9.
Mimmi started talking to him again by the end of the day—how could she not, when they were practically living in each other's pockets. Or, tails? Fins? Sometimes, land people expressions did not translate so well to mer-life.
It still didn't mean that Mimmi didn't have to go to her job at the Park. While normally he would not envy her the long hours standing around, selling toys to over-excited kids, now he watched her go with a deep envy. When he finally got his legs back, he was never taking them for granted again.
"Zac, think about how you're going to show your parents, okay?" Mimmi told him before she took off for her job.
Zac had only nodded. He'd think about it, sure.
And think.
And think some more.
Every scenario he came up with always turned sour in his head. His parents would freak out, or they wouldn't freak out, but then they'd worry and fret and be unable to handle the truth when it came down to it. How could he expect them to just be okay with all of this?
Mimmi said he was being silly, that he wasn't giving his parents enough credit. He knew, intellectually, that she was right, but the anxiety was messing with his imagination.
He was going to tell them—he had to tell them. The question was just…how to soften the blow? Having Rita tell them sounded more and more appealing, but a part of him felt like that was cheating. The truth should come from him, not from his school principal.
And yet…he could hardly just swim right up to their dock and drag himself up for tea and an explanation. Maybe…maybe he could get them out on a boat, first, so there was no way they could just up and run somewhere he couldn't follow. He needed to be able to explain everything so there were no misunderstandings, and his dad didn't try to have him brought to the hospital, or the marine centre, in some misguided attempt to help.
That particular scenario featured heavily in his nightmares.
The weekend fast approached again, and Zac's life had settled into a routine. More often now, he was the one to wake up early and swim out to find breakfast—that is, if Rita wasn't providing it. Sometimes, she would come down with a platter of seafood or fruit. If they slept in the Moon Pool, Zac was always up with the sun, though, and out into the reef at dawn to catch breakfast. It felt good to know he was doing his part and not just taking up space in the mermaids' home.
He also began to pick up the habit of finding interesting things out in the ocean, like pretty shells for the girls' hair. Better to be productive, than to swim around aimlessly, and Mimmi appreciated having nice things for her hair. He had years of missed birthday presents to make up for, after all.
At one point, he managed to find a beautiful pearl when he was foraging for oysters. This particular treasure had gone to Evie, who had nearly squeezed the life out of him when she hugged him in thanks.
Ondina had tried to explain it to him, before, that there was plenty to do in the ocean, and he was beginning to realise that was true. There was getting to know the currents, and the environment—which fish swam where, and what areas to avoid due to shark feedings, undertow, or heavy fishing—or understanding where the best seaweed grew, and learning how to gather it without over-harvesting any particular spot. There was a lot of swimming involved and he could feel himself getting stronger; able to swim longer and longer distances without pause.
He and Erik had raced only a day ago and Zac had beat the other merman fins down.
He tried to hang out with Cam when he could, but with his lack of tail, it was proving to be difficult. The only time they could really hang out was when Cam took his boat out somewhere where no one would see Zac in the water.
Today, as Zac swam around the Mako reef, he spotted the underside of Cam's boat and grinned. He should go up and say hello…but first…
He darted up underneath the hull and then leaned up and brushed the end of his fins along the length of the boat, rocking it back and forth. He couldn't hear Cam's yell from underneath the water, but he was sure it was funny. Laughing in a spew of bubbles, he did it again, then swam around to the other side and popped his head up.
He had a split second to react. In that first moment he heard high, feminine cries, he froze. Over the side of the boat, he could see not just Cam, but also a blonde head of hair gathered in a pony-tail…Carly.
She had gripped the edge of the boat with both hands, eyes wide at the sudden rocking. "What was that?" Zac heard her gasp.
Cam certainly wasn't laughing, instead he was panicking. He darted a look to both sides, and in that second, finally locked eyes with Zac. They both stared at each other in surprise, before they realised the precariousness of the situation and Cam mouthed, 'Go!'
Carly began to turn her head, "What is it?"
