A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the cliffhanger last chapter, but like always, thanks so much for the reviews! Enjoy this chapter. Oh, and I'm on summer break! If you're on it now, when'd you get out? Answer in the reviews :)

I was going to update on Sunday, but I experienced a power outage, right when I was going to upload. Funny, right? Ha ha, NOT. Lol, jk I don't mind a power outage, especially when mine only lasted an hour...but by that time I was cozy in bed and my comp was turned off. Anyway, enjoy, and Happy 4th of July!

Secrets are made to be found out with time

-Charles Sanford

Chapter Five: Mermaids, Witches, Murderers, Oh My!

-Cleo POV-

"Are you sure?" I asked Emma, bright and early Saturday morning, sitting in Rikki's Café. I absentmindedly stirred my strawberry kiwi juice, not taking a sip, not that thirsty. "I mean, a mermaid, sure, but a witch?"

"That's the thing," said Emma. She rubbed her temples. "I'm not one hundred percent sure." She closed her eyes and focused for a few seconds. Her eyes snapped back open. "No, no, scratch that, I'm one hundred percent sure."

"Nice powers," Rikki commented sarcastically, scrolling through her phone.

"It sucks," Emma agreed. "It keeps going on and off until it settles on what it wants, and that usually turns out to be true."

"Do you have any idea how you developed the powers?" I asked, rubbing my arm, only paying attention to Emma.

She shrugged. "I guess I've had them all the time, I've just never applied it until now."

"Okay, let's get off that topic," interrupted Rikki. She turned to me. "There's something Emma and I have to tell you."

"We do?" Emma said listlessly, and Rikki shot her a look. "Ohhh," Emma said, finally getting it.

"What?" I asked, curious to the news.

Emma and Rikki looked at each other nervously, and Emma took a deep breath. "Yesterday I was walking with Rikki, and we stumbled across someone we wish wouldn't be here."

"Who?" I asked, genuinely curious, wishing they'd just get on with it.

Emma looked at Rikki, who looked right back. They had a staring contest until Rikki cracked, and said, "We crossed paths with Denman."

"Denman!" I shouted, slamming my fist on the table. My juice quivered from the sudden outburst of strength, and spilled all over my lap.

I quickly jumped up, and said, "Meet me at Mako for further discussion." I then ignored the startled cries of people as I pushed past them out the door and on the dock, then diving headfirst into the water below.

-Emma POV-

People were staring. I bent my head down low and pretended to be absorbed in my drink to avoid future questioning.

"What was that?" I heard, and I looked up from my juice to see Jenna walking towards the table. She pushed her sunglasses up from her face into her hair. She was wearing a light blue tank top and ripped jean shorts.

I averted from looking or speaking to her, and just looked back down at the table.

"Come on Emma," Jenna urged, sliding into the booth where Cleo was. She avoided touching the sticky spilled juice. "You've got to talk to me sometime."

"No I don't," I said, just as Rikki said, "Right, she does." I looked at her as if she'd lost her mind, and she just smiled.

Rikki continued, "You will now." Rikki scooped up her juice and promptly returned the glass it came into the counter. She walked back to our table. "Mako when you're done," she reminded me, not even trying to keep quiet. Maybe she wanted her to hear. Rikki then exited the café.

Upon seeing Jenna's curious expression, I muttered, "Rikki, I'm going to kill you." I turned to Jenna and gave her my best, "Nothings-going-on-so-why-ask?" smile.

Jenna pointed to the door. "Why did Cleo run out the door and jump into the ocean when her drink spilled on her?"

I sighed, and said, "It's not worth talking about in a public place like this. Let's go somewhere more private." Jenna agreed to my suggestion, and we left, me paying for my drink.

OoOoO

"Perfect," I gushed, sitting down on the hot summer sand in front of the beach (making sure, of course, we were a reasonable distance away from the waters.) I patted the empty lot next to me and Jenna joined.

