He moved forward and grabbed the front of my shirt roughly, throwing me out of the cupboard with the strength of a gladiator who has been told to put down their opponent. My breath stolen from me as I hit one of the test tubes with a loud thud. A large crack lancing around the glass from my weight or his strength. I didn't know which. I was sure I'd coughed up my lungs with how hard. My breath taken from me as I tried desperately to breathe, tears surfaced and glazed over my eyes. My vision becoming a crystallised mess.

He crouched down in front of me, staring down at my prone form with an expectant glare lacing with the green within his eyes.

Oh fuck... He's waiting for me to jump up and try to kill him...

I stared up at him in fear as my chest continued to heave up and down with rabbiting speed. I swallowed hard, it was like a block of ice was trying to burn the back of my throat with its winter coldness. My eyes watched him, not daring to leave his for fear of being killed because of it, and saw that he was staring at something... but what? My hair? It should have been normal, I mean Iro and Jet have been around each other for years now, since they were babies! And she always had white hair!

"What're you waiting for?" He smirked at me like he was looking down upon a bug he was about to crush, a glint of self-righteousness in his eyes. "Usually you'd be clawing my eyes out, but you ran away to the point that you cornered yourself in a cupboard of all things..."

He chuckled down at me in a sinister manner, his eyes glowing in an ominous forest green.

"That's not like you..."

Oh fuck, my ovaries...

I kept my lips shut, not wanting to say anything as I knew I'd squeak and seem more out of character than I already was. I was sure if he started questioning if I actually was Iro and I couldn't convince him otherwise, he'd either:

a) Take me in to help him on his journey to kill the girl or...

b) Kill me.

Yeah, neither seemed like great options to me.

I pushed myself up and head butted him, causing him to land on his butt whilst I got up. (BTW that hurts like a son of a gun...) I went to kick him, but kneed him in his head instead as he went to bring his hands to the bump forming on his forehead. Osps... My bad... As he brought his hands up to his nose and nurse his new wound, I ran towards the large doors to escape.

By now the mermaids were staring my way with a curious glint and lustful hunger. Woken by Jet throwing me down like I was a child's rag doll, and all but tried to claw their way out of their tubes to get to me. The glass was cracking, and I didn't want to be around when it broke, especially with Jet hot on my tail.

And then they all went back to sleep like they had been turned off...

Stopping in my tracks when I noticed this odd detail, tackled to the floor by Jet, caught by him once again. I groaned in pain, feeling winded once more before going to turn and glare up at the idiot like I was the sun on a hot summers day! I noticed he looked weird, like he was blurry. Before long I'd realised I had tears in my eyes from frustration, fatigue washing over my body. I blinked them away as quickly as I could, hating the feeling of crying and not wanting Jet to see them. I ducked my head in my arms, using them to shield my face in hopes he wouldn't see. I wasn't sure if it worked or not because before we could do anything else the door opened.

My eyes widened in horror as I realised the severity of the situation. I began searching around and trying to find somewhere to hide that wouldn't make too much noise. I only found a door that looked too rusted and old to even open, the cupboard from before, and nothing else that would be sufficient.

"Yeah, she turned me down..." A voice said dejectedly.

Fuck, I'd never make it to the cupboard without them noticing me!

"Shit, seriously?" Another said, this one was rough and scratchy, like the man smoked cigarettes a lot. "Sorry to hear that..."

They were getting closer, soon enough they'd find Jet and I, and lord knows what'll happen to us then...

I was pulled off of the ground and suddenly pressed into a small space, my cheek pressed against Jets chest as he caged me in with his arms on either side of my head. I would hear my blood rushing around my veins, becoming conscious of my breathing.

"So how're... what the fuck?!"

I flinched at the harsh change in tone, hoping to god he wouldn't find us. They'd find us, wouldn't they? I'd be dead in a few seconds and never make it back home! Nezumi and Shion are gonna starve back in that stupid room because of that stupid lightning!

"Oh fuck... we're gonna be fucking fired!"

Huh...?

"Stop swearing so goddamn much! You're a fucking scientist for christ sake!"

"Y-you just swore though..."

The two continued to argue with each other, swearing and cursing and carrying on. It was almost comical if it weren't for the situation I was in right now. Not that I found it funny at the time, y'know, being stuck in a laboratory with killer mermaids and their... uh... creators(?)...

I looked up at Jet expectantly, hoping he could see was was going on, because I couldn't. He quirked an eyebrow at me in confusion, before finally getting at what I meant, mouthing out what was happening. Unfortunately for yours truly, I couldn't understand a word he said... or rather mouthed... When I looked like a foreigner listening for directions in another country, he got the idea.

He crouched down and moved his hands slowly down the wall I was pushed up against, smirking at me and winking when he noticed my blush. Then suddenly I was tall, taller than Jet, almost screaming in fright! I quickly put my hands on his shoulders for stability, not trusting a guy that was holding me around my butt. Thank the heavens above and whatever gods were watching over the sitcom that was my life, because I wasn't wearing that stupid fucking skirt.

I turned my head and leaned a bit to the side, trying to get a good view of what the scientist were going on about. I saw one of the mermaids had broken out of it's tube, glass surrounding it's bloody form. The two men stood a good distances away from it, obviously knowing something I didn't from over here.

Wait... we were around a corner?

