A/N: WARNING: Profanity (bad language), violence, and blood ahead. If you're not comfortable please be aware that you've been warned!

Lewis and the girls realize what has happened to Cora and Cleo. We see what is happening to the two of them on Denman's yacht, and Lewis and the girls plot to save them while Denman plots to catch the last 2 mermaids.

***** I want to thank you guys for the patience you've had with me in this story; I told a friend once that I am a sister first, a daughter second, a friend third, a student fourth, and an author last. So thanks for bearing with me while I handle all of my (what feels like BILLIONS) of other things to take care of! This is such a busy time of year so thanks for being so understanding. I've made this chapter extra long in my hopes to make up for the delay in getting this chapter out! Here it is everyone, I hope you enjoy it! Reviews are incredibly appreciated and I hope to reach 55 reviews before I post chapter 11! Take care everybody : ] Special thanks to Paradox Tremors for helping me out BIG TIME with the flow of this chapter!

-

Lewis

"Lewis, I just had a vision – this is serious; something very, very bad—"

It was the last thing I heard her say before I heard a loud crashing and the line went dead. I froze and immediately felt my stomach turn to ice and drop about a mile.

"Cora?! Cora!" I screamed for her but I heard nothing after that. I felt my jaw clench and my teeth ground together and before I knew it I felt my fist make contact with the kitchen counter. She had been calling to warn me. She had had another vision and from what her voice sounded like, it was bad. And just as she was about to tell me what had happened and something – someone, I can feel it – cut her off. Somebody had come for her and I knew that somebody was Zane fucking Bennett. He had come for her and I hadn't been there to keep her safe or to keep that psycho from getting near her. I felt rage start to build in my chest and worry started swirling like crazy in my head – I had told her I wouldn't lose her easily and I had meant it. Zane Bennett was a dead man. Before I even realized what I was doing I felt realized I wasn't in our kitchen anymore. I stormed into my room and dragged my handgun out from its box under my bed and stashed it in its holster behind my back. I didn't know what had happened to Cora but I would be ready to get her out of trouble however I could. I didn't even feel my legs carrying me but I heard our apartment door slam shut behind me as I ran out.

*

I was nauseous by the time I reached the Sheppard's Inn 5 minutes later. The parking lot was empty and the building was dark and I was so furious and worried that my hands and chest were burning. I jiggled the front doors – locked. I groaned and closed my eyes for a second before running around to the back of the building that led out from the employee lounge with one thought in my mind – finding her. I gripped the door handle and found it unlocked so I threw the door open and ran inside.

"Cora!" I screamed in the dark. The lights were off and I flipped them on and scanned the room quickly, keeping my hand on my gun behind my back. There was nobody in the room, and I couldn't hear so much as a sound. I whipped my head to face the other side of the room and that's when I saw all of Cora's things which were still in the closet on the other side of the room. I felt my jaw clench hard again and let my eyes follow a trail of shattered plastic to the remains of her cell phone on the floor next to the lockers. My eyes scanned the rest of the floor and my body froze immediately when something behind the couch caught my eyes. Glaring back at me from the white tile there were a few dark red drops of liquid – unmistakably blood. Worst case scenarios started flooding my head and I dropped down to the floor to get a closer look. Something didn't feel right, but I could only imagine what had happened here. Then I caught the outline of an object out of the corner of my eye. Something was jutting out from underneath the metal shelf behind the couch; something I recognized. I reached out and grabbed what I saw, and when I pulled my hand back I was holding Zane's gun. He had been here. He'd been here and he'd dropped his gun.

Something in me snapped hard – this was the final straw. Denman and her lackeys had taken it to the next level. I started seeing red. If Zane had shed one drop of her blood I wouldn't be thinking twice about taking the rest of his. I slammed my elbow into the locker behind me and felt a growl that I didn't even know I had in me come out of my mouth, and before the metal stopped ringing I was out the restaurant and back out in the darkness.

-

Minutes later

Lewis burst through the door to the apartment that Emma, Cleo and Rikki shared, startling Emma who was sitting up on the couch flipping through one of her textbooks. She stood up immediately upon seeing the absolute horror, rage and distress that was plastered on her friend's face. She looked down and realized that there was a gun in his hand.

"Lewis?! What's the matter?"

Hearing the noise Rikki emerged from her room and stood on the doorframe next to where Lewis stood. Lewis quickly realized that he still had Zane's gun out and put it down on the counter to keep anyone from getting uneasy. He shut his eyes and wiped his hands over his face quickly shoving his hair back and tried to collect himself enough to speak, but Rikki spoke first. Her face had gone pale as she watched what Lewis had just done.

"What are you doing with Zane's gun?" She asked, feeling her heart start to beat faster. She felt her hands clench out of reflex as she stared at her ex-boyfriend's weapon – this was unmistakably Zane's.

