I started this story almost 4 years ago. I want to say thank you to all of my loyal readers who've been with me since the beginning. I have at least one more chapter fully written, and I plan to keep going. The biggest issue as well was me not knowing how to end the story. So now, I at least have a plan and I hope to get there. Anyway onto chapter 70!
Chapter 70: ConnectedBlake and Mitch sat together in Laurie's office. It was several days after their interrogation by the police and the FBI agent. Laurie had helped them deal with the mob of people trying to pursue answers from Blake and Mitch. They personally had escaped the paparazzi's wrath before when the mermaids had the spotlights on them, but now the journalists only had the two of them since the mermaids were in hiding. Their only ally at the moment was Laurie. Although, neither of them truly trusted him. Blake trusted him because of Denman, and that was barely good enough for Mitch.
They had wheeled in a TV to keep abreast of the news during their meeting, especially if there was a special announcement about the mermaids. They couldn't take any chance. The three of them were the last vestiges left to fight for the mermaids while everyone else was a fugitive.
Laurie sat down and rubbed his temples. "I can't believe this mermaid thing is so pervasive… I've been so close to it the whole goddamn time." he spoke bluntly. "I knew most of the captured girls through Cleo… She used to be my dolphin training assistant… Now it makes sense why she never wanted to get in the water."
Mitch burst out. "She was a dolphin trainer? As a mermaid? And she never got caught?"
Laurie chuckled. "I couldn't tell you how that was possible. From what I remember there were a few times she acted more awkward than usual around the water… It wasn't until she was revealed that it all came together for me. But before I had no clue. Who's going to look at her acting weird around the water and say 'oh it's clearly because she's a mermaid!' I just thought she had some traumatic event happen in the water and it wasn't going to stop her dolphin trainer dream."
"She and the others tried so hard to teach Mia, Katy, and Sara the ways of being a mermaid, how not to get caught, and how to control their powers. And then Cleo just goes out there and decides 'hey, I'm gonna work in a very water filled place full of sea creatures and try and train them,'" Blake joked.
"Give her some credit," Laurie countered. "She, Rikki, Bella, and Emma managed to keep their secrets for years… Until… well… You saw what has occurred."
"We're sorry about what happened to them," Blake consoled. "We never wanted this kind of thing to happen. This whole thing just kinda exploded in our faces."
Laurie shrugged. "I suppose so. It only took a month before the public turned on the mermaids. We could never expect that love to last. Humans are really good at hating each other based on small differences, especially if they're really different like the mermaids."
Silence filled the room for the moment, besides the minimal babble of the television near them. None of them knew where to begin saving the girls. They were only three men, trying to solve one of the biggest international scandals of modern times. "I'm open to anything. Please someone share an idea; anything!" Blake spoke.
"There's only one thing I can think," Laurie spoke. Blake and Mitch turned toward him inquisitively.
"We have to continue to spread the word of how great the mermaids are, and how 'human' they are. Dehumanization could be a real problem and we need to show how real they are," Laurie spoke.
"Didn't Sara try that?" Mitch spat. "She was trying that for a month with the music video, the press conferences and it didn't turn out for anything! What makes you think it'll change now!"
"I don't know if it'll change anything," Laurie spoke. "But I know we have to try. You two especially can help now considering you're both decently famous or infamous now as the 'mermaid boyfriends.' That could go a long way for humanizing them."
"I wish that we could make that the case," Blake spoke. "Some would say we were 'hypnotized' by our girlfriends to love them. Basically like sirens in mythology. Which isn't true at all."
"Oh yeah, and what-" Mitch was interrupted by a sudden Breaking News blast on the TV. The three of them whirled around to see it just in case there was any information about the mermaids. Turns out they were in luck.
A reporter appeared on screen, a balding man in his low thirties with jacked shoulders in a tight suit. "I'm here on the site of a recent sighting of a mermaid! And, from what we've gathered, it seems like it was indeed Sara Meyer! She may still be in the vicinity. This happened just a few hours ago right here next to the small surfing town of Bakio, Spain. A Spanish military helicopter went down just off the coast, and according to eyewitnesses, Ms. Meyer jumped in and saved one of the crew and a single passenger: A young girl some said. Before anyone could have a chance to speak to either of them, the Spanish military stormed in and whisked both survivors away to an unknown location."
The host in the studio asked "Gerald, is there any update on the location of Sara Meyer at this time?"
The reporter shook his head. "As soon as Ms. Meyer saved the crash victims, she disappeared. We talked to one local who says that Ms. Meyer had been staying with a friend of hers for the past week. We were unable to get a statement from the women Ms. Meyer had been staying with, and…."
Mitch stood up angrily and turned off the TV in a huff, before returning to his seat. Blake and Laurie stared at him in disdain. "Why would you do that?"
Mitch rubbed his temples before speaking. "I can't stand the constant news cycle. We learned where Sara is. Spain. Got it. But now what can we do with the info? All they try to do is hit us with fear, and I can't stand the news anymore."
Blake put his arm around his friend. "You're worried about Katy aren't you?"
