On my next weekend, I went to Ramon’s apartment. Old building, stinky stairs, rusty metal door – his place hadn’t changed a bit in all these years. When he opened the door with confusion on his face, it took everything in me not to punch him right there and then. He asked me what I was doing there.

  “A monster hurt my friend,” I replied, growling through my teeth.

  Ramon’s eyes lit up. He didn’t even ask what kind of monster. He simply assumed what he wanted to believe, agreeing to my proposition without any further questions. Even when I told him to leave all his weapons at home, that we would use my net and harpoon, he never protested. He was so excited. So eager to get on my boat. All the way there, Ramon kept telling me how he always knew I’d see the truth. How, in his mind, I would always understand and choose the side of good. I just kept nodding. Keeping my mouth shut, I pretended I agreed with him.

  We got on the boat. For the last time, I asked him if he had any weapons. Ramon showed me his empty pockets, enthusiastically telling me how he would torture the monster with his bare hands. So stupid of him. But it all worked perfectly.

  We set sail into the ocean. I told him I knew where we would find the monster, that I had tracked them to their home. Ramon was so proud of me. He said:

  “I always knew you would come around. You are like a son I never had.”

  I kept silent, only squeezing half a smile out of myself to play pretend. That thought sickened me. I wanted nothing to do with this sadist. Him calling me his son made me nauseous. Yet he never saw it coming. The wind was on our side. Looking overboard, I could see that, with time, the current changed, being tampered with. The women were in position. When we came to a stop, Ramon was so thrilled. He kept looking around in the water, searching for the target. We heard a screeching sound of a mermaid call. Several years of pretending to be an expert and Ramon still couldn’t distinguish a female’s call from a male’s. He ran to the side of the boat where the sounds were coming from. Seeing movement near us, he yelled for me to shoot the harpoon. However, I simply stood there. Still as the undisturbed water of a lake. He turned to face me, confused about why I hadn’t shot yet. I started to walk over to him. Only seconds before my boot hit his chest, he seemed to finally understand what was going on. In his eyes, I think I saw it dawning on him: the realisation of what we were actually doing here. My foot landed in the middle of his chest, sending him over board and into the water. With a splash, his body landed and disappeared in the deep blue of the ocean. I came closer to the edge, trying to see into the depths. I could see three shadows in between reflected sunlight. Pieces of Ramon’s clothes started to float up to the surface. Then I saw one of the shadows being sent to the air. Ramon’s face showed under my feet. Horrified and bloodied. His body half-naked, covered in deep claw marks. Water around him was mixing with his blood. The capillaries in his eyes were burst, making his brown irises disappear in redness. His frightened gaze brought me so much satisfaction.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “Help me!” he screamed, pleading and stretching his arm out of the water, reaching for me.

  I could have helped him. But I stood there. Watching him. Observing how realisation sank in. Desperation setting in. At that moment, as I stared at him with pure rage and clenched fists, he knew. He knew why I was doing it. He knew…

  In a second, his pleas were drowned in the ocean’s salty water. I saw his shadow being dragged deeper and deeper. More blood was rising to the surface. I saw his silhouette being disassembled. I couldn’t hear his screams, but I saw bubbles coming from the depths. Piece by piece, the women were tearing him apart, like a wild dog rips its prey. Any trace of him was erased. I felt anger. So much of it, I couldn’t do anything else but stare. When there was nothing left of him, I could finally exhale. Relief washed over me. It was done. He was done. He would never hurt another mermaid. Never teach anyone else how to do that. Ramon was dead.