{"sf1_id":809381,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Aquata Cove - Chapter 38","author":"Mirron Tenshi","words":3323,"posted_at":"2015-01-19T12:53:00.000Z","tags":["Gay","Human","Romance","Story Progression","homosexual","merman"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/809381-aquata-cove-chapter-38","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/809381","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=809381\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Aquata Cove\nChapter 38: Final Tactic\n \n \n \nDaniel inserted his key to unlock the apartment and opened\nthe door, with his other hand carrying in several bulging bags of groceries.\nOnce the door is opened, he takes the other bags to balance out the weight. He\nwalks into the kitchenette, when he spots Jacob on the couch.\n \n\"Oh hey, Jakey!\" He said, \"This is rare, you home before me.\nWhat, is the lab quarantined or something?\" He scratched his brown hair from an\nitch before picking up the Double Stuf Oreos from one of the bags.\n \n\"No...\"\n \n\"I'm glad you're home,\" Daniel continued as he put the bags\nonto the kitchen counter, \"I swear, even on my days off, I'm always busy. Went\nto the dentist, I barely made it to the blood center on time, went by Payless\nfor some new shoes, and a bunch of other stuff you're probably not gonna\nremember,\" He chattered as he quickly tucked the groceries away, \"So I picked\nup your favorite for dinner!\"\n \n\"That's great...\" Jacob said, just starring at the floor.\n \n\"Babe? ... You're awfully quiet tonight.\" Daniel said as he\ngot a couple of pans out.\n \n\"I'm fine, I'm just...\" He looked up briefly before averting\nhis eyes and blinking several times, \"I'm just uh... I'm not very hungry right\nnow...\"\n \nDaniel looked at Jacob. Something's not right - he's usually\ntalking Daniel's ear off about scientific terms that will always fly right over\nhis head, \"Jacob, is something the matter?\" Daniel walked around the\nkitchenette counter.\n \n\"No, Danny...\" Jacob got up from the couch, taking off his\nglasses, \"I'm said I'm fine.\"\n \n\"Jacob, wait, what's going on??\" Daniel strode closely\nbehind.\n \n\"Just lemme alone, please!\" Jacob's voice had thickened.\nDaniel looked around, and saw Jacob pressing his sleeved arm over his eyes.\n \n\"Jacob, what's the matter?!\" He followed him to the bedroom,\n\"Jacob, talk to me, is it something I did??\"\n \n\"No, no!\" Jacob sobbed as he tried to hide his face away\nfrom his lover. \n \n\"Jacob, look at me!\" Daniel moved in front of him, \"Look at\nme, Jacob, and talk to me!\" \nInstead, Jacob put his face against Daniel's chest. He sobbed while\nDaniel put his arms around him. \"Jakey... What happened?\"\n \n\"He... The merman, he... He injured Mr Quinlan and...\" He sobbed\nas he clung to his boyfriend, \"He just... I can still hear him scream... He\nscreamed only once, but it's in my head...\"\n \n\"Jacob...\" Daniel felt his chest pound deeply, \"What\nhappened?\" He coddled his shorter lover as he cried, and looked out the dusky\nwindow. He blinked strangely as a seagull flew to the edge of the window, with\na small, yellow and white flower tied around one of its legs.\n \n \n~~~\n \n \nMerrick shook as he once again felt the harsh light bare\ndown on him, sitting with his face to his raw red knees, and his arms around\nhis legs. \n \n\"... Humans...\" Every finger on both of his hands is\nindividually wrapped in bandages, as was his knuckles and the spaces between\nhis fingers. There are a handful of small red patches randomly on his head.\n\"Humans... Are liars...\" His forearms are heavily bandaged, as was the majority of\nhis torso. \"Humans... Are beasts of conquest...\" His ears are chipped, and several\ncuts are placed on and around the cartilage. \"Humans... Want everything...