Sorry for the delay, but I'm back with the next part!
The Day Before The Full Moon
"Tomorrow night must not fail," Veridia said, standing up to leave her seat at the table.
If Rita was a lesser person she might well have rolled her eyes. She was tired of this conversation. She'd heard nothing but the last few days and it was wearing her nerve thin. Veridia had gone a whole two minutes sitting in the dining area while Rita drank her tea without bringing it up. It had been a nice two minutes.
"It won't," Rita re-assured, each word as fake as the other. In truth she had her own worries about the upcoming Full Moon and her part in it. If she failed then she was responsible for a Siren being released and any subsequent damage.
"If it does, I can't stop the Council..."
"I know," Rita interjected before Veridia could continue. She knew well enough what would happen. "You don't need to remind me."
"Before I leave, I got you a Moon Ring," Veridia withdrew the ring from the pocket of her dress and held it out. Rita accepted the ring from her and slipped it straight on her finger. She had been expecting something more from that moment - Moon Rings were such an important thing to Mermaids - but there was nothing. This was a temporary measure only. This ring wasn't to be her's.
"Is everything prepared?" Veridia asked.
"The sigils are drawn," drawn out onto the stone in chalk, and carved into rock. Such simple markings that held so much power, "it's all ready."
"Good. The Council met this morning and came to a decision - I will stay and help manage tomorrow night."
That was a shock. The head of the Council and leader of the Pod doesn't just miss the Full Moon ceremony. It's such an ingrained part of their culture, no one just 'misses' a Full Moon. Even she had her own rituals for those nights.
"Really?" Rita questioned.
"This needs to work for the good of the Pod," Veridia said. "And I thought you'd appreciate some company aside from a group of teenagers."
The break in Veridia's facade brought a smile to Rita's face. Just an hour ago Mimmi had asked if Zac and Cam could join the group already consisting of Carly, Evie and Mimmi. Something about Carly feeling better with more support and Mimmi saying it would be okay. If it helped the girl then she was all for it, but the idea of having all those teenagers in her house and on a Full Moon? Wasn't the happiest thought. Even if it had been her suggestion in the first place.
"Your company would be most appreciated."
It would be nice. The company would be appreciated, as she said, and having someone else who could help handle anything that went wrong. It did however mean Veridia would know anything that went wrong. If Veridia wasn't there then issues could be covered up.
"I thought it would be."
"Don't flatter yourself."
The Full Moon
As the day began to draw to a close, Carly's stomach grew tighter and tighter. Every Full Moon since that thing attacked, weird shit happened, why would this one be different? At least her parents hadn't picked up on the fact that it was every Full Moon or they wouldn't have let her out the door. But then Evie called by so they probably would have. That girl could convince anyone of anything.
Evie opened the gate to Principal Santos' house and Carly closed it behind them. Whatever happened to night, at least Evie would be here. And Cam. And Zac. And Mimmi. And how ever many other Mermaids there would be.
Evie had told her about the Moon Spell, the gap in her memory, the loss of control and waking up in the morning with no idea what had happened. While it may not be Moon Spell causing her problems it was nice knowing she wasn't alone with that type of experience.
It was terrifying thinking about what could happen.
She'd turned to the internet and tried to find anything that could connect to what happened to her. The closest she got was Werewolf. Which, kinda did fit, but sea-style. Attacked by something on a Full Moon then every Full Moon afterwards things went weird.
There was one thing that sounded interesting, the summary had been in English, talking about three girls that were attacked over in Wales, but the first line of the article was Welsh and was annoyingly unavailable in Australia.
Evie had said she'd look it up on her laptop, something about a VPN and setting a different location. Didn't help the fact that she couldn't speak Welsh but there was google translate for that, as long as it made some sense.
Ondina opened the door to them before they reached it.
"Where have you been?" Ondina crossed her arms and glared. She did not look a happy Mermaid.
"We said five thirty," Evie looked at her watch, "it's five thirty."
"Zac and Cam have been here five minutes and I want to drown them both already. Control your boyfriends."
"Not our jobs," Evie smiled sweetly and Ondina responded by slamming the door shut.
