Why Are You Here? Because You Stole My Necklace.

Chapter One

Zach Pov

I was on the ship, preparing for our departure when something shining on the shore caught my attention. "Hey, I'm going to go check something out."

"Okay, but hurry. We're leaving in ten." Captain said.

"Roger that." I slowly stepped out of the ship, being careful to notice my surroundings.

Now, I've been on some pretty weird missions, but posing as a modern day pirate? That was a new one.

Anyway, back to what I was doing. I moved across the sand and picked up the shiny object. It was a necklace. It had a glowing, swirly pink/purple orb that was hanging in a spirally silver rounded cone type thing. Whoever had left this here had odd taste. I stood and turned it in my hand as it slowly turned red and black. That was odd.

Some sand kicked up almost magically at my feet, making me jump back. Okay, that was even more odd. And a little freaky. I heard water splash in front of me and I looked up just in time to see something red and black just like the necklace disappear under the sea water. It looked almost like a tail.

Weird...

"Aye! Jhonny! Come on, mate! You're gonna get left!" The Captain's right hand man, Sammy, yelled.

I tucked the necklace into my pocket before they could see it and divided it was time to wrap up my mission. I pulled a gun from the holster on my side and pointed it at the Captain as I moved to stand behind him. The rest of the crew had the sense to stand back as I pressed the gun into the back of the Captain's head. "Sorry, Captain. Just had to make sure you hadn't gotten even more sloppy and left more evidence for us."

"Us?" Captain wasn't fazed, but I could tell in his eyes he honestly didn't know there were others. He turned around to face me and I made sure the gun was pressed right in between his eyes.

"Us." Marcus, an agent with me posing as Sammy, the crew's right hand man, stated as he and the rest of my team pulled guns on the entire crew.

They all gulped.

"Okay," I checked my watch. "I kinda want to go home and get a beer with my friends while we chill in my pool so I'll make thus quick. Option one. You can confess to trying to steal from the government by going undercover as pirates. Option two. We can take you in for questioning. Your choice."

Captain pretended to think about it just to get on my nerves.

But I wouldn't let him know it was angering me.

I smirked and cocked the gun. "Or I could just shoot you now and save all of us from having to deal with your shit."

He gave in. "Alright, alright. Fine. But we're not confessing."

"In that case," I put him in electric handcuffs as my team did the same to the rest of the crew. "Questioning it is."

We (my team and I) cleared out everything but the walls of below deck and locked the entire "crew" down there while we waited for the CIA to show up and take 'em. I sat in a corner and studied the necklace. Even, if I didn't know what it was, I felt attached to it somehow. The weirdest thing was that, as I stared at it, it kept glowing different colors, always two at a time swirling around each other. They kept ranging from red and black, to pink and purple to orange and yellow. Almost like it was going through emotions, phases.

When I heard the CIA helicopter whirring and the engines of SUVs I put the necklace away gazing at the red and black orb only once more, wanting to...protect it sort of. I know it sounds weird but like I said, I felt attached to it. I gave the Directir all the info we had on these guys and he told me one if his guys would handle the interrogation and that I could go home.

I said a quick thank you then retreated into the car (ferrari) where my friends had been waiting for me but not before seeing that same red and black tail like thing dissaper into the ocean again...

We (Grant, Nick, Jonas and I) had been at my place for a few hours and it was well into the night. We were hanging out in the pool eating a bunch of junk and just talking when Grant being Grant got an idea.

But this time it wasn't that stupid, surprisingly.

"Who wants beers?" He asked.

We all laughed and Nick and Jonas went to help him out. I was sitting in the pool, shoving a chocolate bar in my mouth, thinking about the necklace. I was so into my own thoughts, I hadn't realized it had been way too long to just be getting a few beers.

"Guys?" I called.

No response.

"Guys?" I yelled a little louder this time.

Again, silence.

Just as I was about to get out of the pool the lights went off. I stayed in my spot, still leaning against the pool wall and stared straight ahead as I heard footsteps.

