(Ocar refused to take this chapter so Hice got shoved into the POV. Yes, he's pissed about it.)
Hice-
It wasn't hard to figure out that something was going to happen. Specifically what, I couldn't be sure, but it was obvious that someone was creeping around the outside of the house over the past week. I would have been shocked if it wasn't one of the director's people, but they never came close enough for me to figure out the specifics.
"You're worrying again." Fri whispered from where he was held tightly in my arms on the sofa.
I ignored him at first, but couldn't help looking down at his own large worried eyes after only a few moments. "You cannot help." I said, not wanting to lie and tell him that there was nothing to worry about. He was still weak, though getting better, but either way, he would not be useful if something dangerous did happen.
Huffing, Fri squirmed in my arms until I reluctantly let him stand. He'd been doing better, but I still didn't trust him to do much on his own. In fact, before he got halfway to the kitchen I was on my own two feet, following after him.
I stepped in front of him as he reached for the fridge, then nudged him over to stand near the counter. "Hold onto it." I told him as I took out some fish for him.
"Not unless you eat, too." He said, reminding me that I hadn't since yesterday. Food just didn't sit well with me the past few days, but I knew that he wouldn't listen unless I agreed. That was the one thing he had over me; himself.
Growling, I pulled out a small piece of salmon and added it to the ones I'd already set out on a plate. I set the plate in the microwave for thirty seconds, since the fish wasn't frozen, then turned to lean against the counter where he was. The humans had all gone to work besides Oliver, who was asleep in the room Micah was using, so when I heard a faint noise from outside, but no one ended up coming inside, I gestured for Fri to get down to the floor. Ocar was still likely inside, as well as Kipper, too, but I didn't want them in the way. Ocar was better off guarding his human and Kipper was useless in general... unless the little bastard had a gun.
"Someone's here again." I stated as I walked to the entrance to the kitchen.
From there, I looked out toward the pool area. Unsurprisingly, I saw a human pressed up against the wall. Props for getting inside the screen without me hearing you. Unfortunately for you, you're going to die now.
Stalking toward the glass, I yanked the door to the side, snapping the lock with ease. The man jumped, not expecting me, I'd guess. I knew that it was hard to see through the glass during the morning with the glare from the sun, and had gladly used it to my advantage.
Of course, he had easily seen and heard me breaking the door, but I was fast enough in getting to him and snatching the gun from his hand for that to matter. "Morning." I greeted with a raised eyebrow.
The man's face went completely white and I smirked, recognizing him as one of the director's personal guards and hit men. "He's got you going after fish now, Frank? What a blow to your self esteem this must be."
When he didn't respond, I narrowed my eyes and began lifting the gun to his head. Too bad he wasn't very good at his job. "Thanks." I noted as I saw his eyes flinch to the right, looking at something behind my shoulder.
Without a second thought, I grabbed him by the throat and yanked his body around right before the sound of a gunshot rang out. His body jerked, then went limp, making me whistle with appreciation.
"Nice shot." I noted as I jerked the gun in my free hand up, then shot the other man who had fired from beyond the pool screen on the opposite side of the patio.
My bullet hit him well enough, dropping the man with a loud scream. It probably wasn't fatal, unless he bled out. Hm. Parker won't like coming home to two dead men bleeding in his backyard. Sucks for Parker. Shrugging, I dropped the dead man I was still holding and after switching the safety on for the gun, set it down on one of the chairs they left outside.
"Stay inside, Fri."
Of course you'd ignore me and come see what was going on.
Shaking my head after sending him a glare from where he stood a few feet inside the home, I stalked through the large hole the now-dead man had cut in the screen and headed for his friend, silently thankful that I at least had shorts on. As if the dead man wouldn't cause enough of a scene if someone happened upon us. I didn't need to add being naked to the situation. He was clearly still alive when I stopped next to him, though, and surprisingly awake, too.
"I don't appreciate being shot at. I believe you humans find it rude, so why do it to something that can easily kill you?" I asked, kicking him in the side I'd shot him in because I felt like it. These idiots had been stalking us for days. I needed to take a little bit of my anger out and unfortunately, his friend was already dead, so that task fell on his shoulders.
"We were sent here as a warning, Hice." The man gasped, making me dig my foot into his side again. I wonder how hard I have to kick him to make him black out.
When he went limp, I frowned. "Done already?"
"I hope you've said your goodbyes to your little friend, because you're all going to die soon." The man said, barely whispering as blood began to come out of his mouth.
Little friend?
Jerking my head up, I looked toward the house. "Fri! Get out here now!" I yelled.
My heartbeat picked up every second I didn't see him, but after a few moments he stumbled outside. I saw him jump, startled by the dead man I'd left, then hop over the blood likely pooling on the ground to make his way toward the cut hole in the screen. Ocar was right behind him in a pair of loose shorts. He looked wild and had several marks around his shoulders and neck, but I wasn't going to even think about what, or who, they were from.
Satisfied that Fri was fine, I glared back down at the man near my feet. "Well, my little friend is perfectly fine, human."
