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“Oi!” Greg waved his arms, gesturing Louis over. Louis crossed his arms and pulled his sweatshirt down over his hands. Greg and his cronies always made him a bit uncomfortable.
“What?” he yelled back, refusing to go onto the pontoon. It wasn’t that he was scared of water, he just really didn’t like it.
“Your dad’s a fisherman right?” Greg called over, his voice carrying over the thrum of the other engines in the marina. James, next to him, laughed. “Come here.”
Louis rolled his eyes and slowly started walking towards where they were all gathered around the speedboat.
“Yeah,” he said, hesitantly.
“My engine won’t start. Can you have a look at it?”
Louis sighed. Unfortunately, he was actually good with engines, and as much as he’d like to tell Greg to do one, his need to impress people was winning out.
“Move,” he said to the ensembled cronies, who parted so he could see the speedboat. The boat itself was a ridiculous expense. Louis could tell just from looking at it that the boat was probably worth the same as his family’s house, but Greg’s family liked to show off their wealth. Of course that didn’t extend to teaching Greg how to maintain or repair his expensive things. He crouched down, pulling the ripcord. The engine spluttered, but failed to turn over. Sighing, he carefully boarded the boat, being careful to not slip over, or do anything else to embarrass himself. The rib rocked slightly, and he reflexively grabbed the rubber sides, trying to ignore the rush of heat flooding to his face as the surrounding boys tittered at his unease. He wiped a hand across his brow, willing himself not to cry. Fixing engines. He could do this. Maybe if he fixed the boat Greg would leave him alone. He gently removed the engine cover, crouching down next to it and focusing on what he could see. He slipped as the boat rocked hard, going down with a crash and a yelp of embarrassment. Greg had untied the boat from the pontoon and, while he threw the end of the rope back at Louis, someone else had given the boat a good shove, sending it away from the pontoon towards the mouth of the marina.
“Enjoy your trip!” Greg yelled at Louis, his cronies laughing maniacally next to him.
“What about your boat?” Louis yelled, standing up.
“My dad will just buy me a new one,” he shrugged before walking off.
Louis kicked himself. He fell for Greg’s stunts regularly, and he should’ve smelt a rat as soon as he was called over, but again, his need to please people and see the best in them had screwed him over. He snapped the engine cover back on and sat down on the bench, crossing his arms. He refused to show any fear. Besides, he was just drifting through the marina. Someone would eventually take pity on him. As long as he could ignore the rocking of the small boat, and the risk of going overboard, he could close his eyes and almost pretend he was sitting on a beach in the gorgeous sunshine. He closed his eyes, taking a few deep calming breaths, imagining that he was laid on the beach.
His eyes snapped open at the sudden rock of the boat, as the blur of a figure leapt from the pontoon onto the front of the boat. Before he could stop himself, he loudly screamed, in a very manly fashion.
“Jesus Christ,” the boy said, clutching his ears. Louis looked at him closely. He looked familiar.
“Hey, haven’t I seen you around school?” Louis said, slowly.
“I’m Zayn. I just moved here,” he nodded.
“I’m Louis. So why have you joined my marooned ship?”
Zayn snorted. “Greg’s a dick.”
“That’s one word for it.”
“Thought we could have some fun on his boat.”
Louis stared at him for a moment. “You realise I’m not just sitting here drifting for fun, right? His engine is fucked.”
Zayn threw something at Louis, which, although he fumbled it, he did manage to catch before it plopped into the marina. He counted it as a victory. Uncurling his hand he stared down at the item in his hand, his brain trying to process it.
“You stole his spark plug?”
Zayn smirked. “Guilty. Move over, I’ll pop it back in.”
“I can do it,” Louis smiled, pulling the cover off the engine and fitting the spark plug back in.
“You know your way around an engine,” Zayn commented. He leaned over Louis and pulled the ripcord, the engine roaring to life. “Let’s go,” he smiled.
Louis willingly moved to the front of the rib, wanting to stay cool in Zayn’s eyes. He couldn’t help but laugh as he saw Greg and his cronies walking along a different part of the marina, close to the Juice Net Cafe.
“Alright boys?” Zayn yelled as they turned to look at the roaring engine. He gracefully steered the boat to splash them all, whooping before taking off again.
“Fuck you,” Greg yelled, pushing his drenched hair out of his eyes.
Zayn navigated the boat towards the mouth of the marina. Louis couldn’t help but let out a celebratory cheer.
“Let’s go find my friend, Liam,” he said, turning back to look at Zayn. “He’s probably by the beach.”
Zayn nodded, taking the rib towards the beach. It only took a few minutes to find Liam.
“Liam!” Louis yelled, standing up. Zayn revved the engine.
Liam jogged out to them, swimming the final distance. “Isn’t this Greg’s rib?” he asked as Louis helped him clamber in.
“Sure is,” Louis grinned.
“We’ve temporarily commandeered it,” Zayn smirked. “I’m Zayn.”
“Liam,” Liam nodded. He narrowed his eyes. “Did you break the law to get this, Lou?”
“If you must know Greg attempted to maroon me on this wretched vessel,” Louis said, dramatically throwing his head back. “Zayn was my knight in shining armour who rescued me.”
Zayn tapped the fuel gauge on the dashboard. “Now we’ve got a full tank of Greg’s gas to burn, so I vote we go and explore the islands.”
Louis and Liam swapped glances. “You know there’s sharks out there, right?” Liam asked.
Zayn rolled his eyes. “We’re in a boat, Liam. We’ll be fine.”
Louis nodded. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, Liam! Zayn knows what he’s doing.”
*
It was not fine. The first hour of their adventure had passed with ease, the three of them swapping stories and feeling like they’d known Zayn their whole life while the sun shone down on them.
“What’s that island there?” Zayn asked, pointing to the huge mountain emerging from the ocean and filling half the sky. The harsh angles of the mountain led to a massive caldera.
“That’s Mako Island,” Liam replied. “We should turn around.”
Zayn ignored that, continuing on towards the island, until the engine spluttered unexpectedly and died.
Liam turned to look at Zayn, the panic clear on his face. “You can fix the engine, right?”
“Ah, yeah,” Zayn said, looking uneasy. “Yeah, I’ve had engines do this before.”
“Well,” Liam said. “How do you fix it?”
“You put more gas in,” Zayn winced.
Louis felt his stomach lurch. This was a horrible plan. And now they were stranded in the middle of the ocean. He turned away from the pair to stare out at the horizon, willing himself to not throw up. The beaches of Mako were only a few hundred metres away, but he’d heard enough warnings from his dad; Mako waters were home to multiple shark pods and vicious riptides. There was no way in hell they could swim. He resigned himself to the likelihood that he was going to die here. He hoped he died first. He couldn’t quite wrap his head around eating Liam.
“You are fucking joking,” he heard Liam yell behind him. He took a deep breath, trying to decide which song he should get them to play at his funeral.
“Do you have a better idea?” he heard Zayn yell back.
“Guys,” he yelled. “Shut up, I’m trying to plan my funeral.”
“Louis, tell Zayn his idea is ridiculous.”
“Louis, tell Liam he also better start planning his funeral if he doesn’t do my idea.”
Louis took another deep breath, before turning around. Zayn was brandishing a plastic oar he’d found in the bottom of the boat.
“Oh hell no,” Louis said. “I hate to agree with Liam, but that is a terrible idea.”
“See?” Liam said, crossing his arms smugly.
“Well,” Zayn shrugged. “While you both plan your funerals I’m going to start paddling.”
Liam let out an exasperated noise. “We’ve agreed it’s a shit idea, so we’re not doing it.”
“I’m not asking you to do it.” Zayn put the ore in the water and began paddling. “I’m just not planning my funeral.”
“You are such an arrogant, self absorbed…”
“Liam,” Louis cut across him. “It’s a terrible idea, but it might be our only hope.” He turned to look at Zayn and watched him paddle for a moment. “Hang on, why are you paddling towards Mako?”
Zayn actually stopped paddling at that. Liam looked at him like he’d grown a second head.
“Did you think I’d paddle us back to the mainland?” Zayn asked. Louis immediately felt stupid. The mainland was miles away. There was no way Zayn, even as stubborn and determined as he was, would be able to paddle them all the way back.
Louis crossed his arms and stared out at the island, definitely not sulking.
