Chapter Text
A full house.
All two hundred seats booked. Not unusual of course, for Connor and Nines often drew crowds for every show performed, without fail. The normally uncomfortably crowded aquarium space becomes even more so, teeming with families and couples alike willing to empty their wallets for a chance at an ever-elusive show ticket, much to the delight of Mr Kamski.
Two Mer-orcas were rare enough, but twins? A holy grail.
Snaring was illegal in most waters, though Elijah had of course sniffed out the smallest little loophole and taken it, identifying a single thirty by thirty mile stretch just off the coast of Florida that had no active regulation adhered to it.
For weeks his expeditions had returned with nothing much, the creatures frustrating in their intelligence and scarcity. But lo and behold, one fateful June, the two young specimens were captured. Identical from their thick flukes to their soft brown hair and the lick of fringe across their foreheads, the only feature to differentiate being their eyes, one set a warm brown, the other a colder glacial silver-blue. Elijah had wasted no time at all in adding them to his Mermaid attraction.
The smaller of the two, ‘Connor’ as nicknamed by his keepers, was the more skittish of the two. He would dart even at the sound of the door opening, and take coaxing to eat. ‘Nines’, the larger, was far more stubborn and aloof, often hiding away in the large replicated grotto at the back of the exhibit. Both had been difficult to train, needing a mix of reward and harsh punishment to have them performing well. Shock batons had proved useful in dealing a quick painful jolt to dissuade a mistake, while other keepers were more than happy to brave a whack across their backs with a spare cleaning rod.
Now, as both siblings circle the tank as black and white ripples beneath the surface, loud obnoxious show music buzzing through the water, those days seem to be in the past. Today had been a ‘clean run’, as Chloe often called it. No mistakes, no slip ups, quick responses to commands. Connor and Nines had performed their leaps when signaled to, had hit back the inflatable beach ball prop when members of the public had thrown it to them, and had performed the ridiculous ‘dance’ that involved using fresh fish as a lure. She had barely had to use her whistle even once.
She stands now, confident as ever to perform a rare show finale. Her wetsuit hugs her curves, the zipper at the front pulled down just enough to expose an eye-catching flash of plump cleavage, under Elijah’s specification. There needed to be ‘something to keep the men interested’ after all.
She blows the whistle hung around her neck, and gracefully they both approach the edge of the water, turning themselves around to present their backs to her. The crowd is silent, collectively on the edges of their seats like they could tumble down into the pool at any moment.
First, she places her foot onto Connor’s back, the creature taking her weight. Then her other foot is on Nines’, bringing a growl from him that she can feel vibrating her leg. Nines usually growled, it was nothing out of the ordinary.
And then they begin to swim, surging along the surface side-by-side, moving the woman across the water as she holds her hands aloft. Elijah mouths her routine under his breath, pleased to see her following the actions and smiles he had ordered her.
*Wave. Smile. Run her hands through her hair*.
A sea of smart phones lift like tributes, children waving back excitedly, parents holding them higher.
Until, like a shift in weather.
Something is wrong.
Connor vocalizes to his sibling, Nines returning the sound. They speed up, enough that Chloe nearly loses her footing, giving three sharp blows of the whistle to order them to slow.
But they do not slow.
Nines clicks and squeals in excitement, his great tail pummeling up and down.
They’re communicating. Speaking.
Until in a matter of seconds, Connor dives deep underneath and forces her off of him. Instantly, Nines spins himself to the side, her body barely touching the water before Connor breaches, seizes her by the neck, and drags her down underneath the surface.
The screaming begins immediately.