Kawaii-Cherri: I love Hayley as well, she's very much my vibe. There are a couple of nicknames for Elspeth and they will be revealed, one sooner than later, don't worry! A bump at the beach? Perhaps. Perhaps it'll happen sooner than you think.

Chapter five: Crossed wires

Demetrius knocked on the farm house door and had to step back as the blur of her dog came thundering through the dog flap. He could hear Elspeth running towards the door. 'Coming! I'm coming! Just wait there!' Buddy tore past once again and ran into the house. There was the sound of a commotion before Elspeth tore open the door. 'I'm here!' She said breathlessly, trying to keep Buddy still. 'Oh, hi! Demetrius,' she said as she pulled back on Buddy's collar. 'Come on, you, silly bugger,' she grunted as she moved her dog to the side to let Demetrius in.

'You seem well, though Robin said that you fell over?' He said as he thanked her and walked into the kitchen. Elspeth offered him a drink and he took a seat at the table. 'I have the results of your blood tests,' he said as he explained why he had come over to visit. 'I was going to pop over earlier but Robin said that you would be joining her with for yoga.'

She poured him a coffee, putting it on the table and shooed Buddy out the way with her knee; searching in her cupboard for a treat to distract him. Even though he was running through her farm lands all day, he seemed to have an endless amount of energy. Buddy was rapt with attention for the treat in Elspeth's hand and snapped it out the air, he trotted off to his owner's bed to enjoy his plunder. Now that her pet was dealt with, Elspeth turned to Demetrius. 'Oh, yeah. I lost concentration and took a nose dive onto the mat. I'm a little sore but nothing that won't heal,' she said showing him her arm. She had changed into some more relaxing clothes, a pair of tracksuit bottoms and a tank top, taking the rest of the day easy.

He winces but nods, 'looks a little raw but yes, should heal. Though I suggest that Dr Harvey look at it should it get any worse,' he advises. Elspeth smiled at his advice and he put the file he had created on the table. 'Back to your results,' he said realising that he was taking up her time. 'It's good news,' he said, surprised at the results himself. 'As far as reactions go, your blood has had the least reactive outcome that I've seen,' he said as he opened the file.

'Wow, really?' Elspeth said in surprise.

'It seems that the tingle that you felt, those… pins and needles? That looks like it would be the most of a reaction that will happen. Although, that being said, I don't think you should go hunting the fish again. Repeated exposure could cause more severe repercussions,' he said in warning.

She looked more satisfied than concerned. 'So, how did you test it?' She asked curiously.

'It's not particularly difficult. I simply placed your blood in a petri dish along with a sample of the toxin, then recorded the results at regular intervals. It's similar to Tetrodotoxin, which is produced by pufferfish,' he explained, pleasantly surprised that she seemed interested in the testing process. 'I observe any breakdown in the red blood cells or plasma, along with any other unnatural reactions.'

'And there was nothing?' Elspeth said as she sipped her coffee. 'Cool. I mean, I don't have any allergies that I know of but it's cool to know that I don't react,' she muses.

'It shouldn't be something that you toy with, one exposure is normally severe enough to end someone's life,' he said, trying to make it clear how dangerous it could be. 'Everyone reacts differently to this toxin, which is why we've got to be careful around it.'

Elspeth tilted her head, 'yeah… I hear what you're saying. Though, it's a legendary fish, Demetrius. Could you imagine just having a photo of it? I promise that I'll be careful. I'll wear gloves and things. I'll make sure that I take every precaution possible,' she said as she finished her drink.

Demetrius knew that there was nothing he could say to dissuade her, so he instead gave her some advice on how to stay safe should she encounter the toxin again. Once he had finished his drink, he said goodbye and gathered his file; he didn't need anyone else in the town to find out about the toxin. He didn't want to fear monger and cause panic. It didn't take him long to walk back to the house and let himself in. Maru was at work; Robin was out at suppliers gathering equipment for the stain glass that she had to fit at the greenhouse. Demetrius was glad that the house was empty for the conversation that he was about to have. He walked down to the basement and knocked on the door before opening it. Sebastian hadn't even managed to take off his headphones before Demetrius had walked in. 'We need to talk,' Demetrius said, bluntly.

Sebastian pulled off his headphones and stood up from behind his desk. 'Uh… about what?' He asked, then his eyes darted down to the file that Demetrius had under his arm. 'Oh… Elspeth's results,' he muttered. Fear tightened his chest and going by the look on Demetrius' face, it wasn't good.

'Yes. It is as I feared. She's highly susceptible,' Demetrius lied. He didn't show any indication of his deceit and Sebastian believed him without a doubt. 'You were lucky the first time. If she had gotten any more onto her skin and I fear that she would have merely minutes before paralysation would set in and her heart and lungs would have failed,' he said, seeing concern and guilt appear on Sebastian's features. 'For the sake of this young woman, I suggest you stay away.'

'I've already set boundaries,' Sebastian said simply. 'I refused her today and it was clear that it hurt her,' Sebastian muttered, looking away. Demetrius nodded and looked at him carefully.

'Good. Keep it that way. I don't want to be covering up another mistake,' he said simply.

'If you would let me have some of the salve, I would be able to correct anything-'

'No!' Demetrius sanpped. 'We're not having this argument again, Sebastian.'

