The Sea Hag -Chapter Fifteen-

 

Gabriel

I heard the missiles launch and lifted my head as we banked. A small black cloud mushroomed over the place our house had stood. My swelling eyes filled with tears once more as Venter erased even the remains of our mother.

I let my head fall back down to the metal floor of the helicopter as waves of fatigue and despair washed over me. My shoulder had been dislocated during the fight with Venter’s mercenaries and every bump of turbulence was fresh agony that made my breath stop and my vision tunnel. 

I had come at them with a baseball bat when they entered--Mom would never let me keep guns in the house--the tasers they fired made all the muscles in my body lock up and I went down like a felled tree, smashing my face against the floor. I held on to the bat, however, and when they let go of the trigger, ceasing the current, I lay still, feigning unconsciousness. When they grabbed the arm with the bat I came up swinging and brained one of them before the other thought to pull the trigger on the taser again. My body seized once more and the one I had hit swore and came at me with a police baton. 

I think that’s when I dislocated my shoulder. He kept hitting me as the electric current poured ceaselessly through my body. I think I was screaming. He hit me in the head several times while I lay helpless, until I finally lost consciousness for real.

Next thing I knew, I was trussed up and hogtied, being dragged into the front room, my mother and brother on their knees beside me, and Altus--fucking--Venter was standing over us, grinning like a maniac.

I saw the back of my mother’s head explode. I was still covered in her blood and brains. I couldn’t unsee it. Every time I closed my eyes I saw her surprised expression as she fell backwards, a hole in the center of her forehead. It played on repeat in my head until I wanted to scream. My bonds were tight, and they had been done in such a way that struggling only made them tighter. I had long ago lost feeling in my hands and feet.

The top of my head rested against my brother’s knees. They had arranged us in a sort of triangle, Sirena’s head rested against my own knees, and his head on hers. She was staring down at him with a look of sorrow so profound that it was plain even on her alien features. I looked at my brother. His eyes were half closed and still, blinking away the occasional tear, but he was otherwise unmoving. I could see Sirena trying to talk to him, but I could hear nothing over the noise of the helicopter. I knew that being unable to hear was a phobia of his since he went blind. He had the look of someone who had just shut down after too much trauma and I was grateful that at least we had been allowed some physical contact during this hellish ride.

The mercenaries began to stir and I raised my head again. We were banking in front of an enormous yacht that was the size of a small cruise ship. It was pure white with smooth, sweeping lines and had to be over five hundred feet long. A large portion near the stern began to open and we descended into a large, cavernous hangar. I could see a small boat launch with a couple of recreational fishing vessels as well as some jet skis and a zodiac.

The helicopter touched down with a soft thud and I tried not to scream as my body weight landed on my dislocated shoulder. Again. The mercenaries had removed their masks and the one Venter had called “Reyes” tore off his headset and scrubbed his face with his hands. He was maybe late thirties with skin the color of dark roast coffee, a neatly trimmed goatee, close cropped hair. His eyes were the bright, startling color of new pennies, and they conspicuously looked anywhere but at us prisoners. The kid next to him was pale with brown hair and forgettable features, except that he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off Sirena and every once in a while, his tongue would dart out and lick hungrily at his thin lips.

 The rest  of the team were a mix of young and middle aged. A stout and grizzled man with a grey crew cut sat next to a lanky young man with long, dark hair and cold, haunted eyes. The only female in the group had cafe au lait skin and a bodybuilder’s physique. Her hair was braided in long dreads and secured with a bandana. Her elbows were on her knees, one foot tapping rhythmically as she repeatedly glanced at Reyes. The man next to her looked like Guile from Street Fighter, complete with blonde crew cut and psychotic blue eyes.

Venter leapt nimbly from the helicopter and motioned for his mercenaries to pick us up and follow as he issued commands through a cell phone at his ear. None of us put up a fight as they grabbed us by our upper arms again, but my agonized noises at being carried around by a dislocated shoulder made Reyes call a brief halt. He knelt next to me and poked around my shoulder joint. I stared hard at him but he wouldn’t look at me. He briskly tilted me on my side, then jerked on my arm, hard, pulling out and down until my shoulder slid back into its socket with a wet pop. The sudden cessation of pain was like a narcotic and I panted as a dull ache replaced searing agony.

Reyes nodded in satisfaction, looking at me and I finally caught his gaze with mine. That copper gaze held everything he was trying to hide: sympathy, regret, disgust, and...yes, a little bit of lust. The man liked what he saw when he looked at me, even as beat up as I was.

A tiny seed of hope was planted by what I saw in those eyes. I knew lust. I could work with lust. Perhaps all was not yet lost.

