Luna still casually floated in the Charleston Harbor. She was lucky there was still no one out there. Suddenly, she heard clicking. Luna peered over her shoulder to see a few bottlenose dolphins swimming toward her. One by one, they leaped out of the water. “Huh?” said Luna.
The dolphins reached her and danced around her. Each one clicked and clapped their fins. It was both breathtaking and unusual to Luna.
One dolphin, who stopped dancing, nudged her with her nose.
“Hi-Hi there,” Luna stammered.
Tracey soon reemerged from the harbor. He gasped when he saw Luna playing with the dolphins. “Whoa, Luna! Since when are you a Whale Whisperer?”
“I’m not!” said Luna. “These dolphins came from out of nowhere!” She pulled the dolphin off her and gave her a gentle push to her friends. “Oh, whatever. Did you find my music box?”
Tracey froze. “Oh, um... Well, ya see...” He sighed. “I think the current pushed it further into the harbor. I looked, but couldn’t find it anywhere.” Oh, he hated lying. “But don’t worry. I’ll keep looking.”
“Really?” Luna cracked a smile. “Thanks, Tracey. That music box means a lot to me.”
“Why?”
Luna and Tracey headed to a small beach under the dock’s bridge. Luckily, it was low tide, so they were able to sit and chat. Also, they were under the pier, which was safe. The dolphins returned to the pod to do some fishing.
As Tracey dried his tail, Luna explained, “My parents gave me that music box.”
“Are they alive?” Tracey didn’t like asking that, but he was curious.
Luna shrugged. “I don’t know. Tracey, I think I should tell you a secret.”
“A secret?”
“Yes,” said Luna. “You see, I trust you.”
Just hearing that, Tracey felt even more guilty, but he had to let his father check the music box.
“You see,” said Luna, “I was adopted.”
“Wait, you were?”
Luna nodded. “Yes. My adopted parents found me on the beach when I was only a few months old. Apparently, I was playing with some sea turtles, so they assumed I had been there for a long time. There was no note, nothing. The only thing my adopted parents found was that music box. They think my birth parents gave it to me before they dropped me off. They looked everywhere for them. They visited the hospitals to find out what babies had been born in the past few months, but didn’t learn anything.”
“Does Candice know?” Tracey asked.
“She’s my best friend, Tracey. Of course, she knows. I tell her everything."
“When did you learn this?”
“Last year on my eighteenth birthday. You see, Trace, you’re lucky. You know where you come from, but me. I’m still looking.”
“I actually don’t know everything,” Tracey explained. “I mean, I know I’m a prince, and I know I come from a long line of sirens and claxtons, but I don’t know anybody in my family tree, besides my parents.”
“Well, that’s more than me.”
***
Tracey let his tail dry a little longer, then he transformed back into a human. His human form was just as handsome as his merman form. His hair was pure black and went down his back. He looked like a ninja. He wore a gold-trimmed dark green jacket with a black-and-white vest, white pants, black boots, and maroon fingerless gloves.
Once Tracey had his legs again, he and Luna pushed through the seagrass onto the main path that took them to the dock.
Luna scooped up her bag, which she had left on a bench, and joined Tracey under a grove of trees. Gina agreed to meet them at the dorm, so she wouldn’t look suspicious, while the kids set out to find Candice and Aiden. Tracey promised Luna that he would search for the music box later when there weren’t as many people.
They found Aiden and Candice on King Street in a store called H&M. It was near Wentworth Street, and many college girls liked to shop there. The doors were usually open so people could waltz right in. The store had tile floors, white walls with black tops, and rows of clothes. Most of the clothes were expensive. Even the simplest shirt costs $60. Fortunately, there was a bargain section at the back. That was where Aiden and Candice were.
Tracey wandered around, but Luna grabbed her friends.
Candice was so busy tossing shirts and dresses into Aiden’s beefy arms that she didn’t see her. “No! No! No!” she yelled.
“Candice!” said Luna.
Candice ignored her.
“Candice!” Luna repeated.
Nothing.
Tracey headed into the women’s section of the store, which was about three-quarters of it. He approached a table and picked up a fancy pink satin bra. Confusingly staring at it, Tracey asked, “Hm, what is this?”
“Hey! Just what do you think you’re doing?” an angry voice asked from off to the side. It belonged to the shop’s owner. She was an older woman, about Emilee’s age, who wore glasses, tights, a skirt, and a grey jacket. She rushed to Tracey, her entire face red, and snatched the bra out of his hand. “You don’t belong here, kid! You need to go to a men’s clothes store!” Then just like that, she kicked him out of the store. The woman pushed his back until Tracey was back outside on King Street. She then slammed the door behind him.
“Well, excuse me!” Tracey whispered to himself. Geez, he still had so much to learn about the Human World vs. the Magic World.
Whatever. Tracey decided to go for a walk down King Street toward Marion Square. But he stopped when he heard music. It sounded like a rock band. He could hear guitars, drums, a keyboard, and someone singing. Whoever was singing had quite a nice voice. Tracey wondered if he was another claxton.
