Tuesday, Rikki found herself walking along the beach. Emma and Cleo were helping her mum plan the "funeral" or were pretending to plan it, anyway. Rikki said she would awkward if she were to plan her own funeral so she ditched them. Her ankle was feeling much better and she no longer needed to lean on anyone to walk. Plus, she enjoyed being alone. After all the attention she was getting for being "Rikki's cousin", she was getting tired of hearing-
"Maia!" Rikki mentally cursed herself for not bringing a hat to cover up her hair. People could probably recognize her right away because of it. She turned around to see who had called her fake name and was surprised to see-
"Zane," she said, smiling. She had been wanting to hang out with him but she was afraid he would find out who she really was. "What a nice surprise?" Zane just smiled back.
"I had been meaning to find you," he said as they walked together.
"Really, what for?" she asked. Rikki was getting tired of acting all goody-two-shoes to everyone but Lewis said she had to act as opposite of herself as she could.
"Well, I just sort-of wanted to talk," he replied. Rikki laughed at her boyfriend. She could clearly see what he wanted.
"You know, just because I look like Rikki, doesn't mean I am," she replied. Zane looked sheepish and Rikki mentally cursed herself again. When all this was over, Zane was going to kill her.
"I know," he said. "It's just, you seemed really close and I just wanted to learn more about her I guess." He kicked some of the sand as he continued to walk.
"Zane," she said, half-laughing. "You'll never find peace with yourself if you don't let her go. She is gone and you need to move on." She became quiet after this. She didn't want to lose Zane but she needed to teach him a lesson. She couldn't live forever and she needed to make sure he could move on if she did actually die.
"I don't want to move on Maia," he said softly and "Maia" rolled her eyes.
"Come on Zane. If Rikki were here right now, she'd be laughing at you." She hoped he didn't realize that she was laughing as well. "Rikki would want you to live life. She hates when people are mopey so why would she want the boy she loved to be mopey." She smiled as she said this. "I think she would be glad to see you miss her but I think she'll want you to have some fun too. Hang out with friends, work on your boat, race Nate on your bike." Zane started nodding.
"I guess I could," he started to say but stopped and looked at "Maia". "How do you know who Nate is?" Rikki couldn't think of an excuse on how "Maia" knew one of Zane's friends so she decided to turn and look at the water.
"Wow, what a view," she said, Zane turned to see what she was looking at.
"Rikki loved the water," he said, sadly.
"At least she died in something that she loved," she said. Rikki realized that if she had a choice on where to die, she would want to die in the water, so she could feel at peace one last time.
"I sort of feel sorry for Mr. Sellwood," Zane said. Rikki tried not to cringe at the name. "He tried so hard to save her but he couldn't move fast enough. I mean, it must feel awful to think you were the only one to save her and not be able to do anything about it." He stopped walking and looked at his feet. "I'm kind of glad he's leaving tomorrow. I can barely look at him anymore since he was-"
"What did you say?" she asked as she finally realized what Zane was saying. "Sellwood is leaving tomorrow?" Zane looked at her oddly.
"Yeah, he said he's stayed long enough and-where are you going?" Rikki had started running as fast as she could down the beach and hid behind some tall rocks where she stopped to catch her breath.
"I'm sorry Lewis," she said to herself. "But this calls for an emergency." With that she ran to the water, where she transformed into a mermaid and swam as quick as she could to Emma's house via the canal in the back. When she finally got to Emma's she pulled herself out and began to dry herself with her powers. There was no time to waste. The plan had to commence tonight.
"I think Zane should say something," Cleo said, looking over some papers. It was weird enough making plans for your best friends funeral without knowing your friend wasn't even dead.
"I don't know," Emma said. "He may not want to do it. He's been pretty distant from all of this lately."
"Will you speak, Emma," Mrs. Gilbert asked. Emma nodded.
"Of course, mum. She was my best friend." At this moment, Elliot came down the stairs.
"Can I say something too?" he asked. Emma and her mum shared a look before looking at Elliot.
"Well I suppose-"
"Hey what Ri-Maia doing outside?" Cleo asked. She had almost slipped the secret but caught herself just in time. Emma turned around to see her best friend coming up the pathway from the water. What was worse was that she could faintly see the blond hair on Rikki's head. She hoped her family hadn't.