I returned his gaze with an acknowledgement and a subtle invitation. Just a conversation between two pairs of eyes. The barest of smiles flitted across his face before he stood, dispassionate mask back in place. When they picked me up again my battered shoulder screamed in protest, but I bore it silently, sneaking glances up at Reyes as we boarded a large elevator. The elevator took us down a short way and opened on a room the size of a warehouse. The walls were thirty feet high and lined with floor to ceiling windows that showcased the underwater vista surrounding the ship. All was glass and stainless steel and shining white plastic. People in lab coats and pristine white scrubs bustled about, intent on their tasks.

An asian woman with short hair and severe features approached us, glancing down and tapping on an electronic tablet as she did so.

Venter spread his arms wide as he faced her. “Doctor Kusanagi!” he said, by way of greeting and swept an arm behind himself to indicate Sirena hanging between two mercs like a prize catch. “The original specimen, as requested.” Venter bowed melodramatically as she passed by, hard eyes fixed on Sirena.

“She appears undamaged,” the Doctor said to no one in particular. One of her delicate fingered hands reached up to grip Sirena’s jaw, tilting her head back and forth. Sirena responded by hissing and trying to bite the hand. Kusanagi’s lips quirked slightly and she let go. “This is good. I want her ready for implantation as soon as possible. Secure her in the med bay. Thank you.” She waved a dismissive hand at the mercs carrying her and they began to retreat.

Micheal stirred for the first time, lifting his head and calling out for her hoarsely. She called out to him in turn, her voice breaking. This earned him a cuff to the back of the head from the blonde crew cut and now I was crying out, hurling insults and threats at the bastard who dared strike my brother.

Kusanagi rolled her eyes and made a slicing motion across her mouth, and a bit-gag was shoved into mine and my brother’s mouths. The hard plastic cylinder forced our teeth apart and our tongues down, making speech impossible.

“And for what purpose did you bring me these, Altus-Sama?” she said, crossing her arms over the lab coat and glancing sideways at Venter.

“They’re twins,” Venter said, grinning proudly. “Monozygotic. I know you were lamenting the lack of human test subjects for Formula 23, and it seems fate has smiled upon us.”

“The female appeared to have an emotional attachment to this one,” she said, stepping closer and gesturing to Michael. “Explain.”

Venter shrugged. “They have at least attempted to mate very recently.” He walked around behind Michael and pointed at the puncture wounds. “You see these marks? They are a perfect match to her claws.” He pumped his eyebrows and gave her a lascivious grin.

Kusanagi walked over and stood over my brother. He jumped when she prodded his wounds and a small line formed between her brows. She grabbed Michael’s chin the same way she had Sirena’s and forced him to look up at her. She tilted his head back and forth for a moment, staring into his eyes, then let go with an exhale of disgust and stepped back. She glared at Venter and actually  wiped her hand on her coat. The bitch. “He’s blind!” she spat at Venter, as if he were somehow responsible. It was the most emotion I had seen her display so far. 

“Well, he wasn’t born that way, I can tell you that much,” Venter held up his hands, palms out as if warding off an attack, though the self-satisfied smirk remained on his square-jawed face. “Whatever took his sight, it wasn’t genetic. Their father worked for me once, he was thoroughly screened.”

Kusanagi crossed her arms again and stepped back, waving at the mercs who held us. “Very well. Take the hairy one to Isolation One, the blind one to Isolation Two.” She tapped a few times on her tablet. “You will find injector pens prefilled with sedative in the small box next to each door. Please allow no further damage to be done to the subjects.”

With that, Reyes and the dreadlocked woman hoisted me and turned around, making for a far corner of the cavernous hold. I craned my head to look back at my brother. He hung limp, head bowed between the blonde crewcut and the pale, dark- haired one. Neither of the mercs had any expression beyond impatience and boredom. I stared up at Reyes and the woman but they didn’t look at me, even when they set me down inside a brightly lit, solid white, featureless octagon. The walls and floor were padded and there was a molded plastic toilet/sink combo jutting from one wall. The ceiling was one big, bright light I couldn’t look directly at, and every sound had that weird flat quality that happens with heavy duty sound proofing.

There was a click and a bite of a needle in my shoulder. I didn’t even flinch. A chemically induced nap actually sounded pretty good right now. A warm heaviness pushed at me, like I was being lovingly crushed by a water mattress. My eyes fell closed and I was unconscious before I toppled over.

The Sea Hag -Chapter 16-

 

        Michael

It was the silence that woke me. An utter and unnatural lack of any sound at all had me flailing awake with a startled cry. The sound of my own voice brought the comforting assurance that I had not gone deaf, but the weird lack of echo told me nothing of the space I now occupied.

I knew it could not be large and I had been released from my bonds while I slept, so I set about mapping the space.

