Quarantine's got me on a roll! Enjoy!

Cody dreamt of Sam. Sometimes her face was so clear, and other times it was only the idea of her. In his hazy dreams they swam together, deep out in the ocean. She was radiant in the water, swimming just as easily as he did. Together they laughed and swam with fish and dolphins, not a care in the world. Other times, he was sitting in the cove together, Sam's feet shoved in the sand, his tail stretched out before him, their fingers intertwined. Fragments of them at the pier on a walk, or on the carousel at the fairgrounds intermixed with everything, giving the dreams a dizzying feeling.

Dreaming was all he could do. Even when his eyes opened to what he assumed was the real world, there was nothing to focus on. His mind was slow and foggy. He couldn't concentrate well enough to form thoughts, let alone project them to anyone. Jess was usually there, hovering over him nervously. Other times it was scientists. Whenever he did wake up, it was brief. There would be a quick prick and then he would once again be dreaming of Sam. Reality was beginning to feel unattainable. Maybe it was for the best. His body ached and his limbs were slow and heavy. In his dreams he was with Sam. As long as she was there, he could endure it for a while longer.

-TSLOF-

At the kitchen table, wrapped in a fluffy pink robe, Sam picked at the tuna fish sandwich her mother had made her. There was a glass of lemonade and a bowl of fresh fruit. It was all tasty, but her appetite was nearly nonexistent. Her mind was too full of the otherworldly conversation she'd had with Cody. A conversation that she couldn't even bring up to her mom. How would she even explain it? Cody had been able to give her more info that she could have hoped for about his situation. She had tried to connect with him since then, but no matter how hard she tried to reach out with her mind, she couldn't find him. Whatever wall had disappeared the first time was firmly back in place. It made her feel alone and cold.

Coughing again, she cleared her throat and took a big gulp of the lemonade. The drink did nothing to calm her itchy throat as she tried to clear it. Absentmindedly, Sam scratched her forearm as she stared down at her sandwich. Cody had said he was at a place called Sea Haven. She had done a quick search on her phone and found nothing. Wherever he was didn't seem to exist on any official records. Was it a government facility? Some sort of lab? She could only guess. She did know they were hurting him. He was drugged and in pain. The numbness she had felt from him was horrible. He must be so scared.

Then there was the matter of Sean. Cody had clearly shown her a picture of her friend with a tail. An actual merman tail. How? Did Cody have something to do with that? She had no idea. But it could explain why Sean had also been taken. Did that mean Jess was like Cody too? She dropped her head on the table, her mind swirling. She didn't know! It didn't make any sense! Both Sean and Jess were human. That was certain. So then how did she explain Sean, with a tail?

What bugged her the most was the last person she had seen, clearly staring down at Cody. It was her grandpa. Grandpa May, from her mom's side. But he and her uncle had died in a boating accident when her mom was young. A picture of them hung on their wall by the front door, so she knew what her grandpa had looked like, but that was it. The man Cody had shown her, while much older, had the same crinkled eyes and warm smile.

Did that mean he was alive? There was no way Cody could have just conjured her dead grandpa's face. And if Cody was with her grandpa, what did that mean? How was he alive? Was her uncle alive too? Were they all at this Sea Haven place?

She needed to talk to Mr. Wheatley. This was too strange for her to make sense of. And if it all tied back to mermaids, like she suspected it did, then he might have an answer. Jess's dad seemed to know everything there was to know about merpeople. If she told him and Cody's parents about what she'd seen, they might be able to get closer to finding the missing boys.

Her mind made up, she pushed back in her chair and stood from the table. She had only taken a few steps towards the sink when her knees buckled. Gasping, she cried out as she crashed to the tile floor. As she fell her plate went flying, the sandwich smacking wetly against the fridge, and her lemonade glass shattering on the ground and the drink pooling around her.

A shout and then running preluded her mom rushing to her side. "Sam? What happened? Are you okay?" asked her mother, a frantic note in her voice.

Sam tried to speak, but only a strangled cough came out instead. Heaving, she continued to cough as a strange feeling ignited in her veins.

"Come on, let me help you up. Be careful of the glass," said her mom.

Still coughing, and her knees wobbly, Sam leaned heavily on her mom as she was pulled from the ground. Her body felt shaky and weak as she was led to the couch. Her mom ran back to the kitchen to grab a towel, handed it off to Sam, then went to clean up the mess.

