Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Mako Mermaids, or any of its properties.

WARNING: Even though the overall rating of this story is "T" for Teen, the following Chapter contains strong language, and acts of violence. Reader discretion is strongly advised.

Chapter 9

"So," Doug McClaren said as he shifted to a more comfortable position on a sofa in Rita's living room, he squinted in the direction of Rita who stood next to Evie by the kitchen sink. He had traded his bloody clothes for a shower, and a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt, the huge blisters that had covered his body covered his body several hours before had cleared, but his skin was still red as if sunburned. Doug's eyes, bloodshot and surrounded by dark circles watched for several moments as the Rita, hands clad in blue latex gloves, used needle and thread to sew shut the stab wound in Evie's palm. Clearing his throat, Doug asked, "So, you, and this short girl, Ninnie-" He waved a hand vaguely in the direction Nixie who sat at the dining room table.

"It's Nixie dad," Evie sighed wearily and winced as Rita slid the needle and thread through the skin on her hand. "Her name is Nixie."

"Nixie," Doug corrected. "You and Nixie are both fish chicks?"

"You sound just like Cam when you call us 'fish chicks'" Nixie stated bluntly. "So please don't."

Doug returned the dark-haired mermaids gaze and asked, "Cam? I don't suppose you mean Cameron Mitchell, the son of Jeff Mitchell, my accountant. So, Cameron knows you're all supposed to be mermaids? And I guess Zac also thinks the same thing."

"Zac? Who's Zac?" Nixie replied evenly.

Evie looked at Nixie and shook her head, "Seriously?"

"Zac? Young, good looking bloke who dated my daughter, I'm sure you'd know him if you saw him," Doug answered dryly. "And that woman that attacked Evie and me, she was looking for Cam. Zac and Cam have been best mates for years; and I'm guessing this other girl, Lyla, you mentioned, she's thinks she's a fish chick also?"

"What do you mean, 'thinks'?" Nixie said pointedly.

"We prefer to be called 'mermaids' Doug," Rita interjected calmly, voice tired as she tugged at the thread in Evie's hand, "Feeling any pain Evie?"

"I'm fine, it stings a little, I don't know what you put in it to kill the pain, but it worked," Evie answered. "I've never seen needle and thread used this way before though." Looking over at her father she said, "And yes dad they're called mermaids." She turned back to Rita, "What do we do now?"

"Well, this is the best I can do until Lyla gets back and she can use her Moonring to speed the healing up. Luckily nothing was any worse or deeper, if it had been you would definitely need to go to hospital," Rita answered as her eyes narrowed to pull the needle and thread through Evie's palm again to tie the final knot. "And your father certainly sounds like he's feeling better; how are you feeling Doug?"

"I feel like I've been run over by a train, and then spent 8 hours in a decompression chamber, my vision is still blurry, but thanks for asking," He winced and shifted position moving a pillow under an arm. "But at least I don't feel like I've been boiled on the inside. You're going to have to explain how that's even possible."

"How did she do that Rita," Evie asked. "I know about Sirena's song, I know about the tails, and we all sort of know what those…Moonrings can do, but how did that blonde mermaid do what she did?"

Doug squinted in the direction of Rita. "Yeah, how the hell did that woman do all that Jean Grey, X-men stuff to us?"

Rita let out a small, tired laugh and looked at Evie, "I can definitely tell where you get your reporter skills." Setting the needle and thread in a small plastic box, Rita snapped it shut and turned her attention to Doug. "We call them Powers, it's basically magic, I don't know what else to call them, what she did was basically use her Powers to try and boil you alive."

"Like a microwave?" Evie questioned. "Why would a mermaid even need to do something like that?" Eyes narrowed she looked over at Nixie, "Can you do that?"

Nixie met Evie's gaze and nodded her head briefly in affirmation.

"So, in addition to having microwave hand powers and 'magic', you live in a condo with a secret door leading to an underground cave connected to the ocean?" Doug said skeptically his eyes meeting Rita's. "How does a mermaid on a high school principal salary afford, or hide, something like that? This place has to cost a fortune."

"I've invested wisely," Rita responded without a hint of humor, and turned back to exam her handiwork on Evie's arm, checking the line of black thread that crisscrossed the bloody slash.

