Underground_A Merfolk Secret

by M. N. Arzu

  Behind her, Alex couldn’t stop himself any longer. “What are you talking about?” he asked, clearly at a loss on how things had been turned upside down in a matter of minutes.

  She sighed at Alex’s clueless look. “My dad is a founding member of the US SWIMMER network, okay? We don’t advertise it, none of the higher members do. It would compromise their positions to help. But as his daughter, I carry weight. And since meeting you, I’ve realized the enormous responsibility I have in representing the human side of this partnership.”

  She blushed a moment later as partnership rang a little too loud in the study. Julian turned to look at Alex with a raised eyebrow. “I hope you’re as concerned as Gill about representing the merfolk side of this partnership.”

  It was only fair his son would match Gill’s shade of red as he sat straighter and looked at him at a loss for what to say. It was almost painful to bring reality back into the conversation.

  “You two are quite brave in your own right. And right now, it seems like you’re invincible, that nothing can touch you, and that everything will turn out okay in the end. But you will make mistakes, about each other, about what to tell the adults in your lives, and about how to deal with this newfound secret you’re now sharing, and how that will affect your friendship in turn. But most importantly, you are teenagers, and it’s not upon your young shoulders to carry the weight of our two worlds. Your job is to go to school, not to deal with life-or-death situations.”

  “But we’re not kids—”

  “We’ve already done so much—”

  They both argued at the same time.

  “I’m not saying you can’t help,” Julian said, raising a hand to stop their protests. “And I certainly value what you did for Scott. I just don’t want you running around looking for trouble. And I know your father wouldn’t want that, either,” Julian said with a more stern voice to Gill, who promptly looked at the floor. “Now, I don’t advocate for keeping secrets from your parents, but I will certainly understand if you feel the need to share this with your father. And if you do, I’d appreciate it if you could give us a heads-up. He will have many questions, and I’d rather not be taken by surprise.”

  “I won’t tell him anything, I swear,” Gill said, turning to look at Alex first, and then at Julian, afraid she was losing credibility in the midst of fantastical creatures.

  “I trust your judgment, Ms. McKenzie. You’ve certainly proven you’re more than ready to follow your father’s leadership, and he would be proud if he knew what you just did. You can be sure of that.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Brooks,” she said, a shy smile brightening her face. Now that her grand speech was over and she was back to being a sixteen-year-old, it was easy to understand how Alex had gotten roped in by such a clever mind.

  “You’re welcome to come anytime, Ms. McKenzie. And I’m sure Alex will answer as many questions as he can, but there are some things that shall remain a mystery for everybody involved, okay? Don’t take it personally.”

  She shook her head. “Never. Thank you so much for everything.”

  Alex stood up, and Gill picked up her backpack. He could almost see the contagious cloud of excitement Gill was walking in at succeeding in her meeting with him. His son was certainly far more relaxed than he’d been in the past month, which was a relief. No more secrets waiting to jump out at him from nowhere.

  As Alex closed the door behind them, Julian wondered where these two would end—and if Gill’s father was going to be a valuable ally or a catastrophic mistake.

  17

  Thicker Than Water

  Matt was back at The Deep C, but he didn’t get distracted by all the little details that started crowding his mind. This time, he had to beat Chris’s subconscious and see what his brother was trying so hard to forget.

  He turned around and walked a few steps back, while Christopher hummed to himself. It was the first time he’d done that, and as Matt looked around, he noticed that the colors were sharper, the smell of the ocean more profound, the sun harsher. And when the ever-present shadow inevitably made its appearance, it was also darker. Something was different about this dream, and he welcomed it.

  Chris saw the shadow and stiffened, and Matt stiffened along with him. The man in the dream was nothing more than a silhouette at this point, completely devoid of features. All of him was inky black, and Matt was increasingly impatient for something to change, for a clue to finding the face behind the whole thing.

  In the real world, Chris had probably turned to look at the same time the tube had swung at him, connecting with his right wrist and head, all happening in a matter of seconds. But in the dream world, Matt willed the scene to slow down. He couldn’t stop it completely without waking up, but he could try to trick Chris’s subconscious into showing him more as things progressed.

  As Chris turned to look at his assailant, details started to appear: Droplets of water fell onto the deck from Chris’s body, as he’d just come from the sea. Silently, Matt moved closer to the shadow as it started to gain colors and features. With stunned surprise, the hairless legs started to show partially shifted scales, and as Matt kept looking up, he saw the equally hairless arm aim at his brother with deadly precision.

  Light glinted off a million scales as the sun struck them, so bright in the already hyper-contrasted dream world that Matt had to close his eyes before he could look at the man’s face.

  He woke up with half his sheets tangled around his legs and adrenaline flowing in his veins. He almost fell to the floor in his haste to get to Chris, half the scales on his back shifted without thought.

  Chris! Chris! he yelled at his brother’s sleeping mind. Frantically, he reached the bedroom and threw the door open. On his bed, Christopher didn’t even twitch.

  “Wake up! Come on, wake up!” He shook him until Chris started to react.

