A/N: School can be really brutal, but luckily I'm going on a class trip for a week soon. Thus I can't guarantee when the next chapter will come out. Who knows maybe I'll get some good inspiration. So please be patient. Thanks or reading and reviewing. Here is chapter 4. Enjoy!
Marril96 Thank you. It means a lot to hear that my writing is improving.
Previously... Taylor has arrived in Australia, but due to a mistake she is too early. At the airport she meets James and they immediately hit it off. Then the other arrive. Meanwhile Rachel is jealous of Taylor, who tells her that she can't be replace. Also Taylor finds out about Rachel's issues with her mother. At Emily's house Taylor meets Emily's brother, giving her a bad surprise. Now on to the chapter.
Chapter 4: Lies
Before Taylor stood James. Time seemed to stop as she stared at him, her eyes wide. What was she supposed to do? Admit they had met at the airport and that she liked him? Liked her friend's brother? Or should she just pretend that the past few hours had never happened? Could she do that?
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Taylor said, "It's nice to meet you. You must be Emily's brother."
"Yes, my name is James," James replied and he reached out his hand for her to shake. Taylor contemplated whether or not to take it, but in the end chose to, since it made little difference now. "Have we met before?" he asked, acting as though he was inspecting her appearance, not letting go off her hand.
This was the last chance, Taylor realized. Either she said yes and told the truth, or she declined and added another lie to her long list of untruths. "No, I don't think we have. I've been in Ireland all my life," Taylor answered with a small smile, "So unless you've been to Ireland, I don't think we have." Another lie. Mentally it laid itself down with all the others.
"Sadly I haven't. Maybe I'll visit one day," James replied, nonchalant, but his eyes told her that he was hurt. Taylor forced herself to ignore his gaze and looked away.
"Well I guess that we should go eat dinner. We don't want to impose on you any longer," Cleo said, looking at her watch.
"Same here," Rikki added. Everyone there, except for James, knew that it was an excuse to get the girls into the barricaded rooms before the full moon rose. The McCartneys and the Bennetts left.
"I should go upstairs too. I have some school work to take care of," Emily lied and turned to Taylor, "Why don't I show you your room?" Taylor just nodded, picked up her bag and followed her. She looked back one last time to gaze at James before following Emily up the stairs.
As they passed several doors Emily indicated to each with a short word of what was hidden behind them. "And this is your room," Emily said when they finally stopped at the end of the hallway, "Mine's right next door so if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." Taylor nodded as she put suitcase on the bed.
It was a nice, cozy room with the standard furniture. Just like Emily's window, hers also faced Mako. "It's really nice," Taylor smiled.
"I'm glad you like it. So do you want to come over into my room for a bit longer?" Emily questioned.
"No, thank you," Taylor replied with a yawn, "I'm pretty tired from the flight and all."
"Okay, good night then," Emily said, leaving the room.
"Be careful," Taylor answered as the door closed.
With a sigh Taylor flopped down on the bed. "It wasn't a complete lie," she reasoned with herself quietly, as though it was possible that someone might overhear her. Indeed she was tired, but other things took precedence to that. Not to mention that the full moon was going to rise any minute and she knew from past experiences that once the moon was up mermaids went to bed in hope of not getting moonstruck. Another person in the room would only be a risk.
However the most important reason was just a few doors down. Slowly Taylor's arm snaked to her backpack, which laid next to her and she pulled out her cell phone. With a grim expression she popped open the lid and took out the battery. His battery, it shot through her head. "No," she thought, shaking her head, "There is no other choice."
Taylor got up, exited her room and walked down the hall. She stopped at the door furthest down. It was James'. Taking a deep breath, she knocked. "Come in," James said and Taylor opened the door to find him lying on his bed, looking at photographs in his hand. He seemed surprised to see her. Not knowing how to start Taylor let her eyes sweep the room. It was a simple room, but one thing that stood out was a wall covered in photos, most likely all taken by him. They showed his family, friends, various sceneries and many other things.