"And your tail is where? You do have tails, right?" Doug questioned his head cocked to one side. "And do you have lungs or gills? And what about webbed hands?"

"No, we do not have gills, and we only have tails when we are in water and we have never had webbed hands. Do you have any more questions Mr. McClaren," Rita asked pointedly and turned to look at the man on the couch? "Because I am tired, and I trying to help your daughter, who if you haven't noticed was stabbed with a rusty knife?"

"That I can see, and it looks like you're doing a fine job of sewing the cuts up, as well as to trying to change the subject," Doug returned. "So where does a high school principal or mermaid learn to sew up cuts like that? And is my daughter going to need a tetanus shot?"

"Does he ever shut up?" Nixie asked looking over at Evie finally. "We should have kept him drugged."

"Trust me Nixie, he's just getting warmed up," Evie answered. "He was in the journalism club in High School like I am. So get used to questions."

With a sigh Rita pulled the gloves off her hands and toss them in a trash bin. "No I don't have tetanus shots in my house, unfortunately. And since you asked Douglas; I learned to sew up wounds on Lemnos during the War; I volunteered to the nurse corps to be closer to my fiancé, Harry. It was where he died."

Doug's jaw dropped as he and Evie, her mouth hanging open, exchanged looks. "Lemnos, in Greece? During the War? That…that's impossible," Doug said slowly staring at the woman sitting at the table. "Gallipoli happened almost a hundred years ago, you can't be that old."

"What's a Gallipoli?" Nixie asked from where she sat watching.

Evie turned to give Nixie a scathing look, "You've got to be kidding me-"

Rita held one hand up to cut everyone off, massaging the bridge of her nose with the other. "Yes, Doug, I am that old," She answered. "And I'm also too tired to talk about it right now, so maybe another time, please." Glancing at a clock on the kitchen stove she continued, "For now, it's nearly eight, Zac and Lyla are still missing, we'll have to assume they swam out to Mako-" Rita grimaced with an intake of breath, hands clenching as Nixie and Evie shot her looks of panic.

"What do you mean Zac and Lyla are 'missing' and they 'swam' to Mako'?" Doug asked, turning his attention from Rita to Evie. "Evelyn, what does she mean by that? Mako Island is 50 kilometers away, NOBODY 'swims' to Mako, it takes at least an hour or more by boat." He turned to look at Rita, curiously, "So what are saying?"

"It's…it's a figure of speech-" Rita started to explain and was cut off when Doug raised a hand.

"Stop," Doug stated, eyes on Rita. "This time you explain, and don't try and give me an excuse." He glanced over at Evie who looked like she wanted to be somewhere else. "And I know that look young lady, you've just got caught at something. So, what is going on here, what does Zac Blakely have to do with any of this, and how could he 'swim' to Mako?"

"Rita what do we do?" Nixie heaved a sigh. "Are we going to tell him or not, our circle of land people keeps getting bigger."

" 'land people'?" Doug quoted looking at the young mermaid. "What does that even mean?"

"It's okay," Rita sighed and sat down slowly at the table across from Nixie. "It's too late not to trust him, Evie already knows, and she's kept our secret, so I'm sure Doug will, won't you?" She turned to look at Doug who had sat back down on the couch and met her gaze expectantly.

"Considering I'd be dead from some kind of mermaid microwave power and my daughter would probably suffer the same fate… yes Ms. Santo, you can trust me," Doug replied meeting Rita's eyes evenly.

"This is my fault," Aquata spoke stonily, eyes on a darkened mass laying on the black rocks of Mako Islands north shore. Impassive she bobbed up and down in the surf, watching as what had been the body of Maya slowly dissolved into pinkish sea foam, the waves washing it away. "I should have been with her, instead of wasting my time tracking the other land boy down." She turned, eyes narrowed on the collection of four mermaids behind her, picking them out and finally settled on one, "Jewel, explain this to me, again. How did this happen? Maya was as strong as I am, and there were four of you, how could this happen?"

"We-we don't really know," Jewel stammered looking at the two mermaids beside her and glanced over her shoulder at another mermaid that was hanging back from her and the others. Turning to face Aquata again she added, "Like we told you, it was so fast, Maya led me, Ava and Naia into the Moonpool, and the merman was there with Lyla-"

"Only Lyla," Aquata interrupted. "No one else? Nixie, Sirena?"

