ISABELLA
The tumultuous, hour-long boat ride ensured that its six passengers had no time to discuss mermaid matters. (Their focus was mainly spent on preventing Evie from crashing into other boats). As they finally stumbled onto land after the long ride, both Isabella and Evie were surprised to see that there was no swarm of police cars waiting for them.
"Where's the search party?" Evie asked, helping Isabella step off the boat and onto the dock.
"Well, we figured we couldn't go to the police with a story about mythical undersea creatures," Rikki explained, "and we had your phones, so we just texted your parents that you were sleeping over at one of our houses." Evie let out a sigh of relief, and Isabella knew she was thinking of how her brother would never even know that she'd been in danger.
With a grunt of effort, Rikki helped Cleo and Emma lift Lewis, still unconscious, to his feet. The curly haired boy was just coming to, his eyes slowly fluttering open. Rikki opened her mouth, as if to say something else, but a voice in the distance stopped her.
"GUYS!" the voice shrieked. With a startled yelp, Lewis' eyes flew open, and he fell to the ground before his trio of best friends could catch him. Rikki made no attempt to help him up and instead ran over to Evie and Isabella.
"Let's make a long story short for now. Zane and Charlotte have no idea that me and Cleo are mermaids. You didn't see it, but Emma is one too. Oh, and Lewis knows. But don't tell anyone! Just pretend that we aren't mermaids in front of them, and we'll talk about…fishy stuff later."
Overwhelmed with information, Isabella and Evie both just nodded. With a wink, Rikki went back to help Lewis, but she was nearly bowled over by Charlotte, who knocked her cousin to the ground in a fierce hug. Zane leaped onto the boat and spread out his arms as if he was about to embrace Rikki, but then seemed to think better of it and awkwardly slowed to a stop, putting his hands in his pockets. Evie and Isabella exchanged a knowing look; it didn't take much to see that Zane felt a certain way about Rikki.
Once the thrill of the reunion faded, the group made their way together to the spot where they had sat just the night before, talking and laughing. Except, this time, someone was missing.
"Where's Sirena?" Emma asked. Charlotte and Zane exchanged glances and shrugged.
"She ran off earlier after we confronted Miriam. Said she had something she had to help her family with." Charlotte replied.
"Well, we need to text her and thank her!" Cleo exclaimed. "Without her, we never would have found the pod!"
"Wait," Isabella interrupted, "how does Sirena know where the pod is?"
Quickly, the group filled Isabella and Evie in on Sirena's family secret. When they were done, Evie shook her head in shock.
"I can't believe that right as we were ambushed and kidnapped by a vicious mermaid pod, we happened to befriend a girl who spends her free time studying the same pod. It's almost suspicious."
"I agree. She might have helped us, but I still think that she's hiding something," Isabella added.
"Speaking of hiding something…" Charlotte replied, but she trailed off without finishing her thought. The group stared expectantly at Evie and Isabella, waiting for an explanation.
"Um…surprise! Mermaids are real and we're mermaids. I guess," Evie said. Isabella rolled her eyes at her best friend's lame answer. Charlotte leaned towards them eagerly.
"Have you always been mermaids? If not, how did you turn? Have you always known that you were mermaids? If not, how did you find-"
"Charlotte, slow down," Lewis interrupted his cousin with a laugh, cracking his first genuine smile all day. "They just got back from a night in an underwater prison. Give them some time to process everything."
"No, it's fine!" Isabella replied, waving off his concern. "We haven't always been this way. One day, a few months ago, Evie and I found Mako Island. We started to go there all the time and use it as a rehearsal spot because I was too shy to even sing in my own house where my family could hear."
"And now you're singing for an audience like a celebrity!" Evie gushed, clearly proud of how far her best friend had come. Isabella blushed with pride and continued:
"One day, we were taking a break from practice and we decided to explore the island. We found an opening to this big cave, and Evie insisted that we enter it. Inside, there was this beautiful little pool of water. The moon was shining down on it, and the whole cave was so sparkly." Isabella sighed dreamily, thinking back on the moment.
"The moon pool!" Rikki exclaimed. Isabella broke out of her trance and stared at the redhead.
"Yeah, that's what we call it…how did you know that?" she asked, desperately hoping that Rikki would realize her mistake.
"The three of us hang out there a lot, as well," Cleo jumped in, gesturing to herself, Emma and Rikki. "It's strange that we never saw you guys there, though…"
"There were a few times where we heard other people around and left. Like I said earlier, I wanted to be alone to practice." Isabella answered. "Anyway, we went into the cave and decided to swim in the pool. As soon as we hit the water, the tingly feeling started, and, well…the rest is history."
