(Time to try and start pulling things together :3)

Callem-

I wish I could have told him not to come, but staying at the house was likely far less safe and he wouldn't have listened anyways. 

Still, staring down at Parker, I felt my heart shiver with an anticipation I didn't want to occur. Why could humans not just leave us alone? 

"The tracking device is showing that they're getting close." Oliver said as he slowed his truck to a stop a short distance away from the Cal-Waves building and unhooked his cell phone from the holder above the steering wheel. 

Seeing the building again didn't bring back any kind of positive memories, but I knew that we had to go back inside if we wanted to get rid of the director once and for all. 

"About time." Kipper said as he hopped out of the small back area and climbed out of the passenger's side window before I could grab him. 

I'd told him to stay in the truck a thousand times before we left the house, yet he was already walking toward the building. 

Wait. Does he have a gun in his hand? How? He's only wearing shorts! He couldn't have hidden that so easily! 

I jumped out of the truck to try and catch up with him, only to be jerked back by my shoulder. Without thinking, I whirled around, baring my teeth until I realized that it was my brother who had grabbed me. 

"Let him go. He knows how to use it, and wouldn't you want your son to have the best chance he can to get out of this alive? That gun is going to help him, not hurt him." 

You tied Jayson up in a closet at work so he wouldn't be able to come, yet you're wanting my son to run in with a gun?

Not to mention seeing all of those horrible news programs about kids killing each other by mistake with weapons didn't make me feel any better, but I knew that now wasn't the time to think about humans. My son was extremely young in human years, but he knew a lot more than any human children I've ever met. 

I'd rather he have it in case he needs it, then not have it and get hurt because of it. 

Still, it was hard to not take it from him as we all hurried to catch up to him with his short but quick steps. We ducked around to the side of the building as Parker's phone chimed with a text message from Micah, who was left at Oliver's house with Fri and a rather large array of weapons. The tone was set differently for him so that Parker knew exactly who was messaging him. 

Pushing our backs against the wall, he pulled out his phone and silenced it as he read the message. 

"He said to beware of this guy." Parker whispered as he held the phone up for my brother and I to look at. Oliver hadn't joined us and was waiting in the truck in case we needed a fast get away, since his handicap wasn't going to be any kind of help. 

"Looks like one of those doctors I saw at the hospital when I was visiting Fri." I said as he tucked the phone back into his pocket and we continued our way around the outside of the building. 

There was a faint splash a little ways off in the distance, drawing our attention to it right as a dark fin slipped through the surface, then disappeared back beneath the choppy waves. 

"I think they found the entrance Hice was talking about before." I said as I looked around quickly, then darted for the water. 

I heard the others following, and grinned when Kipper sprinted ahead of me and jumped into the ocean. I waited right on the edge of a rock jutting over the water for Parker, then took his hand as we jumped in together. 

He wrapped his arms around my shoulders the second after we hit the water, and even with the added weight I easily got us over to where the rest of the group was waiting. Hice lead the way as Ocar and Mellac followed close behind. I moved a little slower, needing to look over my shoulder several times to help Parker breathe. 

I watched as Hice and Ocar disappeared through some type of dark hole in the rock before us. Mellac was gone a moment later, leaving me to use the location I'd last seen them to guide myself until I managed to find the small opening as well. I waited a few moments, refueling Parker's air supply, before ducking inside. 

The tunnel was completely black, but thankfully the walls were smooth enough to feel my way along and keep up a steady pace. It wasn't long before my head broke the surface and I heard Parker gasp for breath right behind me. 

To my surprise, the room was completely dark besides a few emergency lights like the ones they had at Parker's work. Seeing Hice climbing out of the far end of the small pool, I hurried over. Mellac and Ocar were already out, too, by the time I got to the edge. 

"Wait, where is Kipper?" I asked as I climbed out, then easily lifted Parker's wet body from the cold water. 

The group looked around before Hice shrugged and turned toward an open doorway. "That door is normally locked and only opens with a code. I bet he's already off to get things done." He said as he started walking. 

Wait. He let my son go ahead of him? 

I shouldn't have been surprised, but still! Growling, I shoved past him, but then stopped when I entered a long hallway that stretched almost further than I could see in both directions. 

"Want to lead the way, dolphin?" Hice asked with a raised eyebrow as he leaned near one of the emergency lights fastened into the wall. 

As if I know where we are. 

"By the way, why hasn't he sent people after us yet? He must see us on the security cameras." 

Hice chuckled as he sauntered down the hall, seemingly not caring that someone might jump out and shoot at us at any moment. 

