Chapter 10
Another day flew by, and Aiko was sitting on her bed watching the TV (She had finally asked Taekjoo what some things were called.) Seeing all the colors fly past, words accompanying the colours on the screen.
"Aiko," called out Taekjoo.
"Taekjoo," Aiko simply replied, keeping her eyes on the screen.
"Okay… first Aiko, turn that down for me," she turned the TVs sound down, " thanks and what happened to your family? Like when they left the surface and went to water," Taekjoo asked.
And… Aiko didn't know. How was she supposed to know? She was born in the water, and had only just found out that she was able to go on land. Since she didn't know she just simply shrugged.
"I don't know what happened. I was born in the water," She said keeping her eyes glued to the screen, the show was interesting. A few moments passed and Taekjoo finally spoke up again.
"Hey, Aiko wanna come to Korea with me, I can't stay in Japan for much longer," and oh how that hurt.
Aiko moved her attention away from the screen, now focusing on Taekjoo solely, a sullen look crossing her face. She didn't want Taekjoo to leave her home, but then she did technically grow up in Korea… but that's besides the point. Japan is her home, she doesn't wanna leave.
"Why do we have to leave?" She asked, looking down and finding the floor quite interesting, resting her head in her hands, as she put her weight on the bed's footboard.
"I don't want to leave," she then quietly says. Tears building up in her eyes.
When she looked up again Taekjoo was kneeling in front of her, a hand placed on her arm.
"We're gonna have to leave soon, my time here is coming to an end," he then said.
She really didn't want to leave, but she didn't want to be alone either…
"Fine!" She sat up crossing her arms over her chest, letting out a little huff as if she was a child.
Taekjoo slowly stood up and walked back over to his bed picking up the laptop, and doing something on it. After a few minutes he slowly closed the laptop and looked back up.
"Alright, so we leave soon, start packing your things Aiko," he then said, getting up and pulling out a bag, and putting his personal belongings inside of it. Not knowing how humans packed things up she asked,
"Taekjoo… can you pack my things?" Tilting her head to the side like a confused child.
"Yeah sure," he replied, picking up some of her things and putting them away.
Satisfied that her stuff was being packed appropriately, she cast her eyes back to the tv to continue watching her show until they had to leave.
An hour later the two were finally ready to leave. The hotel was clean and tidy. Taekjoo had mentioned he was going to the car to put their things in the boot. While she was waiting for Taekjoo to get back she continued to watch the TV, engrossed with what the people were doing on the screen.
A few minutes later Taekjoo finally finished,
"Hey, Aiko want to get going to the airport?" He asked, leaning on the wall.
She jumped straight up, turning the TV off and walking over to the door. She was honestly getting bored of the TV, the show she was watching becoming very repetitive.
They walked out of the hotel together, Taekjoo going up to the front desk lady and signing out. Once that was done they made it to the car, Aiko hopping in the passenger seat and Taekjoo hopping in the drivers seat.
The car ride was peaceful, the hum of the car's engine and the other cars on the road being the only noise.
They arrived at the airport in record time, checking their bags in and being checked over by security. Boarding the plane was an experience, although it was, it all went smoothly. Once in the air, Aiko couldn't stop leaning over Taekjoo to look out the window, the view was gorgeous. The ocean looked even better than what she could ever imagine. All in all she was amazed by how humans could get such a view of the ocean.
2 hours after they first boarded the plane, they were getting off. Getting off the plane went off without a hitch, Aiko getting distracted by things every now and then but always getting pulled back on track by Taekjoo grabbing her arm and pulling her along. Soon enough they reached Taekjoo's house.
Once inside, Aiko was immediately assaulted. Being pushed to the ground, and having her hands forcefully pulled behind her back. She tried to break free, but the hands holding her down were strong. She could hear and feel Taekjoo yell at the people and trying to get them to let go of her, but it was fruitless.
