As soon as Cleo finishes her extended shift at work — she had to stay back and help with deliveries — she excitedly rushes back home to get changed out of her work uniform and puts on a yellow sundress instead. Once she has changed, put some light makeup on and collected her phone and keys, Cleo runs back downstairs, says a quick goodbye to her dad and Kim, explaining that she is going to meet Lewis and will be back later tonight, and then hurries out of the house.
Cleo walks towards the canal facing the back of her house as fast as possible, excited to get to Mako and meet up with Lewis. The two of them haven't had a proper date in quite a while now, probably not since Lewis became a merman anyway. Doctor Denman coming back to town has certainly delayed their usually weekly date nights as well. Cleo has been starting to miss their date nights and is immensely glad that they decided to organise one tonight. Cleo feels bad that she had to keep Lewis waiting longer than he should have been, but unfortunately, she couldn't get out of work early; the marine park already had several staff members out of action due to illness.
As Cleo approaches the canal, she quickly glances around her to make sure that no one is watching. Once she confirms that the coast is clear, Cleo then dives gracefully into the water. 10 seconds later, Cleo transforms into a mermaid in a swirl of bubbles, her legs being replaced with a long, orange and gold scaly tail. Cleo grins to herself, still getting an exciting thrill course through her as she transforms. Not wanting Lewis to wait for her any longer, Cleo begins speeding off towards Mako Island, surrounded by a whirl of bubbles as she cuts through the water. Cleo's hair flies behind her as she continues to race towards Mako, her tail flipping furiously.
As she continues to swim out into the open ocean, bubbles rushing past her face, Cleo can't help but think about how happy she is now that she gets to share this part of her world with Lewis, now that he's a merman. Sure, the two of them had gone swimming together before Lewis was turned, but snorkelling is nothing compared to having a tail and feeling like you are at one with the ocean and sea life around you. The last couple of months have brought the couple closer together, which Cleo hadn't thought could have been possible until now since they have always been practically inseparable and in love with each other all of their lives. She hopes that Lewis is truly beginning to enjoy his new lifestyle and able to see the many benefits that come with it.
After another 15 minutes or so, Cleo finally arrives at the underwater tunnel entrance into the moon pool. Before entering the tunnel, however, the mermaid hurriedly stops in her tracks, lurching forwards into a complete halt; her arms flailing out in front of her to break her speed even more. An uneasy feeling is beginning to form in her stomach, while doubt swirls around in her mind. Cleo isn't sure why, but something doesn't feel right. The mermaid frowns worriedly and glances around her quickly, scanning the area for any signs of danger. Not seeing any immediate threats, Cleo starts swimming forward again, albeit hesitantly, making her way through the underwater tunnel. Once the tunnel opens up into a much larger space, Cleo quickly swims up to the surface and finally lets out a breath for the first time since diving into the canal.
"Lewis?" Cleo calls out as she looks around the moon pool with curiosity, quickly forgetting about her strangely sudden concerns. On the sandy ground sits a pile of large pillows, a laptop, a CD player, a picnic blanket, an assortment of foods and a bottle of lemonade (Cleo's favourite) as well as candles dotted around the cave. Lewis had even managed to hang fairy lights up on the back wall of the cave.
"Wow..." Cleo mumbles in awe, impressed with all of the trouble that Lewis has gone to for tonight; it is clear that he has missed their date nights just as much as she has. Cleo paddles forward over to the underwater rocky ledge of the pool and rests her arms against it, waiting for Lewis to arrive from around the corner of the land entrance tunnel with his usual goofy and loveable smile spread across his face.
Several more minutes go by, but Lewis is still a no show. Cleo starts getting a little anxious, shifting her position uncomfortably on the rocky underwater ledge. He should have been here by now... unless Lewis somehow forgot that the plan was to meet up at the moon pool? What if he had gone to meet Cleo at her work?
"Lewis, are you here?" Cleo calls out, more loudly than she did the first time. The only response she gets is the sound of her voice echoing off the cave's walls. The mermaid attempts to gulp down the lump that is forming in her throat; the unsettling feeling in her stomach beginning to grow rapidly as a cold shiver runs down her spine, along with goosebumps appearing on her arms.
