Charlotte stood at the shoreline, looking out at the ocean in front of her. She sighed as she breathed in the salt water. How she longed to be part of that world once again. Joshua joined her by the waters edge.
"I think we've covered about every inch of the cliffs, and still no cave to the moon pool," Joshua said.
An idea came to Charlotte.
"Maybe we can't find it, because we have to swim to find it."
"Yeah?"
"Of course. How else would a mermaid get to and from? Come on!" Charlotte urged and began racing up the hill back their rental car.
"Where are we going?" Joshua asked.
"We're going further down!" She replied.
They got in to the car and Joshua drove them further down the road until they came to a part of the beach that seemed far more secluded than the rest. Parking, the two got out out and Charlotte raced to the waters edge. She pulled out her cell phone and
handed it to Joshua, then she walked towards the water until she was up to her hips. Her shorts clung to her.
"What are you doing?" Joshua asked.
"I'm going to see if I can find an entrance," She replied.
"Be careful," He warned.
Grinning, Charlotte dove underwater and went on her search.
"So, Barry, how did you find out about mermaids?" Elizabeth questioned, still sitting under the alcove with the net in place.
"Well, by accident really. I have Rikki Chadwick to thank for that," Barry replied, gesturing to the feisty blonde in the tank.
Rikki pounded on the glass in frustration and tried to use her heating powers to melt the glass. It only caused in scalding herself, so she stopped. Elizabeth cringed when she saw Rikki grimace in pain.
"Care to elaborate?"
"Well, I was in Queensland about a year ago illegally selling fish and she got tangled up in my business. She found out and tried to get back at me. When weird things started happening, I knew that she wasn't ordinary. After being arrested, I spent a
lot of my free time researching," Barry explained.
"Prisons should get rid of computer time," Elizabeth scowled.
"Anyways, I found out about mermaids there. At first I thought that it was ridiculous, but after getting released, I went back. I found her and her friends, the followed them to Mako Island. That's how I found out. I thought it would be great to experient
on them, find out how to make a profit. Then, I discovered more," Barry explained.
"There's something that doesn't make sense. You caught a mermaid here. Isabella Hartley. How on earth did you come across her?" Elizabeth asked.
"Well, after my discovery, I did some traveling to find more. She was the first one we captured."
Elizabeth looked over to the dirty blonde mermaid, who in her tank, looked rather weak. Yeah, it was evident that she had been here the longest. Beginning to feel nauseous out of the water, Elizabeth willed her transformation back to human. It didn't
strike the criminals as odd.
Elizabeth got to her feet while the barbed wire dug in to her skin. She gritted her teeth, then used the strength in her legs to kick them off and away from her. She was now freed.
"But see, there's something that doesn't add up still. You couldn't have gotten all of this with the pension you were all given after getting out of prison. You needed resources. You needed someone with government knowledge to help you out. See, I know
that you're not the great mastermind behind all of this," Elizabeth explained.
A clapping sound echoed the cave walls and everyone's attention turned to two men who entered the cave.
"Joshua!" Elizabeth cried.
She saw that he was held at gun point as he entered the cave.
"Well done, Agent Striker. I wondered how long it would take someone of your caliber to figure it all out," Agent Gregory Watsford said as he entered. His gun was trained on Joshua.
Elizabeth shook her head.
"You fooled us pretty well. You knew all along that they were mermaids. But what I can't figure out is how you found out," Elizabeth said.
"My daughter, actually. I knew she was a mermaid. When I came to the Gold Coast for a visit, I kept hearing the word 'super mermaid' whenever I saw her. I saw her in that form when I followed her once. Bringing her here on assignment was a perfect plan;
thanks to you. Once she gets here, we'll take care of her," Gregory explained.
"You're a sick man. How could you do this to your own daughter?" Joshua asked, as he was pushed towards Elizabeth.
"Money, boy! Money! Could you image what people would give to see real mermaids?" Gregory asked.
"It's always about money, isn't it?" Elizabeth asked, unimpressed.
"But Greg, I don't think we need your super mermaid daughter anymore. We got something better," Barry said.
"And what would that be?" Gregory asked.
He pointed at Elizabeth.
"Her! She's a mermaid as well, but she has a green tail."
Gregory laughed.
"Agent Striker? A mermaid? Please, that's preposterous!"
"I'll prove it!"
He grabbed a bucket of water and chucked the contents on to Elizabeth. She was drenched, but did not transform.
"Honestly...she is!"
"We saw it too!" The others claimed.
At this point, Elizabethhad finally figured out how to free the mermaids without harming them or anyone else. With a twist of her left hand, she worked the locks on the tanks. She was interrupted by movement in the moon pool. Charlotte surfaced
and she looked around.
"Oh good! You found them all!" Charlotte said with glee.
"Charlotte, get out of there!" Joshua urged.
Before she could move, a net was thrown over Charlotte and she was dragged out of the water. She kicked with her legs to try and free herself.
"Hold up! She's not a mermaid!" The dark haired female cried.
"What?!" Gregory yelled.
"Dad? What's going on?" Charlotte asked, confused by hisoutburst.
"Charlotte, we're sorry. Your dad is behind all of this," Joshua spoke up.