"Who's there?" I asked firmly.

There was a feminine laugh. "You don't know? Well, that's odd." More footsteps.

My fists clenched in the water. "Catherine?" If it was her I swear to god I was gonna

"No! I am not her! That woman is the first name on my kill list. The other names are her goons." The voice was angry now. There were more footsteps.

"Then who are you?" I was confused now.

"I'm seriously surprised you don't know. You did see me twice. Well, part of me." The voice was calmer now that Catherine was no longer the conversation. More footsteps.

This girl seemed to be pacing.

"What do you mean?"

That time I didn't get an answer, just more footsteps.

"Why are you here?" I was looking throughout the darkness, trying to find the source of the voice in the large space. But she just kept moving.

"Because you stole my necklace."

And then there was a giant slash as the girl jumped into the pool.

Cammie Pov

I was on the shore, looking for clues on my missing brother. Ever since my birthday, my people had been disappearing. The most recent was Carson. My Carson.

I tripped over some rocks and fell, not feeling my necklace slide over my head. I stood up and huffed, realizing for the millionth time that what Carson always said was right. That I was always a very clumsy mermaid. Carson...

"Cammie!" I heard Bex call from the water. I turned to see her waving her hands at me. "Come! Hurry! I saw people heading over here from the southside of the beach and Liz saw a ship headed this way! Come on!"

"I'm coming!" I yelled back, starting to run forward and as soon as I was deep enough in the water, I dived. My tail was a greenish-bluish color bevouse of my fear of being seen. My hair was weaved with seashells, gems and streaks of green and blue, my eyes the same. The colors change depending on my mood. To cover my breasts their were scales that grew over them almost like a bra and weaved into my scales were little shells and gems.

Bex joined me on my left, Macey at her side. Liz soon showed up next to me on my right and we pushed ourselves to move faster. When we could finally see the lights of Rellmisct (A/N pronounced rel-mysc)- the name of my home - we slowed and entered the big underwater city.

Anna appeared in front of me, her scales yellow with hope, brown hair with yellow streaks and odd shells flowing behind her. Her eyes were a yellow to match her tail. "Did you find him, your highness?"

"Anna, you know its Cammie to everyone." I smiled at her and she smiled back but my smile fell as I answered her question. My scales were turning a light blue from sadness. "And sadly, no. We didn't even find a clue."

She put a hand on my shoulder as her scales turned orangish-blue (a mixture of sadness and empathy) and, Anna being Anna, she smiled sadly and said, "I'm sure Carson is okay."

My smile was just as sad as she pulled me into a hug. "I hope you're right."

"Cammie! Your highness! Cameron!" I heard Tina's voice and released Anna. Bex, Macey and Liz turned in that direction too.

When Tina finally stopped swimming, she stopped in front if us, scales red and pink and green and blue all at the same time. A dangerous mixture of anger, rush fear and worry. Her skin was a little red too. Her matching eyes told me there was a big problem. She didn't even stop to take a breath. Instead, she said the words I dreaded. "Cammie, it's your mother. She's gone."

All six of us along with a few others that had heard the conversation swam at full speed to where Tina was leading us. My scales turned green and blue once again. We were led to the palace. It's sat at the very center of Rellmisct, glowing all the colors of the beautiful city. But this was far from my mind as I followed Tina. Eventually she stopped in my mom's study.

Mom's head maiden was siting on the floor in the middle of the room in tears. When we all eneterd, she looked up. "I'm so sorry. I tried to hold them off but they had weapons and I- and I- I-I-"

I ran to her, my scales staying the same except a slight, empathetic orange being added to the mix. "Its not your fault. It was never your fault." I noticed she had a wound in her side that was bleeding immensely. I pressed a hand to it and closed my eyes, quickly healing it. If they could injure us, we had to watch our tails. I stood up and as I did, I muttered so that no one could hear me, "Its my fault. It's always been my fault."

