A Mermaid's Dream

Chapter 19- Water Tanked

Jade POV

After that long chat with Rikki, Cleo, and Emma, I think I might really understand what being a mermaid means. Still, I need to head to the ocean to clear my head.

"Hey Lyla, Crystal, wanna hang at the beach? Oh yeah and your mom came back from the store yesterday. She brought you lemonade." I gave Lyla a bottle of lemonade, and a note her mom left her.

It read:

Lyla Darling-

I went to the diner with Emma's mom. It might be a while... Elderly people are picky over food. In the mean time, you can go to the beach and drink your lemonade.

Mum

"Okay, I'm in." Lyla smiled and walked out the door. In a few minutes were on the shore.

"What are we waiting for?" I smiled and we threw down our beach towels, revealing our cute bikinis. We swan dove into the crashing waves and sped off.

For a long time it was bliss! Swimming with the dolphins, spinning in circles! Until I felt my hands push into something stringy.

A NET!!

"NOO!!" I shrieked underwater.

Lyla and Crystal were screaming too, and we were stuck. I felt myself being lifted out of the water, and the net wasn't gentle. My scales were being bruised and ripped off, and suddenly I just blacked out.

"Huuuuuugh!" I broke the surface, dying for air.

I knew I was in water just by the feel of it, but everything else around me was pitch black. This didn't feel like the ocean. I could feel by extending my arms above me and touching the rough ceiling that it was a small space of air between the top of this strange abyss and the water.

I felt the ceiling again. It was rusty metal of some sort.

"What is this place?" I whispered to myself.My voice echoed back at me. "Where are Crystal and Lyla..."

I was much too scared to try to swim down to see how deep this was, but did I have a choice? I took a deep breath and dove under. It was a long swim, and I was getting scared. I hit into a hard floor unexpectingly and started feeling around. Nothing, so I felt even further.

I pulled my fingers through someone, or something's hair. I screamed, the something grabbed my arm, and pulled us to the surface. I was still screaming until I realized it was Lyla. My eyes had adjusted to the dark, and now I could see the outline of her face.

"Are...you...okay?" She said breathlessly.

--Lyla POV--

I went back underwater to drag Crystal to the surface.

"Is everyone alright?" I asked again once Crystal surfaced with me. Crystal was too out of breath to respond, so she just nodded her head.

"Where are we? It's so dark in here...I can't see a thing!" Crystal asked, feeling around the cold water.

"I don't know. But I might have an idea." I said.

My eyes started adjusting to the darkness, and I could make out a round room. It's walls are made of some kind of metal, and it holds thousands of gallons of water. It has no exit, at least not big enough for a person, and the roof is made of the same material as everything else.

"I think we're in a water tank." I said. "You know, like those ones that are super tall and round that have the name of the town painted on the outside?"

"That's ridiculous!" Jade said.

"Its the only theory we can believe..." Crystal said looking around.

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