"He came for Cora. He has her… he came to the restaurant. I found blood on the floor and that," Lewis nodded at the gun as he spoke, his voice frantic and fast, "She called… she called to tell me about a vision; she had a vision and she said it was bad. He smashed her phone and took her before she could say any more than that…"

"Lewis… calm down, we just have to—"

"I'll kill him." Lewis cut her off, his voice flat and serious. He wasn't even listening at this point. He sighed and paced back and forth across the small kitchen, trying to piece the incident together in his brain. He knew his girlfriend well and he knew that he was undoubtedly the only one she had called to warn. He looked up just in time to see Rikki and Emma exchanging nervous glances with one another, "Did she call either of you?!"

"She called me," Emma spoke up, trying to keep her voice calm, "She didn't mention a vision, but she sounded out of breath…"

"What did she say?" Lewis asked quickly. Emma furrowed her eyebrows and thought for a second before her face relaxed into realization.

"She asked me if Cleo had come home. And she told me to stay put… and then she said that she was calling you." She looked up at him slowly. Her face had softened considerably as she began to realize what this might mean for her best friend.

"And where is she now?" He asked quickly. Emma swallowed hard.

"She's still not back."

"Oh, no… Emma, do you know Cleo's voicemail password?"

"Well…yeah." Emma blushed slightly; she wasn't supposed to know it, but her best friend was kind of predictable after so many years.

"Call her. If she doesn't pick up, pull her voicemail." Lewis ordered quickly, continuing to pace back and forth.

Rikki watched him from the doorway and she stiffened as she watched his hands clench and unclench and automatically felt her own start to ball into tight fists. She had never, ever seen Lewis so upset and this time she was on the same page as he was. Zane had gone too far. He was psychotic and took one of her friends away in exchange for her own safety. What he was too far gone to realize was that Denman would never stop at one mermaid when she knew there were four. She had tricked him, and Zane had let her. Rikki knew that Cora was pretty tough for as shy as she was but she also knew how dangerous and now how angry at Cora that Denman and her men were. She felt something strange buzzing in the back of her head – a strange urge to get the four mermaids back together in one piece no matter what it took: Defender mode. She glanced at Emma who had her cell phone to her ear with a look of stern seriousness on her face and didn't need to be told to know that the feeling was mutual.

There were a few seconds of silence and Lewis stared at Emma expectantly. After another moment, her face blanked and he and Rikki watched the color drain from her cheeks.

"You guys… might want to hear this. Something doesn't sound right." She said quietly and turned her phone's speaker on, replaying the most recent message from Cleo's voicemail.

"Hey sweetie, it's me… I was thinking maybe we could have dinner? I set up a picnic just for us in the back of the gazebo at Tier Park; come and meet me here when you get off of work. I love you and I'll see you soon." The message from Nate filled the room, and although all three of them heard Nate's voice it was becoming abundantly clear that this was not the Nate that they knew.

"He sounds… sick, or really tired, or wacked out on—" Rikki started, muttering thoughtfully to herself. Lewis's face blanked into realization and he groaned, shutting his eyes.

"—or drugged. They drugged him too… You'd think this woman was a goddamn pharmacist instead of a marine biologist!" He exclaimed, covering her face with his hands. When he pulled them away he was met with Rikki's raised and furrowed eyebrows.

"What's this mean, then? Where's Cleo?!" She asked, crossing her arms over chest. Emma clenched her jaw and looked at her friend; she knew Rikki was scared, even though she put on her tough-girl façade. Emma sighed – she was scared, too, and even moreso now: she had just figured out what had happened.

"They've got her, too. They used Nate as a trap to drag her in. They've got both of them, and Cora." Emma's words were slow and deliberate as she pieced things together as she spoke. Rikki stiffened and her jaw clenched hard. This was serious. Not only were two of their friends taken, but an innocent bystander as well. The buzzing in her head progressed into to nagging ringing, peaked, and finally was gone. She picked her head up and stared at Emma, who was already looking back at her. Lewis watched their exchange from his spot a few feet away and his face hardened into seriousness.

"Let's go." His words were firm, and it wasn't a suggestion. But nobody needed to be told; within a few seconds the three of them were heading for the door, leaving the girls' apartment empty and still.

-

Meanwhile on Denman's yacht

Cleo squirmed slightly in the dark room, trying to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. She had no idea where she was but certainly remembered how she had gotten there. She remembered feeling that something was wrong when she reached Tier Park to meet her boyfriend. Nate hadn't sounded like himself in his voicemail, but she knew that it was his voice and he wouldn't ask her to meet him for no reason. However, as she got closer to the gazebo in the darkness the feeling grew. She had paused about 10 feet away from it and called his name.

"Nate?" She had gotten no response and terror froze her for a second before she decided it was time for her to leave. She had taken about three steps before she felt someone grab her arm roughly. Before she had even had time to see who it was she felt something heavy whack her in the back of the head and blacked out.

