Luna

I sigh and redirect my gaze to Katie. We’re lying in the cave, me on my belly, her on her back. She’s staring up at the ceiling, has been for a while now. She’s tense and clearly still unhappy. I want to comfort her, but at the same time she seems to be on the verge of lashing out and I don’t want to be on the receiving end of her anger. Besides, I think I would only make things worse; she needs time to calm down. Still, I continue to watch her out of the corner of my eye. I do not know what transpired up above that upset her, but I am very familiar with the anger inside her. The kind where you are not truly angry, but it is easier to avoid the pain, sadness, and fear, by choosing something to hate instead. It does not work for very long and quickly leads to despair. Which is why I am sticking close, to offer her comfort should she begin to break down. I watch as this begins to happen.

One moment she’s staring at the roof of the cave, the next she’s shuddering, eyes closed, her hand against her mouth, as a sob escapes her. Another, followed by a soft whimper. I wiggle closer to her, take her arm, and sit up, bringing her with me. I envelope her in an embrace. The really big and special kind that she often wraps me into. The kind that squeezes you just a little too tight and makes you feel safe and loved and like everything is going to be okay. I make no move to do anything further, just hold her and let her cry. It’s something that she needs to do.

It takes her a few minutes to calm down, sobs dying to soft hiccups, and pull away, wiping at her eyes. “I'm sorry,” she whispers. “It shouldn’t be this way. I should be the one comforting you. I don’t understand how you are still sane. It’s only been a few weeks and I'm barely holding it together and they’ve hardly even done anything to me; at least in comparison to you-”

I cut her off there. ‘Do not feel like you cannot be sad around me. What has been done to you is awful. I have had a very long time to get used to it, but it is a very fresh wound for you. You have had everything ripped from you, including your body, your form. They changed your species and have locked you away; that is hard. Do not feel bad.’

“I still don’t understand how you’ve managed to keep it together,” Katie whispers. “You’ve been here so much longer, been through so much worse. How are you not curled up in a fetal position, rocking back and forth, spouting nonsense?”

I stare at my scales and shrug. I won’t tell her that she isn't far from the truth. Before she came, I pretty much was on the brink of insanity, cowering, lashing out randomly, lost within my own mind without thoughts or feelings except the pain... I still feel that way, but I also feel like I’ve got a lifeline now that Katie is here. ‘I know you feel like you are dangling over a cliff of insanity, I feel that way too, every day. Since you got here, while I still feel that way, I also feel less likely to fall. You will not fall ever, because I am never going to let go of your hand,’ the promise sounds dorky, but I make it anyways because I mean it and because she deserves it. ‘We cannot let one another fall because we’re all we have. It is just the two of us against everyone else.’

Katie wraps an arm around my shoulder and pulls me closer to her side. I lean into her and rest my head on her shoulder. “Yeah, you're definitely right about that,” she pauses, rubs my arm. “I was hoping I might recognize someone in the crowd today,” she admits quietly.

‘I was hoping someone might recognize you,’ I reply.

Katie shrugs. “I don’t know, I mean I was hoping for it too, but they might be hard-pressed to recognize me. I don’t look the same anymore.”

I frown. ‘Because of the tail? They could still recognize you could they not?’

“That’s not what I mean. They changed my appearance. My face doesn’t look the same,” she states.

‘How?’

“My hair used to be shorter, only came to my shoulder blades. I liked it better that way. On you it looks really pretty, but I can’t stand having this much hair, it’s always in my face. They changed the color too. My hair was never this dark, it’s actually a dirty-blonde; natural streaks of blonde and brown all mixed in together. It was much lighter that way. My hair wasn’t ever this dark even when it was wet. They added the freckles too,” she explains, tapping the brown dots on her face. “They did it so that people would have a hard time recognizing me.”

I nod. ‘I am sorry. You still look pretty though.’

Katie laughs a little. “Thanks Luna, but I don’t really care how it looks, I'm just upset because it isn't me, that’s all.”

I'm about to reply when my stomach interrupts me, choosing this moment to gurgle loudly. Katie glances at me, then suddenly bursts out laughing. I stare at her, slightly confused. She continues to laugh for a few minutes before calming.

“I'm sorry,” she gasps. “It’s just, it was such a serious conversation and then your-” she breaks off in another small fit of giggles. I shake my head even as a grin spreads across my face.