Evie and Carly shared a look. This was why Ondina was difficult to like. She was too quick to act and didn't really care about other's feelings.
The door reopened and Mimmi ushered them inside with rushed apologies for Ondina.
Carly took one look at the clear sky before following Evie inside. The Moon would be up soon enough and then they would find out just what was going on.
Rita had watched the clock all night, waiting, just waiting for the final irrefutable proof that they had the right girl. She'd been doubting herself ever since she gave Carly's name to Veridia. Everything fit so well, it had to be Carly. But there was still that niggling doubt...
"It's about to start," Evie announced, setting her laptop to the side. She'd shown them all earlier in the evening this app she'd downloaded that showed the Moon's pattern from anywhere in the world. Ondina had scoffed and called it useless while Mimmi had insisted Evie show her every little part of it.
That had been back when they had all been treating this like any other normal teenager sleepover, or at least had been acting like it as far as she knew. She'd chosen to stay out of the way with Veridia until almost moonrise before joining everyone down in the grotto.
Rita caught Veridia's eye and found herself holding her breath. She'd sworn blind that tonight would work. It had to work. For everyone's sake.
"3, 2, 1 and moonrise," Evie counted down.
She felt the rise of the Moon, and she wasn't the only one.
Carly dropped to her knees screaming.
"Get her in the water."
Evie's laptop was shoved to the side as she rushed forward to support Carly, grabbing one of Carly's arms, Zac grabbed the other.
The Siren taking over Carly's mind did not appreciate that action as Carly twisted around and lashed out at Evie - new grown claws slashing Evie's face. Evie cried out and dropped Carly. Zac forced Carly's hands behind her back until Cam grabbed her, forcing the girl to stay on her feet.
Rita helped Evie back up to her feet.
"Let me see," Rita held Evie's face up. The cuts were deep, four of them right across her cheek, narrowly missing her eye. If a Siren attacking a land girl caused a transformation she dreaded to think what a Siren attacking a Mermaid would do.
"There's anti-toxin up in the alcove," Rita said to Veridia. Veridia nodded and took over Evie.
She caught up with Zac and Cam halfway down the stairs.
The beginnings of fins burst from Carly's skin, along her arm, her back, tearing her shirt at the back, the exposed skin turning grey. She was more Siren than girl now, the shrieks the screams were nothing a human could ever make.
Carly surged forward and broke loose of her restraint landing heavily on the sandstone floor. Her breathing came out harsh and ragged as she dragged herself over the floor and slipped headfirst into the water.
The Siren rose out of the water and shrieked before diving under. Her tail was shorter than that of the Mermaids and dark grey almost black with a fluke like a dolphins - except the long extended spike.
"She's going to get out!"
Rita held her arm out and twisted her hand, her power flowing out to solidify the water into gel at the entrance to the tunnel. She'd spent hours carving enhancing sigils to ensure this held.
The Siren's tail flashed below the surface. Rita guessed she had seconds until the Siren tried to escape. She'd be scanning the pool for easy prey before taking off into open ocean to hunt.
Rita made the same motion with her other hand, the one she wore the Moon Ring. She held it for a second to harden that gel to an unbreakable glass-like substance before making her hand into a fist. Her Moon Ring glowed softly then gave off a burst of light.
She dropped her arms and almost stumbled backwards. It worked. It had worked. And they were right about Carly.
"What did you do?" Cam asked. "What the fuck is going on?!"
"I blocked off the sea entrance."
Carly surfaced again snarling. Not Carly. That was not Carly. Her teeth were sharp and pointed like a shark's. Her eyes were an off black. Her skin grey. The Siren slipped back under, just below the surface and shot towards them
"Get back upstairs."
From what Carly had told her the Siren that attacked her had leapt from the water onto the dock. The little ledge in the pool, designed to be easier to get out of, would be nothing. It was worth noting it seemed that Sirens could also survive at least some time on land.
Zac and Cam both darted up the stairs, Rita behind them. She turned on the edge of the second step and held her hand up to the wall, tapping against the white chalk mark she'd drawn on. Three interlocking circles with a line through the middle
The sigil began pulsating blue light that spread outwards along a white chalk line going up to the ceiling, along and back down the wall on the other side and across the floor. The entire time she'd been drawing it on she'd been silently praying to anyone listening for no one to come in.