\" Dark\ngashes stretch on his feet, besides that all of his toenails are missing,\n\"Humans... Poison everything they touch...\" The red blotches on his skin sear with\npain every time he moves. \"Humans... Are monsters...\" His teeth clenched as he\nhissed in hatred, \"Monsters... Deserve to die...\"\n \n \n\"M-Merrick?\" Came a frightened voice. His eyes darted up,\nand spotted Erin, holding a bucket of ice water, and a paper bag full of food.\nHe didn't even notice the lights had went off. Those dark blue eyes, once so\nvibrant with joy, now are as cold as the crushing depths of a trench. \"H-Hi...\"\n \n\"...\" Erin shook from head to foot as a low growl could be\nheard from the merman, \"... What are you doing here...\" Merrick said in a low,\nthreatening voice.\n\n\"I... I came to check on you...\"\n \n\"What are you doing here...\" Merrick repeated.\n \n\"I... I just said... I came to che-\"\n \n\"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!\" Merrick shrieked as he let his\nlegs down - which also have many bandages wrapped on them. Erin jumped from his\nsudden outburst - she gasped as she accidentally dropped the bucket, and\nspilled the water all over the floor. Erin kept her distance, despite the water\nspreading out from the collapsed bucket, and reaching Merrick's feet. The water\ntransformed his feet into a fin in less than a second. Erin clasped a hand to\nher mouth as the white fin is now severely ravaged and flagged, almost half of\nit is gone.\n \n\"I-I just...\" Erin held back her sobs, \"I came to, you know...\nGive you some water and-\"\n \n\"YOU LIAR!!!\" Merrick attempted to tackle her, but the hot\nchains snapped straight, and held him back. He sat back down, leering at her\nwith sheer hatred.\n \n\"Merrick, no...\" She stayed in the corner as Merrick seethed\nand panted, \"I'm not lying, I care about you! Please, calm down.\"\n \n\"CARE about me?!\" Merrick yelled, \"You were an ally! You\nsaved me from dehydrating, YOU WERE MY FRIEND!\" Sparkling tears arose from his\neyes as his throat purred a deep growl, \"You brought me here, and you helped\nme!!\" Erin's lip quivered as he shouted, \"I trusted you, and YOU BETRAYED ME!!\"\nHe raged as he tried to jump on her again, but the chains yanked his arms back.\n \n\"Please, stop, Merrick!\" She cried out. Merrick eased on the\nchains, but remained standing, \"I swear, I didn't betray you...\" \n \n\"Don't you DARE lie to me, HUMAN!!\" Merrick shouted. \"Nigel...\nThat monster, NIGEL!!\" He seethed as his darkened, blood-shot eyes glared at\nErin, \"He called me Merrick THE Piscien. He KNEW what I AM!\" His chest puffed\nand sank as he ranted, \"He thought Piscien was my name. But now he knows\nPiscien is my species!\" He panted and growled more as Erin quivered. \"You told\nhim EVERYTHING I told you! He would NEVER get me to talk, so you came in as his\nspy!\"\n \n\"I-I didn't tell him!\" Erin lied, \"I swear, he must have\nheard it on the surveillance cameras in here, I-\"\n \n\"And you KNEW!\" Merrick retorted, \"All those times we talked, when you visited\nme, you KNEW I was watched AND heard by your human contraptions! And you didn't\nbother to stop me!!\" Erin sobbed as he ranted at her, \"You're a filthy traitor\neither way, and you know it!\"\n \n\"Merrick, please listen to me...\" Erin said, trying to keep\nher voice steady through the emotion, \"I only did it because you were dying...\"\nShe swallowed, \"It was the only way to get you into that tank-\"\n \n\"I don't care!!\" Merrick said as tears rushed on his face,\n\"I would rather die than have my kind revealed like this!!\" He cried in wrath\nand agony as he shook his head, \"All those times... You made me forget my pain,\nand for what... Conning me of information...\"\n \n\"Merrick... Listen to yourself...\" Erin replied, \"You'd rather\ndie than live to see your Ad-\"\n \n\"SILENCE!!