It took nearly half an hour until they reached the shallows on Mako. By the time they got there, sweat was pouring off of Zayn, and even Liam had taken a turn at paddling.
“Get out, Lou,” Liam said, jumping into the knee-deep water. “Help me drag the boat.”
Louis tried to not pull the face of a petulant child. Throughout all of the rib shenanigans he’d managed to remain almost bone dry.
“Fine, I’ll do it.” Zayn threw the oar back into the boat, making a loud clattering noise, before jumping into the water and helping Liam pull the boat onto the sand. He turned to Louis. “Get out of the boat.”
“No way,” Louis said, panic rising in his throat. “There’s snakes and shit on this island.”
Zayn shook his head, turning away.
“I can’t believe you’ve done this,” Liam said to Zayn.
“How is it my fault?” Zayn argued.
“Why the hell did you take us out to Mako. I told you it was dangerous and now we’re stranded. Luckily for you both I like to be prepared.” He rummaged in his pocket, pulling out his phone.
“Liam is very organised,” Louis said, wrapping his hands around his curled up knees in an attempt to hide how much he was shaking. Zayn rolled his eyes.
“I don’t have any signal. Let’s get higher, and see if we can find a way to contact someone.”
Zayn nodded, starting off over the sand dunes.
“Are you coming, Lou?”
“No way,” Louis said, picking at the seam in the rib, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.
“Good luck against the snakes and bears and whatever else is gonna attack you when you’re alone. I hope the tide doesn’t come too far up and sweep the boat out again,” Zayn shouted over his shoulder.
Liam threw a look at Louis, before hurrying after Zayn. Louis sat for a moment, pondering what Zayn had said. He tried to ignore the twist in his stomach as he jumped out of the boat and raced up the beach after them.
“There aren’t any bears on Mako,” he said when he reached the boys. Zayn raised an eyebrow at him. “Just, if you think there’s bears here you’re probably not well equipped to wander around by yourself,” he said, trying to school his features to hide his nerves.
The beach quickly gave way to a rainforest, the air thick with humidity. It only took about ten minutes before the boys stripped off their shirts, using them to keep the sweat off their forehead.
“Looks like this path leads up,” Liam said, gesturing to the path that wound through the woods. Louis could feel his heart pounding, but the colours and sounds of the rainforest were weirdly calming. The only sounds he could hear, other than the boys’ heavy breathing, were the waves rolling in on the beach below them, the creak of the trees as the wind gently moved them, and the chatter of the thousands of birds using the trees as their home. Not too far up the path he could make out another sound; the sound of rushing water. Through a clearing in the trees they could see that they were standing at the rocky top of a rushing waterfall, the water flowing across the rocks and down to the sea below. They stopped for a moment, in awe of the sound of crashing water.
“It’s beautiful,” Liam said.
“Yeah,” Louis agreed, taking a step forward. He’d expected to feel the rock underneath his foot, but instead felt nothing but air. His body lurched forwards, and he felt a yell force its way out of his mouth, before he tumbled down into a tunnel, crashing at the bottom on a pile of sand. His ankle twinged painfully.
“Shit,” he yelled, laying flat on his back, winded. He screwed his eyes shut, trying to stop himself from yelling out in annoyance.
“Are you alright?” Liam yelled, crouching down by the mouth of the tunnel. “Can you climb back up?”
Louis gingerly got up, standing on his ankle. It throbbed, but it was bearable. He turned his attention to the tunnel, trying on his hands and knees to climb up. The sand kept giving way beneath him, sending him tumbling back down,
“I can’t climb up!” he yelled back.
There was a moment of silence before Liam crashed into him, sending him sprawling. “Sorry,” Liam said, his head on Louis’ chest. “I was trying to figure out if I could reach you. I must’ve slipped.” He stumbled to his feet, helping Louis up too.
“Now we’re both stuck down here,” Louis grumbled.
“Maybe if you go on my shoulders?” Liam asked, before he was knocked sideways into Louis, sending both of them to the ground again.
“Didn’t want to miss the fun,” Zayn said, jumping up from the ground and brushing his black hair out of his eyes.
“You’re an idiot,” Liam said, helping Louis to his feet.
“Look, the tunnel continues,” Zayn pointed to the far end of the cavern they were in. “Maybe we can find a way out.”
Louis hobbled forward as best he could, but the throbbing in his ankle was worsening. He was regretting ever getting out of bed this morning. Right as he was about to curse them out, he felt Liam prop him up, taking some of his weight and helping him move. It didn’t totally remove the pain, but it definitely made moving easier. Zayn led the way, running his hand along the walls on the side.
“The rocks have, like, air bubbles in them,” he commented.
“We must be in the volcano,” Liam said quietly. “It’s extinct now, but this must all be volcanic rock.”
Louis nodded. “Mako is basically just a volcano.”
The tunnel curved around to the left, before opening into a large chamber. The three boys stepped inside, all gasping at what they could see.
The chamber was in the centre of the volcano, the caldera visible above, with the darkening sky gently lighting the space. The platform where they stood was covered in soft sand, and, just below them, was a large pool of clear blue water.
“Holy shit,” Zayn whispered, crouching down by the edge of the water.
“It’s beautiful,” Liam said.
“Yeah, except the tunnel leads to here, so we’re stuck in here,” Louis pouted, flopping down onto the sand and massaging his injured ankle.
“The pool must lead out to the beach,” Liam said. He dumped his t-shirt onto the sand, before joining Zayn at the water’s edge, staring down at it. He gently dipped his hand into it, before turning back to Louis. “I’m gonna go see if we can get back that way.”
“You’re getting in the mysterious pool?” Louis yelped, but Liam had already dove into the water, splashing Zayn in the process. He was only gone a few seconds, before he came back, his hair plastered to his face, resting his arms on the edge of the pool, propping himself up.
“There’s a passage there. It doesn’t look too long. You’d have to be underwater for maybe fifteen seconds Lou. It’ll lead us out.”
“No way in hell,” Louis said, crossing his arms.
Zayn shrugged, discarding his shirt to the side. “Your funeral mate,” he said before jumping into the water, significantly less gracefully than Liam had.
“Please?” Liam begged Louis. He shook his head, staring up at the mouth of the caldera. Just peeking through the very edge was the edge of the moon. They’d been on the island for hours. “I’m not leaving you behind,” Liam said, wrapping a surprisingly strong forearm around Louis’ arm and tugging him into the water.
Louis tried to protest, but hit the water unexpectedly, his mouth open. He swallowed a load of water, flailing frantically until he felt Liam’s strong arms pull him up. His head broke the surface and he coughed loudly, feeling for a horrible moment like he might be sick. His eyes stung and, to his embarrassment, he began to cry. Liam propped him up against the edge of the pool.
“Sorry,” he said, rubbing Louis’ back. “I shouldn’t have pulled you in. I pulled harder than I intended. But it’s getting dark and we can’t stay here and I can’t leave you behind.”
Louis buried his face in his arm, ignoring the sand that was beginning to stick to him, coughing loudly. It took him a few minutes before he felt comfortable enough to raise his head and push off from the edge. The water wasn’t too deep, but he had to tread to stay afloat.
“Are we doing this then?” Zayn asked.
“Give him a minute,” Liam scolded. “Whenever you’re ready, Lou.”
Louis nodded, swallowing. He practised going underwater a few times, trying to ignore the crushing fear that was creeping up his throat. The final time he came up, the cavern looked different. It took him a moment to realise that the space was bathed in moonlight, and that the moon was right in the middle of the caldera.
“Holy shit,” Zayn whispered as the water around them began to bubble, bathed in the moonlight. Louis gulped, his hands flailing as the bubbles splashed his face. He felt Liam grab his hand, and then, to his surprise, Zayn grabbed his other hand. Unless he was mistaken, Liam and Zayn were also holding hands. Around them, silver wisps seemed to fly up from the water dancing up towards the opening in the ceiling. The three of them seemed suspended in time, breathing as one, electricity zipping through their hands. Louis could feel his heart pounding, and his soul sing. They stayed like that, unmoving, until the moon moved away from the caldera, the light finally leaving. The water settled.
“What the fuck was that?” Louis asked.
“I dunno, but I’m ready to leave,” Liam said. Zayn nodded in agreement, kicking off from the edge of the pool and disappearing beneath the surface. Liam turned to Louis. “I’ll hold your hand. Ready?”