"No," Ava answered. "Just the merman and Lyla."

"And they were able to overpower you…all four of you? Four fully trained mermaids, and one with a Moonring?" Came the question from the mermaid hanging back behind the other three. "Maya, and the three of you were overpowered by a single merman and a partially trained mermaid?"

"You weren't there Neptina," Jewel spun. "You have no idea how strong he is; I've never seen anyone use Powers that way, other than Veridia and the older Council members." She gave Ava and Naia a quick look and added, "He attacked Maya for no reason, she asked him to leave the Moonpool, and he just attacked her."

"And his face!" Ava exclaimed exchanging a knowing look with Jewel before adding, "The look on his face, he was enjoying it! He wanted to kill her, and us-"

"Shut up," Aquata ordered. "I know the three you are either lying or exaggerating. How did he kill Maya? She was stabbed. How did he do that?"

With a grimace Jewel answered cautiously, "He-he took the harpoon away from Maya after she cut him with it, and then stabbed her. He used his Powers to knock me and Ava away from Lyla after Maya took her Moonring away."

"Where is that ring?" Aquata demanded, drifting closer to Jewel.

"I-" She paused licking her lips and casting a quick glance at Ava and Naia. "We-we don't know, we think Maya must have dropped after he attacked her."

Aquata only narrowed her eyes, saying nothing.

"What do we do Aquata?" Neptina asked. "The Council isn't here, they are miles away, Maya is dead, what do we do? How do we stop him?"

"You said he was injured? How injured?" Aquata demanded, drifting closer to Jewel, Ava and Naia.

"He was bleeding…enough to make a shark interested," Ava answered. "I think Maya hurt him enough to weaken him, a shark could take him with no trouble."

"Good," Aquata said in a half whisper. "If he's that injured, we can drown him."

"What do you have in mind," Neptina asked staring a Aquata. "We don't even know where he is."

"I think it's time we show a lone merman why mermaids won the war," Aquata replied looking up at the clear sky as she stroked the Moonring on her finger.

"So Zac Blakely…has a tail…and he's half fish?" Doug said slowly setting down his cup of coffee on the table after Rita finished her explanation of the events of the past several months. "And what are Robert and Laurens feeling about this, or do they even know?"

"They don't know any of this," Rita responded looking down into her nearly empty mug. "So far we've managed to keep it a secret, and it would have remained so if you hadn't been attacked."

"Alright," Came Doug's response as his eyes flicked over to Evie, who sat listening, her hand and arm wrapped in gauze. Like her father she had taken a shower, and was dressed in a pair of Lyla's yellow sweats and white and yellow striped t-shirt, the girl looked away when Doug's gaze touched her eyes and he asked, "And you weren't planning on telling me any of this?"

"Dad," Evie started to say, but was cut off.

"I need to speak to my daughter, in private," Doug said, he rose with a slight grunt of pain. "So please excuse us. Evelyn, we need to talk."

"I'm really sorry about all this," Evie said to Rita and Nixie, and with a gulp followed her father down the hallway toward the library. "Dad, I'm sorry I wasn't tryi-" She began.

Doug held up a hand to cut off his daughter, and then glanced down the hallway toward the living room. Whispering he said, "I have one question…for now anyway." He waited until Evie met his eyes, and then stammered, "You and Zac, before you broke up you two didn't…well, you know…do it?"

Evie gaped back silently, her mouth opened and closed several times, before the answer came with explosive force, "DAD! No!" Her voice rang in the small room, as she went on, "You just found out mermaids are real, we were attacked and nearly killed, and your biggest worry is if Zac and I had sex!" Evie tossed her hands up the air, grimaced in pain and lowered her injured arm quickly, her voice dropping. "What do you think; that I can't resist Zac's hot body and couldn't wait to jump all over him! Is that what you think of me?"

"You said he's half fish with magic powers, how should I know if he can't make you do things," Doug apologized in a helpless tone as he grabbed Evie's arm to keep her from walking off.

"I still can't believe that's the only thing you thought about," Evie huffed as she jerked her arm away and spun to stalk back to where Nixie and Rita sat. "Did you even listen to what Rita said?"