"Lewis!" Cleo shouts out again, looking around the cavern frantically for any signs of her boyfriend. It is clear that Lewis had been in here earlier, proven by his elaborate setup of the cave. But where the hell was Lewis now? What if something bad has happened to him? What if he has tripped and fallen somewhere on the island? The worrying possibilities continue to add up in Cleo's head and she begins to get more desperate and fearful. What could be taking Lewis so long? When she had rung Lewis earlier, it had sounded like he was already on his way over to Mako to wait for her, so why wasn't he here now?
"Lewis, come on! This isn't funny! Where are you?!" Cleo yells, still glancing around the cavern, searching for any clues. Eventually, her eyes begin to focus on the sandy ground of the cave in front of her. Cleo's eyebrows furrow into a frown as she notices there to be lots of footprints in the sand; there are way too many footprints to belong to just one person.
Trying not to panic, Cleo hurriedly scans the edges of the moon pool for any more potential clues as to where Lewis could have gone. Or, perhaps even more importantly, finding clues to figure out who else could have been in here with Lewis? Could Lewis and the others be playing some stupid prank on Cleo to try and scare her? 'I swear to god if they are all hiding outside the land entrance or something and are waiting for me to have a panic attack, I am going to kill them,' Cleo promises bitterly to herself.
After a few more minutes of desperate searching — which included Cleo diving back underwater and checking the tunnel that leads back out into the ocean just on the off chance of Lewis making his way back —, Cleo suddenly spots something glistening between a tiny gap in the curved, rocky edge of the moon pool, making Cleo pause for a moment and snapping her out of her spiralling thoughts. Relieved to have at last potentially found a clue, the mermaid slowly swims over towards the hardly noticeable gap in between the rocks where she had thought she had seen the shimmering object, curiosity beginning to overtake her. Within only a few seconds of investigation of the rocky gap, Cleo quickly discovers what is causing the refracting light.
The mermaid reaches out and grabs the delicate object with her hand and raises it to her eye level to get a better look at it. Almost instantly, Cleo recognises it as a fish scale, but it's much too large to belong to most fish, not to mention it's shinier than most fish scales she has ever found on any fish besides herself... the scale also happens to be a sapphire blue. All of these little clues put together are more confirmation to Cleo that Lewis was most definitely here in the moon pool at some point not too long ago, maybe even several minutes ago.
However, an icy and dreadful fear starts to slowly creep into her soul as Cleo begins to realise that Lewis probably isn't anywhere near Mako Island, not anymore. The mermaid also has a horrible suspicion that Lewis was not here in the moon pool alone, and that whoever the extra footsteps in the cavern belong to must have something to do with why Lewis has mysteriously disappeared. As much as she hopes that it's just her friends trying to play a cruel prank on her, deep down Cleo knows that is almost definitely not the case.
"Lewis!" Cleo cries out one last time out of desperation but knows it's hopeless. Her eyes begin to sting as tears start falling down the teen's face, and her throat starts to tighten from the sobs building up in her chest.
"Where are you?" The mermaid lets out a shaky whisper as she stares down at the fish scale laying in her hand. Cleo struggles to keep her breathing under control, feeling on the verge of a panic attack. Something terrible has happened to Lewis, she can just feel it. Ugh, if only she didn't have to stay behind at work today! Maybe if she had gotten here at the original time that they planned, Lewis would have been okay and they could have had their date as planned. Or, at the very least, they could have protected each other from the unwanted strangers in the moon pool. She should have been here for Lewis, and now she is paying the price for it.
Cleo sniffles and tries to take some deep breaths, closing her eyes for a moment in an attempt to calm herself down. She needs to think logically about this. Maybe Lewis isn't actually in any danger, and this is all just an overreaction on her part? What if he's just forgotten something and swam back home to get it? But how can that explain the extra footprints in the sand of the cave? Who could have been in here? Why would anyone apart from Cleo and her friends even want to come down here, let alone know that this place exists?
Cleo's internal detective work continues to go round and round in circles for several more minutes, unfortunately not making any sort of progress on figuring out where Lewis could be. If anything, the mermaid now feels even more scared and confused. Cleo sighs in defeat as she opens her eyes and slumps against the rocky ledge of the moon pool, wondering how tonight could have gone so wrong. Just as they were all starting to get on top of things, too. God, why does life have to suck so much?