Finally her gaze fell back on James, who looked at her with anticipation. "Here is your battery," Taylor said, slightly uncomfortable as she reached it out to him, but making sure not to meet his gaze, "Who would have thought we would again meet like this?" The small joke was easily drowned by tension in the room.
Silently he accepted the battery. "Thanks for lending it to me. I should go," Taylor babbled on and turned to the door, but suddenly James asked, "Why did you lie?" The neutral voice made Taylor stop with the doorknob in hand, staring at the door.
"This can't work out. We related," Taylor told him, not being able to bring herself to look at him.
"We're distant relatives," James objected, getting up from his bed, "Like that makes a difference."
"Then how about the fact that you're my friend's brother?" Taylor demanded to know, turning around, "It might not matter to you, but to me. Do you know how Emily will react?"
"I don't, but why should that stop us?" he questioned, stepping up behind, forcing Taylor to bump into the door.
"Because I don't want to lie to her," Taylor told him.
James stared into Taylor's eyes, causing her to fidget nervously. Finally he turned away and sat down on his bed again. "I'll give you yours back tomorrow. Night," James said, motioning towards the battery.
"Thanks for understanding. Good night," Taylor whispered and quickly fled the room with tears in her eyes.
Quietly she walked downstairs and into the backyard. Luckily she didn't meet anyone. Outside Taylor took several deep breaths to calm herself. She didn't want to, but there was no other way. Finally she looked up to see one of the most beautiful sights that she had ever seen. Right in front of her Mako Island could be seen, illuminated by the full moon right overhead. She could feel the magic radiating from there, so powerful, yet soothing. Staring at the view in front of her, Taylor whispered, "Is this really alright?" An almost eerie feeling befell her as just stood there.
Taylor didn't know how long she stared at the spectacle, but when she finally turned to go back inside, the moon was no longer over Mako and the magical feeling was gone. Exhausted from the long day she retired to bed.
When Taylor walked downstairs the next day it was already close to noon, but Emily was still in the kitchen. "Good morning. So how are things?" Taylor asked as Emily put a bowl of cereal in front of her.
"Good so far. I didn't get moonstruck," Emily answered, "Though I don't know about the others. I guess we'll find out once we head to Mako. We're going to show you the moon pool today."
"Sounds great," Taylor smiled.
"I'll go get changed," Emily excused herself and went upstairs.
Taylor had already dressed so that she had the time for breakfast. She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't notice someone else was in the kitchen until a battery was held under her nose. Startled she jumped back, knocking over her chair. Taylor looked up to see James. "Wow, I didn't mean to startle you like that," he said, looking at her.
"I was just thinking," Taylor replied, taking the battery from his hand, "Thanks." She intended to pick up her chair, but the way James stared at her told her that there was more coming and she forced herself to stay still.
"Why did you lie?" he finally inquired.
Confused Taylor looked at him. "I already told you. Emily is your…," she began, but James interrupted, "Not that. Back at the airport you said you were visit friends, not relatives."
The slip-up hit her like a landslide. Damn, he listened well. What now? Taylor took a deep breath and replied, "I find it hard to call Emily and the rest of your family, because this is the first time I met you. So Emily, Sarah and Amber are more friends than anything else."
"I see," James muttered, thoughtfully.
"Everything alright here?" a voice suddenly asked, making them turn to the door. There stood Emily, now fully clothed, staring at the two.
"Everything's fine," Taylor quickly answered, walking over to her, "Lets go. The others are waiting." Emily gave James a confused look before being pulled out of the house by Taylor. Outside Taylor released her grip on Emily.
"Did something happen between you and my brother?" Emily inquired.
"No. I was busy thinking and he startled me. Then you came in," Taylor explained and Emily accepted it with a nod. Taylor hated herself for lying, but what else could she do?
"Look there are the others," Emily called out, breaking through Taylor's thoughts. True enough Sarah, Amber and Rachel were walking up to them.
"So who was moonstruck?" Emily, Amber and Sarah asked in a unison, "Not me. Wait then who was moonstruck?"
Taylor stared at the trio and then asked Rachel, who stood beside her, "Are they always like that?"
"Sometimes," Rachel smirked, "Scary, right?" Taylor nodded.