Louis swallowed, trying to ignore the weird feeling in his chest. “Ready whenever you are,” he smiled. Liam nodded, taking a deep breath and watching as Louis mimicked him, before pulling him down. Liam had always been a strong swimmer, but Louis marvelled at how he could effortlessly drag Louis through the small tunnel, with Louis hanging on his side like a rag doll. They were under for what felt like hours, but Louis realised when his head broke the surface it must’ve only been a few seconds. They were back in the ocean, a few metres away from the beach on the opposite side of the island to where they started. And it was pitch black.
Louis flailed again, the darkness surrounding him.
“Breathe,” he could distantly hear Liam yell, before a bright, blinding light burst through his vision.
“Are you boys alright?” he could distantly hear a voice yelling, before strong arms wrapped under his armpits, and he felt the rough steel of a boat beneath his face. He screwed up his eyes, breathing for a few seconds before rolling onto his back and opening them.
Above him swung fishing equipment and nets. Liam held out a hand to him, which he took, and slowly got to his feet, trying to ignore the protestation from his ankles. He was vaguely aware of a foil blanket being wrapped around him and a conversation he didn’t have the energy to keep up with happening around him. His dad was absolutely going to kill him.
*
His alarm went off the next morning, and he stretched in bed for a moment, before remembering that it was Sunday, and he didn’t have anywhere to be for a few hours. His dad had been surprisingly relaxed as he was dropped off by the coast guard last night, mentioning something about having a conversation with Greg’s dad about Greg’s behaviour, but other than that he’d sent Louis to bed with a promise to the coast guard man to have a conversation with Louis at a later date about what to do if you find yourself stranded on a boat. He’d then quickly headed to bed, as he had an early start himself, leaving Louis to make himself a cup of tea in a daze, before taking himself off to bed.
He wandered over to his mirror, ruffling his hair gently and yawning. He’d agreed with Liam that they’d meet at the Juice Net Cafe in the afternoon to go over their biology homework, but his day was his till then. Pulling his t-shirt on he wandered out into the hallway and over into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him and turning the bath on. He slowly brushed his teeth, ran a comb through his hair, and by then, his bath was full. He upended his favourite bubble bath container before getting into the bath, leaning back with his eyes closed. He let the warmth of the water soak into him for a moment, before he felt a very strange sensation. It felt as though his legs were trapped together, and weighed a ton. He dropped his hand down to his legs, and recoiled when he felt scales underneath his fingers. He snapped his eyes open. There, emerging from the bubbles, was a tail. A dark blue, scaled, almost two foot long tail. Louis blinked. He tried to wiggle his toes. The end of the fin flapped slightly. He closed his eyes again, and took three deep breaths. He was clearly hallucinating. He peeked through one eye. The tail greeted him again. He closed his eyes again, trying to resist the urge to scream. As carefully as he could he dragged himself out of the bath, flopping onto the floor unceremoniously. He winced at the loud noise he made, and prayed that Lottie, his younger sister, was out, or still asleep.
Now out of the water, Louis could see himself a bit more clearly. From his waist down he, unmistakably, had the anatomy of a fish. An absolutely giant, blue fish. He gently touched the scales, surprised at how wet they felt. He flopped back onto his back, staring at the ceiling for a moment. He didn’t wake up with a tail. Something about the water had made it happen.
Struck with a moment of pure genius, he heaved himself over to the counter and grabbed Lottie’s hair dryer, turning it on. He pointed the hot air towards his tail with one hand, supplementing the drying effort with his towel with his other hand. He was startled by a loud hammering on the door. He paused, his heart pounding.
“Louis,” he could hear Lottie yell. “I need a wee. Hurry.”
He stared down at his tail, before speeding up the drying effort. “I’m almost done,” he yelled back. The scales under his fingers were starting to feel dry, and he could almost feel the heat on his legs, or at least where his legs should be. Then, with absolutely no warning, the tail disappeared, replaced again by his legs.
“What the fuck?” he muttered, putting the hair dryer down and running his hands along his legs. They felt perfectly normal.
“Louis!” The hammering returned.
Sighing, he unplugged the bath and wrapped the towel around his waist. “I’m done,” he yelled, pulling the door open.
Lottie, his twelve year old sister, stood on the other side, her arms crossed. She looked him up and down. “You are so weird . Don’t use my hair dryer, or I’ll tell Dad.” She pushed past him, slamming the door in his face.
*
Louis beat Liam to the Juice Net Cafe. He sat in their regular booth in the corner, with his usual drink (a pink concoction of raspberry, sorbet, and mango), drumming his fingers anxiously against the table. He’d taken precautionary measures against the condensation and had wrapped his drink in no less than sixteen napkins, ignoring the weird looks from the other customers. Liam slid into the booth next to him, drinking his drink (chocolate protein shake) for a moment.
They sat in silence before Louis finally blurted out, “Something weird happened this morning.”
At the exact same moment, Liam said, “I have to talk to you about something.”
“You go first,” Louis said, slurping his drink.
“I,” he paused, looking around before moving his head close to Louis’. “I have a tail.”
Louis felt a rush of relief flood through him. “Me too. Only when I touch water.”
“Obviously,” Liam gestured down to his jean clad legs. “Same. I went for my morning swim this morning and-.” He was abruptly cut off by a hand slamming down next to them. They both turned in unison to see Zayn, wearing denim shorts, a tank top, and sunglasses.
“Are you two both fucking mermaids too?” he blurted out.
“Shh,” Liam yelped, pulling Zayn into the booth.
“We’re not mermaids,” Louis said.
“Yeah, we’re mer men ,” Liam nodded. Louis nodded along for a moment before stopping.
“No, Liam. We’re not mermen,” he said pragmatically. “We’re obviously all suffering with some horrible disease. Or delusions. Mermaids aren’t real.” He waved his hand into what he hoped was a ‘told you so’ gesture, and managed to accidentally smack his drink over. The liquid spilled across the table before he could react.
“Watch it,” Zayn gasped, holding out his hand. There was a zip of electricity, and the liquid hissed on the table, evaporating into steam.
“Um?” Liam said, staring at the now dry table. Zayn looked down at his hand.
“Did I do that?”
Liam looked between Zayn and Louis. “Let’s go back to my place. This doesn’t feel like a conversation to have at the Juice Net Cafe.”
*
Liam’s parents were almost never home. His dad spent most of his time on business trips, and his mum was a health freak who never left the gym. His younger sister spent most of her time chaperoned between various activities in a schedule so overwhelming it made Louis’ head spin if he thought about it too much.
“Here,” Liam said, putting a glass of water down on the marble kitchen island.
“Thanks?” Zayn said, reaching for it.
“No, you idiot,” Liam said, smacking his hand away. “Do the hand thing again.”
Zayn raised an eyebrow, but raised his hand the way he had in the Juice Net Cafe. The water in the cup began to boil, steam rising off of it. Zayn dropped his hand down to his side, and the boiling stopped immediately. Liam tentatively reached out and touched the side of the glass.
“It’s totally normal,” he reported.
Zayn looked down at his hands in confusion. “D’you reckon you guys can do things to it too?”
Liam shrugged, holding his hand out. The air crackled slightly as the water turned to ice. Liam looked at the two of them, before Zayn held out his hand, warming the water back up. Louis sat on a stool, his arms crossed.
“I bet you can do something too,” Liam said.
Louis took a deep breath before holding his hand out and willing something to happen. The water remained the same. “Classic,” he muttered. “Of course I don’t get a power.”
“Maybe it takes some time for it to develop?” Liam said gently. “Or maybe you’re not doing it right.”
Louis got up from the stool. “How can I not be doing it right when you don’t even know what you’re doing,” he snapped.
“I don’t know, okay? I just held out my hand and it happened.”
To prove a point, Louis held his hand out again. Nothing happened. “See? I don’t get a fucking power.”
“Oh grow up, Louis,” Zayn said, rolling his eyes. “You’re a mermaid. That’s a power if I’ve ever seen one.”
“I’m not a mermaid,” Louis yelled, rounding on Zayn. It took him a split second to react when he saw Zayn grab the glass and go to throw the water on him. He raised his hands up reflexively, protecting his face, but the water didn’t come.
