Captivity

Chapter 5: By Your Rules

The blaring sound of the alarm woke her from a pleasant slumber. A grumble in her throat as she rolled over, smacking the unpleasant device; sleepy eyes glaring at the illuminated display that told it was almost noon. Even on the weekends this was as late as Sam could let herself sleep. Her 'job' at the aquarium had taken up a good portion of her day, and often went into the late evenings. The mer was more active at this time of day, and she knew he would be screaming in a few hours for her to feed him. In that sense he was very demanding, and she would be tugged along to reply to those demands; as it was she had become primary caretaker. Not that she minded, considering she was working with one of the rarest and secreted creatures on the planet. She did still prefer to get some sleep now and then.

Yawning she pulled back the covers and set about preparing her things for the day. There was no point on leaving the light off, seeing as her roommate had been gone for the night; probably out with her new boyfriend. The teen hadn't stopped talking about him for the entire time she was home. From what she had gotten from the rambles was that he was smart, and was obsessed with electronics.

She could only shake her head at that, most guys were either to full of themselves, or tried to fake who they were around her. Her ex, Elliot, had been among the many that had tried to woo her by such means. From faking a persona to match her needs to even a fake name in attempts to allure her. And yet all he'd wanted was in her pants and at her family's cash. She'd quickly turned him down when the scheme was unveiled.

A sigh graced her lips as she let the shower water run. There was no time to be thinking of such things now. She still had a whole day ahead of her and a hungry mer awaiting its next meal. She could dwell on the past later.

A good hour later and she was heading off out the doors, and down along the city streets to catch the bus to the docks. On most occasions she would head straight to the aquarium, but she still had time to kill, and felt the need to try something new. Along the docks was a large fishing market were a number of fishermen set up their stalls with their catches of the day. Despite her own distaste in eating any form of meat, and the smells that wrinkled her nose in this place, she couldn't help but be tempted in treating her new found friend to some fresh spoils. Her uncle had mentioned testing out a few logic puzzles, seeing just how cognitive their mythical creature was. Knowing how much the mer tolerated the man, she figured he deserved something worth his troubles.

Wandering along the shops, she picked out a number of things; a large bag of oysters, slices of calamari, fresh red snapper, sea trout, and a number of other assortments. It was a heavy haul, but overall rewarding. A talk with one of the fishermen had also been a lucky break, as the man hearing she was working for the nearby research center had been quick to help her cart the catch over. As it was, the man had been in partnership with her uncle, helping him maintain a count on the local populations as well as helping supply the center with food for its occupants. It was an overall pleasant experience, aside from when he'd asked what she was feeding. She'd been forced to come up with some excuse that it was a number of animals with picky appetites, and was grateful it had been left at that.

By the time Sam had wandered through the backdoors of the aquarium, she could already hear the screeches of their resident mer demanding to be fed. It was a good sound, despite its ear piercing decibels, as it meant the creature was healthy and learning to adapt to the current life of captivity. Compared to several months ago, when the mer was not willing to accept food, sleep, or even come near them, he was now openly accepting food when it came to him, and had calmed significantly over time. However, her uncle had figured his acceptance of food came from how much he simply ate. The mer could go through more than half his body weight in food in a single sitting, which cut heavily into the aquarium's budget. It was just a lucky break that the Mansons had money to spend, and Vlad Masters funded more than half of the center's work.