A/N: Sorry for such a short and boring chapter! I'm leaving for camp this week so I've been busy getting ready and updating other stories. IF YOU LIKE TEEN WOLF CHECK OUT MY STORY THE CHOSEN :] Next update will be probably around August 4th or 6th. Sorry guys! I feel bad :[ Please don't abandon this! And tell me if you like Alice and Ariana girl time :]

Chapter Thirty-Six:

Girl Talk

Chapter Song: Fix You by Coldplay

"Did I mention how happy I am we're mermaids again?" I flopped my tail in the water of he moon pool, sitting beside Cleo, Emma, and Rikki. We had just acquired our powers back, thanks to the moon pool.

"Not as much as I am." Agreed Emma, Cleo and Rikki nodded their heads in much agreement.

"I can't believe Lewis his hid this from us." Cleo rolled her eyes.

"He's Lewis, of course he did." Rikki said.

"You're not going to tell Zane we got out powers back, right?" Emma wondered to Rikki.

"It doesn't matter, he left."

"What?" We simultaneously said.

"Zane left. His dad's sending him to a boarding school. So, our secrets safe from him."

"I'm sorry." Cleo apologized to her.

"Why? It's not like I care." She shrugged.

"You don't have to act like that. You liked him and he's leaving, that must effect you in some way."

"Right now, I'm just happy everything's alright. Denman's gone, we have our tails back, all is right with the world." We all looked to Rikki and then Cleo attacked her in a hug, then I did too. Though Emma wanted to, she couldn't since she was besides me, but instead she engulfed me in a hug.

"I love you guys!" Cleo squealed.

My eyes opened from yet another flashback dream. Though I didn't notice, a quiet gasp escaped my lips. The room I was in was brighter that the last time I awoke. Through the slats of the white vinyl blinds, I could see the overcast sky. Wind rustled the evergreen trees outside. The brightness of the sun was too much. I turned my head away from the window, feeling a tug on my neck where my bite was. Right.

"Morning." Jacob softly said. My head turned to find him. He stood up from the chair he's been sleeping in for the past few days and he walked over to me. Bending down, Jacob pecked my lips.

"Morning." I weakly sat up. I hated how week my body felt, it still wasn't up to my full potential. I wanted to go home, I wanted to go out for a long swim. I didn't want to feel like this anymore.

"How are you feeling?" Jacob asked as he always did whenever I woke up. Every day it was the same answer.

"A little better."

"But not perfect?"

"I'm fine." I promised, my hand grazed his cheek. He bent down to kiss me again.

"You're awake! Perfect!" Our kiss was interrupted by a cherry voice. Alice Cullen. We broke apart and our attention was turned to her.

"Hi." I partially smiled to her.

"Jacob, go for a run." Alice ordered instead of suggesting to him. He stared at her with narrowed eyes.

"No." He stated.

"Come on, give us some girl time." Her face was perked up. He looked to me with raised brows. As much as I didn't want to agree, I slowly nodded my head. Jacob exhaled through his nose in partial anger, but then he went to kiss me and with the usual 'yell if you need me', he left. Alice skipped into the room and sat herself gracefully on the bed.

"So, how are you really feeling?" She wondered. How did she hear me? "Vampire hearing." She lifted her pointer finger up to her ears. She must have seen the confused expression on my face.

"I hate feeling like this," I admitted with a defeated sigh, "I can't stand it. I feel drained, and weak, and disgustingly ugly."

"Then maybe we can fix that." She smiled, waving up a black box around the size of a large clutch. It was a make up kit. A smile brightened up my face and excitedly, Alice opened the box. It expended to about four times it's original size and everything imaginable was found in there—from eye shadows and eyeliner to lipsticks and foundation. Alice began her prep. She squirted foundation onto an applicator sponge and began rubbing it indo my face.

"Foundation. It's like a miracle drug for the skin."

"God knows my skin needs it."

"It's just looking a little pale. Nothing more than a simple stroke of bronzer can help." Alice shuffled through the kit and rubbed a brush into a rectangle of pressed powder. She began sweeping the brush over my skin.

"You know, I liked you ever since I met you in Bio your first day."

"Really? I don't make that great of impressions." I smirked, laughing at my pathetic self.

"Well what really stuck with me was that you lived in Italy, and you thought the shopping was to die for." She was right. I had said that.

"I forgot about that." I by mistakenly said that allowed.