She was small, the ceiling was high and the stepladder was too low. Enough said.
The space between the lines began filling up with water, drawing any and all droplets from the air to create a barricade between them and the Siren. . Rita curled her fingers in and the water began to boil, clouding over as the water heated. With her other hand she pulled more water from the air into the water doorway and used the same gesture as before to 'cure' the water. The water solidified into a translucent shield blocking the pool from the corridor and masking the Siren's view of them. She used her Moon Ring once again on the hardened water. The entire thing rippled in blue light then stilled.
"How did you do that? I've never seen anyone do that … thing," Zac made the hand gesture.
"It's not a common power, especially not in the south."
Only one Moon Pool held these powers, the one on the Irish coast. She'd visited it a few times in the past but with no Pod left to guard it - they'd hid it. Unless you know where it was, it was impossible to find it.
"Is Carly going to be okay?" Cam asked.
Through the water shield Rita could just make out the Siren. She was at the surface swimming in circles, like a dolphin trapped in an enclosure. Okay was a relative term. She might wear herself out, but then she could just as easily injure herself trying to escape.
"She's survived three transformations already out in the open," Rita answered carefully. She couldn't tell anyone if Carly would be 'safe' or not. "She's safer in here. We'll see how she is in the morning."
"What happened to her?" Cam asked.
"What even is she?" Zac asked.
"She's a Siren."
If Evie was being honest, which she usually was, Veridia made her uneasy. She had her moments but the Council Mermaid was too icy and uptight for her to be comfortable around. She had handed Evie a wad of fabric and instructed her to hold it against her cheek to try and ease the bleeding.
"This will sting," Veridia warned.
Evie nodded. It already did. It hurt to speak and she wasn't sure her voice would work, even if she wanted it to. Carly… Her screams echoed through to the grotto from whatever the hell was happening to her.
Veridia placed a strip of sponge soaked in something green against the first cut on Evie's cheek. She grimaced in pain. The pain that was already there tripled.
When Veridia applied the - whatever it was - to the second cut Evie hissed.
On the third she cried out.
"The next one is going to hurt a lot more but this needs to be done now."
Evie just nodded as silent tears made their way down her face. The fourth time made her scream and her vision go black. Through the fading conscious Evie was vaguely aware of slumping forward and hitting the table.
The Siren circled the pool. It was small. It was sea water sure but there was no movement to it. Nothing moving at all. She scanned each edge, looking for anything. There was blood in the water but nothing there.
She darted to the surface and dove back under, thrashing her tail on the surface. She was hungry. She needed to eat. Her teeth hurt at the gums with desire to sink them into flesh. The last few nights had been bliss, free rein of the ocean to kill at will. Now she was stuck in this tiny pool.
She needed to get out. She shot towards the exit and threw herself in it. Whatever blocked her escape held strong. She set about it with her claws for them to uselessly scrape off the edge. She shrieked and slammed her fists against it. She drifted backwards and bashed her tail into the blockade with no result.
Cam watched through the barricade as Carly's tail fluked at the surface, the actions followed by a series of muted thuds. Carly. A Siren. His brain couldn't quite connect the two. What even was a Siren? That thing Carly changed into was not when he would call a Siren.
"What. The fuck?" Was all Cam could say.
"Siren?" Zac asked. "I thought Sirens were… not... that."
"How did this happen?" Cam asked. "Carly was normal. She's been normal her whole life." Carly was just a normal, human person, like he was. The two of them, and David, were the normal ones amongst all the fishchicks and Zac.
"She was attacked by a Siren, but how it made her turn - I have no idea."
Attacked? Carly had never told him about that. But then he'd never told her about what happened to him. When that thing that looked a lot like the Mermaid in the pool attacked him.
