Take me to the Deepest Blue
CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“Hello there.”

She recognized his voice before she saw him. There was something chilling about his voice. It always sounded a bit hoarse, like he was getting over a bad cold.

“Oh, hi, Pete.” She detected something in his eyes—something malevolent and secretive. It made her wish she was not alone.

“What do you say we go for a little walk?” He held out his hand to her, and she shrank back a little, unsure of what to do next.

“I’m supposed to meet with Nick and Louise.” She looked around but couldn’t see anyone nearby. She was about ten minutes away from the dock. If she ran, she could probably make it in less than five. She had gotten used to her legs. Not the fastest runner, but she was getting the hang of it compared to when she first surfaced.

Pete seemed to have read her mind, and he grabbed her forcibly by the arm. Trapping her like this seemed to give him satisfaction. He winked at her as though his action was normal and harmless.

“It won’t be long, trust me. Nick is coming in a bit, so you don’t have to worry, sweetheart.” He held her close, one of his arms draped over her shoulder, while the other locked her arms in his. His scent was musky with a tinge of alcohol, and she shuddered at his touch.

Her body went limp and the will to escape she had felt a moment before was gone.

They walked for a few miles before reaching a door that seemed purposely hidden by bougainvillea and local shrubs cleverly masking the entrance. Pete knocked five times with a distinctive rhythm, indicating a signal code. The door opened and Mike stood at the threshold, holding a small needle in his hand.

“Hello, again.” His smile was wide, but his eyes were serious and suggested that something insidious was about to unravel. Narya’s stomach churned, and she felt a sourness rise in her throat.

She felt a sting on her arm; her vision slowly blurred and the surrounding sounds became increasingly muffled until she lost consciousness.

She was underwater now. It was dark all around her, but the capepods that floated nearby sparkled faintly, offering a glowing spectacle on the ocean platform that made her feel less alone. She knew others were nearby, too. Grey never strayed too far from her, and she sensed that her family roamed somewhere behind the rocky outcrops. Rows of sea lilies swayed gently back and forth, and the motion relaxed her as she began to fall back into a deep sleep. The twinkling lights from the capepods began to fade, and she could hear her own panicked breathing, followed by a sound of metal clanging, echoing through an empty room.

She was not underwater.

When she opened her eyes, she saw her reflection staring back at her. Sitting upright in a chair, she had been stripped down to her underwear—a mismatched top and bottom that Louise made her hurriedly buy before packing for this trip. Her hands were tied with ropes, and her feet were shackled with metal cuffs. In the mirror, she could spot one blurred figure behind her, filling up a bathtub-sized glass tank with a bucket of water. The room had grey concrete walls with high ceilings, and although it wasn’t very big, there were large and intricate looking machines that blew steam and made a distracting buzzing sound. She has never seen the inside of an operating room before, but she suspected that it would very much resemble the one she found herself in now.

Cameras were set up in all four corners of the room, aimed directly at her from different angles. Her eyes frantically searched for Pete, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Someone approached her, but she couldn’t sense where he was coming from. The long, slow footsteps made her heart race, and she tried not to whimper. Someone’s face came into view, and small gasp escaped her.

Craig.

He had removed his cap, and she could see he bore a faint resemblance to Nick with his dark brown hair. His eyes were glazed, and he stared at her in silence. She felt his fingers on her neck, softly touching the scars of her gills. He opened his mouth to say something, but the sound of the door squeaking open stopped him.

“Are we ready for this?” Mike appeared from behind him, and while his friendly demeanor hadn’t changed, his tone was jollier, as though he anticipated something grand about to take place.

But of course. She was at the center of it all. A sudden nausea hit her, making her head spin, and her vision started to blur again. It all had been planned—from the very beginning. Where was Louise? And Nick? Were they in on this, too? She shook her head and tried to focus on keeping her mind clear. Her vision slowly came into focus.

Pete appeared by Mike’s side and motioned for him to follow to the other side of the room.

“Craig, we’ll be right with you,” Mike said before he joined Pete to discuss something in hushed tones.

“Would you . . . like some water?” Craig asked. His expression was apologetic, and his voice was almost gentle.

How he could be part of something as monstrous as this? Her lips were sealed with tape, and she nodded.

He poured a cup of water then paused when he was about to hand it to her.

“Sorry. Let me . . . take this off for you.” He smoothly removed the tape from her lips.

She winced at the pull but thankful for the chance to speak.

“Listen, I’m really sorry about this,” he said. His hands shook slightly.

