A/N: I got some big exams coming up, so I'm really glad I was able to upload. I hope my studying didn't interfere with my writing quality too much. Thank you to all my readers. Here is chapter 10. Enjoy!
Previously... Dr. Alder accidentally gotten his hands on Sarah's DNA and tried to force Rachel to tell him, who it's from. During the confrontation between the two, someone starts a fire, destroying everything. Meanwhile Taylor tells Rachel that she had James are together. Now on to the chapter.
Chapter 10: Downpour
"I think it's about time we call it quits for today," Amber yawned, leaning back onto her hands as she looked at the clock in Emily's room, which read almost ten pm. The others nodded in agreement. They had been working on a project for school and homework almost all afternoon and into the night.
"I should definitely get going. My mom won't be pleased to have me wandering the streets so late at night," Rachel said as she packed her things. The other four waved after her as she left.
"I know I live only next door, but frankly I'm too tired to go home," Amber told them.
"Me too. That was way too much homework for my taste," Sarah agreed.
"Then why don't you just stay over?" Emily suggested as she got up and went to her closet. There neatly put away in a box she found Sarah's and Amber's sleepover things. After they had several inconveniences about forgotten stuff or not being able to have a spur of the moment sleepover, each girl had given the other two a stack of stuff that they would need, if they ever stayed over.
"Agreed," the two chorused.
"Then call your parents while Taylor and I get everything ready," Emily told them.
While Amber and Sarah got out their cell phones, Taylor and Emily went to Taylor's room where there were sleeping bags in the closet. Each took one and headed back. As they past James' door, Taylor stopped, her mind wandering to him. What was he up to right now? Wait for her? Since their relationship was still a secret, they often met at night in of their rooms. They talked, sometime kissed. Though it did have its risks. More than once someone had come in and one of them had to hide quickly. It wasn't ideal, but better than nothing. A small smile blossomed on her face.
Just then Emily's head poked out of her door and asked, "Everything alright?" Taylor quickly nodded and hurried to bring the sleeping bag. They talked a while as they set of the beds, but were forced to stop when Emily reminded them that it was a school day tomorrow and, if she didn't go to bed soon, they would be tired in the morning, so reluctantly the four split up to go to bed.
Taylor had just returned to her room and was about to undress, when a voice said, "I thought you would never finish." Startled she whirled around to see James getting up from behind her bed. Self consciously she held her arms in front of her chest, even though she was still clothed.
"What are you doing here?" Taylor asked, slowly starting to recover from her shock.
"What's it look like?" James replied as he sat down on her bed, "Waiting for you. It was a close call though. I was barely able to duck behind the bed when you and Emily came in."
Taylor shook her head as she let out a slow breath. "You're impossible," she muttered as she sank down onto the bed beside him. James took a hold of her face and drew her in for a kiss. "How good it felt," Taylor thought as they slung their arms around each other.
When they finally broke their kiss, they just snuggled together, talking. They talked about all sorts of things, though usually they somehow got onto the topic of mermaids, a subject James always seemed to have new questions on. "How did you ever survive in Ireland as a mermaid?" James asked, "I mean with all the rain and such?"
"Not sure myself," Taylor replied with a shrug.
"You think there are other mermaids beside you somewhere out there in the world?" James inquired.
"Yeah, there are. Your sister and her friends," Taylor wanted to say, but only thought it. "Who knows? I have yet to find another moon pool and back in Ireland it seemed I was the only…," Taylor began, but abruptly stopped. Suddenly she shoved James off the bed,
James was about to complain, when he heard the door open. "You're still awake?" a voice asked. His sister!
"Yeah," Taylor answered, looking around the room for a reason and then her gaze fell on her laptop, which rested on her desk, "I was chatting with my mom."
"I see. I saw that your light was still on and found it strange. You're usually one of the first to fall asleep," Emily told her, "That reminds me. I wanted to talk to you about the full moon that will be in a while."
Taylor froze. If this continued James would find out the truth about Emily. "Lets talk about it tomorrow. I'm pretty tired," Taylor suggested and more than rudely ushered Emily out of her room, "Good night." Before Emily could reply, Taylor had closed her door.
"Why does my sister want to talk about the full moon with you?" James asked, looking at her.
