"Hi, Kash. Boy, this is weird. This vlogging thing," Dad chuckled, glancing away from the camera, clearly flustered but excited. His familiar voice felt like a ghost curling through my chest.
"I wish I could bring you here and show you this personally, but the video will have to do for now."
The frame wobbled slightly as he moved, switching to the back camera. The screen refocused on the porch, where a man was sitting on the edge of the wooden deck, legs dangling lazily in the ocean, the sun catching on the ripples around him.
When the man turned his head, my breath caught. It was Delmar.
Not the wary, guarded version I knew but a relaxed, smiling Delmar, eyes crinkled at the corners, a faint blush of youth softening his features. He looked happy. Softer. Almost boyish in a way that didn't match the taller, broader figure who now moved with a quiet, commanding strength.
"So, this curious guy popped up in my backyard yesterday," Dad narrated with a grin audible in his voice. "At first, I thought he was some lost tourist. But guess what, he's the secret I've been chasing for half my life. Who would have thought the secret I have chasing all this time will walk up to my own door."
He let out a giddy laugh. "I still can't believe it."
The camera flipped back to Dad. The wide smile on his face, the light in his eyes,, I hadn't seen him this alive in years, maybe ever.
"I think he understands me. Not everything, of course, but enough for me to think he's intelligent. Kash, you have no idea how awesome this is. I could dance right now if I wasn't so bad at it." He chuckled and winked at the camera. "I can't wait to send you this video."
The clip ended with a small blur of motion. I played the next video.
"Hi Kash," Dad said, this time with a more resigned expression. "Sad news, I won't be able to send you the videos. Which, I guess, is to be expected. The internet here sucks." He gave a lopsided smile, then perked up. "Anyway, the dude's back."
The camera turned again, revealing Delmar lounging on the porch like he belonged there. His fin shimmered in the sunlight, submerged in water, the golden rays turning it into a trail of light.
"I taught him to wave. Let me show you."
Dad called out cheerfully, "Say hi to my son, Mr. Merman!"
Delmar looked at the camera, clearly unsure, then lifted his arm slowly and gave an awkward wave. A tentative smile played on his lips, like he wasn't sure if he was doing it right but he wanted to try.
I couldn't help but smile watching it.
"By the way," Dad said, flipping the camera back to himself, his expression growing amused, "he is completely smitten by you."
My eyebrows shot up.
"I caught him staring at your picture, the one on my desk from last year. You look really handsome in it, by the way." He chuckled under his breath. "I don't know how I feel about this guy eyeing it... as your father. I mean, I don't know his intentions, but it's certainly... fascinating."
He shook his head, laughing quietly. "He's such a good sport. I think I could actually teach him to speak. Who knows? Anyway, I have to go. I'll make another video if something interesting happens."
The screen went dark.
I felt my eyes water. Dad was the easiest-going person I had ever known. He smiled easily, hardly ever got angry, and could light up a room just by being in it. He was warmth in human form. We couldn't have been more different.
I guarded my emotions like they were secrets; he wore his on his sleeve.
I was still wary of Delmar, while Dad had made him a friend as effortlessly as breathing.
But the Delmar in those videos... he looked different. Same eyes, same features, but something had changed.
He was softer, gentler. There was a naivety about him, a wide-eyed wonder in how he looked at Dad and the world around him. A more innocent version of the creature now sitting across from me.
Delmar's fingers brushed my cheek, gentle and tentative, as a lone tear slid down. I didn't know the videos made me emotional. Or maybe I was guarding my emotions all this time and now they were all surfacing. Breaking free. Mom was right I hadn't shed a single tear when dad's body arrived in a casket, stiff and pale. In my mind his death wasn't real until I found out the cause and that drove me. Fueled me to come here. And now that I was here, now that I was looking at dad's last moments, it hit me. Hit me hard that I would never see him again like this again. Never hear his voice. Never see him smile. And it felt real…his death felt real now.
When Delmar squeezed my hand in silent reassurance, I pulled it back reflexively.
"I'm fine," I said, more defensively than I intended, before pressing play on the next video.
"Kash!" Dad's face filled the frame, wide-eyed and brimming with excitement. "You won't believe this, I got him to say your name!"
The camera swung around to the porch, shaky but steadying on a familiar spot.