Arms outstretched, I walked forward on the padded floor, struggling to keep my balance as the large ship dipped and swayed in the water, until I encountered a wall made of that same vinyl-covered foam. There were eight sections of wall, all utterly featureless and identical, save for the one from which jutted a sink and toilet combo. If there was a door or other opening, I couldn’t detect it.

After my third circuit of the room I finally sat down against one of the walls and pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes. 

Part of me wanted to scream, to rage, to demand to be released. Another part wanted to curl into a hopeless ball, because there was no way, realistically, that I or my brother were getting out of here alive.

They had taken my clothes and replaced them with a thin hospital gown, open in the back and nothing underneath. I was fighting hard against rising memories of waking up blind for the first time in the hospital, but panic was making my chest tighten as sweat beaded my brow. I finally ripped the hated garment off and threw it as far from me as I could, sitting naked, legs splayed, taking deep gulping breaths.

A loud klaxon blared through the space, making me jump and cover my ears. There was a hissing, whirring noise from somewhere near the toilet/sink and a robotic, feminine voice intoned, “Subject 002, please proceed to the meal slot for your evening meal.”

“‘Meal slot’?” I scoffed. I hadn’t run across anything like that. The walls and floor were padded but otherwise featureless. Were there hidden compartments?

I levered myself up off the floor and went to investigate, only discovering the open drawer when my shin made painful contact with it. I cursed Venter and everyone who worked for him long and loudly, half hoping there was someone listening.

If there was someone watching a naked blind man stumble around this cell, they declined to make themselves known, so I knelt before the drawer and explored its contents.

The drawer itself was about three feet wide and two feet long, where it slid into the wall. It had a depth of about a foot and was made of smooth metal. Inside it was a tray of moulded plastic like you’d find in a cafeteria, and on that tray were an assortment of sealed plastic items, some solid, some liquid, that I could not identify by touch alone. The large heavy one in the center was warm and the savory smell coming from it made my stomach growl.

I couldn’t actually remember the last time I’d eaten. Yesterday, maybe? I suddenly felt ravenous and I sat down cross-legged, pulling the tray onto my lap. I paused for a moment, just gripping the sides of the tray and turned my face upwards, eyes closed. 

I’ve never been religious, but Mom had always said a quiet prayer over her meals and it felt like a way to honor her memory. Tears welled behind my closed eyelids. Sorrow and anger threatened to choke me as I remembered our last, heated conversation. Gabriel’s agonized screams as our mother was slaughtered in front of his eyes. I did not envy him that sight. I shuddered and took a deep breath.

“Mom, if you’re watching, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry for judging you. You were just trying to protect us. I understand that now. I understand the kind of monster Altus Venter is. I will do whatever I can to make sure he pays for what he’s done, I swear it.” I smiled as I felt a sense of warmth and comfort wash over me. It was probably just my imagination, but it felt nice all the same. “I know you’ll look out for Gabe but, if you could keep an eye on Sirena for me as well… I know you didn’t know her that well, but she’s very special to me and I’d appreciate it.” I paused, unsure how to finish this impromptu ritual. “Um, amen.” 

I set about opening and sniffing each plastic container. There was a creamy chicken pasta, a roll, a side salad, a cup containing apple juice and a bottle of water, those little paper salt and pepper packets, a packet of dressing, and the lone utensil, a flimsy plastic spork.

Everything was carefully--and frustratingly--selected to be of absolutely no help in any escape attempt on my part. I raised the cup of juice and muttered, “Salud, Mámá. These fuckeres can’t keep us here forever.” I swallowed the juice and grimaced as I realized that there was no way Venter would ever let us leave alive. I was going to have to be clever and focused if I was going to have any chance at all. 

I suddenly wished I had my brother here with me. He could have helped me figure out a plan to escape. Together we were unstoppable. I knew he had to be nearby, in a soundproof cell of his own, perhaps even eating the same meal. I smirked as I raised the cup again. “Eat up, Gabi. We’ll both need our wits about us.”

I finished the meal without really tasting it and leaned back on my elbows with a sigh. I jumped, kicking the tray and its contents across the room with a clatter as the klaxons sounded once again.

“Jesus fuck,” I said.

“Subject 002, return your tray to the designated meal slot for retrieval,” commanded the robot voice. 

“Could you not do that?” I complained as, on hands and knees, I began to search for the detritus of my meal. My search pattern had uncovered the empty pasta tub, the juice cup, and the salad bowl, but I couldn’t seem to find the tray anywhere.

“Subject 002, please return your tray to the designated meal slot for retrieval,” the voice insisted.

“I will,” I said testily as my hands repeatedly scanned empty padding, “Just as soon as I find it. I don’t suppose you wanna help me out here?” I wasn’t expecting an answer, but found part of myself hoping for a more human response anyway. I remained disappointed as I started a search pattern, kneeling on the floor, hands spreading out in an arc gathering up the tray and bits of packaging as I found them.

