Chapter 10
Hi guys, thanks for reading and reviewing. I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while things have been hectic, but as it is the Easter holidays I should be able to post more often. I'm thinking of writing crossover stories set in my Mermen of The Gold Coast universe, but written separately and fanfics about Max, Bobby and Henry when they were mermen. It would be great if you check them out when I post them. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
The next day Ash was walking back home from the JuiceNet café having finished his shift, when an old man suddenly appeared in front of him. Ash stepped back in surprise.
"Um hello can I help you?"
"I'm Max Hamilton, I believe Lewis and Zane told you about me", Max said.
"Oh you're Max, yes thank you for saving me".
"Your welcome, listen I have a warning for you. It's a full moon tonight".
"So? We're not werewolves", Ash said confused.
"Please, you must listen to me, do not look at the moon when it is up and do not touch water".
"Okay, I'll tell the others, thanks for warning me".
Max smiled at him, his smiled faltered though when he thought of something, "Why haven't you and your friends come to me? I said I can help you."
"Well…um". Ash knew the answer but didn't want to hurt Max's feelings.
"They don't trust me", Max said, "You need to try and change their minds, there is so much I can help you with".
"I'll try", Ash said he was about to say something else, but was distracted by his a ping sound coming from his phone, he saw that it was a text from Zane. Ash looked up again but Max had disappeared.
Zane had texted Max asking if he wanted to come to his house and that Lewis and Emma were coming, he texted back saying that he did want to and that he had something important to discuss with them. When they were in the sitting room Ash told them about running in to Max and his warning about the full moon.
"Wait a minute, you talked to Max. We told you not to talk to him". Zane said irritably.
"Sorry dad", Ash said sarcastically, "He talked to me, it's not like I went to see him".
"He has a point Zane", Lewis said.
"Whatever", Zane mumbled.
"I think Max was telling the truth, we need to stay inside and make sure we don't see the moon", Ash said.
"I don't know, you guys are mermen not werewolves", Emma said.
"That's what I said, but Max insisted that the moon would affect us".
"But it's Miriam's party tonight. I don't want to miss it", Zane said.
"It's too dangerous to go Zane, we don't know what affect the moon would have on us", Ash protested.
"I know Max saved you, but I don't trust him. I'm going to the party, what about you guys?"
Emma and Lewis agreed with Zane, though Emma was reluctant to disagree with Ash she didn't want to miss the biggest party of the year.
"Guys, please don't go to the party", Ash pleaded.
"I'm sorry Ash, I can't miss this party. Max is probably wrong anyway why don't you go with us?" Zane said.
"I'm not risking it, but have a good time at the party", Ash said irritably.
It was Miriam's party in a couple of hours so they stayed at Zane's until then. They chatted and watched a movie, while they were waiting. And Ash tried to persuade them to not to go to the party, and the others tried to persuade him to go to the party, but they all had no luck. When it was time to leave, Ash went home to try and hide himself from the moon, while Zane, Lewis and Emma went to Miriam's party.
Half an hour before it was time for the moon to rise, and an hour into Miriam's party, Ash heard a knock at the door. Ash opened the door, it was Max Hamilton.
"Ash did you warn your friends about the full moon?" Max asked before Ash could say anything.
"Yes, but they still don't trust you. I tried to persuade them to stay at home, but they have gone to a party".
"Oh, this is bad. Ash you need to go to the party and get them to leave".
"I've already tried a lot to get them not to go, I don't think I can get them to leave".
"Please Ash, you need to continue trying".
Ash sighed, he looked at his watch and saw that he had 25 minutes until the moon rose. Which meant he only had fifteen minutes to try.
"Okay, I'll try", Ash said and after saying goodbye to Max and letting his parents know he was going to the party, he ran to Miriam's house. When he got there Miriam looked surprised to see him, he guessed she thought he wasn't coming "Hi Miriam, sorry I'm late".
"No worries, enjoy the party", Miriam said and smiled at him, Ash smiled back feeling confused. She had never been that nice to him. Unbeknownst to Ash Miriam had an important talk with Nate the day before.
Flashback:
Nate and Miriam were sitting at a table at the JuiceNet café waiting for their smoothies.
"So, what was so important that you dragged me away from a shopping trip?" Miriam said irritably.
"Have you noticed Zane, Lewis and Ash acting weird lately?"