We were in a deserted part of the beach, but even though we were, I could still hear the laughter of children nearby. I listened to the cawing of a seagull in the sky as I waited for Jenna to say something.

I dug my toes deep into the sand, getting to the moist part where it's cold and rocky. I looked at Jenna, who had slipped on her sunglasses, and was staring into the ocean.

"I know you're a witch," I said, trying to draw the attention away from the sparkling ocean and onto me. With squinting eyes, she took off her sunglasses and looked at me. Curiously, not freaking out.

"What?" she said.

"I know that you're a witch," I repeated. I cupped my one hand like a shovel and scooped up a pile of dry sand, and let it fall to the ground, repeating the process over and over. "I haven't known for long, only since yesterday."

"How'd you figure it out?" Jenna inquired, looking back at the sea, not daring to keep watch of me.

"Later," I promised.

"Who all knows?" she said, her mouth set in a hard line.

"Rikki, Cleo and I," I answered, watching her expression curiously.

She laughed a bit, which surprised me. Three people knew her secret. Didn't that alarm her? "You probably shouldn't have told them. I tend to find people as blabbing."

I shook my head vigorously, not agreeing and not wanting to hear that one bit. "Oh no, they are good at keeping secrets."

She looked back at me. "You reckon?"

I snorted. "Oh yeah, definitely."

"How do you know?" she questioned, squinting one eye at me like to ask if I was lying.

"Because," I said, leaning back onto the sand. "I think they've handled their secret pretty well."

Jenna laughed, shuffling the sand around my toes. I jerked upright to her chuckling. "What's so funny?

She dusted off her hands. "It's just that," she started, "I think my secrets a bit more than who I have a crush on or something."

Now it my turn to laugh. "Our secret is a bit more than that."

"Our?" she inquired, standing up. I stood up along with her, and we began to take a walk down the beach shore.

"Yeah," I struggled. "Our. It's, uh...complicated, you know."

"You know my secret, time to tell me yours," Jenna said, jokingly shoving me.

"Okay," I reluctantly agreed. We had stopped in place on the beach. I gazed out into the ocean, the wind whipping my hair and the ocean spray invading my nostrils. "You know how I've avoided water?"

"Yeah?" she said slowly, not getting it.

"This is why." I smiled up at her to show her I was on board with this, and then began my journey to the waters spread out in front of us.

I let the water wash around my ankles, and ran a bit deeper in. I dived into the water, making sure she didn't see me. I watched as bubbles surrounded my legs, as if someone were boiling the very water around me. They soon cleared up, and I got a good eyeful of my tail.

I looked at the surface, thinking of the waiting Jenna on land. You don't have to do this, my mind told me. Swim away now, and apologize for deserting her later.

But I want to do this, I thought, and with my strength, I pushed myself to the top.

I lay down on the shore, just where the waves and sand meet. It felt rocky and uncomfortably in the hot sun, but all I did was pay attention to Jenna's reaction.

She was completely flabbergasted, her eyes bulging out of my head. I smiled at her wearily, and looked back at my tail. The scales shimmered in the sunlight. I turned back to Jenna, and saw that she was heading in my direction.

When she got to me, she was ankle deep in water. She bent down and stroked my tail, recoiling when she touched it.

"What do you think?" I asked, smiling.

She said nothing, not smiling, and looked up out to the sea, then to me. She stood back up, straightening herself up, and began to walk farther into the ocean.

"Jenna?" I asked, and watched as she dived into the waves, just as I did. "Oh great," I muttered when she didn't surface. Had I scared her that much?

I swam deeper into the water, and caught sight of Jenna swimming underwater. She was using her arm and leg muscles to power herself, and pushed herself along the water, slicing through the waves.

She looked back at me, blinked, and smiled. I smiled back. She made a motion for me to follow her, but I shook my head, and pointed to the surface. She nodded.

When we broke the water level, I said, "What are we doing?"

