A/N: I cannot express to how sorry I am for not posting anything in months. Not that I'm trying to get any sympathy here, but I've literally been so busy that I've barely had time to breathe. Between work, school, school work, and a bunch of other stuff, I'm sleep-deprived. And there's nothing worse than trying to write when you're cranky (not a good result to say the least). Hopefully, with school coming to a close for the year, I can start to upload on a bi-weekly basis. Perhaps even a weekly basis.

As for WAHBL, the next few chapters are really going to start divulging further into the plot. They're also going to get more intense and suspenseful. I'm really excited to see where this story goes and I look forward to see what you guys think!

With that, please review (the more I get, the more that makes me want to write...) and tell me what your theories are! Things are a little more layered than you may think (hint hint), so let me know what you think will happen next!

Also, I just posted a one-shot called At the Crossroads. Feel free to check that out as well!

Enjoy! :)

Tell us what?" Cleo said apprehensively with a sniffle.

Looking down uncomfortably, Lewis took a deep breath. There was no turning back now, he told himself. Lewis stared at the boxes sitting one of the café's tables and felt the locket burn his insides out in fright. Everybody was eyeing him down with such hope and suspense; nonetheless, he knew what he was about to say would rid them of any faith they had left.

"Oh, for God's sake, Lewis! Spit it out!" Rikki snapped, not wanting to wait any longer for the news.

"It's about Emma," Lewis said looking down at his feet. Taking another deep breath, he finally lifted his head back up. "She's in danger."

The air in the room seemed tightened instantly. "Lewis," Bella was the only one who could manage to say anything. "Do you know something that we don't?"

Quickly glancing over at Cleo, Lewis saw her eyes open-wide in anticipation. It crushed him to see the distress and worry in her face, causing Lewis to feel more guilty about keeping everything from them. Every second counted; a short moment of the girls not knowing the truth could have hurt them. Finally realizing this, Lewis could not bear it any longer. With a trembling hand, he reached into his pocket and felt the locket, now ominously frozen cold. Slowly, he pulled it out holding it in front of him as a single tear drifted down his cheek.

Rikki and Cleo stood there wide-eyed, silently begging him that it wasn't true. He looked at them sadly. After a long silence from the two, Rikki finally managed, "Where did you get that?" Her voice was solemn but confused, trying to process the information. Her eyes then drifted to the clasp and chain, realising it was broken. "Lewis…" Rikki's voice choked at first, but then she shouted anxiously. "SAY SOMETHING!" Cleo fell on Bella's shoulder once again in hysterics. Emma would never abandon her locket; the group knew from a single glance that something was terribly wrong.

Speechless and unsure how to proceed, Lewis pointed towards the boxes, his head down in what seemed like shame for neglecting to tell his friends earlier. Exchanging glances, Will and Zane walked over towards the table where the two boxes were. Grabbing one each, they brought them back over and hesitated to open them, fearing what was inside.

"Lewis—I don't understand. What's going on here?" Bella said whilst comforting Cleo as best she could.

Lewis began to gravely explain the situation. "We're being watched. All of us." Motioning to everyone around the table, he opened the boxes and dumped all the pictures on the table. The pictures catching everyone's eye, however, were the one of the girls in the moonpool. Rikki, Bella, and Cleo each picked one up and stared at it dumbfounded.

"Was Emma's locket in this box?" Cleo mumbled with a sniffle.

Lewis confirmed with a nod. "Yes. I only found out yesterday. Someone has been following me and the three of you for the past few weeks. It started out when I went on my boat to go fishing. I got a text from some number and I felt like someone was behind me or watching me from afar. It was the strangest thing. Then, I heard someone and I panicked and I just sped off. My hat flew away and I didn't even go back for it. That's how scared I was. Thinking I was safe, I went into the open sea, trying to shake it off. So, I went fishing and felt a pull on my fishing rod. It was a giant pile of seaweed… that covered a hat. My fishing hat.

"I knew something definitely wasn't right. I mean, how could my hat have gotten from the docks to underwater in the time it did? So, I went back and found boxes. There were pictures exactly like these and a note. I threw the pictures and the note overboard, so that nobody could see them, because stupid me thought my problems would end with that. And then I found the locket; that's what reality really hit me. I was so frightened and then today I went back and I found two boxes with yet another note. I think it's still in here."