The klaxons blared again and I cringed at the auditory assault. “Subject 002, please return your tray to the designated meal slot for retrieval.” 

“Okay, okay!” I juggled what I had found what I had found piled it on the tray. If there was anything else, they’d just have to send someone in to clean it. I spun in a circle, clicking, until the sound changed ever so slightly, indicating the toilet/sink. I knew that the meal slot was on the panel to the right so I walked slowly, carefully, until I found both and lowered the tray into the drawer which closed with a soft hiss immediately after I did so.

I would soon have the dimensions of this room memorised, and I had resolved to get started on that but for a sudden drowsiness that had taken me. I wobbled a bit on my feet and stumbled into one padded wall.

“You guys drugged the food?” I said as my knees gave out and I collapsed, sagging to the floor. “Of course you drugged the food…” My voice was thick and everything felt very far away. Sleep was coming whether I liked it or not. “Fuckers…” I growled.

“Goodnight, Michael,” cooed the voice right before I lost consciousness

A hissing sound woke me from where I lay sprawled facedown in a puddle of my own drool. I wiped at my mouth with the back of my hand and pushed myself to my knees.

“Subject 002, remain where you are for transportation,” said the robot voice.

I ignored it and stood as booted feet and clattering metal entered my little cell.

“Aw, dude,” exclaimed one of them in disgust. “Why’s he naked?”

I reflexively covered myself and backed up against the wall. “What do you want?”

“Like you’ve never seen a dick before?” the other one scoffed, this one a female. “Grow up.”

Hands grabbed at my upper arms and I batted them away, squirming until a fist landed in my gut and I doubled over, unable to draw breath for a few panicked seconds. Strong hands wrapped around my upper arms much the way they had the day before and dragged me away from the wall while I struggled to draw breath. They placed me against a hard, cold metal surface and secured me upright to it with bands across my wrists, ankles and forehead.

“What are you doing?” I demanded when I could speak again, pulling against my restraints. There was no give whatsoever. I was bound tight. Helpless. “What’s going on?”

“You see the game last night?” said the female conversationally as the table I was strapped to tilted backwards at about a forty five degree angle and we began to move forward, bumping softly over the padded floor, and then smoother flooring as the cavernous echoes of the larger lab enveloped me.

“What game?” replied the male derisively.

“Man, I dunno, I’m just makin’ conversation. Shit is awkward as hell, ya know?”

“Oh, I see,” I sighed, “You guys aren’t allowed to talk to me, huh? Might start to see me as a person? Your boss sure wouldn’t like that. He doesn’t see anyone as a person, you know that? Not even you.”

We stopped our forward movement and neither one of them said anything as I struggled to track their movements. A bit gag was shoved suddenly and irresistibly between my teeth and I struggled and groaned in protest as it was tightened and fastened behind my head.

They remained silent as I was wheeled through the cavernous space, machine noises and murmured conversation the only sounds. The smell was seawater and antiseptic. I felt an involuntary shudder pass over me as I was wheeled into a smaller-sounding space. Something enclosed.

“Put him here. You may go.” I recognized the woman’s voice from yesterday: Dr. Kusanagi. I tried to speak, which went about as well as you might expect.

“Mister Morgan,” she said in her soft Japanese accent. “It is a pleasure to meet you. I never had the honor of meeting your father, but his work has informed and inspired my own. He was truly a brilliant man.”

I did my best to glower at her. I felt some drool drip from the corner of my mouth which probably lessened the effect.

“I am told that you are studying to follow in his footsteps. A noble, if foolish, ambition for one with your obvious limitations.” Her laugh was  tiny, delicate, and sharp as a new razor. I felt my lip curl, my muscles tense as I pulled at the restraints.

“I would like for you to be calm when we perform the procedures, Mr Morgan. If you cannot accomplish this yourself I will provide chemical assistance. Nod if you understand.”

I nodded once, sharply.

“Good. Excess stress hormones could impact the results of the study, but so could excessive sedation.” She was swabbing the insides of each elbow as well as a spot on my neck near the jugular as she spoke. “I realize that your participation in these experiments is not voluntary. I want you to know that if you do not cooperate to the best of your ability at all times, I will have your brother harmed.” 

I felt myself blink and go still as her words sank in.

“Not permanently,” she assured me, “but painfully and repeatedly. So please keep that in mind the next time you feel the urge to rebel. I will be performing the procedure on you first, with your brother as a control because your blindness makes you more expendable.”

I shook at that, pulling against the restraints. My hands wanted to wrap around her arrogant throat.