Mitch nodded. "Yeah. The feeling of helplessness is terrible."
"I know. It sucks mate. But, we have to be strong for them. No matter what, we have to keep our heads up!" Blake encouraged. But, he was only met with silence. There wasn't anything anyone could think to do. Blake's enthusiasm and positivity had no place where there wasn't anything to be done.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A small boat raced away from the Californian coast, jostled by the rolling waves. It was cloudy that day, a staunch difference from earlier in the week. Ben McKay stood hunched over the controls, guiding the boat along straight ahead, trying to keep the right heading. Lewis and Will held on tight to the railing, attempting to keep their balance on the smaller vessel. "I hope you know where you're going!" Lewis shouted above the whine of the engine and the constant splashing.
"I'm almost positive!" Ben shouted. "Isla Delfin is just off the coast not too much farther now!"
Lewis grunted in affirmation. He knew he had no other choice than to trust Ben. Their alliance was a necessary one. With Bella and Cleo captured alongside Ben's adopted daughter Anna, they didn't have a choice but to work together. At Lewis' feet, tied down and wrapped in waterproof plastic was his scientific equipment. He didn't know what to expect at this Isla Delfin but he knew he needed to be ready for anything. This would hopefully be his first time visiting another Moon Pool besides the one on Mako.
Within another 5-10 minutes, a small spot of land was seen on the horizon, and Ben gunned the throttle, heading straight for it. It was smaller than Will and Lewis were expecting, about half the length end to end from Mako Island. Cliffs raced up the interior, but they were not capped with a volcano cone like Mako. Soon, they reached the beach, and Will and Lewis jumped out and pulled the boat up onto the beach and away from the lapping tides. Lewis reached back in and pulled his bag out of it's waterproofing and shouldered it. He needed absolute certainty.
"Is this the place?" Will asked Ben. "It doesn't look like much."
Ben shrugged sheepishly. "I'm just as lost as you now. I know that around the time of Anna's… you know…. Transformation…" Ben struggled with the words, "and, afterwards as well, her and her friends were mentioning Isla Delfin quite a bit. But, from what you've told me the timing is no coincidence."
Will saddled up to Ben until their faces were mere inches apart. Will had a slight height on Ben but only just so. "I'm going to tell you this one thing right away. Everything we say from here on out stays on the island. You must NEVER tell anyone about this. Your daughter's very life is on the line."
"We know what she means to you," Lewis interrupted. "I know about what happened with Sam."
"Don't you say her name like that," Ben gruffed, pointing an accusatory finger at Lewis, then turned it toward Will. "I will NEVER give anyone information that could be used against Anna. I promised I would love her unconditionally until the end of time."
Lewis stood. "I want to offer my condolences for your wife's passing those years ago. But, because of that we know we can trust you. There are some secrets that you'll learn today and later on as well. We want to make sure this information stays with us."
Ben nodded in affirmation, a courageous look on his face. "On Sam's honor, I will do anything I can to help you out for Anna's sake."
Lewis patted Ben on the shoulder. "We knew we could count on you." He then took his first steps into the forest. Will and Ben followed behind.
"What exactly are we looking for?" Ben asked. "I brought you here to the island, yet it seems you know what to search for."
Lewis answered back as he stepped by a few trees. "It's been a bit over a month now since your daughter and her friends were here. I'm looking for anything that shows where they walked here."
"And if that fails?"
"We're looking for a certain body or pool of water," Will chimed in from behind. "The transformation happens in that location. It should hopefully be toward the middle of the island. We don't know if there will be anything from when they were here, but still."
They walked another few minutes forward in silence. They were heading toward the center of the island like Will had said. They were climbing slightly higher. Off to the right through the trees, Lewis was barely able to make out a rock formation that climbed above the level of trees he could see. "That could be the right way," Lewis pointed out. "Near the rocks there always seems to be something that could lead us there."
Lewis broke into a jog, eager and excited to find the Moon Pool there, if there even was one. He had to be careful though. He needed to find some way to help the captured girls with the information he got from Isla Delfin. He reached the tall rock formation, and it seemed to be a wall almost, stretching both to the right and left, curving inwardly, like a massive ring. Towards the left side of it, more towards the center of the island, the shrubbery tended to be thicker and more dense, while the right side opened up more near the sea.
Ben and Will caught up to Lewis and stared upward in shock at the rocks above them. "This cliff is huge!" Will exclaimed.
"Yep and if I was a betting man, I'd say whatever we need is on the inside of this," Lewis spoke. "Now, we just have to figure out how the hell we get to whatever is on the other side of this."
Ben looked out to the left, noticing something half covered by the bushes. He walked over to it, reaching through the thick brambles and pulling out something fabric. "I found something!" He shouted, lifting it over his head to show Lewis and Will. Ben examined it. It was a hat of some kind. "Perdido VC! This has to be Anna's friend Fallon's hat! She plays volleyball for that team." Ben turned toward the bushes and the stone wall as Lewis and Will cautiously approached. "It has to be here! It ha-" Ben took one step forward and suddenly began to fall as his foot slipped. He covered his face and began to slide downard on cold stone. Within a few seconds, he slammed downard, bouncing off the base and skidding forward.