"Very funny, but seriously, does that mean none of us were moonstruck?" Emily asked.
"Don't look at me. This time I'm innocent," Rachel answered with her hands up in defense.
"And I don't get moonstruck," Taylor added, quickly, "Besides what's so bad if no one was moonstruck this time? Be glad."
"The last time that happened we had crazed tentacles after us for quite some time," Amber retorted, looking at Rachel, who gave a sheepish look.
"Lets not dwell on it. Maybe we were just too careful this time," Sarah interrupted, "Lets go to Mako." The others nodded and they walked to the edge of the water. Taylor silently extended her hand out to Rachel, who took it with a small smile. Then they dove into the water. Zooming through the water, Rachel stared at Taylor. This brought the reality back. Taylor was really a mermaid and she wasn't. Rachel shook her head. She was being ridiculous. Taylor had told her straightforward that she had no reason to be jealous. Suddenly Rachel realized that her body was tingling all over. It felt weird and she couldn't explain the feeling. Her skin prickled.
Abruptly Taylor stopped swimming, making Rachel look up, forgetting the weird sensation. Taylor stared at the coral reefs surrounding them. Rachel smiled at her as she gave Taylor's hand a squeeze. They exchanged a gaze before Taylor swam after the others.
Finally they surfaced in the moon pool. "That was amazing," Taylor gasped, "We don't have such corals in Ireland."
"Glad you like them," Sarah smiled, "And this is our moon pool."
"So this is your moon pool," Taylor said, thoughtfully as she did a 380, "It's beautiful."
"It seems though that nothing is wrong with the moon pool," Rachel said as she let her hand run down a wall.
"I don't know. I don't trust this," Amber muttered.
"I think you're being paranoid," Emily said.
"Better paranoid than under a microscope," Amber retorted.
"Okay enough," Sarah interrupted them, but then agreed, "Though I have a strange feeling. Something doesn't feel right."
"Why don't we keep showing Taylor around the Gold Coast? The moon pool is fine," Rachel suggested and the other agreed. The five girls swam along the coast, surfacing to show various sights from the water and submerging again to travel and enjoy the sea life.
Finally got out of the water and Amber dried them. They were in front of a café, which had a beautiful view from its terrace. "This is our favorite café," Sarah told Taylor as they sat down at a table outside next to the water. Luckily it was fairly empty for the time of day and they easily found a table for their large group.
"My mother actually worked here when she was a teenager so it sort of has tradition," Emily said with a smile.
"It looks nice," Taylor replied, looking around, "Makes me want to work again."
"You like working as a waitress?" Amber inquired, half surprised, having thought that Taylor worked for the money.
"Yeah. I love interacting with people. Of course the pay does help my allowance, but it's mostly for the fun of it," Taylor smiled as she thought back to her own café back in Ireland, "I can't say I would want to do that all my life, but for now it's great."
As they waited for their drinks they casually chatted. Suddenly Rachel saw something out of the corner of her eye. It took her a second to realize what it was, but then she jumped up, exclaiming, "Watch out!" Startled and confused the girls first looked up at Rachel and then towards where she was pointing, but it was too late. Seconds later their table was knocked out of the way by something, sending the girls flying to the ground hard.
Cries of panic erupted as the girls looked up to see what had attacked them and froze. In front of them floated a tentacle. "What is going on here?" Taylor demanded to know.
"We have no idea, but we have to stop it before someone gets hurt," Sarah replied.
"What about the people?" Amber questioned, her gaze at the few other guests that were cowering on the ground under a table or behind a chair.
"Rachel," Emily said, making the brunette look up, anticipating, "Get them out of here and then hide with them."
It hurt Rachel that Emily thought that she didn't have the power to help, but now was not the time to nodded and hurried over to the other guests. "Come on. Lets get inside," Rachel told them as she took the hand of someone, helping up.
Meanwhile the remaining four mermaids squared off against the tentacle. "I don't know what you are, where you come from or who sent you, but you're going down," Amber told it as she balled her fist. Bubbles appeared on the tentacle, but still it surged forward at them, causing them to jump apart.