"I just want to check out where this all happened. It was there, right?" Jenna said, pointing to Mako Island. Her wet hair clung messily to her forehead.

"Right," I said hastily. "How did you...?"

"Don't ask me how I know," Jenna interrupted. "Just follow me, okay?"

"We're swimming there?" I asked.

She turned around to face the island, away from me. She looked back at me, and smiled. "What, can you not keep up with me?"

"No," I said quickly. "I'm just saying...don't you need to breath? Won't it be hard for you to swim all the way there without getting tired, too?"

She smiled. "I put a spell on myself a long time ago so that I would never get tired of any physical exercise. Why else do you think I pass gym with flying colors?" she asked, chuckling to herself at her own joke. "And for the breathing thing..." she closed her eyes and muttered a few words, and I could almost see a purplish glow around her. For that second, the atmosphere seemed to tighten around us and only us as I watched, in a trance. "Done."

"That's it?" I asked. She laughed and nodded. I smiled, and said, "Well, then, what are we waiting for?" We both dove into the water.

Jenna swam faster than a normal person, basically because she could. She could kick up a notch and swim harder. Her muscles would not ache or give out, her breath staying put in her lungs, supplying her with enough oxygen to last forever. It was amazing to watch, really.

When we'd arrived on the island, Jenna waited patiently for me to dry off. When I was all finished, we began exploring.

It was easy to be caught up in the forest's vines and root, dirt uprooted and bugs crawling around your feet. But being me, and being throughout this forest so many times, I knew the way by heart.

Still, it astounded me how much the forest changed. I realized that I had been in the moon pool, but not the actual woods surrounding it since I left. The leaves and trees in it grew greener and denser, the hot humid air almost more so. It smelled faintly of pine and flowers, a wonderful scent. I could tell Jenna was really into it because she was exploring off the trail while still heading in the right direction.

We reached our final destination; the huge slippery rocks where the hole was located. I turned to face Jenna. "Okay, Jenna, this is where it is."

"Here?" Jenna said, looking around the sky in confusion.

"No," I said. I stomped my foot hard on the rock. "Here."

"I'm still confused," she said. I laughed, and led her over to the hole.

"Okay, listen, here's how you get it. If you don't go down right, you could flip over on the way down and—" It was a little too late for my rant, though, for Jenna took a step back, and fell down.

She slipped down the hole, wind whipping past her. I bent down and looked down the hole, as she screamed on her way down.

"You okay?" I asked, my voice echoing on its way down the hole.

I got an echoed reply of, "Yeah, I am but...whoa, what is that?" I heard footsteps crunch away on the sand.

"Jenna?" I called down. Due to no response, I muttered to myself, "Oh, great."

I got down on my knees and inched slowly down the hole, gasping when the hole swallowed me, and trying to hold my screams in as I fell in, headfirst.

I landed on my head, and it began throbbing. I rubbed it, and looked around. Jenna was nowhere to be found.

I followed the path up the stone stairs to the moon pool to find Jenna leaning over the moon pool in awe. She reached out her fingers to touch the water, slightly shaking, like she was afraid of what it might do.

I smiled in amusement, and couldn't help myself from sneaking up behind her. At the right time, just when her fingertips touched the surface of the water, I grabbed her shoulders, shaking her. I screamed a high-pitched scream.

"AH!" Jenna screamed, jumping up and spinning around in one motion. I held my sides, which were shaking violently, and laughed.

"That's not funny!" Jenna yelled, and pushed me lightly. I pushed her back, and we got into a small innocent fight.

Eventually, I accidentally pushed her into the moon pool. She didn't come up for a while. I soon got scared, thinking she might have drowned, but realization hit me: she still had the spell on her, which meant she could still hold her breath forever. She was probably just trying to scare me.

Once she broke surface, rubbing the water out of her eyes, she splashed me. I gasped, and had no choice but to dive into the moon pool with her.

