NAK Drabbles [Ghost Adventures] ✔

26. Obsession [Mermaid/Siren AU]

It was a stormy night. The edge of a typhoon tickled the Washington State shores, hammering the beaches and bending the trees.

Dakota Laden stared out the window, watching the flashes of lightning across the sky light up the landscape before him. He took a swig of his beer, enjoying the flavor settle on his tongue and down his throat, a calming feeling flooding his body. His thoughts drifting in and out as he drank his beer and watched the typhoon make landfall.

The Northwest U.S. Pacific Marine Biology Center (or NUSPMBC. They liked to called "Numb" for short though) was a small compound. A large house stood on the shore with several boardwalks stretching out like tentacles into the water. Rain and waves pounded the wooden boards, and Dakota knew he would be the one to go out after this storm was done to replace the broken ones. To the side of the house, along the shore, was a large pool where they usually kept their pair of mated sea lions, but they were taken into the local aquarium for safety during this storm. Dakota missed them, as he loved to go out in the morning and throw fish to them, watching them do tricks in the water. It was a small compound, but it was home to Dakota and his team mates.

Dakota took another drink of his beer, placing it down on the windowsill he was lounging within, body contorted skillfully. He watched as a suddenly very large wave came over the boardwalk and landed right in the large pool. His eyes caught the movement of something silvery and shining within the waves, under the low light of the moon, but he couldn't tell what it was. His gaze moved on to the rest of the landscape, but then he saw the shine again. Dakota snapped his head to the pool and his eyes widened.

"NICK!" he called out, scrambling away from the window and falling on his ass on the stairwell hard. He gave a yelp at the pain.

But he kept moving as he crawled down the small set of stairs, hearing the sound of some of his teammates coming to get him from the living space where they were playing a game of pool. His muscles would ache in the morning, for sure.

"'Kota--," Aaron Goodwin was the first and yanked the young kid up.

"You okay? You okay?" Dakota's boss, Nick Groff, spoke to him softly, always seeing the younger male as his own son.

From upstairs, the sound of shuffling feet and a body falling were Dakota's answers from Billy Tolley and Jay Wasley, who were both dating each other but seemed scared to tell their team mates.

Dakota stared wide-eyed up at his boss, "There's something outside-."Aaron laughed, slapping Dakota on the back hard, "You're sea sick, bro."

Dakota shook his head, "Nah, man. I swear! There's something in the pool!"

Nick smiled softly at the other, "Probably just some debris from his storm. Lord knows we're going to have a hell of a clean up tomorrow when it passes."

Dakota lunged forward and grabbed Nick by his shirt, "Nick! I swear! I would never lie about this! There's something alive in the sea lion pool."

His boss stared at him, as Billy and Jay came bounding down the stairs looking slightly disheveled.

"Dude, what's going on?" Billy spoke first, as Jay tried to fix his hair as best he could.

"Dakota says he saw something outside," Aaron filled them in.

Billy laughed, noting the fallen beer on the stairs, "Don't we all when we've had too much to drink."

Jay, however, didn't find it funny, and shoved his secret lover in the side, silencing him.

Nick nodded in a conversation that he and Dakota seemed to be silently hiding and stepped away from the younger man. He moved to the front door, reaching to grab his rain coat from the hook. Aaron's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

"Dude, Nick, where ya going?"

Nick put his coat on, pulling the hood up over his head and tightening the string around his neck to keep him as dry as possible, "Going to go outside."

"Wha-!" Billy tried to speak, but Jay rushed forward to Nick.

"I'll come with you," and grabbed his rain coat too.

Nick nodded in thanks and, when the pair were ready, he marched out into the rain storm. The rain hit his face hard and he gasped at the sudden cold. Yet, he continued on, walking down the steps toward the sea lion pool.

When he gets there, sure enough he watches something splash within it that certainly is slightly bigger than a sea lion. Nick races around the pool, even despite Jay's warnings, and walks out on the floatable boardwalk that is constructed across the pool. He wobbles on it, trying to get his baring's, as the wind wraps around him and the rain stings against his face. Leaning over the pool, he tries to peer in.

"Watch out-!" Jay's voice disappears as, suddenly, something large hits the floatable boardwalk beneath him and Nick falls over.

Water comes up fast as he hits it and the weight of it filling up his rain coat is even quicker. Bubbles fly up around him and his lungs burn at the sudden lack of air, but he opens his eyes. Lightning flashes above him, illuminating the dark water around him. Brown eyes dash about as he catches movement out of the corner of his vision and his body snaps around to try to face it head on. Nick has been in a shark cage before and damn does this feel close to it.

Suddenly, Nick watches something dark come floating out of the abyss below him. The lightning crackles above him as a hand grasps the back of his rain coat. Nick catches the shine of bright blue scales and two very human sapphire eyes peering up at him and a row of razor sharp teeth. The creature reaches up for him with webbed human fingers, barely missing Nick's leg as he is lifted out of the water by a worried Jay and a very angry Aaron.

🌊 🌊🌊🏳️🌈🌊🌊🌊

When the storms moves off, Nick is back out at the sea lion pools, which is too calm. It's like a mirror. He stares down at it or as much as he can from a few feet away. Sometimes, he thinks he had dreamt the creature that he had seen... those daring blue eyes and glistening teeth... and they never escaped his thoughts and his dreams.

Bubbles floated beneath the surface of the sea lion pool in no particular pattern. If there was something under the surface, Nick knew it was using the bubbles to draw him in through his human curiosity, but he was staying put. If the creature wanted him so badly, Nick was making it come to him.

A voice suddenly entered Nick's thoughts, drifting across the water to him. A delicate voice that sang to him softly and made Nick relax his body. He could feel it working inside his brain, letting down his walls. It was simply musical notes and not words. He took a step forward to the edge of the water.

From the pool, a brunette head poked above the water, sending ripples throughout the still pool. Sapphire eyes entranced Nick, staring at him with heat and desire-- a predator waiting for its prey.

"Fuck," Nick fell to his knees, "You're real."

The voice stopped singing and the creature cocked its head to the side before diving under the water. A beautiful sapphire tale coming up with it as the creature swam. It came over to Nick, slowly rising to the surface before Nick.

The two stare at each other, unwavering and heated, but the creature made no moves to pull Nick into the water again.