After her coughing subsided to a few wheezes, Sam rolled up her robe sleeve to wipe off the lemonade and paused, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. There, on her wrist, was a patch of iridescent silver and pink scales. Only ten or so, but very real and very attached to her skin. Frantic, she rubbed at them, then thought to check her other wrist. There were none there, and a quick check of her ankles confirmed they were fine. But her knees felt wobbly and her chest was tight. Looking over her shoulder to check that her mom was still busy, she stared at the scales on her wrist. There were only a few of them now and she traced her fingers lightly over them. It surprised her how sensitive they were, and she let out a tiny gasp.

What was happening to her?

Her mind swam and she sat back in the couch. Scales? A scratchy throat and wobbly knees. It couldn't… Other signs of what was possibly happening popped into her mind. First, she could send thoughts to Cody. Telepathy, just like a mermaid. Then there was the increased thirst Now…scales, and wobbly knees right after she had been soaking in water. It was impossible, she knew that, but she had so much evidence stacking up against her. Was she really becoming a mermaid? The thought was staggering, and she had to close her eyes.

Shaking her head, she willed herself to deny it. She wasn't adopted like Cody had been. And her mom was as normal and human as they came. So how? The image of Sean with a tail flickered through her thoughts. Sea Haven… where her grandpa was somehow alive. Did he and her uncle survive the boating accident because they were also merpeople? She was missing a connection somewhere. Sam was determined now, more than ever, to talk to Mr. Wheatley. With the state she was in, and with her mom hovering, there was no way she would be able to leave the house. She would just have to settle for calling him. He had to have some sort of idea of what was going on, even a theory to prove she wasn't going crazy.

"Mom?" Sam called to the kitchen. Her voice sounded a little clearer, and she gave wry smile the fact. Thank goodness she could still talk.

"I'm almost done in here, Sam," her mom called back. "Hold on just a second, love."

Sam waited a few more minutes, then her mom joined her on the couch. First, she touched a hand to her daughter's forehead, checking for a temperature, then she checked her pulse. Being a nurse, Sam's mom was very good at figuring out what symptoms a patient had. By the puzzled look on her face now, Sam knew that she was proving a contradiction.

"You aren't warm, and your pulse is steady. Did you trip on the rug or something?" Her mom rubbed Sam's back. "You seemed so shaky."

"I'm actually feeling kind of dizzy," Sam lied. She had to tell her something. Better her mom think she was sick than start to suspect anything. "I would really like to lie down. Can you help me back up the stairs?"

Her mom gave her a quick check over with her eyes. Her daughter's skin was a little pale, and she did look unsteady. "You're probably coming down with the flu. I'll need to give you some different medicine in a few hours, but let's get you in bed."

Leaning on her mom again, the two ladies made their way up the stairs. Sam couldn't stop the smile as her mom fluffed her pillow and then tucked her daughter in. Her mom was seriously the best. After placing a glass of water on her bedside table, her mom drew the curtains closed and then shut off the light. The room was nice and dark, and Sam was half tempted to fall asleep, but then she wouldn't have any answers.

Pushing herself to a sitting position, Sam pulled her old, red phone onto her bed. She had made it a point to memorize important numbers, especially that of her friend's parents. With a boyfriend like Cody, she had wanted to make sure she could reach anyone when he came back. Now she was grateful for her forethought. Quickly she dialed Mr. Wheatley, listening to the brassy ring as the call connected.

"Hello?" answered John. His voice was rough.

"Mr. Wheatley, hi. It's Sam."

"Sam, well, hello. Didn't expect your call."

"Are there any updates? Have you heard anything?" asked Sam.

The line was silent for a few seconds, then there was a deep sigh. "No. No leads, nothing. It's been over 48 hours now. The search, well, it's not going well." Mr. Wheatley's voice cracked.

"I might…" Sam cleared her dry throat, "I might know something."

Quickly, Sam told Mr. Wheatley about her conversation with Cody. It felt good actually being able to tell someone and knowing that someone would believe her. However, she didn't tell him about what she thought was happening to her. That was a conversation she was going to have with the Griffin's first.

"That's incredible," said John. "I'll go dig though all of my stuff. I know I've seen mention of a place called Sea Haven somewhere." There was a hint of hope in his voice.

Sam smiled to herself, genuinely happy she could help. "I'm going to call the Griffin's and let them know."

"That's a good idea. Please, keep me updated on anything else," he asked.

"Of course. Thanks for listening to me, Mr. Wheatley. We'll find them. We have to."

John didn't say anything back for a long moment. "I think, Sam, you may have given us that chance."

Saying their goodbye's and hanging up, Sam was as quick to dial Cody's home phone. Mrs. Griffin picked up within one ring.

"Hello?" Sharon's voice was hoarse, probably from crying, Sam thought.

