Marcus came to, slowly, blinking several times as a searing headache racked his brain. He felt weightless and that feeling coupled with his headache brought bile up in his throat. He righted himself and retched violently. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand he tried to make sense of what happened and where he was. He remembered losing his balance, falling, and then everything went black. He shook his head and immediately regretted his action as his headache throbbed painfully. He looked into the sky to gain his bearings and saw the full moon shining down directly above him. Marcus's eyes widened and he suddenly felt all his pain wash away as though it had never been there to begin with. He grabbed the rope he was dangling from and began to pull himself up the cliff. Even as he climbed, hand-over-hand, he couldn't take his eyes off of the moon. It seemed to be calling him, drawing him, beckoning him. He couldn't imagine even wanting to resist such a beautiful thing. Before he even consciously realized it he was back at the top of the cliffs, staring dumbly up at the moon as his feet moved forward seemingly of their own accord.

He felt weightless again, but this time the feeling filled him with elation instead of fear. The pool seemed to slowly advance upon him as he fell. As he was falling however, somehow Marcus was snapped from his reverie. He instantly knew that he was falling, and just before he hit the water he shouted out, "Oh shi-."

He hit the water with the curse on his lip, and felt his heart stop in his chest for a full ten seconds. He hung suspended in the pool, begging his heart to restart. To his great relief it did, and he wasted no time in trying to escape from the pool. He grabbed the rope that was tied around his waist and began to pull himself out of the pool, doing his best to ignore how the water seemed to be pulling at his very soul. When he finally broke the surface, he didn't bother celebrating the small victory. Not until was he out of the cave and rappelling down the side of the cliff did he even let himself take a breather. When he did stop to breathe it was only for a second. Then he was continuing his descent down the mountain, landing on the stone and running for the beach. He untied the boat and pushed it into the water, starting the outboard the second he leapt into the small craft. He gunned the motor and turned the boat away from Mako, heading as fast as he could get the boat to go towards the mainland. At that moment Marcus wanted nothing more than to get as far as he could from that accursed island that seemed to be trying its best to kill him at every opportunity. When he finally reached the docks and tied the boat off to the wood. He pulled the keys from the watercraft and ran off the docks as fast as his legs would carry him. For some reason, Marcus couldn't shake the feeling that he was still underwater. Even breathing was a struggle as his body rebelled against the combined feeling of being submerged and trying to draw breath. He had only slight difficulty making it to his home in the pitch dark, that difficulty being finding his keys without the benefit of a light source. He fumbled in the darkness for a moment while he searched for the keyhole, but when he found it and managed to turn the key in the lock and step inside his house he quickly realized that he had been followed.

"Oh, hey Marcus!" Zach said, nearly making Marcus jump out of his skin.

Marcus yowled like a cat and shot straight up in the air at the unexpected statement and slipped on his floor as his wet shoes failed to regain traction. He crashed onto the hardwood and groaned in pain. "What are you doing here?" Marcus demanded the second he regained his breath.

Zach stepped forward and offered Marcus a friendly hand which Marcus slapped away angrily. He got to his feet unassisted and glared at Zach. "Are you stalking me now?" He demanded.

"No!" Zach said immediately, shaking his head vigorously. "I was just walking around outside. I, uh, I had a fight with Evie and couldn't sleep."

"So you decide that scaring me would be a good idea?" Marcus shot, slipping off his backpack and tossing it carelessly to one side.

"I said I was sorry." Zach said, frowning. "Anyways, what are you doing up so late? It looks like you just got back from somewhere."

"Yeah." Marcus said, happy to let the conversation end there.

"Mako?" Zach asked.

Marcus heaved a sigh and headed into his kitchen. "I can see you aren't planning on leaving anytime soon so you might as well give me some information." Marcus told him, returning with two cans of pop. He tossed one to Zach who caught it easily and nodded his thanks. "Come on, I don't feel like being inside right now."

"Sure." Zach said, opening his drink and taking an appreciative sip. "What did you want to know?"

"Well, first off what is the deal with you guys and Mako?" Marcus asked bluntly. He had very little tolerance for small talk at that moment and he very much wanted to hear Zach's answer.

"What do you mean?" Zach asked carefully.

"When Evie first heard I went to Mako she looked like I had just shot her best friend." Marcus told him. "And then when I got some water on her she freaked out and dove into the water."

"Maybe she just wanted a swim?" Zach suggested.

So he knows. Marcus said, instinctively knowing that he was being lied to. Telling when someone was lying was a gift that he had. It wasn't by any means perfect, he had been wrong before of course, but more often than not his suspicion was correct. Whatever is going on with Evie he knows.

"Maybe," Marcus said evenly, "But I don't think so. Why are you so eager to keep people from going to Mako?"

"I don't know what you are talking about." Zach told him, his voice the sound of innocence. "We don't keep anyone from going to Mako. Principal Santos even told you some places to explore."

Yes, but she is just as involved as you are. Marcus mused. He decided to forego this line of questioning as it was proving to be useless. Whatever was going on with that island, Zach was not going to be conned into telling him. Which means whatever he is hiding is important to him and the others.

Marcus began to ask smaller questions then, about school, the café, and even Rita's nieces. Zach seemed more than happy to answer these questions now that they had steered away from the topic of Mako. Whatever you people are hiding, I am going to find out. Marcus silently promised Zach. You might have more people, but eventually one of you are going to slip up.

They chatted for a while longer before Zach excused himself and returned to his own home. While Marcus was lying in bed that night waiting for sleep to take him, one phrase continued to repeat itself in his mind. "Mermaid council…." He murmured to himself as he finally drifted off into the sea of sleep.