Soon she felt Taekjoo move away and a voice spoke up.
"Welcome back, Taekjoo," came the voice, she couldn't see what the person looked like, but from the voice she knew it was a guy.
"What are you doing!" Yelled Taekjoo as a reply. And that was when the people holding her down pulled her up harshly, and iron tight grip on her lower arms, where some weird metal was keeping her hands tied together behind her back.
The men pushed her forward towards where Taekjoo and the other man were.
"Taking in who you were meant to find," Said the man she didn't know, and what was that supposed to mean? The men kept pushing her forward, pushing her away from Taekjoo and the strange man who she was going to name 'fuck face' after Taekjoos favourite word.
She continued to struggle, being able to look behind her for a short moment to see Taekjoo's face. A mix of many emotions crossed his features, fear, anger, resentment, and even sadness. That was all she got to see before she was shoved forward once more and out the door they first came through.
"Taekjoo!" She yelled, she had no idea if he even heard her. Before she knew it she was being shoved into the back of some black car, being taken away from Taekjoo. What were they going to do to her? Why did they take her? Was this what Taekjoo wanted to do with her? Take her away from her home, and then hand her off to these guys so they can do whatever they wanted with her?
Her thoughts were interrupted when the car jolted to life, and they rolled away. She shuffled over to the small window, peering out, watching as Taekjoo's house got smaller and smaller. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as they went around a corner. She was now officially alone.
The car ride was long. So painfully long that Aiko's legs and arms started to cramp. Who knew where they were going? Were they going to skin her alive? Would they experiment on her?
God,
Who knew what they were going to do with her. Anxiety rose in her gut, sinking in and taking root in her rib cage.
The car suddenly stopped. She could barely hear the people outside the car talking, and that unsettled her. She had great hearing if she was being honest, and not being able to hear outside the car was new. Had they done something to the car? Or had they done something to her already?
The lone door at the back of the car flung open, and her eyes darted to the door. Not having a moment to comprehend what was happening, hands wrapped around her arms and dragged her out of the car. A small yelp escaped her lips as she hit the ground hard, the concrete scrapping her knees as she was once again dragged up by her arms and pulled along against her will.
She tried to wiggle her way out but their grip was too strong for her to break out of. Finding it fruitless to keep trying, she gave up and let the men take her to wherever they were keeping her.
They walked for a while, Aiko noticing that the outside of the building was very plain. Having no signs of life besides the few workers walking from one building to another or the security guards standing at their post around the perimeter of the property.
They walked past many buildings until they came across what she assumed to be where they were keeping her. The inside of this building was as boring as the outside of it, the only colour present on signs leading to different rooms.
After some more walking around the bland corridors they finally reached their destination. A heavy steel door with heaps of padlocks, led to where they needed to go. The two men exchanged a look and one moved to unlock the door, while the other grabbed her free arm and applied more force than necessary.
Once the door was open, she peered inside and saw a small bed, toilet and sink. She also noticed that the room seemed very small, even smaller than the hotel room where she and Taekjoo stayed at. Before she knew it the handcuffs around her hands were removed and she was being shoved into the room. She fell to her knees and landed on the floor with a loud thud. Turning around to stare at the door being closed on her.
Realizing that she was going to be left alone for the first time since she read the letter from her father, she ran to the door to hopefully push it back open but it was too late, as when she reached the door she heard the tell tale sign of one of the doors many locks being locked.
She banged on the door out of frustration, eventually tiring herself out and sliding down against the door in defeat. She was trapped, all alone, and had lost her only guide to the human world. She could feel her eyes stinging as she bought her knees up to her chest, crying into them with all the energy she had left.
She cried for god knows how long, before she moved over to the small bed in the corner of the room. Once she sat down on the bed, she realised that it was nowhere nearly as comfortable as the bed she had slept in in the hotel. It was nearly as uncomfortable as sleeping on a large rock, but nonetheless it was better than what she was used to so she flopped down and closed her eyes. Sleep took her under not too much later.
