Shapes

11) That's- That's a Mermaid

Happy Friday!! I'm updating from the grave!! Cuz someone hasn't even written the next few chapters so... They'll come out, I promise, but it'll be a bit.

C

《Lizzie》

"Jin, you can't see the future." Lizzie scolded.

"Then tell me why the heck I've been seeing us, in way too different situations?" Jin was getting angry. It was after a test. Jin had spaced out halfway through and nearly cost their lives. Now, he was telling Lizzie what had been happening.

"Okay, explain what happened." Lizzie relented. They were currently perched on their beds while the rest of the team played video games in the main room. Jin sighed.

"It's always through the eyes of this boy." Jin paused, making sure Lizzie was paying attention. "This boy, Nick I think, is with us. Everyone besides you, Joel, and me." Jin pressed his palms to his eyes.

"Jin. What happened in the dream?" Lizzie pressed. She needed to know. She couldn't heal mental wounds.

"Nick and everyone else collected on some sort of teleporter. They transported to a field. Lizzie, here you're an adult. You talked to some farmer looking guy and he showed us something weird. These two kids were poking at a dark blob and it was, eating them. Like actually eating them. They turned into these black monsters and attacked the farmer. They bit him. Like a zombie. And then he turned into one too. Then, I woke up and-" He didn't need to continue. Lizzie nodded to him.

"That's not a future thing. If I'm an adult and the rest of you are teens, it's not a future thing." She reassured. Jin looked desperate.

"Then what is it? Lizzie, what am I seeing?!" Jin cried. The pair heard footsteps and Ross appeared. He sat on the bed and frowned at them.

"You had another one?" He asked quietly. Jin nodded.

"Look, the three of us will go to the library tomorrow during free hour and look this up, okay? There's got to be a reasonable explanation." Lizzie suggested. Jin nodded along with Ross.

"I just- I feel like what I'm seeing is really happening. Like it feels so real." Jin whispered.

And it was.

"Lizzie, c'mon." Jess pushed the girl into a run-down building. Ross, Adam, and Shelby were already inside. Lizzie immediately knew something was wrong when she saw Ross clutching his chest.

"Hey, Lizzie." He smiled.

"You're an idiot." She muttered as she looked him over.

"So, was I right?" Ross joked.

"About what?" Lizzie leaned back.

"Breaking my rib." Ross sighed. Lizzie shook her head.

"No, you fractured a rib. You're going to need to not put too mush pressure on it. We'll need some ice." Lizzie started.

"Should we wrap it?" Adam asked. Lizzie shook her head.

"No, that's a bad idea. It needs to heal." Lizzie sighed. "If we had any pain medication I'd tell you to take it, but we lost everything we had beforehand." Ross nodded.

"Can he stand, walk?" Shelby wondered.

"Very carefully. I can't heal you anymore. It's gotta heal on it's own. Six weeks, max." Lizzie helped Ross upright.

"Six weeks? We don't have six weeks." Jess claimed.

"If we get out of here, his body in the real world might not have a fractured rib. This gives us motivation to work faster if anything." Lizzie smiled.

"That's a big if." Shelby noted.

"It's actually an astute observation. We took over bodies here. Our real ones may not even take the damage we take here." Ross claimed. Murmured agreements were shared.

"Let's get back to the group." Adam decided. They followed him towards the tent where everyone was beginning to wake up.

"We really need a new base of operations." Jess reminded as they walked inside.

"We can use my house. It's not to far from here." Max spoke up.

"You have a house?" Ross snickered. Max glared, but seemed relieved to see him. He seemed to jerk when he heard about Ross' injury.

《Max》

The group made their way towards where Max remembered the hut he lived in to be.

The way back was easier than he remembered. Kaite noticed them and said "Hello!" before running off and continuing with whatever she was doing. Ross and Max fell in step.

"I didn't know you were so good with kids." He mentions offhandedly. Max scoffs.

"I'm not. She just, she's small and followed me most of the day yesterday." Max's cheeks light up slightly. "I didn't know you were so susceptible to fracturing a rib."

"That's entirely my fault." Ross smiles. Max offers one back, albeit not as bright. They reach his hut. It's a lot bigger than the tent so they can all easily slip inside, although not before Max catches his name being called.

Him and Ross both turn to the lake to see someone popping their head out.

"Max!" The lady hisses. The two walk along the deck and meet her at the end. She grasps at the dock with clawed fingers and hoists herself up. She sits on the edge, and a tail drapes into the water glimmering the colour of ice. A mermaid. The scales of her tail wrap up around he chest, leaving some parts of her stomach exposed. Her hair is a light brown and looks far too silky to have been underwater.

"That's- That's a mermaid." Ross whispered to Max. He nods, in awe.

"Look, I know you're not the real Max, but here." The mermaid hands a coin to him. An orange coin with a triangle carved inside was laying in her palm.

"What do you mean, not the real Max?" Max wonders as he takes the coin. The mer glares.

"My Max doesn't get scared of water. My Max knows my name. My Max-" She's cut off by Ross.

"Okay, we get it. Yeah, he's not your Max." There's a hint of disdain in his voice. Max's heart flutters, but he scolds himself.

"Why do you have this? How did you know to give it to me?" Max asks. The mer sighs.

"My name is Cheese, well that's what you named me. I was given that coin by a bird and told to give it to you when you seemed, 'off'. Didn't know what that meant until I saw you freaking out over being in a boat." Cheese nearly giggles. She flips her tail out of the water.

"You better get whatever it is you need to get done. I want my Max back." She sends a glare. She breaks into a smile and slips off the dock into the water.

They watch her go and they share a look.

"Wow. Didn't know you had a mermaid girlfriend." Ross states plainly. He sounds jealous but Max knows he's being hopeful.

"I didn't either." He confesses. Ross smiles at that as they make they're way back to the dock. Max looks him over. Ross' hand clutches at his chest, but other than that he's the same Ross that Max has known since he was ten. The same Ross that he'd rather have over some mermaid. Max smiles to himself with the knowledge that Ross would never think like that.