Chapter 50: Back to Normal?
Mia stared out over the lapping waters of the ocean from a secluded beach. Katy sat next to her on the sand, joining her in the combined silence. The only sound heard was the waves crashing into the beach. The both of them were solemn. It had been the day after Sara's departure from Gold Coast, and the empty void by her leaving had left them both feeling melancholic. "So…. What do we do now?" Mia asked to empty space. "The summer just feels… empty now without Sara."
"She won't be gone forever. It'll only be a few weeks at most," Katy encouraged. "At least… I think so anyway."
"I suppose it's for the best," Mia agreed. "But, we still have to be careful. I know Sara's gone and everything, but people still know that we're friends with her. We've done good staying out of the limelight for now… But look what happened to Farley."
"Maybe then it's a good thing that Sara's gone for now…. Nobody cares about who we are now, and we just fade to anonymity."
"I thought you wanted to go public," Mia fired back.
"I do… Or maybe not.. I don't know… Like, I see Sara doing all these cool things and I'm jealous but…"
"...If we go public people will start questioning everything we've said since the beginning, if we're lying on anything, and possibly the location of the moon pool and how to become a mermaid," Mia finished.
"Precisely. And I don't want Mako's metaphorical blood on my hands," Katy added. "So where do we go from here?"
"Try to enjoy summer as best as we can while Sara's gone," Mia suggested.
"I suppose so…" Katy trailed off. "Do you think things ever could get back to normal? When we just mermaids living our lives… Or even before that when we were just normal girls doing the high school thing?"
Mia sighed. "This is our life now. One day, we may be forced to go public, whether we want to or not. Anything normal in life is over."
"Oh…" Katy put her head down, discouraged.
Mia put a hand on Katy's shoulder. "Hey, we're still here though. And we're gonna do everything we can. Besides, we still have good friends and our boyfriends with us," Mia encouraged. "Speaking of which, we should probably head to where we're meeting."
"Are you sure it's safe? People could be still scouring the waters for more mermaids. We'd be revealed."
"Maybe. Or maybe not. We cannot fear the unknown. It will only cause us pain," Mia advised.
"Look at you being the wise philosopher," Katy joked, elbowing Mia in the side.
"I know you joke, but I have realized something," Mia added. "Sara was undoubtedly the leader of our group. She was the most charismatic, confident, and when the shit kicked her in the face, she got back up and faced. She knew that fear would only hurt her. So she didn't let it control her. I only see this now that she's gone. The two of us have to hold together as one. Sure we have Blake and Mitch, and I guess Lizzy and Elliot as well. But us two mermaids have to stick together while Sara is away."
Katy nodded. "I couldn't agree more."
"Shall we go?" Mia spoke, standing up on the sand, facing the ocean with a strength and courage.
"Right behind you," Katy stood up as well, joining Mia. Together they ran into the surf together, unafraid.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Elliot steered the Redemption carefully out of the Marina. A trickle of sweat dripped down his back as he anxiously eased the throttle forward, moving among the parked boats trying not to crash. "Have you ever done this before?" Lizzy questioned.
"Well… No… It was always Denman who drove the boat. I was just there along for the ride usually. Denman charged me with keeping the Redemption in good care. So, that's what I plan to do," Elliot answered nervously, trying to keep his attention focused. Within a few tense moments, they were free of the marina and out onto the ocean water. "Ok. We're clear, now to get this baby going. Keep the eye out for followers. People probably know this is Denman's boat, and we don't want people following us."
"Aye aye Captain!" Lizzy saluted. "I can't wait to get to Mako. It feels so good to be part of this group."
"Even though they don't trust us," Elliot added pessimistically.
Lizzy raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Elliot sighed. "Both of us were brought into this by Sara. Mia and Katy literally met you two days ago. And even though I've known Sara for months, she never told them about me and Denman and Laura until basically the night Sara was revealed, a week ago. The both of us are on the outs. The other two, Blake and Mitch, have known about the girls' secret for months. Doesn't help us at all. Blake does trust me, as we've known each other for a few months. But the others, no way."
"Why are you being such a downer?" Lizzy questioned.
"I don't know…" Elliot admitted. "I'm sorry. I'm still dealing with the whole thing about my sister being a mermaid. She never told me for years. I only found out through Zane Bennett. He told me it all, and mostly to spite Dr. Denman at the time… So I don't even get the pleasure of being told it by my sister herself. I only heard about it because I was there."
