Chapter 8: Mako Island Part 1

"Don't look now, but Charlotte is glaring over here," Rikki whispered as she leaned forward in her seat. Cleo and Emma casually looked over their shoulders, as if looking for something around the room when they saw that Charlotte was glaring at them. "I wonder what's gotten her knickers in a twist."

"It's because she's not part of the 'club' anymore," Cleo commented as she made air quotes.

"Are you sure?" Emma asked.

"What other reason could there be?" Cleo questioned as she rested her cheek against her palm. "She misses being a mermaid so now she's going to try and make our lives miserable."

"She was able to succeed before. Remember? When she took Lewis?" Rikki asked. Emma slapped her on the arm and Rikki looked at her with wide eyes.

"Have some tact, Rikki," Emma said with an eye roll. "Why would she be mad all of a sudden? She was distant before when it finally dawned on her that she couldn't be a mermaid anymore."

"Maybe reality finally set in for her," Cleo suggested.

"Ok. What's she going to do about it? Try to become a mermaid again?" Rikki demanded.

"She might. She knows how it works," Emma spoke up suddenly as her eyes widened. "She knows where Mako is. She could get someone to take her there to try and get her powers back."

"If that does happen, it won't be for a while. There won't be another full moon for a couple of weeks," Rikki spoke up. "I checked," she added when Emma gave her a look. "She's going to probably ask Lewis to help her, but I'm sure we have nothing to worry about."

Cleo wasn't convinced, though. She knew that Charlotte hated Cleo ever since she got Lewis back and she got to keep her powers. Cleo also thought that Charlotte hated her because they were friendly to the new girls off the bat while Charlotte had to work to get their friendship, even if it lasted for about a day. Cleo felt that she could trust the new girls with her secret and not Charlotte, but she knew, with a sinking feeling, that they would have to trust Charlotte even if they didn't want to.

"I don't know, guys, I keep having this bad feeling that she's going to tell our secret," Cleo whispered.

"Oh yeah? How is she going to do that without being questioned herself? She's going to have to say how she found out we're mermaids and then that means she'd have to say that she was a mermaid," Rikki pointed out. "She won't do it. She's too scared."

"You better be right."

Rikki let out a sigh and rolled her eyes. Across the room Riley was doing the same thing, but to something ridiculous that Rhuben had told her and their cousin. A tail? Really? Riley thought that Rhuben had her head stuck in a gym bag too long.

"I saw it," Rhuben said firmly.

"Your eyes could have been playing tricks on you," Riley said with a wave of her hand. Rhuben turned to look at Crystal who shrugged and remained silent. "Was the tail attached to her or did you just see an orange tail flopping on the ground?"

"I just saw it, but I'm pretty sure it was connected to her. That or she's mutating fish in her bathroom," Rhuben replied as she went back to her doodles.

"So, what, are you saying she's a mermaid or something?" Crystal whispered, joining the conversation "Don't tell me you believe in that stuff."

"It's amazing how much you start to believe when a genius like Sydney tells you that mythological beings like mermaids and the Loch Ness monster are real," Rhuben growled.

"It's his dimples, they're blinding," Crystal said with a laugh. "If you honestly believe that Emma's a mermaid-"

"I didn't say I think she was a mermaid," Rhuben interrupted her. "All I said was I saw a big orange tail in her bathroom. What do you think, Riles?"

"I think I want to knock Nate's face off, that's what I think," she growled as her eyes locked on Nate who had just come in through the doorway. He winked at her and Riley flipped him off as Rhuben and Crystal cracked up. "Shut up, you two. You don't know how annoying he is."

"She has a clue," Rhuben said with a smirk as she jerked her thumb in Crystal's direction. Crystal smacked Rhuben on the arm as Riley smirked this time. "This kid named Byron cornered her before school started. He wanted to show her around after school. Listen to her lie."

"I said I had to stay at home 'cause I can't stand in direct sunlight because of a sun allergy," Crystal muttered. Riley held her hand over her mouth so her laughter wouldn't be heard. "Back onto serious matters, what do you think it was that covered her pool with ice?"

"You mean it wasn't you?" Riley questioned.

Crystal shook her head. "I didn't have a chance to even bring my hand up to do it."

"Who else could have done it? There aren't any other Elementals around here," Rhuben commented.

"That we know of," Riley pointed out. "Let's not worry about that now. We have to keep our objective in hand. We have to find the Wingz Corp base and the best bet is Mako Island."

"I got it covered, I'm on an assignment today and I can check out a part of it. We can look around the rest of it later."

"Great. I have to deal with the brat again," Rhuben sighed. "I can't believe she's related to Cleo. They're nothing alike."