Miriam thought about this, before Ash and Lewis were best friends with Zane she didn't pay much attention to them, but now that they were she did and they did act weird. Miriam noticed they were very jumpy around water, Nate had told her that Ash was afraid of water ages ago, but she thought Zane and Lewis weren't afraid of water. She then remembered the time that Zane's drink started bubbling and that he said it was hot. She told all this to Nate.
"That's weird. They are hiding something, and I think it has something to do with water and what happened to them on Mako Island".
"What happened to them on Mako?" Miriam asked.
"They got stuck on the Island and apparently bonded through the experience. But something else happened on the island, and we need to find out what".
"We?" Miriam asked raising her eyebrow.
"Something big happened there I'm sure of it, Zane ended our friendship because of it. I'm going to find out what they're hiding, they might have found a lot of money or something very valuable hidden on the island. And if they have and you help me I'll split it with you. What do you say?"
"Okay I'll help you", Miriam said smiling at the thought of gaining more wealth.
Now:
"Have you seen Zane, Lewis or Emma?" Ash asked.
"Sorry I haven't, why don't you hang out with me for a bit. I'm sure they'll turn up", Miriam said and put her hand on his arm.
"Sorry Miriam, I really need to find them, but thanks", Ash said and smiled apologetically at her before ran off to look for them.
Miriam stomped her foot in frustration, she hoped that if she could spend time with Ash he would open up to her. She didn't know him that well, but she overheard Nate complaining about Ash being too trusting and worrying how that would affect his well-being. Miriam thought that if she could get Ash to trust her, he would slip up and tell her. She decided to wait for a while, and then try to find him again. She didn't want to seem too eager.
Meanwhile Zane was standing and talking with Lewis.
"You should ask Cleo to dance with you", Zane said grinning at Lewis.
"No way".
"Come on, you like her, she likes you, it's not that difficult".
"Says the guy who won't ask Rikki to dance", Lewis countered smirking at Zane.
"What? I do not like her".
"You have been staring at her for the whole time we have been here".
"No I haven't, I-" Zane was cut off, when he suddenly saw the full moon in the window. Zane felt this wave of calm wash over him, and a pull telling him to go to Mako Island. A big smile spread across his face.
"What are you looking at?" Lewis asked also looking at the window, and also caught sight of the moon. Zane turned to smile at Lewis who smiled a big smile back.
Suddenly Ash appeared in front of them, he was wearing sunglasses because he had known he was running out of time to find Lewis and Zane and was hoping they would help block out the moon.
"Guys, you need to go home now", Ash said urgently.
"But I want to go to Mako", Zane said and laughed hysterically, and Lewis joined in.
"What? No you-" Ash realised they must have seen the moon. "Oh no", Ash groaned.
"Come on Ash, let's go to Mako", Lewis said.
"We can't, we need to go home", Ash protested.
But Zane and Lewis ignored him, they stood up and dragged Ash out of the house, he tried to get out of their grip but they were too strong for him.
"Guys let me go, we need to go home".
"No, we're going to Mako", Zane said serenely, both he and Lewis were oblivious to Ash's struggles to get away from them.
They were about to dive into the water when Emma suddenly shouted, "What are you doing?"
"Emma, they are taking me to Mako, I know you don't trust him but we need Max".
Emma wanted to help Ash without Max, but before she could do anything they had dived into the sea. Emma was about to run to get Max, but she bumped into an old man.
"Oh, sorry", Emma said.
"You're Emma Gilbert right? I'm Max Hamilton".
"I need your help, Lewis and Zane are taking Ash to Mako Island".
Max's eyes widened, "They can't go to the moon pool. I have just discovered that this full moon is special, I'm not sure exactly what it'll do to them. But I do know that if they are in the moon pool, when the moon passes over they'll be seriously hurt".
Emma gaped at him in shock, "We need to go now, we'll take my boat".
Max agreed and when they got to the moon pool, the boys were already there in the pool. Ash was frantically trying to get out of their grip and was hyperventilating, Emma's heart ached for him. She knew Ash was terrified of water.
"Ash, it's going to be okay, we're here", Emma said trying to calm him.
It seemed to help, Ash stopped struggling but he was still hyperventilating, Lewis and Zane were still obvious to this, they were both staring at the sky with big smiles on their faces.
"What are we going to do?" Emma asked urgently.
