2. Captured
The tank I was held in was cramped. My tail bumped and scraped against the side constantly as I tried to find a position that would let me free-float. There was no curling up in the water like a human. No, I had to lie stretched out, constantly reminded of the boundaries of my watery above ground prison.
At this moment however, I was completely numb as the doctor before me in the long white coat checked over some charts a few feet from me.
My mind screamed at me. Cleo! Do something Cleo! You're an idiot! You can move water! Push them all away! Something!
I grimaced and slipped further into the small tub holding me. The fins on my tail brushed against the bottom, causing me to wince. They had hit solid walls so many times it was beginning to scrape off pieces of my tail. My breathing had not seemed to return since I was scooped out of the illuminated water and transported through the dark. I had been smuggled into the back of this white warehouse. A medical facility, I was sure. The building was off the peer and as I was carried away, I watched the black water slip away. My only chance of freedom had slipped away.
How the ships at sea had known I was out there swimming was still a mystery. However it didn't matter. I was hostage now. Terrified, but alone.
A tiny pulse of relief went through me as I thought about how I was alone out in the water tonight. My two best friends, Emma and Rikki had been safely tucked in there beds, where they should be. Where I would have been, if I hadn't been plagued by thoughts of Lewis.
Lewis.
A new pang—a strong pang—of pain shot through my chest as I thought of him. Would he come looking for me? I feared he would, and then he would come up against the same monsters that held me. I knew they were formidable and probably not above hurting him to keep me.
My thoughts scrambled in my head but I had to try to quickly recover them as the man now waved off the assistants dressed in hazard suits away with hushed goodbyes. He placed his hands behind his back casually and took the few remaining steps towards my tank. As he closed the distance, light from the single hanging lantern washed over his face. I felt my eyes widen with shock.
His chiseled features stared down at me with a serene expression. His light blue eyes sparkled over the broad, flat nose. Thin lips seemed to fight the twitching smile he held back. The chestnut color of his hair was brushed back smoothly, though a few strands fell against his forehead.
He was quite beautiful, but my stomach merely gripped itself. I couldn't remember the last breath I took. As a mermaid, I was used to holding my breath for twenty minutes or longer. Usually this was while I glided through the water at torpedo speeds. I was free there. The sudden thoughts that I'd never be under the ocean again made me cringe, backing further into the water.
His blue eyes never veered from my face. He merely stood, hands clasped behind him, waiting expectantly for me to say something.
I tried to swallow the lump forming in my throat. I wanted to find my voice. I couldn't find any words to hurl at him. All strength seemed drained away to the pooling fear that pitted in my stomach. I remained unmoving, scared of what was to come next.
"Hello." His voice was kind, hushed.
I was surprised by how youthful he sounded. His voice would have been rather pleasant to me if I hadn't been struck with such terror that it was going to end my existence at any moment.
He didn't make another move toward me, but cocked his head curiously. "Please, I'm not going to harm you."
My eyes tightened as I looked to him. I could feel my brows coming together, not in confusion but anger. I doubted any man who conducted a kidnap (or was it fish-nap?) with special op team, would be hesitant to lie.
His lips twitched into a twisted smile. It only lifted one corner of his face. "I can see it will take some time for you to trust me."
I wanted to scream at him. Or laugh. But fear once again, constricted my throat and his words were met with my intense silence. He continued to stare at me for a few moments, so I took a small inhale and slipped my body beneath the surface. Once the water covered me, I bent towards the end of my tail, hoping in this position I could lay fixed in the water for as long as my breath would hold…
I didn't trust to close my eyes. I held as still as possible, trying to fight back the panic so my mind would clear. I needed to think.
Obviously when I wasn't in my bed in the morning, my sister Kim would not hesitate to rat me out to Dad. Dad would call my cell, over and over again. After a while the police would be involved. No doubt, by then Rikki and Emma would have heard of my disappearance. They would take to the water, searching our sacred spot on Mako first. They would find the moon pool empty and start to worry. Then what? Perhaps start searching the island by foot. When nothing turned up, where would they turn next? To the ocean, of course.