She groaned softly at the throbbing in her head that intensified with every move she made – this had to be Denman's work, no question about it. Cleo sighed, frustrated and let her eyes adjust to the darkness. There weren't many objects in the room that she could make out, though she was able to see a sliver of light coming in from what she assumed was the door and it was just enough light for her to see a drawer off to the corner of the room. She bit her lip and tried moving her hands a little only to find that they were tied behind her back to a steel pipe bolted to the wall. She yanked on it as roughly as she could but whoever had tied her hands up really hadn't been messing around – she could barely bend her fingers, which was more than likely the intent.

Just then the door burst open and Cleo squinted at the sudden brightness when the invader flipped on the lights. As she had suspected, Cleo was in a mostly empty room and was now faced by a tall muscular man approaching her with a small digital camera.

"Now, I'm assuming you know why you're here, but if you don't I'd be more than keen to take 15 seconds to give you the gist." The man smirked at Cleo and she could almost taste the sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"How stupid do you think I am?!" She spat back at him, cutting her eyes. The man chuckled and rolled his eyes, pulling a fold up chair from the side of the room and setting it up in front of her, sitting down in it.

"Well, Linda did say you were the dumb one. The cute ones usually aren't the brightest, sweetheart." The man didn't even bother looking at her as he fiddled with the camera, pressing some buttons and smirking. Cleo's teeth ground together and her eyes alone could have someone. Denman figured her for the stupid one?! "Got somethin' I thought you might want to take a look at." The man turned the camera around so that Cleo could see the display screen. A video was playing – it was Nate, blindfolded and tied into a chair, being forced to leave Cleo the voicemail she had gotten earlier that day. They had kidnapped him, too? Cleo couldn't believe it and guilt tugged at her heart.

"Where is he?!" She demanded. The man laughed again.

"Oh he's still here, don't you worry. It's not him we're interested in, it's you."

"Let him go! He's not done anything, he hasn't got anything that you want!"

"Nope, he doesn't. We'll let him go safe and sound as soon as we're finished with you."

"You're lying. Don't you dare touch him!"

"Well sweetheart it's a little too late for that, but Jesus Christ almighty relax – it's just a bump on the head, he'll be fine. And as for me lying, well now, that's not a very good assumption about my character on your part, now is it? You just met me," The man smirked and slipped the small camera back into his jacket pocket and stood up, sliding the chair out of the way and standing over her, "I can tell you right now that I might not be the nicest person, but if I'm anything at all I'm an honest man. Honestly, you're going to die. Honestly, your boyfriend is dead weight and we really don't need him around. We don't care if he goes to the police, who would believe this story? No need to make more work for ourselves than we need to, but if you would rather we do it that way then so be it. Even if he just said you were missing, we're not exactly new at this," He grinned, showing his perfectly straight white teeth and leaned down putting his face close to Cleo's, "We will make you disappear. It's your choice." And with that, he strolled out of the room, locking the door behind him.

Cleo's body was frozen stiff and she let her eyes close. If she resisted, Nate would be killed. If she didn't, he'd be let go. Whoever that man was, he was right: nobody would believe Nate if he were let go; he'd pose no threat. They really didn't need him. This really was all on her. She squeezed her eyes closed tighter and bit her lip and felt two tears slip down each of her cheeks. This was it.

-

Next Door on Denman's Yacht

Cora sat up straight, glaring daggers at the man sitting across from her. She had awoken almost 30 minutes ago and found herself sitting up in a chair, her legs and body bound to it with chains and her hands tied behind her back and then secured to a metal pipe behind her. She almost cracked a smile – these people really thought she was a monster. Who knew, maybe she was. There was a cheap wooden table in front of her that was made of the thinnest plywood Cora had ever seen – less than 2 inches. Probably a makeshift just for her, just in case she decided to send it flying into someone it wouldn't do much damage. Sitting at the other end of the table was Zane Bennett, and from the throbbing in her stomach she could tell that he was nervous. In the half hour that she had been awake she hadn't said one word and neither had he. She could play this game better than he could – he was one of those people that talked simply to fill silence, when Cora had been quiet for the majority of the last 5 years. She kept watching him, her dark brown eyes never leaving his face. He looked horrible, and that wasn't even including the bruised bloody nose she'd given him by elbowing him in the face an hour or so ago. He looked sick, almost crazed; and from the pain she was feeling it was evident that he felt much worse than he looked.

Every few seconds he would shift his eyes to a new spot in the room never meeting her glance. He'd had his arms folded across his chest defensively since she came to, but after several minutes of staring at him she had managed to absorb some of his nerves – despite how disgusted she was with him at that moment, she still managed to empathize for her once-friend. After a few more seconds she raised her head, still glaring at him and Zane's arms unlocked from his chest and he rested his hands in his lap.

