"Scully!" He woke suddenly sitting up in the bed, back in the land of the awake. He was breathing hard and his sheets were soaked with his own sweat. The room was now dark. He realised he must have slept much longer than he had intended.
The net pulled back and Cat's head poked through the opening. "Are you ok?"
He looked at her through his fingers covering his face. "yeah" he replied unconvincingly and moved to sit on the edge of the bed
"You were mumbling in your sleep Fox." She looked at him concerned. "You were terrified. What on earth were you dreaming about?"
He shook his head and pulled a shirt on "Tell me what you found on the beach."
She sighed and fought to keep her nerves in check. "I didn't find any of the weed and without a lab I can't analyse the water samples to see if it matches the water in our victim's lungs."
"What have you been up to then?" Mulder sounded unnecessarily angry.
"Don't get pissy with me, Fox, I'm not the one who slept all afternoon." She watched him rise from the bed and then followed close behind him into the small kitchen. "I'm not the one who decided it was a good idea to come out here all by ourselves and into God knows what kind of danger."
Mulder drank a long glass of cool tap water and watched her rant over the rim.
"You seem to obviously be running from some serious personal issues and therefore have no real qualms about this suicide mission."
He dropped the glass loudly on the desk and shook his head. "I didn't ask you to come with me Dr Stevens."
She folded her arms over herself as if trying to stop her hands from pushing him to the ground. "You're absolutely right, Fox. You didn't and I now see it was a mistake." She was shaking as she turned away from him not wanting him to see the fear in her eyes.
Softening a little, his guilt getting the better of him, he grabbed her arm gently and turned her back to face him "I'm glad you came with me."
She looked down at the hand that was touching her fascinated at how something so simply could have such a calming effect on her "Was that an apology?" she smirked at him.
That's when he noticed the unusual arrangement of shells dangling around her neck. "What on earth is this?" He lifted it with his finger.
She picked it up off her chest "You like it? I thought I'd wear it to dinner. You were asleep so long I had to occupy myself somehow."
Mulder went and sat at the table where shells had been washed and arranged into neat piles. He looked up at her curiously.
"When I was a kid we used to spend our vacation at the beach. I wasn't allowed real jewellery so I got good at making my own." She picked up a shell that made a perfect circle and pulled it down one of her fingers to make a ring. She dangled it in front of his nose like a newly engaged woman at the water cooler.
"Speaking of jewellery, any clue as to what we are supposed to wear tonight? Something tells me we won't be allowed in looking like the cast of Gilligan's Island" Mulder quipped.
"Gilligan who?"
He looked stunned for a moment and then realised who it was he was talking to, "Never mind. I forgot to pack my tux." He tugged at the collar of his shirt.
Cat jumped out of her confusion "Oh, there are clothes hanging in the closet. I assume they are for us. Well I assume the dress was picked for me by our friendly host. Given the length and neck line."
Mulder tentatively walked to the closet and pulled the door open. For the second time in as many days a very expensive suit in his size magically appeared for him. Dangling next to it on a silver hanger was something very white, very shiny and exceptionally small. His bottom lip curled under "Hmm impressive."
"Says the man who will be appropriately covered." Cat sneered.
There was something about a beautiful beach at night. The moon reflecting off the water, the sand cold between your toes and the sound of the waves gently lapping against the shore had a calming effect. Cat, for the first time since she got on that silly little boat felt relaxed, even if she was wearing the smallest, whitest cocktail dress in the world. Mulder didn't seem to be as calm and she wondered if that meant she was indulging in a false sense of security. She tightened the grip on the straps of her shoes she had dangling from her fingers and looped her arm through his. As usual he didn't seem to notice she was touching him.
Instead he pointed over to the dock "Look at all the boats. There must be at least 20 anchored there now." He exclaimed. "I didn't realise people came and went at night but I guess it makes sense. You could easily get a group together for a weekend trip and make a stop for a night. Who would find out? The coast guard would be the only people who really keep track of the sea traffic. I must get Scully to pull their manifest."