“Do you know what I am?” she asked in a hushed voice. She had nothing else to lose at this point; she was about to be exposed, and she had no way out.

Her eyes fixated on his kind face, and she wondered if she could convince him to let her go. Then her gaze lowered and paused at his neck. He had a visibly long scar like hers. A human with gills? It triggered the memory of her conversation with Alicia before she left. He must be the guy. The one that threatened to expose her.

Perhaps he could help her. If he was as kind as Alicia had said, there might still be hope.

He appeared surprised but not entirely thrown off by her question.

“You do?”

Pete and Mike still had their backs to them and were engaged in debate. About what to do with her? Whether to keep her alive for experiments? She shut her eyes before she gathered her strength to speak again.

“Do you know?”

Craig kept his eyes lowered.

“Alicia?” She pressed on urgently. “Was it Alicia?”

He looked uncertain about what he should say next.

“Is she okay?”

“Yes. Or at least I think she is. I met her about a week ago.” She saw Pete turn to them and knew she had very little time left. She wished she knew what Craig was thinking. Did he truly care for Alicia? Would his kindness extend to her own grave predicament?

Before Craig could say anything more, the sound of footsteps started them both. Craig shrank into the background, leaving her defenseless with her captors.

Mike was suddenly beside her, holding a large bottle of water. He knelt down beside her, whistling as he stared at her bare legs.

“It’d be a shame if these aren’t your real legs, now, wouldn’t it, darling?”

He twisted the cap open and spilled a small amount of water on her left leg. Within seconds, dozens of her scales surfaced, the glitters dotting random places on her leg where the water had been spilled. She could barely feel the sting and wondered if her transitions had come to an end. Or was it her body adapting to the transformation? A small glimmer of joy sparked inside her. Perhaps she could have both worlds after all, and she could stay human and mermaid for as long as she wanted. But as her eyes met Mike’s intense stare, she knew she couldn’t be more wrong—everything was about to change.

“Fuck me.” Pete kept blinking, making sure that what he was seeing was what he had thought all along. “I was right,” he whispered to himself.

“This is. . . beyond fascinating.” Mike bent down, cautiously touching the few scales that dotted along both her legs. She squirmed at his touch and tried not to make a sound.

“Was this what you saw, Craig? On that other mermaid friend of yours?” Mike spoke without taking his eyes off of Narya’s legs.

“Yes.” Craig’s voice was small and passive.

“Incredible,” Mike muttered, his eyes still fixed on her mutant limbs. His shoulders shook as he began to laugh aloud, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. Without warning, he poured out enough seawater to drench both her legs. As he watched her transition, he stepped back and nearly stumbled into a metal shelf. He remained speechless as he saw the girl in front of him slowly morph into a mermaid’s likeness with shimmering, scaly legs. The only thing missing were her fins.

Narya knew her feet would have to be immersed in seawater for them to complete the transition. The reflection of her scales from the mirror created a radiance around her, and they all shielded their eyes from the brightness.

“So you weren’t crazy after all, eh?” Pete said, nodding at Craig, as he distractedly scratched his chin. “The US Embassy back in the Bahamas is going to be thrilled to know that their very own tried to cover up one of the biggest discoveries of the twenty-first century. Hah!” He tried to make sense of it all. “What was her name again?”

“I don’t remember. Jane—maybe Jane something?” Craig’s voice shook, and he saw the recognition in Narya’s eyes.

Mike was inches from her face, and she could smell the musky aftershave from his chin.

“Now you really have to wonder what this Jane was up to, covering up a huge scientific advancement! Is she a friend of yours? A fellow mermaid, perhaps?”

Her eyes turned cold as she stared back at him fearlessly. All those talks and endless teachings about preserving their kind; all the tedious preaching surfaced all at once, and her ears buzzed with words she had always taken so lightly. Up until now, she never had felt as strongly about protecting those she loved. Her indignant scowl trigged something in Mike. They both knew they were really of one kind because of their capability to understand and empathize with each other—much like what they were doing now. Still spellbound, he stood transfixed by a creature he’d only ever heard of and dreamed about, and something like a conscience tugged at his heartstrings. But his eyes hardened and the momentary warmth vanished. His ambitions undermined most other things, and this may be one of his biggest triumphs yet.

He took a step back, needing to distance himself from this creature lest he be distracted again.

“This calls for a toast! A celebration for a scientific breakthrough!” He had snapped out of his daze and shouted, addressing no one in particular.

He and Pete exchanged glances and started to laugh uncontrollably while slapping each other hard on their arms.

