Of Different Waters

The fisherman stepped aside to welcome the strange human into his house. He had known the boy would be back. The kid was confused about what was happening to him and from the looks of it his parents weren’t giving him any answers. Just as he thought, it was very easy to lure this young man into his trap.

Ronan entered the house and heard the click of the front door closing behind him. “Please tell me what you know about me,” he asked politely his earlier desperation ebbing away a little bit at the promise of answers.

“I’ll tell you what I know,” but how about something to drink first, hmm?”

Ronan found himself quickly agreeing. He was really thirsty, after all.

The fisherman told Ronan to make himself at home and went off to get them both something to drink. Ronan sat there waiting for the fisherman to come back with the drinks, smirking in amusement as he heard the old man swearing and fumbling around for something in the kitchen.

A couple minutes later the man came back and handed Ronan a glass of water. Ronan immediately took a large gulp of the refreshing liquid and look up to see the fisherman still standing near him. He was staring at Ronan, making the atmosphere really uncomfortable.

The fisherman put down his drink and continued to stare at Ronan like he was some kind of prized exotic beast.

Maybe coming here was a mistake, Ronan thought giving the fisherman a nervous smile.

“So can you tell me what I am now?” he asked the fisherman. He took another gulp of the water.

“I’ll tell you what you are,” the fisherman growled.

Ronan never saw the hit coming, but boy did he feel it. The fisherman’s foot met with his stomach. Hard. It knocked the wind out of him.

He jumped on top of Ronan, taking advantage of the kid’s surprise. Ronan hissed as the man grabbed his hair and hold his head back to a very uncomfortable position. He tried to struggle but only managed to earn himself a hard smack to the head.

The man rummaged around in his pocket and pulled out the syringe he had gotten ready earlier. It contained a powerful sedative that he was pretty sure could bring down a blue whale. It should definitely work against this mer.

He uncapped the needle and wasted no time in plunging it into the meaty area of the kid’s shoulder, injecting the sedative into the boy.

And only then did he answer Ronan’s question. “You’re my ticket to millions.”

Ronan pushed weakly at the man and managed to get the man off of him.

”Shit,” he cursed. The word came out slurred. What’s had that man giving him? He staggered, trying to stay on his feet. His whole body felt heavy, sluggish. He took another step in the direction of the door and fell to his knees.

The fisherman watched with satisfaction as the kid staggered and fell to the ground. The sedative had worked. He pulled his flip-phone out of his pocket and dialed a number he knew by heart. ” Hey Paul,” the man scowled at the phone.

“Ah, quit your bitching and get over here. I got something interesting that you’ll want to see,” he listened as Paul said something into the receiver. “Yeah, see you in a little bit. And Paul, you might want to tell your friends in D.C. to come check it out too. This... this could make us millions.”

He quickly hung up the phone and looked down to the sleeping form of the mer. He couldn’t help the giddy smile that graced his face as he watched his ticket to a better future. And he was sure he would get plenty of money for this beautiful young specimen.

The fisherman picked up the slumbering mer and carried him over to one of his kitchen chairs. He sat the kid on the chair and realized he forgot something to tie him to the chair. Swearing he left the kid and went to find his rope.

When he returned to the kitchen, the kid had fallen to the floor. He picked him up and expertly tied him to the chair. Now if they weren’t ready when the kid woke up, the kid wouldn’t be going anywhere. With that happy thought he left the kid in the kitchen.

It was time to get that tank ready.

Rebecca was worried. It was dark and Ronan still hadn’t come back. Ronan left some time last night after getting really angry. It was unlike him to not let them know where he was. And she knew without a doubt that it was all her fault he was gone. She buried her head in her hands. If only she had told him the truth.