The Turning Tides (Marina's Tales) (34 page)

A red light flashed into the lab, making Edwards look like the devil himself. The loud beeping sound of a truck backing up filled the room, along with the stench of diesel fumes. Paul directed the truck as it slowly backed up, signaling for it to stop with a raised palm. He stepped outside to consult with the driver.

I could hear the mechanical sound of a hoist straining, and Paul returned to guide a large sling attached to a boom into position over the massive tank. My blood ran cold when I saw the flapping tail poking out from the wide strap.

I strained forward in my chair, unable to suppress an agonized cry.
Grief and fear made it impossible to draw
another
breath.
Paul lowered the hoist over the top of the aquarium, and with a splash, the load was deposited in the tank.

“No,” I gasped, watching my worst nightmare realized. It was Nixie.

The men all stood before the tank, gaping in astonishment as they watched the first live mermaid they’d ever seen swim frantically around the room sized tank. She didn’t understand what the clear aquarium walls were, and she drove into them, shaking the entire room with dull thuds.

“Can the glass take it?” asked Edward.

“That’s five inch thick acrylic,” replied Doctor Neuman with confidence, “It’ll hold.”

Paul closed the giant door, climbed down the ladder, and joined them. He turned back to look at me with a gleeful grin as I
sat
writh
ing
in agony, held fast, unable to escape the torturous chair. I could feel Nixie’s fear, and her jumbled terrified thoughts rang through my mind.

“
Nixie
! Stop swimming– you’ll hurt yourself
!
” I called out to her, and Edwards spun on his heel to look at me.

“Is that the one?” he asked, “What did you say to it?”

He was watching his own child suffering, and she was nothing but an animal to him, a science experiment to his employees, and a victory for Paul to taunt me with.
I would have thrown up, but my stomach was concave, hollow and empty of everything but an overwhelming sense of dread.

“Let me go to her,” I begged him, “Please.”

He looked back at Nixie, who was thrashing around the tank in a blind panic, slamming hard from side to side. “Paul,” he commanded, “Release Marina.”

I was unshackled, and I raced over to the tank to try and calm her.

“
Nixie… it’s me, Marina… Stop swimming and listen to me
.” I pressed my hands against the glass, willing her to calm down. She stopped when she saw me, and her little frightened face broke my heart.

“
Marina! Help me!
”
She came to me, holding her hands up to mine in desperation.

I forced my tears back.

“
What is this place? Why am I in this… this…
” she looked all around with terrified eyes, “
hard bubble?
”

Paul stood guard behind me, poised to tackle me should I try anything. Edwards stepped alongside me to get a closer look at Nixie’s webbed fingers
;
I fought the urge to lunge at him and claw his eyes out
.
I
knew I
’d only be strapped down again should I attack.

“
Oh Nixie
…” my breath caught in my throat, and I struggled to put on a brave face for her. “
These are the bad people. I’m afraid that they caught both of us
.”

Her face crumpled, and her eyes darted to Edwards, “
That one
looks bad
.”

I tried to think of something to say to reassure her, groping for a few hopeful words, “
I’ll do my best to make them let you go
.”

Seeing Nixie suffer filled me with a powerful urge to see Edwards punished, and when I looked up at him
I swore to myself that I’d make him pay. I’d see Nixie returned to freedom if it was the last thing I ever did. The will to fight rose up inside of me, resurrecting my will to live along with it.

“How did you catch her?” I asked.

He was proud of himself, and couldn’t resist trumpeting the details of his success, “We recorded the sounds that the mother made when she was in my… custody. They must have meant something, because they brought it close enough for us to net.”

“What are you planning to do with
her
?” I asked him coldly, silently wishing him pain and suffering.

“Study
her
,” he said, in a voice dripping with sarcasm, “Ever since we learned about their accelerated growth, we’ve been intrigued. If we failed to catch this one, we made plans to grow
one of
our own.” He smiled at me, smug as the cat that ate the canary, “But now we’re able to do both.”

I closed my eyes, pulling the hospital gown tight around me, and pressing my forehead on the tank. They’d recorded my conversations with Evie regarding Nixie, so there was no use in denying anything. Once again, I was the reason my sister was in jeopardy. They wouldn’t even know she existed if I’d only kept
my mouth shut
. It was all my fault.

“What do they eat?” Doctor Neuman asked, watching Nixie feel the walls of the aquarium, desperately looking for a way out. I glared at him with angry eyes, imagining him suffering alongside of Edwards. Jones called Edwards aside, and the two of them started discussing something with their heads together.

Paul stepped up to look at Nixie, “It’s really only a few months old?”

I was living inside a nightmare, and I had a feeling it was going to get worse. I was right.

Edwards returned to my side, “I’ve just had some disappointing news about you. Whatever are we going to do with you now? It will be months before we can put you to use…” He tapped his index finger to his lips, smiling, “I know!” he said, mocking me, “I think your little friend here could use some company.”

“No,” I gasped, stepping back only to have my arms clamped behind my back in Paul’s iron grip.

“Does it hurt terribly?” Edwards asked, his eyes widening
.
“I can only imagine.” He was toying with me cruelly, clearly enjoying my fear. I added sadist to the long list of his psychological disorders.

