The Siren of the Titanic

Chapter 29: Commotion

"What do you mean Ethan?" He jumped in excitement before pulling up the chair.

"Well, as Barton's second in command it's my job to do things like take inventory or give directions, but I've seen what he puts on his tax forms. Well, as I said earlier hunting whales is illegal, but we still did it because whales cost a lot on the black market. None of that money was ever recorded on those tax forms, meaning he has been evading his taxes for years. These papers prove it.

"So when we reach a place where I can make a call, I'll call the police and tell them. Once they get him, I'll take you home with me and we can make plans from there. Sound good?" Ethan smiled.

I nodded at him. "I'll leave it to you then Ethan."

It took us about a week and a half to dock. I only knew this because I could hear the sounds of men yelling orders at each other. Ethan would come in every so often during our time at sea, to bring me food, or to update where we were. He explained that the wooden base that the tank was sitting on, could be lifted up and conceal the tank and reveal the wheels so it could be moved. He would use this to hide me from whoever comes for Barton.

I was running the situation in my head when I was pulled out by the sounds of sirens from outside. The commotion of docking was silenced as the sirens got louder, it was then that Ethan snuck back into the room.

"They're here. I'm going to close it up, will you be alright?" He asked as he started lifting the wooden slabs, which snapped into place against the glass.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just be careful, Ethan." He gave me a quick before sliding the last slab into place and with a click, I was surrounded in darkness.

'Finally,' I thought.'finally I've got that pathetic merman.' It had been almost two weeks since I had caught the bastard. We were finally getting a break from the ocean. We had docked in my hometown of Bridgeport. I watched from the captain's cabin as my men unloaded the fish that we caught.

My mind wandered, ideas of what to do with that fish, ideas on how to make him scream. All of a sudden I heard the sound of police sirens. I rolled my eyes. 'Now what?'

Soon enough two white police cars rounded the corner and stopped where I was docked. A large policeman stepped out of his car with a bullhorn. By this time my men had stopped what they were doing to watch.

"James Barton, please step off of the boat with your hands above your head, you are under arrest." The policeman said into the bullhorn. I sighed but opened the door of the cabin, my hands raised as I made my way down the stairs and off the boat.

"May I ask why I am being arrested, Officer?" He roughly pulled my hands behind my back while shoving my face into the car.

"Sir you are being arrested for tax evasion and poaching among other things." My eyes widened, no one knew of my taxes, except. My eyes widened even more, looking back at the deck of the ship, and seeing Abbot. His shoulders were squared and his face was serious.

"You bastard, Wiley! You traitor!" I yelled, as my rights were read and I was shoved into the cab.

After the commotion died down, Ethan came back into the room. I knew it was him because of his scent and his soft footsteps. "You ready to go?" I gave him a 'yeah' and I felt the tank move. "Good. Now be quiet, the others have scattered already but there are a few cops looking through the ship. If they ask, I will tell them that this is indeed a tank with my pet shark in it." I heard the door close as we walked out. I could feel the bouncing of the tank as we rolled over the textured deck.

"Halt!" Great, that's probably an officer. Hopefully, Ethan can keep his cool. "What in the hell is that?"

"Oh, sir this is a fish tank. I have a pet in here, he's a black spotted shark pup, and I'm taking him home." His voice was calm and relaxed. "The wooden parts keep him from getting skittish, as it makes it nice and dark in there. Cool, huh?" He was probably using that charm of his.

"Yeah that's pretty cool, can you open it and show me?" The officer's voice was sarcastic, growing more serious as he demanded it to be opened. I started to panic. If he kept pushing, he could get this open and I would be found out. I could hear Ethan gulp slightly. He was nervous. A memory passed through my mind.

"You are one of a kind, you are a 'kraftig havfrue' or 'powerful siren'. Only one is born every thousand years, as cliche as that sounds." That's right I was a kraftig havfrue, a siren with the powers of all others. I had seen black spotted sharks in the reef, I knew what they looked like and if I tried hard enough. I smiled and closed my eyes, focusing on what they looked like. When I opened my eyes light blinding me for a moment, before looking at Ethan and the policeman. Ethan was shocked at first but he soon smiled. There was no siren in the tank all that was left was a sleek black spotted shark.

"See nothing unusual, just a pet shark. Isn't he cute?" He smiled at the officer who lowered his head to study me. I thrashed around, my tail flicking water, trying to act intimidating and pissy. It must've worked cause the officer jumped back.

"Alright have fun with your pet. Be on your way." Ethan smiled as he pulled the wooden flaps back into place. He rolled me down off the boat and I could feel the bumpiness of the concrete.

"Are you alright Frost? That was a cool trick." He said as we finally came to a stop. He lowered the slats so I could see. We were in front of a large truck that was parked in between two buildings, far from the boat and away from view.

"Thanks, I'm fine. Truthfully though I've never done that before. I'm actually surprised that it worked. So what next?" I looked at him and the bed of the tuck and then at the tank that I was in.

"You know I didn't think that far. I mean I had ideas but, I'm not really sure."

"Well, what was your idea?" I looked at him and he pulled out a small key.

"I have the key to it. I was thinking that I could unlock you and let you sit in with me, but, that would require you to have legs." He cursed under his breath. I only smiled.

"Unlock the damn thing, I have an idea." He unlocked the case and removed the top. I sighed letting the air flow freely into my lungs. Slowly I sat up and leaned over the edge of the case, closing my eyes. Slowly ice formed under the large case, lifting it to the edge of the truck bed door. A small bridge of ice appeared from my tower and the center of the bed. "Push the case into the truck please." Ethan nodded and gave the case a gentle push and it slid into the center of the truck effortlessly.

I released the magic and it disappeared. "Alright, I should be fine in here for now. How far are we going?" Ethan was busy pulling long colorful ribbon like ropes with large casps at the end, from the cab.

"It's about a two and a half hour drive. I'll pull over about halfway to see if you are ok." He said, putting one of the clasps into a divot in the truck bed. He did the same with the other rope. "Warning cars go a lot faster than they used to. If you need me to pull over just freeze me or something." With that, he pulled the slats back up, and I heard him throw the ropes over the case. After a few minutes I heard the engine start and we were moving. A smile crept onto my face. 'Might as well take a nap.'