"Please, don't look at me like that," Taylor thought, guiltily as she tried to convince herself this was the right thing to do. "For a science project," Taylor answered, "You should go though. I really am tired." James nodded, seeming to accept the answer and gave Taylor one last kiss. After James had left, Taylor changed and went to bed.
As Taylor got up the next morning, she smiled. Another day full of sun. That was the best part of the Gold Coast, thought the girl, which had only a while ago only known the gloomy Irish weather. Her sixth sense, or possibly an attribute that mermaids got when they were often exposed to such rainy weather, hadn't once gone off since she had arrived in Australia, as opposed to the almost daily basis it went of in Ireland. It was a nice change of pace to not have to worry about the rain.
Still with a big smile on her face Taylor stepped to the window to gaze upon the sunrise over the ocean, a phenomenon, which she had noticed pretty quickly after taking up the room and had now become part of her daily routine. With great anticipation Taylor pulled aside the curtain, but instead of the expected glistening water, the foaming waves and the magically painted sky, there was the looming clouds, the almost pitch black ocean and an obvious patter, which she knew all to well. Rain. No, a downpour. The drops came down like threads, never once letting up.
Confused Taylor stared out at the scene in front of her. Was her sixth sense broken? Could it break? She wasn't feeling any rain. Slowly it dawned on her. This wasn't good. Taylor hurried out of her room and down the stair, where she heard muttering from. In the kitchen she found not only her three fellow mermaids, but also Emma. "Was this in the forecast?" Emily asked.
"There is no way we can go out there," Sarah said, leaning against the window.
"Not unless we want to turn into mermaids the second we step outside," Amber added.
"It's strange though. I don't think any rain was expected," Emma said.
Taylor used this moment to speak up, "There wasn't. This rain isn't natural. Something or someone is causing this. My sixth sense says it shouldn't be raining."
The four looked at her. "So you mean whoever saved Rachel from Dr. Alder is now making it rain?" Emily concluded.
"But why?" Sarah questioned.
"Keep us from going to school," Amber suggested, "Now all that homework was for nothing."
"Let me try my magic," Sarah said as she raised her hand towards the sky. The girls could see the tension in the brunette's face, but then gasp and told them with a shake of the head, "No chance. It won't budge."
Just then James came downstairs. "It sure is raining," he commented, "Shouldn't you get ready for school?"
"School? You want us to swim there?" Emily asked.
"Since when do you miss school due to any reason?" James replied, eying his sister, "I'll drive you, if that's the problem."
"I don't think that's a good idea, James. Some roads are already under water. It's too dangerous. They'll stay here," Emily objected, "We'll just have to wait out the storm." The five children nodded, solemnly.
Hours past, but no change in the weather seemed to be coming. The rain hadn't lessened, in fact it might have gotten stronger. Worried they watched the water rise. "If this keeps up, soon the ocean will come up to our house," Emily pointed out.
Suddenly there was a knock on the glass door, a figure dressed in a raincoat stood there. "Rachel," the girls muttered as Emma carefully opened the door.
"What are you doing here?" Taylor asked, "Are you crazy going out in that storm?"
"Why don't we first get her some towels to dry off," Emma suggested, seeing the girl was drenched from head to toe, even though she was wearing a rain jacket and carrying an umbrella. James went off to get the towels.
"I didn't have much off a choice. My house is in a small ditch and was starting to get flooded. My mom and I left. I wanted to know how you were, so I told her to go ahead," Rachel explained, careful to keep a safe distance from the mermaids.
Just then James came back and handed Rachel the towels, who tried to dry herself to the best of her abilities. "Why don't you and I go upstairs and get you dried up," Amber suggested and Rachel nodded, understanding what the blond meant. The two left.
"I wonder how bad it is out there?" Sarah muttered, staring out the window.
"I'm sure Rachel will tell us," Taylor replied.
A moment later Amber and Rachel, who was now completely dry, returned. James stared at them. How was it possible to dry that fast? Not to mention he hadn't heard a hairdryer running.
"How bad is it out there?" Emily asked as they settled on the sofa.
"Very bad. A lot of the streets are flooded and houses are threatening to sink. I took my boat here. If this continues, the whole, city will have to be evacuated," Rachel told them. Angrily Amber balled her fist, but careful not to use magic.
