Sorry for the long wait on this chapter, writer's block is a bitch. Plus Overwatch distractions. SO WHO'S SEEN THE NEWEST COMIC? Because holy shit I've been constantly happy since it was released.
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Lena crouched low, letting her hands graze against the solid brick wall that she skirted as she made her way down the side alley. She manoeuvred her way in between the soggy cardboard boxes and old tin dustbins that decorated the dodgy looking lane, her boots crunching over broken glass and rustling against dirty old papers that littered the floor.
It was quiet, apart from the broken shards of glass that her boots scraped across. Too quiet. Her senses heightened and her heart hammered in her chest, like a hummingbird that itched to get out of it's cage. Every little noise that disrupted the silence had her on edge, even the scampering of vermin behind the bins.
In the past five minutes, Lena had gone over how much of a bad idea this was at least a hundred times already. Seeking out a mermaid, really? Only fools and poachers would do that, and half the time it wasn't a success.
The things she would do for Angela and her science.
And my own curiosity.
The engineer sighed to herself, shaking that thought away before pushing on. She became disappointed as she reached the end of the grubby alley, not finding even a tiny trace of the blue blur she saw in the window before. She slumped against the wall, already making the decision to turn back the way she came. Maybe Angela hadn't noticed her disappearance yet, too taken by the young blacksmith to realise.
That's when she heard it.
Lena came to a halt mid step, freezing in her tracks. She heard a eerie, but oddly calming sort of noise; like softly chiming bells and mellow violin tones.
Is that... singing?
It was faint but not too far away, and definitely not human singing. Lena grinned, following the sound back through the narrow lane. Maybe this wasn't such a lost cause after all?
After reaching the end, Lena came up behind a large factory firm that she recognised. The rusted walls had seen better days and the paint job could use some work but despite that, the fishing company was one of the more popular ones. She carefully peeked around the corner of the right side of the tall building, finding immediately where the sweet dulcet tones were coming from.
There she was, crouched behind a stack of barrels was the mermaid that she'd met not a few days ago; looking the same as she had before, albeit less bloody and bruised. Lena watched as the other woman sang, finding it to be quite enthralling. That was, until she saw what the singing was doing.
She looked past the mermaid and over the piles of shipment boxes to see a few of the workers slumping to the ground, crumpling into unconscious heaps as they listened to the eerie music. A small gasp left her parted lips before she could stop herself.
The singing stopped abruptly, the mermaid's head whipping around at the sound of Lena's short gasp, her ears sensitive to every little noise as her narrowed eyes scanned the area. Lena slapped a hand over her own mouth; quickly retreating back around the corner, sticking her back firmly against the wall.
Bollocks!
Lena waited with bated breath as she heard slow, quiet footsteps approaching her hiding place. Fear prickled at the back of her neck. Now she'd done it, now she was done for-
Before she could worry any more about the situation, sharp fingers curled around her collar, yanking her forward and around the corner before slamming her back hard up against the wall. She tried to yelp, quickly finding another hand firmly pressed against her mouth, effectively cutting her off and muffling any noises. Her own fingers wrapped around cool, slender blue wrists. She looked up to find a pair of golden, catlike eyes boring into her own as the taller figure loomed over her.
The sudden look of recognition passed over the taller woman's face as her eyes flicked over the face of her captive. Her eyes narrowed further, grip tightening around the jacket collar. She lifted the shorter woman a few inches off the ground. "You."
Lena flinched, trying her best to resist the urge to recall out of the woman's hold. The woman had seen her recall back on the beach but that didn't mean she knew any more about it. No, Lena needed the mermaid to trust her, and recalling would ruin that chance. Let her think she has the upper hand. It was quite ballsy, not to mention daring, but Lena had always loved a bit of danger with her adventures; like a spice added to a bland meal.
She couldn't answer with the hand still covering her lips, so she mumbled out a muffled "mhm" behind the woman's blue palm. She looked up at the taller figure; her wounds had all healed, save for a little red gash on her lower lip. Now Lena could see her more clearly- not that she had a choice with the woman right up in her face- she could see why people would find a mermaid captivating.
"You should think twice before following me." Golden eyes swept over light brown ones. "If you scream, I won't hesitate in killing you."
The hand slowly lifted from over her lips. Instead, it reached for the pouch at her hip. Lena balked at the movement; she knew her knife was in that bag. The taller woman pulling it out confirmed that. Her own knife used against her, how fitting. The mermaid noticed where her eyes had wandered to, a smirk tugged at her lips as she flicked the blade open and rested the sharp tip against Lena's jugular.
"So, tell me… what did you hope to achieve by following me?"
Lena pondered on what to say, knowing she couldn't outright say that it was for science. She needed to tread carefully, or risk having a knife plunged into her throat. "If I said I was curious, would you believe it?"
