Sorry I haven't updated in forever. I would go on and on with excuses, but one of them is me writing a book. As in an actual book. That will be published. Like Harry Potter. Or Maximum Ride. Or Twilight. Like those.

Thanks to: Sammy-Spit-Fire, H2OGirl101, OXPrimrosexAngelXO, ElenaxoxoSilber, Danni99981, Only Crocodile Tears, carrieabc123, EpicFanastyStories, alpha of denali wolf pack, and chinaluv.

All the exits were blocked. There was no escape route. Cleo tried darting out of the building, out the front door, but couldn't because two guys prevented her from exiting the café. Cleo had nowhere to go. Several seconds later, she flopped on the ground, her hands stinging as she tried to catch herself. She heard a similar thud to her right and looked over in that direction. Emma was beside of her, a tail also replacing her legs. Obviously, she had gotten splashed.

There were gasps from all around. Almost everyone had cameras; some people even caught the transformations. Everyone started whispering to each other as the shock started to wear off. The sound of a door flinging open was loud in the quiet room. The source of the sound was Zane. He was at work today. He looked at everyone lined up around the walls of the building then glanced down at the two lying on the floor. "Everyone out!" he said loudly, motioning in the general direction of the doorway. Slowly, almost reluctantly, the guests of the "birthday party" filed out of the café, still talking softly with each other about the previous events. After the last person left, Zane, Rikki, and Bella shut the doors and pulled the curtains down. Then they circled Emma and Cleo.

"Are you alright?" Bella asked, helping Emma sit up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," muttered Cleo, but her cheeks were flushed red from embarrassment and she looked on the verge of tears.

"Me, too," said Emma.

"What's going on?" hollered a voice from the office—Sophie's voice.

"Uh—nothing!" Zane yelled back. "It's okay. Stay where you are!" But the curious Sophie did not listen. She walked around the corner to see two mermaids with Rikki in the process of drying them off.

"What's…going…on?" Sophie repeated. The five on the ground glanced at each other, unsure of what to do next.

"Cleo!" Lewis yelled as soon as Cleo answered her mobile. "Cleo, are you alright? I saw online"—he lowered his voice—"of you being a mermaid." He talked normally now. "As soon as I saw it I had to ch—"

"Lewis, I'm fine," Cleo interrupted. "We all are. Nobody has come up to us with needles or anything…" Yet, her mind finished for her.

"Good. I'm just really worried; especially since I can't be there with you."

"We're looking out for each other—we'll be okay."

"I love you, Cleo."

That night, there was a knock on Lewis's door. He got up to answer it, knowing his roommate would be oblivious to it. Lewis wasn't expecting anyone, but he was surprised at the person standing in the doorway.

"Hello, Lewis," said Dr. Denman.

~ (Two weeks later) ~

"Whose boat is that?" asked Rikki, sitting up on the shore of Mako Island. Instead of meeting at the Moon Pool, they decided to sit in the surf, wanting to soak up some sun. They were still uncomfortable hanging out at the beach.

"I don't know," said Bella, sitting up, the others joining her.

"I think I know whose it is," said Emma.

"That isn't…," began Cleo.

"It is."

"Dr. Denman," said Rikki.

"Who's that?" Bella asked.

"A psychopath biologist who you really want to avoid, especially a few certain mermaids."

Cleo made the tide swallow them into the ocean, not wanting to be seen by the people on the boat.

~ (Cleo's room) ~

"What is she doing back?" asked Rikki.

"I don't know," said Cleo, pacing in front of her bed, mobile pressed against her ear. "Lewis isn't answering his mobile…"

"He's probably busy," said Emma. "Don't worry." She turned to Rikki and answered her question. "Maybe she's just doing some more 'fish population counts,' but to be on the safe side, no Mako."

Reaching Lewis's voicemail for the seventh time, Cleo hung up and set her mobile on the bedside table. She sat on the bed between Bella and Rikki.

There was silence for a few minutes until Bella spoke up. "I won some free tickets to a movie a while ago. Do you guys want to go? We could get our minds off of the Denman thing."

Rikki shrugged. "Why not? A night on the town might be fun." Emma and Cleo said their agreements also.

Twenty minutes later, after they looked up movie times, they were off, planning on having a good time, not knowing they wouldn't be returning home that night.

~ (After the movie) ~

The four girls stepped out of the theater, laughing over the cheesy, low-budget movie they had just watched. They headed for their favorite restaurant, not noticing the dark figures hiding out in the shadows several meters ahead. They passed the black-clad people standing under the overhang of a closed shop. Soon, each girl was met with a sharp pain in their arm, as if getting poked with a needle. But then everything was black…

Rikki was the first to wake up. She couldn't tell where she was. The room was gently rocking side to side, indicating they were on a boat. There was no furniture in the room and the only people inside was Emma, Cleo, Bella, and herself. There was a door across the room. Rikki moved her hands. They were tied behind her back and numb; she had been in this position for a while now.

"Emma, wake up," Rikki said softly, nudging Emma's leg with her own. "Emma!" Emma moved her head to the other side and slowly opened her eyes.

"Where are we?" she asked, now fully awake. "What happened?"

"We were walking out from the movie…we got half way down the block…and that's all I remember."

Emma turned her attention to her other friends which were sitting next to her. When awake, they asked similar questions and received similar answers.

Rikki scooted closer to Emma. "Can you try to untie me?" she asked.

"I'll try," Emma responded. They sat back to back, Emma's fingers working at the knots until they were sore. "I can't," Emma sighed sometime later. Rikki then tried untying Emma, but it was no use. Cleo and Bella both tried, also, but nothing worked.

As they slumped on the ground in defeat, a certain blonde doctor walked in. "Hello, girls," said Dr. Denman. "I see you're awake."

So this chapter jumps around a bit, but oh well. Hoped you liked it…even if it was a little (okay, a lot) late.

Review!

Oh, and I'll have the next chapter tomorrow. This I can promise. I'm almost done with it. I just couldn't finish it because my computer is getting ready to kick me off.
(Stupid parental controls.)