The music came from a small alleyway to the left of him. There was a sign beside it that read Happy Hour. There was also an arrow pointing down the alleyway. Tracey followed it until he stumbled upon a small building. There was a bunch of graffiti on both it and the alleyway walls. The music grew louder, causing Tracey’s ears to ring. He was so interested in what he would find that he didn’t pay attention to the 21 and over sign beside the building’s main entrance.
Tracey stood in a warehouse. There were partygoers before him, mostly men, who were drinking, laughing, and examining the stage.
The stage was where the music came from. The band was on the far right, and a woman danced in the center. She hardly wore anything (besides something that looked like a high-end bikini), had tattoos and piercings all over her body, and beefy arms. She looked like a prostitute, but Tracey didn’t know what that was.
“Hey!” a bartender behind the bar shouted at him. “We don’t serve you here!”
“Do what?” Tracey asked. He shivered when he noticed people looking at him: not just men, but also nearly naked women. Even the band stopped playing. He gagged when he smelled cigarette smoke.
“You!” the bartender continued. “You’re clearly underage! We don’t need punks like you in our club! Get out of here!”
“Oh, come on!” Tracey begged. “Am I not allowed to use just a smidgen of magic?”
“Magic? What are you talking about?” asked the bartender. “Boys, why don’t we show this amateur how we deal with unnecessary trash like him?”
Right at his command, three huge men stood from their tables. They were three times Tracey’s size, about as big as Aiden.
Seeing them, Tracey stuttered, “Hey, boys. Ca-Can we not talk about this?”
The men cracked their knuckles and backed him against the bar’s wall. “Time to teach you a lesson,” said one. “Baby, do you want to crush him into a can and throw him away?”
Baby, one of the men, growled. He edged closer to Tracey, who now had nowhere else to run.
Though he was nervous, he remained brave. After all, Tracey was Tracey. Compared to these men, he had so much more power.
Baby tried to strike him, but Tracey put up a green barrier between him and the men. “You don’t want to get in it with me!” he threatened. “I’m a claxton!”
“A claxton?” Baby burst out laughing. It was so loud, so threatening, that Tracey shivered.
Baby continued: “What is that? Some term weaklings like you came up with?”
Tracey glared, but he was clearly growing stressed. “No! It means I’m a male siren!”
That time, everybody in the club laughed, including the prostitutes.
In an angry voice, Tracey asked, “You don’t believe me? Fine. I’ll prove it to you.”
Before he could unleash a natural disaster that would destroy the entire club, he heard Luna. “Tracey!” She rushed into the club, followed by Aiden and Candice.
The barrier protecting Tracey dropped when he saw them.
“Please forgive us, boys,” Luna said in a casual voice. “He’s just from out of town. Go back to your party, and we’ll be on our way.” She gave Candice a quick nudge. “Candice.”
Candice nodded. She hurried to Tracey, but by the time she made it, she was too late.
Fangs appeared in Tracey’s mouth, his eyes glowed red, and his fingers turned into claws. If Tracey had a weakness, it was stress. Hissing, he snapped at the three men.
They screamed in fright and quickly backed away from him.
Tracey knocked Candice away. He held out his claws and aimed them at his enemy. He turned over tables, continuing to hiss and growl. Tracey tripped over a table leg and fell to the ground. He clawed at it, producing a terrible screech.
Frightened people took off running. Some hid behind tables, while others dove behind the bar. Some even hid backstage, along with the band. A group of people piled out of the building and drew their phones to call 911.
“Tracey, stop!” Luna begged, but Tracey didn’t listen to her.
He created a gust of wind. It picked his feet off the ground and caused his hair to wave. His face took on a more fish-like appearance. Fins grew out behind each of his ears, and gills appeared on his neck. His skin turned green.
“Monster!” partygoers shouted.
Before Tracey’s claxton transformation reached its final stage, Luna screamed, “No!” Without thinking, she hurried before Tracey and held her hand toward his face. As soon as she did, her music box and Tracey’s conch glowed in his pockets. They floated out of them.
Luna’s music box opened, revealing the mermaid. The lullaby started playing, calming Tracey down immediately.
Noticing that, Luna became upset, but she also got an idea. She started to sing her song. She felt it suited Tracey more than it did her.
“As the moon rises, it casts a moonlight beam on the sea. The mermen dance in the breeze. And the magic is alive. Within you and within me. This is who you are.”
Luna gently grabbed Tracey’s hand and pulled him down onto the ground. His skin returned to normal, and the fins disappeared from behind his ears.
“But you don't belong here,” Luna sang. “There is a place out there. A place that's not here. A day will come when you can learn the truth. Someone is out there. Someone for you.”
Candice and Aiden’s jaws dropped. They remained frozen, even as the conch and music box gave off a burst of light.
Within seconds, Luna teleported her, Tracey, Aiden, and Candice out of danger. The only people left in the club were the partygoers.
ns216.73.217.39da2
and then Add to home screen.