"We were sitting right here," Dad said, showing the wooden planks worn smooth by salt and sun. "I was telling him about your obsession with classical music, and that's when he suddenly said your name."
Dad's laugh was pure joy, unfiltered and boyish. "Isn't it amazing?! I think his voice box is different, I'll have to examine it, but I'm afraid to piss him off."
Then he grinned wider. "And get this, he can solve a Rubik's cube."
He gave the cube a few quick shuffles and handed it over. Delmar, younger and softer, took it delicately in both hands. He turned the faces slowly, brows furrowed in thought, eyes laser-focused.
Then, in a few swift, calculated moves, he solved it.
Dad held it up to the camera like a trophy. "Did you see that? He's not just intelligent he might be more intelligent than us. I've got to find a way to study him more."
I clicked on the next video.
"He's learning new words," Dad said, setting the camera down and adjusting the angle. "He understands me. Perfectly."
In the background, the laptop dinged. Dad walked to it, squinting at the screen. "Someone keeps emailing me asking all these questions about my research. I don't know why these people are suddenly so interested."
There was a flicker of annoyance in his voice, but he hid it behind his usual cheer.
Then a hand entered the frame, pointing to the screen. Dad tilted the camera, revealing Delmar's face.
He was trying to say something, mouth forming careful, uncertain syllables.
"He wants to watch our home videos," Dad said, touched and surprised. "The one from your last birthday. I asked if I could examine his biology in return. And I know what you're thinking, 'It's not right, Daddy', but he agreed. So that's a good thing, I guess."
Dad pulled up the video. My eighteenth birthday. The only one he'd been able to attend.
Delmar sat on the floor, eyes fixed on the glowing screen with an expression I couldn't decipher. Longing? Curiosity? Awe?
Dad pointed the camera at the back of Delmar's neck. "I think he's growing appendages," he whispered, zooming in slightly. "They weren't there before. I think… maybe he's growing up. But it's hard to tell."
He hovered a finger over one of the raised bumps, the skin twitching beneath it.
"They look like they're designed to hold prey while he feeds. Maybe they're for defense, against other males of his species. I'm still figuring it out."
He pressed his finger lightly against the bump.
Delmar growled.
Low. Sharp. A sound that made the hairs on my neck rise.
Dad immediately backed off. "Okay, nope. I don't think he likes me touching him."
He laughed it off, but the camera shook slightly as he set it down.
I looked up at Delmar as the video ended. My gaze instinctively travelled to his neck, remembering vividly how he had killed Vicky, swiftly, brutally, with terrifying precision.
"You really are a dangerous creature, aren't you?" I asked softly, not expecting an answer.
But he smiled. Just faintly. A curve of the lips that sent an electric thrill through my chest.
It wasn't the playful smile Dad had captured in his videos. That smile had been soft, curious, youthful. This one was different. It carried weight. It knew things. It unsettled me in a way I didn't want to admit.
Dad's video wasn't even that old. Only a year ago.
And yet somehow... Delmar had changed. Drastically.
It wasn't the gradual transformation of a boy growing into a man. It was as if one day he was sixteen, all lean limbs and wide eyes, and the next, he was this. The being sitting before me now looked like he was in his early thirties. Mature. Solid. Almost predatory.
The broad shoulders. The thicker, darker hair. The intense depth in those ocean-green eyes. The glint of sharp canines, barely veiled behind lips that didn't quite smile all the way.
What had happened to him in that year?
I cleared my throat, uncomfortable with the questions spiraling in my mind, and started the next video.
Delmar was swimming in the sea, the sun casting liquid gold across his sleek form. He moved with impossible grace, every flick of his tail poetry in motion. Dad's voice came from behind the camera, narrating.
"I don't know if he's been separated from his people, or if he ran away, but his kind doesn't seem to be around. He's alone here. Completely."
There was a pause, then Dad continued, a faint thread of concern in his tone.
"Last week, he got agitated when he saw the fishing ships. I have a strong feeling his habitat's been damaged by human expansion. Maybe even destroyed."
The camera panned to show Delmar gliding toward the shallows, circling the house's stilted frame in a wide arc. Like he was guarding it.