"I heard every word that was said, Zac has a tail like a fish, and your high school principal is mermaid with a magic fairy ring," Doug retorted as he followed Evie back into the living room. "And we were attacked by some fish chick named Aquamarine who is looking for Cameron Mitchell for some reason. Do you want me to go on, I heard everything." His gaze swept over Rita and Nixie, and then back to Evie. "I just have concerns, I know how dolphins act, how do I know Zac's not the same way! Besides that, I'm your father!"

Evie spun her to face the taller man, a hand stabbing out in anger. "Yeah and I'm your daughter and you just accused me of having sex with Zac!"

"I didn't accuse you! I asked a question." Doug responded, folding his arms, and ignored Rita and Nixie who stared at him silently. "You are so like your mother."

Evie softened slightly. "Well that wasn't the question I was expecting, we almost died today. If mum were here, she'd act the same way I did."

"I know, I just said she would, we were married for 12 years, remember," Doug replied, and then sighed. "Look, I'm sorry; I didn't mean it the way it came out. This is all hard for me to believe, even though it's pretty obvious something weird is going on. I just don't know if I can actually believe any of it." He looked over to were Rita and Nixie sat and continued, "Mermaids with magic rings, secret caves in the basement with storm drains leading to the ocean, fish boys-"

"MERMAN dad!" Evie interrupted. "Trust me, there's no 'boy' to Zac-" Seeing his eyebrows rise in alarm she added hastily, "It's not what you think…Oh God I'm not going to win this one."

"Most likely not," Doug said dryly, as he plucked at the blue t-shirt he wore. "Since Zac Blakely and his 'hot body' have a habit of leaving his clothes at his high school principals house."

"Do land people fight like this all the time," Nixie whispered across the table to Rita who was shaking her head and massaging her temples. "No wonder they have so many wars…Rita are you alright?" Nixie asked seeing the look of tired pain that swept across Rita's face.

"I'm alright, just a sudden headache," The older mermaid answered with a grimace. "It's been a long and tiring night; I just wish Zac and Layla would get back to help clear some of this up." Turning to Doug and Evie she said in a loud voice, "May I say something," Rita paused long enough for the two to stop and look at her. "We are all tired, and our nerves are on the edge, so I suggest the two of yo-" She stopped abruptly and twisted in her chair to look out the sliding glass doors to the terrace, her face draining of all color. "Oh no, not tonight."

"Rita," Nixie said her own voice ringing with warning as she rose and walked over to look out the glass doors. "What is happeni- Oh tides!" She exclaimed as her face reflected in the glass, turned as pale as the woman behind her. "Rita…WHAT are they doing! Why are they doing this?"

"What's going on, are you two alright?" Evie asked cautiously. "Who's doing what? What do you mean? What's happening?" She craned her neck to look out the doors as her father stepped past her.

"What the hell is that?" Doug exclaimed, brushing past Nixie he flung open the doors, and stepped out onto the dark terrace to stare at the flicker of lightning that pulsed far out to sea and the bank of clouds behind it. "Why is there a God damn storm?"

"Zac," Lyla's voice cracked in warning as she helped the dark-haired merman surface, she held his pale shaking body steady as they bobbed up and down in the heavy swells. "We have a problem," She said and pointed back in the direction of Mako Island.

"What?" Zac asked in confusion and pain, his eyes seeking out the brilliance of the Gold Coast skyline. "We're more than halfway, we have to keep going," He croaked, and then glanced over his shoulder and followed Lyla's pointing hand, his eyes growing wide with panic. "What…no they can't do this!"

The storm stretched across the horizon, a massive wall of darkness illuminated by enormous bursts of brilliant lightning that shook the air with distant roar of thunder, a sound that grew louder with each passing moment. The normally calm sea around Zac and Lyla rose in large swells, pushed by the swirling bank of approaching clouds and wind as the two stared in disbelief.

"We have to find shelter," Zac said, his voice in a near sob, skin and face pale from pain and exhaustion, his eyes moved from the approaching storm to the wake of a black tipped dorsal fin that cut the water a dozen meters away. "Lyla I can't do this…."