‘You are crazy,’ I tell her.

She laughs again. “Maybe.” She giggles once more as my belly growls. “Getting hungry?” She asks.

I nod sheepishly. A sharp whistle echoes through the tank, causing Katie to glance up. ‘Do you think that is the woman who brings food?’ I ask.

“Probably,” Katie mutters. “I don’t really want to see her right now, but I don’t think we get a choice if we want to eat. Come on,” she sighs and pushes off from the sand. I follow her, flicking my fin as we swim from the cave and up towards the surface.

It isn't just the woman up there though, one of the scientists is there too. It isn’t Dr. Patron, but the other one, the one who brought Katie here in first place. I sink low into the water, he doesn’t look happy. Katie breaks the surface after me and her gaze darkens.

“Ah, there you are, I wanted to have a chat,” Dr. Auldon says, his gaze fixed on Katie.

She swallows. “What about? I thought you didn’t want me talking to anyone.”

“I'll make an exception. I want to talk about you. And about your behavior today.” Katie swallows again and licks her lips, I see her struggle to maintain eye contact with the scientist. She doesn’t reply, but he doesn’t seem to need a response because he continues anyways. “I'm going to start with some questions. They’ll be simple and I want them answered. Truthfully. Am I understood?”

Katie nods. “Yes,” she whispers quietly.

“Good. Now where should I start? How about before the opening. Were you not given a gift? One to give to your mother?”

“Yes,” Katie whispers. “And I’m grate-”

“You’ll do well to just answer my questions. I don’t care about extra comments. Now, that gift was expensive, and a show of Miss Barnes’ generosity. Do you know what was a show of my generosity?” He demands.

“Umm-”

She’s interrupted again. “My show of generosity was agreeing to it. Paying for her to fly down there to give it to Sophie Brooks in person. Not only that, but I gave you the chance to connect to your past one last time. Went against everyone’s better judgement and gave you back your humanity in a form of free expression, even allowing you to write,” saliva is flying from his mouth by this point. “Wasn’t that kind of me?”

I see Katie’s fists clench, notice the tightness of her jaw. She seems to be struggling to hold back her anger. “Yes,” she manages, her voice still slightly edged. “It was.”

“And I do remember asking for something in return, nothing big, just your cooperation, did I not?”

“Yes,” Katie replies.

“Yes, I know. I wanted you to cooperate, fall into the role that I’d lay out for you. I wanted you to do nothing more than what you were told. At any point when those terms were explained to you, were any of them unclear?”

“No,” Katie mutters.

“Hmm, so you understood perfectly well. Good. But that brings me to my dilemma. Today. So let’s talk about today. How many times did your collar activate today?”

Katie seems thrown off by the question. She’s silent for a moment as she thinks back. “Once? No, twice,” she decides.

Dr. Auldon nods. “Twice, can you explain to me why it activated on each of those separate occasions?”

“Once this morning. Someone was whistling, trying to call us up. It woke both of us up. We weren’t fast enough getting to the surface,” she says. “The other time was before the opening, when we were being…prepped? I don’t know what you want to call it. Anyways, someone was washing my fin. It hurt, startled me, and I tried to pull away.”

Dr. Auldon nods. “Well, it seems like they may have been accidents then, not purposeful rebellion, so I might be willing to overlook them. But that’s not the only concern I have. Let’s jump forward to the opening. It started off quite well. I was happy to hear of the little game you played, it was quite entertaining for the guests. Then things went downhill didn’t they. Now, were you called to the surface?”

“Yes.”

“Did you go?”

“Yes.”

“Good. See now that is good behavior. Now, did you leave early?”

Katie hesitates. “Yes, I did.”

“Did you have permission to leave early?”

“No.”

“So you went of your own accord. Did you hear Miss Barnes calling you back up?”

“Yes.”

“Did you go?”

“No.”

“Was there anything that happened that might have hindered your ability to obey? Any way that you didn’t understand what was being asked of you?”

“No,” Katie mutters. She’s taken to staring at the water.

“So you purposely disobeyed a command and left a lot of disappointed guests on the viewing platform. Do you see my dilemma now?” Katie doesn’t reply. “That isn't something I can tolerate. I thought you were aware that actions have consequences, but it seems that I’ll have to drill it into your head. You will be punished for your wrongs today, you know that right?”