"So, mermaids are actually real." Zane said. The group looked at him in surprise. He'd been unusually quiet ever since the boat had returned, and now it seemed as if the reality of the situation was catching up to him. Suddenly, reality hit Isabella as well, and she felt panic overcome her at the idea that she had just willingly admitted her secret to six people who were basically strangers. Granted, three of them were also mermaids, but Isabella still had her reservations.
"Please don't tell anyone!" she cried out. "If this were to get out, Evie and I would be in so much danger. It could do more than ruin our lives-"
"It could kill you." Charlotte finished calmly, cutting her off. "I know. I went to a prestigious school back home. So many wealthy scientists funded it, but so many of them had a complete disregard for lab ethics. I heard so many horror stories." Then, she reached out with both hands and clasped Evie and Isabella's hands in hers.
"I won't let either of you become one of those horror stories. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," she finished, smiling warmly at both girls.
"And with me." Emma added, taking another of Isabella's hands and squeezing it. One by one, each person in the circle promised to hold their tongue, until there was only one person remaining.
"Zane?" Rikki asked. "Are you going to keep your mouth shut or not?" Her tone was playful, but there was an edge to her voice, as if she wasn't sure she could truly trust him.
"This is just a lot to take in…" he replied, sounding so unlike his usual, confident self that Isabella almost felt bad for him. Evie didn't share the feeling.
"Look, your dad is a powerful man. He might not be a scientist, but when it comes down to the power dynamic, he's basically on the same level as one of those scientists that Charlotte was talking about." Evie stated.
"I'm not my dad." Zane argued, beginning to sound angry. But when he looked around the group for support, none of the others spoke up, and his expression turned helpless.
"I know that sometimes I'm an asshole, but I would never do something as evil as exposing your secret to him," he continued. He was talking to Evie and Isabella, but he looked at Rikki while he spoke, and the redhead just looked at the ground, as if ashamed to meet his gaze.
"I'm not going to tell anyone. In fact, I think I'd rather just distance myself from all of this in general," he finished, and stood up to leave. As he walked away, it was obvious that he was angry, but Isabella saw some hurt in his eyes, as well. The group looked at Rikki to see if she would follow, but her eyes stayed glued to the ground, and for a long thirty seconds, no one spoke.
"Well, unfortunately, we still have more questions for you," Emma stated, breaking the awkward silence. "What happened down there? Did you find out anything about why they took you?"
"Let's start with this: those mermaids from the pod are definitely more powerful than you two," Charlotte stated. She pulled a small red notebook out from the bag she'd carried with her and wrote, "THINGS WE KNOW" in bold at the top of the page. The five mermaids and Lewis exchanged glances, but they knew that Charlotte was in too deep to be separated from the ordeal now. Isabella could feel the anticipation bubbling inside her for the moment when she could finally talk freely with the trio. She had a million questions to ask them about their own mermaid story, and she wondered if Evie was feeling the same excitement. Nevertheless, she went along with the conversation.
"She's MUCH more powerful than us. I mean, I can create light that blinds people, and Evie can throw balls of goo, but this Nixie girl can manipulate water AND use it to create portals to different places. That's how she trapped us in that cell." Isabella explained. Charlotte stared at her in awe.
"You can BLIND people?" she asked, completely bewildered. "How did she even keep you in a cell?"
"She temporarily blinds people, and she's more powerful when she's exposed to light." Evie explained. "We were in a dark cave, so Isabella's power was weak. It took some time, but I figured out how to manipulate my goo and used it to steal the key to our cell from the mermaid who was keeping guard. We practically rescued ourselves; just escaped from the cell, fought through three mermaids, and swam right to the boat when we saw it," she finished with a smirk.
"Yeah, it was absolutely amazing how you completely handled the situation on your own and didn't need us at all. I guess there was no point in bringing that giant fishnet." Rikki sarcastically added. Cleo and Emma elbowed her. Luckily, Charlotte was too wrapped up in her own world to notice.
"Mermaids with superpowers…" she muttered to herself. Rikki rolled her eyes.
"Let's not forget to make note of the army of mermaids that chased our boat for a solid half mile," Rikki added.
"You were chased? By how many?" Charlotte asked, scribbling on her paper.
"Probably about twenty five to thirty mermaids, give or take," Cleo replied. "Some of them had weapons, but most of them just blasted the boat with their powers."
