Warning: This story has slight hints of harassment. But not as major that it needs to be rated M. Don't read if you don't like that type of stories :D
Weilan is showing her friends some of her most favorite diving spots. Cam, Evie, and Carly came with them in diving gear. After minutes of swimming through the colorful reefs and watching all sorts of underwater night time creatures, the gang followed Weilan into an nearby underwater cave.
"Everything here is so beautiful and amazing," Mimmi exclaimed in glee soon she and the others surfaced the water. They found themselves in a pool almost identical to the moon pool beneath Mako. The only thing that was missing was the cone.
Weilan chuckles with an almost cocky expression. "I told you so." The young mermaid then looked around the cave and sighed. "I really missed this place. I always came here when I felt sad, hoping that one day another mermaid, also chased to land like me and my grandmother, would swim inside. It never happened. I started to think me and my grandmother were the only mermaids left in Shanghai."
"You must have felt really lonely," Mimmi said, looking sympathetically.
Weilan nods. "I did. When Rikki talked about how her friends had moved on, living different lives far away from her, I knew how she felt." They all nodded in understanding. Then Evie tilted her head, questioned.
"Hey guys, do you think she will be alright with the full moon and everything? I mean, I still remember how strong the pull was."
"Yeah! And I still remember how crazy your behavour was," Carly laughed.
"Well, she said she handled the full moon many times without any problems," Ondina said, looking thoughtfully. "And I suppose Rita will keep her out of trouble." They all agreed on that then enjoyed the calm, cool water of the pool as they float.
Rikki looked at her own reflection in the bathroom mirror and sighed, wondering if going to the nightclub with Rita instead of swimming with the girls had been a good idea. It's been years she had been at one and it looked like the rebel in her was long gone. For the past few hours she had done nothing else than chasing pervs off of her, and maybe had drank a bit too much. Not enough to be drunk, but enough to feel slightly tipsy.
Rikki pulls in another sigh, then quickly splashes her face with some water before quickly drying it off again. Maybe it's best to tell Rita she's going home. There's not much use to stay if she's not enjoying herself, right?
While stealing one more glance at her own reflection in the mirror, the full moon came away from behind a cloud and shines through the small bathroom window behind her, into the mirror. Rikki cannot help it and stares straight at it as soon it's catches her eyes. Before she knows it, she starts losing all sense of everything that happens around her.
Meanwhile, Cam decided to leave his friends in the underwater cave to do a little more exploring in the area around the cave. He was swimming through the reef when he suddenly bumped onto a small rock formation, where he found something that gave him a very bad feeling. Quickly he made some pictures of what he just saw then swam back to the cave and his friends.
"Guys! There's something you need to see!" Cam exclaimed soon he surfaced the pool. His friends turned around, startled. Cam then explained to them what he had seen. "I made pictures, but maybe you should see it for yourself as well."
"Show me!" Zac said then turned to the girls. "It's best if you all stay here and wait for us. I don't want anything bad to happen to you, especially since we don't know what it is." Zac and Cam disappeared under water, leaving the girls behind.
Mimmi looks at Weilan, worriedly. "Have you ever seen it?"
"No! I swam through these areas for years and never saw any symbol on any of the rocks."
Zac followed Cam through the coral and the reef. It took a while before Cam managed to find the right spot again, but when they did, Zac felt like they weren't alone. He scanned the water around them but all he saw was the few night time creatures that didn't seem to be afraid of them. Still, it felt like someone was watching them. Zac then felt a tug on his arm.
Once he had Zac's fully attention, Cam pointed at the rock formation where the symbol was. It didn't look like any of the symbols they found around Mako. They were small and written in Japanese or something. Good thing Cam made pictures for Weilan to translate them.
Zac swam closer to take a better look at them, slowly moving the sea weed aside. Cam grabbed his arm then shook his head vigorously, widening his eyes in fear. Zac instantly remembered what happened at Mako with Erik and pulled his hand away. Then he smiled at his friend, reassuring him that he wouldn't come closer then beckoned him to follow. Maybe it was best to leave the symbols alone until they knew what they meant.