The man laughed, spraying blood before coughing some into the grass. "You really are just a stupid fish." The man forced out.
"Enough of this!" I yelled as I leaned down and grabbed his ankle, then began dragging him back toward the house. He struggled to grab at the grass, but he was already half dead.
Without a second thought, I threw him into the saltwater pool, grinning the whole time he squirmed on his way down to the bottom as the salt burned in his wound.
"That's unsanitary." Ocar noted as he watched, completely uninterested in trying to help the human.
When the man stopped struggling, I turned to Fri and pulled him into my arms with a frustrated growl. No one threatens what belongs to me.
"It would have helped if we knew what they were here for." Ocar added, looking up at me.
"What do you think? They clearly wanted to have a picnic." Mellac said as he leaned against the broken patio door, scratching at the line his boxers cut across his waist.
Wait, he was here the whole time?
"I can't say I'm surprised you didn't come out when you heard the gunshot." I stated.
Mellac just shrugged and yawned. "I figured I'd let you have your fun. If you died, then I would have gotten out of bed."
Wait.
"So you only came out here because you were hoping I was dead so that you could have a turn to play?" I growled.
When he just grinned, I thought about adding his body to the corpse at the bottom of the pool, but Fri wrapped his arms around my chest, keeping me still. Rolling my eyes, I put one of my hands on top of Fri's head, then blew out a breath to keep calm.
"I don't think we're going to be safe here anymore." Ocar said, taking the words right out of my mouth. Yes, the two humans sent after us had been idiots, but it only takes one lucky idiot with a gun to get the job done.
"We need to go to the Cal-Waves facility and end this." I said as I walked out of Fri's arms, taking his wrist before heading inside. "The director is there. I know for a fact that he returns each night after working at the hospital in town."
"I'd rather not waste my time in that place again." Mellac mumbled on another yawn as he began heading toward his and Jay's shared room.
"I guess you can just enjoy thinking about the look that will be on your human's face when you end up dead, then. Because the director won't stop until he has the bodies he wants for his experiments. With the females gone due to some weird tracking problem with their chips from what he's said, he's given up on breeding. He wants us now, dead or alive. But Preferably, dead."
Mellac scowled at me, but I didn't care what he did. We were likely evenly matched, though I knew Ocar would probably help him over me in a fight.
"Why would he want us dead? There is more to study with a live mer." He asked, not understanding.
Biting my tongue on a curse, I tugged Fri back into my arms out of habit and growled. "Because, human rules are much simpler with a dead thing. There is no upkeep such as health or wellness, for a corpse. The only thing he'd likely have to prove is that he didn't cause our death... which wouldn't be hard for him."
"Come to think of it." I added, looking at Ocar. "That's probably why he let you out. I wouldn't be surprised if he had sent someone there to try and kill you, or at least make you sick. He must have gotten tired of trying to kill you and just decided to get us all together for something big."
Ocar crossed his arms over his bare chest and glanced out to the pool area before returning his attention to me. "So those two men?"
I scoffed. "Idiots. They might be useful against humans, but considering how they came at us, he didn't intend for them to be of any use. I bet we just killed them for him so that he didn't get his hands dirty."
"So, does that mean he's going to try and lock us up again for what you just did?" Ocar asked, a hint of worry sneaking into his voice.
I laughed outright at him. "No. That was a waste of his time from the beginning. He's going to come get us if we don't go after him." I said.
"Then we need to go find him." Ocar said with a tired sigh as he ran a hand through his messy hair.
When I nodded, Mellac growled and turned toward the hallway. "I'm not dealing with this right now. Talk to the humans. I will do what mine wants and help my brother, and that is it."
Before we could reply, he was gone.
"I suppose it would be best to wait. Even if we leave, the humans will probably send someone after us or try to get us themselves. Or, at least, you." I said, feeling a slight hint of frustration from that statement for some unknown reason.
Nodding, Ocar turned toward the patio. "Alright. As soon as everyone is home we'll decide what we're going to do and probably get right to it if they aren't tired, since waiting too long is clearly going to be dangerous. Can you keep an eye on outside? With the back door broken and a hole in the screen, we need to be more careful until we're out of here."
Was already going to keep watch, like I have been.
"Yeah." I mumbled as I headed for the kitchen and he headed outside, likely to at least clean up the blood. Grabbing mine and Fri's fish, I passed him the plate before tugging him into my lap on couch. He curled into me immediately and nibbled at the pieces of fish I tore off for him, but I knew that he was likely not going to eat much tonight after what had happened.
Don't blame you.
"Get some rest." I whispered when he had finished only one piece of fish and refused to pay any attention to the others.
"Not until you eat." He said while yawning. I could easily outlast him until he fell asleep, but... Rolling my eyes, I grabbed the piece I'd gotten for myself and ate it in a few bites. When his lips turned up into a smile at that, I reluctantly grabbed the other two and downed them, too.
They sat like rocks in my empty stomach, but when he snuggled in against me with a soft "Thank you," I realized that I was fucking whipped, and couldn't do a damn thing about it.