Charlotte looked at her dad, a look of confusion on his face. She was released from the net and she twisted her hair to get rid of the excess water in it. The woman was kind enough to at least give Charlotte a warm blanket.
"Dad?" Charlotte looked at him, but there was no hint of remorse in his eyes. However, he was confused by her lack of tail.
"I don't understand. You're supposed to be a mermaid," he said.
She shook her head.
"An eclipse with a planetary alignment took my powers away for good. But...I don't understand..." Charlotte replied.
"He found out you were a mermaid a long time ago," Elizabeth replied, still using her left hand in subtle motions. Charlotte noticed it, but kept quiet.
She was filled in and Charlotte felt betrayal hit her once again in the heart. Her own father...was a criminal. He never even let on. But...was the bond between them real? Did he actually care about her?
"But...don't you care about me?" Charlotte asked.
Gregory laughed. Charlotte felt as if a steak knife was driven through her heart.
"No, not really? You were just an obsession. Watching you, seeing the kind of person you are, makes me shake my head. You're a disappointment," Gregory said.
He looked out towards the open area where the moon pool sat and the cave was exposed to the open ocean outside. The sky was dark and the full moon was rising.
Charlotte felt tears trickle down her face. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. All this time...she truly thought that he had actually wanted to get to know her. It was all just a ploy and for what? To find out that she wasn't a mermaid? Oh, if
she was right now, she would show him!
Elizabeth continued to carefully open the locks on the tanks. There were so many of them and it was a bit time consuming. Thankfully, Charlotte was distracting her dad unintentionally. She then saw the full moon rising and she groaned inwardly. Great,
the mermaids were all goin to go crazy under the moons spell.
"Oh, in case you're worried, don't be. These ones aren't affected by it," Barry said, gesturing to Rita, Mimmi and Evie, once he saw Elizabeth's worried expression.
But Emma, Rikki and Cleo were. Elizabeth didn't know what the full moon would do to her this time, as last time it just led her to the Moon Pool in Sooke. And since Gregory didn't believe that she was a green tailed mermaid, she wanted to keep it that
way.
"Well Charlotte, how about we just get you in to the moon pool then? You can have your powers back," Gregory tried to coax.
But if she did, Charlotte would get a net thrown over her again. She wouldn't do it. She suddenly didn't care that she wasn't a mermaid anymore. She would not risk becoming one just so that her dad could make a profit off of her.
"No! I don't care. Just let them go!" Charlotte pleaded.
"Oh don't go being stubborn on me!" Gregory exasperated.
"Dad...please don't. Please, you can still redeem yourself. I can give you a second chance," Charlotte begged.
Gregory seemed to think about it for a moment and he slowly approached Charlotte. She backed up to put distance between them.
"Why would you do that?" Greg asked.
"Because despite all this, you're my dad, and I love you."
Gregory looked up behind her, then back at his daughter.
"I do too."
He shoved her in to the moon pool and Charlotte went under. The full moon came shining on it and it glowedover the pool. It sparkled and bubbled, bringing the magic to life. Elizabeth and Joshua looked on with anticipation and worry. When all was
still, Charlotte surfaced. She got out of the moon pool still in human form.
"Is she...?"
"Let's see..."
Barry threw a bucket of water on her. Charlotte was still human.
"But...I don't get it. I thought that..."
"The fifty year moon eclipse takes mermaid powers away forever. Another full moon after that cannot bring them back. Nice try," Charlotte remarked.
Well...she had accepted it. Another full moon did not bring back her mermaid powers. And it was a good thing this time.
"Now let them go!" Charlotte demanded.
With a sharp twist of both her hands, Elizabeth built up the water pressure in the tubes attached to the tanks and blew them right off with the locks. The glass shattered and the captive mermaids were now freed.
"Go! Get out of here!" Elizabeth ordered them.
"How did...?" Gregory cried out, witnessing what just happened.
"I told you boss, she's a mermaid!" Barry said, pointing at Elizabeth.
Elizabeth's eyes flickered feline green and Gregory screamed. He had never seen that before and it freaked him right out. Elizabeth pulled out her gun and threw it to Joshua. He trained it on Gregory. Elizabeth out her hands up and had them on Barry and
the other two.
Rikki dried off first and then proceeded to get the other mermaids their legs back. Quickly, they all ran out of the cave the way that the humans came. Charlotte stayed where she was as she witnessed the stand-off. Too bad that she didn't have her own
gun.
"There's four of us and two of you. My disappointment can't even be in on this," Gregory commented.
"Look Gregory, we'll give you a chance to redeem yourself. Put down the gun and walk away," Joshua offered.
Elizabeth felt naseous again and she teetered. Charlotte saw and was quick to rush over to Elizabeth, catching her just in time once her green tail appeared.
"Holy mother of...!"
"We tried to tell you!" Barry said.
Charlotte was pulled away from Elizabeth by Barry and he threw the net back over her.
"Well, we lost the others, but we can still make it off with her. Just shoot them both," The dark haired mansaid to Gregory.
Charlotte looked at her dad as the bottom of his barrel was back on Joshua. She felt the threat of Barry's gun on the back of her head.
It got really long, so I'm trying to cut it down a bit. Next chapter will be along shortly!
Rate and review!
I know... I'm a mean person when it comes to cliffhangers.