Chapter 5 Fire in our eyes
Author's note; summary: Supernatural hunters return when Rachel and Trish investigate the disappearance of a girl; Rachel gets moonspelled and unleashes a dark side.
"Very good girls," said Dame Alexandra. "Irene you're doing very well with them in poise."
Celina and her sisters were swimming around in a circle gracefully with Irene. They were having a lesson in swimming elegantly. They had their heads up and looked straight ahead.
Annie watched looking impressed herself.
"That's elegance lesson finished girls," said Alexandra. "This afternoon we will meet back for music lessons."
Celina and her sisters all looked excited. Annie wasn't so surprised, she had heard that mermaids loved music, it was always the best lesson for all mermaids.
Annie and Irene joined the royal family in the dinning room for lunch. There were stuffed crabs and on the plates were sea lettuce and sea berries.
Celina had told the girls that in the oceanic realm there were foods similar to the stuff humans ate and that mermaids in both worlds eat sea food.
Annie had hoped to be looking for Ava again after lunch, but she knew the princesses had their music lessons. Annie and Irene went to watch the lesson. They gathered in a ballroom.
The princesses voices were so beautiful. Annie shook her tail along with the music. She wished she could sing along with them, but she had never really liked performing in front of a crowd.
Dame Alexandra ended the music lesson and the girls stayed the ballroom talking.
"You were all great," said Annie.
"Mermaids have a power called siren song," said Celina. "It's a power that makes our voices beautiful."
"We're not supposed to enchant humans with siren song though," jumped in Lacey. "It's the mermaid law."
"That's what sirens do" added Layla.
"Sirens are from another branch of the family," joined in Tessa. "And they can be very troublesome."
"Wanna go swimming Celina?" asked Annie.
"Yes please" replied Celina.
…
Portland Oregon, supernatural hunter head office, disguised as a copper factory
Inside the main office, a group of people sat at a table. There were three women and eight men. There was one empty chair.
"As you know," said a woman standing up, she had brown/blond hair and wore a red lady's suit. "That a few months ago our fellow council member Nick Wetmore was killed in Florence Oregon. Well, I think we've mourned enough and that it's time to find a new member to complete the council of twelve."
"I hear what your saying Josie," said a man. "But do we have any candidates of who we should put in Nick's place?"
"Well Troy," said Josie. "The new member has to be someone who's killed magic beings before like we all have and has leadership skills, and is stealthy."
Just then the door to the office opened and a man walked in and whispered to a dirty blond-haired woman and then left.
"He says some of our hunters have found a mermaid in England" said the woman.
"Really Dana?" asked Josie.
Dana nodded.
"Well, I'm taking some hunters up there," replied Josie. "Tell them to keep watch of that girl until I get there."
…
"Mrs. Wellington told me and Rachel the moon is going to be full tonight," said Trish as she and Kelsey were in the lunch line in the cafeteria. "I'm a little nervous, it's the first full moon since I became a mermaid."
"How does Mrs. Wellington always know when the moon is going to be full?" asked Kelsey.
"Well, she's been a mermaid her whole life," said Trish. "So it's obvious she learned to tell the calendar by the moon."
Trish had a fruit salad, some pork finger and a bottle of fruit punch. And Kelsey had a baloney sandwich, an apple and a bottle of apple juice
Rachel was talking with her friends when the two walked by and Trish decided to talk to her.
"Hey Rachel," said Trish. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
The other girls looked at each other confused. Rachel just got up and walked a little way with Trish and Kelsey.
"The moon is going to be full tonight," Trish reminded Rachel. "And it's our first full moon as mermaids. So we need to be careful, because we know what happened to Annie and Irene when they got moonspelled."
"I know," said Rachel. "But it might be our chance to get the portal into the oceanic world open again so we can bring Annie and Irene home."
Trish and Kelsey stared at Rachel and then went and sat with the rest of the drama club and started talking to a girl named Cate.
…
That evening Trish had dinner with her family and then watched tv with them for a while.
After a while, Trish looked out the window and the sun was almost completely set.
"I'm going to my room" she said getting up from the couch.
"It's only 7:30" said Elaine in surprise.
"I just want to spend some time alone" replied Trish walking upstairs.
Trish walked down the hall, she was glad the bathroom didn't have windows so she wouldn't look at the moon by accident if she had to go. She went into her room and closed the curtains and then laid on her bed and listened to music on her phone.