“There is no need to take offense,” she said primly. I felt the pinch of a needle in my arm, a slap of tape securing it. “You should thank me. System by system we will alter your DNA into something more like Subject 001--your Sirena. With any luck, you will soon be just like her. You may even be able to breed with her when we are finished.”

She was sliding needles into my body as she talked. I had gone limp, defeated when she threatened my brother. I could not be the cause of any harm coming to him. I could never live with myself. My eyes burned with anger and despair, dripped impotent rage down my cheeks. I took a shuddering breath.

It was not in my nature to give up. Gabriel and I, we not only overcame adversity, we thrived on it. But this wasn’t just overwhelming odds. This was completely impossible. Venter had us utterly locked down with no way to escape. And worse, he could use us against each other if we even tried. I imagined Sirena was under similar guard and threat which meant one thing:

We were well and truly screwed.

The Sea Hag -Chapter 17-

 

Sirena

The mercenaries dragged me to a white plastic enclosure near the center of the large lab. I could see four similar-looking structures at one end of the hold where Michael and Gabriel were being taken. My heart twisted with anguished guilt over what I had gotten them into. I felt my mouth set in a teeth-baring grimace when a needle pierced the skin of my neck and a burning heaviness suffused my limbs.

I tried to struggle when I felt the zip-tie restraints loosen but my movements were slow and spasmodic and easily countered. They hoisted me onto a vertical examination table and secured me to it with locking restraints at ankles, wrists and head.

“Lemme go,” I slurred with a groan, my tongue thick, “assholes…”

“Unlikely,” Kusanagi stepped through the doorway, a small smirk on her thin lips and a glint in her hard black eyes. “We have only just retrieved you.” She moved closer, her eyes moving up and down my body, coldly assessing. “You are truly a wonder of genetic engineering,” she reached out a dry, blunt-nailed hand as if to touch me. “I had seen pictures, of course, but now that you have reached full maturity, the magnificence of your design is apparent.”

My skin rippled, turning black with rage as her hand neared my stomach. It flexed, becoming sharp spikes that ached to pierce her, but she pulled back with a small gasp, cold eyes wide and exhilarated.

Her eyes met mine, intense and pitiless as a shark’s. “Truly remarkable.” She moved to a molded plastic counter built into one side of the octagonal enclosure, snapping on gloves and pulling out a rolling tray full of shining metal tools. She pressed a button and the table I was strapped to tilted horizontal. I squinted up into a bright circular light.

Moments from my childhood flashed through my mind, of needles and swabs, endless tests and examinations. But those I had willingly participated in, or rather, I had not even known that resistance was an option. This time I was drugged, restrained, helpless to prevent them from violating me.

And violate me they would, I realized as the table beneath my legs split apart spreading my legs wide. I twisted and pulled at the restraints as the table tilted even further back so that I was virtually hanging from them. Kusanagi appeared between my spread legs, a light and magnifying glass strapped to her head.

My skin rippled with black spikes. She used the machine to spread my legs wider until it felt like something would tear. I hissed and cried out in pain. She smirked and let go of the button, holding it up so I could see.

“I would rather not damage you in order to perform such a routine procedure,” she said matter-of-factly. “But I will.”

“I’m going to tear your throat out,” I promised her, “with my teeth.” I stared into her dead, black eyes and my rage began to cool. Not lessen, but condense and crystalize into something patient, and deadly. 

She must have seen or sensed the change in me because her shark-eyes widened ever so slightly and she swallowed before her face resumed its dispassionate mask. All that had changed was that now her mouth held a small, cruel smile when she shoved a speculum inside me as hard as she could.

I flinched but refused to cry out, letting my head fall back on the table while she performed whatever procedures she was going to perform. I turned my head to the side and blinked at the human male standing outside the plexiglass window with an expression that could only be called “leering”. It was the brown-haired, unremarkable-looking mercenary who had brought me to this lab. He was licking his lips as he stared hard at my prostrate form in a way that made me want to cover myself for the first time I could remember. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine myself floating, weightless in the water. I had been so long out of it that I was beginning to dry out, my skin shriveling and puckering a bit.

Kusanagi yanked the speculum free none-too-gently, saying, “You are nearly ready. This is good. In two days I will implant your own eggs, fertilized by your late brother’s sperm, into your uterus.” 

I blinked at that and strained to look up at her. She tilted the table to vertical and let my legs close. “My brother?” I whispered.

Kusanagi smiled, sharp and brittle. “Yes, though he is quite dead, the most important part of him yet lives. Your most important parts unfortunately require a living body attached to them in order to function.”

I felt my lip curl and I swallowed disgust. “Unfortunate…” I echoed dryly.

“Yes,” Kusanagi continued cheerily, either unaware or uncaring how she sounded, “I suggested lobotomizing you to make you less problematic, but Altus-Sama did not want to compromise the intelligence that he feels you get from him.”