After another 15 minutes of floating aimlessly in the moon pool, with still a small slither of hope that Lewis might come around the corner at any moment, Cleo eventually decides to head back to the mainland. If Lewis was still even remotely nearby, he definitely would have shown up by now. It's not like him to just disappear without giving a reason or an apology. Whatever has happened here in the moon pool tonight, Cleo knows that she can't figure it out on her own. She needs to let her friends know about Lewis. Maybe they already know where he is?
With one more glance around the cave, Cleo clasps onto the fish scale tightly in her hand as she pushes off from the rocky ledge, taking a deep breath and diving back underwater. Cleo begins to swim out of the moon pool, heading back towards the mainland.
"Wait, slow down, Cleo! You're talking too fast; we can't understand you. Just breathe and talk a little more slowly, okay? Why did you want us all to meet here?" Emma says as she watches the brunette mermaid back and forth nervously in the Gilbert's living room while she, Rikki, Ash and Zane are all sitting on the couch.
"It's about Lewis. He's... he's..." Cleo tries again to explain, her heart feeling like it is caught in her throat.
"He's what? Strange? A nerd? Yes, we all know that." Rikki smirks, causing Zane to chuckle in amusement.
"Rikki! This isn't a joking matter! I think that Lewis could be missing!" Cleo exclaims exasperatedly as she finally stops pacing and turns to face her friends breathlessly.
"What do you mean, 'missing'?" Emma frowns in concern, leaning forwards a little more in her seat.
"What the hell do you think I mean? That Lewis is hiding from me just for some sort of game? No! I mean really missing! I think that he's in trouble!" Cleo cries out in frustration, running her hands through her hair in distress.
"What makes you think that, Cleo? What happened?" Ash asks worriedly.
"We were supposed to be going on a date tonight, out on Mako Island. The moon pool was all set up, but Lewis never showed up..." Cleo mumbles sadly, her heart clenching in fear for her boyfriend.
"Maybe he just got too scared and stood you up?" Rikki suggests jokingly, earning cold, unamused glares from both Cleo and Emma.
"I'm only joking, sheesh. Tough crowd." Rikki adds, raising her hands in surrender. Emma rolls her eyes in annoyance.
"Can't you see that Cleo is very upset?" Emma says to Rikki, gesturing towards their distraught friend standing in the middle of the room.
"Hey, she was just trying to lighten the mood," Zane interjects, coming to his girlfriend's defence.
"Well, it's not helping, so just stop," Emma replies snappily. Cleo clears her throat awkwardly, not wanting a fight amongst her friends to break out, especially when there are more important things going on at the moment. Everyone turns their attention back to the brunette.
"Lewis would have called me if he couldn't have made it tonight, but I haven't heard anything from him. He's not answering any of my calls or my texts. Something is definitely wrong, I can feel it. I'm really scared..." Cleo admits, her voice wobbling a little bit, her eyes beginning to well up with tears.
"Hey, it'll be okay, Cleo. We can work this out together." Emma says reassuringly as she stands up and walks over to her friend, pulling her into a quick hug.
"Yeah. I'm sure Lewis will be fine. He's smart enough to be able to look after himself. Lewis will probably show up sometime tomorrow with an endless, rambling apology. Maybe he just lost track of time swimming? I'm sure there are plenty of possibilities as to why Lewis didn't show up at Mako or answering your calls. Let's not jump straight to conclusions that something bad has happened, okay?" Rikki adds as she also gets up from the couch and makes her way over to Cleo and Emma, resting a hand on Cleo's shoulder comfortingly once Cleo and Emma pull apart from their hug.
"I really hope you guys are right..." Cleo sniffles as she uses her hand to wipe away the tears rapidly falling down her cheeks. She gives her friends a small but appreciative smile, trying to show them that she does feel a little bit better after hearing their reassurances.
However, deep down, no matter how much she tries to convince herself otherwise, Cleo knows that something terrible has happened to Lewis. And somehow, if they ever want to see Lewis again, she and her friends have to figure out exactly what happened, how it happened and why.