I Would Dive On To the End With You Who: Penny, Derek What: Sequence Where: Ocean When: Present Ratings/Warnings: Blood, Gore, Violence
Waves lapped against the shore in a symphony of crashing sound. The sun beamed down in an almost picture-perfect representation of a California summer day. His heartbeat sped up as a soft hand wrapped itself in his, and Derek turned to face Penny with a grin. “Race you to the water?” he said, already starting into a crouch.
The sun was warm, bright. She could feel the call of the water, stronger than usual considering she was so close to the ebb and flow. Those green eyes shimmered with the rays cast from above as they tangled in the crisp foam. Beneath her feet the sand was comforting. She didn’t mind the granules as they clung to bare skin.
Penny laughed and smiled at Derek. “On the count of three,” she giggled, crouching slightly before taking off for the water on an impromptu shout of three.
Hair flew around her as she rushed for the tide and once the white bubbles met her ankles she paused, spun in a circle. The hem of her dress fanned out, white and simple.
At the last moment, he paused, waiting for Penny to get in the water. Once she was about knee deep, he jumped in as ostentatiously as possible to create a splash, watching the drops rise up and splatter against her dress. Then he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against him, planting a kiss over the faintest freckles that could only be seen up close, which was his favorite way to see her.
Waves rocked against their legs, and Derek held tight onto her. If they fell, they would fall together.
Her arms wrapped around his neck. Heart fluttered, she adored him so much. Moisture from the waves ran down the length of her perfect legs, weighed down the hem of her dress. But only he mattered. The rock of the water didn’t even matter.
“I love you,” she breathed, a dreamy sigh would escape too.
And then she backed up slightly, taking is hands to lead him a bit further into the endless blue liquid. “Come with me.” It was as if she could have both things she needed more than anything in that same moment - the water and her heart. It was perfect.
“I love you, too.” Derek took her hands, letting her lead him. He felt the water hitting his thighs, then hips. His feet brushed against soft tendrils of something, and his eyes were trained on the way she seemed to sparkle in the ocean and sun. Everything felt vibrant yet still at the same time, somehow. Like they were in a painting, too perfect to be real.
“I’m following you into the deep. I hope you’re a strong swimmer,” he joked.
She didn’t know why she felt so at home there in the water but she did. It was comforting, as if she had come from the depths itself and knew each bubble or creature intimately. Her smile never waivered. Her hands in his stayed steady. “I guess we will find out,” she mused.
But then her motion stopped. Her head tilted a bit as if she were hearing something like music or a voice.
“Did you hear that?”
Overhead no birds could be seen. It was a cloudless sky, sunny and bright.
Derek closed his eyes. It was singing, or at least, he thought so. It was so faint, but it seemed to resonate somewhere deep inside him. He wanted so much to follow that sound, deeper and deeper. His grip around her hands tightened, and he opened his eyes to look at her.
“It’s beautiful. Like you.” He freed one hand to run his fingers over her face, down her shoulder, her arm.
Be free.
Penny’s brow furrowed.
Almost as if she didn’t hear anything he had said, her gaze took on a hazy veil. But the touch at her arm was enough to get her attention. One of her hands would slide out of his and drop into the water.
Beneath the barest surface of the tide something floated, waiting for her to find it. The confusion was evident on her face as she lifted the thing out of the water - the sunlight glinted on the metal object. It was a scalpel.
Derek watched this, confused. “That’s random,” he laughed. “Why would someone lose that in the ocean?” He turned his head to check on their belongings which rested on the sand, and was disconcerted to see how very far away the shore was. Somehow they had drifted what looked to be hundreds of feet away.
The water was also less beautiful this far out, he noticed. It had turned dark and brackish, and pieces of refuse and seaweed seemed to litter the surface. “We should swim back,” he told her.
Penny didn’t even seem to notice the changes in the water. A crumpled soda can drifted past her left side. Her eyes were fixed on the blade in her hand which looked pristine in spite of having been in the water.
