H20 MERMAID ADVENTURES
A JACK AND BEN TALE
The cove was quiet in the dark of the night, save for the gentle crashing of waves against the shore.
A crescent moon hung high in the clear midnight sky, its silver light reflecting off the flowing surface of the ocean, turning with the unnatural light cast from a city beyond the beach.
It was peaceful.
Until it was utterly shattered by a grand flash of light, like lightning beneath the waves, followed by a massive column of sea water launching into the night air and collapsing with a crash.
Then once again it was peaceful…until;
"HUUUUUUUAAAAAAHHHHH!" two armored men gasped, desperately breathing as they broke the surface of the water instinctively trying to swim for the first thing that they could see, the shore; their armor certainly making it difficult to move through the churning waves.
"Ben!" one of the men shouted, coughing as salt water splashed up into the helmet he wore, a faint red glow shining from eye slits as he looked to his brother. "Jack!" the other coughed a reply, a faint blue shining from the eyes of his as he looked to his twin.
What happened to the vortex?" Ben asked, both beginning to swim in time with the other.
"It opened underwater!" Jack answered simply and in a matter of fact tone.
Ben gave an annoyed grunt at his twins' response "I know that, but why!?" he shouted a bit stressed, feeling the tip of his boots scrap across the sandy bottom as the neared closer to land.
"...I'm not sure…" jack admitted with a shrug, attempting to catch his breath as they began to wade through the water when they could fully stand.
"Nothing we can do about it now" Ben continued, the both of them reaching a point where the water only reached their hips, jack conjuring a fireball in a raised hand to try and boil off some of the water clinging to the metal plates and heavy fabric they wore in an attempt to lighten the weight. "But one things for sure…" they said in unison, finally stepping onto the beach, then turning to look back at the ocean.
"Something strange is going on" they agreed.
They looked about the sandy shore "You think we're where we're supposed to be?" jack questioned scanning the beach and the night sky. "No idea" Ben answered tapping his brothers' shoulder, gaining his attention before pointing further up the coastline.
Red eyes followed a gloved finger, finding the light of a city shining from the windows of buildings and homes "…let's find out".
Both smiling beneath their helms they began to travel down the shore, however the events that had unfolded minutes prior did not go unwitnessed.
Quickly as he could, a young sea turtle swam home.
Rikki, Emma, and Cleo giggled amongst themselves as they sat at their usual place in the Juicy Bar, laughing at a story that the red head was sharing.
"And then, she tripped over her own shoe!" Rikki joked clutching her stomach as she laughed, her friends bursting out into fits of laughter along with her. Emma trying to stifle her laugh with a hand, "Rikki!" she cried her wavy blond hair bouncing as she laughed "quit it, you're going to make me spill my drink!" she pleaded through her giggles. "Yea, come on Rikki let us breathe!" Cleo agreed, her own long black hair dancing behind her as she nearly doubled over.
"Alright! But don't blame me that it's so easy to make you guys laugh" the red head stated, taking a swig of her soda after she had calmed down enough herself.
The three were hanging around as usual before they would head to the water to stretch their fins, simply enjoying the cool wind blowing in from the ocean through the open-aired establishment with the iconic salty tang of the sea on the breeze. They had been released from school an hour earlier and had made their way to the restaurant directly after for a bit of girl time.
"Hey, has either of you seen Lewis?" Cleo asked her friends, snatching a fry from a basket in the middle of the table, looking around the restaurant to see if she could spy their bespectacled friend "he should be here by now."
Emma nodded her head "I saw Abby pulling him away towards his house as soon as the bell range" she said drinking from a glass of tea.
"Really? What for?" the Rikki questioned surprised, leaning onto her elbows in curiosity.
"I'm not sure, I wasn't close enough to hear what they were saying" Emma shrugged.
Cleo hummed to herself, resting her chin into her palm and her eyebrows slightly furrowing in thought, trying to think of a reason. What could that pushy reporter girl need Lewis for?