“Holy shit,” Liam whispered. Louis looked up. The water was suspended in the air, a few inches above his hands. The water still flowed, but stayed where it was, thrumming like a heartbeat. In shock, Louis dropped his hands. The water splashed down around his face, plastering his hair to his face.
“You dick,” he said, before he felt his legs change. He flopped uselessly down onto the ground in the kitchen.
“Did you do that to the water?” Liam asked. Louis groaned, flipping over onto his back.
Zayn chuckled. “You’ve got a two foot blue tail and you claim you’re not a mermaid?”
“What colour is your tail?” Louis asked, feeling a blush rise on his cheeks.
“Blue as well,” Zayn shrugged, wandering over to the water dispenser and refilling the glass. He sipped it slowly, looking at Louis.
“You’re being very blase about me being a fucking fish in Liam’s kitchen,” Louis said, rolling his eyes.
“Is anyone going to come home?” Zayn directed to Liam. Liam shook his head. “Great,” Zayn smiled. “I want to try something. Try and control the water again,” he said, before throwing the water from the glass again. Louis put his hands up, and to his surprise, the water stopped in the air, suspended the same as before.
“Nice,” he heard Liam whisper. Gently, he tried to move his hands, surprised to find the water was receptive to his movements. It felt like the water was an extra limb. He’d never felt that level of unity with something. He shaped the water into a ball and gently raised and lowered it in the air, before flattening it out, pulling it as thin as he could. Then, with all of his might, he pushed the water away from him, sending it back to Zayn with considerable force. The water splashed Zayn right in the chest, and there was a moment of tense silence, before Zayn fell to the floor, his blue tail flopping behind him.
“Nice tail,” Louis snorted.
Zayn scowled at him, before turning his hand towards his tail. A loud hissing noise filled the room as steam poured off of Zayn’s tail. In seconds his legs returned, and he clambered to his feet.
“That’s not fair,” Louis said. “I had to double dry with a hair dryer and a towel so I didn’t get caught this morning.”
Zayn pointed his hand at Louis’ tail, his brow furrowed in concentration. The hissing sound quickly returned, and before he knew it, Louis had his legs back. “Hey, weird question,” he said, getting to his feet. “Where do our clothes go when we’re,” he paused. “When we have our tails.”
“I’m not sure,” Liam said. “I really have no idea.”
“We’re fucking mermaids,” Zayn said, excitedly. “This is so cool.”
“Yeah, but how did this happen?” Louis asked.
The three of them fell silent for a moment. “It must’ve been on that island,” Zayn said.
“Mako,” Liam agreed. “In the moon pool. With the full moon.”
Louis nodded. “When the water started bubbling I could feel something in my chest. Like, in my soul.”
“So did I. And our hands. It felt electric. I’ve never felt anything like it before.” Liam said. The three of them sat in silence, before Louis finally spoke again.
“So how do we cure it?”
Liam and Zayn stared at him. “We have magic powers,” Zayn said. “Why the hell would you want to get rid of it?”
“Yeah, we have magic powers where when we touch water we turn into giant flopping fish. Not just water, mind. Just things with a high enough water content it seems,” Louis said defensively. “We can’t use moisturiser anymore!”
“Lou,” Liam said, gently grabbing his arm. “We’re mermaids! ”
“Mermaids with wrinkly skin,” Louis muttered.
“We should go back to Mako,” Zayn said. “See if we can find some answers about what the hell happened?”
“Agreed,” Liam said.
Louis stared at them. “We don’t have a boat. How are we going to get there?”
“Swim?” Zayn said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which, when Louis thought about it, it probably was.
“No way in hell,” he said. It’s miles.”
Liam shook his head at Louis. “Tails,” he shrugged.
Louis tried to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach. Just because he had a tail didn’t mean he was suddenly really eager to get into the water. He still hated swimming. “I better go,” he mumbled. “I have to be home for Lottie after her swim lesson.”
“Louis,” Liam said, going to follow him. “It’ll be okay.”
Louis shook his head slightly. “It’s fine. Listen, see you tomorrow at school yeah?”
Liam grabbed his arm gently. “Louis. We have to keep this a secret, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Louis said, trying to shake Liam’s grip.
“He’s right,” Zayn said. “We can’t tell anyone or we’ll end up under a microscope. Or in a museum or something.”
“Got it,” Louis muttered.
“That includes Harry,” Liam said. Louis paused. Harry, his best friend from childhood. The friend he’d never kept a secret from. Harry didn’t count, surely. Plus, Harry was crazy smart, and might actually have an idea of how to get them out of this mess.
“I can’t keep this from Harry.”
“You have to,” Liam said. “Trust me, it’s for the best.”
“Fine.”
Louis decided the best way to avoid accidentally blurting out “I’m a mermaid!” was to avoid Harry all together. He committed to the plan as he brushed his hair in front of the mirror, muttering to himself: “Nothing weird happened. Nothing weird happened.”
His resolve almost crumbled as soon as he stepped off the bus and he saw Harry’s lanky figure, a whole head above the rest of the boys around him. Clinging to his backpack straps, Louis hightailed it into the closest toilets, locking the cubicle door and putting his feet against the door so they couldn’t be seen. He heard the door open and Harry’s voice tentatively calling out, “Lou? Are you in here?”
He held his breath, waiting till he heard the retreating footsteps, before slipping out and heading to his first class. Thankfully Harry was much smarter than him and was in a different English set to him.
He managed to dodge Harry until lunchtime.
“Hey Lou,” Harry said, ambling over to him and flopping down next to him on the grass. He dug in his bag and pulled out his sandwich. “I haven’t seen you all day.”
“Nothing weird happened,” Louis blurted out before he could stop himself.
Harry raised an eyebrow. “Okay?”
“Nothing. How was your weekend?” Louis tried to get the words out of his mouth but they felt foreign.
“Yeah, not too bad thanks. Didn’t do much. Gemma had a showjumping competition on Saturday.”
“Right, yeah,” Louis felt like he was going to burst. He stuffed what was left of his sandwich into his bag, jumping to his feet. “Sorry, I just remembered I haven’t done my… Maths homework, so I better go do that.”
Harry looked at him. “We don’t have maths today,” he said slowly.
“Maths? I meant Chemistry. Better run, bye,” he called, running as fast as he could away. His stomach was churning with guilt. He couldn’t keep this from Harry.
“Come to my party!” Eleanor, one of the girls in his year, chipped loudly, stuffing a piece of paper into his hand. He barely acknowledged it, practically sprinting to his locker. Before he could get there, he ran into Liam.
“You alright, Louis?” he asked, catching him.
“This is going to be impossible for me to keep from Harry.”
“You’re going to have to,” he shrugged. “What’s in your hand?”
Louis looked down at it. “It’s an invitation to Eleanor’s party, this afternoon.”
“She’s inviting everyone?” Liam asked. Eleanor’s parties were infamous for their extravagance, and she usually only invited a select few.
“Obviously we’re going,” Louis said. “This could be the start of us actually being cool enough to hang out with them.”
Liam pointed at the invitation. “It’s a pool party. No way in hell.”
“I think I’ll be okay,” Louis smiled.
As if by magic a voice materialised in Louis’ ear. “Are you going to Eleanor’s party?” Harry said.
Louis and Liam responded at the exact same moment.
“No.”
“Yeah.”
“Right,” Harry smiled. Louis couldn’t help but feel flutters in his stomach when Harry beamed at him like that.
“Are you going?” he asked.
“Yeah I reckon so,” he nodded. “It should be fun, right?”
“That’s what I said,” Louis said, grinning.
“Well, I’ll leave you and Liam to discuss your Chemistry homework,” he flashed him another grin, before wandering away.
“I’m definitely going,” he smiled.
“Your funeral,” Liam said, shaking his head as he walked off.
*
Louis stared down at himself for a second before knocking on the door. This was a totally foolproof plan. He’d forgone his swimming costume, choosing instead to wrap himself in his thermal underwear, jeans, his dad’s fishing waders, welly boots, three shirts, and his waterproof jacket.
As best he could despite his layers he rapped on the door. It only took a moment, before Eleanor answered, dressed in a bright red bikini.
“Um?”
“I’m here for the party,” he grinned.
“It’s a pool party, you moron,” Eleanor said, rolling his eyes.
