Submerged || Langst Merman AU

;;Chapter One

          As a little boy, Lance always wanted to see the surface. But, he didn't expect to be forcefully dragged towards it against his will. The cold, sharp metal of the net dug in all around him, from his head to his tail. Just a moments before, he was playing with his family, carefree below the surface in the comforting water of his home. Now, he was cold and alone being pulled away from his family, towards the unforgiving shadow of a helicopter hovering just above the surface. His screams were unheard as he was being drawn away, his arm outstretched towards them as a sign for help.

          When he was finally drawn out of the water, a cold breeze struck him and he was almost freezing. Due to it being his first time out of water, of course he was curious to see everything. But, to his surprise, the towering buildings and the bright lights weren't there at all. It was stranded, a sandy desert with nothing around except for a few wooden shacks here and there. Then, he saw a huge building surrounded by a barbed barrier, with lots of bright lights surrounding it.

          They came closer to the large facility and soon they were hovering over it, ready to land. The helicopter hovered above the pad as a small group of people grabbed the small net I was in and unhooked it, carrying me away into the building. Inside, it was much larger and filled with even more bright lights, hurting my eyes so much I had to put my hands over them just to keep them from burning.

          Finally, I was led into a room that had a small tank in the center that was probably big enough to fit me in it with a little bit of room for me to swim around in. They dumped me in carelessly, put a lid on the tank, and locked it leaving the room without an explanation of what they were going to do to me. I was scared for my life - being picked up out of my home and suddenly dumped here, wherever here is.

          The small tank they kept me in wasn't very roomy, and I could barely move around. The most I could do in here is just barely sit up, but I would keep hitting my head on the tank's lid. I tried to ask one of the people that walked into the room I was in, but they just stared at me. They didn't say anything, just acted confused, shrugged their shoulders, and left.

          Eventually, hours passed and I was still alone. The only people I saw were just stopping by for an in-and-out visit to drop things off. I got so bored with waiting that I drifted asleep.

         When I woke up, there was a man tapping at the glass saying something. I was a little to groggy to understand. Once he saw I was awake, he stopped tapping and turned to the other people in the room giving them what seemed to be a thumbs up. Then they slowly removed the lid on my tank. I slid down to the bottom not wanting to be close to them. One of them got onto a step ladder and gestured for me to come above the water. At first I was hesitant, then I did slowly poked my head through to that it was only my eyes.

         "Listen, do you know what you are? You are an unlicensed creature therefore giving us the ability to do whatever we want to you. Stay still and don't interfere and there will be less pain. However, if you choose to interfere I can make you in a world of hurt." He said, chuckling deviously. "Now, we would like to start some tests. Please, enter the sling approaching the tank. If you choose not to enter the harness there will be..unfortunate consequences."

          A small hole in the ceiling opened up and out came something that looked like it just barely made it to being big enough for me to fit in it. It looked like a small arch of fabric being held by a few flimsy cables. There is no way I'm getting in that thing. I swam as far away from the sling as I could get. Of course, that wasn't far due to the size of the tank.

          The man sighed, "Honestly I thought you were smarter than this." He pulled out a small box that had a strange red dot on it. He pressed the dot and a blinding pain ran through my whole body, it felt like I was getting stabbed by tiny blades. Then, the pain suddenly stopped and the man raised an eyebrow, "Should I continue or are you ready to cooperate?"

          I jerkily reached out towards the sling and heaved my body into it. The man looked satisfied and he grabbed another box with a lever on it that controlled the Sling to get it out of the water. The sling stopped right above a table and I was dropped suddenly. Landing on the cold, hard, metal table hurt but honestly that was the least of my problems right now.

          The rest of the men, including the one that has been talking to me, adjusted me to the table after removing the sling from under me. They spread my arms on the table and used these things to clamp down my hands. I tried to move them, but they were tightly strapped down. They took my tail and strapped it down as well, and did the same to my stomach. I couldn't move very well and it hurt like each part was being strangled. I was sure that my circulation was being cut off. But, I was too afraid that if I spoke - if I dared to speak one word that I would get hurt.

          Once I was on the table and 'secured' as they called it, they began turning to little trays by their side. There was weird instruments there, they looked sharp things filled with colored water. Now was my time to panic. I was strapped down to some table, surrounded by these sharp things, and I'm pretty sure my circulation is slowly being cut off.