“What?” I said, straining against my metal bonds, praying I had misheard her.

Kusanagi cocked her head, and her dead black eyes regarded me with opaque curiosity. “Did he never tell you? Strange. I would think that, given his pride, he should like nothing more than to gloat about how he personally sired the next evolution of humankind.”

My hands clenched so hard I felt my claws sink into my own skin. The pain centered me, focused my rage. “Altus Venter. Is not. My father,” I said through clenched teeth.

Her laugh was dry and pitiless as a desert, “Not technically, no. But his genetic material was the template upon which you were created. He is the closest thing you will ever have to a parent.”

I closed my eyes and let my head fall back to the metal table with a thud. “Great,” I muttered, “guess I’ll add patricide to my to-do list, then.”

Kusanagi tittered as she motioned for the leering man to come in and wheel me away. “I see you share his sense of humor. Almost makes me glad I didn’t turn you into a mindless womb on legs.” Her smirk was terrifying in it’s cruelty as she added, “Almost.”

Leering Man licked his lips, looking me up and down before moving behind me to wheel me out of the lab. It appeared that, following the incident with Dr. Morgan, Venter had decided to go with an all-psychopath crew this time. There really was no hope of escape if none of my captors had any humanity to appeal to.

I was wheeled in front of a large tank at the far end of the ship’s hold, a twenty-foot aquarium cube filled with sea water and housing a few fish and other marine life. It was lit from within by eerie, color-changing lights.

Leering Man took us to a platform designed specifically to bring things to the top of the aquarium, which I could see now was covered by thick plexiglass with half a dozen round, fist-sized holes cut out of the center. This cover slid back by some electronic mechanism about half way, then the table I was strapped to tilted forward at the same time my restraints released and I went tumbling into the water with a startled yelp. By the time I came back up, the cover was back in place and it was all I could do to gulp air from one of the holes before submerging again.

My eyes quickly adjusted to the refractions of light through water, even as things outside of the tank took on a blurred and warped quality. I watched through the glass as Leering Man strode  away, turning one last time to grab his crotch and thrust it in my direction. The webs between my fingers make flipping someone the bird difficult, but I gave it my best approximation along with a baring of teeth to drive the point home. It was hard to tell, but he might have laughed.

I turned my attention to my new cage. A few species of fish, seemingly selected at random, kept a wary distance from my intrusion. Wise, considering that I was beyond ravenous and two or three of them would make a fine meal. There were some sea snails, a couple of crabs , clams and mussels, and some shrimp feasting on bottom detritus created by those above. And, in a far corner, looking like an odd formation of coral, was a medium sized octopus. It eyed me warily, two predators trapped in a tank together. 

A fish swam by, daringly close, and my hand flashed out, claws impaling the wriggling form. I tore the head off, my eyes never leaving the octopus. I allowed my skin to ripple, strobing black and white in an eye-catching display of dominance and solidarity. I ripped the head off the fish and swam closer, tossing the offering at the octopus.

Its large eye flicked down as the head drifted closer, then back to me. I took a great bite of the fish, guts and all, gulping it down without bothering to chew. Slowly, a tentacle unfolded, then snapped up the fish head with blinding speed. 

  The crunching of bones is always loud in the water. I smiled and took another bite, tossing the remaining tail part at my new friend. They accepted with less hesitancy this time and began to uncurl, skin shifting to a smooth brick red of calmness. I shifted my own skin to match.    

  This was not the first octopus I had tried to befriend, but it was the first that couldn’t just swim away from me. I knew how intelligent these creatures were and it was always good to befriend one’s cellmate. The octopus moved closer, over the sandy bottom of the tank and paused, crunching loudly on something. Then it swam up to me and launched a cracked-open clam in my direction while loudly munching on it’s own.

I happily sucked out the meaty portion and tossed the shell back, since sometimes they liked to keep them and I could see several discarded shells arranged just so in it’s little corner.

We shared a few more fish and shellfish before the need to breathe had me looking around for some source of atmospheric oxygen. A small tube spewed a constant stream of bubbles from about halfway up one tank wall. As I swam closer, I could taste the fresh Pacific seawater that poured forth from a metal grate. I wrapped my hand around the tube and then my lips, taking an experimental breath. It was air. Clean and salty. I took several deep breaths, letting the oxygen and carbon dioxide cycle through my system until I felt ready to submerge for a nap.

I worried for Michael, for Gabriel. Worried what Kusanagi’s experiments would do to them. Guilt was a constant weight in my gut, but there was nothing I could do at present. I could barely see ten feet beyond my tank and a few experimental prods at the weakest points yielded nothing helpful in terms of escape. I would have to wait until they came for me again; it was my only chance. 