“I have a cold,” Louis said, nodding solemnly.
“You’re so weird,” she scoffed. “Whatever,” she said, walking away and leaving the door open. Louis followed her into the house, trying his best to not give away how much he was overheating already.
Eleanor’s house was gorgeous. The open planned nature of it lent itself well to a pool party, with the big sliding glass doors wide open. Louis could see people milling around the pool, diving in and splashing each other. The sight of the water made his heart pound a little, but he tried to ignore it. With a barely detectable shake, he helped himself to a drink, glancing around the crowd for Harry. It took him a few moments, but he saw the tall boy out by the pool.
Louis ambled over to him, a dumb grin plastered on his face. Harry was wearing his yellow swim shorts that were tight in all the right ways. His unruly hair was swept effortlessly off his face and held by a headband.
“Hey, Lou,” he said. “What the hell are you wearing?”
“I have a cold,” Louis lied. He felt his gut twist slightly at the lie.
“That sucks. Did you and Liam get Chemistry sorted?”
“What? Oh, yeah.” Louis chewed his lip.
“Look, is everything okay? Did I do something to you? I just feel like you’ve been ignoring me or being really cagey today.”
Louis opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a loud laugh in his ear.
“It’s a pool party, you dumbass,” Greg sneered. Louis felt strong arms grip him, trying to haul him towards the edge of the pool. He dropped his glass in a panic, his hands stretching out to grab Harry.
“Let go of him, Greg,” Harry yelled, following the pair towards the pool.
“Don’t worry. You can dive in and save your boyfriend,” he sniggered. Louis felt like he was going to be sick, the pool glinting beneath him. The water seemed to reach up to swallow him down. He couldn’t hear anything above the rushing blood in his head and, for a moment, he thought his heart was going to give out as he hit the water. He flailed for a moment, before a voice of clarity, that sounded ominously like Liam, rang in his head. He only had a few seconds before he was going to turn into a fucking fish in front of everyone. Pushing off from the bottom of the pool, he reached the edge in a second. Harry was couched down, a look of concern on his face.
“Are you okay?” he said. “Greg is such a dick.”
“Get everyone inside,” Louis whispered. “I need you to help me, Harry. Don’t ask why.”
Harry took one glance at Louis’ pleading face before he nodded. He stood up, looking out at the sky before he loudly yelled, “Holy shit. Did anyone else see that lightning bolt? Get inside!” A few partygoers screamed, and Harry herded the rest of them inside. Louis pulled himself to the wall closest to the house, hidden from everyone as he watched himself transform into a mermaid.
Louis stared down at his tail through the water, flapping it uselessly. His cheeks felt wet, but he tried to tell himself it was probably just from the pool. Taking a deep breath, he let himself go back underwater, laying down on the tiled bottom of the pool. He hated the fact that his mind felt clearer when he was in water. It was like some cruel trick. Experimentally, he moved his tail, surprised to see the currents he could easily generate with little power. Glancing upwards, he could see Harry, who had returned to crouching at the edge of the pool, a look of worry on his face. Shaking his head slightly, Louis turned himself and pushed off from the bottom, his head breaking the surface.
“So,” Harry said. Louis played with his hands under the water, refusing to look up at Harry. His heart was pounding.
“Jesus Christ,” a familiar voice yelled from the end of the garden. Both Harry and Louis snapped around to see Liam and Zayn. They ran over, careful of their distance from the pool.
“I told you this was a bad idea,” Liam said.
“Look,” Harry said, desperately. “I can only keep the others away from the pool for so long. Help me haul him out and then we can figure out what the hell is going on.”
Liam and Zayn exchanged a quick glance. “We can’t touch him,” Zayn said.
“Oh Jesus,” Harry rolled his eyes. “Are you saying you’re,” he gestured to Louis, who could feel a blush creeping across his face. “I dunno, all, what’s the correct term, mermaids?”
“That would be correct,” Zayn affirmed.
“I think I prefer merman,” Liam said thoughtfully.
Harry ignored the other two and bent down, wrapping his arms around Louis’ armpits, attempting to haul him out of the water. “You weigh a fucking ton,” he gasped.
“Thanks,” Louis said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He tried moving his tail to see if it would help.
“I have an idea,” Zayn said. “Move back.”
Harry dropped Louis, moving back behind Liam as Zayn raised his hand. Louis could feel the heat of the water bubbling around him, causing him to break out into a sweat. “This is really unpleasant.”
“Shut up,” Zayn responded, narrowing his eyes in concentration. Steam poured off the water, obscuring Louis from being able to see the edges of the pool. It only took a few seconds before he could feel the tiles of the bottom underneath him. His hands spread out along them as he felt the moisture being sapped out. The strange tugging sensation in his tail was replaced with a mild burning on his skin. The steam cleared almost as quickly as it started, and Louis was sitting in the bottom of the now bone dry pool, fully dressed, and with his legs. He glanced up at Harry, who was staring between Zayn and him, in a mixture of confusion and horror. He clambered to his feet, heading over to the side of the pool.
“Harry, I can explain,” he started.
“What the fuck did you do to my pool?” Eleanor suddenly appeared from the sliding door.
Louis looked desperately at Harry.
“Spontaneous evaporation,” Harry said, turning around to look at the gathered group. “It’s pretty rare, but when high pressure systems move through it’s been known to happen. Whole rivers, just schlup ,” he made a sucking noise.
“Whatever, nerd,” Eleanor rolled her eyes.
Harry turned around, offering his hand to Louis, who took it gratefully, climbing out of the pool as carefully as he could. The four of them looked at each other for a moment.
“I have a lot of questions,” Harry said quietly.
“Juice Net Cafe?” Zayn offered.
*
“So you’re all mermaids?” Harry said, twirling the end of his straw contemplatively. “How did that happen?”
“We ended up on Mako Island over the weekend,” Louis said. “Right in the centre there was this awesome moon pool. I don’t know but I think it was probably something to do with that.”
“What the hell were you doing out there?”
“I’m not sure that’s relevant to the conversation,” Zayn said, cutting Harry off.
“Sorry, I don’t think I actually managed to catch your name,” Harry said, his eyes narrowed.
“Zayn.”
“So I take it you’re the reason they were out at Mako?”
“Hey,” Liam said. “It’s not all his fault.”
“It is mostly though,” Zayn shrugged.
Louis kicked Harry under the table. “You can’t tell anyone, promise?”
“I promise,” he nodded. “So that bubbling thing,” he turned his attention back to Zayn. “You all can do that?”
Zayn shook his head. “We can all do different things.” He pushed his shake into the centre of the group. Liam froze the drink with a flick of his wrist, before Zayn defrosted it again. Louis carefully lifted a small bubble of the drink out, carefully manipulating it through the air to his open mouth, closing it with a grin. Harry raised an eyebrow, looking impressed.
“So not only are you mermaids, you also have magic powers?”
The three of them looked between themselves before nodding. Louis couldn’t help the grin that felt like it was threatening to burst onto his face. Despite all the chaos, he felt so at peace in the pool earlier. He was already craving another opportunity to get in the water.
Harry shook his head slightly. “There must be something going on in Mako. The island is full of weird electromagnetic things, I bet. I’d love to get out there and do some tests.”
“Okay,” Louis said, quickly. He could feel himself blush, but he was so excited at the idea of getting back in the water, and for some reason Harry seeing his tail made Louis feel connected to him in a totally new way.
“I thought you didn’t want to go back?” Zayn smirked. Louis kicked him.
“What’s best for you?” he asked Harry. “You could go by boat and meet us out there, or use your scuba kit and swim with us?”
“I want to bring lots of equipment with me,” Harry said, excitedly. “I’ll rent a fishing boat.”
They finished their drinks up quickly, agreeing to meet on the island in two hours. Harry disappeared off to find a fishing boat, leaving the other three alone.
“I tried not to tell him,” Louis said, looking at Liam.
“Couldn’t even last 24 hours,” he said, shaking his head.
“You think I wanted to turn into a mermaid in front of everyone at Eleanor’s party?”
“I think that was a choice you made when you showed up to a fucking pool party, mate,” Zayn hissed. “Do you have any idea what will happen to us if this gets out?”
“Yeah, I’m not stupid,” Louis retorted angrily.
