As Ashton's muscles fall limp, the entire group of people start panicking. Luke clutches at the net's thick wires, everyone swimming around and trying to find a way to break through. The thick water feels colder, more sinister than it did before now that Ashton's light doesn't warm it. Luke's eyes grow red and bloodshot as he struggles to pull the nets out of the hooks at the sides, but the wire is too thick and too heavy for anybody to unhook.

The boat stops moving a couple yards farther, thankfully, and everyone surrounds the net worriedly. Calum shuts his eyes, floating away from the other's loud, panicked yells. He tries hard to think of what to do, what he can do to fix this. As everyone continues to bring chaos and the water sends chill bumps up Calum's bare arms, Calum grows more and more helpless.

Luke swims up to Calum. Calum can tell he's been crying by his flushed cheeks and red-rimmed eyes. "Calum, please do something, please."

Frankly, Calum doesn't know why it's up to him. He's the new one, the one that doesn't really know what he's doing half the time. Why do they look to him to fix whatever has gone wrong? He has half the knowledge than anyone else, he's just as panicked and clueless as them. He doesn't get why he's the one expected to clean up the mess.

All the while, Luke begs him with his big, worryful blue eyes. Calum avoids them as much as he can until he sees Luke's bottom lip start to tremble, and then he finally gives in.

"Fine! Fine, just-- let me think," says Calum abruptly, and Luke visibly relaxes. Calum watches the loud engine of the boat move the water in thick waves underneath the water's surface, the blurry outline of the boat above the water, the dull murmur of humans on board. It makes Calum sink a little lower under the water, not wanted them to see him or any of the other mermaids underneath. He can sort of feel the terror Ashton had against them, the unknown of what they would do if they found out about them. The unknown of human life.

Calum blinks a couple of times when he realizes it. Luke notices the different expression and sits up.

"What?" Luke grabs Calum's hand. "Calum, what is it?"

Calum turns to Luke. "I think I know what I can do to help." He lets go of Luke and quickly swims back towards the boat, the shouts of everyone around him growing louder. They stare at him as he passes, swimming past Ashton and the net and straight up towards the side of the boat. He drifts right underneath the surface of the water, looking up.

He knows Ashton would tell him to get back down and stay away from the human's wandering eyes, but Calum doesn't think there is anything else to be done. He grabs the small metal ladder that is nailed to the side of the boat and grips at it with his hands. He closes his eyes for a moment, gathering his strength, before pulling himself up out of the water.

He breathes in the air in deep lungfuls, using his somewhat scrawny arms to pull himself further out of the water. Calum struggles to pull himself up enough to where the air hits his hips, his arm strength not necessarily the best. He's just managed to get most of his body out of the water and into the air, feeling the scales fall away from his skin, when he sees one of the fisherman peer over the side of the boat, staring in bewilderment.

Calum coughs, raising his hand aimlessly up towards the direction of the fisherman. "Help, please!" Calum says in the best helpless voice he can manage. The fisherman blinks in confusion for a moment before quickly hurrying to the ladder and pulling him up. The man pulls Calum on deck and Calum coughs repeatedly. He stares at the teenage boy he just pulled off the water in shock, taking in the boy's soaked clothes and dripping wet hair, blinking repeatedly.

"What happened to ya, son?" says the fisherman in a thick Australian accent, helping Calum stand as Calum pretends to be weak, leaning against his shoulder. He takes him to get warm, leading him into a room separated by thin wooden walls, sitting him on a chair and grabbing a couple of blankets and towels to wrap around Calum's shoulders. Calum shivers, which he doesn't need to fake considering the air is cold against his wet skin, and Calum realizes how odd it feels to be human. How not necessarily natural it feels anymore.

The fisherman leaves him, still seemingly in shock, stumbling out of the room. Calum pulls the towels tighter over his bare shoulders, and he stares down at his very human legs and wiggles his toes silently. It feels... weird. He's not sure if he likes it all that much, in comparison to being surrounded by water. He can already feel himself growing weaker.

A man walks in, tall but stocky with dark skin, hair, and eyes. He stares at Calum with the same bewilderment as the other fisherman, and walks toward him carefully. He grabs another blanket and lays it over Calum's shoulders.

"How'd you get in the middle of the ocean?" he asks softly, staring at Calum out of the corner of his eye.

"Boating accident," Calum says, and coughs again for good measure. The man raises his eyebrows, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms.

"Boating accident, eh?" he says.

Calum shrugs. "I'm not very good at it, apparently. Shouldn't have gone out alone."

The man suddenly looks stricken, almost concerned. Calum blinks at the sudden change. He clenches his jaw and stares at Calum for a few moments more before saying, quite directly: "You're my son."

Calum furrows his eyebrows. "I'm most definitely not your son."

"You know who your father is?"

"Don't have one. Never have, never will," Calum says, putting a bit more force into his words.

The man hardly blinks. "Bet you thought that about your mother, too."

Calum doesn't say anything, suddenly feeling a bit more wary. He originally thought the guy was potentially insane, or at least hoping to believe Calum was someone else, but he's now starting to doubt it. The man pushes off the wall, moving closer to where Calum sits in his chair. He stares at Calum's face with extreme caution, like even touching his skin would make him disintegrate. Calum hardly breathes for a few moments until the man speaks again.

"Is Joy with you?" he asks quietly.

Calum grows defensive of his mother. He remembers the story Ashton told him about his father, whoever that may actually be. But whoever that man was, he left his mother, and Calum can't bring himself to be kind to anyone who would do that to his mother.

