Missing Pieces (story prompts/fics)

In The Drink

Pro-tip when drinking at a party or with friends at a bar.
Never EVER take the "all you can drink" tequila shots challenge!
It will never lead to anything good, and what's more, it'll make you as sick as a dog!

Why am I telling you this?
Well, I may be a stranger to you all, but I gotta tell my story somehow, right?

For those of you who are interested, my name's Eloise Jane LaVey.
I grew up in Alberta, Canada, with my mom, my pop, and my twin brother Rhys.
Rhys was on the hockey team, of course, but unlike some of the other self-centred oafs on the team, he was as sweet as sugar, especially to me.
I was more of a skater -as people could tell by my short and wild mousy hair- and I helped the drama and art club.
Painting some of the scenery backdrops were the best!
Anyways, I'm getting off track.

My dad was an architect, and my mom was a nurse, so we didn't exactly have problems when it came to money, but my mom insisted that we lived modestly.
Which is what we did; living in a suburban house not too far from the hospital, taking the bus to and from school.
Yeah, we went on some outings as a family, but there was something missing.

Being the 'straight-laced good girl' like my mom -bless her heart- wasn't enough for me.
There was something I had to do.
I needed to go crazy.
Find something that really made me stick out, rather than just being known as "the weird skater kid" or "Rhys' twin sister".

So, with my planning and Rhys' charisma, one thing led to another and when Mom and Dad drove to a company party out of town, the two of us hosted a party that lasted all night long.
I can't even believe we managed to pull it off, not to mention how much all of us drank!
The two of us were only 17, for god's sake!
But for once, the others at school saw me more than a strange nerd in the shadows.
They saw me and Rhys acting like the rebellious duo we are, and I'm not exagerrating when I tell you it felt so god damn good!!
It just felt RIGHT!

Music was blaring, people were destroying the furniture, friends were being made during the party.
Practically our whole entire high school was there!
Rhys and I both felt much closer to each other, despite us all getting along, and for once he stood up to the populars for me!
Thankfully quite a few of the boys -and a couple of the girls- on the hockey team respected me that night, a few girls looking on jealously as I necked drink after drink after drink.

All was going well, right until someone pulled out the tequilla they smuggled in from their dad's liqour cabinet.

If you couldn't hear that buzzing and splatting noise, that's the sound of shit hitting the fan.

Oh, but the two of us were game for anything at this point!
Whether it was the new high of partying and rebellion, or the Jack and cokes we both drank down, the two of us were filled with strange new bouts of confidence.
Without thinking, my bro and I took in two tequilla shots each, and from there, everything went black for me...

I came around thanks to the cool wind hitting my face from some the gap in my blankets, my head pounding as if someone used it as a soccer ball.
My mouth was dry and tasted horrible, not to mention my legs wouldn't work.
Why was it cold, all of a sudden?
Did I leave my window open last night?

Blinking in the early morning daylight, I saw the trashed backyard!
Garbage was strewn across the lawn, broken bottles by the wall, not to mention the trees were coated in so much TP, I was surprised that they weren't in a sarcophagus.

"R-Rhys?" I called out, a series of coughs following as I moved to lay on my back.

Wait a minute...

Since when did I have a tarp as my blanket?
And why did my skin and hair feel wet?

Before I could say anything further, something moved under the tarp towards me, reaching the pool stairs with incredible speed.
I would have screamed were it not for the taste of vomit in the back of my throat and the pounding in my head.

Within seconds, out popped Rhys' head from under the tarp.
The same green eyes as me, the same mousy brown hair that was soaked through, still wearing the Nike sweatshirt he had been wearing the night before, whereas I had been wearing my Rush tank top, my dark blue hoodie nowhere to be seen.
Wish it had been, as I was freezing cold.

"Loki, it's ok, it's me" he said calmly, using the same nickname he had for me since we were freshmen.
"What..what the hell happened to us? My head hurts...." I groaned, raising a hand to my forehead and gently rubbing along it horizontally with my fingertips.
Rhys rubbed his right temple in response.

"Tell me about it.." he complained, "I knew the tequilla wasn't a good idea, but my drunk ass decides to do it anyways."
"You're telling me" I laughed half-heartedly, only to warrent a groan of protest from my stomach, making me curl into myself like a shrimp.

"Wait, what in God's name were you doing under the tarp? And why is it on me too?" I asked with a frown, inching the thing away.
"Well, uuuh...remember that campfire story I told our class about when we went on that camping trip?" Rhys asked, helping to peel off the heavy thing, as the steps from the pool began to dig into my back.
"Yeah? was that the one about the sailors that drowned?" I asked.
"Yeah, that one. Um....well, since you woke up with it covering you....I was right on the opposite end of the pool" he replied awkwardly.

I stared, dumfounded, as he spoke again.

"The two of us were stuck under here, Eloise. I couldn't feel my legs at all, but....well, you may wanna see it for yourself" he sighed, shoving the pool cover right off the two of us, letting it land with a comical splat in the pool and spraying flecks of chlorine water onto the deck.

There, wiggling in the water, in place of our legs, were a pair of fish tails.
Rhys' tail was as black as night, looking like the tail of an eel, or a leech, while mine was a smokey grey with clouded blooms of black here and there like deformed leopard markings, my tail having spiney dorsal fins on the back of it, and a fan-like tail with bendable spikey tips.

The stories were true.
What the hell were Mom and Dad gonna say?!
Never mind what happened at the party, seeing us like this would throw them off even more when they find out their babies had drowned that night!

Rhys was still looking at me with a frightened expression, then at his and my tails, as I stared wide-eyed in shock.

This time, I was able to scream.