"Cam..." Liz started.

"Whats wrong, Lizzie?" I asked, tilting my head.

She gulped. "Where's your necklace?"

I put my hand where the said item should be. "Shit." I growled and looked at the crying mermaid on the ground. "It must have slipped off when I fell back on shore. I'll go get it and when I come back we can discuss our next move. But now, I want everyone to stay in the city unless I tell you to go. Now that the rest of the royal family have been kidnapped, I shall be your queen until someone of higher authority returns. I will set up new security measures on my way out and send a messenger to explain them." I comamded the rest of the room. "Go now. Tell your friends and keep your families safe. Bex, Macey, and Liz. I want you to come with me."

They nodded and followed as I zoomed out of the palace and off to shore. On the way, I stopped at the head guard post. Larry was at his post, staring out into the sea as usual. Normally I would smile at the sight. He was so good at his job at only 19 years old.

But this wasnt normally.

I swam up to his post. "I want the guards to make a circle around the kingdom. Place ten guards in each town and village. No one leaves unless I tell you to let them out. No one comes unless I tell you to let them in. I need this place on lockdown. Got it?" My scales were straight black, my seriousness no doubt scary.

Larry nodded, never blinking or looking away from the ocean out in front of us. "Yes ma'am. I'll contact Mick and get her to tell the other guards and we'll get to work right away."

"Good." That's another reason I liked Larry. He never asked questions. He just did his job. "Now, we're leavingand we're going to be back as soon as possible."

"Roger that."

And then we were off, speeding towards shore. When were were a thousand feet out from shore, I stopped. "Stay here and cover for me."

They nodded.

I swam forward and stopped so that I could spot it first. I did. It was lying in the sand near where I had fell and it was as black as my scales. Our necklaces keep us from changing ten seconds after we touch water but they also change colors with the rest of us. So if I was posing as a human and I had to go swimming with some friends, as long as I kept my necklace on I wouldn't change. And if I was going to defeat Catherine once and for all, I was going to need it.

Just as I was about to swim out to get it, I noticed the ship. And the hot guy getting off of it. Yes, even merpeople use the term hot. Who doesn't?

But this guy...he was beyond just hot. He was HOTT AS HELL no joke. As he made his way off the ship, I could see through his black tank top that he had a 8 pack, not lying. Then there were his muscles...As he gripped the rail of the stairs to get off the ship, you could see him flex and oh my scales! I almost melted on the spot. And when he stepped fully off of the structure I saw him in those skinny jeans and I just couldn't. Then his curly light brown hair kept falling into his eyes and when he flicked it back it was as if he had done it a thousand times. Which I'm sure he had! Oh, and his eyes! You could even see them from my position. They were a startling green, almost familiar but I couldn't place where I had seen them before. But I'm not lying when I say he was probably the most beautiful person I had ever seen.

Cam! Why did you just think that! You are not falling for a human again! But he's really hot though! And his eyes- No! You won't!

My scales turned pink and purple as I blushed in embarrassment.

But when I looked up, my scales turned red and black in anger because the guy was picking up my necklace! My necklace! The one that I needed. He was studying it and it just made me so mad that I waved my hand and made the sand on the ground kick up at his feet. He jumped back but kept a firm hold on my necklace.

I huffed and dived back under the water, making sure to splash my tail in annoyance as I did so.

I swam back faster than I had all day and swam five circles around my friends before I stopped, scales red and black with anger. "He took my necklace!"

"Who? What? Cammie, slow down." Liz said, but I didn't slow down. I just started rambling about how hot he was and then how his eyes were familiar and then how he KEPT my necklace! My scales were flashing through colors the whole time.

"Wait, did she just say 'hot guy'? Woah, Cam. Now you really need to slow down." Macey told me, scales green in anticipation.

"Yeah. Take a deep breath, then start from the beginning." Bex nodded.

I took a deep breath and started from the beginning, ending with how I swam away.

