The Exo Experiment -Wolf Within Book 2-

Chapter 22... Under The Sea

"We were interrupted early so I didn't get to show you my transformation." He stepped into the water. "I have the ability to grow a fish tail or keep my legs."
"You really are a merman."
"You coming into the water. Sure but uh, I can't breathe under water."
"Don't worry about that. I know what to do." You took off your shirt but kept your white T-shirt on. You looked at your jeans then decided the best thing to do was turn them into shorts. You ripped the pants legs from the bottom up to a satisfying length, then ripped the excess fabric off. You took of your shoes and socks. You stepped into the cool water. He grabbed your hand. "Come on in." You swam out a bit. "Let's go under." He said. You held your breath and ducked your head under water. The water was so clear. You could see the ocean floor with no problem. "Watch me." Gabe said. He transformed his feet into a fish tail. You gasped amazed then began to choke. Gabe swam up to you and kissed you, breathing air into your lungs. You stared at him wide eyed very, very surprised. He leaned back "Hold your breath better next time." He said with a smile. He swam to the bottom and picked up a blue sea shell. Gabe showed it to you. He then blew on the top of creating a bubble of air. He held the bubble and stuck it to your mouth and nose. "Breath
(y/n)." You sucked in a salty breath of air. He laughed. "You can now breath under water. But that bubble only works under water. If you go up to the surface, it'll pop instantly."
"Wow." You said amazed.
"Okay so my sister likes to hang around at the bottom where sharks and rare seashells are. It's like on top of a dormant volcano. She loves to collect them and hiding them under layers in the volcano." He looks at the Shell he's holding. "Actually this is one of hers. I'm surprised she left it here where anyone could find it." You felt your heart sink.
"We should hurry and find her."
"Do you think something happened to her?" He asked. "You can never be too sure."
He led you through the sea. "All these different kinds of fish."
"This right here is where all the fish meet and pass each other by. The reefs over there always have a new fish living in them. Over there you see that huge sandcastle?"
"Yeah?"
"My sister and I built that when we were younger. Kind of like building a bird house for birds only this is a fish house… for fish." You both laugh. "This is so cool."
"We spent most of our free time down here as children. We still do." He swims under a loop made of sand. "Over here is a seahorse birthing ground. Oh look!" At that moment a male seahorse started giving birth to tiny baby seahorses. "They're so cute."
"Can you believe that male seahorses give birth and not females? That's still so werid to me." He said. You nod "It is different."
"Come on, we're almost there."

***
"This fog is strange." Gabe said as you two swam through a thick fog. As you went through it you knew it wasn't fog, it was smoke. You covered your mouth. "Keep your mouth closed Gabe. This isn't fog, it's smoke." Gabe didn't speak. You could see the grip on the conch shell tighten. You made it through the smoke and came to a clearing. Broken shiny shells covered the floor. Dead sharks floated around. The volcano was smoking. "The volcano" Gabe said swimming faster "it's active." You examined it. Thank God you thought. "It's not active but I think it was shot at."
"Shot at?"
"Yeah like someone hut with something strong enough to damage it."
"Good." He looked around. "Gabriella?" He called. "My sister's not here." He touched one of the dead sharks. "Sharktales." He mumbled.
"What?"
"This was her favorite shark. His name was Sharktales, he was named after that cartoon fish movie." He pet the shark. A few times. "What happened?" He whispered. He rested his head against its side. You decided to let him have his moment and looked round to find  any clues. Something was buried under the sand. You dug it up. You gasped and backed away. It was the robot that tried to kill you. It had begun the rust.  There was a hole in its chest. "I didn't do that."
"We need to go now." Gabe grabbed your hand and swam to the surface as fast as he could. "Gabe-" you broke through to the surface and felt the bubble pop. He pulled you to the beach. It was night time now. "I know what happened down there." He said. "We need to get to your-" he stopped and stared at the beach. "What's wrong?" You looked at the beach. "Who is that?" you asked. "Gabriella."

To be continued…