The mermaid huffed out a short, humourless laugh. "Careful. What is the phrase you humans say… Curiosity killed the cat?"
"I-"
She roughly shook Lena by the front of her jacket, cutting her off and levelling her with a glare. "Leave me alone. I will not repeat myself." She shoved Lena back into the wall, releasing her collar and walking back through the boxes and towards the warehouse.
Before Lena could so much as take a small step in her direction, the woman whirled around to face her once more, her hair followed like a cracking whip. "Don't even think of following me. Next time, I may not be so lenient."
After she turned and left, Lena waited a few more minutes before curiosity got the better of her, pushing off the wall and quietly following. Stupid idea, but Lena paid no mind to her more reasonable side, brushing off the quiet nagging at the back of her head. What's the worst that could happen, right?
Right?
Finding her way inside the building was easy. Finding the mermaid? Apparently, that was also pretty easy. All she had to do was look around and follow the path of unconscious bodies laying around. At least that particular detail made Lena feel like she was on the right track.
She held her breath as she came close to one of the security guards slumped up against one of the shelving units. Lena was in no way qualified in first aid of any kind, any that she had learned was a quick few lessons from Angela. Even then, she hadn't paid much attention to what the doctor had been saying in those lessons.
Kneeling down, Lena checked the man's neck, taking off a glove and pressing two fingers against the side to check for a pulse. Relief washed over her as she found the slow, steady beat against her fingertips. Lena pulled back an eyelid, not quite sure what she was looking for but vaguely remembering that part in a lesson. At least what she was seeing looking normal. She pulled away, letting the man's eyelid flap shut before pulling her glove back on and jumping up. Lena looked around, seeing more guards and workers alike around each corner, all in the same state of unconsciousness. If she hadn't checked the guard behind her, she would have assumed they were dead.
So the mermaid hadn't harmed them in any way, or at least she hoped. She was sure that this deep sleep was only temporary. From what she saw earlier, her singing voice was able to lull and knockout a person almost instantly. Which made her wonder why hadn't it worked on herself. She'd been listening to the song for a good while before the woman stopped after hearing her, why hadn't she collapsed from the music?
And the woman was reckless, leaving a body trail in her wake, making her easy to follow. Part of Lena wondered if the mermaid was leaving the unconscious lumps behind because she wanted to be found.
The cogs in Lena's head ground to a halt, her footsteps also faltered slightly as she mulled over that thought. She could be walking into a trap, an obvious one but a trap nonetheless. It felt like a test, one that Lena was sure the mermaid knew she would fail.
But did Lena care? Nope.
Was she still going to follow through with hers and Angela's plan? Yep.
Without even realising, the amount of bodies that littered the floor had decreased to the odd one or two as she moved further into the storehouse. The smell of rotting fish quickly filled her nostrils, causing her to retch at the repulsive stench as she covered her nose; her eyes watering as she tried to compose herself. Reaching for her orange goggles which were pushing her hair up, she pulled them down to cover her stinging eyes. The gloomy room around her now tinted with bright orange.
Her feet tapped lightly against the cold, metallic floor, creating echoes throughout the large warehouse. The smell of fish grew stronger as she rounded each corner, different scents wafted towards her nose as she passed the hundreds of storage crates on each passing shelf. She passed the still running conveyor belt, covered in different kinds of fish and chunks of crushed ice. Lena wondered if she should turn it off without anyone to man it but quickly decided against it, the less she had to do with this situation, the better.
Lena came to a halt outside of a room with a silver plaque which read "Security" in bold letters on its ajar door. She took a peek inside, eyes widening at what she saw. The whole room was a mess, as if a large bomb had been detonated inside it; papers were torn and strewn everywhere, files were ripped and tossed carelessly on the floor, the mini security monitors were smashed to pieces and hanging from slashed wires, the glass of the black screens littered the floor, wooden desks and chairs were overturned and left on their sides. It looked like a certain someone had been looking for something, rather carelessly too.
Other rooms and offices that Lena passed all seemed to be in the same state of mess, each with their own contents turned upside-down. It wasn't until she came to the last few rooms that Lena heard shuffling and muffled noises behind a closed door, a pair of shadows appeared under the crack as the figure's legs moved about the room. Could it be a worker? Or the mermaid? Lena wasn't sure whether to call out to ask.
She settled on knocking the door, raising a hand and rapping her knuckles against the hard wooden surface. The shuffling immediately stopped, everything going quiet in an instant, the shadows under the door swiftly darted to the side and disappeared, making Lena feel a bit nervous. She braced herself, placing her hand around the steel door handle, pulling it down and slowly pushing the door open before stepping inside.