Lewis shuffled through the pictures, trying to find the crumpled note in the dozens of papers. "Come on…" He muttered in frustration as Zane began to search as well. "Where is it?!"

"Come down. I found it," Zane said and offered the note to Lewis, who instantly put his hands up, indicating he did not want it.

Rolling his eyes, Zane sighed and unfolded the note. He read, "'Thought you and your little friends have seen the last of me? Think again. You can't get rid of me, Lewis. Not this time'."

Suddenly, Rikki grabbed the note from Zane's hand with an angered expression. Rereading the note to herself, her face reddened in fury. The note then scrunched in her hands. "Denman... I knew it the minute I saw her that the little—"

"Okay, let's not go pointing fingers here…" Bella attempted to reason but Rikki continued before Bella could say anything more.

"Pointing fingers? Are you joking? We have all the proof right here." Rikki held up the note and brandished it in frustration. "Denman just happened to arrive minutes after we found out about Emma? That isn't even close to being a coincidence!"

"But you can't just automatically think—" Bella tried again.

"How could you even think about defending her?!" Rikki flamed as Bella stared at her in fright. "You do not know one little thing about this she-devil. She will stop at nothing to get what she wants. The second she figures out that we're mermaids again, we'll be terrorized. She will mess with us until we're exposed. Or worse. She kidnapped Emma for god's sake! Oh you can bet that the next time that I see her, I'm gonna kill that little son of a—"

"Enough you two!" Cleo shouted, wiping any tears away. She stepped in between Rikki and Bella, arms out separating the two girls. "I don't want to hear either of you arguing anymore. Especially not at a time like this." With a sniffle, Cleo continued. "We will figure this out and we will get Emma back from whomever may have her. So that means we have to stick together on this one. Someone may be out to get us too and now is not a good time to pull apart. We have to stay strong. For Emma." Looking back and forth between Rikki and Bella, Cleo waited for someone to initiate an apology. "Anytime now, you two."

Bella apologized first, feeling bad that she tried to defend Denman. "I'm sorry, Rikki, I really am. I shouldn't have said anything or crossed the line with this. I really want to find Emma too."

"As you should be," Rikki quipped but Cleo nudged her in the stomach. "Alright, I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have yelled at you. I'm just a little upset right now."

With a smile, Bella accepted the apology. "I'm sad too, you know." She added.

"I think we all are." Lewis said.

"Hey, um, Lewis, what's in this box?" Will picked up the smaller package. "And why is it—"

Eyes widening, he stopped at the sight of a pool of red liquid where the box was on the table, as it had begun to leak from the bottom. A small little puddle began to form at his feet, drops falling to the floor.

Instantly, the three girls whitened and turned away in horror. Will, still in shock, finally threw it back onto the table. The box fell over, knocking the top off and spilling the scales onto the table and the floor. "Lewis, please don't tell me this is what I think it is…"

"Oh my god," Bella mustered as Cleo began to sob.

"Why would she do that to her?!" Rikki turned back around, staring at the blood and scales on the floor. "Emma—I'm gonna kill that Denman." Red faced, Rikki's eyes began to well with tears. "I just can't believe she would… I just… can't…" Finally, tears erupted from her face and Zane went to her, wrapping her in his arms in solace.

Guilt ate Lewis inside. "I know I should have told you guys immediately. I just didn't—I thought I shouldn't worry you." No one said anything in response. "I really am sorry. Oh, come on, Cleo, you understand, right?" He looked at her hopefully.

Wiping her eyes, Cleo whispered, "I just wish you told us immediately. This isn't something we can withhold from one another."

"I agree. We have to be honest and stick together. We're vulnerable if we don't," Bella seconded.

"Lewis, I swear, if you know something that's as vital as this and don't tell us immediately —" Rikki threatened.

"Okay, let's not go to extremes here…" Cleo stared at Rikki. "But she does have a point." She looked back at Lewis.

"I said I was sorry!" Lewis defended.