When Aiko woke she was met with a bowl of food placed next to the door. She rubbed her eyes of sleep and sat up. Once up she stretched her arms above her head, hearing a crack she lowered her arms back down. Once she finished stretching she moved over to the bowl slowly, picking it up gingerly as if it was the most precious thing in the world. Inside the bowl was just some plain rice, nothing elaborate, but from what Aiko could tell from this place already was that this was probably going to be some of the best food she will most likely eat during her time in this strange place.
She picked up the chopsticks that were placed next to the bowl and walked over to the bed and sat down, eating the rice slowly. Once she finished eating her rice she took a proper look around the room she was in. All the walls were painted plain white, sort of like the walls in the hospital where she first met… Taekjoo. Her mind paused as tears stung her eyes, reminding her that she was alone.
After a few moments she slowly stopped crying. Once she stopped she moved so her back could rest against the wall. Once she was comfortable she let her mind wander, memories from her childhood, her father, even her mother played in her mind but each thought always led back to Taekjoo.
God,
What was he even doing? Was he worried? Was he scared? Was he even looking for her? She shut her thoughts down. Of course Taekjoo was worried. Of course he was scared. Of course he was…
She was snapped out of that line of thinking as she heard the click of one of the many locks on the door. Drawing her eyes away from the wall she starting at, she looked across the room to where the door was. Waiting in anticipation as she finally saw the door move. On the other side of the threshold was a man in a very expensive suit and next to him the two people from yesterday? next to him. Before she could even ask what was going on the man in the suit spoke.
"Aiko right?" he asked, stepping into the room. The other men followed close behind. Aiko hesitantly nodded instinctively trying to move away. This man screamed of danger, her instincts begged for her to sing and run away, but the fear inside of her prevented her from doing so.
"I've heard a lot about you Aiko," the man said as he looked Aiko up. Eyeing her up and down, as if he was looking at an animal in a zoo.
"Would you happen to know where your father is, Miss Aiko?" He then asked, moving his hands behind his back.
Aiko froze, she did and didn't know where her father was. But did she really want to say that to this man? Contemplating on what she would reply with for a few moments, she decided that she would tell the semi truth.
'No," the man's demeanor changed instantly. He made a motion with his hand and the men next to him moved towards her, handcuffs in hand. Not wanting to have to feel the handcuffs again she bottled up and waited till the men got close enough that she could jump over them and run out the door.
Once the men were nearly close enough to touch her she shot up and jumped over the two men, successfully landing behind them in a crouch. But before she could get up she felt something cold pressed against her head. She glanced up and immediately froze. The man in the suit had a gun pointed at her head, a look on his face said for her to not make a move. She continued to stare at the man as she felt the handcuffs being placed around her wrists, fighting the urge to struggle.
Once the handcuffs were secure around her wrists was when the gun finally moved away from her head. The man let out a small chuckle and he placed the gun back in the holster of his belt.
"Seems like he taught you the importance of a gun," said the man. He turned around and flicked his wrist beckoning for them to follow. Aiko, having no choice but to follow, followed. Her eyes darted around trying to take note of her surroundings. Maybe if she remembered she could escape later.
They walked for a little bit until they reached a room surrounded in glass. Once again not having time to process what was going on, she was shoved into the room. This time she hit the ground with a small thud, the collision aggravating the scrapes on her knees. She let out a small wince as she stood up, the scrapes burned but she pushed through.
Once she was up she spun around in the room slowly, she was surrounded by glass on all sides. On the other side of three of the walls were all the same, lots of people dressed in all white. Some were wearing some weird clear thing on their face, it was odd, why would someone wear something like that?