"Mrs. Griffin…"

"Sam!" Mrs. Griffin cut her off. "It is so good to hear your voice. We're very happy that you're safe."

There was a soft buzz on the line as Mr. Griffin picked up the phone in his office. That was good, now Sam wouldn't have to relay the message another time.

"I heard from Cody," she blurted. Might as well rip the band aid off quickly.

"Are you certain?" asked Whit.

"How? When?" asked Sharon.

"Probably about an hour again. It's hard to explain. Cody and I probably should have told you, but recently, during his last change, I somehow acquired the ability to speak to him with my mind."

"You have telepathy?" Whit again, and he sounded skeptical.

"We were surprised by it as well. But today I was thinking about him, and then he was just there, in my mind."

Sam talked them through her story, about everything Cody had told her, and what she'd felt from him. She cried when she told them what was being done to their son, and how out-of-it he had seemed. Mr. Griffin had actually cursed under his breath and his Mrs. Griffin had sobbed on her end of the phone.

"I told Jess's dad about the Sea Haven place, and he thinks might know something. He's researching it now."

Sharon sobbed again. "Sam, thank you. Thank you so much."

Whit cleared his throat. "They might be at this Sea Haven place, but why did they take Sean and Jess? And you said Cody showed you a picture of Sean with a tail like his? How is that even possible?"

Now Sam hesitated. She needed to tell them, but did she really want to worry them more? Her heart squeezed and she knew she had to. She couldn't go through this on her own. If it really was what she thought, then she was going to need their help.

"I think, somehow, Cody may have done it. I don't know how, and I'm absolutely certain he didn't mean to. It was probably when he shocked Sean. That's the only thing I can think of," said Sam.

There were two pauses on the other end of the phone.

"Sam," started Mrs. Griffin, "Cody has shocked you too. Are you…"

"I think whatever Cody did to Sean," interjected Sam, "is happening to me too."

Neither of the Griffin's spoke.

"I think… I think I'm becoming a mermaid."

-TSLOF-

The morning sun rose slowly on Mahone Bay, it's warmth and glow bringing people outside. Winter in the small town and its offshore island was rarely unpleasant. With the temperature usually around 75 degrees Fahrenheit, it was idyllic, to say the least. This day was looking beautiful already and everyone was going about their business as usual.

Except for everyone at Sea Haven. Located a half hour outside of town, in an old factory located on the shoreline, people were rushing around and breaking their usual routines. Many hadn't slept the night before and others were just finishing early morning errands, making sure everything was ready for the day's events. Today would make history. A history only a hundred or so people knew about, but history just the same.

In his seat, Jess slept, slumped against the chair back, hunched and his head lolling on his chest. He had refused to leave Cody's side. Every few hours his friend would seem to wake for a moment. Jess, in his distress, would try to talk to him, but within minutes Bryce or another scientist would put Cody back under.

Unknowing to Jess, Abigail had been using him as a makeshift alarm. When Jess would notice Cody was awake, so would the rest of them and they could deal with him accordingly. Now everyone was too distracted to really care much. The merman and her son would be dealt with later. Right now, they were busy running tests on everyone who had gone through the cure.

The first person to have tried their theory had been Sean. Abigail couldn't decide if the boy was dense or desperate. He'd been the most affected out of all of them, but for the least amount of time. If anyone had a chance of seeing if the cure would really work, it was him. Eagerly they have let him volunteer.

Sean had laid down on a cleared off lab table. During the night, they had jerry rigged a set of defibrillators to the correct wattage their experiments had yielded. It wasn't enough to stop the human heart, but it definitely wouldn't feel good either. Making sure the boy was completely dry, they had shocked him right over his heart. Sean had screamed as the current pushed through his body, and everyone was afraid they have gotten the calculations wrong. Then, in amazement, they had watched the same thing happen to his body as to the samples.

In his first experiment with the electricity, Dr. May had observed Sean's human cells quickly change to express the foreign virus DNA, then as they overloaded, unravel and the cells return to their original state. Now, Sean was doing just that. Forcefully and painfully, Sean's body transformed into that of a merman. Fins grew on his arms and his legs morphed and twisted into a long silver and green tail. Then, with another cry, the scales sloughed off his skin and his legs rearranged back into their muscular form.

The whole transformation took less than a minute.

Dazed and aching, Sean had laid there, his limbs slightly numb and his fingers twitching. His heartbeat had been erratic and turning to his side, he'd heaved his dinner over the side of the table.

