Chapter 3

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Lewis was at Zane's house with Ash discussing their new predicament. Ash had asked how long it took for the transformation to take place, he and Zane had turned to Lewis expecting him to know the answer.

"I don't know everything you know", said Lewis exasperatedly.

"Really? I thought you did", said Zane cheekily.

"Yeah, Lenny said that you're a walking encyclopaedia", Ash added.

Lewis scowled at them, he folded his arms and didn't say anything for a minute but gave in, "I think it takes about ten seconds", he said.

"See, that wasn't so hard was it?" Said Zane patting Lewis' shoulder.

"I think we should find out for certain though, I know a secluded part of the beach we could go to", Lewis said excitedly.

"Great, I'm in. What about you Ash?" Zane asked turning to Ash.

"No way, I'm not going anywhere near water again", replied Ash firmly.

"Come on, you have to face your fear some time", said Zane.

"Last time I tried that, our secret was nearly exposed", Ash countered.

"Zane's got a point Ash, you'll miss out on a lot if you don't face your fear, but it's your choice", said Lewis.

"Your right, but I'm just not ready to go near water right now", said Ash.

"Ok, but when you are ready we will help you face your fear", said Lewis encouragingly.

"Thanks", said Ash smiling at Lewis.

"Yeah, and you can stay here if you want", said Zane.

"Thanks, but it is my shift at the café in twenty minutes", Ash explained.

"No problem", said Zane grinning at Ash.

The three of them left the mansion and went their separate ways.

Lewis led Zane to the secluded part of the beach, and they both started walking towards the water. Zane and Lewis glanced at each other.

"Moment of truth", said Zane.

"Yeah, I'll count", Lewis said.

They both walked into the water, when seven seconds had gone by and nothing happened Zane said, "You know, our transformations could have been a fluke. Maybe they aren't-" He was cut off by his transformation.

Lewis felt the same tingling, but magical feeling again and he was lying on his front in the water in the form of a merman.

"Or not", said Zane.

"I was right, it took exactly ten seconds to transform", Lewis informed.

"Great, that gives us plenty of time to run for it", Zane said sarcastically.

"With practise we'll manage, and we can help each other", said Lewis.

"What if we are alone?" Zane asked anxiously.

"Make sure you always carry a towel?" Said Lewis grinning.

"Is that supposed to be a reference to something?" Said Zane.

"Don't tell me you have never read "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"", Lewis said incredulously.

"In case you hadn't noticed, reading isn't exactly my thing", said Zane.

"Well, it should be. You need to at least watch the film", said Lewis.

"Whatever Captain Kirk, want to go for a swim?" Zane said.

"Definitely", Lewis replied not realising Zane had said that to change the subject.

Lewis and Zane dived into the ocean, during their swim they saw many amazing sea creatures. After about ten minutes of swimming they came across a dolphin.

Lewis was about to approach the dolphin, when Zane stopped him with a concerned expression. Lewis gave him a look which said "I'll be fine", after a few moments of hesitation Zane let go of Lewis but stayed close behind him to make sure that he was safe. Lewis swam towards the dolphin cautiously, and raised his hand so that it was at the same level as the dolphin's head. He waited wanting the dolphin to make the first move, after a few moments of hesitation the dolphin allowed Lewis to stroke his head. Lewis turned to look at Zane and smiled at him triumphantly.

Zane smiled back trying to hide his relief that Lewis hadn't been hurt. Zane swam to Lewis' side and also began to stroke the dolphin. After a while many more dolphins joined them, and they spent hours swimming happily together.

Meanwhile, Ash was on his way to the café to do his shift. He saw two girls walking ahead of him in the same direction, he recognised them as Emma Gilbert and Cleo Setori. They were his classmates in school, however he and Emma didn't get on very well. At the café the two of them managed to get into arguments about everything, from what should be on the menu to what the uniform for the staff should be. His musings were interrupted when he felt a man bang into him.

"Hey, watch were you're going!" Ash shouted after him.

The man ignored him and continued running. Everything he was wearing was black, including his shoes. He also banged into Emma which caused her to lose her balance and nock into Cleo and she fell over on her side. The man sped across the rode without being hit by any cars. Emma wasn't so lucky. She was about to fall onto the road just as a car was driving by. Ash felt a strange sensation and time slowed down as he ran to save Emma. When he reached her, Ash grabbed Emma's waist and pulled her away from the road. As soon as they were out of harm's way, time went back to normal.

Emma stared at Ash as though seeing him for the first time, she had never realised how beautiful his eyes were until that moment. Emma hugged him tightly, breathing heavily still in shock. "Thank you", she whispered.

"You're welcome", Ash said softly hugging her back.

"Are you alright?" Cleo asked breaking the spell.

"Yeah", Emma replied suddenly releasing Ash smiling sheepishly at him.

Ash returned the smile, "Shall we-"Ash began to say but was cut off when his boss from the café ran over.

"Are you all, all-right? I saw what happened", Wilfred said his voice full of concern.

"Yeah, we're okay", Cleo said as she put a comforting arm around Emma, who smiled gratefully at her.

Wilfred sighed in relief, "Good, listen the three of you have had quite a shock. Why don't you take the day off?"

"Are you sure sir?" Ash asked surprised.

"Of course, and how many times to I have to tell you, call me Wilfred", he replied smiling at Ash.

"Thanks sir, I mean Wilfred", Ash said returning the smile.

