Luis didn’t lock his apartment door; the ring of keys had stayed behind on his kitchen table beside an empty pizza box.
He started down the carpeted stairs in bare feet and exited the building, stepping over a stack of newspaper another resident had dropped in front of the mailboxes the night before.
The sidewalk was rough and the trip was long without a bicycle, but that didn’t matter. He walked with a greater purpose than he had ever felt, yet there were aspects that felt bittersweet as the apartment complex faded into the background behind him.
He written up an email for Jared, knowing that any other interaction would become too awkward with the suddenness—and inexplicability—of the situation. He told Jared the truth, apologized for his inability to share the information before, and regretted that he was not able to visit him one final time. He concluded with kind, truthful words of appreciation for their friendship, and that there may come a day that he’d see him again—quite possibly in a small cove wrapped in police tape that he, of all people, would legally be permitted to enter.
As these words hung in the back of his mind, he continued his trek to Sapphyre’s cove. No distance, bright sunlight, or even his steadily racing heart could shake him from his path. He didn’t even catch a glimpse of the footprints in the sand or the shadows near the rocks.
He entered the cove slowly as his heart pounded in his ears.
She had been lying on her stomach in the morning light, and she pushed herself upright when she saw him. Her joyful smile spread quickly to his own lips.
“What is this? Did you get all dressed up just for me?” he nearly tripped over his feet as he drew near to her. As he knelt down beside her, he touched the crown on her head and grinned. “My beautiful Sapphyre, Gem of the Sea.”
She brought her hands to the sides of his face. “It’s so good to see you, Te’Luis.”
He flashed a toothy grin at her moments before something dark caught his eye behind her.
He was unable to react quickly enough.
A tranquilizer dart was fired and struck Sapphyre in the hip.
Luis roared to his feet and leapt into the water towards the man who had fired it, but when he saw two men rush in from the narrow cove entrance, he rushed back to protect Sapphyre. He drew his pocketknife in defense and gripped it with the blade near his wrist. He dodged one lurch at him and rolled off another by kicking the legs out from under his attacker. He swiped his knife through the air in front of the first man, but he was not quick enough to stop the other from gagging him from behind his back. The two managed to disarm him as he struggled to breathe. At last, they brought him down to his knees in submission across the cove from Sapphyre.
The mermaid had attempted to leave the cove, but the man used the tranquilizer gun as a battering ram to keep her from escaping. She ripped the empty dart from her side and tried throwing it back at him, but he threw a net at her to slow her movements and quickly pinned her down by wrenching her arms behind her back and sitting on her tail.
“Well! I would never have expected to see you again...”
A cold shiver drew up her spine. She knew that voice.
A tall man in a plain gray jacket loomed over her, blocking the light from the sun. His five-o’clock shadow was much more noticeable that it had been at the laboratory, but when he removed the glasses, she knew it was Griffin Langford, the now-former CEO of Red Tail Laboratories.
“I almost couldn’t believe it when I saw the photos,” he began, pacing a few steps backward as he reached into his jacket, “but I would recognize that tail anywhere.” He produced a cell phone and flashed a picture taken by the two fishermen the day before: Luis half-underwater with a blue and lilac fluke behind him. “Pity it didn’t turn out red like we’d hoped; a little more pigmentation would have done it. Then you truly would have been Red Tail’s mascot.”
Sapphyre squinted at the device in his hand before he took it away.
“I will admit I was shocked to see you were still alive; but you always were a fighter, weren’t you, Project Sapphyre.” He caught an irate glance from the mermaid as he turned to Luis. “I must thank your ‘boyfriend’ for leading us right to you. This was considerably easier than I was expecting.”
Luis cringed and let his head drop as Sapphyre scowled at Griffin.
“Let’s cut to the chase before that tranquilizer kicks in.” He crouched before her and held out the phone again. On the screen was an orange mermaid wrapped in a tangled mass of netting in the back of a fishing boat.
“This is clearly a mermaid... and it’s clearly not you.” He pocketed the phone. “This means that you found more of your kind, didn’t you? You found more mermaids! They do exist, and you know where they are,” he sneered, “don’t you...”
Her fear quickly turned to anger as she again writhed against her captor.
He grabbed her chin through the net and held her in place as he drew his face near hers. “You will show me where they are, and I will let you and your friend go free.”
“I would die first!” She spat.
“She does speak!” He spread open his arms exaggeratedly. “I should have known you would continue to improve based on Tanner’s now-famous journal... thankfully, he won’t be talking anymore.”
Sapphyre thrust every bit of her weight upwards. Her tail slid out from under the man, and her lilac fluke clocked Griffin squarely in the face.
He crumpled backward, growling and coughing as he grasped at his nose. “Restrain her!”
One of the two men holding Luis ran over to help hold down the failing mermaid.