…
At Rachel's house, Rachel was following Trish's concerns and staying inside like she said. She was in her room reading about the magic book Mrs. Wellington had about sea spells.
There has to be something in the book about how to open the portal to get Annie and Irene back she thought to herself.
Eventually Rachel fell asleep.
It wasn't until really late when she woke up. Rachel sat up in her bed drowsily and looked out the window, she had forgotten to close the curtains and she could see the moon from her window.
Her eyes went blank.
…
Trish woke up the next morning and opened the curtains to see it was a beautiful morning. She felt happy that she had gotten through her first full moon as a mermaid.
She put on a red ruffle blouse and black jeans.
When she and Elaine were dropped off at school, as they walked through the parking lot, they saw Rachel riding in on her roller skates. Trish noticed that she looked a bit wild this morning. She wore a black and dark blue tank top, a black ripped jacket and capris.
"Hi Rachel," said Trish. "I've never seen you dress like that before."
"Of course, fashion is absorbed to princesses like you and your friends" replied Rachel rudely. And she then skated away.
Trish and Elaine stared in shock.
"She's usually nice," said Elaine in confusion.
"She probably didn't sleep well last night" shrugged Trish. Though she had a feeling she knew what happened.
That afternoon in the cafeteria, Trish saw Rachel in the line. She kept a distance and watched Rachel picking out what she wanted. Kelsey walked up to join her.
"What's wrong Trish?" she asked.
"I think Rachel's been moonspelled," whispered Trish. "She was full of attitude this morning and acting rebellious."
Rachel held her hand out and the girls noticed the heat on the grills starting to turn up. The chef noticed that and quickly turned it down. She then looked at the overcooked burgers and groaned at the sight.
Trish and Kelsey quickly grabbed their trays and walked out as quick as they could.
"Now her powers are getting out of control" whispered Trish.
Kelsey nodded worriedly.
Rachel had developed a tough personality; she sat alone at a table and didn't speak to anyone.
They noticed Amelia and Jasmine talking.
"Have you noticed Rachel's having attitude today?" asked Amelia. "During gym class she threw the ball roughly at one of the boys because he pushed her."
"She's never behaved so tough before" agreed Jasmine.
Rachel was the kind of person who could take a stand, but she had never gotten violent before.
When school ended that afternoon, Trish and Elaine were walking out the door. Trish was looking at her cellphone when she looked up in shock.
"Oh my," said Trish worriedly. "It's a missing person report." She read it outloud.
A missing person's report has come out in Castle point, Essex England. Seven-year-old Penelope Ulrich failed to return home yesterday on September 19th. Description: height; 4'6' inches, weight; average, appearance; blond hair, auburn eyes, was last seen wearing a pink scoop t-shirt with a unicorn, light blue shorts and white shoes. If you have any leads on the disappearance, please contact police.
"Why would anyone do that?" asked Elaine.
"I don't know," replied Trish unsurely. Though she wondered if the girl was probably a mermaid.
"Tell mom I'm going to hang out with Kelsey, and I'll see you at home for dinner" she called to her sister as she ran off.
Trish caught up with Kelsey and showed her and Parker the news article.
"Are you sure she might be a mermaid?" asked Kelsey unsurely.
"Well think of it," replied Trish. "Castle point is a costal town, so she might be a mermaid."
"What's going on?" asked a voice.
They turned around to see Rachel.
"A girl in England has been kidnapped," explained Parker. "Trish has believed the girl might be a mermaid."
"A mermaid?" said Rachel showing interest.
"Yeah," said Parker. "Let's go see Mrs. Wellington, if the girl is a mermaid, we might need some help."
The four went to Mrs. Wellington's office and explained to her about the girl.
"We would like to go to England and find her," said Trish. "So, we were wondering if we can borrow the book in case we need some help."
"We don't have time for this!" snapped Rachel.
"It's okay," said Mrs. Wellington. "Of course, you may borrow the book, but be careful."
Mrs. wellington gave them the book and the potion they would need to activate the portal to transport them to England.
They ran to the moon pool and Rachel poured the potion in. A portal appeared in the water and they jumped in.
When they flew out of the portal, they saw they were on a beach and they looked ahead to see old fashioned houses.
"I think we're in Essex," said Kelsey.
"Now," said Trish. "Let's find the house where Penelope Ulrich lives and ask her parents some questions."