"Try to keep your anger in check. We don't want to get anyone suspicious, ok," Riley warned.

"Whatever."

------

"I think Rhuben saw something," Emma admitted after school. The guilt of not saying her suspicions finally got to her. She had kept it to herself all weekend and all day and she felt that she was going to crack under the pressure if she didn't say anything.

"What do you mean you think she saw something?" Lewis demanded as he flung his arm out to stop her from walking forward.

"Remember when they were over at my house and I had to run upstairs before I changed?" Emma asked. Everyone nodded. "I thought I had closed the door the entire way when I tried to dry myself. When Rhuben called to ask if I had any extra clothes she could have seen me. I don't know if she did or not, but she could have."

"She probably didn't see anything. If she did, she would have said something about it," Rikki said in a dismissive tone. "Now, who wants to go shopping? I don't know about you, but I have to do something to take my mind off of school for a little bit."

"I'm in!" Cleo said excitedly as she shot her hand into the air. The two then turned to look at Emma.

"Sorry, I have to work," she said sheepishly.

"Come on, Em. I'm sure Ash would let you have some time off if you ask him," Rikki pointed out.

"That's beside the point. Everyone else would know that I got off just because I'm dating him. It would put him in a bad position and I wouldn't want that. I'll just see you guys later, yeah?"

"All right," Rikki sighed as she watched Emma walk towards her car. "She needs to learn to live a little. I mean, we're not normal but she doesn't take risks."

"She did a few days ago, remember? When she froze the pool to make sure they didn't fall in just in case they got us wet," Cleo pointed out.

"That's just Emma being Emma, that wasn't her taking a risk."

"She did it while they were standing out there. They could have noticed," Lewis pointed out. "I want you guys to lay low for a little bit. No using your powers unless you're around us." He then stared pointedly at Rikki as he added, "Not even to smite people who deserve it."

"Cleo, sometimes I hate your boyfriend. He takes away all of the fun," Rikki grumbled as Cleo smiled sheepishly. "Watch where you're going!" She shouted when Charlotte rammed into her shoulder. Charlotte didn't say anything as she continued running down the street. "I wonder where she's headed in such a hurry."

----

"Are you sure she's coming?" Dr. Denman's assistant asked.

"She said she'd be here, Eric," Linda Denman snapped as she kept her eyes glued on the docks from her position on the boat. She let out a slow sigh when she saw Charlotte running down the dock towards them. She was waving something over her head and had a triumphant smile on her face. Once Charlotte set foot on the boat Linda ordered Eric to start the boat so no one would overhear them. "What're these?" Linda asked as Charlotte took deep breaths to get her breath back.

"Pictures," Charlotte responded as she handed them over to Linda. "Of the mermaid girls that you were studying before. These are more recent. Their powers have changed a lot now. They can control the weather and lightning and stuff."

"Are you sure they still have their powers?" Linda demanded. "Last time I was here they said that they were gone."

"They had them when I got mine," Charlotte responded. "I'm the only one who got theirs taken away. I'd know it if they had theirs taken away."

"All of this happened at Mako Island?" Linda asked.

"Yes," Charlotte responded.

"If Mako Island can give people mermaid powers...I wonder if it can turn people into super humans," Linda muttered to herself.

"What's this about super humans?" Charlotte demanded, catching onto part of the sentence.

"People are starting to study super humans, humans who have special abilities," Linda responded.

"Like psychics?" Charlotte questioned.

"Like psychics," Linda repeated. "I want to look around Mako Island to see if anything about it can turn humans into super humans." Linda went to Eric to check if he had the right coordinates of Mako Island. "We're going to land on the beach instead of swimming there this time."

Charlotte sat down on a cooler before looking out at the island that held her possible future. She knew if she worked with Linda Denman enough that she would have the chance to get her powers back. Linda didn't know that Charlotte was using her. What Charlotte really wanted was for her to get her powers back and for Rikki, Cleo, and Emma to lose theirs.

Charlotte was flipping through her sketch book when she looked out of the corner of her eye as they neared Mako and saw a small boat heading towards the island itself. Charlotte squinted to see if she could recognize who it was. "She's in my class," she muttered to herself when she finally recognized Crystal. What is she doing out here?

Charlotte watched intently as Crystal dropped something over the edge of the small boat once she stopped. She stood as she lifted a camera and lowered it around her neck. Crystal stood in the boat, keeping her balance, before holding out her hand. Charlotte's eyes widened when she saw that part of the water that was on the side of the boat froze and she stepped out onto the ice. Crystal turned around to grab something before jumping into the water and disappearing under the surface as the ice cracked and melted almost automatically. Charlotte looked over at Dr. Denman to see that she hadn't been paying attention. Is she a mermaid too?