The longer she looked at it, at the sliver of reflection looking back at her, the stronger something inside of her began to brew. She didn’t see pale skin, blonde hair, green eyes. Instead the bit of watery metal showed purplish blue scales, black eyes, a monster with no human features save for optics and a mouthful of jagged teeth.
But she hadn’t physically changed. The hair was still there, those freckles. Though inside she was a torrent.
Be free, my child.
And then her fingers tightened around the handle and the blade shifted in her grip. Arm lifted and came down in an effort to plant the sharpest edge of the metal into Derek’s heart. Her expression was blank at first, then her smile began to grow though it lacked the glee and mirth from moments ago.
“Let me be free.”
Derek reacted too slowly. He avoided the brunt of that sharp object, but it still sliced a clean line into his skin. Blood poured out easily and ran down his chest, dripping into the water and turning it pink around him. He pressed his hand against the wound and looked at Penny in shock.
“What are you doing? Why did you do that?” He tried to step away from her but tripped over some underwater weeds, and fell backwards into the sea. He broke through the surface, going under, and looking up he could see that scaled creature through the ripples.
The scent of blood was powerful in the water.
Penny felt a strange hunger welling up inside of her as the wind brought the addition into her senses. She peered into the water and then lunged after Derek, that scalpel still clutched in a hand. Eyes were sharp beneath the swirling tide and another swing would be taken as her frame propelled itself forward.
The change was nearly instantaneous; white, pristine flesh would give way to those scales. Legs knitted together into a solid tail with a fin erupting from the end. Gill-like slits opened up on both of her sides and the seam of her mouth began to tighten. Claw like fingers stretched out for him with hopes of dragging him into the depths.
In hopes of devouring.
Derek thrashed in the water, trying to hold her back, away from him. He also needed to breathe, bad, but the surface seemed so very far away and she was holding him down. In his distraction, the scalpel managed to split the flesh of his forearm. Stars were beginning to swim in his vision.
He tried to call for help, uselessly, but the words just turned to bubbles.
Be free.
That seamless mouth split open to reveal the jaw full of jagged teeth. Blood stained the water and the creature went into a near frenzy. The claw-like appendage of hand not holding the scalpel clamped down on Derek’s free hand, utilizing all of the strength it had. Above them the surface continued to recede and the water grew darker.
Scalpel would lift again in the water and make a slicing motion.
Derek was starting to black out. Visions came to him of a hospital, the usually sterile environment stained by blood and carnage, dead bodies slumped over gurneys with exposed organs which should never see the light of day. And then he saw Penny and some pale, black-haired figure that made his skin shrink and feel a size too small.
It was confusing, it made no sense, but nothing did as the teeth dug in around him.
As the scalpel worked through cloth and skin, it would be cast aside. That mouth grew larger, a shrieking sound erupted into the water. Bubbles came from the siren’s sides as it took a breath, and then teeth clamped down on an arm. Meat, blood, bone, anything it could devour would be. Such was the nature of the beast.
His eyes flew open. His head was on a flat pillow, resting against the carpeted floor of the motel room. The room was dark. Derek patted himself down. Everything was intact, save for the wrapped wound on his wrist that was already starting to heal.
The vampire sat up. He was okay. He didn’t need to breathe. He wasn’t drowning.
He looked over to where Penny was lying, still tied to the bed.
Penny was sleeping.
She twitched nearly violently once in a while but otherwise stayed in the prone position she’d been left in. Behind closed lids her eyes rolled as if she were dreaming, too, but it lasted only seconds at a time. Small spurts and then stillness.
Derek stood slowly, quietly. He didn’t want her to wake, wouldn’t be able to handle looking into her eyes just yet. The vampire just watched her sleep. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if Phanuel couldn’t help them.
Because he knew that part of his promise to the Angel was also making sure that an Elfleda-helmed Penny wasn’t released out into the world.