I drifted near the top, eyes closed, willing myself to sleep. It did not come swiftly or peacefully

The Sea Hag -Chapter 18-

 

Michael

My whole body was on fire. I writhed and groaned on the padded vinyl floor of my cell, drenched in sweat as I shuddered with convulsions.

“S-somethings...wrong,” I said through teeth clenched tight enough to crack, “I-I n-need help,” I begged, but there was no answer. And why should there be? I was merely a test subject, a lab rat. My death would mean nothing more to Kusanagi than some interesting data.

I don’t know how long I lay like that, prostrate and suffering heretofore unimagined pain, before the whooshing sound of my cell door opening brought me crashing back to the present moment. 

“Christ, look at him!” my male guard exclaimed.

“I’d rather not,” the female replied quietly, after a beat.

“Dude looks like fucking Toxic Avenger. You ever see that shit?”

Cool, gentle, hands rolled me over, touching my arms and face. “He’s burning up,” said the woman, her voice now above me. “Doc said to get him in the water. Can you stand?”

“It took me a moment to realize this last question was directed at me. I tried to push myself up but my muscles felt weak and uncoordinated. My fingers felt too long and there was something between them. My whole body felt slightly alien and I was so, so tired. I sagged back down and shook my head, too exhausted from the effort to speak.

The next thing I knew, I was hauled up and strapped to the metal table again, vertically so that I sagged against my bonds, and wheeled out into the cavernous space beyond my cell.

The return of ambient echos soothed something tense deep inside me. I could hear again. Something beyond my own flat cries of agony. Even that much made me want to weep with relief, and then with dismay at how far I had fallen. How long had I been in there?

“H-how l-long--” I began to ask before my body convulsed painfully once again, pulling against the restraints and my question became a long scream.

Moments later, my muscles released and I gasped for air as we began moving upwards on some kind of open elevator. The scent of seawater was strong and I could hear it lapping against something nearby. I heard mechanical whirring and the sound of a lot of water draining very quickly, then I was suddenly and unceremoniously released from my bonds. I fell forward with a cry, flailing. A moment of sheer panic before I hit wet sand with a thud. I cast about with my hands, trying to get my bearings. 

There was a thumping, banging sound coming from ahead of me and I cringed away from it. Shells and living things crawled through the sand beneath me. I crawled backwards until I hit what felt like a glass wall. Seawater began to rush in, quickly filling the space.

My breath came in panicked gasps. I searched wildly for a way out.

“Please, please!” I said. No one answered, but something whirred closed over the top, not quite completely solid. I reached up as the water buoyed me closer and closer to it. The feel of the cool water against my fevered skin was something I would have savored if I had not been afraid that I was about to drown, but it seemed to have the added effect of giving me a newfound energy. Energy I used to hit and kick at the fist-sized holes in the plexiglass barrier. To no avail. The water kept coming. I sucked air through a hole one last time and prepared to find a way out or drown trying.

A series of rapid, sharp clicks came from my right, along with the characteristic squeal of a dolphin. My head whipped around. Why would they want to drown me with a dolphin? I thought, but I wasn’t feeling the usual need for air that I would this long without a breath. I felt like I could stay under like this for a long time. Some of the panic subsided and my thinking began to clear. 

I still couldn't hear anything, and that unnerved me. My tongue-clicking human method of echolocation simply doesn’t work underwater. Whales and dolphins have specialized organs in their skulls that produce and receive the sounds, organs I lacked. Or did I? It seemed that Kusanagi’s experiment was wreaking at least some changes to my physiology.

The dolphin clicked and squealed again, sounding closer this time and somehow soothing. Or was it a dolphin? I reached out, curious, and a long-fingered hand wrapped around mine. Sirena. I pulled her into my arms, running my hands all over her to assure myself that she was actually here, actually her. My face split into a grin and I lost some air as I laughed in joy and relief.  

Her own hands roamed my transforming body more gently and my own followed, inspecting for the first time what had been done to me. Shallow gills had appeared at my ribs and neck. Webs were forming between my elongating fingers, my nails becoming thickened claws. She placed a hand on my foot and I tried not to gasp; my foot was now just two large toes with a wide web of flesh between them.

My hands went to my face; one eye was larger and bulging, one ear had shrunk and flattened against my skull which was now nearly bald except for a few patches. My nose had likewise shrunk and flattened. I covered my deformed face with my hands, shame burning tears in my mismatched eyes. I turned away from her, curling in on myself. She pulled me back and kissed me fiercely, her hands gripping the sides of my head, her lithe body pressed against me. I pulled away from her, shaking my head. How could she stand to look at me? I was hideous, a freak.