"I threw a ball of my light at the boat to blind all of them, and we were able to escape," Isabella quickly explained, before Charlotte could question the lie that just two mermaids had taken on nearly thirty. "Underwater, my powers are weaker than on the surface because I'm not in direct sunlight. I can only deal with one or two enemies at a time, but since we were above water, my powers were super strong at that moment."
"How did you not blind Cleo, Rikki, Emma, and Lewis?" Charlotte asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously.
"The mermaids were clinging to the side of the boat, and she threw the ball at its side so it wouldn't hit us. Also, Lewis got knocked out, so his eyes were closed," Emma quickly replied. Lewis turned red with embarrassment, but nodded in agreement.
"Ok," Charlotte continued, "so now, we need to ask more specific questions about the situation at hand. For instance, why did Nixie take that gun?"
"Me and Isabella overheard a conversation between Nixie and another mermaid named Lyla. It sounded as if Nixie had other intentions when she came to the surface, and she stumbled across the gun by accident. I think she just took it back as an extra prize," Evie explained.
"Lyla is the leader of the pod. Maybe Nixie was trying to impress her?" Cleo asked. Evie shrugged.
"Whatever it was, Lyla didn't seem to care much about it. She said something about saving it in case they ever needed to use it."
"Why the hell would a mermaid ever need to clone people?" Rikki muttered, sounding almost exasperated with how complicated the situation was becoming.
Evie and Isabella went on to explain what they had overheard, from Lyla referring to them as "hybrids", to her necessity for three mermaids. When they mentioned this, they both glanced pointedly at Cleo, Emma, and Rikki. If the three girls were afraid, they hid it well.
By the end of the conversation, Charlotte had filled the entire page with notes, including two additional columns labeled "THINGS WE DON'T KNOW" and "MERMAID INFO". Cleo and Rikki had hesitantly relayed to her everything they found out about how the pod lived, attributing their knowledge to Evie and Isabella, and Charlotte was in awe of all of it. Then, Isabella added the most startling news.
"There's one last thing that we don't know. Lyla mentioned something to Nixie about there being a spy that she sent to the surface world to gather information about us, and she seemed afraid that the spy would turn on her and decide to stay in the human world," she said. "She feared that if the spy stayed, the pod's magic wouldn't be strong enough to break some curse."
"Yeah," Evie added, "Nixie mentioned something about that, too. She called it 'Meridia's curse', and said that she would break it to free her sister's soul, whatever that means." Emma tapped her chin thoughtfully.
"So Nixie has some personal stake in whatever Lyla is trying to do," she concluded.
"Whatever is happening here, it's clear that Lyla hates humans, and she doesn't think that me and Evie are true mermaids," Isabella continued, sounding angry. "She said she wanted to cause us the same pain that our kind caused her. Whether that means other hybrids exist somewhere, or if she was just talking about humans in general, I don't know."
"Guys," Cleo added, "I know we all probably have a lot of questions, but we need to figure out the most important one. Who's been spying on us if it's not Nixie?"
An uncomfortable silence settled over the group as they confronted the question. No girl wanted to face that one of their new friends could potentially be a traitor.
"It could be Sirena," Lewis stated. Isabella and Evie both nodded in agreement, but Cleo shook her head.
"No. Why would she help us get back to the pod to rescue our friends? It makes no sense."
"She DOES know an awful lot about mermaids," Emma added. "What if she's lying about her family?"
"Yeah, and we don't even know her last name. Also, she conveniently disappeared after helping us," Rikki said.
"She said she had to be with her family, remember?" Charlotte asked, and Rikki shook her head.
"She could've been lying about that too," the redhead insisted.
Each member of the group started pitching in, until finally, Cleo interrupted.
"Guys," she cut in, "I know we're eager to figure this out, but I think we need to give her the benefit of the doubt and talk to her ourselves. Without her, we wouldn't have saved Isabella and Evie. Are we really all going to turn on her now?"
Another silence fell over the group, but this time, there was a sense of guilt in the air.
"Well, it's certainly not me and Isabella. Why would we kidnap ourselves?" Evie joked, and the group laughed, easing the tension. Emma turned serious a moment later.
"I think it's for the best that we don't try too hard to weed out who the spy could be. Even if it's one of us, the worst thing right now is for us to split up. We're all in this together; any fighting would make us weak. And we saw what we're up against back there," Emma stated. Cleo nodded in agreement, but Rikki seemed unconvinced.