When I transformed, she took one look at my tail and burst out laughing for no reason. I couldn't help but join into the laughter, and we chuckled together. I was having such a good time that I almost didn't notice my phone vibrating in the corner of the moon pool. But I did, and I saw that there was a new text message waiting for me.

Oh no, I thought. It's probably B. Should I ignore it?

No, I decided. I had to face this problem. I bravely pressed "Open."

When I was done reading the message, and silently closed my phone. Jenna watched me curiously as I struggled to get out of the moon pool.

"What's going on? What did the message say?" Jenna asked. I finally had been able to hoist myself out and start to dry off.

"That," I said, taking a breath, "Was Cleo. She needs me at her house urgently. It's about Bella."

-Cleo POV-

"Did you make the popcorn?" Rikki asked me annoyingly. She took my answer as a yes when I handed her a bowl of steaming hot popcorn.

"Ready for the movie?" I asked, and Rikki opened her mouth to reply, when I heard a fierce knocking at the door. I put down my popcorn on the coffee table and got up to answer the door.

I swung open the door, hoping to see a pizza man carrying a stack of delicious pizzas that we didn't order, but instead all I got was two men dressed all in black.

"Police," one said, holding up a badge. "We're here for questioning on the murder of Isabel Hartley."

My mouth was as dry as cotton, and I couldn't speak. I just stood there, frozen like a block of ice, waiting for words to come. When they didn't, I opened my mouth to make some up. I wanted to stay strong and firm, so I said in a loud and steady voice, "Do you have a warrant?"

I swear I could see a smug smile on his face as he reached into his briefcase and pulled out an official looking piece of paper, with the words "Search Warrant" printed on top in bold letters. IT had info on it such as my address, names of people who needed to be questioned, and so on.

"Who needs to be question?" I asked, even though I had gotten an eyeful on the warrant.

He pulled back the paper and inspected it. "Cleo Sertori, Emma Gilbert, and Rikki Chadwick." He rolled up the paper and tucked it back in, impatient to get inside.
I was defeated. He had a warrant, and I couldn't fight against that. If I did, who knows what would happen? Would he arrest me? "Come in," I said in a flat, uninviting voice.

We went back into the living room, where Rikki was munching away on her popcorn. She saw me first, and said, "Cleo, who was that?" Then she saw the two officers, and said, "Oh, that's who."

"Emma Gilbert?" one of them asked Rikki.

"No, Rikki Chadwick. What's it to ya?" Rikki said in a sassy attitude.

"Rikki," I warned. "These policemen are here to ask us some questions about Bella." She wore a shocked expression.

"Is Emma Gilbert here?" the second policeman said. I realized it was the first time I'd heard him speak. He was tall and skinny, with black skin and brown eyes. The first policeman was also skinny, just not as tall. He looked more official looking. Policeman Number One had white skin and blue eyes that burrowed into you like lasers.

I quickly read each person's nametag. The first one's name was Officer Fallon, and the second was Officer Halls. I gulped to clear my dry throat, and said, "No, she isn't here. I can text her to come here, though." Before getting an answer, my thumbs were flying across the keypad like lightning as I typed, "Come to my house NOW. I'll explain later. It's about Bella. Important." I quickly pressed send.

I asked the policemen if they wanted coffee or anything, but they politely declined.

After a while, I heard the door bang open and someone wrestle off their shoes. She talked while she worked, not seeing who was in the room. "Cleo, what is it? I was at Mako with Jenna, turns out we were right. I told her that we were mer..." Emma arrived in the living room, and stopped suddenly. "Oh, hello."

"Emma, this is Officer Fallon and Officer Halls. They're here to ask some questions." Her eyes flashed, and she gulped.

"Yes, of course," she said, shaking. She sat down, and the questioning began.

They mostly asked about the night Bella disappeared, which was extremely uncomfortable, especially for Emma. Even though we were so open last year with the first policemen, it was different now. We realized we shouldn't have acted like that, and now, after a year, it had finally settled in and dawned on us how bad we acted, and it was a little embarrassing talking about it now. We had thought it was the past, but it was now the very near future.