A pair of knowing looks from her two friends stopped her train of thought, "what?" she asked them, confused.
"Oh, its nothing" the blond joked, sipping her drink through a smile "it's just so nice to see you worry about him".
Cloe lifted her head "Of course I'm worried about him, he's our friend and who knows what Abby's trying to drag him into!" she explained.
"Are you sure that's the only reason?" Rikki probed, almost teasingly "not because she might steal your man away from you?"
The dark-haired teen flushed a bright noticeable pink as the redheads' meaning settled on her ears. "N-No i-it's not like t-that!" she cried, sharply standing from her chair before turning an even deeper shade once she realized all the eyes in the restaurant that were now staring at her.
Quietly she sat back down persing her lip and keeping her eyes pinned to the table in embarrassment, "I'm just worried that she might have found out about us and may be interrogating Lewis for answers or something" she mumbled, ignoring the heat radiating from her cheeks.
Rikki and Emma shook their heads at her expense "come on Cleo, remember that boy would rather let himself drown in a sub before he would tell anyone our secret" Rikki exclaimed.
"She's right Cleo there's nothing to worry about, unless you really are…" Emma began lightly pointing a teasing finger until an aggravated glare from Cleo convinced her to forget the rest of her sentence. The blond holding her hands up in surrender, choosing not to push it, only sharing a short sidelong look with Rikki, both smiling at their friends' behavior.
Cleo let a small sigh escape, "I know that Lewis can take care of himself, but I'm worried about what Abby's making him do, you know that she'll do anything to get a story".
The other two nodded their heads in agreement, recalling the many times the three of them had to run from the eccentric reporter.
"I wonder what 'fantastic scoop' she's after now" Emma remarked.
"Probably just another of her silly exaggerated stories or pictures that she's trying to make Lewis enhance so she can sell it as news!" Rikki proposed, laughing lightly as she leaned back into her chair and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Huh, I wished that was all she wanted" a voice spoke, drawing the girls attention, the trio turning to see the bespectacled boy of their conversation walking towards them. "Hey girls" he greeted giving a short wave and taking a seat in an empty chair at the table beside them.
"Sorry I'm late, Abby wouldn't stop pressuring me for ghost hunting equipment" the boy apologized pushing himself up to the table and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"Ghost hunting equipment?" the girls all asked in disbelief.
Lewis nodded his head "I know! Utterly ridiculous" he dismissed running a hand through his short curly brown hair.
"What would she need ghost hunting stuff for?" Cleo asked, silently a tad embarrassed to be in his presence due to her friend's earlier accusations.
"She's completely caught up in the Dolphin City Spector's story, she wouldn't let me leave my garage until I at least gave her a high capture lenses for her cameras"
"Dolphin City Spector's?" Emma chimed in
Lewis looked at her incredulously "It's all over the news, apparently quit a few fishermen spotted them last night on the docks, they even called the police raving about 'evil ocean spirits'" the boy explained, exaggerating out the last part.
"Lewis what are you talking about?" Rikki asked, utterly confused.
"Here I'll show you" the boy promised getting the attention of a waitress and asking her to turn on a television monitor hanging on the wall behind the bar.
It was already tuned to the local news station which was already in the process of broadcasting a report from the news desk.
"…weather and beach conditions are predicted to remain for the remainder of the week. Now Breaking news: Is Dolphin City the new home of paranormal activity? Local fishermen share with us images of what appear to be phantoms haunting the down town docks, if you have any further information on them please contact our news team."
The screen changed from the stations main desk to a dark blurry amateur photograph of what one could only assume to be the ghosts. But if you squinted your eyes enough you could easily make out the faint outline of an oddly shaped pair of bodies seemingly just walking by.
Yet what you clearly didn't need to struggle to see, was two separate pairs of glowing lights, like eyes, one a bloody crimson red, and the other a cold lifeless blue.