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Chapter 6: Unexpected disclosure
The whole group had been searching tirelessly for over a week but it seemed like Rikki had sunk out of sight.
It was late Saturday evening, almost 23.00 pm. The boys decided to go to Will's place, to think about another strategy for their search. The girls went for a swim to the moon pool.
They were just lying in the water and all the memories they have had there with Rikki were floating right before their eyes.
They remembered the constant races with her, the way she used to tease them, her smile, her laughter, her blue eyes that were shining like diamonds, her curly blond hair, everything. They all loved her and missed her so much.
"I can't believe there is still no trace about her." Bella said.
"Yeah, I thought there is no way we couldn't find her in a day or two. But now I don't know what to think anymore." Emma added.
"This is driving me crazy." Cleo said. "I still can't believe all this time we spent searching for her was for nothing. Where the hell is she? What happened to her?"
Tears started running down her face. Emma and Bella hugged her.
"We'll find her, Cleo. I'm sure of it." Bella tried to cheer her up and gave her a little smile.
"So, we'll catch up with the boys tomorrow 7.30 am at "Rikki's", right?" Emma asked.
Cleo and Bella nodded and they hugged each other. Then they slowly swam away.
The group had a tough night again.
No one could actually sleep since Rikki disappeared. Or if they eventually fell asleep they had always the same nightmare of the falling plane. They even began to think this mess would never be over.
At the morning they all went to the café and sat on one of the big tables next to the bar. Zane made drinks for everyone and once he was done he sat down between Lewis and Will. What's more Will and Zane miraculously had become very friendly to each other lately.
They all were drinking in silence for almost fifteen minutes when the noise of someone entering the café attracted their attention. They turned their faces to the door and immediately froze on their places. They couldn't believe it.
Lewis dropped his glass. Zane looked like he was going to pass out at any moment. Will looked like someone had slapped him through the face. Ash looked shaken. The girls' faces were expressing an unutterable shock.
Could that be?
A girl was standing right in front of them. A girl with light blue eyes and blond curly hair. She looked upset, but still her eyes were shining. Her curly hair was granted softly on her shoulders.
They all couldn't help themselves but yell simultaneously.
"Rikki?"
The girl seemed a bit shocked from their scream, but she confidently walked over to them. Whatever they expected her to say though, it wasn't what she did say.
"You know my twin sister?"
The group looked at themselves like they were going to pass out any moment now.
"Your twin sister? Rikki is your twin?" Lewis was the one who actually barely managed to say something.
"Yes. When I heard about the accident she and our dad had had I took the first flight from London. So, anyway, you knew my twin sister, is that right?"
Lewis nodded, too shocked to say anything. Zane was staring at the girl his eyes wide open. He couldn't believe it. And didn't believe it.
"Is this some kind of a bad joke Rikki?" He managed to say. "Don't lie to us. We know it's you. You don't have a twin sister."
The girl shook her head and tried desperately to convince them she really was Rikki's twin.
"I think there's a way for to check out if you're telling us the truth." Lewis said.
After he exchanged looks with the others he picked up one of the glasses on the table full with water then he took the girl's hand and poured it all over. They waited 10 seconds, but nothing happened. Everyone was stunned. Zane was speechless. He just couldn't assume it.
"So you really are telling us the truth." Emma said.
The girl nodded with a worried expression on her face.
"Please, tell me what you know about my twin sister. I know that my dad's dead, because they called to tell me, but I need to know what happened to my sister. No one says anything about her. You're the first ones to call me with her name and recognize me as her so obviously you're close to her and know what might've happened to her." Tears filled the curly blond's eyes.
"We'll talk, but not here. We need to go somewhere private. Let's go to Mako." Cleo suggested.
Everyone nodded except the girl who knew nothing about Mako.
"Ok." Lewis said. "Zane, Will, Ash and I will go with-" He turned around to the girl.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't tell you my name. I'm Bridget." She said.
The group also introduced itself to Bridget.
"So, Zane, Will, Ash and I will go with Bridget and we'll take my boat. We'll meet you guys at the moon pool." He said to the girls and kissed Cleo quickly.
Then they all walked out of the café followed by Bridget. Zane was looking at her the whole time. How was this even possible?
They reached Lewis' boat and quickly got in. Bridget was sitting between Will and Zane. Will also couldn't stop staring at her.
When they arrived at the moon pool, the girls were already there, dry, and waiting for them. Bridget looked around the place curiously. Nobody had had the time to clean it up after the party, so it looked like the party had just been over.
"Wow." Was all she could say in awe.
She noticed the notebook and the projector. Before someone could stop her, she walked over and pressed the "Play" button. The slideshow that Lewis had made for the party turned on.
The first picture was of Rikki, Cleo and Bella, smiling at the entrance of "Rikki's". Bridget looked closely at her sister's face and tears filled her eyes. She had heard that they were twins, but she could never imagine how beautiful her sister was. More beautiful she ever could dream to be.
"She looks so beautiful." Bridget said, her voice full of sadness.
"Yes, she does." Zane said. "Actually she's a lot more than just beautiful."
His voice got Bridget out of the trance she was in while looking at Rikki. She turned to face them all.