Trish checked her cellphone about information of the girl's address and found it.
The four friends walked down a street and came to a house that had the number 24 on it.
Trish and Kelsey walked up to the porch and knocked on the door. A man answered the door. He looked like he was in his late thirties, he had auburn hair and wore a red t-shirt and navy-blue jeans.
"Is this Penelope Ulrich's house?" asked Trish.
"Yes," said the man looking confused. "I'm Sean Ulrich, her father."
"I'm Kelsey," said Kelsey. "This is Trish. We heard about your daughter's abduction and we came to show our concerns for your family. Did you notice anything strange before Penelope got kidnapped?"
"Well," said Mr. Ulrich. "We did notice when we were walking home from school the day before the abduction a black sedan. It looked like the driver was stalking us. I am worried for my daughter; it's always been just her and me since her mother died."
Trish and Kelsey looked at each other in surprise.
"My wife Emilie passed away three years ago," explained Mr. Ulrich. "She was very beautiful. She and Penelope had a lot in common, Emilie loved the ocean and would hang out there a lot."
As he spoke Trish and Kelsey listened with interest.
"Can I ask a question about your wife?" asked Trish.
Mr. Ulrich nodded.
"What about her family?" asked Trish.
"She didn't talk about her family much," said Mr. Ulrich sounding confused. "She probably seemed like the loner type."
"We'll keep an eye out for her" said Kelsey as she and Trish hurried off.
They ran up to Parker and Rachel.
"I think I was right," cried Trish excitedly. "Penelope Ulrich is a mermaid! Think of it, Penelope and her mother loved being by the ocean, and her mother didn't talk about her family, obviously keeping mermaids a secret."
"But who kidnapped Penelope?" asked Parker. "And what do they want with her?"
"I think it might be the supernatural hunters," said Trish worriedly. "They seem to have ways of finding magical creatures."
The others gasped.
Rachel looked furious.
"It's bad enough they did this to us back home, but they won't get away with this!" she said furiously.
And then she stormed off.
"Rachel!" cried Trish.
"Rachel!" called Parker. "Let's not rush into this, we don't know if they can do!"
"I don't care," snapped Rachel. "They're taking it to far to kill even children!"
And with that Rachel walked off.
"What are we going to do?" sighed Kelsey. "She's not thinking things through and if people see her use her powers, we'll be exposed."
"Maybe there's something in the book that can help us," said Trish. She looked through the book.
"Hey listen to this," exclaimed Trish smiling. "It's a spell to freeze time. It says here it will make time stand still and magic beings are immune to the spell. That way we'll be able to look for Penelope and use our powers without attracting attention and if the hunters are frozen, we'll be able to get past them."
"But what about me and Kelsey?" asked Parker. "We're humans, so we'll be frozen ourselves."
"Well, the book says if a magic being holds hands of mortal when the spell is being cast, they'll be protected from the spell," said Trish.
"Let's try it" said Kelsey unsurely.
Trish set the book down and Parker and Kelsey each grabbed a hand.
"Freeze the clock on this ground, time stand still on which we bound."
There was a whooshing sound.
The three let go of each other's hands and looked around.
Everything was quiet.
Parker picked up the book and they walked around, they looked in a car and saw people inside, they weren't moving.
"I think it worked," said Kelsey.
"Now let's look for Penelope," said Parker.
…
The three friends walked down the street and around the corner towards a school.
"This must be Penelope's school," said Parker.
"The hunters must've captured her somewhere between the school and the way home," added Kelsey.
"Let's try the route again," suggested Parker. "We might be able to find where the abducted her and where they took her."
They turned around and walked back down the road. After turning the corner, they saw a cross road.
"Maybe the hunters watched her leave school the went around the block and pulled in front of her from that way," observed Parker, pointing left. "And when they grabbed her, they went that way."
They turned right and went down the road to the beach. They saw an abandoned warehouse.
"Maybe that's their hideout," said Trish.
"Yeah," said Parker. "All criminals need a place to hideout and old abandoned buildings are the perfect place."
"Guys," said Kelsey worriedly. "Look!"
The three looked ahead and outside the warehouse were two men wearing protective gear like the ones federal agents would wear and they were able to move. A black sedan was parked up front.
"Why aren't they frozen?" asked Trish in shock.
"What do you expect?" retorted Kelsey. "They're supernatural hunters, they must invent fancy schmancy gadgets to make themselves immune against magic beings' powers."