Was he talking to her or himself? Cat didn't really know what she was supposed to say. "Can you still see our boat?"
Mulder scanned the still water "No, not from here. I know which general direction it is in though, I'm sure it's just hiding behind one of those bigger yachts."
Whatever calm Cat had it left her instantly. "Right, sure. I hope you are right."
Sensing her nervousness he turned to look over at her, catching her eyes "Let's get this over with huh."
They both looked up at the giant doors of 'Merewif'. There were two large poles standing either side that's tops were lit. Fire billowed from them like an ancient beacon summoning the ships in the night. He let her keep her arm linked to his as they made their way towards the club. When they reached solid ground again, Cat reached down and slipped her feet into her shoes. At full height she managed to meet Mulder shoulder to shoulder. Cat couldn't help but notice the way he looked at her. "What?"
"Nothing." He felt silly "It's just Scully is well…" He held his hand palm down at Cats forehead and lowered it to about his chin height. Cat looked curiously at him. "Well, she's a little.." His hand was still bobbing up and down. "Never mind, let's just go in." He pushed open the heavy doors and gestured for her to go in ahead of him. "Cat."
She paused and turned to him, unsettled that he was using her first name for the first time. "Fox?"
He ducked into the room letting the door close behind him. Lowering his voice he dipped his head so his mouth sat close to her ear. "Let me do the talking."
The music was the first thing to hit them. The beat was so deep they felt it inside their chests. Between each beat was a chaotic techno rhythm that made the hairs on their arms stand on end. Each looked around mouths gapping as they took in their surroundings. Essentially it was a like any ordinary bar. There were tables and couches, barmaids and waiters. The bar staff and cliental were impeccably dressed, making Mulder glad they had been given the formal attire. At least this way they blended in, no one seemed to even look up when they moved into the centre of the room. Like the hotel room, the roof was made of glass blanketing them in moonlight and stars. The only light in the room came from a tank that made up the entire back wall and bar. It looked like an ordinary tropical fish tank, filled with exotic fish and seaweed. Mulder nudged Cat in the general direction of the tank, wanting her to take a closer look "Can you see any of the weed we are looking for."
She scanned it quickly "No, it's far too clean. This place is amazing, Fox." She exclaimed. They both took another look around. It seemed like a normal bar. There were groups of men and woman as well as couples. All drinking, eating laughing, it looked like a fun place to socialise, it looked, well normal. In his experience Mulder knew 'normal' was the best place to hide the biggest secrets. "What do we do now?".
"I guess we wait. Gables said there would be someone to show us around and answer our questions. I assumed they would come to us." Mulder replied
"Whatever happens here, Fox promise me one thing."
"Sure what?"
"Don't lose me ok. Make sure we don't get separated." She hooked her arm into his again.
He patted her hand. "OK. Let's get a drink."
She smiled in response.
"No vodka for you."
No-one looked their way as they moved to the bar. "Two diet sodas please." Mulder asked the waitress behind the bar, handing her a twenty.
A male hand appeared on top of the money. Mulder went to confront the would be robber when he spoke "Agent Mulder. Dr Stevens?" The pair turned towards him. "My name is Dean I am to escort you around Merewif this evening." Dean looked like a butler. Hair slicked, shoes shining, bow tie too tight. Mulder almost expected him to bow his head. Instead he put out his hand to shake each of theirs in turn. "Mr Gables insisted you don't pay a cent during your stay here on the island." The waitress returned with their drinks and Dean jutted out his chin a silent waiver between the pair that obviously knew each other and Mulder pocketed his money.
"Thank you Dean." Mulder had to raise his voice over the music. "Is there perhaps somewhere we can go and talk?"
