Chapter Seven

"Alright, I think you should wait in that building over there," said Sam. "I have a feeling she won't show if you're there."

As the sun went down, Sam had led Dean to an abandoned dock downtown. The building stood ten feet from the dock area with a good view of the area. The water gathered at the edge of the dock. A wood wall was built in the water, cutting the dock off from the rest of the ocean. The center of the wall was worn down a little, dipping down into the water slightly.

"Okay, but if I see anything fishy—" began Dean.

Sam opened his mouth to make a joke.

"Not that kind of fishy," Dean shot at him. "If I see anything wrong, I'm gonna come running."

Sam nodded. "Fine. Now, leave."

Dean rolled his eyes, running over to the building. Sam looked over at the dock, waiting for whatever was coming. He glanced around, making sure no one was around.

There was a light splash, and Sam quickly looked back at the dock. The water just inside the wall rippled; something had just jumped in from the outside. Sam looked closely. He saw a head of red hair rise a little out of the water, brown eyes staring fearfully at him. Sam wondered if this was Lizzie. Sam stepped closer, wanting to ask.

The mermaid ducked underwater quickly, her tail surfacing as she fled.

"No, wait!" Sam called out. Taking a chance, he ran to the edge of the dock. "Lizzie!"

After a couple seconds, the red head popped up again, staring at him. Sam put his hands up to ease her panic. Sam slowly slipped his jacket off and knelt down, dipping his arm in the water. He lifted his arm out of the water, showing her his fin and scales. The fear melted from Lizzie's face, and she edged forward in the water a little more, her head coming up fully from the water.

Sam stared in amazement. She was breathtakingly beautiful. Her smile reminded him of Jessica's smile. Shiny black scales dotted the sides of her neck. Sam smiled at her as he kicked his boots and socks off. Glancing around once again to make sure no one was there and feeling a little awkward, Sam grabbed the hem of his shirt, lifting it over his head. Not wanting another jeans-ripping episode, Sam quickly slipped his pants off, leaving him standing in his boxers.

Sam quickly slipped down onto the dock, submerging his legs in the water. He felt the tingle as his feet and calves merged together, transforming into the blue tail. Sam eased off of the dock, bobbing in the water. The tail quickly formed, along with his other arm fin. Sam was amazed at how easy it was to stay afloat. Usually in order to tread water, he had to move his legs and arms around a lot. But that was when he was human. Now, he seemed to naturally float in the water, with hardly a muscle working to tread water. It was probably part of the whole hydrokinesis thing.

Sam looked over at the red-headed mermaid. She was watching him intently.

"Hi," said Sam.

She smiled. "Hi…Samuel."

Sam smiled at her. "How about Sam?"

She giggled at little, a giggle that Sam recognized. "Sam…"

"Lizzie?" asked Sam.

Lizzie nodded. "Your first time?"

Sam frowned. "What?"

"In the water…" said Lizzie. "Not just a tub full of water."

Sam laughed. "Yeah, actually."

Lizzie smiled suggestively. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

She abruptly turned, diving up out of the water and back under it. She surfaced as she jumped over the wooden wall and plunged back into the water. Sam watched as she flitted about in the shallow ocean, waiting for him. Sam glanced over at the building by the dock. Dean peeked a little further out from behind the edge of the window on the first floor. Dean shrugged and tipped his head in the direction of Lizzie in a "go get her" motion. Sam rolled his eyes as he looked back at Lizzie.

Sam concentrated on the section of his mind that would know how to use his new body. Sam took a deep breath and began swimming towards the wall. Halfway there, he dipped under the water, building up the momentum. His tail beat the water furiously as he surfaced and jumped over the wall, sinking back under the surface on the other side.

Sam was amazed at how good it felt to soar through the water. It was his first time in a roomy area of water. He'd only ever been in the motel tubs. The tail worked with the water so efficiently. Sam was also shocked at how he could breathe under the water. It felt so weird. He knew that he should be holding his breath, but at the same time, his mer-body was now made to breathe in the water also.

Sam looked around under the water, spotting Lizzie smiling at him from about a hundred feet away. Her tail had black scales on it, which blended with her red hair perfectly. And just like the mermaid they'd killed earlier that week, she didn't have forearm fins like Sam did. That was probably the difference between merman and mermaids…other than the whole 'scales covering the breasts' thing. Speaking of which, her breast scales were also black.

