Seafood

Brent's best friend, Steven, vanishes. Brent hopes his friend is out sailing the world, getting tattoos, and drinking hard lemonade. Then Steven's boat is recovered, but the man has vanished.

Men go missing around the water of seaside towns, and it's no different for Star Harbour. Pieces of men wash ashore, maybe not. Officially, it's a random coincidence with no connections from one savage dismemberment to the next. Watch the news, stay off the water when they say to, and the wave of tragedy will devastate the next town.

Time moves on. But Brent doesn't. He spirals and ventures out to the water to meet whoever stole Steven. Instead, he meets a mermaid. She's gorgeous and compassionate, and he's hooked. More men go missing from his town, and it doesn't matter, does it, as long as he has her? He forgets his problems, his grief, his friends. Their love is all-consuming, and he'll do and give anything for her. And the water is hungry. It demands so much of Brent, and he is the perfect boyfriend and secret keeper.

A mermaid's love can be a curse, and the concept of free will becomes murky. It hurts to think about the red in the water, what happens to men lured to the beach, who is deserving, and what is justice-but having a mermaid's love is the most fulfilling purpose, isn't it?