"One more question," Officer Fallon said. "For Emma." He turned to her.

"O...Okay," Emma stuttered nervously.

"Did you run into Bella when you left to go search for her the first time?" Fallon asked.

-Emma POV-

Run into Bella? I didn't know how to respond. Did they know...? I couldn't lie to them, no, they were the police.

Before I could answer, Cleo cut in. "That is a ridiculous question. Of course she didn't. She said she didn't, right Emma?"

I looked down guiltily at my hands, not responding.

"I believe the question was meant for Emma," Halls said, saying it for Fallon. "Emma?"

I looked up into their waiting eyes. I knew they already knew what I was going to answer, but they wanted my side of the story. I decided to put on a brave face. They were obviously going to arrest me, so I decided I'd do it confidently and make sure they knew I wasn't lying. No, the lying was over. Not this time. I took a deep breath, and started.

"It was dark," I said absentmindedly. "And silent. I could hear my own deep breathing of fear. The guilt was settling at the bottom of my stomach. It was so intense I wanted to vomit." I watched as Cleo, Rikki, Fallon and Halls disappeared in the blink of an eye. I was suddenly surrounded by the view of the dark outside world from a year ago, on that night. I heard words—mywords—talking about what I was doing, but my lips weren't moving. "I only had the flashlight, which was running out of battery, so it only provided dim light. I heard my footsteps crunching on the dried leaves on the grass. I expected any second for some serial killer to jump out from behind the trees and kidnap me, so I'd be a goner, like Bella." I laughed a bitter laugh. "I searched until I was certain I wasn't in the same neighborhood anymore. I wanted to give up hope and just return home with hopes that Bella would return by sunrise, but fear pushed me forward.

"Then I heard a rustling in the forest. I shined the flashlight on it, but I didn't see anything. I knew someone was there; ready to kill me, so I inched forward towards it. A figure appeared, and it turned around to reveal its face to me." I stopped talking for a second, but let the words wash back to me as it came in a memory.

"Bella?" I cried out into the endless black. She looked at me, her eyes wild and glowing.

"What?" she hissed, and I could almost hear the venom in her voice.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I'm sorry I acted like that, it was horrible. But please, for Cleo and Rikki, please come back."

"It's a little too late for that," she said, eyes squinted. She advanced towards me, and threw me to the ground with all her strength. I hit my head with a bang, and it left a hollowing ring inside my head.

I got up slowly, trying to regain my thoughts inside my head and register what happened. I must have looked frightening to her, because she took a step back in fright. I took that advantage, and said, "Get out of here before I freeze you into a block of ice." I held up my hand threateningly.

She didn't say a word as she turned her back to me and ducked into the forest. I wordlessly headed back to Cleo's house.

-Cleo POV-

I gaped at Emma. She was staring into space, not looking at anyone. The policemen were scribbling things down in their notepad. Rikki looked just as shocked as me.

How come we didn't know this before? It was something we were supposed to tell each other...

Emma soon gathered what was happening, and looked at the policemen. She had her arms stretched out on her legs far, like she was waiting for them to handcuff her.

"We will be back later," Halls said, and him and his partner got up and shuffled out the door quickly, no explanations and no looking back.

"I have to go," Emma said quickly. She gathered her things in a flash and headed out the door. It swung silently behind her.

"We should check on her later. You know, make sure she's okay," I said. Rikki looked at me.

"Do you think Emma lied?" she asked me.

"What?" I said, confused.

"Do you think Emma had something to do with Bella's death? Was there more to the story?" Rikki asked, twiddling her thumbs.

"No," I instantly answered. "I mean, we know Emma. She wouldn't do something like that, right?" I looked at her, and she looked away. That was the thing. We didn't really know if we knew Emma the way we thought.