"He spends most of his time near the house. If he sees something new or strange, he comes inside to check it out. Like my lighter, he's fascinated by fire. He just stares at it for minutes, mesmerised."
A low laugh followed.
"Oh, and music. He likes music. I played a few songs, your favourites, Kash. I've heard him humming the melodies underwater in the middle of the night. It travels far, that sound. Must be his voice box, it produces these low-frequency vibrations. Perfect for the sea."
Dad's voice softened at the end, almost wistful. "I must be boring you with all the information. I should go. Got chores waiting."
I clicked on the next video.
"Hi, Kash," Dad said, sitting at the kitchen table, eyes tired, hair unkempt. "It's been a while. I miss you. I haven't felt like filming anything this week... just been feeling low."
He paused for a moment, then glanced toward the camera with a fond smile.
"Let me tell you something. Mr. Merman's a good listener. Or maybe he just really likes hearing about you."
He chuckled faintly, then turned the camera toward Delmar, who sat quietly on the floor across from him, his expression unreadable.
"I told him how much you love dark chocolate," Dad continued, "though I don't think he understands what it is."
Delmar's face was different now. Sharper. Less wide-eyed. Less boy.
He looked almost exactly like the Delmar sitting across from me now.
"Something's changed in him," Dad said, his voice trailing off with something like awe. "It's almost like... he's undergone a metamorphosis. He's looking completely different than he did just yesterday."
A long pause. The camera lingered on Delmar's face.
"I wish I could communicate with him. Really communicate."
The screen went dark.
I hesitated before clicking on the last video.
It was dated five months ago.
Two weeks before his death.
My heart thudded painfully as I pressed play.
The video opened in darkness. Heavy breathing filled the audio, followed by rustling, panic in every movement.
"A bunch of guys showed up today," Dad's voice came through, whispering hurriedly. "They've captured another one. A female."
A beat. Then,
"She's in bad shape. Wounded. Abused. They say they've had her for a year. They were trying to get in touch with me, to fix her, to save her. Apparently, someone told them I knew how."
A pause. His breath hitched.
"They want to sell her to the government. They say they've sold one before. Made a good price."
Something clattered in the background.
"I have to save her. I have to try. I don't know if I'll make it."
Silence, then his voice cracked slightly.
"If something happens to me, remember, your dad loved you more than life itself. You're the only thing I'll be sad about leaving behind."
My throat tightened.
"I hope your mom learns to love you. And you learn to forgive her."
The screen froze on a frame of Dad's face, eyes shadowed, filled with resignation.
As the screen turned black, I clenched my chest, feeling a heavy weight settle on it like a slab of stone. Everything made sense now.
Vicky couldn't have been Dad's assistant, he must have been one of those people. The ones who brought the female here. The ones who needed someone to "fix" her.
His people were probably the ones who reinforced the glass tank in the basement, built not for observation, but for captivity.
Dad didn't die of a heart attack. That was just the story they fed us.
This wasn't random. This was part of something larger, something intricate.
A conspiracy that reeked of power and quiet violence.
Someone influential had to be involved.
And for the first time, I was glad Delmar had killed Vicky.
It felt wrong to admit, but I did.
I wanted to be the one to make him suffer for killing my father.
For everything he took from me.
I wondered what had happened to the female. Where was she now? Did she escape? Or did she die in that tank?
My thoughts spiraled, twisted into things I couldn't stop, couldn't explain. My heart throbbed with rage, with grief, with questions that had no place to go.
The text I had sent for rescue hours ago had gone through, thankfully, but Island City was still far. Too far.
There was nothing left for me to do but wait.
I needed to calm my nerves. I needed to do something.
I turned to Delmar and found him watching me quietly.
"You can go back in the ocean if you're uncomfortable," I said, voice barely steady. "I know wearing clothes isn't natural for you."
He didn't answer, only frowned slightly. His eyes studied me, unreadable.
I didn't know what I expected. Part of me wanted him to stay, even though I told him he could go.
But he stood, walked past me without a word, stepped out onto the porch, and peeled the clothes off his body like they were chains.
Then, with a graceful motion, he dove into the ocean cutting through the waves like a knife disappearing into silk.
Gone.
Just like that.
I didn't know it would hurt this much.
But it did.
He belonged to the sea. I knew that.
There was no point in holding on to something that was never meant to stay.