The Train to Farewell

1 When I was eighteen, I used my heart’s blood to save Terry after he was shipwrecked, binding us in a three-year tribulation contract. But on the day of our ninth wedding attempt, Terry backed out again. Instead of arguing as I had in the past, I calmly proposed, “Let’s just call it off.” He frowned, his tone carrying a mix of exasperation and blame. “Don’t throw a temper tantrum. Amara isn’t doing well right now. This trip is very important to her. It’s just a one-week delay. We’ll get married the moment we get back.” I remained quiet for a moment, then finally nodded. Amara’s custom ringtone went off. Before leaving, he smiled and ran his fingers through my hair. “Be good. I promise, this is the last time. When I get back, I’ll transfer that beach house you love into your name.” I forced a tight, painful smile. There wouldn’t be a next time. Terry didn’t know that I was the last mermaid left in the world. If he didn’t choose me completely, I would dissolve into nothingness beneath the next full moon, exactly six days from now. “Bang!” The front door slammed shut, sharp and final. I stood alone in the center of the silent room, a dull, familiar ache beginning to throb beneath my skin. I quickly made my way to the bathroom. Under the running water, a faint, barely visible shimmer rippled across my skin, like a fading signal. After some time, the burning pain finally subsided. My limbs felt stiff, taking me back to the day I first stepped ashore. Back then, walking on the sand felt like treading on glass. Every step was the reminding price of survival. And in the end, despite bleeding for him, I still couldn’t win Terry’s heart. Just as I went to step out, the lock clicked. Terry walked back in, carrying the faint, unmistakable scent of medicine. It was the scent of his fragile, sickly adoptive sister, the girl he always had to protect. I stepped out of the bathroom, cold and dripping with water. He paused, not coming any closer. He raised an eyebrow. “A cold shower? Was your temper really that flared up?” My face was pale, and I didn’t answer. He didn’t care. He spoke casually. “Amara was worried you’d be bored here alone. Pack your bags tonight. We’re leaving tomorrow, and you’re coming with us.” I froze, looking up at him. Terry brushed his thumb gently against the corner of my eye, a soft laugh slipping from his lips. “You’re always jealous of me spending time alone with Amara. This should make you happy, shouldn’t it?” My body went rigid. He quickly withdrew his hand to check his phone. Without looking up, he added, “By the way, we’re heading to the desert. Amara has always wanted to see the night sky there.” My pupils contracted, my fingers trembling. “I… Can I stay behind?” “You know I can’t handle the heat, and my dehydration condition…” Terry looked up from his screen, his expression hardening. He let out a cold scoff. “Dehydration condition? You’re just being dramatic.” Before I could explain, his gaze turned icy. “Amara is in much worse health and she didn’t complain. She wanted to include you out of kindness, and this is how you repay her?” The blood drained from my face, leaving me speechless. Terry stared at me for a few seconds, letting out a weary sigh. “Neri, I don’t want to fight with you right before our wedding.” My body remained stiff as I looked into his warm yet unyielding eyes. “Don’t make me repeat myself.” Under his heavy gaze, I finally whispered, “Okay.” Terry smiled, satisfied. He tapped his screen a few times, and the ticket confirmation popped up before my eyes. This was the ninth time he had used our wedding as a bargaining chip to force me to yield. Even though I knew the inevitable outcome, I still found myself stupidly hoping. The door opened and closed. Terry left with a light step, eager to return to Amara. I looked out the window, watching the moon grow fuller in the night sky. 2 The desert was more brutal than I had imagined. The air was dry enough to leach every drop of moisture from a human body. Even wrapped up tightly, my skin burned fiercely. Just as I unscrewed a bottle of ice water to drink, Amara backed up and bumped into me. The bottle slipped and crashed onto the sand. The water sank into the dry ground instantly, leaving only a dark, fleeting stain. Amara looked apologetic. “I’m so sorry, Nerissa. Here, you can have my water…” Terry stepped in, pulling her back by the hand. “You’re too weak to go without water.” Then he glanced at me carelessly. “Just hold on. We’ll have water once we reach the camp.” I struggled to breathe. Beneath my layers of clothing, my skin was already starting to crack. The sun grew harsher. Amara suddenly touched her forehead and whimpered, “Terry, the sun is so bright. I feel dizzy.” Terry stopped immediately. His eyes swept over my heavily bundled figure, and without a shred of hesitation, he said, “Neri, give Amara your coat and sunglasses.” My body shook. I looked at Terry with pleading eyes. “I can’t. I’ll…” Terry’s patience wore thin. “Amara is sick. She needs them more than you do. It’s just a little sun, what are you so afraid of?” Seeing me shake my head frantically, his patience evaporated. He grabbed my wrist, tearing the protective wrap from my body. “Neri, don’t be ungrateful.” The harsh sunlight beat