"Oly, I found something!"

As soon as the voice reaches me in the dining area I jump to my feet, my head feeling a little woozy from my sudden position change, but I push through the feeling. Rushing through the house I search for Sammy.

"Sammy, where are you?" I question, searching the spare bedrooms, opening every door, each room just as messed up as the last. Whoever took Gage, really wasn't messing around. Before I could open what felt like the fifth door, Sammy pops around the corner a note in hand. I let out a sigh, there was another stupid note. I quickly grab it from her searching for the next clue.

So you guys know he isn't here, well yeah, I took him. Olyvya, meet me in the sea. The same rock as our first escapade and I'll lead you to the boy.

"You have to go...now!" Sammy shouts as she sees me near the end of the page. I shook my head, this must be a trap. She was going to try and kill me again. I glance over the bandage on my shoulder. I reached up tugging at the tape she had used to help hold it to my skin. Pulling each strand off piece by piece I began removing the gauze. Once I finished, Sammy and I sat staring at my now-healed shoulder. I blink a couple of times, trying to focus my eyes on the sight. There was absolutely no sign of a wound, just tiny blue lines covering my skin.

"You need to teach me how to do that." Sammy's long finger points at my shoulder, I quickly roll my eyes.

"Figure out how to ruin your life by becoming a mermaid," I said.

I made my way back to the kitchen, trying to find my way through this maze of a house. Using the light and the sound of the waves to lead me.

"I don't think you ruined your life." My jaw almost dropped when Sammy responded. How could she not think this ruined my life? I've done nothing but freak out and cry the last month, I hardly ate, I hardly drank, my body was weaker than it has ever been. The only good thing about this was my world expanded and I needed to go save it. I needed to go save Gage.

"But I never had a choice either..." I responded before heading into the garage. Sammy stopped for a moment, standing in the doorway. I didn't notice until I was practically outside. I stopped turning to Sammy. "Do you want to stay here? Or should I meet you back home? I don't know how long this is going to take..."

"I hate this!" Sammy collapses on the stairs, throwing her hands over her face like I had found her on the beach.

"Sammy, please don't cry again..." My heart sank, crashed into the bottom of the ocean, and shattered. The pain I felt for Sammy was unending torture. My best friend was going through so much all because I had to go and turn into a fish on my 21st birthday. Why did I even change? Why wasn't I normal like everyone else?

"I can't help it, I can't help you, I feel useless, I don't know the answers, I don't know who we are supposed to be fighting, what does war even mean in this situation, I can't kill anyone..." She sobs into her arms. I stood motionlessly, she explained exactly how I felt but for all different reasons. I closed the distance between us, wrapping my arms around her shoulder before whispering an apology.

"I will come back, and we will figure this out." I try to smile, the expression just felt fake.

"Here..." She blubbered between sobs, "I will wait for you here," I nodded my head before leaving the garage. I turned to look at the house once more before rushing towards the ocean. I pray silently that I will be coming back to this place, that Sammy will eventually move on if I don't return, that she won't waste her life in that house of shambles. Broken plates and decorations, a mess no one should ever have to endure.

I searched the beach for any innocent people passing by, even though this was a private beach, Sammy and I had easily made that same mistake. Once I felt safe enough I stripped all my clothes hiding them in the bushes outside the garage. I took one last glance before running to the waves. I ran like a child trying to take cover from a thunderstorm, my hands covering my body they best they could as I moved.

When the water hit my feet it felt cold, almost freezing, much colder than it has on any of my other swims. I turned to take one last look at the house, only to catch a glimpse of a few bystanders stopped at an overlook. Staring right at me as a wave of blue enveloped me, and the transformation was complete.

My heart froze, my eyes clenched shut, my lips pursed, as I tried to adjust to the temperature. I placed my hands against my chest floating in the open water for a few minutes. The expression on that man's face stuck in my brain. He saw me change. He saw everything. Running across the beach naked, jumping into the waves, and he must have seen my fin. I was mentally beating myself up when I felt a current of water rush past me. Something must have swum past me. Quickly opening my eyes to search for whatever it was, my mind instantly went to the thought of the sharks chasing me, glancing down at the bottom of my fin, a chunk still missing from the edge. I winced at the thought of the shark chomping down on my precious fin, but before I could inspect it even further a hand grabs mine pulling me through the water.

There was no noise, besides the scream that traveled through the water, the scream escaping my lips as I was dragged further into the darkness.