"Zac!" Lyla shouted over the steadily rising peals of thunder as the storm grew nearer; she entwined her arm in his for support, her eyes seeking his out in the lightning that illuminated dark. "We can do this! We must get to Rita's! There's no shelter out here!" Seeing his strong and handsome face was waxy pale, his eyes growing wide and vacant, the mermaid tightened her grip on his arm, pulling him closer to her. "Zac, remember the first time we went into the Trident cave and you held me like this."

He nodded dumbly, his body growing limp as he grunted, "Huh."

"You told me it was in case we fell, remember," Lyla pressed on. "Now it's my turn, I'm not going to let you fall Zac, you're stronger than all of us put together, and I know you can do this." She held him out at arm's length, hands gripping his shoulders as her mouth set in a firm line. "And we WILL NOT die by sharks! Do you hear me Zac Blakely! We will not die by sharks!" Lyla's voce rose in a shout. "Stay with me Zac!" Lyla shouted in panic as the merman's eyes rolled backward and his body began to slip beneath the surf. Grasping him in her arms the mermaid slapped the merman's cheeks frantically, her voice pleading over the boom of the approaching thunder, "Zac! Talk to me, can you hear me?"

"We're going to die," Zac his voice distant, his yes snapping open, wide, and feverish as they gazed at the approaching storm. "They're going to kill us all over again and there's nothing we can do; we're going to die. Where's Cam, I need Cam! Cam should be here with me!"

"What are you talking about? What does Cam have to do with any of this," Lyla responded, gritting her teeth she pulled Zac to the surface again. "You are not going to die, not tonight and neither am I," Lyla shouted. "Please, listen to me, you've lost a lot of blood, I've seen this happen to dolphins and whales, they just give up and wallow in the sea while sharks eat them alive!" She wrapped one of Zac's arms firmly in hers. "And that is not going happen to either of us! We are going to make it Rita's." Not waiting for a response, she dove, dragging Zac with her through the steadily increasing turbulence of the waves.

"Remote! Where's the remote?" Evie shouted looking frantically through the cabinets on the stand supporting Rita's large screen TV. "I need the remote."

"It-it doesn't work," Rita explained, her voice shaking, as she rose to her feet and stepped over to the open glass doors to the terrace and look out. "I never watch TV; it bothers my eyes."

"What the hell is that!" Doug repeated over the sound of thunder, a heavy breeze tugged at the potted plants on the terrace as he pointed at the approaching wall of the swirling black storm. "The weather is supposed to be clear, and what did you mean? That short chick, Ninnie-"

"NIXIE!" Nixie shouted stepping out onto the terrace to glare at the taller man as Evie raced past her. "Nixie…N-I-X-I-E!"

"Okay, Nixie, whatever," Doug repeated as he stared down at the large waves that began to crash onto the beach below the condo. "What did you mean 'what are they doing'? Are you telling me mermaids are doing that? There are more of you?"

"Yes," Rita answered as she leaned upon the door frame and looked out. "It's mermaid magic, we can conjure stor-"

"What is this!" Doug shouted eyes wide as he whipped around to face Rita. "Pirates of the Caribbean, because that lady," He stabbed a hand in the direction of the oncoming storm. "Is not natural, what else can you do? How many of you are out there?"

"You don't talk to her that way!" Nixie shouted stepping over to confront the tall man who now stood between her and Rita. "Rita didn't do this! And YES, we can conjure storms, mermaids used to do it to wreck ships."

"DAD!" Evie shouted moving between her father and Nixie. "This isn't helping!" She looked at Nixie, her brows furrowed together as she asked, "Mermaids are doing this? Can Zac do this? You? Lyla?"

"Yes, all of us can, I mean with a Moonring. I don't know if Zac can or not, he…he has different Powers," Nixie answered her face pale as she looked at Evie, then quickly away to stare at the approaching storm. "Evie you have to believe me, we are not doing this."

"Doug, Evie, Nixie get away from there!" Rita voice rang out from the living room. "Please, come inside, it's not safe! We have to get downstairs."

"What's going on," Doug exclaimed he stepped back into the condo, Evie, and Nixie close on his heels. Taking a quick look outside he slammed the sliding door shut and strode over to where the others had gathered around Rita's laptop. "What the hell is that," Doug breathed, as he stared at the glaring red radar image on screen.