I cringed and tried to pull myself in tighter.
They would be out there, unprotected, because of me. They wouldn't know some deranged group who wanted to splice me for a science experiment had kidnapped me. They could be captured, held. Tortured…
I shuddered beneath the water, automatically trying to take in a shuddering breath. The water entered my mouth and I began to sputter, as if drowning. My head popped up from under the water and I struggled to breath in air once more. A cough sprang from deep within my chest and winding me. I flailed desperately; my every limb and tail hit the sides of my cage.
At once there were hands under my arms, pulling me up into a sitting position with surprising strength. I thought at first they were going to haul me right out of the tub, where I would inevitably flop onto the ground. Instead the hands locked under my arms and held me fast. I was kept a foot above the water while they waited for me to steady.
My eyes shot up to see the doctor, his face struck with partial horror and concern as he held me up.
Without thinking, my hands shot up. I could feel the familiar tingle as my persuasion over water caused the molecules to jump up and smash into him with as much force as a wave. Anger rocked through my body and the water kept coming.
Again it raised from it's pooled place and leapt out like a whip searching for his flesh. Over and over it smashed into him. After the third strike, with his head turned to keep from swallowing the assaulting water, he let my body slip out of his arms and stumbled backwards.
Once free, I submerged myself as quickly as possible, my hands close to my face, just below the surface in case I needed the water to knock anyone else back. I blinked furiously, my heart a crashing sound in my ears.
From under the water, muffled footsteps were heard. Several people in the same biohazard suits from before rushed to the side of the astonished doctor. He was soaked from head to toe. His once perfect hair swept across his shocked face. Under the dark matted hair I caught the glimmer of his light eyes. They were still wide with surprise. I thought I sensed bemusement there. He waved the others off him, unconcerned. A red swell was clear on his left cheek where I struck.
Satisfaction swelled in my chest. Finally, you fight back!
One by one the others gave up attending to him and drifted off. Not one of them spared a glance in the direction of my holding tub to notice me. I didn't relax. My stance didn't shift.
All too soon we were alone again. The doctor resumed his eased stance. One hand behind his back, the other calmly tucked the wet locks behind his ear. His half smile flashed on his face before he nodded once in my direction.
"I can see you want your space, mermaid. I can respect that. But you need to know that you can't go trying to kill yourself. We will save you. We need you." His voice was the same caressing tone. As if it was any comfort to me.
The stifling panic once again had me in its clutches and kept me from even being able to muster a glare. I could imagine how ridiculous I looked to him at this moment. Eyes bugged, and mouth twisted to holding in all the air I could while underwater. My hair floating around me in wild curls that never settled. I continued to hold my hands defensively hoping I looked confident in my powers instead of pathetic.
The doctor took a few steps, circling my cage with an assessing look. "This above ground holding tank is much too small for you. I underestimated how large you would be."
I felt my lips pull away from my teeth; an involuntary snarl. What girl took being called large well? The doctor didn't take notice. He was musing to himself. I wasn't sure if he even grasped I could still hear him.
He finally stopped in front of me again, arms in the staunch position behind his back. He nodded once, as if making up his mind now. "Yes, we will have to transfer you to the larger underground chamber for tonight." A quick snap of his fingers brought back the suited men.
"Please escort her to the lower pool area. Have the guards on duty bring her back here in the morning. We'll want to get started first light." He smiled the same disturbing smile while clapping one of them on the shoulder. He then spun and abruptly left the room.
Attempting to shrink back even further from these attackers was impossible. I was pressed as hard as I could against the backside of the tank. A wave of nausea hit me at the thought of them touching me. I suppressed the tingling in my hands that caused the water to shake around me. Anxiously I watched the suited men who were still standing a few yards away. One turned and went into the shadows of the room. The one lantern left only my area dimly lit, and so the grinding noise that erupted from above caused a ripple of fear.
