Away in a Tentacle Lair

24. Kai

Chapter twenty-four

Kai

T he night finally ends, and my curse is lifted. While I stayed in the open tank all night, it did little to hinder my human body from simply stepping out. The little octopus, who had been curious about me throughout the night, slipped her arms up the glass side towards me.

“Stay there; I'll come back for you.” I don't know how, but I can't leave the poor thing here in this unsuitable habitat.

She can't possibly understand me, but her tentacles slide back into the water. “You remind me of my mother.”

There is no chance this creature is my mother, but the similarities are enough. Mum was killed in a boating accident. She was heading to the surface as a motorboat group passed. One struck her on the head, and she was knocked out. She sunk under the surface, and I couldn't help her. I was too young and convinced going to the surface would kill me, so I sat on the bottom with Mum until Uncle Frank dragged me up. It all gets blurry after that, but that moment on the seabed is so clear in my mind.

I wander from the discovery tank, leaving a water trail across the floor. It's like leaving directions behind me, but I have no other option. I need clothes, and I need the exit.

Clothes are easier to find as I slip into a staff-only area. There's a shelf of clothing labelled as spares, and I find a pair of joggers and a T-shirt that fits me.

The exit is more elusive. I must accept that I am still trapped, but if I can hide until they open for the day, I Can simply walk out of the main door.

“Hey!” A sudden yell reduces my chances of success.

The alarm cry from one of the staff brings many more men running my way. I flee away from them, but I don't know my way around. I'm boxed in and trapped before my hair dries.

“Who the hell are you?” A security guard points his torch at me like a deadly weapon. Keeping his gaze on me, he radios for assistance.

“I don't know, man, I'm just trying to leave.” I should run, but I’ve no idea where I am or how to get out.

“How did you get in?”

That is an excellent question I don't have a decent answer for, just like I'm not sure how to explain the wet hair.

I broke in naked, took a bath in the coral pool, nicked some clothes, and have nothing to do with the octopus you're going to find missing.

Four more men arrive, limiting my already non-existent options. I am in deep water, and not in the way I like.

“Get off me,” I yell as the first man reaches out to grab me. I may be a member of the notorious Briareus family, but five men still have me at a disadvantage.

I kick and punch at them until I can't move any more, pinned on my knees by the security officers.

“Well, well, who do we have here?” The voice of the Chief Scientist, Oslo Islington, precedes his arrival. “The youngest Briareus in my research centre. And where is my lovely new octopus hiding?”

Technically, that's me, but I can't tell him that.

“I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't come here for your sea animals.”

“So why did you come?”

“I-y-uh-”

“You followed us last night, didn't you?”

“Fine.” It beats admitting they carried me here in a bucket. “I was curious.”

“We found something rare and amazing in the ocean last night.”

“So your ethics told you to remove it, so now there is nothing rare and amazing in the sea. Just the trash that you throw out there.”

“Don't let him go until we find out what he did with that octopus,” Oslo orders.

“Where do you want us to keep him?” one guard asked. As relieved as I am to discover they don't have dungeons for these situations, I don't want to be tied up in a broom cupboard either.

“Is the rumour true, Briareus? Can you hold your breath for an hour?”

“An hour? No! That's ridiculous.” I can stay underwater for an hour just snatching gulps from the surface before I need to breathe normally, but I have to use my snorkel.

“Put him in the mermaid tank. He doesn't come out until we find where he's hidden that poor little creature.”

The look he gives me suggests he knows it's me or that he doesn't care if I drown. The mermaid tank is in the main hall and very public, so I’m not sure drowning is part of his plan. I remember how disappointed I was to find it wasn't real mermaids, just women paid to wear a tail and swim around in shifts.

Now, that's going to be me. It takes all five guys to get the stupid tail on me. Being stripped and wedged into a tight pink fishtail is the single most embarrassing moment of my life, but I’m not going to let that stop me from fighting like my life depends on it.

The entrance to the tank is on this floor above the public areas, beside a hut where the girls can change. A ladder is bolted to the floor above the hatch, which I try to grab. It doesn’t make any difference. Once they open the hatch, they kick and push until I am under the water.

It's warm, fresh water, perfect to keep their staff comfortable for their twenty-minute stints.

The hatch closes above me as I fumble around the top in search of air. The water goes right to the top, but I'm not looking to breathe. I'm checking for any trace of weakness I can exploit.

The walls are solid curved panels between steel pillars, making for a seamless 360-degree viewing area. My prison is six metres deep and about 4 metres wide. With no visible vents or tubing, I swim down to the decoration in the centre of the tank. It's a model of a reef; the real thing wouldn't survive in the warm salt-free water. Air bubbled out of three separate cones of the reef, and pressing my mouth over one gave me a lungful of air. This is how the pretend mermaids can breathe; it isn't news to me. I need to figure out which coral tubes pull the water in and out to filter and heat it. I'm unsure what to do with the information, but I want to know it.

I've got to do something, right?

Otherwise, I'm going to be bored out of my mind.