"Perhaps we should go look for higher ground," Emma suggested.
"No, we should be fine here," James replied, making everyone look up, surprised. Nervously Taylor bit her lip. Don't blow it, James.
"Can I talk to you in private?" Rachel asked, eying her mermaid friends, and the others nodded, moving into the kitchen, where she whispered, "This isn't natural, is it?" They all shook their heads. "We need to do something," Rachel told them, "Due to the rain a flash flood is starting to come. If this keeps up thousands could be in danger."
"Why would that person threaten all those humans, if it's after us?" Emily questioned.
"I don't know, but it doesn't matter. We are the only ones who can do anything," Rachel retorted.
"I agree with Rachel. Lets show that shadow what we can do," Amber agreed.
"What could you possibly do?" someone suddenly asked, making the girls turn in horror. In the doorway stood James. Taylor stared at the scene. This was not good.
"Nothing," Emily answered, quickly, "We were just being silly. Forget what you just heard."
"Didn't sound like it," James said, "What could you possible do… unless you're mermaids…" All three of the original mermaids stared at James, while Taylor wasn't sure what to do and Rachel felt like she had landed in the middle of a soap.
"How do you… know about mermaids?" Emily finally stammered.
"Is it true?" James repeated, firmly and then his gaze fell on his girlfriend, "Taylor?"
Now the girls stared at Taylor, who fidgeted uncomfortably. "What is he talking about Taylor?" Sarah asked.
"I'm so sorry, James," Taylor finally whispered, "But it wasn't my secret to tell."
"Well… That explains…," James stammered, speechless as he slowly sank into a chair, overwhelmed at the fact that his sister was now suddenly a mermaid, "A lot."
"What is going on here?" Amber demanded to know.
"James saw me when I saved him and confronted me about it," Taylor explained, her head low, "I told him the truth, but I didn't tell him you were also mermaids."
There was an awkward silence. "Lets talk about this later. Right now we have to save everyone," Emily said and Taylor smiled gratefully.
"Let me help," Rachel told them.
"No way. It's too dangerous for you," Amber retorted, "Not to mention you won't be able to fight the current."
"Please, Rachel, find higher ground with out parents and watch that nothing happens to them. I, no, we all would feel better, knowing our families are save," Sarah begged, thinking of Cleo, who was highly pregnant.
"Okay," Rachel gave in and stepped back.
"Lets go," Emily said.
"You are not going!" James ordered them, jumping up from his chair and grabbing his sister's wrist, "It's far too dangerous."
"We can handle ourselves," Emily retorted, staring back at him, "We have faced worse than this."
"Still. You should not have to do this alone," James objected.
"James, please. We know what we're doing and I promise we'll all come back safe and sound," Taylor told him, making him look at her. James clenched his fist and looked to the side vanquished. In silence the four mermaids stepped to the door. In one clean motion Emily threw open the door and they sprinted into the rain, mentally counting the seconds until their transformation. In the last second they dove into the water, their tails visible as they went under.
James stared out at the spot where they had disappeared. "Let the girls be, James," Emma said, coming up to him and resting a hand on his shoulder, "They know what they're doing."
"Mom," he muttered, looking at her as it dawned on him, "You knew?"
"A long story. I'll tell you more while we go to higher ground," Emma replied, "For now you should know that those girls already saved the world twice."
"And my life," Rachel added, stepping beside them. For a moment they stared out at the rising water, thinking of the girls, before they hurried to the boat, Rachel had brought with her, collect the others and then find higher ground.
Meanwhile four mermaids were now on a main street, which during normal days was almost never empty, but now not a soul dared cross it. The water had risen so high that the mermaids could easily swim over the street. "I know we told James we would stop this, but how?" Amber asked, letting some rain fall into her extended hand, "I mean Sarah wasn't able to do anything and what are we supposed to do against all this water?"
"There must be a place where it has a weakness," Taylor said.
"If so, I don't feel it," Sarah replied, being the most magically aware.
"But there has to be something like the center of the storm. Even a magically induced one has to have one. A place where it all comes from," Emily objected.
"Well, there is a spot where there is slightly more magic than the rest of the Gold Coast," Sarah pointed out, "Follow me."
The three followed Sarah out into the ocean. When they stopped, they noticed it wasn't raining as hard. "So where is our bad guy?" Amber asked, looking around.
"Try stopping it here," Taylor suggested.
"I still wouldn't be able to do it. It's too strong. I would need a lot more magic," Sarah objected.
"Take ours," Emily said, "We can't disappoint the others."
"Would that work?" Amber questioned.
"Why not? We all have our powers from a moon pool, so it can't be too different. Plus we have merged out powers before, just outside of our bodies," Taylor pointed out.
"Lets give it a try," Sarah agreed.
The others nodded and all three placed their hands on Sarah's back. She closed her eyes and could feel her friends', not just physically, but mentally. Their bodies felt like vessels for their magic and their arms the connection to her. Although Sarah didn't know who stood where behind her, she just knew. Their magic defined them. Amber's fiery hot red magic, Emily's cool white magic, Taylor's elastic blue magic and her own almost fluid purple magic. Sarah could feel their magic streaming from her friends into herself, as though they were becoming one.
Slowly Sarah raised her hand towards the sky and activated her power. She could feel their magic colliding, the rain sometimes lessening, sometimes getting stronger. "I won't let you, whoever you maybe, hurt my friends, my family or anyone on the Gold Coast. No one!" Sarah thought with those last words send out a powerful serge of magic. It almost sounded like a flash of lightning when the two powers met, but instantly Sarah knew they had won as the rain stopped and the clouds burst apart, sending a ray of sun to shine down on them. She felt her friends' retreating and quickly said, "Keep them there a moment longer. I need to fix this." When the hands stayed on her back, Sarah used one swift motion to push all the clouds away and to slowly, so that nothing more would be damaged, pull the excessive water from the city. The masses of it, which she pulled out, amazed her.
As Sarah drained the last of the water, she sighed, "It's over."
Suddenly she felt three pairs of arms hug her. "Good job," her friends smiled.
"That felt really weird," Amber said.
"What did you expect?" Emily asked.
"I don't know, but it almost felt like I understood you better than ever," Sarah answered and the others nodded.
"So what now?" Taylor questioned.
"The city will probably still be in alert mode, so maybe it would be better, if we laid low and went to the moon pool," Emily suggested, "At least for a while and it would give us time to talk." The others nodded.
So once they had arrived at the moon pool, Taylor retold of how James had found out, of course omitting the fact that they were together and that Rachel had known anything, since she didn't want her to get in trouble. Luckily no one seemed to be mad at her for not telling them and were almost happy that Taylor had tried to keep their secret, even though she had been busted. They had only been there for a bit when they suddenly heard people entering the moon pool.
The mermaids were about to dive under when Rachel appeared in the entrance followed by James. "Told you they would be here. If they didn't return home, they're here," Rachel said and gave her friends a thumbs up, "Great job, you guys. All the water is gone. Now only some repairs will be necessary."
Meanwhile James just stared at his sister and the three other mermaids. "This is really happening," he muttered in disbelieve.
"How much does he know?" Emily asked, motioning towards her brother.
"Your mom told him everything," Rachel answered.
"Then he knows he only barely escaped getting a mermaid, sorry, merman tail," Amber grinned.
"Don't remind me," James groaned, "I mean it looks good on you, but I don't think it's for me."
"Aw, I think you wouldn't look bad with a tail," Sarah smirked.
"Come on, we'll show you what you missed out on," Rachel told him, jumped into the water and dove away. Emily, Sarah and Amber followed suite.
Taylor was about to follow as well, when James grabbed her arm. "So this was your secret?" he asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"It wasn't my secret to tell," Taylor repeated, "If Emily didn't want to say anything, then I can't go behind her back."
"And what about us?" he questioned, "Are we going to tell them?"
"I think one surprise is enough for one day. I still don't think it's a good idea to tell Emily," Taylor admitted.
Before James could say anything, Emily resurfaced. "Come on, you two lazybones. The water feels great," she smiled, splashing it at them. With a laugh Taylor pulled James into the water and after her into the wide ocean.
A/N: The girls were able to not only overcome the downpour, but also the fact that James now knows of their secret. However they also realized that whoever is after them is not afraid to hurt innocent people in the process. What happens when it strikes closer to home? Please review.