Katie bites her lip, hesitates, and nods her head.

“Are you going to give me a hard time about it?”

“No,” she whispers.

“Excellent. Get out of the water.” Katie hesitates again, but braces her arms against the side and hauls herself out of the water. I follow her actions, not wanting to leave her. “I have decided on your punishment already, and I’m not happy because it means that I have to close this tank for a few weeks.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you’ll need time to heal before you can be viewed by the public again.”

His words send a rocket of fear through me. Please do not do that to her.

He kneels down, grabs Katie’s chin and forces her to look at him. “I didn’t want Dr. Patron to have access to you without permission. You are my creation after all. And I was being kind enough to spare you that sort of pain, but perhaps it is what you need to realize your place. So I’ve giving him four hours. Four hours of free time where he can fillet you any way he likes as long as there’s no permanent damage and you can be healed within three weeks. And since I don’t like to waste time, you're going to forgo your meal so he can get started right away. And since Dr. Patron likes to set an example, your little friend is going too. She’ll be spared the knife, but she’ll watch the same way you were made too. Which means that your actions have deprived her of her meal too. Know that, Bailey. That you’ve let poor little Suzie down. She seems to trust you so much, she’s so loyal following you around the way she does. Now she’s going to suffer with you.”

Katie doesn’t reply, she’s too busy staring at the ground. She wets her lips. “Please, don’t make her go, I promise I'll accept the consequences and I'll do better, I swear. Just don’t make her go back down there. Let her stay here and eat, she didn’t do anything wrong,” she begs. I stare at her in shock. It’s her I'm worried about. Forgoing food for a day is not a big deal for me, she is about to experience the most intense pain of her life yet she’s trying to defend me? I wish I could stop this, but many tries before leaves me knowing there’s nothing I can do.

“Sorry, Bailey, but you don’t get to make requests or deals. You are right, you will accept the consequences and you will do better or I will punish you again. And Suzie going with you is part of your punishment. Your actions have shown me how much you care for her, so from now on, she is going to shoulder some of your punishment. Don’t mess up and it will happen rarely. Remember that.”

Katie shudders nervously, her shoulders slumping into a defeated posture. Her gaze flits around the people on the deck, finally settling on the woman who feeds us, whom Katie always spoke to. The woman always had a relatively friendly demeanor about her, but that has changed now. I study the woman too, for a moment. Her arms are crossed over her chest, her posture straight and tense, as though she is trying to appear even taller. She looks down her nose at my friend and snorts. “I don’t know why you’re looking at me. I’m not going to save you. You got yourself into this mess.”

The venom in the woman’s tone has Katie pulling back a little, and I bristle, curling my fingers into fists and fighting back a hiss. It would only make things worse. From the corner of my eye, I see Katie chew her lip. “I wasn’t asking you to-”

The woman cuts her off with a cruel chuckle. “To help you? No, but you were hoping I would come to your rescue, weren’t you? Sorry sweetheart, but we’re not really friends, and you’re hardly worth sacrificing my career over. I got what I wanted out of you, out from underneath that witch’s thumb. Working for that old hag was such a drag, and the hours were terrible. But now I’m in a much better place. And I figured you’d be much easier to control if you thought someone cared, so I played things up a little.” Again, more barking laughter rings out from the woman. “But they’re going to break you into submission anyways, so there’s no reason for me to waste my breath anymore. You’ve got Suzie now, you hardly need my shoulder, even if you are still just a sniveling little brat. Time to accept your place and stop trying to be so human. We all know you’re not, little fish.”

Katie’s eyes are brimming with tears and her tail pulls closer against her body, but before she can speak, the scientist holds up a hand for silence. “Ms. Barnes, please. I know you have some pent up frustrations to release, but now is not the ideal time. I’d like to get this over with.”

The woman nods and waves a hand. “Of course, sir, I got to say my piece anyway, I’m done now,” she states. Offering Katie a cruel smile and a wink, she turns on her heel and walks away. Once again, I smother a growl, far less concerned with her than with the man before us.

The scientist rises from his crouched position. “Go ahead and take them now. They’re all yours for the evening.” I jump, startled, when two people descend upon us almost instantly. One is a man I know too well; Dr. Patron’s helper. The other is new, a blonde girl that seems to be between eighteen and twenty. The girl looks nervous; she probably hasn’t been here long. Her hands are covered by thick gloves, yet her arms are shaking slightly as she takes hold of me. She loops an arm around my waist and hoists me into the air with a grunt, her other arm grabbing my neck to try to hold me still.