Once she was done examining the weird people, she finally noticed they were all staring at her. Some in curiosity, some in disbelief, and some with a mad glint in their eyes. Those ones sent a chill down her spine. She continued to look around the room, casting her gaze down to the floor, where she noticed that the floor had moved to reveal small grates under some of the tiles. She then looked towards the door she had been pushed through, it was sealed tight. As if the room were to be filled with water absolutely none would escape.
Wait…
Wait…
Before the panic could fully set in, the man in the suit pressed a large red button on a table full of buttons. The room instantly started to fill with water.
As the water touched her ankle she let out a little squeak, the water was so cold. Colder than normal ocean water. She cast her gaze back towards the man, glaring at said man. The more she glared the more she recognised the man, then it clicked, it was fuck face. Her face contorted into a scowl at the realization, she had only just met this person and she instantly hated them.
Once she deemed she had glared at fuck face enough she looked back down to where the water was now at her waist. Was he really going to fill this room all the way up with water? She cast a look at the man, a smug look on his face like he had already won. And if Aiko was going to be honest he probably had.
"Come on fishy," he drawled sauntering over so he was right in front of the glass, "Don't make this harder than it has to be, we all want to see you," and oh that made Aiko angry, no furious.
She sent another glare towards the man before turning away, looking back down at the water rising higher and higher.
"It's either you turn or you drown. Your choice," fuck face said a smirk crossing his features.
A shiver ran down her spin at that. She really, really, really didn't want to turn in front of this man… but she also really didn't want to drown, it would feel like she betrayed her ancestors if she did drown, so turning it was. But wanting to make fuck face suffer a little bit she would wait untill the room filled up fully, then hold her breath for as long as she could, then turn.
With her plan in mind she looked back towards fuck face, doing a hand gesture she'd seen Taekjoo do when he was angry at someone. She stuck her middle finger up and poked her tongue out.
She must have done the gesture right as a scowl crossed his features, he visibly huffed and turned away, taking a seat behind the large table covered in numerous buttons and switches.
Realising that it would take a little bit for the room to fill up, she started to walk around in circles until she had to resort to treading water.
Aiko had to admit, trying to stay afloat with legs was hard, how did humans do this? She looked back over to fuck face, a smug look on his face. Before she could wonder why he was looking smug, her head hit the roof of the room. She didn't hit it too hard but she instinctively let out a small wince, moving one of her hands to her head to rub at it before she felt herself start to sink and decided against it.
A few more minutes and she would have to hold her breath.
A few minutes passed and she could no longer keep her head above the water. Taking a deep breath she pushed off the roof so she could sink and sit at the bottom of the room (tank?) She had no idea how long she could hold her breath for, as she never had to see if she could, but she must have been able to hold her breath for longer than the average human as she saw fuckface walk up to the glass and yell.
"Just transform already you fucking fish!" he bung his closed fist against the glass. The vibrations vibrated through the water hurting her ears. She winced as she bought her hands up to her ears, trying to cancel out the vibrations.
Fuck face continued to bang on the glass for what felt like forever, untill he must have noticed it wasn't working, or he noticed something Aiko must of havent. Aiko figured it was something she must have not noticed as a sadistic smile made its way onto his face. It was then that she realised she was running out of air.
With the last of the air she blew out a bunch of bubbles, and once they dissipated she flipped up both her middle fingers towards fuck face. Once she saw his slightly offended look she transformed into her mer form.
Bubbles surrounded her as her legs merged together to become her beautiful blue tail, the webbing between her fingers became more prominent, and her ears returned to their natural webbed state.
Once she finished transforming she cast a mean glare in fuck faces direction, hoping to unsettle him, but it had no affect, his face had once again dawned the sadistic smile once again. At the sight a shiver ran down Aiko's spine. That was not what she wanted to see.
Feeling a bit downhearted she floated down to the bottom of the room? Tank? And folded her tail underneath her. The tiles felt weird against her tail, not a bad weird, just weird. The room looked weird, full of water, things outside the glass slightly disoriented, not enough to throw Aiko off but enough to look strange.
