Hi guys, I'm sorry I'm updating later than I thought I would, I haven't been feeling well lately, but I'm feeling a bit better so I'll update soon. I have posted another story called Fabian Rutter at Hogwarts: Year 1, it would be great if you could check it out. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 6
And in walked Emma Gilbert.
Emma stared at the three boys in shock, in front of her were three mermen. Mermen. Emma turned and ran out of the room.
"Emma wait!" Ash called after her.
The boys looked at each other in terror, someone had seen them. Zane quickly turned Ash back into his human form.
"Go after her, we'll catch up", Zane said.
Ash nodded and ran after Emma, he saw her push the front door of the school open. Ash followed Emma out of the school.
"Emma, Emma please let me explain!" Ash said.
Emma stopped running and turned around, "Why should I let you explain! How do I know you're not going to hurt me?"
"I would never hurt you. I'm still Ash your friend, being a merman doesn't change who I am".
"How can I know that for sure?" Emma argued.
"I saved your life, I was a merman back then that was how I was able to save you".
"Really?"
"Yeah, I have the power of slowing down time, I slowed time down so that I was able to pull you off the road".
"You used your power to save me?"
"Yes, I would never use my powers to hurt you or anyone, and Lewis and Zane would never hurt anyone either".
"He's right Emma, we would never hurt anyone", Zane said.
Ash looked at Zane and Lewis in surprise, "How long have you guys been standing there?"
"About two minutes", Zane replied.
"Please keep our secret Emma", Lewis said.
"I don't know if I can, I believe that you guys would never hurt anyone, but we could learn so much from you guys. You consider yourself to be a scientist Lewis, surely you of all people understand", Emma said.
"That may be so, but it would be at the cost of our freedom", Lewis argued.
"Yeah, they would treat us like lab rats", Zane said.
"But wouldn't the benefits be worth it, scientists could find the cure for diseases", Emma protested.
"You know how what they would do to us, would you be willing to put us through that", Ash said.
"I just need some time to think this through", Emma said.
"Emma wait", Zane said and tried to go after her but Ash stopped him.
"Let her go Zane, she needs some time alone", Ash said.
"Are you kidding me, Ash she could be turning us in right now", Zane said.
"Emma wouldn't do that, she's a good person, she'll do the right thing", Ash said.
"I hope you're right Ash, otherwise we'll be in big trouble", Zane said.
Thirty minutes later Ash was in his room, he was in the process of packing a bag. The trio had agreed that if Emma didn't tell them her decision in two hours they were going to run for it. So they all went back to their houses to pack a bag in case they had to run for it. Ash was about to pack his laptop, when his phone rang. It was Emma.
"Hi Ash, I have decided to keep your secret", Emma said.
Ash sighed in relief and sank to his bed, "Thank you so much Emma, this means everything to me".
"I'm sorry I didn't decide straight away, I must have sent you guys into a panic", Emma said.
"It's okay, this is a lot to take in. Would you like to meet me and the guys at the Juice Net Café to talk about this?" Ash asked.
"Yeah, that would be great thanks, I have a lot of questions".
"I bet, I'm just going to let Zane and Lewis know your decision, I'll see you at the café in about 20 minutes", Ash said.
"Okay see you then, bye", Emma said.
"Yeah, bye" Ash said and ended the call.
Ash quickly skyped Zane and Lewis at the same time on his phone.
"Guys, Emma has agreed to keep our secret", Ash said.
"Oh, thank goodness", Zane and Lewis said at the same time.
"Emma has a lot of questions, and I was thinking it would help if we met her at the Juice Net Café to talk about all this. Are you guys in?" Ash said.
"I'm not sure if it's a good idea to tell her everything", Zane said.
"Why not? Wouldn't it help Emma understand if we told her everything?" Lewis asked.
"Emma was considering turning us in, what if we tell her something that changes her mind, or what is she was lying and is going to turn us in but wants to find out everything about us first", Zane said.