“I could kill you,” I told him, strange echoes of the time I spoke those words to Peter reverberating in my mind. I knew he’d show me no mercy, so I straightened up and tried to let go of my fear for Nixie’s sake.
The worst had already happened;
Olivia and Edwards had their revenge. They’d managed to drive a wedge between me and Ethan, and proven that I was incapable of protecting my sisters. All that was left for me to do was try to comfort Nixie in her captivity.

“Do your worst,” I said, surrendering myself to fate.

“I try,” Nathan Edwards smirked.

He nodded to Paul, who forced me up the ladder to the top of the tank. I could look down and see Nixie through the clear top; it was as solid as the sides, and had been designed without any airspace on the surface. There was a submarine style hatch with a wheel by the steps, but he led me over to the trap door Nixie had slid in through. It was marked “danger”, and painted with bright orange stripes.

“I’ll need the gown off her,” called Doctor Neuman, “She might try and block the pump with it.” He looked to Edwards for approval, as if to show he’d considered every detail.

“Take it off, or I’ll do it for you,” Paul growled in my ear.

I held my head up high, trying to hold onto my dignity as I was being robbed of my humanity. I untied the shift with trembling fingers and shed it, folding my arms across my chest protectively. I began to shake against my own will, my body unable to mask its own fear of the pain that was certain to come.

“Off you go,” Paul gave my back a shove, “Down the hatch.”

I took one last shuddering breath and stepped onto the trapdoor.

~

C
hapter
T
wenty-
T
hree

DROWNING

~

Grinding pain hijacked my consciousness, purging all other thoughts. The four men lined up in front of the tank, watching my suffering with fascination. There wasn’t an ounce of empathy amongst them, and after my body contorted into its final form, intense anger rose in me with its familiar dizzying power. I hated them with a passion, and wished them all a terrible fate.

As the agony of the transformation subsided, I was able to gather myself together. I breathed the salty brine into my lungs, and long submerged memories of my time swimming in the sea with Kalypso flooded back into my mind. As odd as the comparison was, it really was like riding a bike. Nixie was cowering in the corner, covering her eyes.

I swam to her, gently patting her shoulder, “
Nixie… it’s me
…”

“
Marina! You look like a sister now
,”
her traumatized eyes were wide with shock.

I embraced her, reassuring her that we were going to be alright. If she could tell I was lying, she didn’t let on, but from that moment on she stayed close to me, trailing behind as I inspected every corner of the tank. There was nothing but smooth, clear walls on all sides, top and bottom; nothing to hurt ourselves with, nothing to use as a weapon.

The acrylic panels were melded tog
ether seamlessly, fused
at the corners. The trap door I had fallen through was closed tight, and I tried to pry it open, only succeeding in chipping my nails.  Another sort of manhole-covered opening a few yards away was locked down tight. I wasn’t going to be able to break out, and I turned to glare at my captors with all the murderous hatred I felt inside.

There was a narrow pipe feeding fresh water into the tank, and a grate on the opposite side draining it out. The constant low hum of the pump was maddening, but not loud enough to keep me from hearing every word the men spoke to one another beyond its walls. My heightened sense of hearing was accompanied by ultra-clear eyesight, enabling me to see the men on the far side of the lab as clearly as if I was looking through thin air.

After conferring with the scientists about the MRI results, Edwards left. He told Paul he would be at a hotel in town for the next two days, and wanted to be notified immediately of any changes. He left Paul in charge of security, tasking the scientists to work twenty-four hour shifts until they had something to show him.

He waved goodbye to me, unable to resist one final victorious gesture.

Being hum
an in confinement was horrible
, but
being a mermaid in a fish tank was sheer unmitigated torture. The relatively large tank was
a
hellish cage for a creature used to the space of the open ocean
.
D
esigned to swim vast distances, our powerful tails were useless in the small space. Nixie and I circled the tank to keep from going mad, pacing like zoo animals in our confinement. She reached out for my hand, seeking
security, and I felt protective, maternal and helpless all at the same time.

I fought hard to think soothing thoughts for Nixie’s sake.

Jones climbed to the top of the tank with a bucket, dumping a few live fish onto the trap door and into the tank along with us. I swam to the surface, trying to pry the door back open, but once it snapped shut it was immovable. The fish schooled in the far corner, and I wondered how long it would take me to starve to death. Nixie squeezed my hand, looking more frightened than ever.

I realized that I could never leave her to face these monsters on her own, and was suddenly grateful that I hadn’t the courage to slice open my wrists. I’d do
anything
to help her survive captivity, even if all I could do was e
xplain the terrible things that were going on
. As hopeless as
my
situation was, Nixie was one thing worth staying alive for.

We tired of swimming, and went to the far side of the tank to rest. I propped myself up against the back wall, keeping an eye on the scientists as they went about their craven business. Nixie lay her head down on my lap, finally voicing her fears.

Her lower lip trembled, “
I was bad. I didn’t stay away from the net
.”

“
I’m so sorry
,” I said, stroking her forehead. Her hair floated all around, and I gathered it up to try and braid it. She curled up alongside me, turning her fin back on herself like a cat’s tail.

“
I heard my Nerissa crying, and I went too close to the boat
…” she looked up at me, her green eyes filled with pain and remorse
.
“
Someone hurt Nerissa
.”

At least I could clear that up, “
No they didn’t. It wasn’t Nerissa you heard. It was a trick
.”