"Ooooh...So Cam saw a hot guy, huh?" Macey poked me.

I blushed, turning purple and pink. "It can never happen." I was mumbling so they knew that I at least wanted it to happen.

"Yeah, sure." Liz smiled.

"Wait, so does this mean we get to spy on this Guy? Because I'm betting he has some hot friends?" Bex raised an eyebrow.

We all burst out laughing, turning yellow and orange with joy.

When we calmed down, I said, "No, but we do have to get my necklace back." Then I turned red and black with anger again.

We agreed to wait until Guy was alone to confront him about the necklace. We watched from behind the boat as helicopters and cars showed up, taking away what we gathered from not so quite whispers were theifs posing as pirates. We splashed our way under water as Mr. Hot Guy turned but I know he saw my tail again. I saw Nexklace Theif talking to a big guy that must be the leader of this police organization or whatever.

We could tell that he was about to leave so we quickly got out of the water and began to transform. I swirled my hands around my body just as the other girls did. In a matter of seconds we had legs and were making our way to our secret stash of clothes underneath a large boulder. I chose some ripped shorts and a red off the shoulder top. I put on some red and white sneakers and Macey handed me some dark sunglasses.

I shot her a look.

She shrugged. "What? They compliment your eyes."

I rolled my eyes and put on the stupid glasses.

"Are we set?" Liz asked. She was wearing a casual, pink shift kind of dress with white sandals. Bex was sporting some leggings and a white tank with a black and white flanel around her waist. She had on some black and white sneakers to match. Macey was in some shorts and a shirt similar to mine except yellow and some yellow sandals. Bex even pulled on a black hat. We didn't have to worry about all our shells and things in our hair because they disappear when we change. The only think that was remotely similar was that our eyes still changed colors with our mood and so did our nails.

We had done all that in about five minutes and when we looked up, Mr. Hot Guy was only just getting into a car. We each grabbed a wallet that had a good amount of money in it and weaved through the bushes until we saw the guy's care pulling out of the beach. We followed the car, pretending to be avarage tourists but eventually we got tired of walking and decided to magically drive this truck we saw. What? We may be mermaids but we were teenagers once. What do you think we did when we were supposed to be ground? We snuck out. We followed Theif until we had her another car before it got suspicious. And it went like that for hours until the car we were following stopped in a nice neighborhood somewhere else in California.

Liz parked a few streets up so that we didn't seem like stalkers. When we got out, I said, "Lets do this." , and we ran the rest of the 5 blocks back. I had us hide in the bushes while we formulated a plan. It was well into the night before we knew exactly what were going to do.

We creeped silently around the house and saw Necklace Theif and three friends sitting in a pool. Macey used her magic to plant the idea of getting some drink called, how do you say, beer? Yes! Beer! In one of the friend's head and he an the other two went to get some. The only person left in the pool was Mr. Hot Guy. Sorry, I've called him so many things. I just hope you can keep up. Anyway, I signaled to them to go and they left. After a few minutes, Necklace Theif started yelling for his friends and I knew it was time. I flicked my wrist and all the lights went out. Glad I can see in the dark. Its a trait you get when you literally live underwater.

I creeped into the backyard. "Who's there?" Mr. Hot Guy asked firmly.

I laughed. "You don't know? Well, that's odd." I started pacing, peeling off my top, throwing it aside silently.

"Catherine?" His voice asked.

It angered me. My colors went from a calm yellow to a furious redish-black. "No! I am not her! That woman is the first person on my kill list. The other names are her goons." I started pacing again.

"Then who are you?" He asked.

I relaxed now that Catherine wasn't the topic. "I'm seriously surprised you don't know. You did see me twice. Well, part of me." I paced again.

"What do you mean?"

Thus time I didn't answer because I knew what came next. I pulled off my shoes and my shorts, throwing them aside as well.

"Why are you here?" He was looking around, trying to find me but I kept moving.

"Because you stole my necklace."

And then there was a big splash as I jumped into the pool.