And THIS Happens (Ransom 5.2)

“Can’t say I saw that coming.”

Ransom frowns. “What? What did you think it was?”

“First of all, that was a joke; and second, up until right before you said that thing about a curse, I thought maybe you were a shapeshifter or something and you just didn’t know it until you hit like, some weird sort of supernatural puberty kind of thing? I don’t know, I read it in a comic book once I think.”

Eyes widening the more I speak, he searches my face. I think this is the most someone has ever looked at it, to be honest.

I decide I don’t like it. “What?”

“So...you didn’t see the curse part coming?”

“No, I did, after I ruled out the first option!”

His face contorts with confusion. “So you did see it coming?”

“Um, yes.” When he opens his mouth to say something more, I cut him off. “Don’t think about it too hard.”

Nodding, he glances at the floor and swallows before looking back up. “Do you want to know about the curse?”

So maybe he’s not as dense as I originally thought.

“Yeah.”

Ransom fiddles with the hoodie strings, mouth moving ever so slightly as he tries to find the right words. After an almost imperceptible shake of his head, he takes a deep breath.

“The next day I woke up, floating in the water. My vision was wrong. I was starving. And...” He lifts his arm, studying it as though he’s never seen it before and doesn’t know how it became attached to his body. “I didn’t have these.”

A strange feeling creeps through me, making my heart beat faster.

“I...Well, I panicked.” He drops his arm, turning it over so the markings are exposed. "At first, I thought it was a nightmare but when I never woke up and the days turned into weeks and months and years I finally realized things would always be like this."

He might as well be talking to himself and I am nothing but an outside observer. He doesn't look at me.

"After the first day of panic, I..." Even though he smiles, his shoulders drop a little more. "Maybe it's what I wanted after all."

I don't know what he means or why his words make my gut twist, but they do.

"I knew every day that passed, even though they all look the same when you're a couple thousand feet down. Some nights I dreamed about being human but I liked dreamless sleep better." He starts to trace the name slowly, with his thumb. "Maybe because she appeared in my dreams a lot, always asking the same questions about things I don't want to remember anymore."

I want—need—to say something, anything but I can't even remember how to speak.

Ransom lifts a shoulder in a kind of shrug and laughs, but it's not a pleasant sound. If I wasn't looking at him, I would think it's a sob. Maybe there's not that big of a difference between the two.

"The sea makes sense. Kill to survive. But people are not the same." He laughs again. "I wouldn't even be here right now, except I was so hungry and it's been a while since I've eaten something else besides fish."

He's lying—to me, to himself. It's written in his glistening eyes and intertwined with his clenched fists; I see it in the way he grinds his jaw and refuses to blink and send tears tracing down his face.

I haven't forgotten the pain that threatened to split my head in half or the fact that if I touch his skin, it will happen again and he may see parts of me that I try not to think about.

But still, I do the only thing I can, what I wish others would do for me. There's a lot of space between us and I'm leaning forward an uncomfortable amount. When I slip my arms under his to wrap around him, his body stiffens and I think I've made a mistake.

He rests his chin on my shoulder. As far as smell wise, it's not as bad as I thought, a combination of tuna and Risa's perfume. I hope my hair isn't poking him in the eye.

Cautiously, as though I might bite him if he moves too fast, he encircles me with his arms. He sighs, then inhales slowly.

I've made the right choice.