"You wanted to go somewhere private, now talk. Do you know what happened to her or not?"
"Look, Bridget, if you're asking us about the accident, we don't know anything much. We only know that she wasn't amongst the victims, like your father. We also know that it is claimed that there are no survivors found to this moment. But we all believe she's alive. We've searched a whole week for Rikki, day and night, but there's no trace of her for now." Cleo told her gently. "And we have no idea where she could be."
"Then we'll keep searching until we find her." Bridget said.
They all nodded.
"Before we go, there's something else you should know." Lewis said and looked at the other girls. "Should we tell her?"
"I don't think it's a good idea." Emma responded quickly, but Cleo and Bella both shrugged saying that it's not a problem for them.
"Ok, then." Lewis said and walked over to the netbook looking at Bridget. "You should know that Rikki was not an ordinary girl. She and the girls have a secret. A big and very special secret. So before I tell you anything else, you've got to promise not to tell anyone what you're going to hear next."
"Of course I promise. I'd never do something against my sister. I love her, even though I don't know her."
"Fine." Lewis nodded. "So, the secret the girls share is that they are", and he opened the next picture of the slideshow showing Cleo, Emma and Rikki in the moon pool. Bridget's eyes went wide open. "Mermaids." He finished and turned to observe her reaction.
"I can't believe this." She gasped. "I mean it's amazing!" She turned to the girls with a smile. "It must be so cool." She said. "To be able to hold your breath underwater and to swim anywhere you want."
The girls smiled back at her and nodded.
"Yes it's really cool." Bella said. "But that's still not everything. When we transformed we all got some special powers."
They all demonstrated her their powers. She was just looking in awe the water that rose up forming a ball, then turned into jelley and then froze.
"What is my sister's power?" She asked curiously.
"Rikki's power is to boil things, control fire and make lightening." Cleo answered.
"That must be awesome." Bridget said, smiling.
"Enough talk and demonstrations, guys. We've got to go and continue searching for her." Zane said impatiently.
"Zane's right." Will nodded. "When we find her, we'll have enough time for all of this."
"About that, I think we must search the island opposite Sumba. I know it sounds crazy, but the other island is not very far and she might be there." Lewis said.
The others nodded in agreement.
They had been searching the island for hours when they heard something. Somewhere behind them a twig cracked.
"Hello?" Will shouted swirling around in a flash. "Anybody there?" He got no response.
The group reached the top of the island that was a big high cliff. They climbed on it and looked around the island. Nothing. Then a thought came to Bridget's mind.
"Have you searched in the hospitals?"
"No." Lewis said turning to look at her. "Why would we search in the hospitals? According to the search teams and the news no survivors were found. She can't be in a hospital."
"Someone else might've found her and brought her to the hospital. I think we should go there and check. It's worth a try." Bridget said.
"Bridget's got a point." Bella nodded. "We should give it a try."
"Ok, but it's almost 21.00 pm now anyway. It's time to go back." Lewis said and the group went back to his boat.
When they reached it Will turned to the girls.
"We'll meet in front of the hospital."
They nodded and dived in the water. Bridget watched them as they dived in.
"That's so amazing." She said.
"Yeah, it is." Lewis smiled. "You should see them with Rikki though. They're inseparable. They're making races underwater, they're having their little fights with their powers. It's like they're one person divided into four. They're amazing. And Rikki likes to play the leader sometimes. She loves these three girls more than anything. She'd give her life for them, and they'd do the same for her."
Tears filled Bridget's eyes.
"What is it?" All the boys asked in union.
"Nothing." She said.
"Come on, you can tell us." Will said.
"It's just, I'm scared of her reaction when she finds out about me. What if she doesn't like me? What if hates me?"
"Unfortunately I'd have to tell you that you should be worried. Rikki is the most amazing and most loyal person I've known. But she trusts no one." Zane said shaking his head. "Take me for example. We've been a couple since almost two years and a half, but she still doesn't trust me enough. That's why she broke up with me. I am also to blame for her not having trust in me, but she just doesn't like people. And she has some pretty good reasons. After your mom left her and her dad alone, she had to cope with everything all alone. Of course she had a father who loved her more than everything, but it wasn't enough. Life on itself made her what she is: a true survivor. She's the strongest person I've ever known. But fact is she doesn't like people and doesn't trust them." He finished.
A few tears rolled down Bridget's cheeks. Will put his hand around her to give her some comfort.
"It's ok." He said quietly, rubbing her back gently. "Everything's going to be fine."
They came back to the city and searched at all the hospitals, but Rikki wasn't there.
The same night the group couldn't sleep again. They had another nightmare. Everyone except Bridget.
Rikki was standing at the moon pool facing all of them and suddenly she shouted "Traitors" in their faces. Then she just turned around, dived in the moon pool and disappeared leaving only small waves after her.
They all woke up sweaty and shaking up.
What was this all about? Why would she call them "traitors"? Did they do wrong when they accepted Bridget and told her everything?
Ever since Rikki had disappeared their lives became hell.
What they didn't know was that this hell was eventually was going to end much sooner than they all expected.