"Back in the restaurant… When you were on the couch convulsing… was that you having a vision?" He strained to make himself sound tough, but it was easy enough for Cora to see and feel that underneath this he was timid. She kept her eyes locked on him.

"Yes." She replied. She thought that he would be finished after that, but a few seconds passed and she heard his voice again.

"What… what did you see?" He asked. His question surprised her but she did her best not to let it show on her face. He wanted to know what she saw? Zane had never cared about her visions before. And then something huge dawned on Cora: Zane was beginning to doubt himself. He had to be wondering if she had seen Rikki in her vision; if Denman and her men were honest in their promise to spare Rikki in exchange for her, or if they had played him like a harp. Cora knew that he had been tricked; she'd seen it days ago but he was still unaware of it. She then realized that his doubt may be a huge advantage for her. Zane didn't have to know what or who she really saw in her vision, she just had to make him think that she saw something he wouldn't like; she felt horrible about manipulating his already fragile state of mind but the more broken he was, the less good he was to Denman. This had become a war, and she had to brace herself. She wasn't just surviving for herself; she was surviving for Lewis, for Cleo and Emma and Rikki.

Cora didn't move an inch and let her eyes continue to bore into his, keeping her expression cold.

"You know what I saw." She said flatly. Zane picked his head up and finally brought his eyes to meet Cora's: she had gotten him.

"Was it Rikki? Did they touch Rikki?!" He asked, leaning forward across the table now, his eyes wider. Just then, the door opened and a tall handsome man in perfectly pressed slacks and a button-down shirt entered the room holding a briefcase. Cora caught him frown at Zane and roll his eyes as he walked over towards them. She decided to say her piece quickly.

"You know what I saw, Zane." She said again, her voice firmer this time but quieter as the intimidating older man stood over them, putting the case down on the table and rolling his sleeves up to his elbows. Zane appeared to not even notice the other man was there, but when he heard Cora's response he froze and stayed completely still for a moment and Cora felt a flood of pain hit her stomach for a brief second – the guilt-game had worked and now he was mulling over worst case scenarios; she could see it on his face. He sank back into his chair and was silent for another moment before casting his eyes back up at her.

"…Did it hurt?" He asked finally. Cora was surprised by the question again, but there was no reason to lie to him now. She clenched her jaw slightly and stared back at him hard.

"Yes." Her voice was quiet and serious and she watched an array of emotions cross Zane's face; guilt, fear, anger, worry. He was only shaken out of it when the tall man smacked him roughly in the back of the head.

"What the hell are you doing, Bennett?! Are you having tea with this thing or are you taking care of what Denman asked you to do?!" The man walked over to Cora and tugged on her chains roughly, yanking them against the chair and the pipe to test their strength, "This was the best you could do?! You're useless, Bennett, I swear to God! I've got to clean up behind you again? This is fucking ridiculous."

"I just thought that—"

"It doesn't LOOK like you thought of anything, Bennett. Do you honestly think this is going to hold her?! Your job was to restrain her and keep her from using her abilities – they're strong as hell, this won't do a dam thing!"

"But I wrapped the chains so that… so that she couldn't move her hands or fingers… I figured that would be enough…"

"D'you have any idea how bad this makes me look? This is kindergarten shit, Zane, I'm in charge of you and you're gonna destroy my clout with Denman!"

"I'll do it better, I'll fix it – really."

"Wish I could believe you but I'm not putting my ass on the line for your mistakes. I'm handling this myself. Get over here." The man demanded, nodding his head towards Cora telling Zane to stand by her, "Free her hands and put them flat down on the table and hold them there." He gave Zane one quick death glare before digging through the case. Zane did what he was told and shifted his eyes to his superior curiously.

"What… what are you going to do?"

"These things center their powers to come out of their palms, yeah? I'm gonna interrupt the flow." The man pulled two short wide daggers from a slot in the briefcase and closed it, holding one in each hand. Cora stiffened and tried moving her hands only to have Zane grip her wrists harder holding her hands flat down against the tabletop. The more she strained the harder Zane squeezed, digging his fingers into her wrists hard enough to leave bruises. The man briefly glanced at the back of each of Cora's hands and flipped the knives in his hands gingerly, smirking as he caught them by the hilt. Without a second thought or a moment of remorse and drove each of them down, slicing through the center of Cora's hands and through the plywood tabletop pinning them to it.

The cry that the young mermaid let out echoed through the small, almost empty room as the surface of the shoddy table began to slowly stain deep red.

-

A/N: Can Lewis, Emma and Rikki get to Denman's yacht in time? What happens if they reach it, unknowing that Denman is awaiting their arrival with cruel intentions? Find out in chapter 11! 55 until 11, see you guys next time around! Stay happy, healthy, safe and take care everyone! : ]