Beneath The Lies (bxb)

Separation

-Parker-

The short drive to the facility was nerve-wracking, especially since it was in the back of a police car. Recent memories were nudging at my mind to jump out the door and roll, but of course I couldn't do that without getting arrested for insanity. Callem gave my hand a gentle squeeze right as I thought that, drawing my eyes to him and his reassuring smile. I returned it and relaxed a little. We had six cops with us in three different cars so I was feeling a little more confident that we might actually get somewhere today.

"Are we there yet?" Kipper asked from my right where he was sitting on Mellac's lap. He had been in mine, but when Callem kept pestering him with pats or licks, he decided his overly aggressive uncle was a much better choice. I wasn't sure I understood the logic, but I really needed to get Callem a puppy or something after we were through with Cal-Waves so he could give the poor kid a break.

Feeling a weight on my shoulder, I tilted my head slightly and noticed Cal resting his chin on it, staring at his son with worry in his eyes. I knew he didn't want Kipper coming along, but unless he planned on tying the kid up, there was no way he was going to be able to control him. He might be small, but his vocabulary was just as good as Callem's and sadly, I thought he was a tiny bit smarter in the common sense area.

"We're here. I want you guys to stay quiet until you're asked to speak, okay? Let us deal with this."

Let them deal with Hice? Yeah, that worked out great last time.

At least the officer had his hand on his gun as he let us out of the back of the car. Callem slid out first, then I followed as Mellac got out on the other side and promptly tossed Kipper. The little mer easily landed on his feet in a slight crouch, then straightened and calmly walked over. I would chastise Mellac for throwing a child, but I doubt either he or Kipper would honestly care to be bothered with the lecture.

Shaking my head, we followed the officers into the front office of the huge building. It was built on a peninsula so that as the building extended back, it got closer and closer to the water. At the farthest side that I could see, it was being sprayed by the crashing waves against the rocks a few feet from the building.

Inside, the place looked a little too bland. It was as if they took the building plans for any basic office building reception area and replicated them. Totally fake. The only difference that I could see was that there were no pictures of rich executives. Instead, hanging on the walls were at least twenty different photos of marine life from all around the world.

Following the officers up to the front desk, I kept my eyes peeled for anything that might be dangerous, but they were pretty darn good at hiding their true selves. The woman at the front was even smiling widely, although she must've known who we were, considering we had Kipper with us.

"Excuse me, miss, I need to meet with the director please," one of the officers said with a polite smile.

The young woman nodded and pressed a red button near the stack of papers she had been looking through. "Excuse me, sir, we have guests that need assistance immediately. They are six officers and a small group of people."

Instead of waiting for an answer, she just released the button and nodded over toward a row of seats near the left side of the large room. "Please go have a seat. He will be with you momentarily." It honestly felt like she was telling us to wait to be killed, but I had to force myself to brush that thought away as I walked stiffly over to the seats. Callem had scooped Kipper up, but the kid was already struggling and hissing, so I just reached over and grabbed him, then passed him off to Mellac. The older mer didn't look happy at all, but thankfully he sat down and shoved Kipper into the seat beside him. I quickly took the one on the kid's other side, blocking Callem even though I knew it hurt his feelings a little. Too bad for now.

"The director will see you now. Please go to the door directly to your right."

Hearing the woman's voice so suddenly made me jump. That was fast. We all got up and went through the door we'd been directed to. Everyone stepped inside, but instead of a room, we found ourselves in a long, narrow hallway with dim lights on the floor. A foreboding feeling fell over us heavily, making everyone look back right as the door clicked shut behind us. I tried to shove it open again but quickly realized there wasn't even a handle on our side, meaning the door was meant to lock and not be able to be opened except from the other side.

I knew this was too easy.

When I turned back around, everyone seemed to understand that we were stuck, but as we began slowly walking down the hall, I looked down, noticing that the floor was actually made of an extremely thick glass inserted over tile. That didn't bother me too much, though it was odd. What did have a frigid chill running down my spine were the sealed drains placed every few yards carved into the glass, as if the place filled up with a high-pressure of water often.

"We need to get out of this hall, fast," I stated before I began running. There must have been someone watching us because the lights flickered on the floor, then went out moments before I heard the sound of running water. Pretty soon, we were splashing through it and I could feel it rising several inches every few moments.

Crap!

I heard someone slip and run into someone else, but considering there wasn't enough light in the hall, I couldn't turn back and check. It didn't sound like Jayson so I wasn't going to risk trying to help. I knew the water was just for us, so if a mer tripped accidentally, then they would just swim out on their own. It was more important that Jayson and I managed to get free before the water got too high. When I saw a small light way ahead, I thought we might actually be able to get out, but of course, hopes were meant to be dashed.

I honestly expected a wall to just rise up and block the exit as the water began to impede my legs, but when suction suddenly yanked me down, I yelped and swallowed a mouthful of water. It was thankfully replaced with actual air fast, but the fall, which had to have been at least eight feet, wasn't cushioned by anything but a thin layer of water overtop concrete. I had literally just landed on my belly and begun coughing up the water I'd swallowed when I felt something fall onto my back, then roll off. I expected to get hit with the other eight people in our group, but the ceiling suddenly closed, leaving me thankfully no longer being pelted by water but also alone with just... I glanced sideways and blinked a few times until my vision cleared. Kipper.

He was already pushing himself up, and from the bored look on his face, he had been expecting what had happened.

"Ma'am," he said with a small nod.

I forced myself to sit up, ignoring the dizziness and aches the fall had caused.

"Welcome back, Eight. Hello, Dr. Ryans. I'm just going to cut to the chase, but I have a feeling what your answer is going to be already."

"I'm not going to work for you sick freaks," I hissed, knowing what was coming before she even asked.

A light laugh echoed in the room as the last of the water drained to either side where the walls were raised slightly. "I figured. Well then, I have to go check on how your friends are dealing with my other pet."

"The officers?"

"The police drowned, which is annoying as I'm sure they'll have people coming to investigate, but Hice has already pushed their cars into the ocean so I'm sure he can make the bodies disappear as well."

"Wait! Is Jayson alive?" I said in panic as I staggered to my feet.

"For now. One of the mers is breathing for him, but that means Hice only needs to deal with one at a time, making his job much easier. Now then. Enough talking. Eight, kill him, then I'll come back and give you your reward. You're lucky this room doesn't completely fill Dr. Ryans, but I'm sure your limbs will be useless enough to make the job easy for him. Take care."

I fidgeted when a beep sounded in the room, likely telling us that the microphone had been turned off, but my attention was locked on Kipper. I thought he might hesitate, at least for a moment, but as soon as the water began to pour from the walls like waterfalls, he dove forward and headed straight for me.