“You could’ve fooled me,” Zayn crossed his arms. “Do not fuck this up for us. I’m serious, Louis. That was way too close, and next time I’m not going to fucking bail you out.”
“I’m not a child. You don’t need to bail me out at every second.”
“Guys, shut up,” Liam said. “Yeah, it was a dumb risk that Louis made, but he learnt his lesson, so back off Zayn.”
“You’re taking his side?” Zayn said, rounding on Liam.
“I’m not on anyone’s side, because I’m not ten,” Liam replied.
“Besides, Harry is crazy smart, so he might be able to figure out what’s happened,” Louis said.
“Don’t push your luck,” Liam said, shaking his head. “Come on, we better get going or he’ll beat us.”
Louis threw a dirty look at Zayn, but followed Liam out of the Juice Net Cafe to the pontoons out front. Night time had fallen, and the only lights visible on the water were from rocking boats.
“Are we just, going straight in?” he asked, wringing his hands uncomfortably. As much as he wanted to return to the feeling of being in the water, the churny darkness of the marina didn’t seem as appealing to him anymore. Zayn rolled his eyes and didn’t respond, diving effortlessly into the water. Liam glanced at him.
“You’ll be fine. Here,” he reached out and took Louis’ hand. “Together?” Louis nodded and took a deep breath before leaping into the marina. The coldness of the water hit him first, making him gasp, before he felt his legs turn into a tail. The water felt warmer, and the feeling of calm returned. He glanced around, amazed at how much he could see. Zayn was a few feet ahead of them, gesturing forwards. Louis nodded and pushed off, amazed at how his body moved fluidly through the water. His vision was perfectly clear, his arms cutting through the water with ease. His tail propelled him forwards, sending small fish fluttering away. The marina quickly gave way to open water, and, even in the moonlight, Louis could make out the detail of the coral around him. He slowed down for a moment to watch in wonder at the rainbow of fish swimming about the coral, seemingly unbothered by the three giant half men-half fish swimming through. Right as he thought he’d seen the coolest thing, he noticed off in the distance three massive grey shapes moving quickly towards them. His heart leapt into his throat as he tried to decide whether or not mermaids provided great nutritional value for sharks. Before he could get himself too worked up about it, he realised he could hear dolphin chatter, as the three grey shapes became clearer. Cutting through the water, and heading straight towards them, were three gorgeous dolphins. Louis had seen dolphins before, up close in the Water Park, and occasionally from a distance on his dad’s boat, but this was something totally different. He reached his hand out towards the one closest to him, who immediately headbutted his hand and clicked happily. The dolphin moved around him, pushing his fin and coming back around for another stroke. Louis rested his hand on the dolphin’s dorsal fin, gently enough that the dolphin could shake it off if it didn’t want him to hold on, but the dolphin made no objections, and instead took off at great speed with Louis holding on tight. He felt a giggle burst from his mouth totally unexpectedly as he rolled off the dolphin, who joined him in a series of clicks that sounded suspiciously like laughter. Louis turned to see Zayn and Liam, just behind him. He waved goodbye to the dolphin, before continuing onwards. Liam navigated the final section, pointing Louis towards the narrow cut in the rocks.
“Holy shit,” he said as soon as his head came up in the moon pool. “Did you guys see the dolphins?”
“I can’t believe how long we can hold our breaths for,” Liam said.
“Come on,” Zayn said, hauling himself out of the pool. “We better go find Loverboy.” He flipped himself over, drying his body quickly.
“Loverboy?” Liam asked, helping Louis out of the water.
“Yeah.” Zayn turned his attention to the other two. “He gets that soppy look when he looks at Louis. I assumed they were together?”
Louis swallowed, trying to ignore the leap of his heart. “He gets soppy when he looks at me?” he asked, standing up.
“Head over heels,” Zayn confirmed. “Are you two not together?”
“No,” Liam said slowly. “No, but now you mention it.”
“Shut up,” Louis said. He could feel his face going bright red. “Let’s just go find him.”
It took them nearly ten minutes of combined effort to make the mouth of the tunnel accessible, but once they had, they went quickly down to the beach to wait for Harry’s boat to arrive.
“Fucking hell this island is far out,” Harry yelled. “Come give me a hand pulling in the boat, Lou?”
“Lou?” Zayn quipped.
“Hey, Liam calls me that too,” Louis retorted. “I can’t,” he called back to Harry.
“Shit, yeah, mermaid shit.” Harry jumped out of the boat, pulling it in effortlessly. The small fishing boat was packed to the gills with various bits of equipment.
“What the hell is all this?” Zayn asked, picking up a device with long thin wires coming out of it.
“Spectrometer, multimeter, geiger counter, the usual,” Harry said, taking the device off of Zayn. “So you said something about a pool? In a cave?”
“Yeah,” Louis said. “It’s just up ahead.”
He led the group through the undergrowth and back down to the passageway. Harry bounded along beside him, seemingly unbothered by the sheer weight of equipment he was carrying.
“Mako is volcanic,” he said, enthusiastically.
“So I’ve been told,” Zayn replied, monotonously. If Zayn’s lack of enthusiasm upset Harry he didn’t let it show.
“I’ve always wanted to come and do some experiments out here. The magnetic energy and volcanic potential are insane.”
“You’re really smart,” Louis said. He didn’t miss the quick glance Liam and Zayn shared. “I’m glad you’re helping us.”
“Yeah well, you didn’t really give us a choice to not let him, did you?” Zayn snapped. Liam rolled his eyes.
“Whatever, Zayn. It was your fucking fault we got stuck here in the first place.”
Zayn stopped walking. “How the fuck was it my fault?”
“‘Oh, guys, let’s visit Mako,’” Liam imitated.
“Guys,” Louis said, holding his hands up. Annoyance was bubbling in his chest. It was a really cool thing that happened to them, and he wanted to share it with Harry. “Stop arguing. It doesn’t fucking matter how we ended up here, the point is we did, and Harry might be able to help us figure out why.”
Harry beamed at him, acting oblivious to the argument. “Thanks, Lou. I’m really excited to see the cave.”
“It’s just up here,” Louis said, grabbing Harry’s arm and steering him towards the mouth of the passageway, and away from Zayn, who looked like he was about to explode again.
Harry stumbled slightly, but braced himself against Louis, his body warm. Where Harry touched him, Louis felt a heat bloom. He waited until Harry found his footing again, before leading him down the mouth of the passageway. When they rounded the corner into the moon pool, Harry let out a small gasp.
“Lou, it’s beautiful.”
“I know,” Louis said, pride growing in his chest. It felt right, Harry being here. He watched as Harry dropped his equipment down and started running his hand along the rock surfaces. Then, the other boy slowly chipped off a small amount of rock, depositing it into a pot. Next, he did the same with the sand from the bank, and the water from the pool. By the time he pulled out some of his equipment, Louis was having to squint in the darkness to watch him. At some point Liam and Zayn joined them, unspeaking. Finally, when it got too dark for Harry to see his screens, he pulled out a powerful torch, shining it around the space.
Louis hugged himself slightly as the darkness pulled in around them. He didn’t like being here on land so late at night.
The edges of the moon began to light the pool, and all four boys turned abruptly to look at the source of light. Louis held his breath. Any moment the water would start bubbling again. For an insane moment he thought about pushing Harry into the moon pool so he could be a mermaid like them.
The water didn’t move, even as the light grew in intensity. Louis didn’t feel like he could pull his eyes away from it, entranced by the beauty of the moonlight dancing on the water’s surface. A yell behind him made him finally tear his eyes away, a sick feeling rising in his chest. The yell had come from Harry.
He was stood where he had been, his feet seemingly rooted to the spot, but his hand was stretched out backwards. Louis followed the other boy’s hand, and saw, to his utter shock, Harry’s torch embedded in the rock wall.
“Are you okay?” he said, scrambling over.
“It was like something grabbed it out of my hand,” Harry whispered. He reached out one hand, wrapping his fingers around Louis’, before slowly approaching the wall. Louis squeezed his fingers reassuringly. There had to be an answer. Harry ran his free hand over the torch.
“It’s like it’s been in the rock for centuries.”
Louis agreed. In places the rock had totally subsumed the torch. It was mad to think minutes earlier it had been in Harry’s hand. Louis felt the jolt of electricity before he saw it, rippling through his chest. He clung on harder to Harry, but a glance over his shoulder told him both Zayn and Liam had felt it too. Harry on the other hand seemed unbothered, his hand still tracing the torch.