Zac exhaled in panic and did the first thing that came to mind. He waved his hand and turned invisible.
Less than a split second later, Carly was looking directly at him, eyes seeing nothing but the top of the waves. She squinted at the place he floated, frozen, before turning a puzzled look at Cam. "What did you see? I can't see anything. What do you think that was?"
"Oh, look, it's stopped, must have just been a big swell, or something," Cam replied quickly. He darted one last urgent look in Zac's direction before trying to turn Carly's attention back to the fishing pole. "Reckon it scared off all the fish? We should check."
Quietly, Zac sunk beneath the waves, mind racing.
That had been close. Too close, in fact. He should have expected something like this to happen. He had to be more careful, he couldn't just surface wherever he wanted without checking. He just hadn't expected that Cam would ever take Carly somewhere so close to where Zac lived. This was their place, not Carly's!
He stared up at the bottom of the boat in consternation. What was Cam thinking, taking Carly out to fish here, where Zac and the girls could be swimming around?
Shaking his head, he turned tail and swam in the opposite direction. He'd talk to Cam later about keeping Carly away. She was too smart and observant to risk her being around Mako that often.
He was half-way back to Rita's, when he felt it. At first it was a tickle in the back of his mind, which he ignored. Sometimes, when he or Mimmi felt strong emotions, it would pass through the link they shared. They had learned to ignore things that didn't immediately send up red flags, like fear did, otherwise they'd never have any kind of privacy to speak of.
This time the tickle felt annoyed and angry. Likely a difficult customer at work, so Zac ignored it and kept swimming. He had just breached the surface of Rita's grotto pool when the annoyance shifted to fear for an instant and then suddenly, Zac was bombarded.
He stiffened and sunk straight down, too preoccupied by the vision passing behind his eyelids to pay any attention to keeping afloat. At first his vision was filled with a flurry of white bubbles, then the waterline cleared and Zac, through Mimmi's eyes, stared up at a young land-girl with curly brown hair done up in pigtails as she appeared to scream and point with wide eyes. The open mouth and the pointing were two very big clues about what had happened.
Zac's eyes snapped open and he gasped. In a second he had shot up from the bottom of the grotto and was yelling into the air, "Miss Santos! Rita! Anyone!"
Mimmi was in trouble. Big trouble. She had transformed right in the middle of the marine park and as far as Zac knew, there was no one there to help her!
If there was anyone in the house, they weren't in the grotto and couldn't hear his yelling. Zac clenched his fist and slapped the water. If only he could just get out of the water and find help…but no, he was stuck!
He gave one last shout of frustration, before ducking under water and speeding off towards the Café.
As he swam, he felt Mimmi's fear and worry. Flashes continued to pass before his eyes. He glimpsed more water, and then a set of bars. It was hard to orient himself through her eyes, but he thought maybe she was hiding in a dolphin enclosure, but unable to get out.
He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and thought, fiercely, Mimmi, I'm coming!
He surfaced near the Café docks and looked around frantically, trying to spot either Ondina, Sirena, Evie, or hell, even Erik, on deck. But the only person he could see was David delivering juice to a couple sitting outside on the deck. Evie was inside, at her shop, but he had no way to get her attention from out here. If only he had a phone! If only he could just get out and walk over.
But he couldn't.
He flipped over and sped off for the moon pool. He'd never gotten there faster, except perhaps for the time Cam had tried to destroy it with the trident. Nevertheless, in record time, his head popped up inside, hoping beyond hope that he would see either Ondina or Sirena there. But the pool was empty.
Where were they? Where was everyone? Cam was out with Carly, and he couldn't risk going back there, Evie was inside the Café, Erik as well, likely. Were Sirena and Ondina there as well? Did he have time to swim back and wait for someone to come outside to get their attention?
The marine park was built right into the shore. They had a ocean dock where they kept research boats and some pens for sea animals the marine biologists rescued and nursed back to health, before setting free. Perhaps…perhaps he could sneak inside…but how to get to Mimmi? She was trapped deep in the complex, behind many gates and so many people all looking for entertainment.
