𝐈'𝐋𝐋 𝐁𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐃 || 𝐙𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭

Chapter 26 - Entrapment

A day or two had passed before I saw him again. And this time, he came to find me. I was standing by a tree overlooking the water in town when I heard him arrive, glancing up to meet those familiar chocolate-brown eyes.

"I've been looking for you," he greeted me warmly, taking my hands in his, "You are not going to believe this,"

Instantly, I ripped my hands away from him, stepping back. Hurt flashed across his features for a split-second but I brushed it off.

"Uh, I believe you told me to leave you alone. Is this a bad start to an apology?" I bit back.

He shook his head, grinning as he ignored my remark, "There are mermaids. I've seen a photo,"

My stomach dropped, feeling like all the air had been knocked out of my lungs.

"What?" I breathed out in shock.

"A photo!" he said excitedly, "There's more than one of them! Out by Mako,"

My heart raced in my chest and I felt like panicking, "Where did this photo come from?"

"Dr. Denman. She's got these underwater motion-activated cameras for counting fish. I was there when she downloaded the big one. Look, we can't tell anyone yet. But I had to tell you... Isn't it great?" he asked me with a huge grin fixed on his face.

I was in shock - total and utter shock as I slowly nodded, "Yeah. That-that's amazing. Congratulations."

But as my boyfriend pulled me into a hug, all I could feel was my heart constricting in my chest. They knew. They all knew.

I told Lewis and the girls all I knew immediately. Lewis, of course, thought it was best to talk it out with them - to negotiate. So he left to do just that while the four of us sat in Cleo's room, waiting.

"And Lewis can be really gullible sometimes," Cleo was telling us, worrying about her new boyfriend.

I almost smiled. I shipped the two of them so hard honestly.

"Lewis will be fine, Cleo," Emma assured her, keeping a level head as always.

Just then, the cell phone on Cleo's bed rang and she immediately picked it up.

"Lewis just texted me. He wants us to meet at Mako Island urgently," she told the three of us.

"What's he doing there?" I asked, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"He's in trouble - I knew it!" Emma proclaimed before hopping off the bed.

I resisted the urge to make a snarky remark at that. In minutes, we were gliding through the water into the underwater cave that led to the moon pool. But when our heads broke the surface, we were met by a nasty surprise: Dr. Denman. We tried to get away but it was hopeless - she'd barred the way back through the cave. We were trapped. Just like animals in a cage.

"Before you do something you'll regret, you should see this," she said, holding out a video camera to us.

On the tiny scree, we could see Lewis locked up in the cabin of a boat. No! my mind screamed, fearful for my friend.

But before she could say more, a booming voice called out, "Dr. Denman! Dr. Denman!"

"Over here! You're just in time," she called back as a very familiar man stepped into the cave, "And so are you, girls. You can met the man who's been funding this."

The bewildered face of Zane's father looked back at the four of us huddled in the water. But the next face that I saw shocked to my core, making my heart clench in my chest as familiar chocolate-brown orbs looked back at me.

"What is this? Leona?"