"No worries, you and Emma can swap shifts with Izzy and Lucy I hope you recover from your adventure, and I will see you on Monday", said Wilfred.

Ash, Emma and Cleo all thanked Wilfred, and headed off to Emma's house. During the journey Cleo and Ash comforted Emma, who was still shaking. When they arrived at her house, Ash sat down on the sofa next to Emma.

"I'm going to get some lemonade and cookies", Cleo announced and went to the kitchen.

Although the house was huge it was very cosy. Ash looked around the living room and saw photos of Emma, along with her family and friends. He could see a swimming pool in the garden, and decided to use that to try and distract Emma from her ordeal.

"So you like swimming?" Ash asked.

Thankfully, this had the effect Ash wanted. Emma glanced at the pool, turned back to Ash and nodded eagerly.

"I love it, I have won a lot of swimming competitions and I'm training for one coming up soon", Emma told him smiling brightly.

"That's great", Ash said genuinely impressed, he wished he could swim. But ever since he was small he had been terrified of water.

"What about you, do you swim?" Emma asked him.

"No, I'm um…scared of water", Ash said rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Hey, that's nothing to be ashamed of. I could help you get over your fear if you want", Emma offered putting her hand on Ash's arm to comfort him.

Ash smiled at her, "Thank you, but I'm not ready to face water yet", he said. Ash wished he could accept her offer, he wanted to spend more time with Emma. But he couldn't let her discover his secret, because if she did she could find out about Lewis and Zane. Ash believed that Emma would keep their secret, but it wasn't just his secret to tell.

"Hey guys, I have lemonade and cookies", Cleo said brightly and sat down on the other side of Emma.

Ash and Emma thanked her and drank some of their lemonade.

"School starts next week, I'm so excited", said Cleo.

"You're starting to sound like Lewis", Ash said.

Cleo blushed at his comment and looked away.

"I can't wait for school too", said Emma.

"Seriously?" Ash asked incredulously.

"Yeah, it's going to be great", Emma replied with a big grin.

"If you say so", Ash said sounding unconvinced.

"Do you guys feel like swimming? I bet it will make Emma feel better", Cleo said.

Emma saw a flash of fear on Ash's face before he tried to compose himself. She wanted to help Ash get over his fear, but she also didn't want to force him to face it. "I'm feeling tired I'd rather watch a movie".

"Ok, a movie it is. Any preference?" Cleo asked.

"How about the third Harry Potter film?" Emma suggested.

Cleo and Ash both agreed, and Cleo went to find the film.

Ash smiled gratefully at Emma, "Thanks for covering for me".

"No problem", Emma said smiling back at Ash.

They spent most of the afternoon watching the film. After the end of the movie, the trio talked for an hour before it was time for Ash and Cleo to leave. Emma walked them to the door.

"Thanks for everything", Emma said to them.

"You're welcome", Cleo and Ash said at the same time.

Emma hugged Cleo and then Ash.

Ash turned to leave but Emma caught his wrist and hugged him again. "Thank you for saving my life", Emma whispered.

"You're welcome", Ash said.

When the hug was over they smiled at each other, Ash got lost in the beauty of Emma's eyes and only came back to reality when Cleo tapped his arm.

"Time to go Ash", Cleo said.

Ash said goodbye to Emma and left with Cleo.

Meanwhile, Johnny Brooks was on his way to his bosses' office. He was feeling both nervous and excited. For he had managed to complete the task his boss had set him. On the other hand, Johnny's boss was notorious for being quick to lose his temper. He approached Mandy his bosses' assistant so that she could let him in his office. Over the weeks that Johnny had worked with Mandy, he had developed romantic feelings for her and hoped that his relationship with Mandy would become something more than friendship.

Mandy looked up to see Johnny walking towards her with a nervous smile. She smiled warmly at him, and was delighted to see him smile brightly back. Unbeknownst to Johnny, she felt the same way, she had had fallen in love with Johnny the moment they met, the way he smiled at her made her feel content and always lifted her spirits when she was feeling down. Mandy longed for something to happen between them. As he reached her desk she wanted to hold his hand, but she was worried about how Johnny would react so she stopped herself doing so. "How can I help you Johnny?" Mandy asked.

"Mr Drake wants to see me", Johnny replied.

"Ok, I will let him know", Mandy said and called Mr Drake on her phone. "You may go in".

"Thank you", Johnny said, he smiled at her once more and walked into the office.

When Johnny had entered the office he saw that Mr Drake was on the phone to someone, he motioned to Johnny to sit down and he did so.

"But I have proof", Damien Drake said sounding frustrated, he drummed his fingers on the table while he listened to his boss.

"That's what you said last time Drake, and it turned out you didn't have any at all and you made us look like fools", Kevin Davison said equally irritated.

"It was stolen from me! But I will be more careful this time and I won't let you down. Please sir, give me one more chance", Damien said.

"Alright, but this is your last chance. Is that understood?" Kevin said sternly.

"Yes, thank you sir", Damien said and ended the call. He put the phone down with a sigh. "Please tell me you have something Brooks".

"I do sir", Johnny said taking a tube of blood out of his pocket and handed it to his boss.

Damien stared at it gleefully, he finally had the proof he needed.

As Johnny watched Mr Drake examine the tube, he initially felt pride at having achieved his goal. But the way his eyes bore into the tube made Johnny feel uncomfortable and he was starting to regret giving Drake the tube. His next words sent chills through Johnny.

"One down, two to go".