Mermaid in a Bottle

Chapter 16: Finding the Secret Passageway

(MerLissa's P.O.V.)

I tossed and turned in my sleep. I needed to wake up! What if that tunnel is real? I forced my eyes open and got off of the floor. My heart started beating faster as I made my way towards the seats in my dream. I turned chair the to face the wall and spun it a quarter turn to the left just like the dream showed me, but when I flipped the chair sideways, all there was underneath was packed dirt.

I frowned and put the chair back where it belonged. Then I tested it out on the other chair, but the results were the same. Just to make sure, I repeated the steps on the first chair. Nothing appeared. Finally giving up, I plopped myself in the chair and folded my arms across my chest.

"Are you okay, MerLissa?" Liz came up to me and hugged me tightly.

I nodded, ignoring the fact that I hadn't known she was awake. "Yeah. I just can't get the tunnel to appear. I did all of the right steps, too!" I threw my hands in the air and almost smacked Liz in the face. "Sorry," I muttered.

"It's all good. But I do have to ask. What were you doing?" She gave me a worried expression.

I sighed. No use in hiding it. "I had a dream last night about those chairs. I was in our bedroom and my mind couldn't control my body. So my body led me to the chairs and spun them around a certain way and when I turned them sideways, they revealed tunnels." I explained. "It has to be true! Or else it would have felt like a dream!"

That's the funny thing, I thought. When I had the dream, it had felt so real. Yeah, now that I thought about it, I remember being able to feel the fabric of the cushions. They were soft and silky.

I dragged my hands across the arm rest. Nope. It wasn't this chair. The texture was different. It felt rough and plush. This was the wrong chair.

My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. I stood up and both Liz and I swam hastily to the front of the room. I opened the door and was shocked to see Boris.

"Hey Boris." I said slowly.

He scratched the back of his head. "Hey, um, Kanna. Listen we can't go..." His head snapped towards Liz and he immediately stopped talking.

I motioned him inside and closed the door behind us. "It's okay. You can tell her. She won't say anything." After all, she is the one carrying the biggest secret of this town, or really more of a lab facility.

Boris gave a quick nod. "Okay. Well I don't think I can bring you to the view tonight. I'm on watch this afternoon and if they catch me not doing my job one more time, they're going to send me away. I really can't afford that because," He paused and took a quick glance at Liz. "because I love you." I gasped. Liz gave me a warning sign saying, Don't do it. "Look I know you're engaged and we've only known each other for a couple days," he continued. Liz's eyes widened. "but I can't ignore the fact that my feelings are growing for you."

"Out!" Liz shouted.

"What?" Boris and I said in unison. Boris' pale skin turned a slight shade paler. Wow, I can't believe he could get scared of a little kid this easily.

Liz took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, but I think someone might have forgotten to inform me that she was engaged!" I winced. "You can wait outside the door Boris. I want to have a talk with Liz about this engagement."

Boris nodded quickly and stepped outside of the room. His eyes met mine just before he left and I gave him a cheesy smile.

"Close the door on the way out!" Liz yelled.

Boris closed the door quietly as Liz steered me to a chair. After getting me seated, she plopped herself in the chair next to me and created bubbles with her tail fin as she swushed it around.