I lash my tail, hiss angrily, and buck in her grip. She stumbles to the gurney and practically drops me on it. “How do you want her restrained?” She asks.

“Have her on her stomach, restrain her at the waist, close to the fin, and both wrists,” comes Dr. Auldon’s reply. The girl’s hands return, pressing down on my spine to hold me down so she can strap me down. Determined not to make it easy, I twist and buck, lashing my tail and hissing sharply. I twist around, attempt to roll over and sit up so I can give her a good look at my fangs. She grunts, shoves me back down, and pins my neck with one hand. She uses the other to quickly draw a restraint around my waist and tighten it. Her task done, she releases my neck and moves to restrain my tail. When she moves in front of me, I cross my arms and snarl at her, knowing that she’ll be reluctant to get close. I’m right and she hesitates, eyeing my fangs warily. Then I feel another hand take hold of my neck, pressing the chain into my skin.

“Go ahead,” a gruff voice says. “She can’t get you.” The woman nods her thanks and pulls my arms out enough that she can cuff both my wrists to the table. I’m then released. “Just remember that she can’t do much damage. She’s been here a long time, likes to try to frighten you off, but she tends to cower when you show her who’s in charge.” He grabs a fistful of my hair and pulls, making my eyes water. “Now keep an eye on her while I get the other one.” I watch him move to Katie, who meets me gaze. Her eyes are wide with fear and sorrow, and I wish I could comfort her.

The man, Thomas I think his name was, grabs her in a similar manner that the woman did to me, looping an arm around her waist and holding her head down. She doesn’t fight him. He plops her down on a gurney, rolls her onto her back, and begins to strap her down. He cuffs her wrists, the base of her fin, and lightly tightens a restraint around her neck so she can’t sit up. His job is done very quickly as Katie offers no resistance. I wince at how few restraints have been applied to Katie. In my experience, the fewer there are, the more he intends to open. Once Katie’s been strapped down, our gurneys are wheeled away down the hall. I close my eyes, unwilling to watch the never-ending, familiar hallways roll by.

My heart clenches when we stop, because I know where we are. I open my eyes and glance around. Thomas and the other girl are both pulling on plastic gloves and Dr. Patron has his back to us as he gazes at a countertop, probably looking over his tools. Katie has paled considerably, her breathing hitching.

The woman brushes her finger over Katie’s brow. “So, she’s the one that you created right? The younger one is the real deal?”

“Yes, Elizabeth, Bailey is the copy,” Dr. Patron replies.

“An impressive one,” Elizabeth murmurs as she traces Katie’s scale line.

“Indeed,” Dr. Patron agrees. “But we have to fix her mentality, because it is clearly flawed.” He places a scalpel on Katie’s belly and she tenses up. I feel my own muscles clench, as though it could already feel the cold pain of the blade. I know I’ve been spared that pain today and would be grateful for it, if it didn’t mean it fell on Katie. The only person I care about, the only one who cares about me.

“We aren’t really going to cut her open to punish her are we?” Elizabeth asks. “I thought that was just to scare her.”

“We’re quite serious around here, Elizabeth. Besides, pain makes an excellent teacher. Now, where should we begin?”

I pull and thrash in my restraints, desperate to pull free and try to defend my friend. My struggling is noticed by Dr. Patron. He walks up to me, a menacing look on his face. I can’t help but begin to cower. I sink low, fix my gaze on him, and show my fangs, but it’s more a fearful warning than a threat and I hate that he has this much control over me that a look alone can spark fear inside me. He grabs my chin, steadies my gaze to meet his and strokes the side of my face, almost lovingly. It causes an icy shudder to run the length of my spine. “Hush now,” his words are soft, almost caring. I wince, feel myself deflate. When he’s nice like this, he gets extra violent afterwards. “You’re not in any danger today my pet, you can relax. You’ve been a good girl. I heard you had a little incident this morning, but I'll overlook it; you’ve always hated people poking at your face and teeth. And your little show with you flips and spins makes me proud. I may even reward you.” I pull away from his grip, supress another shiver, and redirect my gaze to Katie. Dr. Patron follows my gaze. “She’s in trouble. She’ll get what she deserves and if you remain good, you’ll get what you deserve. You’ll like it much better I promise.”

