1.) Everything is Fine
He knew she did not trust him, but he also knew she could never turn down someone who needed help.
The straw made gurgling noises as Rikki slurped the last of her smoothie. She had drunk two smoothies and been through every magazine on the premises, and yet Cleo was still a no-show. Sighing, she idly began to boil the remnants of her drink, watching the thick bubbles pop. She quickly hid the glass in her hands as someone came up behind her booth.
"She's still not here?" Emma asked, sliding onto the bench opposite. She had changed out of her server's uniform, her last shift of the week finally over. Rikki let go of the hot glass and shrugged. "It's not like her to be this late without letting us know," Emma observed.
This was true. Cleo was nothing if not conscientious, and would certainly have texted or called if something was holding her up.
"Did you try texting her?" Emma asked.
"And calling. I even left a voicemail. Should we head out without her?"
"Let's give her five more minutes," Emma suggested. Rikki nodded, reheating the smoothie with a curl of her fingers. The two took turns boiling and freezing Rikki's leftover drink, passing the time until nearly fifteen minutes had gone by.
"She's not coming," Emma finally said. "If we're going to go, we should go. Text her to meet us out there."
"Yeah, alright," Rikki pulled out her phone, thumbing the keys as she followed Emma out of the cafe and into the cool evening air. The three girls had planned to swim out over the reef that night. There was nothing quite like being underwater after dark, and the moon was just full enough to cast a light that made everything glow — but not so full that it posed any threat.
The girls slipped into the water unnoticed and raced to Mako Island. Emma won the race (though that result was highly contested), and pulled herself up to sit on the edge of the moon pool, flicking water at Rikki with her tail. Rikki too heaved herself out of the water, expertly drying herself and steaming up the cave.
"Call Cleo one more time," Emma said, sliding herself back into the pool. Rikki already had her phone to her ear.
"She's not answering," Rikki muttered. When the voicemail greeting beeped, she sighed, then let Cleo know that they were heading out to the reef without her.
"Ready to go?"
"Race you!" Rikki dove headlong into the water and was out of the cave before Emma had taken a breath.
By midnight, all that was left of their concern for Cleo was a niggling sensation in the back of each girl's mind. They comforted themselves with repeated She'll call us in the morning mantras as Rikki and Emma went to sleep that night. When Rikki woke on Emma's bedroom floor tangled in her sleeping bag, Emma was on the edge of the bed, looking worriedly at her phone.
"Anything from Cleo?" Rikki asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"No. Should we be worried yet?"
"I'm sure she's fine. Her dad probably confiscated her phone because she was fighting with Kim or something."
"Sounds about right," Emma chuckled. She expertly made her bed while Rikki rolled up her sleeping bag, then the two girls bounded downstairs for a breakfast of yogurt and fruit. Halfway through their meal, while they were comparing their favorite parts of last night's swim, there was a knock on the door.
"Someone's at the door," Rikki informed Emma.
"Oh, I'll get it! Let me!" Emma volunteered sarcastically.
"It is your house," Rikki rolled her eyes, but followed her to the door. Lewis was on the doorstep, looking perplexed. He invited himself in as soon as Emma opened the door.
"Is Cleo here?" he asked.
"No, why?" Emma followed him out of the foyer.
"I got the weirdest text message from her, and she didn't respond when I texted back, and she hasn't answered my calls, and I know she isn't working today."
"What's the message?"
Lewis held out his phone to show the text Cleo had sent. Rikki squinted at the small screen.
"'Do like demon hate.' What does that mean?"
"I don't have a clue."
"Well I'm pretty sure demons do hate, but I can't imagine Cleo needing to tell you that."
"Maybe she just pocket-dialed you," Emma suggested. "Or, pocket-texted."
"Yeah," Lewis stowed the phone in his pocket. He looked as unconvinced as Rikki felt.
"I don't buy it," Rikki said decisively. The others looked at her. "There's no way that a weird message to Lewis and no one being able to get a hold of Cleo is a coincidence. I don't believe in coincidences."
"No one can get a hold of her?" Lewis asked. The girls shook their heads.
"We've been calling and texting, but I haven't talked to her since yesterday morning," Emma said.
"I haven't seen her since school on Friday," Lewis said.
"Something's wrong," Rikki decided grimly.
"I agree," Lewis nodded.
"Never thought I'd hear those words from you," Rikki smirked. It faded quickly though. "But then where is Cleo?"
"What if something's happened?"
"Alright," Emma held her hands out, suddenly in organization mode. "Before we jump to any conclusions, let's call Cleo's house and make sure there isn't a simple explanation."
She dialed the number on her phone, letting it ring on speaker for the other two to hear. A man's voice answered.
"Hello?"
"Hi Mr. Sertori, it's Emma. Is Cl—"
"Is Cleo with you?" Mr. Sertori sounded panicked.
"Well, no, that's why we were calling you, we were wondering if—"
"She didn't come home last night. She went to work yesterday and then she didn't come home last night."
The color drained from three faces.
"Are you saying she's not with you?" Mr. Sertori asked pleadingly.
"No, she's — she's not with us."
"Is there anywhere she might be? Anywhere?"
"I… Rikki and I will look. We'll get back to you as soon as we can."
She closed the phone and looked at her friends. Rikki's eyes were wide. Lewis was staring unblinkingly over Emma's shoulder, his hand over his mouth.
