Darya nearly jumped out of her bed in excitement. Well, floated out of her bed with excitement. It had been a full week and she had played nice with Gemma, whenever she was around, and if she did her father said she could visit with her mother and Marty today. She didn't ask how but he arranged for them to boat out to the cave where she grew her tail and she would meet them there.

She found the mirror that was posted on the wall across from her bed and made sure her hair was decent before she ran off to the cave to see her family again. She suddenly stopped when she realized that she never met that guy named Tyler again. She had said that she would meet him again in their spot the next day they met the first time. She completely forgot and hoped he didn't take it too hard.

It wasn't like he would go looking for her or anything.

Darya quickly took her leave out of the window, liking the feeling of using that instead of the door. Her father has gotten onto her about that but she didn't care too much. She swam over the tops of the buildings loving the feeling of being higher than anyone else in the city below her. It was another issue Raj had to speak to her about but it could wait.

He had planned on meeting her in the middle of the town but when the time ticked on and she didn't show up he began to worry.

"Darya, where are you?" He asked through the link. Getting nothing in return he was set to leave back for the castle. Maybe she slept in? He thought.

"Look up!" She finally replied.

Doing as she asked he looked up only to see her nose diving towards him. Seeing her smile and having a good time made him feel better about everything. She was finally having fun and at this point, he didn't really mind how it was happening.

"What did I say about nose diving? I've had a couple of complaints from the people you've scared." He said in his most fatherly voice he could use over their link.

"Are we ready to go?" She asked in an excited tone.

"Yes let's go. It was a bit of a swim if you remember, but your mother and friend should be meeting us there." He started off towards the gate at the beginning of the city with Darya on his tail.

While they swam gracefully through the blue and green ocean water Raj took the time to point out different sea life to see if she had learned about it already. To his surprise, she knew a few but not all. He enjoyed teaching her the difference between two types of fish that looked extremely similar but because of a slightly different tail shape, they were completely different.

Darya soaked in all of the new information and tried to get the most out of their time together. When she realized they had neared the cave she turned into a mermaid in, she began to get even more excited.

She darted ahead of her father and dove under the weight of the water and entered the small area she had been in when she received her tail only a week ago.

She was bubbling over with excitement but when she brought her head above the water of the small pool she was struck with confusion.

There was no one in the cave with her. Maybe they were running late? She thought.

"Raj, where are they? What time did they say they would be here?" She asked through the link. His head broke the through the water of the pool and treaded water next to her.

"They said they would leave extra early just to be here in time. Something doesn't add up." He spoke in a low tone. Looking around the cave he noticed everything to be as it was before but for some reason, it was much colder. This was a place of magic and was sacred to their people, he could tell something bad was afoot but not what.

"Darya, we aren't alone here and I don't think it's your mother or Marty in the shadows. We need to leave." He spoke in a low tone, nearly a whisper, making her spine crawl with fear of the unknown.

"What do you mean?" She whispered back to him as she pushed away from the far wall of the pool. He was about to pull her down into the water with him but a moving shadow distracted him.

"I didn't think I would ever find something like you, and now I've found two. It must be my lucky day." The shadow spoke in the dark parts of the cave while the two of them froze in the water of the pool.

"Who are you and how did you find this place," Raj spoke in a demanding tone, one that would make anyone else in his kingdom bow down in obedience to him.

"That's not for you to ask. But I wouldn't get too mad at them." The man spoke and the moment he moved into the light of the sun above the cave that s.h.i.+ned through the hole in the ceiling, Darya's breath caught in her throat.

Her mother's partner at the marine lab, Carl Johnson, came out of the shadows along with a bound and gagged Denise and Marty behind him.

"I made them take me here. After I saw the slides your mother was studying a few months ago, and then the blood work. I knew that she had stumbled upon something so much bigger than the group of us. Then when my step-son told me he met a girl in the ocean named Darya, that used one of those 'cool mermaid tails' I knew that my theory is true." Darya's mind drifted to Tyler and his big mouth and how he was connected to Johnson.

"You're going to come with me, you're my ticket out of this s.h.i.+t town." He said with a snide tone that made Darya's blood boil. She looked at her mother and best friend with fear in their eyes. What had she done?