The wall pulsed, visibly, and Harry retracted his hand, before a sharp jet of water burst from the wall, arcing towards the moon pool. Louis ducked reflexively, and he could see in his periphery both Zayn and Liam had ducked out of the way of the jet.
He turned back to the wall, just in time to see three more pulses force themselves out of the wall. The water jet was shaped into a point, firing like a bullet into the moon pool. Louis watched helplessly as the third jet hit Harry square in the chest, blasting him back and into the moon pool with an almighty splash. Louis reflexively wrenched his hand free at the last second, saving himself from being dragged in.
“Harry,” he yelled, squatting down at the edge of the pool.
“Holy shit,” Zayn said.
Harry still didn’t surface. Louis could feel the panic clawing in his throat. What if that jet had killed Louis? He bit back a sob, before diving into the pool, ignoring the protests from the other two.
As his body transformed, he felt the panic subside. The water was safe, he knew. He could see Harry, floating limply, suspended halfway to the bottom of the pool. With a flick of his powerful tail, he reached the other boy in a second, wrapping his arms under Harry’s armpits before pushing up to the surface. As soon as both their heads broke the surface, the panic returned.
“Harry,” he yelled, shaking the other boy. “Jesus Christ, Harry. Guys, help me,” he pleaded, pushing Harry’s limp form towards the other two. Zayn and Liam exchanged a glance, and seemed to have an entire unspoken conversation in that glance, before Liam bent down, wrapping his arm around Harry’s body. Zayn crouched down next to him, pointing and clenching his hand at where Liam was holding Harry. It took Louis a moment to realise what they were doing. Zayn was evaporating the water where Liam was touching Harry so he wouldn’t also turn into a mermaid.
It took a few moments of struggle from all of them, before they managed to get Harry out. Louis watched helplessly, before he managed to push himself up onto the ground, flipping beside Harry.
“Harry,” he yelled, raising himself up as best he could. He shook his friend’s shoulder. “Harry wake up.” He didn’t even notice Zayn drying him until he realised he could feel his legs again. “Is he dead?” he yelled, turning to look at Liam.
“No,” Zayn said, very matter of factly. “Look, you can see his chest moving. He’s breathing.”
Louis stared at Harry’s chest, and, now that Zayn mentioned it, he could see the rise and fall of Harry’s breathing. He flung himself onto Harry, putting an ear to the other boy’s damp chest. The steady beat of Harry’s heart was unmistakable.
Harry moved slightly, and groaned. “Fuck that hurts. Get off, Lou,” he mumbled.
“You’re alive,” Louis said, lifting his head up. Harry looked pale and groggy, but he was definitely alive. Louis could’ve wept with joy.
“Course I am,” Harry chuckled. He stopped abruptly and winced.
“What’s wrong?” Louis asked, concern flooding his voice.
“Dunno, my chest really fucking hurts.” Louis helped Harry sit up, before taking his shirt off. He ignored the small chuckle Zayn let out behind him.
In the centre of Harry’s chest there was an odd mark. “Have you always had this?” Louis asked.
Harry looked down, the confusion clear on his face. “No. Do you think that’s where the water hit me?”
Zayn and Liam had joined, all examining the mark with morbid curiosity. It seemed to spike out like a lightning bolt, but the centre of it was dark. The spikes looked like veins, the blue distinct against Harry’s pale skin.
“It almost looks like,” Zayn started, before trailing off.
Liam looked at it before looking back at Zayn. “You’re right.”
Louis was getting really sick of the two of them and their suddenly seamless wordless communication. He stared at the mark. It seemed familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. Before he could consider it, he found himself plunged into the moon pool, the water covering him fast.
Where normally an unexpected dip would make him terrified, this time it just annoyed him. He’d just finished drying for fuck’s sakes.
“What the hell?” he said as he broke the water’s surface.
“Jesus,” Harry said. “You’re right.”
Louis was about to turn and ask Harry what the hell he was talking about, when he caught sight of his tail beneath the surface. Blue. Vein blue. He pulled himself up slightly so he could see his waist, where his tail started.
“Holy shit,” he said. “Harry, you've got scales.”
“Yeah,” Zayn said. “So where the water hit him it gave him scales. But…,” he trailed off. Louis was about to ask him what he was thinking, when another resounding splash echoed through the cave as Harry plunged into the water next to him. He didn’t need to ask Zayn what the hell he was thinking. He was wondering it too.
The three of them stared, bated breath as Harry resurfaced. He still had his legs. Louis tried to ignore the flood of disappointment.
“What the hell?” Harry asked, pushing himself out of the pool. The water rippled around him, making the mark appear more prominent, before Harry helped Louis out of the water. They both waited for a moment as Zayn dried them off, before Louis spoke. Harry pointed down to his chest, where the mark had disappeared.
“Why isn’t Harry a mermaid?”
“I mean we didn’t turn until the next day, right? We swam out of here with our legs,” Liam argued.
“Yeah, but I don’t think that’s it,” Zayn said, shaking his head slightly. “The water wasn’t bubbling or anything.”
Harry chewed his lip, seemingly deep in thought. “When were you guys here?”
“Saturday night,” Zayn said.
Harry disappeared into his equipment bag, evidently searching for something.
“What?” Louis asked. “What are you thinking?”
“Hang on,” Harry said. “Hang on. I’ve got it. Here.” He pulled out a leather journal, flicking through frantically. Louis watched as Harry’s green eyes darted across the pages until he found what he was looking for. “Saturday was a full moon.”
“So?” Zayn shrugged.
“During the full moon people think the pull and influence the moon has on the Earth is stronger. Bigger tides and things like that. Not to mention all the mythological things about the moon.”
“I’m sorry,” Zayn said. “Let me get this straight. Are you saying we’re were-mer-men?”
Louis giggled, but Zayn shot him a look that shut him up quickly. “Hang on,” he said. “You’re not serious, are you?”
“No, I’m not saying that,” Harry said. “I’m saying that for centuries people have thought the full moon blurred the line between the natural and the supernatural. Obviously you don’t turn into mermaids on a full moon, but I think you only got turned into mermaids because you fell into the pool on the full moon.” He scanned the roof of the cave, looking up to the caldera. “By any chance did the moon transit directly above you?”
“Yeah,” Liam nodded. “It filled the whole space. You couldn’t see anything except the moon.”
“What the hell happened to your torch though?” Louis asked. “And those water spears coming from the wall.”
Harry was silent for a moment. “I’m not sure. I think whatever the moon did to the water somehow charged the wall up.” He put his journal away, crouching down beside the pool and splashing himself a bit. A few seconds later the blue scales bloomed across his chest again. “See? Where that water hit me I’m part mermaid, same as you guys.”
“Holy shit,” Zayn said.
“So I’m going to study the rock samples and see if I can find anything else out about the rock. Something really strange is going on here.”
The three other boys exchanged a look. “You have to admit, Harry. It’s pretty cool,” Zayn said.
“It would be cooler if I had a tail,” Harry chuckled.
*
Harry spoke nothing more about the rock and if he’d discovered anything, but it seemed the four of them were now bonded through scale, even if it wasn’t through mutual likeness of one another. Liam obviously didn’t mind Harry, and Harry was more than pleasant with Liam, but Zayn and Harry butted heads more often than not.
“You don’t have a tail so you don’t have a power,” Zayn hissed, slamming his juice glass down.
“Guys, it doesn’t matter,” Liam argued. Louis sipped his smoothie, one hand snaked under the table holding Harry’s hand, as he glanced between the two of them as they volleyed back and forth.
“Oh like you know everything about this mermaid thing,” Harry retorted.
“I know I’m actually a mermaid.”
“Say it a bit louder Zayn,” Liam said, kicking him. “Why not just announce it to the world?”
Zayn rolled his eyes. “He antagonises me on purpose.”
Harry slammed his glass down. “I’m going for a walk,” he said, snatching his hand out of Louis’ and sliding out of the booth. Louis downed the rest of his drink before chasing Harry out the door.
“Sorry,” Harry said, rounding around when he realised Louis was following him. His features immediately softened, and Louis felt his heart leap slightly. He reached out and grabbed Harry's hand again, revelling slightly in the little spark of electricity as their fingers touched. "Zayn just pushes my buttons."