While a lab tech cleaned up the mess, his vitals and some fresh samples had been taken. Everyone had been more than anxious to know the results. Did it work? Was it temporary? After a few tests, Lindy had declared Sean completely fine. His heart rate been a bit rapid, his breathing a little rough from screaming, and there were some burns on his chest from where the paddles had been, but his system checked out normal. They would know the final answer after the DNA sample was doing being run and analyzed.

The major tests had taken the rest of the night and most of the people at Sea Haven had gone to get some rest or attend to other duties that required minding. Finally, in the early hours of the morning, they had their answers.

The mer-DNA was no where to be found within Sean's system. His blood came back completely normal, and none of his samples were reacting abnormally to water or electricity. The last and final test was for him to go swimming. Exhausted around 2 AM, Sean had gone to sleep in a makeshift cot set up in a corner of the lab. Abigail wanted to make sure he remained nearby just in case and he hadn't objected. The shock they had given him had been worse than he had anticipated, and he was a little nervous to be by himself.

Now, Sean stood at the edge of the pool, staring apprehensively at the water. He was biting his lower lip and had his arms crossed over his chest. There was a large crowd gathered, all eyes glued on him. Sean was no stranger to swimming in front of an audience, but he found this to be ridiculous and embarrassing. They weren't here to watch him race, but rather to see if he was still a fish freak. Knowing he wouldn't be able to get rid of any of them, and dying to know himself, he finally shook his head and dove into the water with a large splash.

There was a collective, heavy silence as Sean let himself sink beneath the surface.

Five seconds passed.

Fifteen seconds.

Thirty.

Gasping, Sean broke the surface of the water, a huge grin breaking on his face.

He was human again.

The rest of the morning was a frantic scramble of preparing everyone to go through the cure. Schedules were made and priorities arranged for who should get the cure and when. They wanted to try different age groups and how long a person had been affected for before they gave the cure to everyone. Dr. May, Dr. Wheatley, Bryce, and Lindy had all agreed to go last so they could remain as functioning as possible to help everyone else. It would take days to figure out if the cure would work for everyone, and to be able to help everyone. But it was a cure, and people were willing to be patient for just a little longer. For the first time, real hope seemed to sing through the facility.

Cody only caught snippets of what was going on. At one point, he could recall Sean walking up to his tank, a smug smirk on his face. He was aware that Jess was always there, watching and trying to help. They had stopped injecting him with that horrible drug at some point, everyone too distracted. If he lay still enough and kept his eyes closed, Cody hoped no one would notice he was awake.

He had tried thinking to Jess a few times, but his brain was still foggy, and he was having a hard time putting his thoughts together. It was horrible losing his only form of communication. Without his voice, it was the only way he could speak. Now they had even taken that away from him. He had been reduced to nothing more than a fish in a bowl, and it was driving him nuts.

"Cody?" whispered Jess.

Daring to peak an eye open, Cody looked up at his friend. Dang, he looked terrible. Jess's hair was greasy and stuck up in places, and there were huge circles under his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Cody. I should have realized sooner what they would do to you. Abigail, my mother, well, she's been using me this whole time. I'm sorry they brought you here." Tears slid down Jess's cheeks. "I'm sorry I helped them. It's all my fault."

Cody didn't move, just blinking. His body was feeling a little less numb, but he didn't want to give that away. The initial terror he'd felt had dulled. His charge was there, burning in his core, but he couldn't access it in this state.

'Jess,' he tried thinking again.

His eyes widening, Jess batted his tears away and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

'Don't…' Cody's head swam again, but he tried to push the thoughts through. 'Don't tell…awake.'

Jess nodded stiffly, then turned around in his chair, staring towards the empty lab. Everyone at Sea Haven was gathered in the cafeteria, discussing the plans for the next few days. He kept a wary eye on the door, knowing anyone could walk through them at any second.

"They cured Sean, Cody. They did it," said Jess.

The young merman didn't respond to that as he didn't know how to feel about it. He was happy for Sean, but at the same time it terrified him. There was a cure? He glanced down at his tail, daring to wiggle his sore fins for just a second.

'Are they…' he had to search hard for the image. He pictured his tail splitting into legs. Just the thought made him shudder. He knew what he was. As much as he was going to miss his life on land, he was a merman. Would they try to take his tail from him too?

Jess got the message. "I don't think it will work on you. It's like we've all been infected with mer-DNA somehow. They've found a way to shock it out of us and make us human again." Jess paused, rubbing his hands through his greasy hair. "They looked at your DNA, Cody. Turns out you're not a fish, but you're not human either. Your kind is something completely different."