He closed his eyes and concentrated. Once again, an image flashed behind his eyelids. He tried to take in every detail—Mimmi was clearly hiding underneath some kind of overhang. There were bars trapping her on one side of the water, in an enclosed space. One of the dolphin tanks, for sure…but was it one that lead out to the ocean?
He couldn't hear anything, just see through her eyes, but from the way he felt her fear ripple across their bond, he knew the situation must be bad.
It was the worst kind of situation, like one of his nightmares come to life. She was stuck, in a marine park that did research! Mimmi could end up in a tank on display!
He couldn't let that happen. The very idea was terrifying.
He'd never approached the park by sea before, but it wasn't hard to figure out how to get there. What he didn't anticipate were the large metal gates that went all the way down to the bottom of the ocean floor. He swam up and grabbed onto the bars and yanked as hard as he could, but the gates didn't budge. They were meant to keep in large sea mammals, and sharks and other things out, and Zac was no exception. With increasing frustration, he swam along the length of the gates and grabbed at the bars every so often. The gaps were too thin to slip through, the bars too strong and thick to budge with just his strength alone…
He swam back a few paces and raised a hand, bracing himself. His physical strength might not be able to open them…but what about his magical strength?
Zac closed his eyes and tried to block out the fear the lingered over his link with his sister. He tried to block out the sounds of the ocean around him, and of the research boats docked over to his left. He focused on the metal of the gates and thought as hard as he could about pulling them open. All he needed was to pull them open just a crack. Just long enough to slip inside.
The muscles in his arm and hand tensed, fingers twitching with the effort. Although magic wasn't a physical thing, sometimes it felt like it took its toll. He thought he felt the gates start to groan and scrape across the seabed. Determined, he brought up a second hand and held them both out, pulling them apart, just as if he were opening the gate itself with his bare hands.
His eyes slowly slipped open just in time to watch the gates begin to creak. Instead of swinging out, like normal gates, these ones had been built to slide open, so that the sea floor would be as undisturbed as possible. Zac only had to concentrate enough to push both gates wide enough to leave an opening to slip through, and that is what he did. He held them open with his magic long enough to swim through the gap, and as soon as the tip of his fins cleared the opening, he let go, and the gates clanged back together, like the gaping maw of a giant slamming shut.
He stared at the gates, and at his tail, inches away from having been caught between two heavy metal bars. He shuddered.
Then he flipped tail and, keeping as close to the bottom of the inlet as he could to avoid exposure, swam up the large channel.
Zac knew the general layout of the park, and so he knew that the channel he swam up now, eventually branched off into smaller streams, and then ended in a small cove. The park had split this up into several enclosures, but he had no way of knowing which one Mimmi was trapped in. He could only hope it was the closer one, and not the one deepest into the park.
It was hard to tell where he was when he stuck as close to the bottom of the sea floor as possible. He would have to surface to orient himself.
He approached a dark smudge in front of him, which cleared into a pillar when he got close enough that the water no longer obscured his vision. There were two pillars, foundations for a bridge, and between them was a gate.
Pressing up beside it, he waved a hand to turn invisible, before poking his head above the surface. A quick look around and he recognised the area. There was one enclosure between him and where he knew they kept the dolphins. This particular bridge actually lead to one.
That was when the loud exclamations and buzz of excitement caught his attention. Zac whipped his head around and peered through the bars under the bridge. There, on the opposite side from where he hid, was another bridge. Crowding on top were a large group of park goers, all craning their heads over the side and shouting excitedly. Zac's heart stopped beating for a second of pure fear, before he realised they weren't pointing at anything specific, just gesturing vaguely.
Still, he thought he knew where Mimmi was. He couldn't see anything under the bridge, but the bars looked familiar, and she was probably invisible. Likely, it was the only reason she hadn't been caught, yet.