\" Merrick shrieked as he pointed at her, \"Don't\nyou DARE talk about him!\" He gestured to himself, \"How can I ever see him again\nnow?! He can't see me like this!! I can't let him know what I've become! You\nand your Nigel took EVERYTHING away from me!! And for WHAT?!\" He demanded,\n\"Because I refuse the poison of humanity to plague the deeper into the sea?! To\nforever taint my kind?! To sell out merfolk?!\"\n \n\"Merrick...\" Erin wiped her eyes, \"I'm sorry.\"\n\n\"Gheh...\" Merrick lowered his arms, and seemed to calm himself down, \"I can't\neven trust a single sound from your mouth.\n \n\"Merrick, please understand!\" Erin said, \"I was only trying\nto help you... You were dying, I only wanted your pain to stop as soon as I\ncould! I hated seeing you suffer like that! Like THIS!\"\n \nMerrick gave a dark smirk, \"Heh... If you hate seeing me like\nthis...\" His arms held out beside him, \"... Why don't you kill me?\" Erin's mouth\ngapped as he leered at her like a taunting demon.\n \n\"Merrick...\"\n \n \n\"Go on...\" Merrick said, \"Release me... End my pain... Go on and\nkill me...\"\n \n\"Merrick...\"\n \n\"You humans are all avaricious savages, aren't you? So spare\nme of my agony and end my life. That should be easy for you.\"\n \n\"Merrick, stop...\"\n\n\"Go on, Human, and kill me.\" He gritted his teeth, \"Kill me...\" He lurched forth,\nand straightened the chains again, \"KILL MEEEEEEE!!!\" Erin shook and sobbed as\nhe held himself firm in his tracks. Erin couldn't talk anymore, as the lump in\nher throat proved too much of an obstacle. Merrick eased himself again, and\nsettled his stance. \"I didn't think so...\" He rose a hand up, and pointed a\nbandaged finger at her. \"Erin... You're WEAK!\" The words cut into her like a\nknife, \"That's all you are. You're a weak savage...\"\n \nThe merman sat down on the floor again, his head swarming\nwith anger and hate, \"Leave...\" Too afraid to go near the bucket, Erin made her\nway to the door of the cell, and left.\n \n \n~~~\n \n \nErin drove home quietly this night. Taking deep breaths the\nwhole time as she drove, she didn't even touch the radio, which is always\nplaying whenever she's in the car.\n \n'That's all you are...' Merrick's words still ring in her\nhead, 'You're a WEAK savage...' She sniffled as those harsh, but true words\nresonated in her mind, 'You're WEAK! You're a WEAK savage!' She sobbed as her\ncar pulled into her driveway 'That's all you are... You're WEAK!' \n \nOver and over again, as she walked up to her doorstep,\nMerrick's voice bounced inside her head. She inserted the key into her lock,\nbut didn't turn it. Erin pressed her forehead to her door. She gasped and\nsobbed as guilt and sorrow racked her blood with cold fire. \n \n\"... He's right...\" She whimpered as she shook her head, \"I'm\nweak, I'm so weak...\" Erin wept as she let go of her keys, and sank to the\nWelcome Mat, \"I'm sorry, Merrick...\" She muttered, \"I'm sorry...\"\n \n \n\"Eeeeegya, eeegya!\" She turned, sniffling, and spotted a\nwhite creature on the top of her car. She stood herself up, and took a better\nlook. Illuminated by the porchlight, is a seagull. While with grey feathers,\nthe bird called as it tilted its head. Erin stepped closer to it as it turned\nits head to study her where it stood. Erin noticed a small yellow flower on its\nright leg - the way the green stem looks, it's like it's grown around its leg.\n \n\"Huh?\" Erin looked at the seagull strangely, and took just\none step toward the bird.\n \n\"EEEEEEYA! EEYA!\" The gull screeched as it flapped its\nwings, and tackled Erin.\n \n\"Ahhhh!\" Erin screamed as she felt the bird peck her head,\nonly once though, and flew off. She watched as the seagull flapped higher into\nthe dark sky, and disappeared into the infinite blackness.