now you stupid fish. She left him to quickly take out the first aid kit stored in one of the cupboards. She shuffled through the shelves and junk trying to find it, getting more irritated by the second until finally she found what she was looking for.
She opened it to make sure it had all the necessary equipment when she heard sudden clattering and a loud pang from behind her.
Turning her head she saw the bowl skittering on the ground which was now completely soaked with water. She instantly stepped forward trying to find the mermaid when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye, but her thoughts were interrupted by a voice coming all the way from upstairs.
“Donna, is that you?” Sylvia yelled.
“Yeah! I’m… getting food?” She hastily answered and waited a few moments to see whether anyone would come downstairs, luckily no one did.
Donna turned towards the counter and she saw that the small mermaid, thankfully, hadn’t fallen as well but was scurrying to hide behind a large mug.
“Oi! Did you just... play dead to get away?” Donna asked bewildered, but then again she couldn’t exactly blame him.
She picked up the bowl again and went to get him back. If it weren’t for the trail of blood that he left in his wake Donna probably wouldn’t have seen him. He was small enough to squish himself behind the mug and looking at him she felt a painful wave of sympathy. He looked fragile and she had the sudden urge to leave him alone and profusely apologize for the way she was causing him to be scared, but there was nothing for it, if she wanted him to survive she would have to treat his wound.
“It’s okay. I know you don’t believe me, but I’m not going to hurt you.” She said, even though he probably won’t understand her, as she picked him up and put him back in the bowl again placing them both on the counter. When she pulled her hand back she could see it was covered in blood. How such a little thing had so much blood in him she could not fathom, it seemed only the adrenaline and panic coursing through his body were what was keeping him awake.
Donna washed her hands before opening the first aid kit, all the while she could hear faint tapping coming from the bowl. Not wanting him to topple himself over and potentially hurt himself further, she quickly picked up bandages, scissors and cotton along with a bottle of alcohol from one of the stills and made her way back towards the counter.
She took a moment to compose herself. Staring down at the bowl she could see that his bandage had fallen off during his attempt to hide away which made the wound bleed even more. To her relief, it didn’t seem too deep, more of a gash really on his right side. If he were a fully-fledged normal sized human she could surmise it had been inflicted by a knife or at worst a machete, but as a result the bowl was completely splattered with blood, his hands sliding along the walls and his tail splashing have smudged it all over.
The mermaid had tried to climb out, but the lack of water and the blood had made it difficult. He was covered in blood as well, his tail was glistening from it, his face was streaked with it and his hair was muddled with it. He was huddled inside the bowl with his arms wrapped around his middle, both in an attempt to stop the bleeding and the pain and a futile effort to shield himself.
It was a horrible sight and Donna felt a wave of nausea hit her. The silence was made all the more uncomfortable by the small mermaid just staring at her, his eyes pleading and his face tired. His eyebrows were creased in silent resignation and he looked so vulnerable.
Oh god what am I doing?
She let the moment of silence take its course and quietly told him “It’s alright. I’m trying to help you, that’s all I promise.”
He continued staring at her, whether because he was wary, or couldn’t understand her, or because he was too exhausted to be able to properly hear her. It didn’t matter, she needed to stop the bleeding.
She pushed her emotions down and, with a sigh, resolutely picked him up, supporting his head and gently put him back on the counter. His small hands protested, weakly trying to push her away and she could have cried right then and there.
“No... please…”
She stopped. His voice was so hushed she barely heard it, but she caught the words nonetheless.
He could talk. Did this mean he could understand her this entire time? She just stared at him, but she couldn’t waste time fretting over it, that topic will have to be pondered later.
“It’s okay. It’s alright.”
He tried to turn away from her, but she held him with one hand, delicate, careful not to put too much pressure. He started to thrash with his tail and to thump his fists against her fingers, but it was no use. She felt horrible, if she could switch places with him right now she would have and a part of her soul shattered when she heard his quiet grunts of fear.
“I know, I know.” She whispered in a vain attempt to put him at ease as she opened the bottle, picked up one puff of cotton and dabbed it with alcohol. It was the best way to handle the wound without dousing him entirely and giving him even more of a shock.
“This might hurt.” She told him apologetically with sadness and regret tinging her tone. She brought the cotton above his wound and gently let a few drops fall.
He screamed, small but excruciatingly pained and if a gateway straight to hell had opened up next to her she would have gladly stepped through it. His hands wrapped around her fingers and he squeezed with what little energy he had left. He buried his face in her hand and Donna felt like the most sadistic person in the world.
“…Why?”
His voice was so quiet, and something in her chest broke at the question, at the implication that even though she was trying her best to help him, he, in his confused and discombobulated state, had no idea and was absolutely terrified of her.
She didn’t want to do this anymore. She wished she had just left him in that lake, he probably would have been fine without her, but it was too late now.
You just can’t stop making things worse, can you?