He swallowed thickly. This was bad. There were too many people actively looking for him to be able to grab Mimmi's attention and get her over here. Even if he could manage to communicate with her, could she risk swimming—even invisible—out into the enclosure to get to Zac?
He clung to the bars and bit his lip. Maybe…maybe he could distract the land people and take their attention off Mimmi's hiding place long enough for her to make a break for it? But how to tell her?
The visions! If he could see though her eyes, she could see through his. At first he closed his eyes to concentrate, but then he realised how foolish that was and popped them open again. He stared intently at her hiding place across the enclosure and thought about their connection. He focused on the feelings in the back of his mind that weren't his own, and then he tried to push the image fixed in front of his eyes down the length of that connection.
There was a strange sort of double-vision that overcame his sight for a second. For a moment he was seeing across the enclosure from opposite directions, before the dizziness struck and he slammed his eyes shut.
She must have seen that. She would know he was here.
Turning quickly, he ducked under the water and, still invisible, shot across the inlet to the other side. This was, he knew, where they kept the dolphins during show hours. He sidled up to the bars, barely daring to move in the clearer water, in case someone passing by saw the ripple in the water and decided to investigate. He breached the surface with careful movements, trying not to cause a disturbance.
There was no one in the vicinity. They were all too busy harassing Mimmi's hiding place.
Zac shot a quick look over his shoulder at the other side, before taking a deep breath. He was going to have to be quick about this. He ducked under water and locked eyes on the two floating forms through the thick metal bars guarding the entrance of the enclosure.
Now, Zac's Dolphin was hardly fluent, but he could at least get basic concepts across. The first thing he said was, "Come over here!"
Sound didn't travel well underwater. Fortunately, dolphins had evolved to adapt to that, so within moments, there were two eager grey noses poking at the bars and chattering. Zac knew he was taking a huge risk, but he doubted they were going to listen to an invisible voice, so…he dropped the invisibility.
The dolphins exclaimed in surprise and then laughed.
"Listen," Zac squeaked. "Need help."
The dolphins both stilled. One shifted sideways so he could lock eyes with Zac, while the other one flipped onto its back and chattered a question. The important thing was they were listening.
Zac had no idea how to say 'I need you to make a distraction so my sister can escape a bunch of gawking land people', but he did know how to say, "Make noise. Play. Show off. Please."
The dolphins exchanged looks. Then, without another word, the one on the left simply flipped over and darted off. For a heart-stopping moment, Zac thought he had failed—the dolphins weren't going to listen. They didn't care. But then the one who had darted off suddenly came zooming up at a powerful pace and broke the surface of the enclosure with a great surge. It was an impressive flip, if the splash was anything to go by.
He gripped the bars with both hands, eyes wide. "Thank you!"
The second dolphin chattered a laugh at him and then did an about-turn to join its mate. With any luck, the commotion would draw the attention of the gawking park goers and Mimmi could safely make her escape without drawing attention.
He waved a hand across his front, fingers clenching in an instinctive gesture, and he vanished with a ripple. For a moment he merely paused and watched the sun reflect off the surface of the water. He could just see a kind of fractured image of the grass and bushes next to the path, and he didn't want to stick around for any human shadows that might fall over him.
When he breached the surface next to the bars where Mimmi was trapped, he was able to turn and see his handiwork. The dolphins were making a ridiculous spectacle. Shouts of glee were coming from children who were dragging their parents from Mimmi's bridge towards the sound of splashing and chattering as the dolphins flipped and spun and put on a show. Zac's eyes followed a park employee as he ran down one of the paths between enclosures, shouting for a trainer to, "Come quick! They've gone wild!"
Zac covered a laugh with his hand.
"Zac?" Mimmi's sudden, but terrified whisper nearly made him jump out of his skin. He whirled back around and saw nothing—but when you can turn invisible, that didn't mean much.
"Yeah," he whispered back, reaching out a hand to wrap around the bars. "It's me."
"Are you crazy? You can't be here!" Mimmi hissed.
Zac rolled his eyes, even if his sister couldn't see. "I'm here to rescue you, obviously."
"How? You have no legs!" she whispered harshly back.
Zac cleared his throat and his voice may have come out slightly more smug than he planned when he said, "Back up and I'll show you."
He heard Mimmi make a noise in the back of her throat, like a protest, but then she sighed. The water seemed to ripple, as if an invisible tow was dragging it backwards, and Zac followed the motion with his eyes until it seemed far enough away. Then he held up his hand, closed his eyes and concentrated.
It was easier this time now that he knew what kind of effort it took to make the metal gates draw back. He forced them open wide enough that Mimmi could slip through, and then held it open as long as he could manage. His arm began to tremble and sweat pricked on his brow, indistinguishable from the water that coated his form, before he felt a light touch on his arm. "I'm out."
With a gasp, he released his hold. The gates clanged shut. Mimmi's fingers dug into his bicep in sudden surprise.
"Quickly, before someone comes!"
They hadn't exactly been quiet about it, but fortunately the dolphins were making enough noise and drawing a big enough crowd that no one was paying attention to the strange whispers and odd movement of the water around the supposedly empty enclosure gate.
Together they ducked under the water. Mimmi was half-pressed against his side—he could feel the length of her tail bumping against his as she tried to manoeuvre herself next to him without losing her grip on his arm. It took a moment of twisting in the water, and some uncomfortable scale pinching, before they were side-by-side. Mimmi ran her hand down his arm until she found his hand and then grasped it tightly. Zac couldn't see her expression but he still felt the faint echo of her emotions in the back of his head and knew they weren't out of the woods yet.
He tugged her along the bottom the inlet, pressing them both as close to the rocks as possible without stirring up too much sand and giving away their location to anyone who happened to be looking. The water wasn't the clearest, even this far in, but it certainly wasn't murky enough to fully conceal their presence.
Getting out of the marine park itself was going to be a whole different issue. The concentration and strain on his powers was ten times the effort on the large gates leading to the ocean. Zac had barely been able to hold them open long enough to slip through himself, let alone both him and his sister. He would just have to hold on as long as he could and hope it was long enough.
They didn't surface again, not so close to the marine scientists' boats. Staying invisible was also taking its toll. Could he remain invisible and hold the gates open long enough to escape?
Zac bit his lip as they drew up close to the large, algae-covered metal bars. A ripple passed over them, which must have been Mimmi reaching out. He felt a tug on his hand and a flash of worry that wasn't his own tickled the edges of his mind.
They couldn't surface to talk. They couldn't go visible. But he could try his best to use Dolphin to convey the plan. Once again it struck him how important it was that he learn to speak the languages used by other marine animals. Sometimes, especially underwater, it was the only way to communicate.
"Wait," he squeaked. "When say go, GO."
Mimmi stilled next to him. He didn't know how to say 'I'm going to open the gate' in Dolphin (when would dolphins ever need to say such a thing?), but he hoped she would catch on.
He spared a glance above them. The water wasn't murky enough to risk being visible. The shadow of the marine research facility hung over them like an ominous cloud. He couldn't see any movement, but that didn't mean there weren't land people who would notice if the gates started opening.
He braced himself and raised a hand.
Open, he thought fiercely, putting every ounce of power into it. He felt his hold on his invisibility slip and Mimmi let go of him with a startled movement as his form rippled for a second. The gates creaked.
Zac shoved his other hand out and tried to use the visual motion of separation between them to also separate the gates with his power. First an inch, then two…they rolled open slowly and every second it took was more strain.
Suddenly, it felt like a weight lifted from his chest. The burden shifted as another force began pushing with him and the gates really started to open.
Mimmi!
Within moments they had opened a foot, then two, then finally they were wide enough to slip through.
"Go!" Zac shouted.
There was a rush of bubbles next to him, the harsh scrape of scale-on-scale. Mimmi torpedoed past him and Zac was left holding the gates open by his own power as Mimmi's concentration broke.
He grunted as the strain of keeping the gates open slammed back into him, gasping, bubbles escaping his mouth with the motion. He felt his invisibility fail again, for an instant. It all happened so fast. He kicked his tail, desperate to get through, hands reaching close enough to touch the slimy metal, when something dropped on top of him like bird swooping down on prey.
The tenuous hold he had on his power completely snapped. The gates clanged shut in an instant. He rippled into sight again in a moment of disorientation, as he fought with the thing that had suddenly descended on top of him—what was it!?
His fingers grasped at knotted strands. He pulled and the thing pulled back. A net! he realised a heartbeat later.
He froze. His heart stopped for one terrifying instant.
Self-preservation kicked in. He waved a trapped hand frantically, forcing himself invisible again, and rolled over. He stared up at the sun shining down through the water. For a moment, he was blinded, and then he saw the rippling objects above him—moving. Had they seen him, did they think he was a dolphin escaping? What had they seen?
His heart felt like it was trapped into his throat. He pulled at the net, trying to find the opening. Why was this so hard? He had two hands, he should be able to find the opening!
A wave of sheer terror swallowed him whole and he froze again as Mimmi's fear washed over him. For a second he was watching through her eyes. He could see himself through the gate, a net draped over his invisible form, tangled over his the shape of his tail, his arms and head. The net had come down from above, and was slowly being drawn out of the water.
Zac blinked the vision away and scrabbled harder at the material. The net had come from above, so logically the opening should be below him. But he'd turned around in his panic—had it wrapped around him? He twisted back and searched the strands of netting beneath him, pulling it apart as it billowed around him, slowly growing taunter with each pull from above.
Where was the opening? Where was it?
He felt the net keep tightening. He'd never been so afraid in his life! Not all the times he'd nearly been caught. Not the time Cam had tried to take over the moon pool. Not even seeing Mimmi trapped in the marine park.
Land people had caught him in a net!
Human scientists!
They'd put him in a fish tank. Or—worse!—dissect him like a lab rat.
He had to get out!
He yanked harder. Trying to rip the net apart by sheer force alone. If only he had a knife—something sharp—even a sharp rock like…
He blinked at the rocky bottom of the inlet. There were plenty of sharp rocks down there. Now, who was stronger—a few humans or two hundred pounds of merman?
He kicked his tail as hard as he could, throwing his weight down against the pull from above. The net went completely taut for a moment before there was a sudden give and he ploughed into the bottom of the sea floor. He grunted, hands catching on the sandy rocks, but he ignored the acute sting of pain. Grabbing the net, he stretched it over a sharp rocky ridge and yanked it down and across. The plastic-fibre strands frayed—some snapped, but most stayed intact.
Grunting with determination, he did it again. A few more snapped. He seized the hole and yanked harder on it. It began to tear.
He ran it again and again over the rocks, fraying the strands, cutting through them, making the hole bigger and bigger, and then, all of a sudden, he found the edge of the net. He pushed the edges apart, the net parting around his head. He wormed his way forward, struggling to push the net down past his shoulders. He got it down to his hips, twisting all the while.
It was stupid—thoughtless. The more he twisted, the more the net tangled around his tail. He stopped for a moment, aware that any second whoever was on the surface could start pulling the net up again. The whole ordeal was made harder by the fact that he couldn't see himself, just an impression of himself where the net wrapped around him.
How many seconds had passed?
Finding the net edge again, he tried to untangle it quickly, but carefully. It was hard—his fingers shook, his stomach clenched at each passing second, and every moment felt like an eternity of waiting for the other shoe to drop. The net began to come off, unwrapping slowly until it was just tangled around his fins, the wide shape of his fluke and ridged edges causing the stupid thing to keep catching.
Closing his eyes for a second to compose himself, he bent his tail as far as it would go, curling the tips towards himself. It was worse than yoga—his tail wasn't meant to bend that way—merpeople were never designed to touch their "toes" like humans could. His stomach burned as he bent nearly in half at the waist and scrunched his tail to reach the tip.
