Derek wasn't imagining this. He had watched that face grow up. Seen it covered in mud and scrunched up I hysterical laughter. He has seen that face leaning out the window of Claudia ' s car as they drove off to the beach. She would have known that face anywhere. That was Stiles...but how?
"Stiles! Stiles give me your hand so I can pull you out of there. We've been so worried. Your dad is gonna shit a brick." Derek cried making leaning over to reach for the boy. With a gentle but strong grip a delicate hand pulled Derek back. He turned to see Lydia standing on the small landing next to him.
"I believe you are mistaken. Take a closer look" she said holding out a small lamp over the water.
Derek stared after the lamp light down into the water. It bounce off of the gleaming red and garnet scales and fin he had seen flash by before but only as he followed the length of the tail up he was met with pale almost bony hips leading up to a pale torso and the unblinking eyes of Stiles.
He turned on Lydia grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her.
"What is this some kind of game! Is that some kind of costume!" He growled, thick eyebrows knitting together
"That is stiles Stilinski! The boy we have all thought drowned a few months ago! His father has been a wreck and you've been keeping him here all this time!"
Lydia raised a delicate eyebrows before slowly prying Derek's fingers off her then smoothing down her blouse.
"The species you are looking g is called HomoSirena. I believe the more accepted and commonly used name would be mermaid. Yes I must say when I found him beached ashore that full moon night I was shocked by his resemblance to Stiles as well but the idea that this is stiles is too far fetched even for me."
Derek watched Lydia lean over the edge of the tank and the creature wearing stiles face swim up to her.
"I have no clue, who he is though. See he seems to have lost his memory." She cooed to the creature
Derek watched the mer-Man stared adoringly at Lydia much as he used to do.
"That is Stiles Stilinski. I'd know that face anywhere. Look there along the left side of his jaw, that scar. I was there when he got that during lacrosse. Did you say you found him on a full moon night? It was a full moon when the car went off the rails into the water."
Lydia studied stiles for a moment then Derek.
"Perhaps. In most myths about mermaids they live in a kingdom under the sea and sometimes they come to land to mingle with humans and sometimes they forget what they were and live human lives. Other myths say mermaids are the spirit of virgins who have died at sea. Perhaps he is one of these. Maybe when he gets his memory back we will find that he is indeed stiles and he will be able to tell us what happened that night of the crash."
Derek watched as the creature dove gracefully and vanished among the tall sea grass.
Derek fallowed Lydia back to the front of the store and back into the sitting room. She gestured for him to sit at the long table with is arrangement of beautiful blood red wild flowers. He slowly took a seat his mind still reeling from what he had seen. "Its really him isn't it?" he said more to himself than to Lydia
"As I said. It could very well be Stiles, whether his ghost reformed by the sea or maybe he was always as we saw him and he simply forgot. or it could simply be a beautiful rare fish that simply looks like Stiles. who's to know? only he can truly tell us whether he is or is not stiles."
"But how would Claudia have known to send him to the Sheriff?" Derek quizzed running his fingers though his hair eyebrows still set in their brooding slump. "Claudia's order was placed for the rarest fish we could acquire. The creature I showed you was just that. That's why it took us til just now to call about the order. though as I said when I came across the creature and noticed how much he looked like Stiles even I took pause as to whether this should be the fish, but the contract is legally binding. She wanted the rarest fish in our shop the moment we had it and the creature...Stiles is the rarest fish in our possession."
Derek still had so many questions. Had the strangest of all the stories surrounding Eichen House been true? what was behind this place, some form of black magic dealing in mythical creatures. How had Stiles gotten like that. had Claudia been a mermaid too? if they hadn't found her body in the car would there have been two creatures in that huge fishbowl wearing the faces of two people who supposed to be dead? Lydia dropped a folder on the table in front of him, drawing his attention back to the matter at hand.
"I will need you to sign this contract. Normally it would be the recipient of the item who signs but i understand that the sheriff can not do that which is why he sent you. So lets just say you are signing under the condition that you will inform him about the.. conditions of this purchase." said Lydia sitting down across from Derek at the other end of the long table. "Conditions?" the deputy asked Derek looked over the contract but he truly didn't understand most of it till he came to the list. Three rules written in silvery blue ink on rather impressive stationery. Lydia crossed her legs and eyed Derek from across the long table. "Before I can release this...particular species to your care Deputy Hale you must understand the terms of agreement and relay them to Sheriff Stilinski." Derek nodded, though knew he knew the moment he had seen the...creature that he had no intention of giving it to The Sheriff and he got the feeling that Ms. Martin knew this.
" First no one must see it. It must be kept out of sight at all times. Second it must be kept in fresh salt water and the water must be changed near daily. lastly and most importantly...you must never let it go hungry. In the event that any of these terms are ignored or breached Eichen House Exotic Emporium can not be held responsible for any consequences and you Derek will be." Derek nodded, shaking hands picking up the pen to sign the paper. Lydia's eyes never left him as he wrote his name down for recipient of the purchase by one Claudia Stilinski for one Sheriff John Stilinski. "I'm sure...The Sheriff... will be happy with his new...pet" Lydia said with flip of her strawberry blond hair and it felt to Derek like he had signed away something vital. like in signing this little piece of paper and knowing that he was indeed no going to take the sheriff anything from this place, that he had made some kind of deal for more than just this creature that wore the face of the boy he had once been falling in love with. Lydia closed the folder and smiled at Derek. when had she even moved to collect it? he still had to pen clutched desperately in his hands. had he been that lost in thought?
"We will delver you your residence by the end of the day...I trust you have a pool of some kind to house the creature or should we give you a tank to use?" "um...yeah a tank would be uh perfect. at least until i can get the old pool cleaned out and altered for salt water." Lydia lead Derek out the front door and he was almost to his car when a thought crossed his mind "But what do I feed him!" he yelled turning around but the door to the shop was already closing behind Lydia, a final glimpse of strawberry blond waves all that answered him.
