Rosie took Beth to the very same room where she had taken the potion from, and once inside the woman made absolutely sure that no one was close enough to hear what she was about to say next.

"Um...Am I in trouble?" Beth asked.

"Someone's in trouble if you did what I think you did." Rosie said.

"What do you mean?"

"Beth what did you do with the bottle?"

"What bottle?"

"Child I am not in the mood to play games right now, you know very well what bottle. The bottle you stole."

"You have no proof that I stole anything. You don't even have security cameras so by law, I am completely innocent of theft."

True, there was no evidence that Beth was guilty of what Rosie was accusing her of. But she had ways getting people to tell the truth, particularly children. She firmly but gently took Beth by the arm and pulled her close to where their eyes were locked tight.

"Look me in the eye and swear to me by the good lord that you didn't steal anything from me." She challenged.

Now Beth was done for. She couldn't lie while making eye contact with someone. She also couldn't swear a lie by the good lord's name. Her brother had raised her too well in the Southern Baptist faith. But what made it all the more impossible for her to do was Rosie's piercing gaze. Those eyes were suddenly as cold as ice and they filled Beth's entire being with an inhumanly, freezing chill. A chill that would only cease if she told the truth.

"Alright I did it!" She confessed. "I took the bottle!"

Rosie released her.

"What did you do with it?" Rosie voice had turned serious. "Beth this is important, you have to give a completely honest answer. What did you do with it?"

"I...I...I may have given it to a friend."

"May have?"

"Okay I did give it to her."

"What friend? You're friend out there?"

"Yes."

"Beth please tell me that she was always human. Tell me she was born with those legs."

Beth was getting scared. She didn't like where this was going.

"You...You did want a completely honest answer, right?"

"Oh dear God! So she is a mermaid!"

"You knew?"

"Yes! I knew from the moment she started singing. No human woman has a voice like that. Oh Lord, you don't know what you've done girl."

"What? What did I do? What's going on here? And how is that you figured out Charlie was a mermaid when no one else at the cabaret did?"

"Well I suppose it's time for me to give a confession of my own." Rosie sighed. She once again checked to make sure that no one else could hear her. "Beth do you remember when I said that as my Grammy grew older her mind made her think crazy things like believing her homemade oils and ointments potions?"

"Yes."

"Well that was a lie. They really were potions. You see my grandmother was a witch. Not a bad one, not a good one either, in fact she was probably the only neutral witch that ever lived. She resided somewhere between land and sea where she mainly used her magic and spells to run a business, selling potions to customers who needed something that nature or science couldn't provide. Unfortunately Grammy would always demand a high price for her product and each product always had a negative side effect."

"What kind of negative side effects?"

"Funny you should ask because the potion you took happens to have the worst side effects of them all. It was among two of my Grammy's last dealings in the ocean, a mermaid who fallen in love with a human prince and desired an immortal soul. She created that potion to give the mermaid legs but the side effects were that the mermaid would feel pain each time she walked on them and if her prince married another then she would turn to sea foam at the sunrise after the prince's wedding."

"And she demanded the mermaid's voice as payment didn't she?"

"That is correct."

"Holy crap, you mean your grandmother is the sea witch from The Little Mermaid story?"

"Pretty much."

"But that was just a story written by Hans Christian Andersen."

"And who do you think Mr. Andersen heard that story from? My grandmother was banished from the sea by the sea king, who blamed her for his daughter's tragedy and she began a life of traveling all over the human world, selling to those she would meet on her travels. While visiting Denmark, she met Mr. Andersen who was looking for writing inspiration and she offered to give him the perfect story, for the right price of course."

"Which was?"

"Money. Grammy was going to have to settle down eventually so she started asking for money as payment."

"Wait a second, if your grandmother knew Hans Christian Andersen then she must've been two hundred years old."

"Actually she died around the ripe age of 376."

"How did she live that long?"

"Well why do you think she asked for things like a mermaid voice and mermaid hair as payment for her services? Merfolk live for three hundred years and any organic material from them can serve as the perfect ingredient for a longevity potion. With that voice and hair, she made it all the way to the year 2000."

"So how old are you?"

"First of all don't ever ask a lady her age and second, I age normally. I don't think living past one hundred years is worth it considering how far society has fallen nowadays, although I will use a little of her rejuvenation lotion to make sure that I age well."

"So you are a witch."

"Yes but I'm not a bad one. In fact I only use magic for extreme emergencies. Not for reckless and foolish reasons like you've done. The potion you've given your friend is the very same my grandmother gave to that little mermaid."

"It can't be, the effects aren't the same. I know that story and it said that she'd never become a mermaid again and she would feel pain when she walked. But Charlie can turn back into mermaid when we she gets wet and she hasn't felt any pain."

"Oh no, that's right. There was only a little potion left. Not enough to give her a complete transformation."

"So she's not in any danger right?"

"Not as long as she doesn't fall in love with a human."

"Why? What will happen?"

"If she falls in love with a human and said human breaks her heart then she'll turn to sea foam within three days."

"What?!" Beth cried in horrified panic.

"Well it's better than the original. Make sure a human prince doesn't marry another."

"Oh this is bad. Oh this is very, very, very bad. Oh what did I do?"

"She's not in love with a human, is she?"

"No. I don't think so. Funny thing though, the whole reason I did this was because I wanted her and my brother to be together."

"Beth you need to put a stop to this immediately. It's destined for failure, no mermaid or any woman of the sea has ever won the love of a human male."

"Never ever?"

To elaborate, Rosie pulled a book off a shelf and began to read off of various pages.

"Undine, a water spirit who loved a human knight but he married a human princess. Calypso, a sea nymph who became lover to the human Odysseus but he left her to return to his wife. Melusina, a half water serpent who was cruelly rejected by her human husband. Rusalka, a water sprite who like Undine and the Little Mermaid, loved a human but lost him to a human princess."

"Oh wow. That's a lot of broken hearts."

"And I'm afraid it will be no different with your friend and Alastor."

"But Alastor isn't like those guys. He's not fickle."

"Maybe not but I don't think he'll be open to loving something that's not truly human. Once he sees that tail, he'll want nothing to do with her and that rejection might cause her death. Is that what you want?"

"No. I just..." She looked down in shame. "I just didn't want my brother to be all alone." She explained. "I don't know what else to do. I'm all he has but I can't stay with him forever and I'm afraid that when I grow up and have to leave, he'll have nobody."

Rosie's face softened and she moved to carefully hug Beth close.

"Honey, Alastor is going to be just fine." She assured her in a much gentler tone.

"How do you know? Ever since I was born, he's put off everything for me." She was now in tears. "He put off his childhood, a chance to make a lot of friends, to go out to parties, to date pretty girls, to have fun. And it was even worse after Mom died. He gave up his entire college fund to pay bills and take care of me. I've cost him everything that he ever wanted for himself. Even a chance at true love."

"No baby." She shifted Beth into her lap and softly combed her hair with gentle hands. "No. Beth it's not your fault that he had to give up so much and grow up too soon. Things like that just happen sometimes. It isn't fair and it isn't right but it's not your fault. And he knows that."

"I just want him to be happy." She sobbed into her chest.

"I know. I know."

"I wish my mama was here. She could make him happy."

Rosie couldn't say anymore to help. So she just held that child and let her cry, while slowly rocking back and forth.