As the two boys swim back to the cave to meet up with the girls, a mysterious figure watches them leave then swims towards the rock formation. Unaware to him, he's also followed by someone.
"Rikki, there you are," Rita said in relief when she saw her walk back to the bar where she was waiting. Then she points at the two men beside her. "This is Makoto and Akemi. They want to buy drinks for us and keep us company." Then a smile curls up her lips and she whispers in Rikki's ear; "F.Y.I, Makoto is mine. You can have the other one."
Rikki pouts her face. "Yeah, you know what, I don't think he's my type!" Rita looked at her young friend with her mouth dropped agape. Makoto could see the humor in Rikki's blunt words, but his friend not so much. Obviously because he knew the words were addressed to him, since his friend already flirted with Rita since they introduced themselves.
"Who do you think you are calling me not handsome enough!" Akemi scowled angrily, sizing himself up. Makoto grabbed his friend's arm.
"Akemi, don't! You're drunk right now so don't make any dramas. All she said was that you're not her type, that's all."
Rikki smirks slightly then blurts out; "Besides, you're too short as well. I like my man a bit taller, if you know what I mean." Akemi's face turned red in anger.
"I'm so sorry, but I think my friend has drank too much as well," Rita said, smiling nervously. "She's normally not like this, trust me." Then she jerked Rikki's arm as she stepped aside. "Rikki, what is wrong with you."
Rikki simply smiles. "Nothing's wrong with me, Rita. But hey, have you noticed how beautiful the moon is tonight?"
"Oh no," Rita mumbled, instantly realizing what had happened. "Rikki, you said you could handle the full moon by now. Snap out of it, okay? You can do it."
"Don't worry about me, okay? I'm fine. Just go flirt with him while I'll…" Rikki looked around to find something to do for herself when her eyes locked onto a tall man who just entered the club. He was in a black suit with black tie and had his hands deep tucked into his pockets. What really caught Rikki's attention was the sharp jawline and the ocean blue eyes, though, the left eye was hidden behind an lonely bang of his short, wavy silver colored hair. He was accompanied by two stern looking men wearing sunglasses, black suits and black ties. One of them looked Japanese and the other looked like he was from Kazakhstan. "Me like-y," Rikki grinned due to the moon-sickness.
"What?" Rita asked then followed Rikki's gaze and spotted the three men. They looked around for an open seat and most of the party people had grown silent, scurrying away anxiously as the group walked passed them. It seemed to her those men were dangerous people.
"You!" a female voice suddenly hollered in glee, and it didn't take long for Rita to realize the voice belonged to her friend. Before anyone could stop her, Rikki walked towards the three men.
"Your friend is crazy," Rita heard a male voice whisper in her ear. When she turned around she found Makoto and Akemi, both looking pale as a sheet. "I get she's drunk and I'm not her type, but provoking that man is pure suicide!"
"That man belongs to Shanghai's most notorious mafia gang," Makoto added. "He uses women as if they are just toys. Even the authorities are scared of him. You should stop her before she gets in real danger."
Rita's eyes widened in fear. She had seen many sharks in her life, and even scared a few away when she was old enough, but how did you fight against a threat like this? "Weilan, why did you have to recommend this club?" Rita thought then straightened her back and walked towards the group. She heard both Akemi and Makoto closely behind her.
"You are just the type of man I was looking for," Rikki said flirtatiously. She was holding his tie in a tight grip, pulling him closer until their faces were mere inches away from another. Their lips nearly touching each other.
"Rikki, can we talk?" Rita asked, pulling her friend's arm until she released the man's tie. Then she smiles politely at the silver haired man. "Sorry, my friend is really, really drunk and she doesn't know what she's doing."
Rikki freed her arm then scowls; "I am not drunk, Rita. I only had two drinks so far." Then, adding with a giggle; "And I saw the full moon. Don't you think his hair is just as beautiful, bright, and silvery as the moon is?"
Rita opened her mouth to respond, but Rikki's attention was already turned back on the dangerous man. Especially because he had grabbed her chin, forcing her face mere inches away from his.
"Maybe you should keep an eye on your drink next time, Miss," the silver haired man said, caressing her bottom lip with his thumb as he spoke with a strong Russian accent. "This is a dangerous place where anyone can slip something in your drink unnoticed."
