The Good Intentions of a Cyborg Werewolf

Fear of the Deep - XIX

Erin spent the day on the boardwalk. She wasn't going to return to the van, not as long as Luke was there, and would rather be in the company of strangers. Yet she also couldn't go see Mahi again. Something in her nagged, something that considered the possibility that he was actually involved in this, and it infuriated her. She didn't know him well, but in their short time together he seemed more than trustworthy. He seemed earnest and open, completely unlike Luke, and that was all without revealing what he really was.

But that was just it; she didn't know him well. She didn't actually know what he was or who he was. It could be an elaborate manipulation tactic, though to what end? Maybe he wasn't evil, maybe he just got wrapped up in something bad. He could be like Mercer, someone lied to or misguided, rather than a sadistic monster like the others she had encountered. When she aligned Mahi with the likes of Urchin or the monster who killed Kyle in her head he just didn't fit. The seed of doubt was in her mind, neither option made complete sense, and it was already starting to get dark as Erin walked the smooth rocks beyond the beach's edge. It was starting to get chilly, and she still only wore her bathing suit, and was about to begrudgingly head back to the van when she heard something from the water.

"Aloha," a familiar voice said softly. Erin was startled when she saw the creature wading up to its nec. Its skin was yellow-green, it had fins where its ears ought to be, and its face was largely featureless save for two pearlescent eyes and a row of gills down each "cheek." It had a dorsal-like fin on its head and a larger one presumably from its back poking above the waves, and it watched her without moving.

"Mahi?" She asked.

"Didn't startle you, did I?" His voice was bubbly but unmistakable. "I figured you already knew."

"I did," Erin searched for the right words, "I just didn't expect you to... reveal yourself like this."

"Yeah," he shrugged, and Erin found it amusing how he maintained his mannerisms even in this form. "I know what you're here for."

"You do?"

"The disappearances," Mahi swam closer to the shore, raising his body more out of the water. He was still humanoid, but he was much larger than before. He had the same tattoos on his arms and body, and fin-like folds along his shoulders and arms. "Someone's taking my people. Probably killing them, if I'm being real."

"You're not involved?" Erin asked timidly.

"No?" Mahi seemed surprised, "why would I be?"

"Just..." Erin shook her head free of the disparaging thoughts, "why show yourself to me now?"

"I dunno," he shrugged, "I just... wanted you to know the real me." Erin felt her heart skip. She had to be honest with him.

"Then you should know," she swallowed the lump in her throat, "I'm a... wolfman."

"Oh?" Mahi cocked his head, then glanced at the full moon in the sky, then back to her, "you sure?"

"Positive."

"Then shouldn't you be a lot hairier right now?" He chuckled.

"I keep it under control," Erin likewise laughed, partly because he did and partly from nerves.

"So your grumpy pal?" He asked.

"A werewolf," she nodded. "As in an actual werewolf, not a human turned wolf."

"Radical," Mahi swam closer, resting his arms on the shore. "Not many of those left."

"We're here to try and stop the disappearances," Erin explained. "A company called Celestial Biotics has been kidnapping merpeople. We found some in one of their labs." Suddenly Mahi looked serious, or as serious as his largely featureless face could look.