"Let's see if we can find another way in" whispered Parker.
They walked past the front of the warehouse, careful not to have the hunters see them. Then they walked around the side of the building looking for a way in. They heard the men talking.
"It seems like time stopped" said one.
"It has to be that mermaid's work," added the other. "I say we should kill her and put a stop to this!"
"We can't until Josie gets here" reminded the first.
The three were worried, but they kept going and they found a door.
Parker tried to open it, but it was locked.
"Here let me try," said Trish.
She held out her hand and the door unlocked and opened up.
They ran inside. There were boxes scattered all over the warehouse and some of the windows were boarded up and dust and cobwebs were everywhere.
"Let's look upstairs" whispered Kelsey.
Walking as quietly as they could, they walked up the stairs on to the second floor and down the hall and came to a door.
Trish used her telekinetic powers to unlock the door and they walked in.
When they stepped inside, they saw the room looked like an office. The furniture was still there and in the corner of the room, curled up next to a filing cabinet, was a little girl whimpering. She was wearing the same clothes from the description.
The girl looked up to see the teenagers in the doorway, Trish walked over to her and kneeled down.
"Are you Penelope Ulrich?" Trish asked softly.
Penelope nodded.
"I'm Trish," said Trish. "And this is Parker and Kelsey. Don't worry, we're getting you out of here." She helped Penelope up and they were heading out the room. They had just stepped out when they saw Rachel in front of them.
They jumped back in fright, but calmed down when they saw it was Rachel.
"Rachel!" exclaimed Parker. "Where did you come from?"
"I noticed everything was frozen," explained Rachel. "I had a feeling you guys did something and I followed you here."
"This is Rachel," Trish explained to Penelope. "She's with us."
They looked out the window and saw another black sedan parking. A woman and two more men stepped up. The woman was dressed in red and the two men were dressed in the same gear as the other too.
"It's those people who captured me," said Penelope in a shaky voice. "They want to kill me."
"They won't with me" said Rachel and she stormed downstairs.
"Rachel!" cried Parker.
Parker chased Rachel downstairs and hid behind a corner as Rachel went to the front doors.
Rachel pushed the doors open and the five hunters turned to stare at her.
"It's another magic being!" cried the woman. "Boys get ready!"
The men crouched down holding out their guns. Rachel's eyes flashed and fire balls started to form on her fists.
"Don't do this Rachel" whispered Parker. He and Rachel had been best friends since they were kids, and he didn't want to see his best friend becoming a killer.
But Rachel unleashed her fire and the five hunters screamed as they got blasted by the flames.
Parker and the girls watched as the hunters burned in the fire, the front ends of both cars were also burnt.
"What was that?" asked Penelope.
"Rachel and I are mermaids," explained Trish. "Rachel has heat powers as you can see, and I have substance powers. Parker and Kelsey are humans, but we believe you're a mermaid too."
"Me a mermaid?" said Penelope in shock.
"Yes, that's why those people kidnapped you," explained Trish. "Their supernatural hunters. They hate magic creatures and destroy ones they find."
"We think your mother was a mermaid too" added Kelsey.
"My mother, a mermaid?" asked Penelope unsurely.
"Yes," replied Trish. "We'll show you at the beach."
Parker grabbed Rachel and they headed off.
…
As they walked to the beach, Penelope looked to see people frozen.
"Why is everyone frozen?" asked Penelope.
"I used a spell to freeze time so we could use our powers without anyone seeing," explained Trish. "Magic beings like you and me are immune to it."
When they got to the beach, Trish took her shoe off and put her foot in the water and counted to ten. Almost before she finished, she transformed into a mermaid. Penelope stared in shock.
"That's never happened with me before!" cried Penelope.
Trish and the others stared in surprise.
"Did your mother ever make you take anything?" asked Trish.
"She would rub this lotion on me sometimes" stammered Penelope.
"Did the bottle look like this?" asked Trish. She reached into her bag and pulled out the bottle of the tailless potion.
"Yes" replied Penelope in surprise.
"It's a tailless potion," explained Trish. "It's a potion mermaids use to keep themselves from transforming and from using their powers. Your mother must've put it on you to keep you from transforming. Did she ever show you any special places?"
"Yeah," said Penelope. "She mentioned a place she loved when she was younger."
