H2O: A Mermaid Tail

19

    Rikki and I reach the boat quickly. I see a redheaded guy on the deck, working on something with the boat. Rikki and I hurry over.

    "Hi, I'm Lethia, this is Rikki. We found that you payed us in fake bills, I just wanted to tell you so you could bring it to the police."

    "And reimburse us." Rikki adds. The guy looks a bit nervous, but quickly invites us in. We walk through and a burly guy with grey hair steps out.

    "What are you doing here?" He questions gruffly.

    "We found some fake bills and came to inform you and to get a reimbursement." Rikki replies. The guy curls his lip, showing his yellow teeth.

    "Fake bills, huh? Mind if I take a look?" I hand over the scorched money, and he takes it. After a close inspection, he glares at the redhead and then takes a step towards us.

    Rikki and I slowly back away, and she stammers out some nonsense. He comes closer until I'm so scared I make a run for it. The redhead tackles me and ties my hands together, dragging me kicking and fighting to a room with Rikki. The burly guy comes over and puts duct tape on both of our mouths.

    "Save your breath, sweetheart." He whispers with hot breath in my ear. I shudder, and he walks out, slamming the door. Burly begins to yell at Red about being an idiot so I look at Rikki. My days with the Marines has trained me to be cool under pressure, but Rikki hadn't learned that.

She began to hyperventilate, staring at me with frightened eyes. Strike that, not frightened, terrified. I willed myself to look calm and collected and began to look for her mind. I found it, screaming many different thoughts and actually screaming. I imagined my voice in her head, and amazingly, it worked!

    "Calm down. Nod if you have a phone."

    She opens her eyes even wider, this time in surprise. She nods.

  "Now get it out. Text Cleo for help. I'll try to reach my brother." She nods and begins to work her phone out of her pocket with her hands tied behind her. I say with my legs crossed and eyes closed, imagining my brothers face.

I project my thoughts into my brothers mind, or at least I think I do.

    "We need help. Get Cleo and Bella. They're at the cafe. Hurry. It's a Code Black."

    I wince as a bolt of pain shoots through my head. Another thought crossed my mind and I sent it out to Luke.

  "Will knows where this place is. Get him." I keel over in pain, my brain feeling like someone's grabbed it and started shaking it, squeezing it. I grit my teeth and let the pain wash over. It ends and I look over at Rikki.

    "Nod if you sent it." She nods. Then her phone rings, loud and clear. She tries to hide it, but Burly and Red have already heard. They come storming in, grabbing her phone. Burly smashes it under his foot. I lean against the wall and pass out from overuse of my powers.

Luke's P.O.V.

I was driving the jeep to the beach when I heard Lethia's voice in my head. I pulled over, trying to concentrate. Why do I need to get Cleo and Bella?

    Then I heard her say Code Black. Holy crap. We made that up as kids, in case we were ever in a life-threatening situation.

    I started the car and made a U-turn for the cafe. Then I heard her again. Get Will? Alright, I guess. If my sister's in trouble, I'll do anything she says might help, even if it means teaming up with the guy who treated her like a creature instead of a person.