All By Myself

Chapter 19

Once we arrived I moved slowly to the house, Brad at my shoulder to aid if I needed him. We entered the house, closing the door behind us and taking off our shoes.

"In here." Jenny called out from the living room and, after glancing at each other, we headed into the living room. Jenny was sitting on a recliner, and Brad moved to the other one. Jenny stood up.

"Here, Cassi." She said, leading me to the couch where she'd piled a few cushions for me to rest on, as well as a blanket. "Lie down here. You need to rest." I didn't argue with her, but lay on the blanket. I rested against the cushions, and looked from one to the other. Jenny was watching me, and once she saw I was comfortable, she sat down too. Tabbi, thankfully, wasn't present. Jenny must have seen my face, and sat forward slightly.

"I thought it best Tabitha not be around for this conversation. For the time being of course." She said. I nodded, as did Brad.

"Good idea, dear." Brad said. Jenny looked at him with a calculating look on her face, then looked back at me. She settled back.

"Okay. So you have a higher than normal body temperature. You can't have anything that contains fish products, and you need to submerge into the ocean every few days. All of these, except the fish allergy, for many people suffer that, point to something I can't put my finger on. But you are different. Could you tell me about it?" She asked. I glanced to Brad, wondering how much I could divulge. He waved his hand gently.

"You haven't been ordered not to tell anyone." He said. Jenny looked at him.

"Ordered?" She asked in surprise. He nodded.

"Yes. Director Jones has ordered myself and others to not tell anyone about her. But we can't tell Cassi that she's not allowed to talk about herself. She could go to the press tomorrow, and we couldn't do anything." Brad said. Jenny looked at me, and I licked my lips, suddenly dry.

"It's...it's complicated, Mrs. Thompson." I started.

"Jenny, please. And take your time." She said.

"Jenny. You see, my parents are...were human. I was born naturally, nothing to change me in the womb. Yet I was born with a tail. A...a mermaid tail." I said. Jenny's eyes widened, then glanced at my legs. I smiled gently.

"But you look human, and I've watched you swim many times against Tabbi in swim meets. You didn't appear to have a tail then." She said.

"I can control the change. I prefer changing in the ocean, but I have transformed in fresh water too. Only when I had no other choices. It doesn't help me as much as the sea." I said. Jenny nodded, then looked at Brad. He almost squirmed under her gaze.

"How is it you know so much, and yet been ordered not to tell anyone what Cassi is?" She asked. He couldn't meet her gaze.

"I figured there was something about her when I started coaching her, and over the years I put two and two together, though we...I didn't realise the full extent of what..."

"Who is we?" Jenny interrupted. Brad looked down.

"Myself, and three other scientists at Sugden Laboratories." Brad said softly. Jenny went pale, then leapt to her feet in anger.

"You told other scientists about her?" Jenny exploded. Brad stood up too and I felt a little sorry for him. Just a little.

"I...I did, yes, dear. I didn't know what she was. I wanted to learn all I could." Brad stammered. Jenny looked as though she could hit him,but she clenched her fists at her sides.

"How long ago did you tell them?" Jenny asked, through clenched teeth. Brad fidgeted.

"Graduation day." He answered. Jenny looked at me.