"I don't know," she said, getting up from her seat. "I'll go see." With that, she exited her house and rushed over to Rikki before she got too close. When Rikki saw Emma, she started to rush up but Emma held out her hand to stop her. "Your hair," she whispered. Rikki grabbed her hair and pulled it in front of her eyes. Lewis's hair dye had finally worn off.
"Shoot," she said, running away from the house. Emma followed.
"What are you doing here?" Emma asked, when she finally caught up to Rikki. "I thought you said you were going to the beach."
"I wasat the beach," Rikki said as she sat down on the ground. Her leg was hurting a lot again, not to mention her tail had been killing her on the way over. Lewis is going to kill her when he finds out. "But then I ran into Zane and we started talking." She was breathing heavily. Never had swimming taken so much out of her. "Sellwood is leaving tomorrow," she finally said. Emma gasped.
"But that means-" she began and Rikki nodded.
"Our plan has to happen tonight," she said. She closed her eyes in pain. "Call Lewis, tell him to get over here." Emma nodded in understanding and pulled out her cell phone. "Then tell my mum and Cleo phase one starts now."
As soon as Lewis hung up with Emma, he rushed over. By the time he got there, Emma had snuck Rikki into her room and her, Rikki, and Cleo had already begun phase one of their plan: making the storm. It had to look to everyone that the storm was slowly coming along. Cleo pushed the clouds and was slowly condensing them to make them darker. Emma, since she wasn't needed yet, used her powers to ice Rikki's leg.
"Rikki!" Lewis said when he saw her, laying on Emma's bed with a frozen ball of water on her ankle. Rikki just shrugged.
"I needed to get away from Zane fast and the water seemed the perfect way to do it." Lewis rolled his eyes and poured a water bottle he had on her head. Rikki winced when she transformed.
"You deserved that," Lewis said, and started tending her wound and broken tail. "So how's that storm coming, Cleo?" Cleo just sighed in annoyance, her hand still raised towards the sky.
"Ouch!" Rikki screamed. Lewis answered her scream with a hit on the head.
"That's what you get," Lewis said, just as Lovella came in with a box.
"Look what came in the mail from your Aunt Rachel," she said, putting the box on the bed. Rikki eyes widened and she smiled. She watched as her mum opened the box and pulled out-
"A wedding dress?" Cleo asked from her spot by the window. Rikki nodded.
"Not just any wedding dress," Lovella added. "This was the dress Sellwood bought for me to wear at our wedding. It was while wearing this dress on our wedding day that I realized how controlling he was and left. When I married your father," she said, looking at Rikki, "I used it too. I didn't have enough money to buy my own. I've kept it ever since."
"Lucky you did," Rikki replied. Emma touched it.
"It's beautiful," she said. "But how are we going to use this on Sellwood." Rikki smiled an evil grin and Lewis slowly backed away.
"Simple. I'm going to wear it." Her friends looked at her strangly and she rolled her eyes. "Pretending to be a ghost is only going to get so much out of that jerk, but if I wear my mother's wedding dress-"
"And because you look just like her-" Emma injected. Rikki nodded.
"We'll be making that guy pee in his pants," Rikki finished. Lewis laughed and started to wrap the gauze around Rikki's tail again.
"Now listen Rikki," Lovella said, getting serious. "When the police arrive, you have to stay in the shadows. You cannot be seen. Sellwood must believe you were only a ghost so that when we convict him for attempted murder, you will be a big surprise to the jury." Rikki just rolled her eyes and nodded.
"Come on mum, I know what I'm doing," she said. Lovella just nodded. She hoped her daughter was right.
By the time phase two was about to start, Cleo's storm was building up. People were told to stay indoors because of this freak storm, but that didn't stop phase two from going according to plan. Lewis and Cleo "accidentally" bumped into Warren Sellwood and said how upset they were about Rikki's death. He agreed to bring them to the exact spot where he saw her last. But when they got there, Cleo began to cry so much that she ran off into the woods behind the cliff.
"I'm sorry," Lewis said. "I'll go get her." And with that, he ran after his girlfriend. Sellwood just stood their, looking out at the ocean.