"Hey," Lizzy spoke softly, placing a hand on Elliot's shoulder. "It'll be ok. You need to talk to your sister though. This… ball of tension you feel will only hurt you in the long run. You need to find closure, or else you'll never be free."
"What are you a psychologist now?" Elliot quipped.
"That's right, and my rate is $100 an hour, so pay up," Laura fired back. The two of them almost fell on the floor laughing at their stupid joke. Soon, their laughing had calmed down and they continued their course. Elliot smiled at Lizzy who returned it right back at him.
Elliot returned his gaze to the open ocean. "Either way, we are a part of this now, so even though I am being a downer I still want to show them that I'm loyal to them all. We're just starting at a hard place at the moment."
"True, but here's another option. They have to trust us," Lizzy argued. "We know all their secrets. Distrusting us is only going to push us further away. Their only logical option is to keep us as close as possible."
"People never really act logically anyway," Elliot joked.
"Fair. But still, let's meet up with them and least get on the same page. All we can do," Lizzy added.
Elliot nodded. Both he and Lizzy had a lot of work to gain the trust of the others, but they'd be willing to do it.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Blake and Mitch glided across the water in Farley's boat. He had let the two of them borrow it while he was away in California. Farley's father didn't seem to mind, as he was still working around Farley being a merman and everything. The two sat in relative silence as they continued forward through the calm waters.
"So… Do you think it was the right move accepting Elliot, Laura, and Lizzy into Team Mako?" Mitch asked, trying to break the silence.
Blake shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "I wish I knew. I've known Elliot and Laura for a few months now, and we've grown to be friends. But, I don't know about this LIzzy girl. Sara seems to trust her though."
"From what it sounds like to me from what Sara said, Lizzy is extremely loyal, but she is a bit overly enthusiastic, which means that it would be the easiest for her to reveal the secret," Mitch explained.
"Then… what do we do about it?"
"I don't know…" Mitch sighed.
"Well, some months ago, right after Sara was found out by Denman, I gave her a piece of advice. 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. And closer still those who you aren't quite sure whether they are friend or enemy.' So, we need to keep Lizzy, and the same extent Laura and Elliot, close by. If they think they are trusted, they'll be less willing to betray us."
"Unless they want to be close to us to learn more they can use against us…"
"Mate, I know you have trust issues," Blake snapped, "But, we need to work with them. I know you usually do the solo thing, but come on. They are a part of us now whether you like it or not."
Mitch grunted angrily. "If you weren't one of my best friends, I'd beat the piss out of you now."
"Well, then I'm the right bloke to get real with you. Mitch, mate, don't be so hard on our group. Be optimistic for once."
Mitch exhaled slowly. "Fine. You're right. I won't be a bitch. I'll learn to trust Lizzy, Laura, and Elliot."
"Great! Now, let's meet up with the rest of them!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Slowly but surely, the three groups made there way to the Moon Pool. Katy and Mia arrived first through the underwater cave directly from the ocean. Soon after, Blake and Mitch appeared in the Cave. They both laid onto the cold rock and kissed their respective girlfriends still in the water. "So… Where are the newbies? They didn't get lost did they?" Mia joked.
"I'm not sure if that's good or bad that they can't find their way back here," Mitch chided. "They won't be able to tell everyone about this place though."
Blake shot him an angry glare, but Mitch just shrugged and brushed back his long black hair. "Come on you two," Mia groaned. "I know we don't 100% trust the two of them, but Sara does. And we need to honor that."
"Mia being level-headed? When did that start?" Blake teased.
"Shut it Blake," Mia snapped back. "Anyway, they'll be here soon. So let's not do the whole gossipping bullshit. Not gonna do very well for us if they come down here and we're saying bad things about them."
Mia was right, as within five minutes, Elliot and LIzzy stumbled down the hole and into the other chamber. "I'm not gonna get used to that," They heard Elliot joke. Both he and Lizzy clambered up the stairs and into the main Moon Pool chamber. Lizzy gasped instinctively at seeing Katy and Mia in their tails, and she quickly tried to stifle it. Mia and Katy just rolled their eyes.
"Hey everybody!" Lizzy announced trying to be cheerful.
"So… what's on the agenda for today?" Elliot followed it up with.
"Well, we need to talk about how we're going to do things here with Sara gone," Katy spoke.
"Right. So, I'm worried that people are gonna start looking at us now. We're known to be very close with Sara," Mia explained. "Although a lot of the media people have went back to their home countries or followed Sara to California, there have to be some who stay here and dig deeper into what Sara might have been 'hiding.'"
"Like that girl who revealed Farley?" Elliot questioned.