I yelped when I was suddenly on the ground again, covering my mouth with my eyes wide as I realised what I'd done. Oh fuck! Oh fuck me! I fucked up so bad!

"What was that?"

I glared at Jet, knowing full well he did that on purpose and seeing as that was the only thing I could do whilst I was being held by him. This caused him to chuckle quietly and shake his head, smiling to himself. What the hell was he thinking?

Jet leaned in, kissing my cheek and whispering, "Don't move a muscle..."

He stepped back, winked like the flirt I'd written him to be when I was twelve trying to write a "bad boy", and stepped out to meet the two scientists. I heard them question him as I stayed in place, trying to control my breathing as I held my chest. It wasn't working - hell, when has anything worked in life since I began living here? - and I began to hyperventilate. Listening to the men get murdered, their screams reverberating in my head with a continuous echo. I started scratching around my ears in hopes it would make the sound disappear, sliding down the wall and crouching on the floor. I couldn't make it stop, I couldn't not hear their voices bubble and begin to gurgle as they choked on their own blood.

I wanted to throw up...

I flinched when I heard the snapping of bones, imagining the pain and shaking from absolute terror. I got up on shaky legs, numbness lancing up and down them, and looked back at the bloody scene. Jet was covered from head to toe in blood as he turned towards the second scientist, stalking him like he was a predator hunting prey. He was licking his lips like a dog about to devour a sirloin steak.

I stared at the mutilated carcass that was once the scientists who had made these murderous mermaids, his dead eyes held no light within them and became glazed over. They looked exactly like glass eyes. His jaw had been teared out and hung loosely, being held on by a string of lacerated muscle ripped by Jet's claws. His body was in two, his intestines connecting his upper and lower bodies together by a mazy line that my eyes couldn't help but follow in morbid fascination.

I gulped and turned towards the murderous teen with enough angst to fuel an entire emo album stalk the younger scientist. He wouldn't notice me, at least I don't think he would... I breathed in deeply, inadvertently breathing in the stench of blood and stale air, before I crouched and began making my way towards the doors, keeping my foot steps light and quick.

I passed the mermaid, keeping my eye on her and Jet constantly. I moved and made sure not to step on a single piece of glass out of fear of making a crunching noise that Jet would probably hear knowing this character's luck with the boy. My pants ended up soaked and clung to my knees from kneeling whilst I stilled, thinking Jet had caught me as I just passed the mermaid's hand. He didn't get a chance to turn around though, as a mermaid jumped and tackled him to the ground, trying to scratch his eyes out.

I quickly made it behind the broken tank, watching the boy get beaten from where I was. I didn't know if I should have been scared for my life because the mermaid seemed to be winning, or relieved that I wouldn't have to deal with Jet.

I felt a hand on my ankle, my balance being ripped from me, just like my scream.

The previously dead mermaid stared at me, gulping like a fish out of water, her eyes as dark as the void. She stared at me for a bit, her hands holding my face gently like one would with their lover - not that I've had one. Though the caress was short lived. Her face twisted into an ugly expression, baring her pointed teeth as began choking me with her right hand. The left scratching and clawing at my body and chest, almost like she was digging.

My vision tunnelled as black dots appeared, my eyes rolling into my skull as I began losing consciousness, gasping in vain for air. I tried fighting back, but my strength left me as my finger tips felt numbingly cold. It felt as though I was being consumed by blackness that began to eat away at my mind.

Maybe if I give in it won't hurt anymore...?

Ah...! That would be nice...

I let the black numbness consume me completely, giving in whole heartedly. My ears distantly picked up on the shouts and screams of a fight. Was that me? No it couldn't be... As the shouting got closer the heavy feeling suddenly left, the blackness leaving.

I saw a boy with dark hair attack a pretty girl with scales, the two of them were clawing at each other. Blood sprayed from the wounds the boy was inflicting on the scaled girl, staining his clothes a dark shade of purple. I couldn't help but lay my eyes upon the shimmering colour of her blood, spellbound by the holographic effect the shine seemed to have before passing out.

I woke up in someone's arms, their warmth comforting me as I snuggled closer in an effort to fight off the cold from before. I felt safe, the black numbness from before nothing but a bad memory of the past, being pulled to their chest, their chin resting upon my head as they breathed in deeply.

Then the stench of blood settled within my brain as I realised what that iron smog was, it was like I was kissing cousin with the smell, and my eyes opened immediately. I pulled away, kicking and skidding as far as I could from the warmth that held me before, screaming bloody murder! Everything that had happened the past few hours hit me like a hangover, causing me to cringe from it all.

Jet chuckled at me from where we both were before I woke up, still covered in blood, though it was drying now. I looked on my hands and saw blood staining them as well, my breath leaving me. Even as I tried to control it, it seemed as though nothing but the foul stench of blood reached my lungs. I began hyperventilating again as fear lanced through my body like cuts from a sharp blade.

I felt his wet hands play with my hair before resting on my cheeks as he turned my head to look at him, his dark eyes staring at mine with arrogance and something else I couldn't quite place.

"Breath in, come on..." Jet's voice soothed, his eyes softening from affection. I did as told, his thumb wiping the endless stream of tears as he continued to guide my breathing. He eventually pulled me into a hug, patting my head and whispering sweet nothings to me as I clung to his gentleness and amorous disposition.

Then his voice came out in a dark tone that held none of the warmth or coquettish nature his embrace did.

"Where's Iro?"