So he says, "Not much joy, no. Being lost at sea isn't as fun as it looks like in the movies."

The man rolls his eyes. "You know what I mean." When Calum doesn't say anything, he moves closer, face to face with Calum. "Please, I-- I've been looking for her, everywhere, for years. I made a mistake. I need to see her."

Calum leans back from him, averting his eyes. "Sorry about whoever you're looking for, but I don't think you'll find her in the middle of the ocean. Been there, done that."

The fisherman clenches his jaw, leaning in even closer. "I know who you are. I know what you are. I know you weren't 'lost' in the ocean."

Calum remembers Ashton's limp body at the bottom of this very boat's net, and he finally gives in. "My friend is stuck in your net. Please. He needs to get out."

The man presses his lips together, crossing his arms. "I'll cut the net if you let me see Joy?"

Calum huffs. "Dude... come on. Have some human decency."

A pained expression falls over the fisherman's face. "I'm sorry. I need to see her."

Calum's about to give up the entire thing and find another way to get Ashton loose, but the more he tries to think, the less confident he feels. He stares at the man's dark brown eyes and lets out a long sigh.

"If you distract the fisherman, I'll cut the net," Calum says, and he's never seen a man look more relieved. He nods quickly and rushes out of the room without another word. Calum groans and stands up, letting the blankets fall off his bare shoulders. He grabs a large pair of scissors from the table in front of him and slips out of the doorway.

He's only taken a few steps when he stumbles, grabbing onto the wall for support. He blinks in confusion, staring down at his legs. His entire body is trembling, feeling much weaker than it should at this point in being human. He's gone hours without feeling the loss of water take an effect on him before. He's only been out of the water for ten or fifteen minutes at most, so why is he already feeling so weak?

He sees all the fisherman together on the other side of the boat, peering over the railing, so Calum takes his chance and hurries the best he can over the where the net is, and he positions the scissors over where the net is knotted. He quickly cuts into the thick rope, the net growing weaker the more he cuts through it. It takes a few minutes for him to cut through, either from the thickness of the rope or his diminishing strength each minute he stays on land.

He's beginning to feel light-headed just as the rope releases, and the net falls in on itself under the water. He can see a rush of movement underneath the surface, and he knows it must have worked. Calum drops the scissors, trying to catch his breath as he slumps against the railing of the boat. His knees suddenly lock, and he drops onto the wooden floor, his eyes growing blurry.

He can see the man who claims to be his father rushing toward him, bending next to him worriedly.

"What's wrong, son, what's wrong with you?" He asks worriedly. Calum can't bring himself to speak, feeling like he might pass out if he does. The fisherman stares at him with concern for a couple moments with deep, uneven breaths before he notices Calum's cracked, dry lips.

"Water. Of course. You need to be back in the water," he mumbles, and gently picks Calum up in his arms. He's shocked at how little he weighs, but rushes over to where the ladder is anyway. He slowly and carefully lowers Calum as far as he can to the water, until he can safely drop him under the ocean's churning waves. Calum feels himself submerge into the salty water, the ocean surrounding him like a cushion.

For a few moments, the only thing Calum can do is sink, but then he can feel the scales fold over his legs, the water sink into his skin and give him the reenergizing strength he needs. He opens his eyes, finding his mother beside him, Luke staring at him worriedly. He stays silent for a moment before saying weakly, "Where's Ashton?"

Luke points to where the mermaids huddle around the hazel eyed man's body, still unconscious but healthy enough, freed from the capture of the net. It worked. Calum feels overly relieved, letting himself smile a little. He leans against his mother silently, but realizes a few moments later about the deal he made.

Calum looks up at her. "There's a man up there. He... He helped me get Ashton loose, but only if I let him talk to you." Joy's expression hardly changes. "He said he was my father."

Joy doesn't move for a moment, and Calum is starting to think he made a terrible mistake, and then she lets out a long sigh. "I should've known he... I'll go up and talk to him. Thank you for helping Ashton." Joy smiles gently, and then she turns and swims up towards the boat.

Calum watches her silently, and then he slowly swims down to Ashton, joining everyone else who huddles around him. They let him into the small circle and Calum can see him clearly, up close. He looks exhausted, but no harm was done to him. His eyelids are shut, his muscles limp, but he's going to be okay.

For a moment, just for a moment, Calum lets himself think about Michael. He feels guilt churn in his stomach. His colorful haired friend doesn't know why he left him for the ocean, he doesn't understand that he had to. Today was proof of that. Calum thinks he's grown even more weak on land now that he's spent most of his time in the water, all day and all night. Calum doesn't think he can survive much on land anymore, and that terrifies him. He always planned to return to Laura and Michael and live with them for a while once the net situation got under control, but Calum knows now that it can't happen. His body can't handle it.

The land isn't friendly to him anymore, and he's no more safe from humans than the other mermaids around him.

---
A/N: only 3 chapters left in this story! it was always destined to be a short one. this will probably be the shortest story I'll ever write because I normally prefer longer ones, but I hope ya'll are enjoying it anyway.

after that, I will be working on I Know Places, as I know a lot of you read and love that one. after that, I'll finish IKYWT. then I have new stories I want to publish and show you guys. my new ones are what I'm most excited for because I'm putting all my heart and soul into those and I feel like they will capture my writing style the best and I really hope ya'll decide to read them.

hope you all enjoy this chapter. please vote and comment your thoughts. thanks for reading!

love you to the moon. BYE