Lizzie beckoned him towards her.

"Let's go have some fun, Sam," Lizzie giggled in his head.

Sam smiled and darted after her as she zoomed away. The two of them zipped around each other, playing in the moonlight. Lizzie took him out away from the shore and down into the ocean depths. They explored coral reefs and underwater caves, Lizzie showing him all the ocean had to offer.

Sam suddenly halted, looking around in confusion. Lizzie also looked around, a look of worry on her face.

"What is that?" Sam asked her.

"Something's wrong," Lizzie told him. "We gotta go."

Lizzie darted off, and Sam hurriedly followed her. About a hundred yards out, they surfaced and looked back to see an oil tanker steaming out into the ocean.

"Gas leak," said Lizzie, glaring at the tanker.

"Really?" asked Sam. "How can you tell?"

"Well, you're new, so you probably don't know this, but mer-people can sense changes in the water," Lizzie told him. "You know, dangerous stuff, like poison and blood. Or—"

"Gasoline," said Sam, staring at the tanker. "Shouldn't we do something?"

"We can't," said Lizzie. "It'll eventually dilute itself. Anytime you feel that 'spider sense' in the back of your mind, pay attention. It'll help." She ducked under the water.

Sam followed her under. "'Spider sense'? When were you turned?"

Lizzie looked over at him as they swam next to each other. "About five years ago now."

"Wow…" said Sam. "How did it happen?"

Lizzie didn't answer, but she pulled ahead of him, diving down deep.

I guess that's a sore subject, Sam thought, following her.

"Do you have family?" Sam asked.

Lizzie hesitated a little more, recovering from his earlier question. "Yes. My sister got turned a year after I did."

"She wanted to be with you, didn't she?" asked Sam.

Lizzie nodded. "Yeah. She's the oldest. She finally found out what happened to me and wanted to look after me."

Sam chuckled. "I know how that feels."

"You have an older sister, too?" asked Lizzie.

"Older brother," Sam told her. "He, uh, was there when I first changed. He's been helping me figure everything out. In fact, he's waiting back at the dock for when I come back."

Lizzie looked at him. "You brought a mortal with you?"

"He's my brother, Lizzie," Sam told her. "I'm not gonna hide this from him."

"I guess that makes sense," Lizzie assented.

"Did you not tell your sister at first?" asked Sam.

Lizzie hesitated again. "No, I didn't. It, uh, was complicated."

Sam nodded, knowing that it was something to do with how she changed and not wanting to press it.

"But now, I'm free," said Lizzie. "This world is so much better than mine ever was."

Sam smiled. "It is pretty amazing. I've never seen anything like it."

Lizzie smiled at him. "You wanna see more? I can show you where we live."

"Sure," said Sam, following her as she headed off.

"Good, we should head in soon," said Lizzie. "It's getting late."

Sam stopped, looking up at the surface of the water miles above them. It did look slightly lighter. "What time is it?"

"I'd put it at about five-thirty," she answered.

Sam's eyes widened. "I gotta go." He started swimming back towards the shore.

Lizzie followed him. "What? What's wrong?"

"My brother's waiting for me," said Sam, speeding up. "I gotta get back in time for Dean to get me into the car so no one sees."

"Dean?" asked Lizzie.

"My brother," said Sam. "It's gonna take him a while to drag me into the car."

"Why does he need to drag you to the car?" asked Lizzie.

"'Cause we can't walk with these tails," said Sam. "I should've given myself time to dry off. What was I thinking?"

"Just dry yourself off, Sam," said Lizzie.

"I can only dry myself off so much," Sam told her.

"No, with your mind," said Lizzie.

Sam glanced back at her while still swimming towards shore. "What?"

"You haven't tried the hydrokinesis thing?" asked Lizzie.

"You can use that to dry off?" asked Sam.

"Yeah," said Lizzie. "You think mer-people really sit around for hours, waiting to change back to human form? If you use the hydrokinesis, you can drain the water right off of your body and out of your scales and everything."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Give it a try when you get back to shore."

"Thanks," said Sam as the shore began to close in around them.