"Why should he bother? He already has Micah and Fri." 

Everyone stopped walking suddenly besides Hice, making him turn around with a raised eyebrow. "What? You think Micah wouldn't have shown us what the director looked like before we left if he had a photo of him? The man is just taunting us now. He wants us to know who's got our friends, and the face of the person who's going to kill us." 

My blood boiled at the thought of him hurting Micah or Fri. Neither of them were healthy enough to put up any kind of fight, yet they'd been dragged into the fight before we could even find the director. 

"Getting mad about it isn't going to change anything. I know where he's likely waiting for us, so hurry up and shut up." Hice growled as he stalked ahead, picking up his pace. 

"But doesn't that mean we're just walking into a trap?" Parker asked. He didn't get a response, but what was there to say? We could try going another route, and doing so could possibly lead to the director killing Fri and Micah. 

We followed Hice about half the length of the hallway before turning into a room that he had to unlock. There were a few normal lights on overhead in that area as we made our way up a flight of stairs that circled a large pool. I barely spared it a glance, noting a few random fish swimming here and there. 

We stepped into what Parker called an observation deck at his own work place, though the windows just made me feel more exposed... besides the fact that all the mers present were already naked from having shifted. 

"Good evening, my gorgeous cadavers." Came a voice from above our heads. 

I looked around for a moment, then noticed the speaker boxes spaced out around the area we were walking in, fastening up near the ceiling. To my surprise, while most of us did slow down at the sound of the director's voice, Hice only sped up. 

"You know me so well, Hice. It's a shame you had to go and break our deal, making me have to wait all this time to retrieve what belonged to me to begin with." 

He's talking about Fri. 

His words made my own feet move quicker, allowing me to catch up with Hice as he ducked into another hallway. This one was shorter and much more brightly lit, and as soon as he decided on the direction he intended to go, he broke out into a run. 

I followed behind him, but made sure that I heard Parker, Ocar and Mellac close behind me. 

"I see no one's in the mood to talk. Well, let me just invite you in then. I'm sure once we meet face to face, you'll all be much more interested in the situation." The director said as a chime sounded from down the hall. 

I saw a door slowly begin to open a few yards ahead, and sure enough, Hice stopped in the entryway. He didn't look surprised by what he saw, but then again, he never really did show much emotion besides hatred and seething rage. 

When we all stopped in the doorway, I knew that we would, indeed, be much more interested in talking now. Before us lay a large in-ground pool. I didn't have to take more than a few steps toward it to see that it was teaming with creatures. The shark fins were a bit of a give away, and considering the blood I could smell in the air, they'd likely already been baited. 

Right above them on two small platforms suspended above the tank, were Micah and Fri. From what I could see, Fri was tied up with a thick rope, but Micah was left alone. He was sagging against the thin steel railing encircling the platform, clearly not able to do anything, anyways. 

"Hello, my finned friends. I do welcome you to my wonderful home." 

Following the voice, I looked up right as a slightly older man stepped out of the shadows on one of the upper decks built into the wall at the far side of the room. 

It is that doctor from the hospital... Hugh, or something of that sort. 

My eyes narrowed on his form and I was already trying to figure out a way to get up to him. It seemed the rest of my group was, too, but there didn't seem to be any ways to access where he was from the room we were standing in unless we could suddenly learn how to fly. 

We need to go around and find a way up there, but if we leave, he'll likely drop them into the pool. 

The man wasn't dumb, he'd pretty much forced our hands to stay where we were, even though it wouldn't help us. 

Wait. 

Stealing another quick glance around, I realized one important thing that made my heart calm just the slightest amount. "Now then, which one of you wants to die first, hm? It'll be a simple bullet to the head, so you won't suffer and I'll have a great specimen to study... but only to the first two volunteers, so hurry and speak up now." The director said as he gestured behind himself, bringing two humans forward to stand beside him with what looked to be high powered guns of some sort. And of course, they were aimed right at us. 

As we all tried to appear a little less stressed while our minds worked overtime to figure out a way out of the room with our lives, and Micah and Fri's, I silently began praying that my son, who was the only mer absent from this stand-off, knew exactly what he was doing. Ocar was contemplating the water, while Hice and Mellac were sending each other glances as their eyes flew about the room, likely taking in details that might possibly be of use. I knew that Parker had a gun in his back pocket, but that would only get him shot if he reached for it. I wasn't holding my breath for any of us at the moment.

I'll never condone this again, Kipper, but please use that gun and make your daddy even prouder than he already is that you didn't walk right into this ridiculous trap.