When his body came to a stop for a few seconds, Ben gradually opened his eyes and gasped. In front of him was a lake or lagoon of some kind, sprawling outward away from a tiny beach he was resting on. High walled stone blocked in all sides. The water was a crystal clear blue, some of the most beautiful he had ever seen. At the far end, a small waterfall cascaded down into the lagoon. The scene was too picturesque. Almost like out of a Bob Ross painting.
He heard bumps and shouts behind him, as both Will and Lewis tumbled out of the hole behind him. They both immediately stood up, eyes wide with disbelief. "This is it!" Lewis exclaimed. "It has to be!" Lewis raced for the water's edge and knelt beside it. "This water is the same hue as the one on Mako!"
"Wait what? This is the place we've been searching for?" Ben questioned.
"This looks like everything we know about these types of places," Will spoke. "We've found the Isla Delfin Moon Pool!"
"Wait hold up! Mako? Moon Pool? What are you talking about?" Ben questioned again. "What is so special about this place? Is this where Anna transformed?"
Lewis turned back toward Ben. "I want to say yes that this is the pool we've been searching for. It's called a Moon Pool because under certain conditions, under the moon, being in this pool will turn you into a mermaid."
"Wait so this is exactly the place where Anna became a mermaid?" Ben asked.
"Yes that's what I just said," Lewis said, almost ending in a question, confused by Ben's own confusion. "Literally anyone in here at the right time will become a mermaid. Granted, I guess you could become a merman too. Farley proved that was possible."
"I- I'm just trying to comprehend it all," Ben stammered. "And Mako? That's the island in Australia that changed Sara?"
"And all the others too," Will spoke. "Except for my girlfriend Bella. We know she was changed in a Moon Pool in Ireland, we just don't know where."
"What are you looking for exactly?" Ben spoke to Lewis.
"That is an excellent question!" Lewis responded. "I have no idea. This is the first other Moon Pool I've been to outside of Mako. I'm not sure if this place is different, the same, or what. I need to run tests on this water to see exactly what it could be. Now, if you have any more questions, ask Will. I must concentrate."
Ben and Will stepped back, letting Lewis take over his work, which he got to eagerly. Ben and Will chatted for a while about their lives. Ben was eager to learn about the history of the mermaids as they knew it. He wasn't sure about anything and only recently found out about his daughter. He wanted to know exactly what he was getting into because of Anna. He had to know. Will filled him in on the first mermaids they knew of and what had happened in the beginning with Cleo, Rikki, and Emma. He kept most specifics out of the story that could be used against them. He figured he could trust Ben for the most part, but wanted to keep his distance.
It was at least thirty minutes or more Lewis spent tinkering away with his scientific gadgets. He had a small table he brought with him and was running all sorts of experiments on water samples from the lagoon. He had exactly the procedure he knew he needed to do. He had perfected it in the years that he had researched the water on Mako, as well as the mermaids themselves. He wrote down every number, every observation, and every reading from the devices. Once he had gotten all the baseline readings, he began comparing them to the notes he had taken from Mako. His eyes widened in shock. "No no no NO NO!" he exclaimed. "This can't be right!"
Will and Ben snapped up and turned to him. "What is it?" they both said in unison.
Lewis stood and held up the papers he was holding. "Every single reading I'm getting from this lagoon is the EXACT SAME as the data I got from Mako! The salinity is the exact same, mineral content the exact same. Hue, color, viscosity, density, even goddamn temperature is the exact same!" He rambled. "Do you not get that the temperature is the same? Every time I measured the Moon Pool on Mako the temperature was the exact same! And now I come here and this temperature is the exact same, and I measured it several times to make sure I was accurate!"
"What does that mean?" Will asked. "Is that unusual?"
"It's almost statistically impossible!" Lewis responded. "Maybe not statistically impossible but the chances of us coming on the perfect day, to read the exact same numbers as the ones on Mako even with the long gap in between my readings for that is virtually impossible, like winning the lottery is closer to 50/50 chances than this."
"If it's statistically impossible, then there has to be a reason that they are reading the exact same," Ben spoke, trying to add to the conversation. "If by randomness they can't be the same, there has to be a reason."
"But why? Besides the fact they are both moon pools," Will stated. "That's the main connection but we're thousands of miles away from Australia!"
"I have a theory," Lewis stated. "It's a long shot but it's something that could explain it." Ben and Will listened closely as Lewis began. "The only reason they are the exact same, or the only reason it could be like that…. In solutions of water, things like salinity, temperature, mineral content, and the like are evenly dispersed, so all individual parts of the solution are roughly the same. So that must mean the two Moon Pools are connected through magic somehow."
"Yes but what does that mean?" Will questioned.
Lewis shook his head. "I don't know how, and I don't know why, but they're the exact same body of water, connected through space."
Please leave a review and let me know what you think. I want to make sure I continue writing this into the future. Thank you and I hope you have a great week.