The Sea in our Veins

August came back the next day, like she promised, carrying the clipboard again. This time, she was also lugging a chair which seemed too heavy for her. Virgil’s stomach rumbled as he watched her and he was reminded that the last time that he had eaten was the food that Jack and Ivan had given him when he had visited Wesley’s home.

Clearly, August heard his stomach as she paused from setting up her chair, “I assume that was your stomach,” she said, “When was the last time that you ate?”

“I don’t know,” Virgil replied, “A while.”

“Wait here,” August said before she left again.

“It’s not like I can leave,” Virgil muttered.

August came back a little while later juggling a latter and a large blue cooler. She leaned the ladder against the tank and slowly climbed up it, trying her best not to fall as she lugged the cooler up the ladder. Virgil watched her nervously until she reached the top of the ladder and opened the cooler before she pulled out a large whole fish and dropped it into the tank. Virgil watched it as it slowly sunk, its dead eyes stared at him. August noticed his hesitation and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s just that it’s raw,” Virgil shuddered.

“What do you eat then?” August asked, “If you don’t eat raw fish?”

“I don’t know,” Virgil replied, “Regular food. Pizza, hamburgers, etcetera.”

“Really?” August asked, “How… Never mind. I can get you some granola bars and chips if you’re fine with that.”

“Sure,” Virgil replied, “That sounds good.”

“I’ll be back,” August said as she climbed down the ladder.

She came back a couple of minutes later, her arms filed with a variety of bags of chips and different granola bars. She carefully climbed up the ladder and handed the food over to Virgil, who tore into it. Once he was done, he handed over the garbage and the dead fish, which August took.

Virgil went back to swimming around the cage as August watched him. She seemed still unable to process that Virgil was in front of her.

“What does it feel like?” August asked, “Swimming with a tail.”

“I don’t know,” Virgil replied, “It feels kind of natural but weird at the same time. I’m still used to having legs so having a tail is weird for me.”

“Wait, you can turn into a human?” August asked.

Virgil glanced at August before he turned back into his human form. August stared at him with he mouth open, though she didn’t seem aware of it. Virgil’s clothes quickly became soaked and uncomfortable and he changed back into mer form.

“I didn’t actually know I was mer until a little while ago,” he said, “I always thought that I was human.”

“How did you not know you were mer?” August asked.

Virgil hesitated before he told August what he had gone through, growing up in the lab, befriending Roman and escaping with him, finding Wesley and finding out about Rafael and then getting kidnapped and dragged back to the lab.

When Virgil finished talking, he waited for August’s reaction. It took her a while to answer but she finally said, “So the lab that you grew up in is this lab?”

“I thought that I had escaped but clearly I was wrong,” Virgil said.

Just then, the door slammed open and a man dressed in scrubs burst into the room. “Times up,” he said to August.

“I’m not done,” August said, “I need a couple more minutes.”

The man marched up to August and grabbed his arm. “You need to leave,” he said.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” August said before she was dragged out of room, leaving Virgil alone.