THE ELEVATOR DING and its doors opened, revealing the man in his late thirties, wearing a tuxedo, and escorted by four guards. His cold aura filled the space and scared the guards on standby. As he walked the hallway, heading to Room 28, he stopped near the four bodies of men lying on the floor and bathing in a hardened pool of blood. He kicked one in his crotch and spat on their faces.

"Useless."

He went inside the room and witnessed the countless bodies lying on the floor, all covered in blood, and feasted by flies. He never showed any form of disgust at the sight of the massacre and just let out a sigh of disappointment. He took out his smartphone and dialed a number. The person on the other end of the line answered and he placed his phone near his left ear.

"We lost the mermaid...it escaped." His gaze focused on the corpse near him as he listened to his superior. "Yes, but something unexpected happened. All of the troops we sent are dead. They have no open wounds. How is that possible for a single mermaid against all of them? It's not just our men. Everyone on the same floor of this building died of the same cause. Sir, if I'm not mistaken, this is the same as the unsolved massacre case that happened three hundred years ago. The whole village was slaughtered at the same time, with no open wounds, and all of their organs were ruptured. I believe this mermaid is the key. It can weaponize sound! I couldn't imagine the things that I could do if I got my hands on this mermaid." He listened to his superior's response, nodding and smiling. Until the call ended and he put his phone back in his pocket. "I want all bodies sent to my laboratory. The rest of you, find that mermaid...that animal is a threat to our security as long as it's out," he ordered to his men.

°°••°°

SENSING NO DANGER on the road Asceia took out the crumpled newspaper clippings and put them on her lap. One by one, she read the content, trying to find more answers.

"What's that?"

"Leyrosa kept several newspaper clippings. Apparently, she was following a lead. She noticed something was going on the moment one of us lost contact.." She showed him the clipping. "Then it followed...one was found dead. Another one was jailed for assault. There was a kidnapping. And more random or different cases. For a human, these are just normal days. But for us, we would know this is connected because these are serceans taken one by one. There's a hunt for our kind now."

"I wonder how did they discover about your kind. You've been with us for centuries, right? Why now?"

"Human technology, most probably."

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be. Everyone will get what they deserve in the end." Her eyes darted to where they were heading. "Where are we?" she asked when they reached the part of the town where there were houses on the left side of the road, and on the other side was the seawall and the sight of the blue sparkling sea.

"Fishing Village. I have a house near the bridge," he answered while his eyes were focused on the road. "Can I ask something?"

"What's that?"

"I know you're all capable of communicating through telepathy, but we're on the land, why won't you use your voice just like Leyrosa?"

"I have a dangerous voice and I still can't control it."

"Oh..." he nodded and chose to end his queries.

After a few minutes, they crossed the bridge above an estuary. They pulled over inside the garage of his house near the dense mangrove forest. They double-checked the perimeter to make sure they were not followed and they decided to get inside.

"Make yourself at home, you're safe here. I'm going to check my security system," he said and climbed the wooden stairs leading to the attic.

"This is not like my home," she whispered and decided to look around his living room. She ended up looking at his framed photos, certificates, and awards hanging on the wall. There, she knew his name. "Troy Aguirre..."

She wound up to his refrigerator. She opened it and welcomed the cold air that kissed her skin. Inside, she found a frozen fish on a plate covered with plastic, she took it out and closed the fridge.

"I see you found food."

"Can I have this?" She turned around and looked up at him walking down the stairs.

"Yeah, sure. Eat what you want." He smiled and approached her. "I'm going out for supplies. But...I wanted to tell you that I have a friend who can help us. She's a student studying Marine Biology. She also knew about your kind and she's interested in helping. If it's okay with you, I'm going to bring her here. The three of us can work out this and find Leyrosa and the others."

"I didn't ask for help, Troy. I can do this alone. I only came here with you because I wanted to hear what you know and then I'll leave. You, humans, are not safe with me or any of us, serceans."

"But we're willing to help. I have skills that can help you track them. We're ready to face the risk. Please...I am also worried about Leyrosa. I'm here for her."

"Then fine...Just a reminder that you know the consequences of being part of this. I won't mind cutting you if I deem you both useless."

He nodded and turned around, making his way to the door. She, on the other hand, walked to the couch and sat there. She waited for him to leave the house and looked at the plate she was holding. She tore the cellophane off the frozen fish, took a pinch of its solid flesh, and put it in her mouth. The ice melted and she chewed the tender flesh while leaning her back on the soft cushion.

When she finished eating, what was left with the fish were only bones. She brought the plate to the kitchen. She put it on the sink and threw the cellophane together with the bones into the garbage can. While leaning on the sink covered with white tiles, she closed her eyes and let the silence envelop her. In the darkness, she felt the cold water swallowing her body and the currents passing around her.

"Mother..." she called.

"Asceia..."

"I might have the answer to the missing serceans."

"Do tell."

"They were abducted. Technology must have favored humans and they were able to block them from communicating. I was in Leyrosa's apartment earlier and the humans ambushed me, they knew I was coming. They were using tranquilizers. They wanted to take me alive."

"What happened?"

"I used my voice, Mother. I killed them all."

"We are now at war, my child. That was just the beginning of the battles to come. The God of the Sea gifted you the Voice of the Ocean, so use it...use it for our kind."

"But I still can't control it. I might kill innocent people with this."

"In this war, no one is innocent."

••°°••

xn:

to my dear serceans, this is troy aguirre: