Chapter 7: In Deep Water

Elayne was woken the next morning by the sound of her mobile beeping, telling her she had a text message, she opened it to see it was from Becka.

'Hi, no one saw you; did you guys get out of there ok?'

She texted back a quick simple reply saying 'yeah' and 'thanks' then put her phone back on her bedside, yawning. She looked over at Kayla, still fast asleep, she slept like a log.

Deciding that she may as well get up, she headed downstairs to get some breakfast, Charlotte was already up, as she often was and was sitting reading the newspaper 'morning, you're up early.'

Shrugging Elayne went to the fridge to get the milk; she got herself a bowl, spoon and cereal and sat down at the table.

'How was the party?'

'Um…it was good, the place looks real nice, music, good juice…' she wasn't sure what else to say so she trailed off.

Charlotte smiled 'any cute boys?'

Elayne went red 'um…some…I'd rather not…you aren't going to make me go there are you?'

Charlotte laughed 'only if you want to, just know I'm here if you want to talk.'

'Where's Ash' Elayne asked curiously, looking around for any sign of him.

'Out job hunting' Charlotte replied 'he'll be back for dinner.'

Noise upstairs signalled Kayla finally waking from her slumber 'sounds like Kayla's finally returned to the land of the living' Elayne joked.

Charlotte smiled 'oh that reminds me, I've got shopping to do but tell your sister that Kim and Don rang, it's about time she go and see them again, besides there is plenty of old stuff of Cleo's there that might interest her.'

Elayne nodded 'right, no problem' as she munched at her cereal.

Charlotte got up and headed off, probably to get ready to go out to the shops.

By the time Kayla finally came downstairs and had breakfast it was almost 11:00 but Elayne didn't really mind, it wasn't like she had much else to do.

'Hey' said Kayla 'why are you just sitting around?'

'Well I had a message for you, I had to wait for you to finish taking forever' said Elayne sarcastically.

Kayla stuck her tongue out at her 'I don't take that long, besides it's a weekend…did you tell Charlotte about what happened?'

'Nope, why bother, no big drama, no one saw anything, Becka texted me this morning' Elayne replied, waving it aside 'we don't need to worry her with a simple mishap like that.'

'Yeah…I guess' Kayla said but she didn't sound so sure 'so what was this message?'

'Your Aunt Kim rang' Elayne said, putting on a face, she wasn't overly fond of Kim.

Kayla put on a wide eyed face 'oh god, yeah, I totally forgot, it's been ages since I saw her and Grandpa Don…I missed the last couple of times due to…well' Elayne didn't need to be told. Both the previous times had been cancelled for personnel reasons and the time before that she had had an incident with her powers…so that had been cancelled too.

Elayne nodded 'I know, they haven't seen you properly for a long time…you will have a fair amount of explaining to do.'

'Well it's only two years really, they were there at my 14th birthday party, when I got my powers' replied Kayla trying to sound rational.

'And thank god Charlotte managed to stop them seeing anything' Elayne said laughing in exasperation.

Kayla nodded 'so what are you going to do with your day, I feel kind of bad leaving you here by yourself.'

'Oh don't worry, I'll call up Becka and Roxie, hang with them, maybe go to the café or if all else fails just go and swim in the ocean, after all it's what we do…us mermaids' Elayne said smiling.

'Alright then, well I better get going, I'll see you later ok' with that Kayla headed out the front door.

Kayla arrived at her grandfather's house about 20 minutes later, she saw Kim's car parked outside, Kim spent most of her time here nowadays, when she wasn't busy doing her own things she was here taking care of Don. At least that is what Charlotte said, Kayla had to take her word for it…Kim had never struck her as the type to be overly caring for others though, even for her own father it would only go so far.

She went up to the front door and rang the doorbell and soon after Don answered the door 'Kayla' he said a smile spreading over his face, he still looked fairly young considering his age, but there were more age lines than she remembered and his hair was greying 'it's nice to finally see you again, feels like it's been forever.'

Smiling Kayla gave him a hug 'I'm so sorry grandpa, things just kept coming up, you know how it is sometimes.'

Don nodded 'yes, I suppose, well you're hear now, come on in, would you like anything to eat or drink?'

Kayla followed him into the lounge, looking round, it hadn't changed from what she could tell, a picture of Kim and Cleo instantly caught her attention on one of the small tables 'no, I'm fine thanks…where's Kim?'

'Oh she's around…somewhere' Don said vaguely, sitting down 'probably upstairs, if she's not fussing over me she's often talking to someone or other on her phone in her room…reminds me of the old days a lot.'

Nodding Kayla sat down as well and said 'so how are you, are you still working?'

Don nodded 'not as much as I used too, not so many hours but I do love my fishing work and I don't see a point in giving it up until I really can't do it anymore. How about you, what have you and the girls been up to?'

Kayla shrugged 'not much, school, the usual.'

'How are your grades' Don asked 'Charlotte making sure you stay on top of things?'

'She always has grandpa, you really need to trust her, she has devoted herself to raising us well, you should be grateful' Kayla replied trying not to sound too irritable, she knew Don just meant well, but he was always a little hard on Charlotte.

Raising his hands Don said 'I do, she has done very well…I just wish…'

'What' asked Kayla frowning slightly.

'I just wish your mother was still around to see all this…Charlotte and her never got along, even I could see that and Kim has told me as much; it'd be nice for her to be able to see what Charlotte's doing now' Don explained.

Kayla was silent for a moment, she looked at the picture on the table again, then back at Don 'I like to think she is, watching I mean, somewhere. By the way, I spoke to a guy called Laurie at the Marine Park, he said Cleo was a dolphin trainer, is that really true?'

Don nodded 'oh yes, and a real good one at that, not sure how but she was amazing, she was one up until…well until the end.'

A voice made both of them jump and they turned to see Kim coming downstairs 'yes, my sister, the great dolphin trainer; wondrous, amazing and beautiful.'

Don laughed 'you know I love you just as much Kim, no need to be like that.'

Kim didn't reply, she just looked at me and finally said 'hi, long time no see Kayla, how've you been?'

'Fine, you?'

Kim shrugged 'busy, I have some things upstairs you might be interested in, care to come and have a look?'

Deciding that it couldn't hurt to try and bond with her, Kayla got up an followed Kim back up the stairs, they passed her bedroom and headed for a room at the very end of the hall 'this is Cleo's old room, got a bunch of old stuff in here that might…interest you' Kim said and she opened the door, gesturing for Kayla to go in first.

Once they were both inside Kim closed the door, Kayla couldn't quite shake the feeling of slight foreboding, Kim was her aunt, why was she so worried but something about her blocking her path to the doorway made her a little nervous.

'Something wrong' Kim asked sounding way too innocent.

'No, nothing's wrong' Kayla said, turning to look around the room she said 'so…all this was my mum's?'

'Yup' replied Kim 'and if you want any of it you can have it, dad and I have no use for it.'

Kayla raised her eyebrow at Kim 'there is nothing here you want?'

'Trust me if there was, I'd have taken it by now' Kim replied with a sarcastic smile 'me and my sister rarely had things we both wanted, the odd top here or there…but no.'

Kayla moved around the room while Kim leaned against the wall, watching her carefully…almost like a hawk, watching what she looked at and picked up.

After what felt like hours but was probably only half an hour of this Kim said 'you know…I always wondered some things about my sister…things never added up.'

Kayla looked at Kim 'oh yeah, like what?'

'Well first…her fear of water I mean at first ok I get it, some people just don't like water…but then I saw her leap into water on more than one occasion…and then on others she was so scared she made me do the dishes' Kim said.

Kayla listened intently but pretended that she was barely interested and more interested in a box of clothing.

'And then of all places she gets a job at water central, the Marine Park and as time goes on she becomes the best dolphin trainer they've ever known…I'm not stupid, something isn't right about that' Kim continues, ranting on.

Not sure what to say, without giving anything away Kayla just kept quiet.

'She and her friends had to have more secrets than anyone else I knew and as her sister I thought she could have told me, but no she just keeps lying to me, to dad…to everyone' Kim said irritably.

'What's your point' Kayla asked, hoping Kim would drop this and just pass it off as something to leave in the past.

There was a long silence and then Kim said 'I found something once, a diary, my sister claimed she just used it to re-write a fairy tale…but it would explain everything…'

Kayla laughed 'explain what exactly, what are you getting at?'

'Dad said my sister had an affinity for water, the dolphins and everything, I think he was right' Kim explained.

'You don't have an affinity for water by staying out of it' Kayla said but she wished she hadn't said that, she was just adding wood to the fire that was Kim's obvious obsession.

Standing up Kayla said 'I'm going to go to the bathroom, where is it again?'

'Second door, just by my bedroom' Kim said casually.

Kayla quickly left the room and breathed out, this is not good; Kim knows way too much, how could her mother have written a diary about being a mermaid, that was so…careless.

Not focusing on where she was going she past the bathroom and entered Kim's room…the sight that awaited her was not pretty; newspapers everywhere, photos too, pictures of her mother and the other three girls…no evidence that she had any idea what they were but it was clear she had been spying on them for some time.

Kayla looked back at the door to make sure Kim wasn't coming then walked over to the desk, endless paper scribbled with lists of odd occurrences and a chart for each of the four girls and what occurrences had been seen with each of them.

She was just about to leave when she saw a small black box on her desk; she opened it to find a silver locket inside with a small amethyst stone in it. The locket could open but whatever had been inside, a picture maybe, was gone.

Kayla walked back out into the hall and back to her mother's room, forgetting about the bathroom, she was certain this locket had been her mother's, Charlotte had told her about it once. She slipped it into her back pocket, hiding it from view.

Kim was by the window as she returned 'hey…so, see anything you like' she asked gesturing round at the room of clothes and other objects.

Kayla sighed, biting her lip 'well maybe one or two things, that picture of her and my dad is nice.'

'Alright' said Kim, sounding tired 'I'm not going to beat around the bush anymore, I know that my sister kept secrets and I know that Charlotte is the only person who didn't die in that accident that was in on them.'

'I honestly have no idea what you're talking about' said Kayla frowning, she was actually quite proud of her bit of acting she almost sounded sincere, but it clearly hadn't fooled Kim.

'Look, I just want to know, my sister never was honest with me, no matter how hard I tried to be nice, even when I got older she still never let me in' Kim said 'do you know how that feels?'

Kayla sighed 'did it ever occur to you that maybe just telling you and many others for that matter, just wasn't an option that she had sworn not to tell something, that she'd be breaking a promise to others if she did?'

Kim frowned 'so you do know something…it is about that diary I knew it, I knew I should never have let that theory go but I did because I trusted my sister and she lied.'

'Exactly how long have you had suspicions, my god this was years ago' Kayla said 'you're being ridiculous for someone of your age.'

Kim rolled her eyes 'I've always been suspicious but I just sort of…let it go up and down I just ignored it and got on with things, if my sister wanted to be all secretive and weird fine. But then after…well once you came along I was reminded of it all.'

'This is ridiculous, the diary, whatever, it was make believe just like my mother said' Kayla argued, crossing her arms defensively.

She didn't say anything in reply but Kim had a look in her eye Kayla didn't like one bit 'fine' said Kim 'I'll drop it, I'm just going to get a drink.'

She left the room; while she was gone Kayla packed a few things into a box, including the locket and the picture of her parents. She then pulled out her phone and tried to call the others but got no answer 'great' she muttered 'thanks guys.'

Kayla dumped the box on the bed just as Kim came back in sipping her glass of water 'sorry about before…it's just always troubled me' said Kim.

'It's ok' said Kayla though she really felt it wasn't ok at all, she was about to say more when she felt a sudden cold chill as Kim dumped the rest of her water on her back 'aaaagghhh KIM!'

Smiling wickedly Kim put the glass on the desk 'now if my theory is correct you only have a few seconds…am I right?'

Kayla couldn't believe just how selfish, self-centred and obsessed she was 'you…do you have any idea what you've just…' but her sentence was cut off as she turned into water and transformed, her mermaid form falling backwards onto the mattress.

'…done' Kim asked finishing Kayla's sentence for her 'yes I think so, I have revealed, that you, like my sister was, are a mermaid' gesturing to her purple hair she said 'nice hair by the way.'

Raising her eyebrows at her Kayla said 'you don't seem overly surprised by the fact a mythical creature is lying on a bed in your house.'

'Oh I was, the first time I read that diary all this was real weird and disturbing…but I've had years to come to grips with the idea' Kim explained.

'What are you going to do' asked Kayla, worried deeply now for not just her but the others too.

'You and I are going to have a nice long chat, I honestly just want to know the truth, is that so much to ask' Kim said.

Kayla pulled herself up on her elbows 'look, my mother had her reasons and so do I, I can't tell you anything.'

'And why not, the cats out of the bag' Kim said 'or should I say fish out of the net?'

Kayla rolled her eyes 'oh ha ha, so funny.'

'I thought so' replied Kim smiling 'so…how did this happen to you? Were you born this way? No wait…you can't have been, I don't remember you reacting to water when you were with us.'

Utterly refusing to say a word, Kayla just lay there; she grabbed one of the shirts nearby and started drying herself.

'So you turn into a mermaid when you're wet, that much is clear and I guess you turn back when dry, judging by what you're doing' Kim said watching her.

Kayla said nothing, she just continued to ignore her and dry herself, she wasn't going to help her learn anymore.

Meanwhile, out at Mako, the three girls were swimming through the reefs, enjoying the freedom and speed their mermaid form gave them. After a while they went up onto the beach and dried off, turning back to normal.

'Where do you think Kayla is' Becka asked 'still at Don's house, she's been an aweful long time.'

Elayne had been wondering the same thing, she took out her phone and checked it, there was one missed call from her but no message 'huh, she tried calling earlier but there's no message.'

Roxie and Becka moved closer to look 'strange, you think she's in trouble?'

'I doubt it, what trouble could she be in at their house' Elayne said.

Roxie frowned thoughtfully 'well there is Kim…but I wouldn't call her trouble…more annoying.'

'Yeah…but Don's there, she isn't so bad when he's around' Becka replied.

Looking at her watch Elayne said 'we'll give it another half an hour, if we don't hear from her by then we head over there, ok?'

The other two nodded in agreement and they headed off along the beach.

Back at the Sertori's, things were only getting worse, Kayla had dried herself off and was now sitting cross-legged on the bed, she would have tried to run for the door by now, if Kim wasn't leaning against it. Kim was her aunt, she was convinced that no matter how bad this could get she wouldn't sink so low as to go telling everyone. But that still didn't make the intimidating look she was giving her now make her feel any better, it made her feel like a mouse trapped in a corner.

'I'm not telling you anything Kim' Kayla said again 'I mean it, you've seen enough and you have to swear that you won't be telling anyone.'

Kim smiled 'oh is that what you're worried about, that I'm going to go spreading this about…reveal your secret?'

'Yes' Kayla almost screamed in exasperation 'no one can know Kim.'

There was a long silence as Kim watched her 'alright…I'll keep it quiet, on one condition.'

How did I know that was coming Kayla thought to herself irritably.

'Just answer me three simple questions, tell me the truth and I promise I'll tell no one' Kim said, Kayla was about to say she couldn't promise that but Kim didn't give her the chance.

'Alright, firstly; my sister was a mermaid, that I know but I'm guessing so was Rikki, Emma and Bella' Kim asked looking at Kayla.

Kayla said nothing, refusing to answer, biting her lip, but it was pretty much answer enough in itself.

'Thought so' replied Kim 'I'm guessing these powers were passed on genetically…am I right?'

Kayla again said nothing, she wanted to just try and shove past Kim, she was an utter failure as a mermaid, someone had already discovered her secret.

'I'm not telling you anything else Kim' Kayla shouted, standing up and moving very close to her aunt's face 'you need to get over the fact that my mother just didn't trust you with the secret, she had promises to keep and so do I.'

'It is not much of a secret anymore' Kim said unbothered by Kayla's outburst.

Losing her head completely Kayla felt something rise inside her and then there was a bang from somewhere in the house.

The two of them left the room, Kayla quickly grabbed the locket before she left, shoving it in her back pocket again.

The taps in the house were roaring with water, it was spurting in every direction; fortunately Kayla hadn't got too close. She sent the water at Kim, knocking her backwards, then quickly bolted out the door and ran as fast as she could, heading home.

Charlotte was just coming downstairs when Kayla bolted through the door panting and sobbing.

'Kayla, sweety, what's wrong' asked Charlotte coming over to where she'd fallen to her knees.

But Kayla could barely get a word out 'I…Kim…I'm so…so sorry.'

'What for' asked Charlotte 'come on' she pulled her off the floor and guided her over to the sofa. As Kayla stood up the locket fell out of the back pocket, seeing it Charlotte picked it up.

'Kayla…where did you get this' Charlotte asked curiously holding it gently.

Pulling herself back together a bit Kayla said 'it uh…it was my mother's right…but I found it in Kim's room…I think she took it after she…passed away.'

Charlotte sat down and put the locket on the coffee table 'yes…it was your mothers…the locket has a long history of ownership actually; first it was my grandmothers.'

Kayla looked at Charlotte with surprise 'but then…shouldn't it belong to you?'

Smiling Charlotte shook her head 'no…it is part of a set; three were made, one for each girl, for each original mermaid.'

Looking at the locket Kayla said 'so…where are the other two?'

Charlotte shrugs 'who knows…they could be…anywhere; I'll tell you the whole story later perhaps, when the others are here, it is something you should all hear. I want to know what happened to you, why are you so upset?'

'It's Kim' Kayla said irritably.

'What about her' asked Charlotte, her voice sounded calm but Kayla knew Charlotte wasn't fond of her.

Putting her face in her hands Kayla muttered something Charlotte couldn't understand.

'I'm sorry' Charlotte said, her eyebrow raised.

'She knows' Kayla repeated 'she knows about…us, mermaids, what my mom was, what I am and it's all my fault.'

Shushing her Charlotte crouched down in front of her and took Kayla's hands 'listen to me Kayla, firstly, I always knew Kim would be a problem at one point, I admit the fact she knew has…surprised me but still Kim always has been devious.'

'But what if she tells someone' Kayla said 'she saw me; she threw water on me and everything.'

Charlotte sighed patiently 'she won't, not without proof at least and she has none, only theories and her word, I've seen what happens when people cry mermaid around here before, they are called crazy, she won't want that.'

'I guess' Kayla said 'she said my mother wrote a diary about being a mermaid and that was where she first got the theory.'

Charlotte shook her head 'not one of Cleo's finest moments obviously but everyone makes mistakes.'

'Yeah well, that one is coming back to haunt us now' Kayla said irritably.

'They often do, still you found the locket and I think that is a big plus…it is a valuable part of your parent's history' Charlotte said 'of mermaid history. Now…tell me everything and then I will be having a talk with Kim myself, one thing is wanting to understand, I know how that feels but she has to keep this secret.'

Kayla told Charlotte everything, from the moment she arrived to the moment she left the house, when she finally finished she sighed, worried that Charlotte would be angry.

'Well…what's done is done' said Charlotte finally 'your outburst wasn't intentional right?'

Kayla shook her head rapidly 'of course not, I would never do something like that on purpose.'

'Does she think it's just you or does she know about the others too' Charlotte asked.

'I don't know…she only seemed to really care about my mother and me…but she knows Emma, Rikki and Bella were.'

Charlotte stood up straight 'she'll no doubt figure it out…then I guess I have to just convince her to keep the secret…not a lot more I can do.'

Kim was still sorting out the flooded house when Charlotte knocked on the front door. Kim opened the front door and let her in, glowering before returning to cleaning up the house.

'Look at this mess' Kim said loudly and angrily 'do you have any idea what this is going to cost?'

Charlotte didn't say anything, she calmly stepped inside and looked around, she couldn't deny Kayla had made quite a mess, but she'd worry about that later 'where's Don, did he see what happened, does he know anything?'

'Know what' asked Kim as she mopped away at the floor.

'You know full well what I'm talking about' Charlotte replied simply, her arms folded across her chest.

'No' said Kim 'he knows nothing, he wasn't here when this' she gestured to the all the water around her 'happened either, he left while the two of us were upstairs.'

'Good' said Charlotte 'now let's get something perfectly clear Kim, I know how it feels to want to understand, and to be left out but now that you know you can't tell anyone.'

Kim looked at Charlotte for a long moment 'don't you think there are some people who deserve to know…like say Eliot?'

Charlotte shook her head 'the less people know the better, right now only myself, Ash and you know about it.'

'What about Sophie, she's raising two of them and has no idea?'

Charlotte shrugged 'to be honest it's hard to know what Sophie knows, she's a rather difficult person to read.'

Kim smiled 'I could try and find out.'

'No, she is stressed enough that the girls hang around with me, if she learns I have someone spying on her she'll just use that as an excuse to take the girls away from me' Charlotte replied.

Shrugging Kim continued to mop the floor 'fine, I won't say a word, but I'm only doing it for my sister…Kayla and her friends haven't earned my trust yet.'

Pleased they had come to an agreement Charlotte nodded 'alright, and I'll talk to Kayla about this…'she gestured around at the water 'but I do feel I need to say it was probably provoked.'

(Note to Readers: Thank you for all the reviews I have received. For those of you following the story, sorry this last chapter has taken so long but I am writing many things and so I have to prioritize. The more reviews and more detailed feedback you give me the better, for I will feel more inclined then to continue this story first above others I am working on. Also if I am able to give replies to your feedback to share opinions all the better.)