\n \n   \n \n---Early The Next Morning---\n \n \n \nNigel poured his drink into the small shot glass, as he sits\nalone in the empty cafeteria. His office always feels too small for reflection,\nor getting drunk. No one dares enter the cafeteria at this time or morning,\nregardless if he's coming in or not - not even the cooks report in until a few\nhours from now.\n \nNigel chugged the small portion of drink into this throat,\nand shook his head. He growled as he felt the thick gauze on his face, the\ntentacle's venom still stings through the pain killers and alcohol. \n \nWOOSCH! \n \nA folder full of pages flew right next to him, and scattered\nall over where it hit the cold burners. Nigel didn't even flinch from the\nsudden intrusion of noise, or even turned to see who had thrown the file.\n \n\"I hope you're satisfied, Nigel.\" Came a firm female voice.\n \n\"Why? Is he finally talking again?\" Nigel asked as he took\nanother drink. Erin spun Nigel around, and looked into his non-changing eyes.\n \n\"Congratulations, Mr Quinlan.\" Erin spat out.\n \n\"For what, may I ask?\" Nigel responded, unfazed by his\nassistance's aggressive behavior.\n \n\"You turned a beautiful creature into a psychotic monster!\" \n \n\"Huh. That's new.\" Nigel picked up the bottle of liquor, but\nErin snatched it right out of his hand.\n \n\"Would you listen to me?!\" She said, \"You've broken him,\nalright?!\" She yelled, \"You've driven him insane, do you get that?! Last night,\nI went to water him, and he demanded that I KILL him!!\"\n \n\"So did you? Kaiser has been getting on my back about a new\ncadaver.\" Nigel turned back to the table, picked up his shot glass, but again,\nErin snatched it up, and sent it flying, and shattering to the wall.\n \n\"Do you even CARE?!\" Erin shouted, \"Do you realize what\nyou've done?! How is THIS any good for discovering the ocean?! How is torturing\na defenseless merman beneficial for mankind?! How does you acting like a bully\nget you any progress?!\"\n \n\"Heh,\" Nigel sneered as he glanced at Erin, \"Isn't it a\nlittle late to grow a conscience, Miss Conally?\" He said, \"After all, weren't\nyou the one who reported on every single detail from your little visits to\nhim?\"\n \n\"Don't you pass that on me now. You forced me on that,\nNigel.\" Erin said.\n \n\"Force you?\" Nigel said as he got up from his chair, and\nfaced Erin, \"I don't believe I gave you any direct orders on extracting\ninformation from our little merman. You did that all on your own. That's on\nyour head, not mine.\"\n \n\"Don't play games with me, Nigel.\" Erin retorted as she\nshook her head, \"We all know what kind of man you are. We all know what kind of\nthings you do to people who show even the slightest sign of descent in the\nranks, or try to quit and leave this place. I did what I could to keep him from\ndying, and you know it.\"\n \n\"Heh. Yeah...\" Nigel nodded, \"Don't I know it...\" He moved over\nto the nearest chair. In a quick move, he picked it right up, and flung it\nright into the kitchen! Erin gasped and watched as the old man flipped over a\nlarge table, and then threw a napkin holder clear across the room! \"I REALLY\nmessed things up, didn't I?!\" He exclaimed before picking up the liquor, and\nsent it crashing to the floor!\n\n\"Nigel, stop!\" Erin shouted, \"You're killing yourself!\" Right after he threw\nanother chair and toppled a table, Nigel fell to his knees, and began gagging\nand coughing violently. Putting a hand to his mouth, Nigel hacked his lungs\nout, clenching his eyes as he planted his hand onto the floor. Blood dripped\nfrom his hand and fingers as he writhed on the floor. After five solid minutes\nof coughing, Nigel finally settled down. Erin clamped a napkin holder down next\nto him, and he grabbed several of them to clean up.\n \n\"Nigel... This can't go on.\" She said, \"Do the right thing for\nonce.\"\n \n\"... I can't...\" Nigel wheezed as he wiped his mouth, \"Not when\nI'm so close...