He doesn’t spare me another glance as he walks back over to Katie. His eyes wander her body for a few heartbeats, and then he pulls out a black marking stick similar to the one Katie used a little while ago when she did that gift for her mother.

“Where do you think?” He directs the words to Elizabeth. “We can open wherever we like, any suggestions? I definitely want to go up the middle.” He drags the marking stick up Katie, from her hips to the top of her throat, leaving a black line on her skin. She shudders, becomes even paler. I chew my lip. I haven’t a clue as to how I can convey any form of comfort to her, don’t know what I could do that would help anyways. I watch as Thomas leans over to stare at the line Dr. Patron made. He grunts.

“Maybe leave out the throat,” he states. “It’s fun and all, but it’s messy and slow-going, we shouldn’t waste any time.”

“Hmm, true,” Dr. Patron agrees. He licks his thumb, smudges out the line on Katie’s neck.

“What about the arms instead? Again we’d have to stay away from the wrists, but there’s still a fair bit of nerves up the elbow. We could start about ten centimeters from the wrist and go up the inside of either one or both arms.”

Dr. Patron laughs. “I absolutely love your thinking Thomas, I really do.” He adds two more lines, one up each of Katie’s arms. “Now what about the tail? Think we’d have time?”

“Oh, yeah,” Thomas agrees. “This is punishment right?”

“Yes, it is. What are you thinking?”

“That we start with the tail, but do the back end of it. That way we do the tail, stitch it closed, and flip her over to do the front. Since her weight will rest on her injury, it will add to her pain for quite a while. We’ll just have to make sure she’s well secured while healing so she doesn’t irritate the wounds.”

“I'm very proud of you Thomas. I remember your first day in here, with Suzie. You were as pale and shaky as Miss Elizabeth is now. You’ve certainly grown to a hardened man of science.”

Thomas grunts in acknowledgement and moves away.

“Elizabeth, if you would be so kind as to flip Bailey over and restrain her. She shouldn’t give you any trouble.”

Elizabeth swallows. “I'm not sure about all of this,” she admits. “This seems really… cruel and not related to science in any way. This girl is intelligent and aware, and this is wrong.”

Dr. Patron wipes his scalpel with a cloth, holds it up to inspect it, and continues wiping it. “Here’s what you need to understand; we can do this with or without you. I’m training you as a new assistant because Thomas is accepting a job at the University in Colorado now that he’s received his degree, something he accomplished through working with me. But I can do my job without you and will simply find a more eager grad student if you cannot perform. So it comes down to how much you desire this job and the recommendations that come with it, because the door is right there and you can leave any time.”

Elizabeth hesitates, chews her lip, then sighs and begins to remove Katie’s restraints. My friend doesn’t make any move to help the woman and roll over, but she also doesn’t put up a fight as Elizabeth lifts her and shifts her onto her belly. Katie turns her head to the side, meets my gaze. She looks frightened. I long to reach out to her, even lift my fingers in her direction, and open my mouth with the intention of mouthing a word or two of comfort to her. I pause. I have no idea what to say, no idea how to comfort her because really there is nothing I can say that will make this go away or seem any better. I know she notices my hesitation. She falls completely limp, defeated, with tears shining in her eyes. Her eyelids slip closed and she doesn’t reopen them. The scientists are prepping their equipment. Soon the scale slicing blade is positioned above Katie’s tail, just as it was mine a few weeks ago. Thomas offers Dr. Patron and Elizabeth small orange pebbles. Two of which he’s shoved into his ears.

“You might want these.”

Dr. Patron accepts two and puts them in his ears. “Always thinking ahead. Elizabeth, put them on so your ears aren’t damaged. Thomas, would you be so kind as to put some on Suzie? Her hearing is very sensitive, it echoes in here, and I don’t want to have to deal with her eardrum bursting like it did a few years ago.”

Thomas approaches me and pushes my head down. I hiss angrily and pull against him. He shoves two of the orange things in my ears. They are not hard like I expected and are instead soft and spongy. Once they’re in place, he releases me and moves to join the others.

The blade starts. I squeeze my eyes shut, look away. But while I can close my eyes, the orange noise suppressers cannot block the sound of Katie’s scream reverberating off the walls.