Her thoughts were cut off by a low chuckle, she turned towards the noise and was met with Fuck face staring at her like she was the most interesting thing he had ever seen. It confused her, hadn't Taekjoo worked for this man? Yeah he did… so he surely would have seen what a siren looked like?
Right?
"Your different," Fuck face said, a mad gleam in his eye. A shiver ran down Aiko's spine, this did not feel right, "You're not fully a siren are you?" he drawled inching closer to the glass.
Even though he could not touch her because of the glass she scooted back and pressed up against the far side of the room, a sense of fear taking root in her stomach, said roots digging in painfully.
"You'll be fun, can't let you go, can we?" he laughed, not a joyful laugh you would hear a child laugh as they won the stuffed animal they wanted from a claw machine, no. It was the laugh of a mad man. Another shiver ran down Aiko's spine, this was not good. She was stuck and couldn't turn back or she would 100% drown, and that option was off the table. She had to make it back to Taekjoo, she just had to. He had shown her the human world, although reluctantly at first, he did, and that's all that mattered. He did when no one else would have. He showed her kindness, although in his own weird way, but he had.
Warmth spread through her chest, Taekjoo was still out there and he would come for her. She knew it, felt it deep in her bones.
Taekjoo would come.
Taekjoo will come.
"What are you?" Fuck face suddenly asked, his face devoted of emotion.
And what a weird question that was. She pondered on her answer for a moment before she decided she wanted to be annoying.
"A living being," she curtly replied, crossing her arms over her chest. An annoyed expression crossed fuck face's face. Bingo.
"Yes, yes I know. But you know what I ment," frustration leaking into his voice.
Oooooh, Aiko was going to love this.
"Did I," she questioned, tilting her head to the side in mock confusion. She could see Fuck face's face slowly turn red. She was going to milk this for as long as she could, it was too funny to pass up on.
Fuck face banged on the glass hard. A squeak slipped past Aiko's lips as she bought her hands up to cover her ears. The vibration once again rang in her ears.
Fuck face let out a sigh as he dragged his hand through his hair, a deafted but deterimed look in his eye as he looked back at Aiko.
"Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way," he said, a smirk donning his lips.
Aiko was confused. He had another way of figuring out what she was? Her eyes must have shown her curiosity as his smirk grew. He waved his hand and the other people behind the table pressed a bunch of buttons.
As they were pressing the buttons she could hear metal clanking and some other sound she couldn't put her finger on.
As the sounds got louder she realised what the other sound was.
Water, or some other liquid. She didn't know.
Soon a pink substance snaked its way though the vents where the water had first come from. She observed the pink from her spot away from the vents. I crept closer to her, once it was close enough to touch she held her hand out to touch the substance.
Once her hand touched the pink stuff, she pulled her hand back fast.
It Burned.
She cradled her hand towards her chest like a mother who was shielding her baby from something bad. She turned to look in the direction of Fuck face when a sharp pain shot through her tail. She darted up fast, hitting her head on the roof. She looked back down to see the pink substance had covered the bottom of the room.
"Make it faster," she heard Fuck face say, to busy watching the pink substance rise slowly to look in his direction.
A few seconds later the pink substance burst upwards clouding the entire room in pink. It surrounded Aiko fully, burning every part of her. She let out an inhumane scream as the burning intensified. It burned so bad she hadn't even realized that she was laying on the ground, curled up in a tight ball, as if that was going to stop the pain.
She had no idea how long she was curled up on the floor for, before she uncurled herself and looked up, the pink substance was gone, but a haze covered her eyes. She could feel her body start to shut down and drift off into sleep. She tried to fight it but her mind was hazy, her body wouldn't listen to her. She could feel her eyes start to droop.
No! She couldn't go to sleep, she just couldn't!
She tried to keep her eyes open, but it was fruitless. Her eyes slowly drooped shut, the last thing she remembered was fuck face speaking,
"Welcome to your new home."