"I know," Louis said. "But he's not a bad person. He's just, I dunno, headstrong. And to be honest I think he's a bit scared. We all are. Liam's had to give up swimming, which has killed him. And I don't think things are, y'know, right for Zayn at home."
Harry sighed. "How has it been for you?"
Louis thought back to the stupid amount of money he was paying Lottie so she'd do the washing up on his days, the moisturiser he had to throw out, and the contraption he made to feed Harvey, his pet goldfish. "It's been a lot," he admitted. Harry pulled him in for a hug and he nestled into the crook of the other boy's neck, inhaling the familiar scent of Harry, It reminded him of primary school birthday parties, with terrible sandwiches and fondant covered cakes. It make him feel safe. "I'm so shit scared, Harry," he confessed in a whispered. "I'm so afraid that someone is going to find out, or that I'll do something stupid and expose myself, or," he laughed. "Or it'll fucking rain and I'll have to fake sick or something. I mean, yeah, I have a tail, and I can move water, but at what cost. I can't fucking moisturise, Harry. Think about how wrinkly I'm going to be!"
"You'd look beautiful wrinkly," Harry murmured.
Louis pulled away slightly, looking up at him for a moment. "Would you like to go for a swim with me?"
"What, now?" Harry asked, looking confused. "It's almost sunset."
"Sorry, I just," Louis sniffed slightly. "I don't really know how to explain it but I feel so calm in the water. Like none of my problems matter. I just want to share that with you."
Harry's face lit up. "Honestly, Lou, that would be amazing. What if I grab my scuba gear and we meet round the pontoon at the back of the Juice Net Cafe? No one ever really goes there."
"Yeah," Louis grinned, a warmth spreading through him. "That sounds good, yeah."
He watched as Harry disappeared to find his diving equipment, before heading back to the pontoon. The sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon, lighting the water up in a radiant red glow. Louis couldn't wait to dive into it. As he reached the pontoon he realised, with a swoop of his stomach, that unusually there were a few people on the pontoon, and one of those people was Greg. Louis turned to go, attempting to duck behind a tree before he was spotted, but he was too slow.
"Oi, Tomlinson," he yelled, as soon as he caught sight of Louis.
"What?" Louis said, crossing his arms. He stayed firmly up on the grass.
"You owe me a fucking motor boat. My dad is furious I lost the other one."
"Well maybe you should've thought about that before you decided to send me floating away on it."
"Jesus Christ what is your problem, Tomlinson. It was just a joke."
"Yeah well it wasn't very funny."
Greg rolled his eyes and didn't respond for a moment. "You're such a freak."
Louis turned away, trying to ignore the burning in his eyes. He wasn't going to cry in front of Greg. He just wasn't.
"You alright, Louis?" Harry said, suddenly appearing at his side.
"Yeah," he sniffed, biting his lip slightly. "I'm fine."
Harry looked over him and down to the pontoon. Louis could see the moment Harry clocked Greg, because his jaw clenched slightly, before unclenching again. He turned back to Louis. "I've got my diving gear. Are you ready?"
Louis looked back around at Greg, panic rising in him. "We can't go off the pontoon. He'll see."
Harry nodded slightly, before turning back and assessing the shoreline. Then, without a remark, he grabbed Louis' hand with his, and dragged him towards a big rock a few feet away. The water lapped against it. "We'll just go in here, away from him. How about that?"
Louis smiled, the warmth in his chest threatening to overtake his entire body. "This is perfect."
"Go on then," Harry coaxed. "It'll take me a minute to get organised enough to join you."
Louis didn't need telling. He ran into the water up to his waist before diving in right as he transformed. Swimming was effortless, and he swam out a few strokes before turning around to look back at where Harry was. The very tip of his tail was just brushing the sea bed, and for the first time he realised the tail added at least two feet to his total height. He watched as Harry plunged into the water, less gracefully than he did, and came out to join him. Once Harry reached him, he smiled, before dropping down below Louis and gesturing forwards. Louis led the way with a flap of his powerful tail. There was something so special about being underwater with Harry, the dusk dancing on the surface.
Harry seemed to marvel at the strength of Louis’ tail, and they took many breaks so Harry didn’t get too tired. Louis couldn’t help but look at Harry’s sharp form as he surged through the water, his neoprene wetsuit hugging his hips in all the right ways. Louis stopped himself grabbing Harry a couple of times and holding his waist, but when Harry linked their fingers together as they swam, Louis lost his breath for a moment.
When they came up for air (for Louis), Harry pulled out his regulator and took off his mask as they bobbed.
“Holy shit, Lou, your tail. Watching you swim is amazing,” Harry gushed.
“You’re pretty fucking good at swimming yourself,” Louis replied, trying to hide how secretly pleased he was about how much Harry was enjoying it. Harry swam closer to him, running his hand along his waist where his tail started. This close, Louis could see the beads of seawater clinging onto his eyelashes.
“No, Lou. I mean it. You’re beautiful,” Harry said quietly, before gently placing his lips over Louis’. There was a brief moment where Louis lost his breath and all logical thought, before he kissed back, hard., wrapping his arms around Harry’s waist. He tipped his tail up, catching Harry’s feet and taking some of the weight of him as they deepened the kiss. When they finally broke apart, Harry giggled.
“I’ve been wanting to do that for ages,” he said.
“I’ve wanted you to kiss me since I knew what kissing was,” Louis confessed.
“Fuck knows why it took us so long,” Harry laughed, before kissing him again. Louis kissed him back, but pulled away abruptly when he felt a sudden rush of current around him.
“What the fuck was that?” Harry said, snapping his mask back on and putting his regulator back in his mouth. Louis shrugged as he went down too, scanning the water around them. Harry grabbed him, pointing.
There, in the distance, moving fast, was a blur of blonde and blue. Louis felt his heart jump, thudding loudly as he began to swim with speed towards the blur. It looked distinctly human-like, he thought to himself, as he closed the gap. He knew Harry was a little behind him, but he hoped Harry would be able to keep up. As he approached the blur, he could see the sea bed coming up closer and closer. He popped his head quickly above the surface to confirm his suspicions: they were very close to the shore. Grabbing onto the nearest rock, he hoisted himself out of the water slightly, watching the shoreline carefully.
The figure emerged a few moments later, and Louis did a double take. The blur was definitely a mermaid. He pushed himself off the rock, taking himself to a different stretch of the beach, hidden behind some rockfall.
Experimentally, he raised his hand up and tried to manipulate the water on his body off of it. It took a few goes to get right, but he dried out a lot quicker than he ever had before without Zayn’s help.
As he scrambled to his feet, Harry appeared behind him, winded. He pulled off his mask and regulator, heaving his tank into the sand. “Did you see it?”
“It’s another mermaid, Harry,” Louis said, taking off at a sprint towards where the figure had been. As he rounded the rockpile, he saw a blonde boy walking away from the water’s edge.
“Hey,” he yelled. “Hey!”
The boy stopped and turned to look at him. “Do I know you?” he said, with an accent Louis couldn’t quite place.
Louis narrowed his eyes at him. “How did you get here?”
“I walked,” the boy said calmly. “What is it to you?”
“I don’t think you did,” Louis said. “I think you got here the same way I did.”
“I’m sorry, I don‘t really have time to talk right now,” the boy said, turning to leave. Louis raised his hand to the sea, picking up a small bubble of salt water, before throwing it on the boy.
“What the hell?” he said, before turning and running into the waves.
Louis sighed before diving in after him. He watched as the boy in front of him transformed, the long blue tail moving the water in currents around them. He saw the other boy’s eyes grow wide as he took in Louis’ tail. He shook his head slightly, before pushing up to the surface. Louis followed him.
“You’re a mermaid,” Louis said.
“Merman,” the boy corrected. Louis shrugged. “So are you.”
“Have you been to Mako?”
Confusion clouded the other boy’s face. “What’s Mako?”
Louis didn’t answer him. “How long have you been a merman for?”
“I fell into a pool in Ireland when I was 10. Ever since then this happens whenever I touch water.”
“Holy shit,” Louis whispered. “There are more mermaids?”
The boy nodded. “My name is Niall.”
“Niall, I have some friends I want you to meet.”