  “Wha—who—what’s up?” he asked, completely disoriented from sleep. “Matt?” he finally asked, his alertness skyrocketing as he grasped a solid piece of reality to anchor to.

  “You were dreaming about the attack,” Matt said, breathless, his eyes searching for the answers he couldn’t get from the dream.

  “I was?” Chris asked, frowning. “Did I give you a headache again?”

  “No. Chris, you saw who attacked you, but you just won’t let me see him.”

  “I saw—? Matt, you’re not making any sense,” Chris said, glancing at the alarm clock by his nightstand. It wasn’t even 3:00 a.m.

  “Listen to me. You’ve been dragging me into your dreams for two weeks now. I think you want me to see it, but maybe we can work this out. Maybe if you think really, really hard, I can—”

  “Matt,” Chris said, fully awake now. “I’m not doing this on purpose. I’m not lying to you when I say I don’t remember most of these dreams.”

  “I know, I know, okay? But that’s the thing. In your dream just now, I saw scales. Do you understand what that means?” Chris looked at him, frowning. Matt was losing patience with the whole thing. “A merman attacked you!”

  Chris blinked. “That’s—that’s always been a possibility, I guess.”

  “And you saw him! You saw him but won’t let me see him, and I don’t understand why—”

  Chris took a deep breath, and finally got out of bed. Matt was almost as tall as Chris, and soon, he was going to be taller, but not just yet. His brother put his hand on his shoulder and calmly said, “You need to go back to bed.”

  “What?”

  “You need to go back to bed. Let this go. I promise I’ll do my best to stop dragging you into it, but you have to stop obsessing over this.”

  Matt shook his head. “You don’t want to know?”

  “Of course I do! But not at the price of your sanity, or our collective sleep schedule. Now, go back to bed, and we’ll talk about it tomorrow. After school. Just…go.”

  “No. Chris—”

  “Matt. Be reasonable.”

  “But—”

&nbs
p; “You just woke me up so I could apologize for something I did in my dream.”

  Matt opened his mouth in further protest, but by now, Julian was waking up, and even the Squid seemed to turn his sleepy thoughts in their direction. Shaking his head in disbelief, Matt turned around and walked all the way back to his bed, cursing with each and every step.

  * * *

  The Brooks Table, as it was starting to be known in Saavan Academy, was having a strange day. The usually brooding Scott Brooks was happily eating his lunch, a sunny disposition all around him. The usually smirking Matthew Brooks had a rather dark cloud over his head. And the shy Alexander Brooks was walking on cloud nine. The three of them usually worked well together in their default settings, but when those settings were changed, anything could go wrong.

  “I’m telling you, she just started giving this grand speech about the SWIMMERs, and the whole world changed,” Alex said with a dreamy expression.

  “You’re such an idiot,” Matt answered, the cloud over him getting rainier.

  “I’m an idiot for not trusting her earlier,” Alex said, dismissing Matthew’s odd humor.

  “I don’t think Matt means that kind of idiot,” Scott said, frowning, following the conversation with mild interest. As the designated outsider to this family, it was easier to follow the currents of his brothers without taking sides—or taking it personally.

  “I don’t care. Gill went in like a pro, and Julian respects her a great deal now because of it. She might be the best thing to come out of SWIMMER, to tell you the truth.”

  “She’s a liability, Alex,” Matt said, attacking his pasta as if he wanted to cut something more than mushy food. “She’s infatuated with you because of what you are, not who you are, and that’s a slippery slope of the worst kind. You think she wouldn’t be making goo-goo eyes at me if she had found out what I am first? Hell, she might even have started making out with Scott here if he’d been the lucky one.”

  Scott made a horrified face, while Alex went on the offensive.

  “She’s not making goo-goo eyes at me.”

  “She’s doing it now,” Matt deadpanned, signaling with a fork full of pasta behind them. Alex and Scott turned to look, in anything but a subtle move. Caught staring, Gill quickly turned around to keep talking with the girls at her table.

  “Wonder what she’s telling those giggling friends of hers…” Matt muttered in a dark way.

  “She’s not betraying our secret,” Alex challenged. “She’s too invested in our well-being to do something stupid like that.”

  “Right… When was the last time she complimented you for something you did, instead of something you represent? Wake up, Alex. You’re just a fantasy to her.”

  “You don’t even know her,” Alex said, taken aback.

  “I don’t have to. I don’t like her. I don’t like you talking to her about us. And I certainly don’t like her knowing about me. Don’t you get it? She’s using you and you’re not even aware of it.”

  “She’s not! Heck, if anything, it’s the other way around. I used her to help track down Scott!”

  “Hey, don’t pin this on me,” Scott said, sipping his orange juice as he looked at each of his brothers taking turns with this verbal ping-pong.

  “And now she’s trying to climb the ladder to history by impressing our dear old dad,” Matt said with a sour expression. “She has resources, big deal. We have way more than she does. I bet Drake has some dossier on her entire family and has already plotted a way to take her out of the equation.”

  This time, Alex looked as if someone had shot him. “He wouldn’t.”

  “The secret comes first. The secret has always come first. You’re just too busy playing boyfriend to a human girl to even imagine how much danger you’re bringing to us, to her, and to the entire merfolk community. You’re such a selfish brat.”