Max got something out of his pocket, it was a beautiful blue crystal. "This will break the trance the moon has put Lewis and Zane in". Max walked in front of Lewis and lifted the crystal so that it faced him, the spell was instantly broken. Lewis jumped startled, and immediately let go of Ash. Max did the same for Zane, and he also let go of Ash. Ash immediately went to the edge of the pool, and with Emma's help got out of the pool. Emma grabbed one of the towels they kept there just in case and gave it to Ash.
"You two need to get out of the pool now, the moon will pass over in two minutes", Max said. Lewis and Zane swam to the pool, and Max and Emma helped them out. When all three boys were in human form again, they stood up shakily. Lewis and Zane hugged Ash and apologised to him.
"It's okay you were controlled by the moon", Ash said, though he was still shaking, Emma put her arm around him in an attempt to comfort him and Ash smiled gratefully at her.
"What is Max doing here?" Zane asked suspiciously, and immediately stepped in front of Ash and Lewis.
"He helped us Zane, he broke the trance you were in", Emma said.
"The moon is passing over, you need to keep your gaze away from the moon", Max said urgently.
When the moon was directly over the top of the volcano, the pool suddenly came to life and water reached out to try and grab the boys. Max and Emma pulled them away from the water.
"We need to get out of here!" Max shouted, the others agreed and ran to the cave, but the pool wouldn't give up. It managed to grab Zane, just as he was about to follow the others into the adjacent cave. Max saw this and grabbed Zane's arms and tried to stop the water pulling him into the pool. But the water was very strong and Max could feel himself slipping and losing his grip on Zane. Emma ran and helped Max pull Zane, Ash and Lewis wanted to help too but Emma insisted that it was too dangerous and wouldn't let them. But said that Lewis could use his telekinesis as long as he stayed in the cave. Zane heard her shouting at them to stay in the cave, when thy protested again and despite the situation couldn't help but chuckle.
"Why is the moon pool doing this? I thought it was meant to be a sanctuary!" Emma shouted as they continued to struggle with the water. Lewis was using his telekinesis, he was still struggling with moving people though and it was tiring him out. He still continued to use his power though.
"It is, but the moon has a very complicated nature. Sometimes the moon is a friend, but sometimes it is the enemy and the moon controls the water!"
"The moon doesn't have feelings!" Emma protested.
"You really believe that after everything you've seen", Zane argued trying to take his mind of his current predicament.
"That's a fair point", Emma said.
"The moon will pass over in a few minutes, we need to keep a hold of Zane until then and then the moon pool will go back to normal", Max said.
The next few minutes felt like hours to Zane, he didn't know what would happen if he got pulled in to the water. But he had a feeling it wasn't going to be anything good. The moon finally passed over the top of the volcano, and the water abruptly let go of Zane, causing him to fall to the floor.
"Ow", Zane complained when he hit the floor. Max was still holding his arms so fortunately he didn't fall flat on his stomach. Max helped Zane up to his feet, and Ash and Lewis came rushing in.
"Are you okay Zane?" They asked at the same time.
"Yeah, I'm fine thanks".
"So do you trust me now?" Max asked.
Zane crossed his arms, Max had helped them three times now. He was still reluctant to trust him though. Max knew their secret and could turn them in at any moment, and the fear of that made it hard to trust him. But given what he had done for them, Zane was starting to.
"How do we know that you aren't going to turn us in?" Zane asked voicing his fear.
"Like I said before, I know how important it is to keep your secret. I know what will happen to you if you are caught. I wouldn't put you through that".
"I think we should trust him, he has a point and he has continually helped us", Lewis said.
"He's right Zane, and he has experience we could really use his help" Ash said, and Emma nodded her agreement.
Zane sighed, "Okay, I don't completely trust you yet. But we do need your help".
Max smiled at them, "Great, do you guys have any questions?"
"That crystal you used. What is it and can we use it every full moon?" Lewis asked.
"I'm not sure, I found it one time I was swimming. I call it moon crystal, unfortunately no. The power the crystal holds isn't unlimited, every time I used it I could feel the power seeping out of it. And tonight I used the last of it I'm afraid".
"Great", Zane said sarcastically, "What are we supposed to do the next full moon?"
"You need to stay in your house, and moon proof it".
They spent the rest of the evening listening to Max as he told stories about when he and his friends Bobby and Henry were mermen, and tips that Max gave.