Dean pointed away from the bar in the direction he wanted them to follow him and the two diet cokes were left untouched on the bar. They followed him to the back wall where a stair case led them underneath the giant water tanks. As they descended the stairs the music became background noise and a much more conversation friendly volume. Dean began speaking like a museum curator giving a live tour he had rehearsed many times. "That was the upper level restaurant. With low lighting of the exotic fish tanks and private tables it offers a degree of intimacy. There is a five course menu, bar and in the early hours of the morning it is transformed into more of a 'night club' setting. DJ or live band, dancing, cocktails…"
"Drugs?" Mulder added. He had been following closely, taking each step Dean left so he could hear him properly. So when Dean stopped suddenly he almost walked right into the back of him, Cat almost doing the same behind him.
"Agent Mulder, there are no drugs available here on the Island."
"But you don't check people as they come ashore for things like drugs, do you Dean?"
Dean turned and continued down the stairs, apparently not. The rest of the downward stairs were taken in silence and the music began to completely fade behind them. The giant aquarium now surrounded them completely, the roof and left and right side seemed to go on forever. Cat noted a lack of sea life in the left hand side of the tank. "Dean, may I ask, why are there no fish in this side of the tank?" she pointed to the left wall.
Dean's curator voice turned back on "Merewif is made up of four large tanks. The tank at the furthest end leads out into the ocean. We recently had a contaminant and had to close it for cleaning. There are a few fish in there but we hope to have it completely up and functional again in a few weeks."
"Contaminant?" That piqued Mulder's interest "What kind of contaminant?"
They had reached the end of the stair case and were now standing in a small foyer looking at three different doors. "A noxious weed took over the tank prohibiting the natural growth of some of our more important plant life and tangled a vast majority of our fish. We import sea life from all over the world. The tanks are carefully monitored with state of the art equipment to maintain the health of the fish and promote reproduction."
"So how did it become contaminated?" Cat asked
"We recently purchased some eels and we believe the contaminant came with them in their transportation tank."
"Eels?" Mulder clarified looking over to Cat. Was it really that easy, had these people no idea what had happened here? They had officially confirmed the men died in this bar, now to find out who or what killed them.
Dean looked between the two of them feeling like he had just slipped and said too much. He cleared his throat nervously. "Moving on, these three doors are entrances to a series of long corridors, each leading to private rooms, dance floors and three more bars. Every wall inside this maze of corridors and rooms is made up of different sections of our aquarium." Dean smiled, obviously impressed by his own story. "We often have groups come in and occupy their own room to party, couples who take up a private room or sometimes singles who just find a place to sit and drink or watch."
"Watch?" Mulder was soaking in every word Dean said, he couldn't wait to see this for himself.
"Well when the walls are made up of water it is easy to see what's happening all around you and of course our main attraction; our mermaids. Given we have no camera's and very light security and the fact that everyone can see what others are doing, we don't seem to have any security problems."
That made Mulder laugh outwardly. "You seem to have enormous faith in humanity, Dean. It seems to me this would be the perfect place to hide a crime."
Dean seemed to take this as a personal insult. "In the two years we have had this Island up and running we have never had an incident."
"That you know of" Mulder finished for him.
"No laws are broken here." Agent Mulder
"That you know of," Mulder repeated "How can you govern something like this?"
"We have a limit of 100 guests on the island at all times, and a small rotating staff of 25. We don't take names but we do manage numbers. The island itself is not large and the rocky terrain surrounding our private beaches means there is only one place to dock and enter the island. We have a watch house that is manned 24/7 so we can see vessels surrounding the immediate waters of the island. We lay between jurisdiction boarders on land but Mr Gables regularly keeps authorities updated as necessary."
Mulder grinned "I'm sure he keeps them well 'updated'" he used his fingers to punctuate the word. "What about the staff? There are laws around prostitution."
Dean scoffed "We have no prostitutes here!" He scoffed again, disgusted at the implication.
Mulder was genuinely confused. Scully had confirmed that each man had had sex right before they died and Mulder had just assumed it was with a prostitute from the island. "What about your mermaids then?"
