XVII. The Ones that Got Away

The air was so thick around Rikki it was like invisible tendrils were doing their best to the life out of her. She knew it was just her imagination, but the image was difficult to ignore. She never wanted to come back here. Not for all the money that could buy all the tea to fill all the mansions in the world.

But she came back for her friends.

The moon was full tonight. She glared at it defiantly, daring it to be an obstacle, and almost thought she could discern a surge of something roiling over her in waves.

Passing it off as nothing but nerves, she tossed her head and plunged into the facility.

She was the one with the powers, so why did she feel so powerless? Zane had taken the lead; he was somewhere down one of the creepy, blue-tinted halls, taking out researchers and crew members with a stun baton, and whatever martial art skills that could be picked up in two months. He joked that all those years of fencing lessons might actually have a use. Rikki rolled her eyes and said Denman's crew wouldn't be carrying swords, but it was one more advantage they had which made her feel marginally safer.

Safe. She wanted to feel that again. To be alone in her dingy room with rumpled bedding she was familiar with, no sound of the ocean, and the only thing to fear being insects that were easy to squash. But she knew that even back home, having her room to herself and the covers stuffed tight around her head it wouldn't stop the nightmares. The only thing that helped chase those away was another voice—a stable, "I'm here, don't worry" sort of voice, even if those exact words weren't being spoken. When the horrible dreams woke her up in a cold sweat and she was too afraid to go back to sleep, she'd call Zane and make him go over his work with the private investigator that he'd spent most of his inheritance on, regardless of it being three in the morning. He never complained. If he did, it was with a humoured remark that immediately alleviated her night terrors.

This was so unfair. She thought she'd be the one charging ahead, stoic-faced, destroying anyone who dared stand in her way to impede the rescue of her friends. But once the blueprints were consulted for the simplest way into the facility, and they'd picked their way through the locked basement door, Rikki had lost her confidence. From the outside, it just looked like an old factory in shambles, but inside, everything from her reality-based nightmares came thundering back to memory. The sterile, saline smell made her reel, and she clutched at the doorframe as her knees wobbled.

"Hey, it's alright," Zane said, squeezing her shoulder, "You really don't have to do this. Wait here, take it easy, and we'll meet up when I've got the others." He stuffed his hand inside one of many pockets of the militaristic jacket he'd bought online and pulled out a spray can of mace. "Take this. Just in case."

It made her miserable to not even question why a mermaid with powers would need mace.

He wanted to run down the halls, screaming, "FREEDOM!"—she knew it was a bad idea to watch Braveheart with him—but a glance at Rikki's pale grimace had him assuring her he wouldn't take stupid risks.

Suddenly, she was afraid that Zane was in over his head. He might run into a group too large to overpower, or someone could sneak up behind him and pump him full of tranquilizer, or worse, poison. If he was in danger, she was responsible for what happened. There was no question of whether or not she could live with that. She knew she couldn't.

Rikki took a deep breath of the cloying air, and pretended to shake off her fears. Two people were coming towards the storage closet she hid in. When she first started developing an awareness for human bodies, she thought it was just Zane and her desperate need of his help that made her able to sense when he was coming to the apartment; before she ever heard his knock, or saw his "Hello!" note slipped through the door crack.

It was the water. Humans were made up of mostly H2O, and as she strengthened her connection to it day by day, an abundance of new tricks became clear. She found that she wasn't limited to heating tea and nipping nosy children's feet.

The two slushy bodies drew closer. They now walked past her hiding place, head's tilted to each other as they discussed plankton and diet regimens as if their job was not the most repulsive thing in the world. In fact, they seemed to be enjoying themselves. The woman with the ponytail made a joke about an "unfortunate specimen" and they both laughed.

Rikki didn't find it funny.

Her method of response was a great deal less than stealthy, and Zane came careening around the corner at the sounds of gruesome screaming. Rikki continued her work, hands outstretched towards the pair of writhing bodies. The man's wail was even higher pitched than the woman's. Fascinating.

"Rikki!" He stopped in his tracks as he watched the researchers' turn the red of a hideous sunburn before bubbles popped under their skin. A few agonising moment later, their eyes rolled to the back of their heads, they collapsed, and were still.

"What... how... what did you do to them?"

"They made my blood boil," she stated with a steady voice. "I was just returning the favour."

Zane couldn't keep back a slight shudder as he turned away from the sight. "I know where Emma's being kept," he announced, eyeing her warily. "Do you want to come, or... you could still rest a bit..."

"I don't need rest anymore," she said, gritting her teeth. "Let's go."

-x-

Rikki hadn't seen Emma since their initial separation, and the difference was shocking. She stood over the tank, on the platform where the crew positioned themselves to capture the mermaids for feeding and injections. She was wearing full waterproof gear, and watched the mermaids arrive all at once, almost like a school of sad fish—if fish could look sad. Cleo would have said yes; of course fish could look sad.

She realised she hadn't seen Cleo in the group...

Emma was the last to join up, slow and dejected as her swimming was. Her hair was slimy, unhealthy. Her skin made her look sick, and her scales were dreadfully pale.

They decided once the mermaids were brought on the platform, Rikki would dry each of them in turn; it made more sense than taking the time to dry up the thousands of gallons in the tank. She wasn't even sure she could do that without passing out. Each of them returned to human form in the clothes they'd been wearing when first turned. Some of them were extremely grateful; crying in relief, and trying to hug Rikki as Zane pulled them away to help them hobble to the gurney he'd found in one of the labs. Some, however, would require much more help than a quick-dry and a lift. Most of them were dazed; they not only wobbled on their feet, but looked at them as if they'd never seen legs before.

Emma was the worst. The moment she became human, she started to scream as if a knife had been stuck in her gut.

"Are you crazy?!" Rikki snapped, clamping her hand over Emma's mouth. "Do you want us all to get killed?"

Emma quieted down, but she continued to moan and clutch her stomach.

"Is she sick?" Rikki glanced about her for an answer, ridiculous as it seemed to get any kind of rational reply, judging by the empty-looking expressions that surrounded her.

"Not really." A bright-eyed girl who was still in the tank supplied. "I mean, the merling might make her sickly, but I think it's mostly stress. "You won't be able to give me legs," she added briskly. "I'm the real thing. There's another wheelie cart somewhere past that second lab. I'll fit on that if your mate can bring it."

Rikki swore at yet another complication, and looked to Zane for help, ignoring the fact that mate didn't sound like friend in this situation. "On it," he said, running off to find another gurney.

"Where are Cleo and Lewis?" Rikki demanded, soon as he'd gone. "Why aren't they with the rest of you?"

"Not here," the girl said. "They're in a land called California. Denman took them yesterday."

Author's Notes: Thank you all so very, very much for all the reviews on the last chapter! I'm so excited for all your feedback, and I do believe (so far) they were all extremely complimentary! I hope you enjoy this piece as well, and be forewarned... this story is drawing to a close, so savour these moments. :)