"Okay," Emma took a deep breath. "Let's try to stay calm. Rikki and I will check Mako and the reefs. Lewis, call anyone you can think of."
"Y-yeah, right. Okay. I'll…I'll do that." He slowly stumbled out of the house in a shocked daze.
They met at the Sertoris' house hours later with no news. The girls had searched their usual ocean haunts, then scoured Mako and every other small island off the coast on foot. They found nothing. Nothing. Not a footprint, not a fish scale. Rikki began to wonder if bad news was better than no news.
Mr. Sertori let the girls into the house, looking haggard. He'd already called the police, he told them.
"Yeah, I…I think it's time the police were involved," Emma agreed, trying to maintain her level-headed nature. Rikki's panic was painted on her face.
"They said they would call when twenty-four hours had passed. Then she'll be an official missing person," he said.
"So what are we supposed to do in the meantime?" Rikki asked, her voice betraying her foul mood.
"Well," Mr. Sertori's voice grew thin, "they did say that someone should stay here just in case, and that they'd… They'd see if anyone's been found matching her description."
They all knew what that meant. The police department certainly didn't have a room full of living people waiting to be identified.
"What, so, because you don't have a video of someone screaming from a van or a ransom note made from cut-up magazines, they're going to do nothing?" Rikki growled. "We're just supposed to sit here and twiddle our thumbs until she maybe shows up?"
"Rikki," Emma scolded quietly. Rikki calmed down when Emma looked pointedly at Mr. Sertori.
"We've done everything we can think of," Mr. Sertori said. Every word he spoke sounded like a plea for help. "I've called the school, the marine park, the cafe, even the lifeguards down at the beach…."
"And I called Zane, and Ash, and all our friends from school," Lewis piped up worriedly from an armchair. The girls flinched; they hadn't noticed him before. He was chewing on the skin around his thumbnail, his eyes far away. "Even Nate, Miriam, Tiffany.…"
"I appreciate that, Lewis," Mr. Sertori said tiredly, plopping onto the couch and sinking his head into his hands.
"Of course," Lewis responded, glancing at the girls in the entryway. "But I've…I've got to go, actually. I have to see someone. But I'll be back. Soon. Call me if anything changes."
He hurried past Rikki and Emma and out of the door.
"Where is he going?" Rikki asked, incensed. "How could he just leave when –"
"I'm sure he needed to see someone, like he said," Emma placated.
"No. This is unacceptable." Rikki hurried after Lewis and caught him before he reached the sidewalk. "What do you think you're doing? Seeing Charlotte at a time like this?"
Lewis inhaled speak.
"This is a big deal, Lewis. Cleo is missing. Charlotte hates Cleo, and you're still choosing her?"
"I—"
"You've known Cleo your whole life, and you're just leaving her family to deal with this alone. Do you not understand what's happening here? Do you even care?"
"Can I say something now?"
"No."
Lewis sighed deeply, walking away.
"Cleo deserves better," Rikki told him before he was out of earshot. He waved her off. She stormed back into the house, throwing herself onto the couch next to where Emma had settled. "Unbelievable."
"I'm sure he had good reason," Emma said.
"Charlotte isn't a good reason," Rikki grumbled, offended on Cleo's behalf.
"Charlotte?" Mr. Sertori looked up, confused. "Charlotte Watsford?"
"Yeah, she and Lewis have been dating for a little while now," Emma explained. Mr. Sertori remembered Charlotte as the nice redhead whose mother's catering business he supplied with fish. He vaguely remembered her mother saying something about Lewis and Charlotte knowing each other, but nothing more.
"I…I didn't know he wasn't still with Cleo."
"She broke up with him," Rikki said defensively.
"She doesn't tell me anything anymore," Mr. Sertori despaired. "Maybe she did just run away…."
"No, Mr. Sertori," Emma leaned forward. "Cleo is very sensible, and she loves you. She wouldn't do this."
"Dad?" The front door opened, Kim's panicked face coming into view. "Dad, what's going on? Why did I have to come back early?"
Mr. Sertori rushed toward his youngest, bringing her close.
"Come sit, Kim," he led her to sit beside him on the couch. Her eyes were wide, forehead tense. "I'm just going to say this straightaway."
He paused, unable to get the words out. He took a breath to try again but Rikki beat him to it.
"Cleo is missing," Rikki supplied. She wasn't unfeeling, but Kim needed to know the truth.
Kim's eyes got even wider, if possible. Neither Rikki nor Emma had known her to stay quiet for such a long time.
"Do you have any idea where she could be?" Emma asked tentatively. Kim shook her head, tearing up.
"Has something happened to her?" she asked her father.
"We don't know, princess. She just…didn't come home last night."
Kim dissolved into high-pitched sobs, leaning into Mr. Sertori as she cried. Rikki and Emma made eye contact, unable to watch their friend's family weep over her absence. The dread in the room was rapidly turning to panic.
A/N: Woah. I'm writing fanfics again? This is a terrible idea because I am a college student, but I've had this story kicking around on my computer for awhile and I'm rewatching the show as a stress reliever. I will update as often as I can (I have the first five chapters written) but don't rely on me. I will say that this takes place in season 2, but sort of replaces "Sea Change." Hope you enjoy!