The other man’s grip loosened as his attention was distracted by the scene.
Luis noticed.
He promptly shoved the man aside to free his arms, elbowed the man in the face to get away, and rushed to his feet to storm Griffin while he appeared distracted by something within his jacket.
A gunshot cracked through the dome.
Luis staggered, choking.
He jerkily dropped to his knees, red spilling down his white shirt from a shot to his shoulder.
Sapphyre screamed in agony as he clutched his wound and crumpled to the sand.
Griffin gripped his pistol as he spat out the blood that trickled from his nose and the sand that stuck to it. “I was really hoping to save him for leverage, but it is what it is.”
He reached forward, grasped a handful of netting and Sapphyre’s hair, and forced her to look up at him.
The woven crown from Neva had slid down over one of her eyes. He shoved the gun barrel into her forehead beside it. “Let’s try this again: tell me where the other mermaids are.”
“You’ve taken everything from me,” Sapphyre hissed through tears, “I will give you nothing.”
Griffin scowled and dropped her head. “Bring her. She’ll be the next occupant of our new facility...”
“Crestway PD—drop your weapon!”
Griffin and his henchmen turned to see a dark-skinned officer holding a gun at the entrance to the cove.
Officer Moreno’s stern expression faltered when he saw Luis collapsed on the beach beside a mermaid, but he was quick to regain his stance.
Griffin scowled and raised his hands, allowing his gun to fall to the sand behind him. “This doesn’t concern you, officer.”
“Considering someone has been shot in your midst, this concerns me.” Jared gnashed his teeth and took his radio with one hand while the other holstered his gun. “This is Moreno—I need backup and an ambulance at beach zone four-two-seven. One victim appears to have a gunshot wound to the shoulder; the other is undetermined.”
“Four-two-seven, copy.” The radio hissed in return.
“Do you not realize what we have here?” Griffin sneered in heavy sarcasm, “And you’re going to invite more to gaze upon the mermaid?”
“I need all of you to back away from the victims.” Jared stiffened.
“Victims?” Griffin balked, “The man was attempting to take what is rightfully mine!”
“I would appreciate compliance.” The officer stressed.
Griffin got to his feet, but didn’t move. The two men restraining Sapphyre rose and retreated, joining the third near the cove’s wall with their hands up.
Now free, Sapphyre immediately began to struggle within the netting and tried to crawl toward Luis, but her movements grew sluggish. She blinked against the onset of exhaustion that was rippling through her body. Her breathing quickened, terrified as she began to lose the edges of her sight. She grabbed Luis’ hand and shut her eyes.
Griffin stepped closer to Officer Moreno. “Do you not realize what will happen if this... creature falls into the wrong hands?” He thrust his arm at Sapphyre.
“I’ll let someone else determine that.” Jared offered plainly.
As the sound of police sirens began to creep into the cove, Jared’s eyes strayed to the mermaid. Maintaining a wide berth, Jared sidestepped over to Sapphyre and Luis and crouched beside them. He quickly swept sand over the mermaid’s tail, covering it moments before two more officers rushed into the cove.
“Moreno, what…” the officer was surprised to find the four men huddled with their hands up a few feet away from the cove’s entrance and Officer Moreno crouched beside the victims. She didn’t seem to notice that one of the victims was not human, but she did notice two of the men were looking out to the ocean through the narrow archway.
The sunlight had faded. The sound of the gulls quieted. Even the gentle lapping of the water had ceased.
The backup officers’ eyes were wide, and one’s mouth was gaping. The others had also donned expressions of varying severity.
Jared turned his head in confusion.
The water had completely drained from the cove.
It was now piled into a wave so high, the top could no longer be seen from the archway. Thunder cracked overhead as the darkened clouds began to swirl into ominous patterns.
“Go—out!” The backup officer shouted, thrusting the men and the other officer into the rock-covered exit without another word out of anyone.
Jared harriedly dove to Luis’ side. “Luis! What the heck, bro? I get your email—I come out to find you—and you go and get shot?!” He worriedly looked between him and the unconscious mermaid. “We’ve got to get you out of here now!”
Luis was paling as he struggled to breathe. “I can’t leave her.”
“If you stay here you’ll bleed out,” he glanced out to the ocean, “or drown!”
Luis shut his eyes and squeezed Sapphyre’s hand.
“Luis!” Jared attempted to pull him from the ground, but his friend yelped in pain.
The wave began to lurch forward.
Jared’s face contorted in horror.
The three clung together as the wave collapsed onto the beach.
The force of the water pushed Jared aside, pulled Luis from the sand, and ripped Sapphyre from his grasp. A powerful current tugged him out of the cove and into the ocean. Excruciating pain averted his fight to the surface as he was desperately tossed through the waves.
He caught a glimpse of an orange mermaid emerging from the blue moments before blacking out.
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