Water sloshed out of my tank at all sides, soaking the floor. The suits didn't step back, but nor did they come any closer. I looked around searching for the cause of the noise. Above me I caught the movement of a net on a reel. It was pulsing with life as it lowered closer to me. Naturally I pressed my tail to the bottom of the tank. The net continued to hum with life as it dipped into the water above me.
Previous memories of when I had been caught in a net had me thrashing my fingers to try to push it away before it could entangle me. To my surprise the whirring stopped.
My eyebrows knit together with confusion. A moment passed with nothing happening. The whirring started slowly this time, the net expanding to the sides of the tank underwater. The reaches of the net snaked into the edges, self-adhering to the sides of the tub with audible snapping sounds. Once snapped into place, I gasped realizing they had enclosed me under the water. I didn't have much time to think about it, for the whole tank jerked violently around me. My stomach thudded into the smooth glass bottom of the tank as it rose up to meet me. My fingers entangled into the net above me as I struggled to hold onto something.
I squeezed my eyes shut for two terrifying minutes as the tank heaved along to some unknown destination.
When we finally stopped I felt secure enough to only flutter my eyes open briefly. Below me I could make out a rectangular pool about 12 feet in length and width. It was illuminated with an unnatural low green light that was provided by the round disks at regular intervals imbedded in the sides. That was all I had time to observe before I felt the floor open beneath me.
My mouth opened in a silent scream as the water rushed out from under me. The free falling started and stopped before the strangled scream could gain any real sound. I landed painlessly in the water below.
My head broke the surface first, my mouth open and sputtering around furious words that didn't escape. I looked up, seeing the cage slowly retreating on the track that I hadn't noticed lined the ceiling before. There were no other lights, other then those below the water. I let my eyes slide around the room, and I could see patches of white suits standing around. This was a heavily guarded room. Any hope of escape was crushed then and there.
Suddenly exhausted from all the adrenaline, I flicked my tail through the water to go under. I decided to find the bottom of this pool. I was pleasantly surprised to discover a good depth. It wasn't until I was hovering just above the ground that I noticed the soft sand lining the base. I looked around seeing the sand stretched to all four corners of the pool. Someone had thought ahead to sand the bottom knowing I would be here a while.
A new chill rolled through me and I wondered how much more I could take. I settled on the soft sand, which was not as warm as the ocean. My eyes continuously roamed the surface above me. No one so much as poked their head over the side. After a long time I went up for a breath, then directly back to the bottom. I settled in, my mind turning over the new information.
Someone knew about me. Someone had been planning this all along. What scared me now was the possibility they knew about Emma and Rikki as well. How could I protect them from the inside?
Several hours passed. I flitted to the surface for a quick breath of air so many times I lost count. I was losing my strength. I barely had the energy to wait at the bottom any longer. Grudgingly I drifted over to where there was a rock structure along one side. I sat, my head and shoulders out of the water. My eyes were so heavy I wasn't sure I would be conscious in another hour. I'd been up for nearly two days now.
The longest I'd remained in this form.
Some part of the back of my brain prickled with fear that if I weren't allowed to dry soon, my human legs would be lost to me forever. I tried to push that fear down; I had so many other ones that were surfacing at the moment.
Just as I was losing the battle to sleep, I heard a quiet click from somewhere in the distance. I could hear the door slid open and soft padded footsteps make their way toward me. No need to guess who it is, I thought bitterly. I pushed off the rock ledge and glided slowly into the middle of the pool. If he wanted me, he could come get me.
I could see his stunning face now, smiling that bemused half smirk. For once his hands were not tucked behind him. No, they held something round and slender today.
"It's time my dear." He called out in the same velvety tone.
All the fight I had been storing abandoned me in one quick sweep. It left with the color that now drained from my face.
His nimble hands held a syringe.