CLICKS - The Dolphin Prophecy

CHAPTER 14

9:00PM felt like midnight, considering the town was eerily quiet. The drama had definitely begun to keep some of the tourists away. People often stayed after the beach closed at dark, and some came over just for the night, to enjoy walks on the beach and listen to music and dine at the few good restaurants around town; we had a reputation for old-fashioned summer fun, but, tonight, there was little fun to be found. A full moon illuminated how empty everything was. The few tourists around, seemed to be aware that they had missed the party, but looked confused as to why.

Taking advantage of the emptiness, Darwen’s twin, Andrew, and I walked over to the snack bar where Alysha and Helix were the only ones working. I’d told them about the lab in the lighthouse after I’d gone back a second time to see if it was possible to break in.

I needed Helix to figure out how to disengage the alarm. We had already ransacked his dad’s office and had found information on the make and model number of the alarm. Creepy online chat boards about breaking and entering, gave out codes and instructions that Helix seemed able to understand. He was generous with his help in the office, but I needed him on-site, and that he adamantly refused to do. So I asked Andrew, instead. He wanted to help but, didn’t know if he could. I had already been back down to the door once, and it seemed clear that I needed someone to help me get in.

“What is so important that it’s locked up underwater and secret?” Andrew asked.

“Even if it can’t help Mica and Darwen and Shay, there’s a reason The Guard built that lab there to begin with, then closed it down, and kept it hidden all these years. We need to find out what it is.”

“But it’s breaking and entering, Cami. Big time,” Alysha said, looking worried for us all.

“What exactly is it that you think we’ve been doing so far?” I asked, wondering if they had considered how many laws we had broken over the past month.

“Going through files in my house is not the same, and you know it!” Helix said.

But, I didn’t really; basic laws of right and wrong did not currently guide my moral compass. I had three definite points that mattered most: Mica, Shay, and Darwen—all down for the count. For them, I would do absolutely anything I needed to, but I had to convince the others.

“You know what’s wrong? A whole town sitting quietly while people get hurt; a whole town willing to keep truths buried, literally under the sea,” I argued.

“What exactly do you expect to find?” Helix asked, wearily.

“More about the injections and the individual project notes,” I said, hoping that would convince him. The general data from the fertility experiment had helped us understand the steps Doc had taken in his plans, but not why or how, exactly. We needed to know more in order to be able to help the others, because with every day that passed, their chances for coming out of the comas got worse.

“I’ll think about it,” said Andrew, as Alysha and Helix closed down the snack bar at the end of their shift. It had been so slow all night that they had the wood panels up and the locks in place, only five minutes after close. “Alysha, I’ll walk you home,” Andrew offered, ignorant of the daggers Helix aimed at his head. If Alysha had any indication of his interest, she didn’t act like it.

I stayed on the pier with Helix, still trying my best to talk him into it. While I did agree with him that this was a more serious infraction, we needed to do it for the greater good.

“Helix,” I said, putting my hand on his arm, “this isn’t a burglary, really. These records are our history. We all need to know what they say about us, or we won’t have any kind of a future.”