The crowd roared with applause as they watched a little boy swim among the mermaids. It was like a dream come true. They raised their arms and shouted, excited that perhaps they would all swim with mermaids. It was something Moon had never done before in fact. The mermaid festival always persisted but its previous iteration, before the shutdown, was like watching from behind the glass at an aquarium. It had been enough to watch something that didn’t exist outside of dreams, but now each child felt like they could become anything. The music went on and children celebrated, cheering on the boy as he swam towards the top of the bubble then was guided by mermaids in a circular frenzy down towards the center. The boy made eye contact with the crowd and flailed his arms in what looked like to them a jovial manner, so the crowd answered back in woops and hollers.

They had no reason to think the boy was crying for help, why should they? He was the luckiest boy right now in all of Moon. Not one swallowed nervously or asked if he could breathe in water. Surely, he could, this was Moon!

Then the finale. The crowd watched as the boy swished this way and that alongside the mermaids and he no longer seemed to try to get the attention of the them. His body floated still within the water and the mermaids circled him in a slow procession. The head mermaid cradled the boy’s head in her hands and in one movement, kissed him. For a second, the boy didn’t react, then his limbs began moving, jerking around with increased ferocity. The crowd was confused as they watched. The music had stopped and now they could hear the muffled screams of the little boy.

“I-I don’t like this anymore.” a girl said in a whisper.

No one moved, so entrapped by the scene they couldn’t understand. Was it part of Moon? Was this supposed to happen? As a mass mob, no one could make a decision but only looked around, hoping someone or something would tell them what to do. The mermaid pulled away from the boy and a swirl of black ink escaped her lips, floating up and dissolving within the water. Then the boy dropped. He plunged through the bubble and landed a heap on the ground. He was still.

Lily and Chrys couldn’t help but freeze and watch with horror as the boy’s fate unfolded. They had barely broken from the crowd, only a mere few steps from Oliver when he had been yanked up into the bubble. Lily’s heart felt fragile as it pounded harshly in her chest. She felt like she couldn’t breathe as she watched Oliver cry for help. Yet, they could do nothing but watch. Then the mermaid did something to him and he dropped right out, soaking wet and unmoving on the floor.

“O-Ollie...?” Indie said weakly. Lily didn’t know when, but Indie had eventually followed them and was looking with numbed shock at her brother’s body.

Lily tried to move up to Oliver, he could be okay, but Chrys gripped her wrist tight and when she turned to look at him his face was fierce with fear. Oliver’s body began to twitch and he let out a small groan. Some kids from the front of the crowd approached him, poking him with their toes.

“Hey, you okay?” one of them asked.

Oliver let out another groan and flopped over onto his back. Lily couldn’t help but cry out, putting her hands over her mouth. The small group surrounding Oliver froze, unable to shake dread gripping their bodies.

Oliver’s face was pale, so pale his veins were visible across his face. His eyes were wide open, sunken in and a darkened red. He looked as if he hadn’t eaten in days, his skin thinly draped across his bones. His lips barely moved as if he was trying to speak but no words came out. Instead, a thick ooze of black liquid began pouring out the sides of his eyes and down his cheeks. He made no move to cough but let a slow black river of the stuff pour out and onto the ground. His veins began turning a sickly purple with black, what seemed like, bruises blossoming on his skin.

In.....nn-nndie....?

“Oliver!!” Indie sobbed and ran to her brother, collapsing to hold him in her arms. “Oliver- what’s wrong?! I don’t understand what’s wrong!”

Oliver’s eyes slid slowly to look up at Indie.

“Indie, maybe you should back away for now.” Chrys said slowly.

“No, no, no, he’s my brother, no, it’s my fault, I’m sorry, Ollie,” Indie sobbed hysterically, gripping her brother tight in her arms. The other kids squirmed, unsure of what to do, they had only come to check on the boy and now all they felt was the urge to run away or call their parents.

“Maybe Moon can fix him, right?” Lily said, desperation in her voice. Her whole body was on the verge of shaking in a fit. Her mind kept running with one thing, What happened, what happened?

“They have to, they have to fix my brother.” Indie wailed. “Please, help me, I-I can’t carry him!”

Lily exchanged looks with Chrys and she could tell he didn’t want to move from his spot. She gripped the arm holding onto hers.

“Chrys!” Lily yelled. They stared at each other, sweat pouring down their faces.

“...I’ll grab his arms, we’ll take him to an admin.” he finally sighed.

The two turned to help and immediately their plan fell to pieces.

A boy among the first to approach Oliver, had collapsed on his butt, witnessing with horror as Oliver sprawled on top of his sister and sank his teeth into her neck. Indie let out a choked gurgle, flapping her arms against Oliver but unable to move. Black ink splattered onto the collapsed boy’s face as Oliver flung himself off Indie, a chunk of her neck in his mouth turned into dark smoke. The boy shivered, weakly trying to wipe the stuff off his face. Through the smoke, a shadowy figure sat up and turned toward him.

“S-stay away...” he croaked. As the words left his mouth, all he could see were a pair of yellow eyes piercing him, then he was thrown back, his head slamming onto the ground. His face hurt all over and his vision went black.

Someone screamed.