Fishy Experiments

Chapter 18

Pepper's P.O.V.

Sarah came once a week for the next two weeks, until finally - on the third week - she walked into the room with determination in her eyes. "Kay, guys. It's time." She started. Her hair was in a sloppy bun, eyes blood shot with large dark spots underneath, and skin as pale as snow. "I'll carry you guys out one by one on a stretcher until I have all of you out. Got it?"

I nod, yanging at my now breast length hair. It's almost been three months since we first ended up here and my hair has grown and tangled uncontrolably. Although, at this moment my mind is not on my tangled hair. It's on getting out of here.

Getting out of here.

On the first day of being a monster, I had already given up hope. I saw no future other than being in this tank with Beca and Charity eating raw fish late at night and sulking all day long. I never thought I would ever be able to live in freedom, even if it was in the ocean as a mermaid and not on land as a human girl.

Now, I have hope. Hope that I'll be able to live freely. I even have a glimmer of hope that I might just be able to become a human girl again, and live normally.

"Who's going first?" Charity says, looking at the small stretcher that Sarah has pulled out on the ground, then looking up as Sarah climbs up the small ladder to reach the top of the feeding machine.

Beca looks at Charity, "You. You've been here the longest."

Charity doesn't put up a an argument, swimming to the top of the tank where Sarah waits at the edge of our feeding machine. Sarah efortlessly pulls Charity out of the water and I understand why. Charity has been in here much longer than me and Beca, only eating raw fish as a meal each day. Of course she is going to be halfway weightless.

I watch as Sarah carries Charity down the ladder, onto the stretcher, and finally out of the room. She does the same for Beca: out of the tank, down the ladder, onto the stretcher, out to freedom.

After she comes back inside, she smiles at me. "You ready?" I nod to her then swim up to the top of the tank and wait for her to pick me up. She does, cradling me in her arms like a baby. "Oh, ouch." She mumbles, shifting her arm way from the fin sticking out of my back. I feel like I should be upset about this, embarassed. But I'm not. I don't have a care in the world. I'm going leave this place, finally.

She leads me down the ladder, onto the stretcher and finally out the door.

And then I see the sky. The wonderful, blue, cloudless, sky. And I can't help but smile.