He got the net half over his fin, but couldn't reach the very tip. He kicked his tail desperately, and felt the net catch on something below him. The sudden idea that occurred to him would hurt, but it was better than the alternative. He deliberately dropped down and dragged his fins across the sharp rocks, feeling the net catch. Wiggling this way and that, he managed to finally—finally!—get the last of it off, but not without sacrificing several scales and opening a cut directly on the more delicate skin of his fin.
But he was free.
Quickly, Zac swam to the opposite side of the inlet and pressed himself as close to the rocks at the bottom as he could. He stared at the net, tangled beyond belief, ripped and torn and ragged, as it floated in the place he'd been trapped.
His chest still heaved, heart still stuttering in his chest, and he felt like he'd swam a hundred miles without stopping.
He'd never been so terrified in his life.
His gaze strayed to the waterline. He could see shapes up there—couldn't hear anything—but the frantic, shadowy movement was telling. There was no way he could open the gates now, and he couldn't escape by leaving the water.
He was trapped.
God. What a mess. First Mimmi, now him.
He never thought he'd be in this position. Had never thought he could be so terrified of the people he'd grown up around. He knew some of the people who worked at the marine institute that partnered with the park. Knew their names, had shaken their hands when they had introduced themselves.
Now, though? Now the thought of those people left a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. The thought that it wouldn't matter if they knew his name, who he was—they'd stick him in a tank, film him, write papers, show the world. They were scientists. That's what scientists did.
The net began to move. He watched in mute silence as it drew up out of the water as if whoever had cast it had finally regained control of it.
The net was gone, but whoever had cast it was still there, possibly still looking, and he was trapped. He was trapped with human scientists and he couldn't stay invisible forever. In fact, he was positive the only thing keeping him invisible now was the fear and adrenaline—it was like a flight-or-fight instinct. Eventually though…
He shivered even though the water was warm. Warily, he watched the surface of the water, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Would they cast a wider net? Send down a diver?
What had they seen?
The wait was agonising. Zac lost track of time. It could have been five minutes or five hours for all he knew. He stayed hidden, too shocked to move, just waiting.
The water remained calm. If there were people watching and waiting for him to make a move, he couldn't tell, the water wasn't clear enough and he was too far away. Perhaps that was a blessing? Maybe the murkiness of the water had disguised his form enough that they though he was merely some kind of stray shark, or dolphin. And maybe…maybe if they thought he was a shark, they might not want to risk sending down a diver. Maybe he was safe. Maybe…
Suddenly, a shadow fell over the small patch of light that reached his hiding place and Zac froze. The shadow moved a bit and then seemed to grow larger, and larger, and then there was a ripple in the surface of the water and something was lowering and…
It was a stick. Or…some kind of instrument.
Zac didn't quite stop freaking out, because there was something like a camera attached to the end of the stick, fortunately pointing away from him, but he knew, just knew that if he lost his invisibility, or the stick lowered far enough to touch him, then it could all be over.
He was going to be discovered. How…how would he explain this to his parents, when they had to come and visit their only son in a fish tank? How would he explain this to his friends? How would he finish school or watch the latest movies or…
Suddenly, the camera shot back up out of the water, much faster than it had appeared. At the same time, the water around him stirred, sand and rocks lifting from the inlet floor and drifting a few inches before settling. Zac turned his head in the direction of the movement, terrified of what new horror awaited, only to see the barnacle-covered gates slowly pulling open of their own accord.
He squinted through the slightly murky water. What?
But the gates continued to open.
For a second, Zac thought he was saved, that somehow, they were letting him go. Then reality slammed back into him and a he realised what this was…a trap. They wanted him to swim out of the gates, and when he did, there would be a net waiting, he was sure of it.
Well, he wasn't going to fall for it.
Except…what if they really were letting him go? If they thought he was a shark, maybe they just wanted him gone?