Evie stabbed a finger out to point at the red swirling mass of clouds on the computer as her voice cracked with panic, "That's a category 5 cyclone, that's impossible! They can't form this fast or move that fast!" She stepped back bumping into Doug and looked up at him her eyes huge with fear, "Dad the beaches! It's New Years Eve, people are all over the beaches waiting for fireworks!"

"Can you stop this," Doug asked, placing a hand on Evie's shoulder, and guiding her back with him, stepped away from the two mermaids as gusts of wind vibrated the windows. Outside the sound of sirens rose, nearly drown out by the cracks of thunder. "Miss Santos," Doug asked again slowly as the power flickered. "Can you stop this? There are people on the beaches, lots of people."

"No," Rita, tears forming to spill down her cheeks as she looked at the computer screen. "This is being done by more than a couple mermaids; Nixie and I don't have the kind of power to stop it." She spun as a deck chair slammed into one of the windows looking out on the terrace, the glass turning into a spider web of cracks. "We have to get downstairs." She exclaimed as the power flickered off, then back on. "I'm sorry there's nothing we can do."

"It's New Years Eve!" Evie shouted her face a mask of horror. "The beaches are packed! What kind of monsters are you people!"

"We're not doing this Evie, they are! Don't you blame us!" Nixie shouted over the howl of the wind outside, and then screamed as the power abruptly went out, plunging the condo into lighting illuminated darkness.

"We don't have time for this! Downstairs everyone, now!" Rita shouted and motioned Nixie down the hallway her path lit by pulsating flashes of lightning. Once Nixie was safely past Rita looked at Doug, "Doug the drawer by the sink, it has some torches in it, can you grab those please."

"Got it," The man answered, moving over to root through a drawer, he shouted a warning as the kitchen window slammed inward with the shattering of glass. Grabbing the flashlights, he ran over and handed them out, shouting "Evie go," And then followed Rita and Evie down the hallway.

"Rita, the doors won't open!" Nixies shouted in panic from the library as she tugged frantically on the door switch that was disguised as a mermaid novel.

"It's the power, they operated by electricity," Rita said her voice cracking in panic as she, Doug and Evie rushed down the hallway, the light from their flashlights splashing wildly across the floor and walls. "Nixie, you have to find Sirena's ring, you can use your Powers to get the doors open."

"It's downstairs!" Nixie exclaimed in near wail of frustration. "We're trapped! Why do land people have so many doors!"

"These are like elevator doors, right?" Doug asked looking at Rita, when she nodded in agreement he turned to Evie, "Evie hold this!" He said and thrust his flashlight into his daughter's hands and shoved a bunch of books to the floor. Ignoring Nixies protests, Doug braced himself and pushed against the remaining books on the shelf shouting, "Evie torch!"

Evie paused for mere moment and then shoved the butt of the flashlight into the crack that formed between the two panels. "Got it!" She cried over the sound of wind and rain.

"That's my girl," Doug grinned as he braced himself to pull on the panel while Evie, her teeth gritted in pain, helped to shove one side of the sliding bookshelves open.

"Wait!" Rita shouted, and with a flashlight to illuminate her way vanished down the hall. She reappeared moments later dragging a chair and wedged it into the narrow opening. "Just in case," She said flashing Doug a smile as she stepped through and down the stairs. "And thank you."

"That was incredible," Nixie whispered in pale frightened shock. "How did you know to do that?"

"Elevators, not that you would give a shit," Evie replied coldly as she waited for Doug to step through; seeing Nixies look confusion added, "Look, I'm sorry for saying that, but Nixie, people are going to die out there, a lot of people. Some of my friends are out there…Carly might be out there!"

"I'm sorry," Nixie answered her voice cracking, her eyes glimmering with tears. "But I don't know what to do, I can make it rain in bottle, but I can't do anything like this, and I don't know why they're using their Powers to do this." With her face lit by the garish flashes of lightning the mermaid apologized, "I'm sorry Evie, I'm so sorry; I wish I could do something. But I can't."

"Just go!" Evie shouted as a window shattered somewhere as the building shook from the wind. She waved the mermaid toward the opening, and then followed her through and down the stairs.