"Whatever you say, Em," she replied, but Isabella could tell that there was still something on her mind.
"Charlotte," Lewis said, suddenly addressing his cousin. "We should head back to the house. Our aunt has been looking for us. I think she wants help with something at the house."
As the two relatives stood up, Lewis looked meaningfully at the remaining girls. Once they were gone, Rikki spoke first, a wide grin spreading across her face.
"So," she asked, "Who wants to go to Mako?"
SIRENA
Sirena stared at the wall in the cave of her home, perched on a stone outcropping, trying to control her heartbeat.
Deep breath in, deep breath out.
Evie and Isabella escaped.
Deep breath in, deep breath out.
What if they figure it out now that I'm gone? That Iwas never on their side?
Deep breath in, deep breath out.
Why should I care? But, they seemed so...genuine.
Deep breath in, deep breath out.
They're monsters.
Deep breath in, deep breath out.
Lyla's tail…
Shakily, Sirena floated off of her seat, the image of Lyla's scar still vivid in her mind. She ran through the awful story in her head, pictured a young mermaid girl screaming, stuck in a strange place where nobody could hear or help her. The truth was there, and it was awful, laughing in her face. But, even more awful still, was the other truth it unveiled. Because as she sat there, trying to process what she had learned, Sirena was forced to confront another terrible reality; for a long time, she'd been holding on to the idea of the world above as if it was the answer to how different she felt, a solution to the gnawing feeling that she just wasn't where she was meant to be.
As it turned out, the surface world was no safe haven, but the mermaid found herself still clinging to it, like a child refusing to let go of a stuffed animal in the dark.
"The surface world was a childish dream," she thought, shaking her head in frustration. "It was a fantasy. It's time to grow up and find my place here." But even as she thought the words, they still felt wrong, like a puzzle piece that just wouldn't fit, even though it was the last piece left.
A sharp knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. Sirena opened it to find Nixie, an irritated expression on her face. The mermaid floated into her home before she could even say a word.
"Hello, welcome to my home, would you like to come in?" Sirena asked sarcastically. Nixie rolled her eyes.
"Lyla sent me here to inform you of the next part of the plan. We're going back up to the surface."
"What? Why?" Sirena asked, trying to hide the despair she felt. She was trying to let go of the surface world; going back and taking in all it had to offer wouldn't help.
"She wants us to finish the job," Nixie replied, and then she stared at Sirena, waiting for the nicer mermaid to put the pieces together.
"She wants us to...kill them?" Sirena asked, eyes widening in shock.
"Not us. Me. She wants you to come with me as a distraction so I can catch them off guard. Although, I guess you might also be a good backup fighter if you can figure out how to do something useful with those plant powers of yours," Nixie answered, smirking as she waited for the insult to land.
But Sirena's thoughts were elsewhere. She could feel her heartbeat accelerating again, anxiety overtaking her.
"I just don't understand," she fretted. "Why do we need to kill them? Obviously we need to protect ourselves, but they don't pose an immediate threat. We are not murderers-"
"Sirena," Nixie calmly cut off the other mermaid, "Haven't you ever heard about the curse of Meridia?"
Sirena bristled at Nixie's condescending tone. "Of course I have, but that's just a little mermaid's tale. It's not real," she answered stubbornly.
"But it is. Let me tell you something about our pod leader that nobody else knows. She can speak to the dead," Nixie said.
Sirena actually laughed. "You're joking. You seriously want me to believe that Lyla can speak to the dead?"
"We all have powers that seem like they would be impossible. Why is the ability to speak to the dead any different from the power to create portals with water, or the power to control plants?" Nixie asked.
"Because it's an absolutely horrid power to have," Sirena shot back, and then she rehearsed what she had learned during training when she was young. "All mermaids have powers that are good. They go with nature, not against it,"
"And why do you think Lyla would hide her powers from the pod?" Nixie asked.
Sirena hesitated.
"Sirena, you know the answer as well as I do. She hides her powers because they're different from ours. She has a greater destiny, and her destiny is to end a threat that could finish mermaid kind for good. Most would fear them, and she only needs open-minded mermaids who will help her. You are the most open-minded mermaid that I know, and I am willing to do what it takes to save Mimmi."
Nixie cringed, realizing that she had just talked about her sister in front of a stranger, but Sirena was too busy reflecting back on what Lyla had said to her to notice.
I have a vision.
I have a purpose.
Now, Sirena understood what she had meant. She wasn't just talking about her past; she was talking about her powers.