\"\n \n\"Close to WHAT, Nigel?!\" Erin shouted, \"Look at you! You're\nrolling in your own blood while a butchered up merman is spiraling in madness,\nalone and royally pissed off!\" She shook her head as Nigel stood himself up on\nhis feet, \"Nigel... This has gone far enough.\" Nigel panted as he wiped off the\nlast of the blood and mucus.\n \n\"You're right...\" He said, \"I've gone as far as I can with\nthat damn fish.\" He glanced with icy cold eyes at his associate, \"So...\"\n \n\"Are you letting him go?\"\n \n\"Maybe... If all goes well...\" Nigel said. Erin threw up her\nharms and huffed exasperatedly, \"Now it seems... I have to bring in my special operative.\"\n \n \n---A Couple of Hours Later---\n \n \n\"Are you INSANE, Mr Quinlan?!\" Erin exclaimed as they walked\ndown the halls, \"Do you understand how... How...\"\n \n\"How, WHAT, Miss Conally?\" Nigel said.\n \n\"How extremely close you're getting to being court-marshaled\nnow?!\" Erin explained, \"How long were you planning on keeping this quiet?!\"\n \n\"For as long as I need, and it looks like the time is now.\"\nNigel said as he over looked a relatively thin profile.\n \n\"And how do I not know about this?!\" She said, \"I am your\nPERSONAL ASSISTANT!\"\n \n\"I believed this was on a Need-To-Know Basis. And you are\neasily influenced by your emotions. I couldn't have you interfering with\nmatters you don't fully understand.\"\n \n\"Nigel, this goes against EVERYTHING that is legal in\nhumanity rights, do you hear me?! Do you UNDERSTAND that?!\" Erin demanded.\n \n\"Miss Conally, I control the Agency of Oceanic Research - a\nbranch of U.S. Government dedicated to furthering the knowledge and development\nof the world's ocean, by ANY means necessary.\"\n \n\"You had an American Citizen abducted and detained for\ninterrogation, Nigel!\" Erin spat out, \"How do you expect to get away with\nthis?!\"\n \n\"In the name of discovery, Miss Conally. So long as I keep\nmy limits behind the line, I am within my power to do all that I see fit. He\nwas involved with a highly intelligent creature, and so is a very important\nresource here,\" Nigel replied as they came to the door of one of the\ncontainment cells, \"And before we go any further, it's 'Mr Quinlan' to you.\"\nErin opened her mouth, but Nigel silenced her, \"I told you before, Miss\nConally. Know your place. You are teetering on the edge of losing everything\nyou have.\" He pointed a finger at her, \"I have come TOO far to give up on\neverything now.\"\n \n\"Mr Quinlan...\" Erin shook her head, \"How can you look\nyourself in the mirror, and approve of this?\" Nigel stared right into her eyes.\n \n\"When you looked Death in the face as I have, suddenly your\nown reflection becomes the most terrifying thing you can ever imagine.\"\n \nAfter a short pause, the Keith, who had been with them the\nwhole time, inserted a key into the door's lock, and opened the door. Nigel\nwalked in, and looked at the young man with dark hair, a thick patch of fuzz on\nhis face, and wearing a white jumpsuit, lying on his back on the bed of his\ncell, \"Good morning, Mr Bryant.\"\n \nAdam turned his head, and looked at the old man standing at\nthe doorway, with his face half bandaged. He moved his legs over on the bed,\nand sat up, looking rather irritable, \"Hi... Who are you?\" He asked.\n \n\"My name is Nigel Quinlan, and I am the head of the Agency\nof Oceanic Research.\"\n \n\"So you're the boss here?\" The young man asked, standing up.\n \n\"Yes, that is correct.\" \n \n\"Ok, great.\" Adam crossed his arms, \"So is someone finally\ngoing to tell me why I've been laying around, doing nothing all month long?\"\n \n\"Yes,\" Nigel smiled softly, \"We are ready for you now.\"\n","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/809380-aquata-cove-chapter-37.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/812915-aquata-cove-chapter-39.json"}