Penelope took them down the beach to a cave and inside the chamber was a moonpool.
"Mom mentioned she loved hanging out in here when she was a child" explained Penelope.
"It's a moonpool," explained Trish. "When humans are in the pool when the moon is full, they turn into mermaids. If you jump into the moonpool, the potion will come undone and you'll be able to transform and use your powers and when you get dry your legs will come back."
"I don't know if I want to be a mermaid," said Penelope unsurely. "After what I saw your friend do, I don't think I can handle it."
"I know how you feel," said Trish sympathetically. "Rachel and I weren't born mermaids; we fell into a moonpool and became mermaids. I was unsure of my powers and used the potion too, but I came to accept my powers and I like them now."
Penelope stared towards the moonpool thinking about what Trish had said. Taking a deep breath, Penelope walked forward and stepped into the pool. Within a few seconds, Penelope saw she had a mermaid tale and smiled.
Just then there was a man stepping into the cave holding a gun.
"Hand over the mermaid!" demanded the man.
Rachel held out her hand, the man saw his gun heating up. He screamed painfully and dropped the gun. Trish and Parker noticed the man had a burn on his hand.
Rachel was about to unleash fire at the man to finish him, when Parker grabbed Rachel and threw her in the moonpool.
When Rachel resurfaced, she looked groggy.
"What happened?" she asked.
"You got moonspelled," explained Parker. "And you acted all tough."
The man got up and charged towards Penelope. Penelope held her hands up and frost shot from them and the frost made a stalactite crack lose and fell on the man's head knocking him out.
"You have ice powers," cried Trish excitedly. "Just like my friend Irene, she was born a mermaid like you though."
Rachel used her heat powers to dry Penelope off and she transformed back into human form.
Trish took out the spell book and read the counter spell.
"Tides of time move once more, flood the shore."
With a whooshing sound, the gang knew the spell was broken and they took Penelope home.
They knocked on the door and Mr. Ulrich answered.
"Penelope!" he cried relived to see his daughter unharmed.
"Daddy!" cried Penelope hugging her father.
"Thank you for finding my daughter" said Mr. Ulrich kindly.
"It's our pleasure Mr. Ulrich," said Trish. "But we have to tell you something. Your daughter is a mermaid."
Mr. Ulrich was surprised.
"It's true daddy," said Penelope. "Mom was a mermaid too, watch." Penelope took out a water bottle and poured it on her hand. She transformed into mermaid form surprising her father.
Trish dried Penelope's hand off and she transformed back.
"I have powers to daddy," said Penelope. "I can control ice." She walked over to the garden hose and started the water. Penelope then held her hand out and it turned into ice, then she turned it back into water.
"Trish and I are mermaids too," explained Rachel. "Except we weren't born as mermaids. We fell into a magic moonpool on a full moon and turned into mermaids."
Mr. Ulrich put on a smile.
"That explains why your mother didn't talk about her family," he said. "And why she tried be by the sea and probably why she liked to eat seafood a lot."
Trish explained to be careful about supernatural hunters and with water and also explained about the full moon and how it could cause mermaids powers to go out of control and have personality changes.
"We will be careful," assured Mr. Ulrich. "And we promise to keep the mermaids a secret."
"Before we go," said Trish. She walked over to the hose and held her hand out. A ball of water came up from the hose and Trish made the shape of a star out of it and hardened the star to glass.
"To remember the magic" said Trish giving it to Penelope.
"Thank you," said Penelope.
The two waved goodbye as the four teens walked away.
…
That night Rachel sat in her room with a glass of water and casted the water communication spell.
Annie appeared in the water like a reflection.
"Hi Rachel," said Annie. "How did everything go today?"
"It was great," said Rachel smiling. "A girl in England got kidnapped, it turns out she's a mermaid and I destroyed her kidnappers with my heat powers. I kind of got moonspelled" she added blushing.
"The supernatural hunters are back?" asked Annie worriedly.
"Don't worry," said Rachel. "I don't think they'll be bothering us again anytime soon."
…
At headquarters things were so calm.
"Our spies report that Josie and four of our hunters were killed in a fire by another mermaid!" said Troy angrily. "Now we two council members to replace!"
He took a deep breath and calmed down.
"Send word to all hunters who'd like to prove themselves as good council members" he declared to the nine other remaining council members calmly.
Author's note; This was a long chapter, so I'm sorry for the long wait.