They swam to the wooden wall, peeking over the edge. The dawn light was shining into the dock, but no one was there. Sam did spot Dean leaning out the window, relaxing when he spotted Sam.

"Come on," Sam told Lizzie.

Sam and Lizzie dunked back under the water, diving up to the surface and jumping over the wall. They swam to the edge of the dock.

Dean ran over to the edge. "Where you been, Sam? Geez."

Lizzie backed off a little.

Sam turned towards her. "Oh, it's okay. This is Dean."

Lizzie relaxed a little, looking up at Dean. "You know, you guys seem very comfortable with this whole 'mermaid' thing."

"Well, we kind of know a thing or two about this stuff," Sam told her.

Lizzie's eyes widened. "You're the hunters, aren't you? You guys killed Amanda this week."

"Hey, she attacked first," said Dean. "And she—"

"It's alright," said Lizzie. "She wasn't a part of our group."

Dean frowned. "She wasn't?"

"Not all of us are evil, you know," said Lizzie. "I mean, OJ and Ted Bundy and Son of Sam and Charles Manson were monsters, but that doesn't mean all humans are inherently evil."

Sam looked at his brother. "You know, she's got a point."

Dean waved his hand at them. "Argue about it later. We need to move, Sam, before someone sees me hauling your ass to the car."

"Actually, we solved that little problem…I think," said Sam.

"You did?" asked Dean.

"Yeah, just go get the car," Sam told him.

Dean darted off for where they parked the car.

Sam gripped the dock, pulling his body out of the water and flopping his tail onto the dock. He closed his eyes and concentrated, feeling that spark flit through his brain.

"Sam!" Lizzie warned.

Sam opened his eyes to see someone peeking out from behind the abandoned building. Sam quickly splashed back into the water, ducking down under the surface with her. He and Lizzie watched as the person came up to the edge of the dock, leaning over the water and raising something to his face.

"It's a camera!" said Sam. "He must have gotten word of those killings and came to investigate."

"What do we do?" asked Lizzie. "If we try to get past the wall, he'll see us jump. I don't want any reporters to go hunting for my family and friends."

Sam thought for a moment. "I got an idea. Come on." He took Lizzie over to the farthest corner of the water as deep as they could get. "Wait here."

Lizzie nodded and watched as Sam cautiously rose to the surface in front of the dock. Sam poked his head up through the surface.

"Hey, man," said Sam. "Do you mind?"

"I thought I saw something," said the guy with the camera.

"Yeah, you're ruining the moment," said Sam, giving him a look. He hoped the guy would think he and Lizzie were just skinny dipping.

"But, man, I think I saw a girl with a tail," said the guy. "I gotta get that on camera. I mean, come on, I'll have proof of a real life mermaid!"

Sam glared at him. "You want a mermaid?" He swam a little further out, raising his tail a little and splashing the guy.

The water soaked the guy's clothes and ruined his camera.

"Rent a Disney movie!" Sam yelled after him before diving back down to where Lizzie was.

They waited until the guy moved on. They came back to the surface, and Sam poked his head up to watch the guy running off towards town.

"He's probably gonna go tell his friends now," said Lizzie, worried. "They'll know we exist."

"But his camera's broken," said Sam. "He doesn't have proof. Who's gonna believe him?"

Lizzie shrugged. "Good point."

Dean pulled up, watching the soaked guy run off towards town. He ran up to the dock. "What happened?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle," said Sam, gripping the dock and pulling himself back up. "Alright, here goes nothing."

Sam concentrated once again, feeling that spark again. He could feel the water running off of his body, onto the dock and back into the water. He dried his tail out the most that he could, opening his eyes to see that he had changed back into human form. Dean quickly handed him his jeans.

"Thanks," said Sam, pulling his pants on. As he grabbed his shirt and pulled it on, he looked down at Lizzie. "I'll see you later, okay?"

Lizzie smiled at him. "Okay. Bye."

"Bye," said Sam.

Lizzie dived under the water, jumping over the wall and into the ocean. Sam quickly pulled on his jacket and his boots.

"So, what'd you find out?" asked Dean.

Sam looked at him. "A lot. Come on, I'll tell you."

They headed towards the Impala.