"Ok," Sirena continued reluctantly, "I still don't understand what all of this has to do with Meridia's curse, though."
"Think about what happens in the story," Nixie urged her. "Meridia dies, and then she's punished to spend the rest of eternity keeping watch over the souls of mermaids who die at the hands of humans. Think about how you would feel if you were her, forced to torment yourself watching those poor souls for the rest of time, a constant reminder that you once trusted someone whose kind could do such awful things."
Slowly, the pieces fell into place in Sirena's mind. She stared incredulously at Nixie.
"No. You're not saying...That is absolutely insane," she stated, but she could feel in her heart that Nixie was right.
"Sirena, Meridia is real. Lyla has talked to her. She needs our help. The appearance of the three hybrids must have seemed like a chance to solve the problem. Meridia appeared to Lyla and asked her to break the curse. And for that to happen…"
"Three hybrids need to die," Sirena whispered, finishing the statement for her. Nixie nodded.
"And here we are with FIVE!" she exclaimed. "This is our chance to break the curse. This is our chance to right a wrong. That's why you need to stop being so skeptical and just-"
"Who is Mimmi?" Sirena asked. Nixie stopped cold, narrowing her eyes at the other mermaid.
"It's none of your concern," she snapped, but Sirena just shook her head in exasperation.
"No, no more secrets," she shot back. "If you and Lyla want my help, if you need me to help you kill someone, then you need to tell me everything. I'm sick of being left in the dark. Tell me why you're helping with this. Who is Mimmi?"
Nixie stared at Sirena for a moment, taken aback by her firm words.
"Mimmi was my sister," she explained, resignation in her voice. "She died at the hands of humans. Her soul is one of the souls that Meridia watches over. I want to release her."
Now it was Sirena who was taken aback.
"Nixie, I am so sorry-" she began, but Nixie cut her off with a snarl.
"I don't need your pity. Pack anything you might need," she said, looking around the small room. "We leave tomorrow evening. You'll go up first so you can play with your new friends and gain their trust again. Then, when the time is right, I'll strike."
With that, she drifted out the door and slammed it behind her, her exit just as abrupt as her entrance.
CHARLOTTE
"So, have you thought at all about what you might be studying in college?" Lewis asked.
It was 8 o'clock, and Charlotte was standing at the sink, handing the dishes that she'd just washed to her cousin to dry. Her aunt and uncle had gone to see a movie together, and the two cousins had offered to take care of the dishes for them.
"I mean, college is still three years away." Charlotte replied. Lewis smirked.
"As if that would stop you from already thinking about it," he answered. Charlotte rolled her eyes because, as usual, Lewis knew her too well.
"Well, there are a few majors that I can get a degree in as an aspiring astronaut, but the ones I'm leaning towards are either biology or engineering. It depends on what school I go to, though. Really, I'll take whatever major I can get if it'll get me up there," she explained. For a moment, she paused and gazed out of the window above the sink. It was a beautiful summer night, and the dark sky was clear enough to see every star. Charlotte drank in the galaxy above her with greedy eyes. She swore that she had never seen anything so beautiful.
"One day," she thought, "I'm going to live amongst those stars."
Lewis watched her with a smile on his face. Although he had no desire to leave the planet, he could understand her hunger to explore, to dig into this world and the next, to learn everything she could and then some.
"Do you remember when you first told me that you wanted to be an astronaut?" he asked. Charlotte nodded and rolled her eyes again.
"We were nine and you made me cry," she answered. "You told me that I only wanted to go because I liked Star Wars, and then I threw my Barbie at you."
Lewis chuckled.
"I thought I knew so much better than you, but I was just a stupid nine year old boy," he laughed, and Charlotte smiled too.
"Yeah, but I sure as hell proved you wrong. I memorized every planet in the solar system that night just to spite you."
"You did, and it was impressive. I've never met someone with your drive. I'm glad that you didn't take nine year old me seriously," Lewis said. Then, he took Charlotte by the shoulders and turned her to him.
"You're like a sister to me, Char. I'll always be here to support you."
Charlotte's smile grew, but she playfully pushed him away.
"Don't get all mushy on me, or I'll throw up on these clean dishes," she teased. But Lewis just shook his head.
"I'm serious. And guess what else?" he asked. Charlotte looked up at him.
"There are going to be a lot of guys out there that still think like nine year old me. They're going to think that you aren't capable of following your dreams, that you don't belong there," he continued. Then, he looked her dead in the eyes as he finished his speech.
"But you do belong there. If anyone tries to keep you from space, give them hell."