'I don't want an argument, I want a discussion,' Sebastian replied as he stepped closer to his step-father who glared at him. 'I'm in the middle of my twenties, I'm not a child!' Sebastian snapped. 'I understand that of course the best protection is prevention but that doesn't mean you can't trust me not to make the right decisions!'

Demetrius scowled. 'I cannot trust you! You are always pushing boundaries with people. You always take risks,' he said, annoyed.

'I need to actually have a life, Demetrius! I need to talk to people. I'm not just some dog you can lock away,' he snapped back.

His step-father almost snarls, 'I have said, no,' he said, bluntly, cruelly. He then departed without another word and left Sebastian with his thoughts.

Sebastian sighs and sat on the edge of his sofa. 'Bastard,' he muttered as he looked at his hand and recognised the tell-tale sheen on his skin. Ever since he had hit puberty, this curse had been following him around. His life had become almost completely dormant and he knew that people thought of him as a recluse. Even finding a job had been difficult but thankfully he had found a niche in computer programming. It didn't require any human contact in person and everything could be done electronically.

Treacherously, Elspeth crossed Sebastian's mind. Seeing her in her workout clothing had been another curse on his life. Though she was small, Elspeth was fit and slim. Sebastian had tried not to stare at her but she looked incredibly sweet with her auburn, curly hair piled up in a bun. He couldn't help himself but he had looked over her body; he knew it was bad to objectify and sexualise someone but he couldn't deny his attraction. It made everything worse. Elspeth was cute, sweet and a great cook, plus she was very attractive. Her smile made him want to smile and simply hold her.

'Fuuuuck,' he moaned as he fell back onto his sofa, covering his face with his hands. 'I'm in so much fucking trouble,' he muttered, his arm covering his eyes. 'This is going to be nothing but stress.'

-x-

Elspeth stretched. The weather on the beach wasn't great but she didn't mind. The water was calm and that was all that mattered. She placed her bag on a large rock and began to slip off her clothes. She wore a cropped wetsuit underneath, the last thing she needed was to get too cold while swimming. She had braided her hair back and wore specialised swim shoes. They would protect her feet but not hinder her propulsion. Once she had fished out her goggles, she was ready.

She rotated her neck and rolled her shoulders. 'Okay, let's do this,' she said as she looked at the waves. Stepping into the waves, Elspeth yelped. 'Fuck, that's cold,' she yammered as she bent down and splashed the water up her thighs and arms as she waded forward into the surf. Elspeth pulled her googles down and breathed in deeply as she dove into the waves. Cold water rushed over her body and caused her to mentally scream. Fucking hell! That's colder than Pierre's attempt at humour, she thought as she began to swim further out.

The idea was to swim up and down the beach a few times, until she got tired and then make her way back to shore. She didn't want to risk becoming too tired and getting dragged under by the current. Her training kicked in and she swam with ease along the current, pacing herself and enjoying the heat in her muscles with her rhythmic strokes. About halfway through the session, she got bored and began to simply swim on her back, cruising around. Although the weather was a little grey, it was refreshing and liked the atmosphere. As she flipped over to her front, she caught sight of a large, dark shape under the water. Fuck. What was that? She thought as her heart stopped. She would have to find out. There was no way she could leave it. Inhaling deeply, she dove under the water and looked around. While it was dark she could see enough to make out shapes, everything was in shades of blue but that didn't matter. There are monsters in the ocean as well as on land, I need to be careful. If this weather can bring out something worrying then I need to take notes and only swim in bright weather, she thought to herself, feeling her heart sped up in her chest with anxiety. I don't have anything to protect myself, perhaps I should carry a switchblade or something on me, for a last resort if nothing else.

Swimming forward, she spotted the large shape near a rock. It was the same tail fin that she had seen up in the mountain lake. I found it again! She thought excitedly and swam forward quickly, hoping to catch sight of it properly. It seemed even larger now that it was in deeper water and the bioluminescence glittered along the fin and seemed to go up the tail. It seemed to be simply hovering behind a large mound and coral, meaning that Elspeth could sneak up on it. She swam slowly and grabbed hold of the coral, pulling herself up and over the side. She looked down to see that the fish was at least twelve foot long, dark in colour and oddly tapered towards the head. Fins covered its body, and she was struggling to see it clearly between the depth of the water and the aquatic plants that it was hiding behind.

'Wow!' She said, releasing a stream of bubbles, squinting to see better. In hindsight, she should have checked the seal on her goggles as they started to fill with fog and a trickle of sea water, making it difficult to see anything. She floated for a moment and then its body unnaturally contorted towards her and she spotted two reflective dots. If they were eyes, they were far too close together for a fish this size. Elspeth felt a flash of fear hit her and she pushed away from the coral, up towards the surface. It seemed to hold her gaze for a couple of seconds before it darted away into deeper water like last time. Elspeth couldn't and wouldn't follow. It was too far and too dark down there. She had already been spooked by its eyes and was now desperate to get out the water.

She broke the surface and gasped for air, kicking furiously she made her way to the shore and climbed up the beach on all fours. 'Fuck…' she coughed, feeling her body shake. There was something incredibly unnatural about the way that thing moved and it creeped her out to no end. 'Next time… swim during the day and… in a full shark suit,' she whispered to herself. I don't ever want to see that thing again; she thought as she looked back at the ocean. Never again.

Hope you enjoyed it. Please, leave a review.

Be well. Stay safe.