“Craig! Get the tub ready! We got a live mermaid show coming right up! We’re going to get the champagne!” Mike led Pete away. They were both ecstatic, drunk on uncontainable excitement and the inevitable fame that this specimen of a groundbreaking marine species would surely bring them.

Narya began to panic. This would be the end of her—of them.

“Listen, Craig. I can’t be exposed. It’ll change everything.” She had little time before Mike and Pete come back, and she tried not to think of what laid ahead. Her eyes pleaded for him to help her.

“Alicia . . .” She saw Pete turn and start to walk back in their direction, and she bit her lips to stop them from trembling. “She said that you were . . . kind.”

His eyes widened in horror. Memories came flooding back and along with it, a pang of guilt.

“I—I shouldn’t have made that call,” he whispered. “I was just stupid, and scared shitless—you know?”

Narya was quiet. She knew all about being scared.

“I came because I wanted to see you. And to see if you can get a message to Alicia for me. That I’m sorry—I never meant to hurt her. But I’m such a coward, and I let this happen. I had no idea it would get this far.” He made a fist and remorse and dread fill his eyes.

“It’s okay—we still have time . . . right?” Narya couldn’t see Pete anymore, and she could only hope he was still savoring that champagne with Mike.

Craig took a deep breath and tried to steady himself.

“Listen, they’re going to take your blood sample in a minute, and then they should be distracted for a while.”

He gave her a reassuring look when she began to panic at the word ‘blood’.

“It’s just a small prick. And then I’ll try to get you out. It’s the least I can do.” He stared solemnly into her eyes. “I’m going to get the keys for those, all right?” He pointed to her shackled feet.

“Okay—okay.” She nodded nervously. She had no other options; he was her best bet. Whatever Mike and Pete were going to do with her blood wasn’t something for her to worry for now.

“Na-ree-yah!”

She flinched at the sound of Pete shouting her mispronounced name. She needed to stay calm and give Craig the benefit of the doubt. She met his gaze and he gave her a quick nod before hurrying off. He’d better be back. Alicia better be right about him.

“Here we are,” Pete said as he came closer. He made a hissing sound as he exhaled.

He reminded her of a malicious sea snake that released its venom on anything blocking its path. When he got beside her, he stooped and ran his finger from her ankle to her inner thigh, lightly tracing her fading scales like he was playing a game. Her legs slowly took on their human form again as the seawater dried off. She needed to stay human to escape, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that there was no water bottle nearby. His finger paused as he reached her lower waist, and she felt her skin crawl. She felt a small prick as Pete peeled a scale off her skin.

It lay on his index finger. Anger filled her chest as she saw that he had forcibly took something that rightfully belonged to her. He inspected it keenly, trying to get a clearer glimpse of it under the florescent light.

“Amazing, truly fucking amazing,” he mumbled, still watching her purple scale with a gold undertone reflecting off the ceiling light.

Its removal didn’t hurt much, but having a part of her taken so carelessly infuriated her.

“You know, you might just be the prettiest fish I’ve ever seen.” His hungry eyes took in her long limbs covered in scale glimmer, exhibiting a half-human, half-mermaid appearance. He took out a small plastic container and carefully placed her scale inside.

From another pocket, he pulled out a small needle attached to a tube.

“This will hurt, but only a little bit.” He wet his lips as if anticipating a delicious meal.

Narya shuddered when he neared her, and she turned away when he injected the needle into her thigh.

“All done.” His voice was masked with kindness as he pulled the needle away and waved the tube of blood in her face. “This will revolutionize marine biology like nothing before. Hell, maybe even a step forward in stem cell research!”

He walked away as Craig approached. She saw him discreetly take out a small key from his pocket, and her eyes lit up with gratitude.

“Do you see that door?” Craig pointed to her right, and she nodded in anticipation of her release.

“You have three seconds.”

She felt the shackles on her ankle loosened.

“Run!”

And she bolted.

She heard the shackles fall to the ground, and the noise alerted Pete and Mike. She heard them shout angrily at Craig.

“Hey!”

She heard someone calling out and running behind her but she knew she was going to make it. The door was so close, right within her reach.

Her hands still bound, she approached the door sideways and attempted to turn the doorknob. She felt a hand on her shoulder; the grasp was firm and it tried to pull her back. Unwilling to succumb to whatever they had planned for her, her willpower to escape was strong and she turned abruptly, and bit down hard. She heard Pete yelp and curse something incomprehensible. Clutching the doorknob, she twisted until the door swung open and her legs sprint forward as though they were not her own.