-Emma POV-

I stared at my reflection long and hard. I twirled a string of my long blonde hair in my fingers, and then studied my eyes, blue and open. I looked at my make-up, simple and basic. I realized I had a specific look, something that could be altered immediately.

I grabbed the pair of scissors resting on my desk, and studied them with anticipation. I rubbed the shiny surface, remarking at the cold of the blade.

"What are you doing?" I heard. I spun around to find Cleo and Rikki in the doorway, looking at me.

Before I could speak, I broke down into sobs, hugging them. "They're going to arrest me, and I'm going to rot in jail," I sobbed, squeezing them close.

"No, no they won't," Cleo said soothingly. "I'd make them throw me in prison before they'd be able to lay a finger on you."

"Thanks Cleo," I said appreciatively. "But Cleo, if they find more evidence like what I just told them, they might suspect I killed Bella."

"It's...possible," Rikki stuttered, and Cleo elbowed her.

"Exactly," I said. "So that's why if they ever arrest me, I might need to run away."

The two girls looked at each other, then Cleo said, "Emma, if you ever do run away...promise you'll tell us first."

"Promise," I said in a singsong voice. I knew I probably wouldn't keep the promise, because then the police would most likely drag them down with me.

"So," Rikki said, flopping on my bed. "Have you made up your mind?" Something told me she was trying to get off the current subject.

"About what?" I asked.

"About coming to Bella's funeral," she replied.

"Uh..." I said, frowning a bit. "I don't know..." They looked at me attentively, waiting for some kind of answer. "But I guess, if you guys want."

"Good," Rikki said with a smile. "That's good."

-Cleo POV-

I was quiet throughout the exchange between Rikki and Emma, mostly because there was a single thought lingering around my head, eating away all my other thoughts, agonizingly slow. I looked up to see Emma and Rikki's conversation, though I couldn't hear a word.

"There's something I need to tell you guys," I interrupted. They turned to stare at me. "I think Will is Bella's killer," I said seriously.

"Why? Will is—was—Bella's boyfriend, so why would he do such a horrible thing like that?" Rikki inquired.

"Because he was talking about how they got in a fight the day she went missing, and he said, and I quote, 'I kind of wanted to get rid of her...for good.' Now I'm no investigator, but that sounds awfully fishy to me."

Emma and Rikki exchanged a glance. "I guess," Rikki said slowly, almost like she didn't believe me.

"Guys!" I said loudly. "I thought you'd believe me, not act like I'm a loon."

"Sorry," Emma said. "I guess it could lean one way or the other, but let's not jump to conclusions, okay? But to give you credit, it does give me the chills."

"Yeah," Rikki agreed. She checked her watch. "Listen, guys, I have to go. I need to pick out a dress for Bella's funeral tomorrow." She groaned. "Can you believe it? A dress?"

Emma and I giggled, and watched her leave. Soon afterward, Emma departed too.

I started to shuffle through my closet to pick out a good dress. I finally settled on a one, and got a pair of black flats to match. I was about to try them on when my dad called me down to eat dinner.

I arrived downstairs, and was delighted to find an arrangement of Chinese food to consume on the table. Once I was done eating my load, I took a fortune cookie.

"These are my favorite part!" Kim squealed, and then opened hers up. She squinted at it, confused.

"What's your fortune, Kimmy?" Dad asked.

She shrugged, and stuffed the fortune in her pocket. "I don't know. Something about jealousy, I think. I got to run, I'm going to Karen's for a sleepover tonight."

Dad went upstairs, and Kim grabbed her overnight bag and went out the door, which left me alone. I fingered my fortune cookie, and then broke it in half.

I took out the little slip of paper that was implanted inside, and excitedly read it:

Are there such things as double funerals? Because you're about to discover disaster at one.

-B

My heart stopped cold as I read the small font. I swallowed, and stuffed the fortune in my pocket, not looking back.

A/N: Remember; please answer my question I asked at top in the reviews. I'm curious. Ciao!