"Exactly," Mia continued. "We don't know who she is and what she wants. I, for one, don't want anything to do with her. But, after Farley and Sara banned her from all events with them, she might be looking for any reason to become famous again. It might actually get worse from here."
"We don't know that for sure though," Blake countered. "Which is the problem. So, we want to make sure we're all on the same page. Especially you two who are the newest of the group."
"What do you need from us?" Lizzy asked.
"Loyalty more than anything," Mitch answered.
"I've got an idea!" Katy interrupted. Everyone turned to her suddenly. "Sorry, but it's something you both could do to help out. So, many people might know that we are all friends of Sara. But you two… People might not know that yet. Sure, they might know Elliot works for Denman. But that's it."
"What are you getting at…" Elliot trailed off.
"This woman… Raven was her name? Anyway, we could have the two of you get close to her. This might give us an opportunity to find out about her, who she is, and what she wants," Katy explained. "If she's getting too close to any of our secrets, this could be our chance to put her off in a wrong direction until she gets too bored and gives up. Right now, she already knows that we weren't telling the full truth as Farley turned out to be a merman obviously."
"Soo… She'll probably want to do more research into all of us," Mia concluded. "Which is bad news for everyone."
"So, you want me and Lizzy to do some snooping?" Elliot asked. "Ok, I guess we can try. I don't want to make any promises, but…"
"We'll do our best to prove our loyalty," Lizzy interrupted.
"Good. Thank you both," Mia spoke. "And hopefully, this will all blow over soon."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Raven sat in her hotel room, impatiently tapping her foot. Her reveal of Farley was a complete failure. Sure, she revealed that Farley was an indeed an actual merman, but she was now banned from any events that both him and Sara were a part of. Her name was now scratched from the news. It made her angry and feeling like an absolute failure.
But that was all going to change. A new lead blew over her desk, one that read out of high school drama. But, she was hoping it would reveal more info about Sara's little mermaid identity. But, it all had to go right.
A soft succession of knocks happened on the door, seemingly timid. It is here. Raven stood up and casually strode from her desk over to the door and whipped it open. Standing in front of her was a a smaller blond girl with way too much makeup. "A-are you Raven?" The girl stammered.
"It is I," Raven swooned. "And you must be Marian. Please come in." Raven guided Marian over to her desk, where Raven sat down on the desk chair while giving Marian the armchair off to the side. Raven shuffled some papers on her desk before grabbing a clean sheet and setting up. "So, Marian, I understand that you have information regarding Sara."
"Well, yeah. I was the one who revealed her. But, I was banned from interacting with her. And the footage of her reveal was sold off by my arsehole ex, Aaron. And I got nothing. So, I have info to give to you. If you're willing," Marian explained.
"I am willing. Knowledge is power, and my deduction and journalism skills already led me to figure out that Farley was a merman in fact, so I hope with your information I can uncover more truth to this mystery."
"Ok." Marian began. "I have been around the school for a while, the same one Sara and Farley attend. There are others they hang out with. Very very close ones. You might have heard them."
"I might have heard a few names tossed around, but nothing substantial. What are you getting at."
"There are two other girls who are best friends with Sara. Mia Hobbs and Katy Arlington. They have been too close for comfort."
"Yeah, what about them. She has friends."
"It gets better. Mia is Zane Bennett's cousin. Now… Why would Mia's cousin be so passionate about being Sara's manager?"
"Because they're friends as well after he found out that she was a mermaid? That was in the official release. Unless… There's another reason that Zane became Sara's manager."
"Yes! Zane was sort of role model for Mia. A successful entrepreneur, and Mia looked up to him. So, Zane would help Sara because his fear for Mia. Because she could be another mermaid."
Raven rubbed her temples. "This is pure speculation, Marian. You have no proof that she or this Katy girl are mermaids as well. Besides, revealing them wouldn't help my cause. The same thing would happen. I need… more…"
Marian stood up. "Fine. I tried to give you good information that you think is pure garbage. Whatever. I'm done here." And, she walked out of the room in a huff."
Raven chuckled to herself. Oh Marian. You've given me enough information alright. I don't need to reveal Sara's friends. They're mostly useless. I just need to become a mermaid myself, and that would be all that I want. That's exactly what I'm going to find out.
I gave you a bit of trickery by returning to how Mia, Katy, and the rest of the gang are doing back in Gold Coast. But there's so much more going on now, and it's impossible to know if they are prepared or not. Thank you for staying with me through 50 chapters. I want so much more from this story, and I'm going to continue working hard for all of you.