One Month Ago
Cam liked his sleep. Sleep and food were two of his biggest motivators. So why he was out on the beach well after sunset when he should be in his bed, was beyond him. Actually it wasn't. He was out because his useless little sister hadn't taken their (her) dog Fluffy out and Fluffy had used the rug as a bathroom because someone (his little sister) hadn't trained Fluffy to ask when he wanted out and then his older sister demanded he take the ridiculous ball of dog out a walk.
He didn't like Fluffy. He was too small and too fluffy. He shed everywhere and Cam was convinced he had begun to develop an allergy. Which was something that happened. According to google.
Cam had walked half of the beach already when Fluffy began barking and pulling to no avail. He was too small to shift Cam in the slightest.
"What the fuck is your problem?" Cam pulled back on the lead and Fluffy yapped louder.
"What?!" Cam looked up. There was a blonde girl on the beach ahead of him, quite a distance so as he couldn't see who. She stumbled into the surf and cried out, twisting like a fish pulled out onto land. The girl heaved herself up and threw herself forward into the waves and vanished.
"What the fuck?" Cam ran towards the sea where the girl went in, dragging Fluffy behind him until the dog's tiny brain realised what Cam was doing and ran happily alongside him.
"Hey! Anyone there?" Cam scanned the waves. A blonde head surfaced and disappeared, the girl not seeing him. Cam squinted his eyes to look closer but she was gone before he could see her face. It might just be the light but it looked a bit like Carly.
"Carly? Carly!" Why was Carly out here? If it was Carly.
Cam looked around the beach. Empty enough. He set Fluffy's lead down and set some small rocks on top of it.
"Stay."
Cam crossed the last of the sand and waded into the water. It was cool against his legs and even colder against his face as he dove under. Cam surfaced straight away and swam out a few strokes before shoving his head under and trying to see. The salt stung his eyes even after he resurfaced.
The girl had vanished. Cam swam out further and dove right under the way he'd seen the Mermaids do, kicking his feet up for good measure. Cam uprighted himself and looked around, treading water. A flash of gold caught his eyes. Cam twisted to the side only for something large to slam into his stomach shoving him backwards.
On instinct he tried to breathe in and the salt sea invaded his lungs. He clawed at the water and kicked the get to the surface. He saw a grey shape shoot towards him and his mind screamed shark. But since when did sharks have hair?
He was inches from the surface when the thing collided into him again, finger like appendages scrabbling against him. Cam kicked up, the force of the water slowing his motion making the effort useless. Cam thrashed out and his fist bounced off scaly skin. Mermaid skin, not shark skin. He'd touched sharks before, they didn't feel like this.
Cam twisted and kicked and flailed, all the while his lungs burning and fighting the urge to cough out the water in his lungs. He needed to breathe. He needed to breathe so badly.
As soon as it had appeared, the thing left. He saw grey and gold and that was it. Whatever it was, was not something he wanted to see again. Something else grabbed him and Cam twisted round the best he good to fight. He stopped when he saw Evie and let her guide him up to the surface.
Cam surfaced and coughed up a lungful of water while Evie rubbed his back, using her powers to help every drop of water out of his lungs.
"What was that?" Evie asked.
"No," Cam took in a fresh of pure air, "idea. Just came from nowhere. All I saw was grey."
"Let's get you back to shore. What are you even doing out here?"
"Walking the dog," Cam answered nonchalantly.
"There's no dog."
"Fuck."
"What's a Siren?" Zac asked, taking the words from Cam's mouth.
"They're another type of Mermaid," Rita answered. "They're… different, less human, more dangerous."
"All those dead things on the beaches?" Zac questioned. Cam had heard about all that. He'd even seen the dolphin the Marine Park guy took.
"A Siren."
"Carly?"
"Seems most likely."
Cam shifted his attention to the layer of solid water keeping them from Carly. Black eyes met his own. Carly was in the water, only her eyes and the top of her head visible above the surface. She slipped under the surface and thrashed up her tail.
Hope everyone enjoyed the latest chapter. There's going to be at least one more part yet, maybe more, we'll see.
Also for anyone interested there is now a H20/Mako Mermaids discord. There's a link floating around on tumblr, check out h20justaddmako for the post, or the link is also in my instagram bio (instagram - mako_and_tails_and_stuff)
Until next time!