"This was a lot to process, she was just having a freak out. I believe Emma is a good person and wouldn't turn us in", Ash said.
"Ash I hate to say it, but you like Emma and I think that is blinding your judgement", Zane said.
"It isn't blinding my judgement, how about we don't tell her everything we could tell her some things and see how she reacts?" Ash suggested.
Lewis and Zane agreed and twenty minutes later the trio were sitting in their usual booth waiting for Emma to arrive. She was five minutes late and they were starting to get on edge.
"What if she doesn't show up?" Zane said sounding panicked.
"Yeah, what if she's turning us in right now?" Lewis said.
"Guys don't worry, I'm sure she'll be here any minute", Ash said.
"I hope so, I'm freaking out right now", Zane said.
"Ow, I know you're hurting my arm", Lewis said.
Zane looked at Lewis in surprise, he hadn't realised that he had grabbed his arm, he let go and laughed nervously, "Sorry Lewis".
"It's okay", Lewis said.
Five minutes later Emma arrived and sat next to Ash, "Hey guys, I'm sorry I'm late. I had to drop my brother at his friend's house last minute".
"No worries, so uh what do you want to know?" Ash said.
"There's so much, I'm not sure where to start" Emma said.
"How about the beginning?" Lewis asked.
"Yeah, how did you guys become mermen?" Emma asked.
The trio answered her question and continued to answer her questions for some time.
"Wow, this is… I don't know how to describe it", Emma said.
"I have three words, totally, completely awesome" Zane said causing them to burst into laughter.
Throughout the week, Emma continued to bombard them with questions. Ash was delighted as it meant spending more time with Emma and not having to keep his secret form her anymore. Zane and Lewis on the other hand, weren't quite as happy about Emma knowing their secret, especially Zane. They were worried, that Emma would betray them but kept this a secret from Ash as they knew it would upset him.
One night during the week Zane and Lewis met at Zane's house to discuss the Emma situation.
"I have been doing some research and I found a potion that can erase certain parts of their memory-"
"Wait, wait, wait, you want to make Emma forget that we are mermen?" Lewis asked.
"Yeah, anyway as I was saying –"
"Zane, that is way too dangerous!"
"Why and can you please stop interrupting me?"
"You could accidently erase all of Emma's memory, she could forget who she is", Lewis said.
"I thought of that, when I was making the potion the instructions said to think about which memory you want to erase while making the potion".
"It could still go wrong, and this doesn't feel right".
"I know, but I don't trust Emma with our secret. I wish it didn't have to come to this, but this has to be done to protect ourselves".
Lewis sighed, "Yeah, you know Ash is going to be really mad at us".
"I know, but I'm sure he'll understand".
"So, how are we going to give the potion to Emma?" Lewis asked.
"Well, the potion looks like water. So I was thinking I could invite Emma and Ash around tonight for pizza, so they won't realise we're up to something".
"Yeah, that sounds good, can I see the potion?" Lewis said.
"Yeah, here you go, I'm going to call Ash and Emma".
Ash and Emma agreed to come over and thirty minutes later Ash was helping Zane order the food, and get everyone's drinks. As Zane had hoped Emma had asked for water (she usually did), and while Ash wasn't looking Zane poured the water into Emma's glass. They were using different coloured plastic cups so that Zane could tell whose drink belonged to who, particularly as Lewis, Ash and Emma had wanted water. He poured Emma's into a light blue cup and got the crisps from the cupboard. When he turned around he saw that Ash had put down the light blue cup which was now empty.
"Ash, did you just drink the water in the light blue cup?" Zane asked starting to feel panicked.
"Yeah, I was thirsty so-"
"No no no no, this isn't happening".
"What's wrong?"
"That water was meant for Emma. It's a memory erasing potion".
"What?"
"It's a memory erasing potion, any minute you're going to forget that you're a merman!"
"That I'm a what?"
"A merman… oh no, it's already happening. Listen Ash you're a merman".