"Damn it. It's too resistant for one person to finish it off," Emily observed.
"Together on three," Sarah said as they got up and the tentacle looped to face them again, "1,2..." Three never came as the tentacle attacked Sarah and Emily, who stood next to each other.
"It won't let us attack," Amber growled as her friends slowly got up, "Why is it so smart?"
"Let me stop it. You finish it off," Taylor told them as she used her magic to turn the water solid, "Now!" Just as the others raised their hands, the tentacle broke free and dashed forward towards them.
"Hey! Over here!" a cry shot through the air. The tentacle stopped inches from them, turning towards it. The girls also stared at the person. It was Rachel.
"Rachel," Emily whispered.
"Come here or are you afraid of a human!" Rachel provoked it.
As though it heard her the tentacle shot towards her. "Now's your chance!" Rachel yelled to her friends. It took the girls a second to break free of their trance, but then they sprang into action each using their magic. Almost instantly the tentacle came to an abrupt stop before Rachel, twitching and shaking.
Suddenly it gave one final jerk to free itself before it withdrew back into ocean. "What the…," the girls breathed.
"We have to hurry. People will be here soon," Rachel said, coming over to them.
"But how do we explain it?" Taylor questioned. They stood their thoughtfully as they could hear the first voices from inside the café.
Ambers gaze fell on the ground and suddenly an idea came to her. "Sarah," Amber said, making her friends look at her, "Is there a pipe here?"
"Are you crazy? We can't do that!" Emily exclaimed outraged as Sarah closed her eyes to concentrate.
"We don't have a choice. People will be here soon and how do you want to explain that tentacle?" Amber retorted.
"There is one," Sarah informed her friends as she opened her eyes, "We're lucky. It's clean water and probably leads to the ocean later on." The four stared at Emily as the voices grew louder. They could make out the works now.
"Okay," Emily agreed as she felt for the pipe underground and then put out her hand in a stop sign, "Step back." Obediently they did as they were told while Emily activated her power. A split second later the pipe burst, splashing water everywhere.
Seconds later people started to appear. "Oh, a pipe burst," was one of the many murmurs that the girls could hear. With a sigh they quietly stepped back until they were out of sight and then turned down the street.
They walked down the street in silence, each going after their own thoughts. Suddenly Emily broke the silence, whispering, "Rachel." The brunette looked up. "I'm sorry. I never meant for it to seem like that I didn't believe in your powers," Emily told her, "Thanks for helping us. If there is a next time we'll take it on together."
Rachel looked at the blonde and then smiled, "I'll look forward to it." The silence fell on the group again.
"What was that?" Emily asked as they all took a seat in her kitchen.
"It was obviously a tentacle," Amber retorted.
"But it attack us in public. That's never happened before," Sarah pointed out.
"I swear I have no part in this," Rachel half joked.
"Nobody believes that. We all saw what happened," Taylor replied, "We should consider ourselves lucky that we could blame it on the a busted pipe." The four others had to agree with that.
"Still this means something did happen during the full moon," Emily said, thoughtfully.
"But what? None of us were moonstruck," Amber asked.
"Maybe a new mermaid?" Sarah suggested.
"No way. We all know how hard it is to transform for the first time. Plus, unless you have knowledge about mermaids, there is no way someone knows that they have powers then. The way that tentacle moved was too good. No amateur can control water like that…," Rachel objected and as she spoke a suspicion appeared in mind. Her mother. Could she have…? Maybe. Would she be willing to? Definitely. A sinking feeling spread through her stomach.
"Is everything alright?" Sarah asked, noticing that her friend's complexion had just paled several shades.
"Everything's fine," Rachel answered, trying to act as normal as possible.
"You sure?" Amber questioned.
"I'm fine," Rachel all but snapped. The girls gave up on trying to extract the truth for now. "I have to go," Rachel whispered, got up and left. Outside she took a deep breath to subside the queasy feeling in her stomach, but it didn't help. If her suspicion was true, then she had no idea how to act. Not in front of her mother, nor her friends. What was she supposed to do now?