down directly on my face and neck. Instantly, a horrifying rash of red burns and tiny blood blisters flared across my skin. When we first started dating three years ago, Terry had noticed my fear of the sun. He had silently taken off his jacket to shield my head for an entire afternoon, never mentioning that his own shoulders had blistered and peeled from the heat. He still knew how to care for someone. It was just that the person he cared for was no longer me. I bit my lip hard, refusing to let out a cry of pain. Amara gasped and took a step back. Terry covered her eyes, frowning with disgust as he looked at me. “What did you touch to break out like that? It’s hideous.” Without another word, he wrapped his arm around Amara and turned to leave. I stood alone in the heat, my hands shaking as I reached into the depths of my bag for a small bottle. It was filled with seawater I had brought with me. I opened the cap, but before I could spray it onto my burning skin, a hand snatched it away. Terry had doubled back. He stared at me, holding the bottle tightly. “Is this trash what you’ve been spraying on yourself to cause this reaction?” “Give it back!” My voice cracked with absolute terror. “Please, Terry, give it back. That’s seawater, it’s not trash…” Terry blinked, momentarily taken aback. He had probably never seen me lose my composure like this. But his expression quickly turned cold, and he tossed the bottle far out into the desert. I reached out, but I could only watch as the bottle landed on the sand, rolling a few times before being buried by the shifting wind. “Stop buying this useless junk,” he said coldly. “Neri, you should see what you look like right now. If you don’t care about your own appearance, at least don’t scare Amara.” His voice was swallowed by the desert wind. I stared at the sand, my eyes dry and burning, but my body could no longer produce a single tear. By the time we reached the camp, I could barely stand. A guide helped me to a chair and handed me a bottle of room-temperature water. But I didn’t even have the strength to open it. Terry was making a call nearby, his voice sounding tense and anxious. Through my blurring vision, I saw Amara leaning against him, looking fragile and pale. When he finished the call, he scooped her up in his arms. As he passed my chair, his footsteps paused. But the next second, Amara whimpered, “Terry…” Terry didn’t wait. He walked away with large strides. Their figures grew smaller and smaller until they vanished. My lips parted, but my throat couldn’t form a sound. As my vision faded into black, the last thing I saw was the sand dunes outside the tent, dyed blood-red by the setting sun. They looked like a burning sea. 3 I was awakened by my phone ringing. By the time I opened my eyes, the ringing had stopped. I was in a crude medical facility with an IV drip of saline hooked to my hand. I picked up my phone to find seven or eight missed calls from Terry. I stared at the screen for a moment before calling back. He answered almost instantly. “Neri, why didn’t you answer? Do you have any idea how worried I was?” My eyes welled with tears, my throat raw as sand. “I passed out from dehydration…” “Amara isn’t doing well right now. She needs a blood transfusion,” Terry interrupted, his voice frantic. “Your blood type is rare and matches hers. I already booked your flight back. Get to the airport immediately.” My limbs went numb. The phone slipped from my fingers, clattering onto the bed. Not hearing a response, Terry’s voice grew stern. “Nerissa, did you hear me? Don’t waste time, Amara can’t wait.” I licked my dry, cracked lips and finally managed a raspy whisper. “Okay.” The screen went black, reflecting a haggard face I barely recognized as my own. When I walked into the hospital, my steps were unsteady. The nurse took one look at my damaged skin and frowned. “Your veins are too collapsed from severe dehydration. You aren’t fit to donate blood.” Before I could speak, Terry walked in, his tone leaving no room for argument. “Do it anyway.” As the needle pierced my skin, I closed my eyes. The blood flowed through the plastic tube, carrying my remaining life with it. The first time I met Terry on land, he had been lying in a pool of his own blood. I had sliced open my wrist to let my mermaid blood flow into his mouth to save him. When he woke up, he held my hand and swore, “My life belongs to you now. I will cherish you forever.” He had promised to keep my secret. Now, he was draining my life to save his adoptive sister. “Mr. Drake, Miss Amara’s condition has stabilized. We can stop the transfusion now.” The voice sounded like it was coming from a great distance. I couldn’t hear clearly. I only saw Terry look at me, a sudden look of shock freezing his features. But he quickly looked away, his voice still tense. “Keep drawing. Just in case.” The moonlight seeped through the blinds. It wasn’t the full moon yet, but I could hear the sea drying up inside my veins. When it was finally over, I pushed myself up from the chair. My legs buckled. The skin on the back of my hand peeled away, exposing grey, dead tissue underneath. But no one noticed. Terry let out a sigh of relief, his gaze softening as he looked at me. I didn’t look back. I forced myself to walk out, concentrating