Charlotte grinned.
"I will," she replied, "but only if you ask Cleo out already!"
Lewis groaned and rolled his eyes.
"Not this again," he complained, but he was smiling. Charlotte scooped a handful of suds from the bubbling sink and threw it at him. Within minutes, the kitchen turned into a soapy mess as the cousins laughed and dodged each other's attacks. When the battle was done, they both slumped into a seat at the dining table, panting.
"Guess we'd better clean this mess up," Lewis remarked, taking in the drenched tablecloth, the puddles on the floor, and his soaking wet cousin. Charlotte giggled.
"That's not the only mess you have to clean up," she answered, and Lewis turned sullen.
"Hey, I was just joking," Charlotte said. "I didn't mean-"
"Let's just get this done," Lewis interrupted. The two began their work in silence.
Twenty minutes later, Charlotte remarked, "You know, for what it's worth, I think that your invention is an amazing accomplishment."
Lewis shrugged. "It wasn't worth hurting my friends."
"But they'll forgive you," Charlotte insisted, "and honestly, they seem like they already kind of did. You guys have been friends for years; nothing could break your bond."
Lewis looked up at her from his spot on the floor, where he was drying a puddle with a towel. "Not even a crazy cloning gun?"
Charlotte smiled. "Not even a crazy cloning gun."
The two relatives finished cleaning the kitchen, and then Lewis received a text from Cleo, asking him for help with something. With only a vague explanation of what that "something" was, Lewis was out the door and headed into the night. With a sigh, Charlotte went to retrieve her book, wondering if she would ever be fully included in their secrets. It was understandable that Lewis shared a bond with them that not even she could fully understand; after all, they had lived in the same city as him for basically their entire lives. Even so, she couldn't help feeling like a child sometimes, like a sister who was dragged along instead of invited.
It was nearly 10 o'clock at night when Lewis returned.
Charlotte was sitting in the living room downstairs, engrossed in her copy of The Martian. She had decided to take advantage of the quiet house, and had only been relaxing for ten minutes when Lewis entered the house with Cleo, Emma, Rikki, Isabella, and Evie in tow.
"Whoa, what's going on?" she asked. The group looked at each other with anticipation, and Charlotte was overwhelmed with the sense that there was something she was missing.
"We have something important to tell you." Lewis stated, nervously running a hand through his hair. Charlotte felt dread swell up inside of her. What terrible thing had happened now?
"What's wrong? Is everyone alright?" she inquired. Once again, the group looked unsure of what to say next.
"Charlotte," Cleo said quietly, "are you sure that we can trust you with anything? You won't tell a soul outside of this group what we're about to tell you?"
"I swear on my mother's grave that I won't tell. Whatever it is, you can trust me." Charlotte replied solemnly.
"Good," Cleo answered, "Because Evie and Isabella aren't the only mermaids here. Emma, Rikki and I are mermaids too."
RIKKI
Rikki took a deep breath and rang the doorbell in front of her. After a few seconds of no response, she rang it again. She could hear the echo of the bell ringing inside the house. While she waited, she took in the scene around her.
While not quite large enough to qualify as a mansion, Zane's house still put anything she had ever lived in to shame. It was a light blue that matched the sky, with three floors and a gingerbread-trim porch. There was no disturbance in the surrounding neighborhood but for the chirping of nearby birds and a slight breeze coming off the ocean. Standing at his front door in her old overalls and baggy t-shirt, Rikki suddenly felt self-conscious. While her family was in better financial standing (and she knew that Zane didn't care about how wealthy her family was, anyway), the little girl that had grown up facing rude comments from the rich kids was still inside of her, and she felt so small in this part of town.
Nevertheless, Rikki was never one to back down from a challenge. She swallowed her embarrassment and held her chin up, waiting for someone to answer the door. Eventually, she heard footsteps, and Zane finally opened the door, looking slightly disheveled. He was dressed in a plain white t-shirt with jeans, and his usually styled pink hair flopped around his face, water dripping from it. Rikki had to stop herself from smirking.
"Oh," he said, sounding taken aback. "Sorry Rikki, I was taking a shower when you rang the doorbell." Then, he cocked his head at her in confusion.
"How did you know where I live?" he asked.
Rikki shrugged and tried to keep her cheeks from burning with heat as she replied, "I don't know, I must have just picked up on it somehow since we've all lived in the same city for so long."
The real answer was somewhere between "I was fascinated by your giant house" and "I was fascinated by you", but thankfully Zane accepted this response and opened the door wider, motioning for her to step inside.