He was shaking beneath her hand, too weak to put up a fight anymore, and it caused her cold, cruel heart to finally break. She stopped for a couple of minutes, giving him some relief and herself the opportunity to fully cry. Her vision got blurry and tears started falling freely down her face. Her hands began to shake as well, which was probably making the situation even worse for the mermaid.
She took a deep breath, then two, then three. She couldn’t stop now, so she did her best to bottle all her emotions and try to steady her breathing.
“Right.”
She took one of the bandages she had placed on the counter and unfolded it. She had to take her hand off of him so she could cut it into small strips, to her dismay he didn’t even move.
As slowly and as gently as she could, she lifted his tail and put the thin strip of bandage beneath him, right below his lower back. Then she circled it around his waist, not too tightly, but not as loose as it was before, and repeated the motion two more times until she was satisfied the wound was fully covered and tied a small knot with the ends.
During all of it, the mermaid didn’t resist. He was awake, barely, his arms lay limp by his sides and his head was turned away, his eyes had a glossy look as they stared at nothing. His body was unreceptive and pliable to however Donna manipulated it as she tried to bandage his waist.
Her soul twisted in agony from how resigned he looked and she couldn’t help but imagine herself in his place. How utterly frightened and helpless she would be in the hands of someone so much larger and stronger.
Wiping her face with her sleeves she finally left him alone and instead focused on cleaning the kitchen. She stored the first aid kit away, put the bowl in the dishwasher and then wiped the counter, the towel ended up so stained with red that she chose to simply throw it away, not wanting to look at it one second more. It was too much blood for one night.
She didn’t know whether it would be better if the mermaid was put in water or out dry while he recuperated, so she took an empty jar big enough to engulf him and filled it up.
She put it down so she could pick him up. He looked asleep. Carefully she slid one hand beneath him and pulled him up along her arm, bringing his head and upper half to her palm and holding him securely. With the other she picked up the jar and made to head to her bedroom, if she was going to keep a mermaid anywhere in her house it wasn’t going to be the kitchen.
He lay lax in her hand as she slowly made her way upstairs, quickly saying goodnight to her mum and granddad.
When she got to her bedroom she let out a large exhale. Mission… partly successful? At least no one saw her. Although it probably wouldn’t have been the worst thing if Wilf had, even if Donna didn’t want to worry him with all that blood and gore he probably would have handled the situation far more tenderly than Donna did. He had always had that calming effect on people.
Thinking over what to do next, she went to her nightstand and carelessly swept the contents off it, nothing was more valuable than what she was currently holding. She put the jar on top and took the softest pillow she had from her bed, a relatively small one with fuzz on the surface, and gently laid the mermaid on top of it.
She made sure the jar was close enough for him to dip into if he needed water, then took a blanket and placed it around the nightstand. She didn’t trust him not to fall in his sleep. Or, for that matter, if he’s awake, after all he nearly did it once already. Dumbo.
Satisfied, she sat down on her bed and looked over at him. He was still sleeping, his chest softly moved up and down, the motion was so delicate from how small he was. Oh god, Donna really hoped he would survive the night. If he made it through until tomorrow there would be a very high chance he’ll live.
If.
She laid down, too tired to bother changing into her pajamas, and allowed herself to relax. She couldn’t remember the last time she had an evening this anxiety-inducing. It exhausted her, the stress wearing down her mind was made all the more intense by the fact that she held someone’s life in her hands. Quite literally too.
Suddenly, as she finally let her body calm down and the adrenaline to fade away, she could feel all the emotion that has been put at the back of her mind for the past half hour weighing her down. Mermaids. There were actual mermaids in the world. And they could talk.
Either the universe had a funny way of playing games or there was a whole lot more in it that she had no idea about. She decided it was probably both.
She covered herself with a blanket, but left the light on just in case. Her mind had completely wrapped around itself trying to process this new reality and the effects of it hit her full force. She yawned, utterly worn out, her eyes were droopy and she felt the comforting lull of sleep drawing her in.
The last thing Donna wanted to do was sleep, there was so much to think about, to plan. What was she going to do if he didn’t survive? She couldn’t even live with her own consciousness if that happened let alone figure out what to do about it.
Donna looked up at the small creature again, still laying on his back, sound asleep on the pillow, thankfully still breathing and she found she couldn’t take her eyes off him. The bandages around his waist were mercilessly unstained. It seemed being out of the water was the right decision to stop the bleeding, and that thought settled something inside her.
Donna continued to stare at them, to see if they will bleed through so she could immediately get up and change them, like a pot ready to boil. She felt that if she looked away something might happen. That he would fall over, or stop breathing, or go into shock if she left him alone. It was silly, she knew, but right now she didn’t have the will or the energy to deal with her own insecurities.
So she stayed awake, as long as she could, just watching him and thinking over everything that happened or could happen.
The night sky greeted her a couple hours later, with its stars twinkling above, their beauty granting her reprieve from the gruesome images running on loop in her mind.
The serenity of the scene eventually calmed her down, and she drifted off to sleep.