  Matt stood up, not even bothering with whatever comeback Alex was trying to say. Scott watched him leave in silence, his eyes following him as he crossed paths with Gill, who promptly looked at the floor as Matt glared at her.

  “What the hell is wrong with him?” Alex asked, hurt.

  “Matt’s just mad because of the whole Adrian thing. Trust issues. He even tried to pick a fight with Chris,” Scott answered, shrugging.

  “What? When?”

  “Last night. They were arguing in Chris’s room at 3:00 a.m.”

  “What?”

  “I’m a light sleeper,” Scott said, shrugging again. “I used to sleep better when I knew I could telepathically hear any problem coming, so I guess now I’m compensating with a better ear for real life trouble.”

  “What were they arguing about?”

  “My hearing isn’t that good. But judging by Matt’s humor today, I’d bet it didn’t end well.”

  “No way,” Alex breathed out. Scott just nodded.

  “He still has a point, you know,” Scott said, signaling with his head the way Matthew had exited. “She might be over the moon right now because of what you are, but you should make sure to determine if she’s a friend or just an ally.”

  “Not you, too,” Alex groaned.

  “I’m just being realistic. She’s a dedicated SWIMMER, who believed we lived in castles under the sea. I’ll give her points for keeping her mouth shut all these weeks, but you owe it to yourself to know what she’s after: Alexander Brooks or a merman.”

  * * *

  “Your family has a long tradition of very strong-willed individuals,” Julian said as he walked down Central Park with Scott in tow. While Matthew had swimming practice, and Alex had remained at the bottom of the penthouse pool to alleviate his itching skin, Julian had picked up Scott to spend some one-on-one time with him.

  Two days ago, he’d started talking about Scott’s grandparents, but now he was expected to expand on the subject. His memories of merfolk genealogy were dusty at best, and for a moment he wondered if Mireya would mind coming up for a visit to explain the whole thing in detail. If someone took seriously their history and their genetics, it was her.

  “I thought…I thought that my grandparents were dead,” Scott said, frowning. “My parents always talked about them in the past tense, and it was obvious from their comments on how restricted reproduction is that neither of them would have siblings. Is there any chance they might come up someday to claim me?”

  The question wasn’t hopeful, but rather suspicious.

  “If they were to come up to claim you, they would need to move to the surface, which is unlikely.”

  Scott sighed with relief. “I don’t think my parents would want me to be with them. The more I think about why they didn’t talk about my grandparents, the more convinced I am they wouldn’t be good for me.”

  Sometimes, Scott’s logic could warp Julian’s mind into a strange tangled ball of nonlinear thinking that hit him hard on the head. Two days ago, Scott had needed to know everything about his grandparents, but now he was suddenly glad he would never meet them?

  “Scott,” Julian said, stepping in front of his youngest ward, “there’s a real possibility they just don’t know you exist, or can’t make the trip themselves. Regardless, I’m sure your grandparents would be proud of you and would certainly do their best to care for you.”

  Scott narrowed his eyes. “Is that what you think Adrian would do with Matthew? Do his best to care for him?”

  The unexpected question left Julian’s mind blank for a moment. “I—I’m sure Adrian wants the chance to get to know Matt.”

  “But it doesn’t mean Matt should join him.”

  So this is what’s bothering you now. Not the idea of bad grandparents, but the possibility of being forced into yet another family. Taking a deep breath, he nudged Scott to keep walking. “It might not look like it right now, but there’s a good chance that Matt and Adrian will get along. If your grandparents or anyone else ever comes to meet you, there’s also a good chance you’ll get along with them. Unlikely friendships and relationships can
bloom in unexpected places.”

  “Hmm, you’re saying that we should give Adrian a chance,” Scott stated, unconvinced. “And also give my grandparents one.”

  “Remember when you joined us last year? How you didn’t think your parents would approve of you choosing to stay with the Council?”

  Scott nodded, his blue eyes looking at the lake. This early in April, spring was still too shy to come out of its winter slumber, and the air was chilly enough to feel nice on their faces.

  “You didn’t think we were going to work, either,” Julian said, trying to ease Scott’s fears. “And once the situation with Wallace was resolved, you didn’t think you should stay. But here we are, and I couldn’t be happier that you still want to be with us.”

  Scott frowned, deeply. “Even if I made Matt and Chris spy on you?”

  Julian winced. “Even if you did that, yes.”

  “Even if all our current problems can be traced to me bringing Wallace into your lives?”

  “That wasn’t your fault, at all,” Julian said, stopping in his tracks. “Scott—”

  “Even if I can’t hear you in my mind?”

  “Scott, stop.”

  “I’m just pointing out how my idiotic choices almost killed everybody. So I don’t see what I’m bringing to your family that is making you so happy,” Scott said, shrugging. Ever the practical mind.

  This time, Julian placed both hands on Scott’s shoulders, and looked him straight in the eye. “You’ve brought to us a rebellious vibe that was missing. This week alone you’ve reminded me why I left The City, why asking questions matters, what having passion looks like. I had lost those things, but you gave those gifts back.”