Rikki tilts her head slightly. "Maybe that's why I'm here. Maybe I like a little danger." And with that, another cheeky grin curled Rikki's lips up before she grabbed his tie again and pulled him with her to an empty seat. The two men who accompanied him, took a step forward to intervene, but the silver haired young man held his hand up as a signal it was all fine. They obeyed quickly and stepped back. Rita and Makoto followed Rikki to the seat to make another attempt to persuade her to come with them instead.
"Rita, seriously. Have some fun with whatever his name is and I'll have fun with him," Rikki sighed, getting slightly annoyed. Then she turned her head to look at her 'date'. "What do you like to drink? You know what, I'll just go get something."
And with that, Rikki tapped her finger flirtatiously onto the tip of the stranger's nose and dashed off to the bar. Rita turned to Makoto. "Could you please keep an eye on her wile I'll call for back-up?" Makoto just nodded then watched Rita leave as she searched for a more private spot. Then he followed Rikki to the bar.
"We could make much out of the symbols. They were written in Chinese or something," Zac said as they walked back to the vacancy they rented. "Good thing Cam made pictures of them. Maybe you can translate them."
"I think I could," Weilan said then felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and answered it. "Yes?"
"Weilan! It's me, Rita. That club you recommended…
"Is great, right?" Weilan chimed in, gleefully. Then her gleeful smile faded when she heard it was not and the reason why it wasn't. "Seriously? Rikki is trying to hook up with who…?"
"I have no idea what his name is, but his hair has some odd color, which I doubt will be his natural hair color, but he speaks with a heavy Russian accent."
"Nevzorov!" Weilan gasped then rubbed the side of her head, worriedly. "Why is she trying to hook up with Shanghai's most notorious gang leader?" Her face even darkened more when Rita explained the situation. "Okay, please do nothing. Trust me, don't provoke him, okay? I'll just give her a call and try to lure out with an excuse."
Weilan hung up then explained the situation to her friends before she started dialling Rikki's number, hoping she would answer it.
"I like your hair," Rikki giggled soon she had returned to her seat where the stranger was waiting for her. Then she tried to move the bang away from his left eye so she could see it. "I suppose it's not your natural hair color. It's still very unique and stylish though. I can't help notice you are quite tall as well. I bet you were captain of your school's basketball team. I mean, you look like a leader and all. You also pack some muscles, don't you."
The Silver haired man just looked at her, not saying a word. Then, as Rikki wanted to take a sip from her champagne, he took the glass away. "What are you doing?" Rikki frowned.
The young man sets the glasses onto a nearby table then leans closer to her face while stroking his hand up to her ty, flirtatiously. "How about we move on to something else?"
The sudden touch of the young man's fingers shook Rikki awake from her moon craziness and she looked at him warily. "Who are you?"
"How about we leave the introductions for later, okay? And have a little fun and danger now."
Rikki grabbed the man's hand before he reached her butt. "Look, I must have made a mistake or something and I should leave." Before she could stand up, Rikki was being pushed back into the seat.
"You're the kind of woman who likes to play, dah? I don't mind."
"NO!" Rikki exclaimed in utter fear then saw a chance to push him away with her foot then scrambled away, knocking the glasses off the table. Luckily it didn't spill on her as she fled, looking for Rita.
"No, wait!" the man exclaimed and stood up as well in an attempt to follow Rikki, but stepped into the puddle of champagne. Before he realized what happened, his shoes froze to the floor.
"Rita!" Rikki choked out when she finally found her female friend.
"Rikki, are you alright? Weilan tried to call you but you didn't answer your phone."
"No, because I left it at the apartment. I have no idea what happened, but it was like I woke..." Suddenly a hand was placed onto her and Rita's shoulders. They turned around alarmed and found Makoto and Akemi. "Who are they?"
Makoto smiles sheepishly; "Let's do the introductions later, okay? We better leave now we have the chance."
Stealing one more glance at the stranger who was trying to get his shoes off with his henchmen assistance, Rikki nodded then followed Rita and the two men out the door into the fresh air.
What do you think so far?