every ounce of my energy just to keep from collapsing. Near the exit, I ran into Amara. She gave me a weak smile. “Thank you, Nerissa. Terry told me your blood is special and could save me. He’d do anything to keep me safe. I’m sorry for causing so much trouble.” Terry held her up, murmuring, “Why aren’t you resting in bed?” I bit my tongue to keep myself conscious. Ignoring them, I dragged myself back to the villa alone. I turned on every faucet in the bathroom and tumbled into the tub. Only then did the rapid drain on my life slow down. Looking at my reflection in the water, I saw cracks running across my skin like a dry riverbed. My eyes were sunken, my skin grey and dull. I tried to cover it with my hair, but clumps of it broke off from the roots, floating away in the water. A wave of panic seized me. I scrambled out of the tub and threw on every layer of clothing I could find, wrapping myself completely to hide my decaying body. Hours later, Terry returned with Amara and a few of his friends. Seeing the heavy curtains drawn, blocking out all light, one of his friends joked, “Is your girl putting on a surprise for you, Terry?” “Or maybe she’s playing hide-and-seek. The wedding is tomorrow, after all!” Terry’s face darkened as he threw open the doors. Finally, in the last room, they found me curled into a tight ball in the corner. “What are you doing now?” he snapped, walking over to tear the heavy layers of clothing away. When my body was exposed to the light, Terry froze. The room fell into a dead silence. 4 Dry, shriveled skin, thinning hair, hollow eyes… Everyone gasped in horror. No one spoke. Terry’s brow furrowed deeply. “You…” Amara suddenly let out a soft laugh. “Is this a cosplay, Nerissa?” “The makeup is so realistic, it actually scared me.” The others laughed along. “Terry, your fiancée is pretty creative. Is there going to be a performance at the wedding tomorrow?” “This special effects makeup is incredible. It looks so real.” Terry’s expression grew even more annoyed. He stared at me for a few seconds, his irritation turning into disgust. “Nerissa, what are you trying to accomplish?” “Did you make yourself look like a monster just to disgust me? To embarrass me in front of my friends?” My fingers trembled. I avoided their gazes, grabbing my coat to cover myself up again. Amara spoke softly. “Terry, don’t be mad. She was probably just playing a joke.” This only made him angrier. “Go wash that trash off your face, or don’t expect me to show up at the altar tomorrow.” He took Amara’s hand and turned to leave. I reached out, my fingers catching the hem of his coat in a silent, desperate plea. “Terry…” My grip loosened. Terry instinctively took a step back, distancing himself from me. But a sudden, inexplicable anxiety flared in his chest. He paused, pushing down the uneasy feeling. “Leave her. Let’s go.” At the door, he stopped and threw a cold look back. “Remember what I said. Clean yourself up. Don’t embarrass me tomorrow.” The friends chuckled and followed him out. “Alright, let’s get back to the bachelor party. No sleep tonight!” The door clicked shut. The room was plunged back into silence. Only the ticking of the clock remained, counting down my final hours. As the moon climbed higher, memories of his proposal flashed through my mind. He had knelt on the beach, his hands shaking as he opened the ring box. The fearless Terry had actually been nervous. His eyes had reflected only me and the setting sun. “Neri, I’ve never begged anyone in my life. But I’m begging you to wait for me, okay?” “Please wait for me. I will give you the grandest wedding in the world.” Back then, I truly believed our love would last forever. But I couldn’t wait any longer. Meanwhile, in the VIP lounge, a drink was offered to Terry, but he pushed it away distractedly. The liquor spilled onto the floor. Amara looked hurt. “Terry?” He didn’t answer. A heavy, suffocating weight seemed to press down on his chest, as if something precious was slipping through his fingers. He couldn’t take it anymore. Just before midnight, he raced back to the villa. He found me curled up by the window, motionless. He rushed over and pulled me into his arms, but the dry, brittle feel of my body made his heart stop. He finally realized this wasn’t makeup. “Neri? Neri?!” Through my hazy vision, I saw his frantic, terrified face. “What’s happening to you?” He was shouting, his lips moving, but my ears were filled with the roar of the ocean. I couldn’t hear him. The clock struck midnight. The bright moonlight poured through the window. Under his horrified gaze, I could no longer maintain my human form. My legs transformed into a long, shimmering fish tail, glowing with a brilliant silver light before fading rapidly. My scales fell away one by one, leaving my skin dry as bone. Terry stared, his mind unable to process the sight. In his pocket, the phone was vibrating with Amara’s ringtone, but he didn’t move. I looked up at him and smiled softly. “Terry, can you hear it?” I whispered, my voice barely a rustle of dry leaves. I pressed my withered, bark-like fingers against his chest. “My blood is flowing inside you. And it’s telling you…” “I am dying.” Terry’s pupils contracted in sheer horror.

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