"No one goes near the mermaids. They simply swim around the walls as part of the underwater show. We also have a wide variety of sea life from all over the world." Dean smiled looking impressed with himself again.
Mulder shuffled on his feet "Ok, back up a bit there. Are you saying no one gets in the tank with the mermaids?"
"Absolutely not, Agent Mulder. No one but staff and a select few at that, have access to the tanks. No one but Mr Gables has direct contact with the mermaids. They tend to move around a lot so you only catch glimpses of them as they swim past. It's only recently that I have seen them start to stop and engage with people."
Mulder realised he had been duped. Gables had implied that he would get to speak with the mermaids tonight but that didn't appear to be the case at all. "Mr Gables said we would be able to speak with the mermaids."
It was Dean's turn to laugh "I highly doubt that, Mr Mulder. No-one talks to the mermaids, in fact I don't even know if they do speak."
"Are you somehow implying that there are real mermaids swimming around these walls?"
"I don't know?" Dean answered honestly.
Mulder looked impatiently at Cat who was listening intently and doing her best to keep her mouth shut as requested. "How do they breathe under water, where do they sleep, eat, live?"
"I don't know, only Mr Gables knows. That's what makes this place so mysterious and so popular."
"I need to speak with Mr Gables."
"I'm sorry Agent Mulder he isn't available."
"Cut the crap and get him here now!" Mulder demanded.
"I'm sorry, Agent Mulder. I am the manager tonight. Mr Gables has gone ashore to sort a matter in one of his restaurants." He looked oblivious.
"Are you aware of why I'm here, Dean?"
"My instructions were to give you a tour and then direct you and your lady friend to a private room." He looked surprised at Mulders hostility.
Cat blushed furiously. Dean obviously thought she was Mulders date.
"I'm investigating a murder!"
"Oh well ,I can't help you with that." Dean said nervously, shuffling on his feet.
"We're outta here." Mulder turned and started climbing the stairs again. Cat followed close behind.
"Wait, Agent Mulder. Was it a lawyer?" Dean called.
Mulder turned but didn't head back towards him "Tell me why you asked me that."
"A few days ago a group of lawyers came through. They were a loud bunch, took up one of our party rooms that had a bar and drank themselves into oblivion."
Mulder moved back down the stairs, his anger ebbed slightly.
"It was nothing unusual really. We often have bachelor parties here."
"Then why mention it?" Mulder pushed him
"The mermaids took a particular interest in them. All four of them came right up to the glass and seemed to engage them."
"Engage them? Engage them how?"
"I don't know they looked mesmerised."
"Dean, they were drunken bachelors looking at beautiful topless mermaids, mesmerised doesn't sound unusual."
"No more than that, they were hypnotised." He clarified.
Mulder rubbed his hand over his mouth. This was possibly the closest thing they had to a link between his victims and the mermaids. "I guess we are going through." He addressed Cat directly. Then looked back to Dean "Where do we come out?"
"The exit comes out at the beach, right where you dock. That way everyone goes back to their boats at closing time."
"Which is?"
"5am"
"Well Miss Stevens, let's see what's behind door number one." He sounded like a 1980's game show host. Unfortunately his 'contestant' didn't seem very excited.
Again the first thing that hit them as they stepped through the door was the loud music. A similar techno beat seemed to echo off the glass walls around them. "Is that really good for the fish?" Mulder asked Cat as she closed the door leaving Dean on the other side of it.
"Normally no, but you are able to get aquarium glass that is designed to be thick enough to block out the majority of noise." As she spoke a giant sea turtle swam behind Mulder dragging her attention completely. "Whoa, look at that!" Mulder turned quickly as Cat practically lunged at the glass surface. "That's a Loggerhead sea turtle. Rare species and huge, she must be at least forty inch's." They both watched the turtle paddle in a circle before heading back in the opposite direction. When they turned back they found themselves looking directly at two men sitting at a table on the opposite side of the tank, smoking cigars and eyeing them curiously.