Ash crossed his arms, "Very funny, mermen don't exist".
"Lewis! We have a problem!"
Lewis came running into the kitchen, "What is it?"
"Ash drank the potion by mistake".
"Oh this is not good".
"Hey guys, what are you all doing in the kitchen?" Emma called.
Lewis and Zane glanced at each other, "We have to tell Ash and Emma what's going on" Lewis said.
"Do we have to?" Zane whined.
"Yes we do, come on guys", Lewis said.
The trio went to the living room, Lewis and Zane explained everything to Ash and Emma.
"You and Zane tried to make me forget you're mermen? I thought you trusted me, and now Ash doesn't know that he's merman", Emma said gesturing to Ash.
Ash looked confused, "Who's Ash?"
Lewis, Zane and Emma stared at Ash, "You're Ash", Lewis said sounding panicked.
"Am I? I… I… are you sure?"
Zane sat next to Ash, "Yes, you're Ash. You don't remember who you are?"
"No, I don't remember", Ash said quietly.
"What do you remember?" Lewis asked.
"I don't remember anything, I don't even know who any of you are".
"It's going to be okay Ash, we'll fix this", Lewis said, "Zane can I have a word with you".
Zane nodded and followed Lewis into the kitchen.
"We have to find a cure as soon as possible, I knew we shouldn't have done this", Lewis said angrily.
"Ash wasn't supposed to drink the potion", Zane argued.
"Well he did, and now he doesn't remember who he is. I thought the potion was supposed to only erase Emma's memory of finding out we're mermen".
"It was, I must have done it wrong. I still have the book that I found the potion in, it might have the cure I'll go get".
"Okay, we really need this cure," Lewis said.
"I know".
Zane went to get the book, while Lewis went back to the living room and sat down opposite Ash and Emma.
"Do you guys have a cure for this?" Emma asked.
"Zane still has the book he found the potion in, we're hoping it has the cure too. Ash do you remember anything? Ash?" Lewis repeated when Ash didn't answer.
"Oh right, I'm Ash. No, I don't remember anything. I'm scared, what if I never remember who I am", Ash said.
"It'll be okay Ash, we'll find a cure", Lewis said.
"Here's the book", Zane said as he came into the living room and sat next to Lewis. The four of them, looked through the entire book, but couldn't find a cure.
"What are we going to do now?" Zane asked in frustration.
"This is all your fault you know, if you and Lewis had just trusted me then this wouldn't have happened!" Emma said.
"How do you expect us to trust you? You nearly turned us in" Zane argued.
"You would have done the same thing in my position", Emma protested.
"No I wouldn't, I would have put my friends' safety before science", Zane said.
"Guys, this isn't the time to argue, we need to find a cure", Lewis said.
Zane sighed, "Okay, let's look on the internet, there might be something there".
The others agreed and looked for a cure all evening, but they still couldn't find one. Eventually they had to stop as it was time to go home. Lewis wrote Ash a list of things he needed to remember, including not going in water.
"Keep this list on you, it's very important you remember these things. Especially not going in water", Lewis said to Ash.
"Will do, thanks Lewis", Ash said.
"No problem, unfortunately we have school tomorrow so you will have to do your best to act as though you haven't lost your memory", Lewis said.
"Yeah, I'm really looking forward to that", Ash said sarcastically.
"Don't worry, we'll help you", Zane said.
"Yeah, call us if you need anything", Emma added.
"Thanks guys", Ash said.
"No problem, good luck for tomorrow", Zane said.
"Zane, don't make Ash worry", Lewis said hitting Zane's arm.
"Ow, I was just trying to reassure him", Zane said.
"Well, you're not very good at reassuring people", Lewis said.
"Anyway, we should probably go before our parents start worrying", Emma said.
"Yeah, see you guys tomorrow", Ash said. The quartet said their goodbyes and went their separate ways, all thinking about what was going to happen the next day.