"My family gets so sick of me and my shopping slash beauty needs. It's nice talking to someone who actually enjoys it." She chuckled.

"You would have loved it in Australia. This one time my friends and I went on this major shopping spree after my friend Rikki got this sort of illegal mermaid job. It was really weird but I don't think I've ever spent so much in a mall before."

"Illegal mermaid job?" She laughed.

"There was this guy who payed her to get exotic, rare, fish. He told her they were being protected but he was actually selling them to pet stores."

"That's so wrong!" She cried.

"We know. That's why we did something about it." I warily smiled.

"Mermaids fighting crime, who would have thought of it." Alice was in disbelief.

"Fighting crime? Not so much. We like calling it 'getting revenge'."

"Well, after all my years on this earth, I've finally decided that as fun as revenge can be, it's never satisfying enough."

"Yeah, especially if you're the victim of it." I whispered. Alice continued on my make up, after finishing up my eyes, she began talking again.

"What's it like to be a mermaid?" She wondered, and so did I. I searched my head for answers.

"It's incredible. You feel like you're one with the water. You can swim faster, hold your breath for twenty minutes, possibly more, we haven't tested it yet. It's the best thing that's ever happened to me. It's hard to explain, but it is."

"But what about the dangers of being caught?"

"There's always that. And there's always that problem of never being able to go in the beach in public, or the worries of it starting to rain whenever you're out for a jog or in the outdoor malls. But still, those problems aren't enough to make me give it up ever again."

"You gave it up once?" Alice asked, shocked. My head nodded.

"There was a woman named Linda Denman, she was a marine biologist, she found out about us with the help of my friends Rikki's boyfriends dad, Harrison. He didn't mean any harm but after they trapped us in our Moon Pool and then Rikki's boyfriend found out, which was a problem because he had this whole 'mermaid's are real' conniption weeks before. But that wasn't the point. He helped us escape and an old woman named Ms. Chatham who used to be a mermaid helped us by saying that they'd never stop until they got us. So she told us how to get rid of our tails and we did it."
"So how are you a mermaid now?"

"It was a lie. It only short-circuited our powers for twelve hours. I went to the beach early the next morning and I stepped foot in the water. Ten seconds later, I fell and had my tail back. Thank God."

"That's amazing." Alice raved. I nodded my head, thinking back to that day.

"What's it like to be a vampire?" I asked Alice.

"You know, it's weird. The whole being dead part hasn't really hit me yet. Maybe in the next hundred years it will," she giggled," but I've grown to it. I've adapted to drinking animal blood. I don't remember my old life so this is all I've got. And I love it, I'm so grateful. It's awesome being the living dead and having psychic powers. But there's time I wish I remembered what it was like to be a human." She smiled nostalgically, swiping a brush tainted with gloss over my dry lips.

"There!" She squealed, offering me a hot pink hand mirror. I took it from her and look at myself. Much better. I looked brand new. Unknowingly, a smile broke my lined lips.

"Thank you."

"Anytime. I thought it'd cheer you up." I continued to look at the girl in the mirror. Her eyes began watering.

"Alice, I want to go home." I whispered.

"How about you go take a hot shower and then we'll talk about that after." She offered. I nodded, pushing off the covers and swinging my legs over the side of the bed. Alice asked if I needed help getting up, but I quickly declined. I was strong enough to do everything myself. When I walked in the exquisitely decorated bathroom, towels and a pile of clothes were already sitting on the counter. After shutting the door, I looked at myself in the mirror. The make up helped a lot, but I could still see through that to the weak girl who sat lifelessly in Victoria's trap. Walking over to the tub, I closed the drain and let the hot water fill. When it was done, I stripped of my hospital gown and undergarments and quickly got into the tub and let my feet hang over, soon being replaced with my tail. I smiled at the sight, I haven't seen my tail in over a week and a half. I loved that it was still there. My hand swiped over the scales, a shiver was sent down my spine. I let my head rest back in relief as I soaked up the hot water. Occasionally when I got bored, I played with Cleo's power and let small balls of water bloat in the air. I missed using my powers, I was thankful they were still there too. I soon dunked my head under the water and let out a breath, bubbles floating up the top. Oh how I missed being in the water. I had to go home. After washing up and shampooing my hair with some fancy brand I've never heard of, I dried myself off and got dressed. After my clothes were put on, I noticed that they were mine. Whoever had gotten these had gotten them from my drawers. It felt good to be back in my old clothes. Granted I've only been in that hospital gown for the past four days, but I missed being in my soft leggings and comfy long sleeved shirts that smelled like floral fabric softener. Before opening the door to head downstairs, I examined myself in the mirror one last time. My bites were clearing up; a scar would be left in its place. Walking downstairs, I was careful with every step I took. I followed the sound of people talking and walked into the living room. The pack was sitting on the couch, half was sleeping, and the other half was texting. Jacob was the first to notice me and then Sam's head popped up.

"I want to go home." I stated.

"Ari, we can't let you." Sam apologetically admitted.

"Sam, this is one decision I want to make for myself. I want to go home."

"Are you sure?" Carlisle's voice appeared behind me. I nodded.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Better. I swear. I just want to go home so everything goes back to normal. Carlisle nodded, understanding my point of view.

"Fine. But before you leave," he looked to Jacob, "Jacob, I think you should."

"You think he should what?" My brows furrowed and my head started pounding, getting a headache from to much light. Jacob stood up took my hand, intertwining his fingers with mine.

"Where are we going?" I asked. No one answered. Jacob, Carlisle, and Sam led me down a dark corridor and to a door with a lock on it. Carlisle dialed the lock and it opened, pushing the door forward. Jacob squeezed my hand as we carefully walked down the stairs. Carlisle flipped on a switch, letting one dim light bulb switch on. Was this the basement? We turned a corner and in front of me was a metal door. There was a small rectangle cut out of it and metal bars took its place around the height of my head. This was some kind of jail cell. Were they putting me in here? Why? As my heart began racing, I could spot someone with their back towards me curled up in the corner. Then, supernaturally, they ran up at an unimaginable speed and were grasping onto the bars. I gasped, stumbling back into Jacob. Flashes of memories went through my head of when she bit me, abused me.

"What the hell is she doing here?" I thought she was dead. I saw her neck snap.

"I see you're alive." She observed. Her words weren't malicious but they weren't kind either.

"She's deserving the amount of pain she gave you." Sam answered. I looked into Charlotte's eyes, having a flash back of when we were held against our will when Victoria screwed her over.

"No." I shook my head.

"What?" Jacob spat.

"No. Let her go." I decided. Charlotte was shocked, and so was everyone else. I shook my head and turned around, walking away and breaking Jacob's grasp on my hand. I walked back up the stairs and into the living room, hearing the patters of eager footsteps behind me. The rest of the pack was awake now. Paul was lying half on-half off the couch.

"Ari! Hey! You're out!" Jared smiled.

"We're going home." I announced blankly.

"What?" They asked simultaneously.

"Ariana, did these medicines go to your head or something? What's wrong with you?" Sam rushed in. Jared whispered something to Paul.

"No. I told you to let her go."

"You clearly aren't in any shape to make decisions today." Jacob shook his head.

"Wait, let who go? Charlotte?" Quil wondered. Rosalie walked in with Emmett by her side and Alice hopped down the stairs. Carlisle walked in with Charlotte, his hands holding her with a strong grip.

"Why are you letting me go? After all I did for you." Her voice was shaking.

"Because I saw some good in you while we were there." She didn't deserve to die. After the torture I went through, I wouldn't want anyone to go through that. Not even Charlotte, who wasn't exactly innocent.

"Th-thank you." Her lips quivered.

"Now get the hell out of here. I never, ever, want to see your face again." Charlotte's eyes fell, knowing that my niceness wouldn't last forever.

"Okay, I understand." She pursed her red lips.

"And if you so much as lay one hand on any of my friends, whether it be the girls, or Zane, or Lewis, I will send them," I pointed to the Cullen's and then to Sam and the pack, "and them to find you and personally rip your throat out for me." I harshly said with a straight face.

"Message delivered." She stated and in a flash, she was gone. Charlotte was out of my life, forever. As I dwelled in the silence, Jacob walked over to me and engulfed me in a hug. I closed my eyes as I buried my face in his shirt. A tear slipped down my cheek and soaked into the black fabric. As I closed my eyes, memories sparked in my vision. I had to open my eyes, my heart racing to fast. This was going to be one long road to recovery. How I was going to get out of this without therapy was beyond my knowing. But I'd pull through; at least, I hope I could. Somehow I knew I wasn't going home today, as much as I wanted to. Carlisle knew how sick I felt still, he could see through my charade.