"Ah let's keep moving." Mulder said placing his hand in the middle of her back and ushering her away. She took one last look at the two men still glaring at her and then kept walking.
"Suddenly I wish I was wearing more clothes."
They scurried through a narrow passage quickly, eyeing the tanks closely as they went. "Keep your eye out for a mermaid." Mulder said eyeing up a particularly odd looking fish. "What on earth are those things?" Mulder pointed to a group of grey fish with giant rods pointing out of their foreheads.
Cat peered over his shoulder "Oooh those are unicorn fish. Wow they are beautiful." They both watched the small school swim in synchrony for a while. "Wow, this would be a dream place to work for someone like me. These fish are amazing."
After a few minutes they finally walked into an open spaced area. There was a giant four poster bed, exactly like the one in their room back at the lagoon. On the bedside bureau was a bucket of ice with champagne cooling and two long stem glasses sitting next to it. Mulder walked over to the bureau and pulled open a draw curious at its contents. He pulled out a box of condoms "Well at least they promote safe sex." He joked throwing the box on the bed. Cat walked in stunned silence to the live back drop directly behind the head of the bed. She could easily see a 'party room' on the other side There were people dancing, drinking, smoking, a particularly well dressed man spotted her watching them and tipped his glass at her. "This is sick, Fox. You don't actually think people would – in here- with everyone in there watching?"
"Not much surprises me anymore."
Cats face suddenly fell. "Oh my God!"
Mulder froze almost afraid to look at what she had spotted behind him "What?"
"Oh my God, shhhh, don't move I think I see one."
He did as he was told, his eyes darted around the tanks trying to catch a glimpse without moving.
"Oh my God she's beautiful, she's coming right up behind you."
"Ok I am going to turn around."
"Go really slow you don't want to scare her away."
He felt his heart begin to race. He blinked once, twice and then slowly moved his feet and turned. He closed his eyes again just to be sure they weren't playing tricks on him. Swimming slowly towards him was a woman, a mermaid, a merewif. With long blonde hair that flowed rhythmically behind her. Her arms moved in easy, gracious stokes efficiently moving her closer towards him. As she drew nearer he could see a row of blue and diamond gems that painted her neck and down along her breast bone, between her exposed breast and then flared over her stomach to the top of her tail. Mulder shook his head, trying to break the spell of total disbelief at what he was seeing. He needed Scully, he needed her rational voice next to him that would say 'Look Mulder, I can see the zipper in the back of the tail' but she wasn't there to save him, she wasn't there to see the things he needed her to see. She was getting closer now, so close he could see the shine in her crystal blue eyes. She was staring right at him, her gaze rendering him incapable of blinking. She swam directly to him and paused, she was mere centimetres away. That thick aquarium glass the only thing between him and her. Her tale moved slowly, keeping her in an upright position. Her hair billowed around her now, long blonde waves creating a halo around her head. She was flawless. Her skin looked like silk, her eyes shone like the gems around her neck. Suddenly, all other noise in the room began to fade and his head filled with the sound of the ocean. He was frozen in place, unable to drop her piercing stare. She smiled shyly and two small bubbles escaped from her nose. He was drawn to her. There was a pull inside him he had no control over. The sound of crashing waves got louder in his ears. Without conscious thought he raised his hands and placed them flat on the glass. The mermaid mimicked him until their hands rested against each other on the glass. The pull became stronger; the sound in his ears louder, he felt like he was free falling and then she suddenly pushed off the glass and swam around the bed and out of sight.
Mulder fell onto all fours on the ground. The sound of the ocean was quickly replaced by the sound of the techno music in the room. "Fox, Fox." Cat was yelling at him. He could feel her dragging on his arm trying to get him to stand. "Fox, get up!"
Continued in part 6