Cleo smiled. "I know, but you deserved it." She patted him on the shoulder.

"Sorry to change the subject here…" Bella interrupted. "But two things. One: what are we gonna do about this Denman and Emma problem? And two: can someone clean up the floor? I can't look at that anymore," She pointed toward the scales and blood.

"Right…" Will realized, going over to get towels.

"Well, if we're pretty sure Denman has Emma…" Zane began.

"Which she does," Rikki pointed out.

"Alright, since we know Denman has Emma, shouldn't we confront her?" Zane concluded.

"Again? Oh no, I am not doing that again." Cleo said. "No way."

"Cleo's right. That's too risky," Bella agreed, "even for a cause like this."

"You guys have to stay away as far away as possible from her." Will said, cleaning up the mess on the floor. "Hey, Zane, can you grab me another one?" He held up a soaked red-stained towel.

"Then how would you guys…" Lewis began but saw Rikki with a smile on her face. "What?"

"Not us." Rikki smiled with an idea in her head, slowly walking closer to him. "Oh, we're not going." She stopped in front of him and smiled wider. "You are, Lewis."

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no way." Lewis refused but Rikki's smile continued to grow.

"You need to redeem yourself, Lewis." She slapped him on the back as he cringed. "You have a better chance of getting information out of her than us. Plus, you don't sprout a tail with the touch of water. Therefore, you can't be exposed."

Wide eyed, Lewis begged, "Cleo, you can't possibly send me—"

"I'd go with you." Zane offered. "I need to show her a piece of my mind anyway."

"There!" Rikki beamed. "Now you have backup."

"Cleo…" Lewis moaned.

"I hate to say this, but I think we have to do this." Cleo reasoned. "I'm sorry, Lewis."

With a long sigh, he gave in. "Fine. But only for Emma. And you three." He paused. "But I really really don't like this."

"So let's call her." Will decided.

Lewis pulled out his phone instantly and scrolled through his contacts. "Got it."

Everyone stared at him in confusion. "You kept her number this whole time?" Cleo gaped.

"Of course." Lewis said, pressing the call button.

"What? Why?" Rikki questioned in disgust.

"For emergencies like these," Lewis said quickly as Rikki and Cleo exchanged looks.

"But—"

"It's ringing," Lewis interrupted before they could say anything else.

Sitting in her boat, Denman was busying at her desk with papers, notebooks, and folders spread every which way. Scrolling through charts of fish populations and placing pictures next to the respected species, she sighed, taking a long swig of her coffee. Putting it back down, she frowned. "I think I need something stronger…"

Suddenly, however, Denman found herself distracted at the sight of Mako Island in the distance. Her face remained solemn but a grin quickly took over. Turning back toward her laptop, she clicked out of her documents and went to the internet. She typed in "Emma Gilbert".

Dozens of recent news articles rolled up on the screen. She sighed. "That poor girl. Who would do such a thing?" With a laugh, she added "I think she probably had it coming anyway."

As she lowered the computer screen, a phone began to ring. She sighed and started to shuffle through the papers and folders, trying to find it under the mess. "Where is it?" She hissed, lifting a stack up. Her eyes widened at the sight, quickly putting the stack back where it was. To be safe, Denman placed more papers on top of it. Finally, she spotted the phone by her printer and smiled at the contact name. "Hello, Lewis. To what do I owe this special call?"

"We need to talk." He spoke gravely.

"I thought we already did," She smiled. "But if I'm not mistaken, I wasn't welcome last time."

"Circumstances have changed."

"Have they now?" Her voice peaked with interest. "Do share."

"I'd like to meet with you. We need to have a serious word."

She laughed. "No need to be so intense about this, Lewis. It's only me."

Carefully, Lewis avoided the question. "Are we going to meet or not?"

"Of course. Meet me on my boat at sunset, down by the marina. That's two hours now."

"No. We meet on common ground."

"Oh, no. You asked me for a word, now I get to choose the venue of this little chat." Lewis remained silent. "And come alone." Denman smiled.

He sighed. "Fine. Sunset on your boat." With that, he hung up.

Denman smiled, putting the phone down and glanced back over toward the computer. "I look forward to it."