"Ugh, it would be so easy to just push him off," Cleo said from her hiding place but Rikki rolled her eyes as she came to stand next to Cleo.
"We need him alive for the trial," she replied. Lewis looked at her oddly.
"I'm surprised at you Rikki," he said. "I thought you would want to get revenge like that." Rikki just shrugged.
"You should have heard that guy," she said. "He was acting all "cool" because he had never been caught. Well, now he has. Cleo start the wind." Cleo nodded and the wind picked up. Sellwood wasn't fazed, though he did turn towards the woods.
"Rikki," Lewis said. "Lightining." Rikki nodded and a bolt of lightning lit up the sky, followed by rolling thunder.
"Since I can only do steam, Emma, do the eerie mist." Emma nodded and mist began to form around them.
"All right kid," Lovella said. "You're up." Rikki took a big gulp and slowly walked into the open. Show time!
Waren Sellwood was looking out at the ocean. How easy it was to kill Rikki! he thought. I didn't have to lift a finger. She jumped on her own. Not like those other girls. They begged and pleaded. I shot them just to shut them up. Ugh. But at least tomorrow I'll be on my way to America. That Benson kid won't know what hit him. Then I'll finally be at peace. Sellwood heard a twig snap and he looked behind him. What looked like fog was starting to roll in and he saw a lone, female figure coming out of it.
"Cleo," he called out. But after he said it, he knew how wrong he was.
"No," the figure said, as the "fog" formed around her feet and behind her. "But you're close."
"Another lightning," Lewis said into his earpiece from behind the trees and Rikki positioned her hand so that it faced the sky. Sellwood jumped when he saw it.
"You should be dead," he said. He still hadn't seen the dress. Rikki walked closer.
"I am," she replied and with that, the "fog"settled to her feet. Sellwood gasped at what he saw. Rikki looked completely white (thanks to some water-free makeup) and her eyes were coldand dark. Her hair fell in perfect waves on her shoulders and down her back (thanks to extentions) She looked like your typical, "come back to haunt you" kind-of ghost.
"You-you can't," he said. "It's not possible." Rikki laughed evilly as another lighting bolt lit up the sky.
"Oh, but it is," she said. Fireshot up on both sides of Sellwood.
"He is definately peeing in his pants now," Lewis whispered to Cleo. Cleo giggled softly.
"But, the-the dress," he said, pointing to it. Rikki rolled her eyes and smiled.
"You like it," she said, twirling around. "Apparently, because you killed me out of revenge for what my mum did to me, I get to wear it. Neat huh?" She smiled evilly again and Sellwood just cringed in fear. The fires got larger.
"Please," he said, whimpering. "What do you want from me?" This was it. The moment of truth. Lewis made sure the voice recorder was still working.
"I want you to confess," Rikki said. "Confess what you have done so that I may rest in peace." Sellwood just looked at her and she sighed. "If you do not confess what you have done, then I'll just have to follow you for the rest of your life." Sellwood eyes widened.
"Okay, I confess, I killed you," he said. "Please don't hurt me." Rikki rolled her eyes.
"Not me, you idiot," she said. Sellwood looked confused. "Confess of the other killings. I killed myself but I am the only one who knows of the other killings so confess."
"Get ready to call the police, Lewis," Lovella said. Lewis nodded and took out his cell phone.
"Never," Sellwood said. All of a sudden, the flames on both sides of him got even larger and hotter. When he looked at Rikki. He could see her hands extended towards the flames. "How are you-"
"I'm a ghost, Sellwood," she replied. "I can do anything." The wind picked up and Sellwood cringed in fear.
"Okay, stop," he said, crying. "I confess to killing all those girls. I confess to shooting them and pushing them off a cliff. I confess to it all." Rikki smiled and slowly backed away. The wind slowed down and Rikki could faintly hear Lewis in her ear piece, telling Cleo to start the rain.
The rain started, slowly putting Rikki's fires out. Sellwoodjust sat there, scared stiff. He didn't even fight when the police came and hauled him away. He had been caught. Behind the trees, three mermaids were high-fiving each other while a woman and teen dried them off.
Woo! Sellwood has been arrested. Next up is the trial. I don't know how the Australian court system works so its based off of what I know of the American court system, which is not a lot. Anyway, review if you want.
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