Cody didn't have a response to that. He wasn't human, that was obvious, but to hear that his DNA didn't even appear human was scary. Frankly, it was also a little upsetting. Now, more than ever, he was very grateful his mom had always been so against doctors. If he'd gone to doctors more often, would one of them seen the difference in genes? If it hadn't been for his mother's holistic ideas, he might have become an experiment a long time ago. Glancing over at Jess, Cody frowned.

'Cured…everyone?' Cody thought. His head was pounding, and he wanted to close his eyes and disappear back into his dreams.

"Not yet, but that's the plan. It'll take a while," said Jess. The lanky boy was now staring at his hands. "I need to get out of here, before that happens to me."

'What? Not…normal…why?'

Jess shook his head. "I like being a little bit like you. I don't want to have this ability taken away from me. When you go home, it'll help me remember how amazing my best friend was."

Frowning, Cody tried to reach his hand out to his friend, but he was restrained too tightly. Wincing, he settled back against the tank bottom, his fingers twitching uselessly.

'Best friend,' sent Cody. 'Always.'

About to respond back, Jess shut his mouth as one of the hallway doors to the lab beeped. Cody saw his friend stiffen. Taking the hint, he quickly shut his eyes and willed his body to go slack. If Jess acted normal, maybe they wouldn't realize how lucid he was becoming. He needed that. He needed to clear the fog in his brain and body if he and Jess had any chance of making it out of there.

Jess watched the lab tech as he grabbed a tablet off a computer desk and then left. Taking a deep breath, he let his shoulders slump.

"Cody, I'm going to escape," Jess told him, standing from his chair.

He had just seen the key card left on the computer desk, having been accidently covered by the tablet the tech had just taken. There wouldn't be another chance like this.

"I'm going to go get my dad and your parents," said Jess, turning to stare down at his best friend.

Staring up at him, Cody gave a slow nod of his head. 'Trust you.' Then a long, heavy pause. 'Forgive you.' He closed his eyes and prepared himself to pretend for a long time that he was still drugged and unconscious.

Nodding, and with tears once again brimming his eyes, Jess dashed over to the table and snatched up the key card. There was a keyed exit in the changing rooms leading to the natatorium. It was an outside entrance so people who had gone out to run errands could quickly return and go swimming without having to go through the whole facility. It would lead to the parking lot and, most importantly, to the road.

Running he pushed through the door to the changing room door and then stopped in front of his final exit. The sound of dripping water from a shower head echoed against the tile of the large empty room. Taking a deep breath, Jess swiped the card across the reader, his heart thumping. After a long second the red light flicked to green and there was an audible click. Shoving the door wide open, Jess made a mad run for it.

-TSLOF-

On their old but comfy couch, Sharon sat curled into her husband's side, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. It had been a few hours since they had last talked to Sam on the phone, checking in to see how she was doing. She was feeling much better since she had spent time avoiding water. The Griffin's had admonished her to stay from water as much as possible. Water had only accelerated the change for Cody, so she needed to do all she could to stay dry.

After they had hung up the phone with Sam the night before, they had been quick to call John. It became apparent that Sam hadn't told John what was happening to her, so they filled him in. They trusted John, and he and Jess had spent the better part of the last year learning all they could about merfolk. Even more since Cody had been home. John had promised that he would call Sam later and talk to her.

Now well into the next day, all the leads John had been able to turn up had run dry. He'd found a note on a place called Sea Haven, but all he could find from there was a small rest home located in Canada. Nothing even close to what they were looking for appeared in any of their online searches. John promised he would keep searching. He knew there had to have been a good reason he would have made that note.

Now, sitting on the couch, the Griffin's kept thinking of Sam. If all the evidence and theories were true, and Sam was becoming a mermaid, then they didn't know how much time she had left. For Cody it had only been a few months, but his change was caused by genetics. They didn't' know what was causing Sam to change. There was still hope they were all wrong. Really so far it was just a scratchy throat and a few scales. Yes, there was the telepathy to consider, but Cody hadn't developed that until his Mom had shown up. Sharon, momentarily playing the devil's advocate, had brought up the idea that maybe Cody had developed that particular ability and simply didn't know because there'd been no one to show him. One fact they could all agree on was the situation was just getting worse and worse.

After sitting on the couch for most of the day, waiting for news, the Griffin's finally decided it was time to eat dinner. Both hadn't eaten much in the last couple of days and they were feeling the worse for it. Sharon knew a good meal would do her and Whit some good. Plus, cooking always helped her to clear her mind.

Dinner was just finishing on the stove when a frantic knock came at their door.

Hate to leave y'all on a cliff hanger (okay, not really :P ) but the next chapter is coming soon. Happy swimming!