Above High Waters [MXM]

Chapter Five

"It's you again," Ryan said as he looked on at the man in the water. The person looked partially shocked, but the look of shock was soon replaced with a smile.

What's he smiling for? Ryan wondered as he cocked his brows in confusion. He had been sorting out his samples further away from the water when he had heard splashing just below the water. He had headed to look, and after a while of the body moving just below the water's surface the head of the man had broken through.

"Who are you?" Ryan asked, watching the tail being raised from the water a bit when the man swam and leaned on a rock closer to shore. Ryan's eyes moved to the fishtail that was now on full display. Last time he had been too shocked to get a closer look, but now he could. It looked extremely realistic. Whoever made this man's costume is good. Ryan taught as he walked closer to the edge of the shore, getting the tip of his shoes wet as the waves came and went.

Ryan's frown deepened when he watched the man leave the rock to try and crawl to the shore. He stepped back, and his eyes went wide as the tail morphed into legs in what looked like a painful process. The man looked shocked by what was happening, but a small smile formed on his lips when he looked down to see his legs.

"I..." Ryan trailed, watching as the man with honey-colored hair looked back at him. Were those special effects, or...? Ryan didn't want to sound stupid to himself, but a part of him was starting to wonder if the person in front of him was an actual person. For one thing, the man was now stark naked on the beach oil-stained sand, and for another thing, the man looked confused and childlike as he looked about.

Regardless of how weird things seemed, fear was nowhere in Ryan's mind. It was a naked man on the beach. What could he possibly do to him?

"Maybe we should get you to the hospital," Ryan said as he walked over to the man's body that was still laying on the floor.

"Hos–hospital?" the man seemed to say like he was asking a question.

"Yes, a hospital," Ryan repeated, watching as the man tried to move his legs. They only gave way and he remained lying on the floor. Ryan was beginning to wonder if the man's skin didn't feel burnt up by the hot sand. With a little hesitance, Ryan made to squat by the man, and it was then his eyes grew wide. His skin was — pore-free? It looked that way. Silky smooth and free from any hair apart from the one at the top of his head, eyelids, and brows. Ryan kept staring, and he flinched when he noticed the three gapping slashes at the side of the man's neck.

At first, he thought it was an injury, but on further inspection he watched it heave and open with each breath the man took. "What are you?" Ryan found himself asking, completely stupefied by the man in front of him.

Was he even a man?

The man seemed to try and move from its lying position again but with little success. He let out a small whine, making Ryan frown. It sounded like a dolphin.