Hesitantly, fins twitching with nerves, Zac edged out of his hiding place. He would…just look. If he was slow and careful, no one would see him disturb the water, they wouldn't even know he was there. Maybe…maybe he could avoid the trap. Or use his powers to destroy it.
The gates had stopped grinding by now and Zac paused in his slow inch towards them. He waited a few moments, heart pounding half-way up his throat, before continuing to inch slowly across the sea floor. He got close enough to peer past them into the deeper blue gloom of the open ocean and then bit his lip.
There was a net alright. A large, mesh thing spread open maybe a foot or two away from the entrance. The fibres were fine, nearly invisible, but Zac knew what to look for and he spotted the way the light reflected off the polyester threads. At the same time, he seriously wondered whether he could break it or cut it with his powers. A pressurised blast of water, maybe?
All of a sudden, the net rippled. Then jerked. It was like an invisible current had gripped the centre and was pulling it in the opposite direction. Almost like…like invisible mermaids were trying to sabotage it!
Zac felt hope trickle back as his heartbeat slowed. He closed his eyes for just a moment to centre himself and then reached out for the gate. If Mimmi or the other girls were out there, he had no doubt they'd find a way to tear down the net, and as soon as they did…he had to swim as fast as possible, before they closed the gate, or worse!
Sharp rocks rose off the ocean floor and began to hack at the net. Zac counted one, two, three of them. That was at least Mimmi, Ondina and Sirena, then. Or perhaps Evie was there instead. Tears began to appear at three different points along the middle of the net, working towards each other. The mermaids were trying to cut a hole straight through the middle!
Zac braced himself further, ready to make a break for it.
Except, suddenly, the metal doors began to close, and the net began to lift out of the water. They must have thought they had caught something, because both of these actions picked up speed, like they were closing the gates as fast as possible.
Zac was terrified of being caught in the net, but he was more terrified of being trapped behind the gates, so he shot through them, tail scrapping the sides of the metal bars as it closed behind him with a grating vibration along the ocean floor.
The net was suddenly right there in his face and he tried to slow his momentum. Hands scrabbled in front of him, trying to force the net away from his face, and especially his tail, but the net seemed to billow around him and suddenly he couldn't tell up from down or left from right. He pushed further; it didn't make sense, the net ran across, how could it be under him or over him?
He nearly screamed bubbles when a warm, fleshy hand touched his side. The hand froze, mid-touch, before it began to pat up his side, until it found his arm, and then it tugged him backwards and down.
They went under the net.
The net continued to rise out of the water and Zac clutched tightly to the hand guiding him under until suddenly, just like that…he was free.
The tug on his arm became a torpedo and he had never been more happy to beat his fins as fast as possible. They sped away and when they must have been at least a click away, Mimmi flickered back into sight.
They stopped, floating, as Ondina and Sirena also flickered back into the visible spectrum. Ondina and Sirena drifted close enough to high-five each other, but Mimmi merely shook Zac's arm and stared straight past the side of his face with a frown. She reached out her other hand, searchingly, and that's when it hit him…he was still invisible! Had been for god only knew how long.
Letting go of the one thing that had kept him safe during his entrapment was…harder than he had anticipated. The adrenaline still rushed through his blood, his heart still pumped quickly, all of him was wired and still on the brink of hysteria. Letting go was nearly impossible, but eventually, somehow, he managed to allow himself the vulnerability of being visible again.
The second he flickered back into being, Mimmi's face crumpled and she launched her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. Zac's own arms came up around her and he clutched her back just as tightly. After a few long seconds, she pulled back and then looked him up and down, from the tips of his abused fins, to the scratches on his hands and arms.
"Come on," she mouthed, pointing off into the distance and then beckoning.
Zac could only follow.
[18.12.18] Wow, it's been a while. I haven't forgotten this story, but I've had quite a bit more going on recently, making it difficult to find any time to write. Hopefully this newest chapter was worth the wait. Regardless, I had fun putting Zac through this latest adventure.