Zane's house was somehow not as grandiose on the inside as it had been on the outside. Rikki took in the empty entryway. The walls were bare but for a single picture of Zane and his father. Zane looked to be about ten in the picture, and a wide grin was plastered on his face. His father kneeled beside him, an arm around his son's shoulder.
"This house was the one my mom picked. She wanted something warm and inviting. As you can see, it doesn't exactly make you feel warm and fuzzy anymore," Zane joked. Rikki turned from the wall to glance at him, but his eyes were glued to the floor.
"C'mon," Zane continued, and he grabbed her hand. "I'll show you the rest of the house."
Rikki tried to ignore the feeling of his warm, smooth hand wrapped in hers as he guided her into the living room. The living room was a bit more decorated than the entryway, with a few more pictures on the wall, and a lamp on either side of the couch. A large TV was mounted on the wall in front of the couch, and a coffee table sat in between the two. Zane guided Rikki to the couch, and they both sat down.
"This is...somehow not what I was expecting. I mean, it is, but…" Rikki started, but Zane cut her off.
"I get what you mean," he said. "When my mom was still here, her decorations were everywhere on the walls, and there were always plants on the tables because she loved taking care of them. When she left, dad threw away anything that she didn't take with her. Without her stuff here, the house feels even bigger somehow, but I don't always like that," he admitted.
Rikki felt ashamed of herself. She had always just assumed that Zane was content with his life; he had a huge house, and his father's money, but she hadn't considered that, just maybe, he would give all of that away in a heartbeat if it would bring his family back together.
"I would," she thought, and out loud she said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. Is this why you never have parties here?"
Zane was one of the popular kids in town, and the popular kids had parties every weekend during the summer while their rich parents were out on trips. But, his house was practically a legend to the circles he typically ran in. Some people claimed that he never hosted parties because his father was too strict and wouldn't let him; others genuinely believed that his father's money came from a meth lab that they had hidden in the house. Rikki thought that these rumors were ridiculous, and she had always believed that Zane was just too lazy to clean up after a bunch of teenagers. Now, she saw the truth.
Zane shrugged. "Honestly, that was initially why, but now I just don't have them here because I like hearing the crazy rumors that people come up with about my house. Did you know that, according to Beth Ann, my dad is so rich that he bought an illegal tiger for me as a pet, and I can't invite anyone over because nobody is supposed to see it?"
Rikki laughed. "Well, don't worry," she said, "I won't tell anyone about the tiger. Speaking of secrets…"
Zane held up a hand to cut her off. "I know what you're about to say, Rikki, and I don't want to be involved in any of this crazy mermaid stuff anymore."
Rikki sat up a little straighter, annoyed that he had cut her off. "I wasn't going to ask you to become involved again. I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry about how things went down yesterday. It's hard for us-" she cringed, "I mean, Evie and Isabella to trust anyone with their secret, let alone someone with your…reputation."
"I can be an asshole sometimes, but…" Zane replied, hesitating. "I'm trying to do better. I'm sick of being surrounded by the people that my dad thinks I should be friends with. They're shallow, and self absorbed, and…well, honestly, I like you guys better."
"Well, how about that!" Rikki exclaimed. "The bad boy of Dolphin City just admitted that not only does he purposefully avoid throwing parties, but he also LIKES hanging out with a bunch of nerds!"
"Shut up," Zane shot back, but he was smiling. He picked up the pillow next to him and threw it at her. She leaned to the side and managed to dodge it with a smirk on her face.
"You missed." Rikki remarked. She picked the pillow up from the floor and threw it back, hitting him squarely in the face.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, and the battle began, pillows flying across the room at their victims. When Zane ran out of pillows, he lunged to take one of hers, and she swatted him away. He laughed and pinned her arms back to the couch in an attempt to disarm her. Rikki laughed, too, until she realized that Zane was on top of her, looking from her eyes to her lips like he was about to make a move. She pushed him away and scrambled to sit up.
"Rikki, what…" he began, and she couldn't bear the sad, rejected look in his eyes.
"It's not that I don't…want to," she explained, treading carefully. "It's just not a good time. There's so much going on in my life, with my family and now with this mermaid stuff too. And we have a…complicated history. If we do this, I want the timing to be right: I don't want this to be more confusing than it already is."
