A WEEK WITH MERMAID

        " No, I sprinted to hold her back but was bounced back by something around her. It was the mist. It concentrated into a big ball around her like a shield. The men on the front line hesitated for a moment. I could see from their eyes that they were amazed. But they kept on walking. Those mobs was not scared at Kate, not until one of their strikes being bounced back and the stick being sent flying. 

     I stepped back, mesmerized at this men-against-supernatural-creature scene. Kate snarled, her teeth were sharp like that from the vampires. With a dodge, she sprinted towards one of them and knocked him over with her elbow. He stumbled on his feet, trying to catch his balance. Kate didn't give him that chance. Like a professional boxer, she gave him one heavy blow and knocked him into unconsciousness. 

      There was that mysteriously strong scent on her body like sea water. The shield was still on but it was getting weaker and weaker, like a phantom losing its shape. 

     " Kate. " I cried. She didn't look back but simply saying: " I'm alright. Just run, Matt. Just run."

      Run was the last thing I was going to do. Uncle Johnson stood at his side far away from the battlefield. His eyes were glancing mercilessly at her and me and his boys. Into his pocket, he pulled out a small black steel object that shone under the rising sun. My back chilled, and my leg stiffened as if I was being casted a spell to not move. The thing on his hand was a pistol, probably Browning. He grimaced silently when the muzzle pointed at me. 

    " No!! " The sound was mixed with the sound of the pistol fire. I wasn't screaming cuz I might had lost that instinctive ability under that circumstance. I snapped my eyes shot. Seeing myself die was terrifying, especially seeing my chest being torned through by the bullet. I was probably being silly to think that I could see my dying body writhing under the sunlight. The speed of the pistol bullet was over three hundred meters per second. According to my estimation, the distance between me and uncle Johnson was twenty meters at most. Dodging that shot was technically impossible for any human being. My mind spun off balance. Was it really the end. I recalled me telling to myself sadly." Perhaps. " the a alien voice illuminated scornfully. I wasn't afraid of death, especially after my parents' deaths. 

     " Maybe it was better off this way. " The corner of my mouth lifted and I found myself actually smiling contently. " It's all right save for Kate. " There was a flash of melancholy striking me like the tides tapping the shores gently. 

    " Will Kate be dead just like. " As if in response, my subliminal conscious said:

     " Maybe, but you will always be with her. The other side could be even better. You will walk with her on the beach where the sea is the color of sapphire. "

    " Yes. " I murmured in satisfaction. " It would be better off this way. "

     The loud " bang " of the pistol was fading away. Was I dead or alive. I reopened my eyes. Uncle Johnson was staring at me in astonishment and anger. The muzzled puffed the smoke like a giant cigar. The  bullet which was supposed to penetrate my chest and ripped my heart into half stopped on the the place approximately two meters to me. It spun in an extremely high frequency. I switched my eyes to Kate and was surprised to found out that the shield that covered her was almost invisible. I switched back.That light blue screen was extended to cover my body. In the middle of the screen the bullet was still spinning, but slower and slower. Like a dying bug which had been sprayed an pesticide, it fell to the ground, motionless. 

     Kate held her hands straight towards me to steady the shield. She was weak and vulnerable. I assumed that overcasting's side effect was getting her. What was more. She was then totally exposed herself to her confronters. 

    " No, Kate. Watch your back!!! " I cried like desperately but was still too late. The next swing caught her on the back. It was the lawn mowing boy. That shitty trash just hit my Katie. 

    " Nooooo !!! " I snarled that way and thought that way. It was a sense of horror and guilt that couldn't be conveyed by words. I guessed " No " was all the only word I could speak out of my mouth. The blow sent her to the ground and she moaned in pain, grasping the grass nearby and pulled them out of the soil. 

     The other guy swung his stick too. Kate screamed, part of her scale was even torn off. She was bleeding again. The blood streamed down her forehead and back. 

      At the far side, uncle was still standing with the Browning dangling on his palm. Seeing that, I snuck to him like an assassinator,grabbing a rock on the side street. It didn't take long before he realized that I was going to take down him. He swung his gun towards me and fired. It didn't hit me, partly might because he didn't aim and partly because he felt a little panicked. With the distance between us just two meters, I charged towards him with a mighty leap and knocked him down with my shoulder. He took a nasty tumble following my strike. The pistol fell and slid away. He tried to kick me with his boot but I took my chance and held it. I grappled with him with my fist and rock. He appeared to be much stronger than he looked to be. I remembered that for a long time there wasn't much advantage for either side. I gave him a strike with my left hand and he dodged it, giving me a blow on the rib and I was then sent flying to the ground, where the Browning laid. 

     He saw it, saw the mistake he made but it was too late. I grabbed the gun and pointed it directly towards him. 

     " Halt!! " I bellowed.

      " Everyone drop your weapon, drop your weapon. The guys who kept hitting Kate all turned, looking at me in disbelief and confusion. I was sure that they were also looking at uncle Johnson, trying to make sure what was going on. 

     " Hey, listen Matt. I believe that here are some dis.. " He didn't end his sentence, well his last words precisely, as the pistol on my hand fire one shot which went straight trough his heart. The air was stained by the deafening sound of the explosion of the gunpowder and the sound of muscles being ripped apart. The time was frozen and locked into that moment, like a playing movie tape which was halted by man. Uncle Johnson's face was distorted. It recorded his fear and something else, maybe regret. I couldn't process what that was and I neither had time for that. The other ones surrounding Kate then stood panicked. The lawn mower dropped his stick on the ground and stepped back with his hands up.   

     " You all, run away and never turn your head back.  The person who turned will be shot. " The crowd dispersed and immersed themselves in the most.