Back in the kitchen the girls stared after Rachel. What had happened to her? Taylor felt sorry for Rachel, having guessed the reason for her sudden departure, but she knew she couldn't do anything, nor could she tell her that her mother wasn't involved. More lies.
Before any conversation could pick up again James appeared in the doorway. "What's up?" he asked as he got himself a glass of soda.
"We just witnessed a pipe bursting at the café," Amber quickly said.
"Wow. Is everyone alright?" James asked, though his eyes searched for Taylor's, who looked away.
They all nodded. "Luckily it was clean water," Emily explained.
Just then James stumbled, causing part of the content in his glass to go flying. The girls could only watch in horror as it splashed all over Taylor, who stood their shocked for a moment before sprinting off. "Taylor!" James exclaimed, wanting to run after her, but Amber held him back.
"We'll go look for her," she said as she and the other two hurried after her.
"James," Emily said, having turned back around. James looked up to see his sister lean against the doorframe. "What happened between you and Taylor this morning?" Emily asked.
He looked up at her and replied, "Nothing. I accidentally startled her. That's all."
"Okay," Emily muttered, not sure why, even though they both gave the same answer, she just didn't believe him. Either way she hurried after the others.
Emily finally found them at the entrance to a supply closet with Taylor as a mermaid sprawled on the floor. "You alright?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, but I think I have a broomstick in my back though, so if you would help, I would appreciate it," Taylor answered as Amber balled her hand. Seconds later Taylor stood before them again.
The girls then dispersed, seeing no reason to further wonder about the mystery of the attacking tentacle. Later that evening Taylor laid on her bed, thinking. Mostly about the tentacle. Was it her? Taylor shook her head. It couldn't be.
Suddenly their was a knock at the door, making her sit up. "Come in," Taylor said and a second later the door opened to reveal James. She shot up from her bed as though she had just been shocked. " What are you doing here?" she hissed softly after he had closed the door.
"I wanted to talk to you," he replied, "Are you alright? You suddenly ran off this afternoon."
Taylor stared at him, but luckily she had thought of an answer. "I didn't want the soda to stain my shirt, so I looked for a bathroom," she lied as a knife stabbed her in the heart. Another lie.
"It seems to be fine though," James smiled,"I'm glad."
"Is that all?" Taylor asked, impatiently, knowing any second someone could walk in and catch them.
"No. Emily is on to us," James told her.
"Well she isn't stupid," Taylor retorted, "That's why we have to stay away from each other."
"That's exactly what we shouldn't do," James objected, making Taylor look at him.
"What? What should we do then?" Taylor questioned.
"She'll find out one day and it won't make a difference, if we were beating around the bush the whole time or actually went out," James explained, "I don't know about you, but what I felt yesterday at the airport felt real to me. Maybe you were just humbling me. How should I know." Taylor stared at James, her face bright red. That was the closest thing she had ever gotten to a confession. What should she do? Could she just ignore her feelings? She could stop everything with one sentence.
"I see," James whispered, the disappoint clearly written in his face as he turned back to the door, "Sorry for bothering you for so long. I'll leave you alone now. Good night."
Just as his hand was about to push down the door handle Taylor jumped forward, grabbing onto his shirt and saying, "Don't." It took her a moment to realize what she had done, but then she continued, "I don't know what to do in such a situation. I was never in one, but yesterday was special for me too. I don't know what I'm feeling, but if you'll give me some time…"
"Take all the time you need. I'll wait for you," James replied, softly, but not turning around, "Why don't we go out soon?"
"But what about…?" Taylor began, but James interrupted, "Don't shoot me down after making such progress." A small smile appeared on her face. "Okay. It's a date," she whispered, softly.
"I'll leave then. Good night," James said and this time Taylor let him walk.
She stood there for a long time, very aware of how red her face was, but that was unimportant. She was pleased of what she did. "One truth. One truth between all those lies," Taylor thought as she turned in for the night.
A/N: Who is attacking everyone? Is Rachel right about her mother? How will Taylor's and James' date go and how long can they keep it a secret before they are found out? Please review.