Sirena grabbed both of my hands then, placing one on her face and one on my own. Slowly, carefully, she let me feel the similarities; the shape of our noses, our ears, that one large eye. If she was beautiful to me, could I not also be beautiful to her? The way she looked had never bothered me, I had found it fascinating more than anything, but I knew Gabe had had a strong reaction to her appearance. Change is hard. Particularly sudden and traumatic change. No one knew that better than me. I might be losing my humanity, but at least I still had her.

I kissed the palm of her hand, grateful for her reassurance, but far from ok with what was happening to me. There was a more pressing concern, however; I was going to need air, very soon. Unsure of how to let her know this, I pointed upward, then patted my own chest, opening and closing my mouth like I was gasping for air. She placed my hand on the side of her face and nodded, pulling me forward by the wrist.

As she towed me through the water I felt how powerful of a swimmer she was; just a couple of powerful kicks and she was pulling me up and placing my hand on a metal tube from which air bubbled continuously. I realized that I could hear it quite clearly, that the dimensions of the space were starting to reveal themselves through the ambient sounds in a way I had never experienced underwater before.

I wrapped my lips around the tube, sucking in lungfuls of air and expelling it, ridding my system of carbon dioxide and replacing the oxygen. Sirena was rubbing soothing circles on my back while I did so, keeping in constant which I appreciated more than she could know. Being unable to hear has been one of my worst fears since going blind. Lost and alone, unable to communicate; but she was here, and I wasn’t deaf. Not really.

Sirena clicked and trilled again as I raised my head and gave her a thumbs up, sounding happy. I realized that I could hear her clicks bouncing off the walls of our enclosure. Evidently she could echolocate and communicate just like a whale. This meant that she was equipped with the same internal structures as those animals. I needed to ask her a question.

I waved my hand to get her attention and she answered by gripping it in both of hers. I began to gesture. I pointed to her head, made a finger-snapping gesture, then I pointed to my own head and made an exaggerated shrugging motion. How can I do that?

She was still for a moment and I started wracking my brain for another way to ask when she let out a series of slow clicks. I nodded enthusiastically and pointed to my own head again.

Something brushed past my face and I jumped, slamming into a plexiglass wall. I reeled, trying to get my bearings. I couldn’t tell which way was up. I was verging on panic again when her clicks sounded from behind me, high and fast, bouncing off the walls, the sandy bottom, orienting me. I righted myself and swam toward the sound. Her arms greeted me, but I knew she was there long before we touched.

She held my face in her hands and brought our foreheads together. My hands rested on her slender shoulders so I could feel her shake her head slowly and shrug. If we had been on the surface I would have sighed. As it was I let my shoulders droop and shook my head with a small, sad smile. Odds were good that she didn’t even know how she did it, let alone how to teach someone else.

I wrapped my arms around her and we floated together in silence. She was here and that was enough. I wasn’t alone. I was becoming something inhuman and I had never felt so helpless in my life, but my brother was here, somewhere. I wasn’t alone.

Exhaustion claimed me, but I wasn’t alone.

New book out

Hi reader friends 😊

how is everyone? I hope you are doing okay during these trying times. I miss being here, but I haven't written anything new. Instead, I have been working over my old stories in the past year. I published three of them last year and now I finished "Three's a Crowd" and it is available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. 

I will try to work on "No Strings Attached" and "For The Love of Not Walking" next. Here is the link to "Three's a Crowd" on Amazon. I hope it works. 

 Three's a Crowd 

I think you will enjoy reading it again as it has been overhauled and edited to my best abilities. It's my longest story so I've been working on it for months; I am continuously learning about writing. I don't have any professional help and do everything by myself, except the book cover. I am very happy with it and enjoyed improving the story. 

If you buy or read any of my stories and enjoy them, I hope you will leave a review or rating. Unfortunately, lots of people bought the books last year, but I barely have any reviews or ratings. 

Follow me on Goodreads or any social media @DaniDeveaux. I would love to connect with you. If you want to connect by email: torninbetweenseit71@gmail.com. Thank you so much for buying and reading my books. It means a lot to me. 

Yours truly, Dani 💗

 

Some Things Never Change Finale

 So here is the real end. It has been an incredible journey to present you with this story. I'm sad to see it end, but I'm moved by all you beautiful people who have done me the great honor of reading it and seeing it through. 

I hope you enjoyed it. 

Here is The ending.

And, in case you missed it, here's the Table of Contents to read the complete story.

Some Things Never Change comes to an end

 So, the ending of the story turned out to be longer than I expected. So I decided to publish it in two parts. Here's the first. I didn't have enough time to correct it, so it might have a lot of mistakes. I'm sorry about that. 

Sorry that I kept you waiting. Please let me know what you think. And thank you so, so much for seeing the story through. I feel so incredibly grateful to have you as an audience. 

I give you Chapter XV