Beached

14- Experiments

        "Do you believe in mermaids?" I ask, looking up from my pasta.

        April scoffs. "Not since I was ten. Why?"

       I shrug nonchalantly,  twirling a fork full of spaghetti.  "I don't know. I was just thinking... what of there were people out there? I mean, whales evolved from those dog looking things. Isn't it possible, like the whales, humans took to the sea for food, and after millions of years, started to adapt?"

        "I don't know, I guess."

        "You're the one going to school for marine biology. If a whale, huge leathery fishy creatures, could start out as dogs... couldn't mermaids have evolved from humans? And, if they're human, they'd be intelligent enough to stay away from us, right?" I'm silent for a moment. "What do you think people would do if they caught one?"

      She smiles jeeringly. "I don't know. Experimentation?"

      "Everybody always says that. Experiments. But what does that mean? What does that include?"

       April spins her fork around the mop of noodles on her plate. "Leaving them in a tank. Taking tissue samples. Studying their anatomy. If they're dead,  dissect and take notes. Stuff like that."

        "That sounds terrifying." I picture Sebastian and his girl going through that. I feel scared for them. As if it were me in their situation. All the while, he's probably watching the array of scenarios flash through my head from the other room.

        I can't let that happen to him. I can't let it happen to them. It won't. Luca and I will find that boat, we will get his girl back and we will send them home.

        The memory of the girl being taken flashes through my mind, though now the details are blurred. I turn my head down to hall, looking at my bedroom door. The memory replays itself, focusing on the one Sebastian sunk his teeth into. It melds into another memory, a newer one. The one of seeing Mr. Kriss down at the dock.

        And then I get it. They're the same guy. 

        Mr. Kriss is the one who took her. He has a fishing boat, why did I never even think of that?!

        "Helloo. You okay?" 

        I look up. April watches me.

        "Yeah. I just zoned out for a second."

       She goes back to her spaghetti.  "So, you excited for school?"

        I look at her, still reeling from our revelation. "No." I forgot about school.

        "You only have a little more than a week left of vacation."

        "Yeah," I respond halfheartedly. Thanks for the reminder, jerk.

        I have to tell Luca.