She swallowed nervously, waiting for a response, and Charlotte's face from the previous night flashed across her memory. She had been absolutely shocked to learn that Rikki, Emma and Cleo were all mermaids, and that Lewis had known all along. Thankfully, she had been more excited than angry, and the girls had invited her to go swimming with them at the Moon Pool so that she could see their powers in action. Rikki trusted Charlotte. But Zane…
Zane's reaction towards Evie and Isabella had made her nervous. She already had her guard up when it came to love, but her secret made everything worse. She envied Cleo, because the boy that she liked already knew her secret and accepted her for who she was. But Zane? What if he couldn't handle the truth? What if she scared him away just as he was finally showing his true self to her? What if she scared herself away by opening up too much? No, Rikki had had enough loss to last a lifetime. Love was inconstant, fluctuating. Her father had loved her mother, and yet he had moved on with someone new after she died, even though Rikki had believed that love was indestructible.
Luckily, Zane seemed to understand. He nodded his head and patted Rikki's hand.
"It's okay," he said, "We don't have to go there right now. I understand that the situation is complicated."
Rikki felt relief wash over her, and then the tiniest twinge of regret as he led her to the door. How long would she make him wait? He was changing for her; he was trying to be better for her, but she kept pushing him off.
"But it's not my job to change him," she reminded herself as she stepped through the front door and out into the sweltering heat. "It's up to him to change, and it's up to me to decide if he's worth it."
And although she knew what she needed to do, her thoughts swirled around in her head the whole way home.
SIRENA
Sirena took a deep breath and steadied herself as she climbed onto her feet. The sensation of the sand between her toes, and the water lapping at her ankles was still strange to her, but she found that, as she took her first step, she was more prepared to walk on land than she had been the first time. She'd brought the clothes from her previous surface adventure, so she had the advantage of being able to walk out of the water rather than scramble into the bushes and search for hiding. (Nixie had found that part of her tale quite amusing). As she started making her way farther onto land, she hesitated and turned, wishing more than anything that she could have a friendly face to provide her with some encouragement. But only Nixie's face leered back at her, mouthing the words, "Go. Now," and the only friendly faces she had left up here were the same ones she was about to indirectly murder.
To put it simply, she was not having a very good day.
With a sigh, she trudged onto shore and walked along the beach. She didn't know where the girls would be, but she figured that at least one of them might be out enjoying the beautiful evening. If anything, she could find solace in the fact that it would take time to round them all up. But, to her absolute dismay, all six girls, Charlotte the non-mermaid included, were gathered at the docks. She took another deep breath and headed towards them. The first to spot her was Cleo.
"Hey, Sirena!" the dark haired girl exclaimed, and the others all looked up in surprise. Charlotte gave a small smile and a wave, and, while they seemed a bit nervous, Evie and Isabella did the same. Only Emma and Rikki didn't wave, and Rikki went as far as to narrow her eyes suspiciously. Sirena gulped as she approached them. Was it possible that they already knew what she was going to do? Or had they not bought her weak lie about "helping her family"? She reassured herself that it was the latter and carried on, smiling and waving like nothing was wrong.
"Hey guys!" she greeted them, trying to sound nonchalant. "What's up?"
"Oh, we were just about to go for a ride out to Mako Island," Cleo replied, "What about you? Did everything go alright with your family the other day with whatever they needed your help for?"
"Oh yeah, it was super easy," Sirena answered. An awkward silence settled over the group. She didn't know what to say. What do you say to a group of people that you're about to traumatize, some of whom you're about to murder?
"Well, we should get going, but I guess we'll see you around," Rikki said, breaking the silence. Then, one by one, the girls piled into the speedboat that was tethered to the dock.
"Oh. Have fun!" she exclaimed, and she watched them ride off into the horizon, the sun beginning to set ahead of them. As she watched them disappear on the ocean, she felt the anxiety that had been building within her all day explode. In an effort to keep herself from crying, she sat down on the dock. She was torn between right and wrong. She had thought that right was taking the necessary actions to protect her pod, but now, crouched on a dock next to the unrelenting sea, she wasn't so sure anymore. She decided to sit for a few moments and take a deep breath. There was no rush: the girls would likely spend most of the night on Mako, and she didn't need to find Nixie; Nixie would come to her, as she had surely been following Sirena from afar. Sure enough, she resurfaced next to the dock and looked up at Sirena urgently.
"Where are they going?" she asked.
Sirena didn't even try to stop the tear that slid down her face, but she hoped that Nixie wouldn't notice. "Mako Island," she replied.
If Nixie noticed the tear, she didn't care. A wide grin split her face.
"Well," she replied, "Let's go!"