《Marine World》Nineteen| Be my guest

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Her eyes widen slightly before her body slumps forward. I meet her gaze, finding her blue eyes glassy and wide, their usual light missing.

My hands start to shake. I move them in front of my face, staring at my blood-stained fingers in a daze. Panicked, I start to roll Muriel's body toward the enclosure pool until she rolls right over the ledge.

She hits the water with a sickening splash before disappearing in a wave of blue. My eyes fall on the uniform on the bed, bile already making its way up my throat.

Hurriedly, I strip and jump into the shower, scrubbing at the blood until my skin is red raw. Then I dry myself and get dressed in Muriel's uniform, a layer of sweat on my forehead.

I look at my watch. Thirty minutes left. Thirty minutes to get onto the monorail and back to the parking lot without being caught. I grab my bag, throwing my things inside.

Once in the tunnel, I glance to my right, spotting the employee door Reece had told me not to use. I carry on to the end of the tunnel, still trembling with fear.

The sound of footsteps commands my attention. I freeze, my freedom suddenly slipping from my grasp. The footsteps get closer, forcing me to grip the pair of scissors in my pocket.

I have come too far to give up now, too close to simply turn back, and even if I did, it would be too late. Muriel's body lays floating in the pool. As soon as they found her, they'd be getting rid of me the same way they got rid of Muriel.

An old man walks toward me, wearing a dark navy jumpsuit and a blue cap that shields his eyes from my view. He gives me an easy smile, and I feel my body relax a fraction as he tilts his hat at me.

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"Afternoon, miss," he says as he passes, and I force myself to smile back. He glances at my shirt and frowns. "You should wear your ID on the front of your shirt. Management go crazy, otherwise."

I reach into my pocket and wrap my fingers around Reece's key card, lifting it up while making sure the picture is facing me. "Oh, I know," I say, my voice light. "I was just about to put it on."

He smiles again before carrying on down the corridor. I push on, able to see a set of gray double doors that read Exit. I hold my breath, crossing the distance until both my palms are flat against the doors. I push them open with all my strength, suddenly thrown into bright, blinding sunlight.

I stand still for a moment with my hand to my eyes, trying to shield the light. Guests roam right past me, not having the slightest idea I have just escaped from my enclosure, that I am the same mermaid they've been studying all morning. They talk and laugh with ease in their groups, eating ice creams and drinking from blue cups that say Mertastic on the side.

One guest is wearing a Marine World t-shirt with mine and Crystal's faces printed on the front, and just the sight of it makes me feel as if I am going to keel over. Crystal looks happy in the picture, her eyes bright and a big smile on her face, though I know it isn't genuine. Neither is mine.

I force myself to look away, instead focusing on the water fountain soaking little children in the distance. Water shoots from little holes in the ground, causing the children to squeal in delight whenever it catches them.

It is disorienting how much more there is to Marine World outside of my enclosure. Flowers and buildings I have never set sight upon before, snack stalls brimming with oddly shaped foods. It is as though this alone is a whole other world, and I realize even the world I've been living in has only been a slither of something, a piece.

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I amble down the pathway and veer left in front of a blossom tree, following the small, stone path through a patch of bushes overflowing with little pink flowers. Each plant in the row is even brighter than the last, their petals brushing my arms as I pass.

I want to marvel at it all, to explore the other parts of the place I've called home for so long, but I know both my freedom and Reece are waiting for me on the other side of this park.

I turn slightly, spotting the mermaid enclosure in the distance, the word Merland scrawled above the cave's opening. A small voice tugs at the back of my mind, whispering that the least I can do is say goodbye. At least then the girls wouldn't be wondering whether Marine World got rid of me too.

Without thinking, I head toward it, entering the viewing tunnel until the blue waters of the enclosure surround the glass either side of me, throwing me back into a world of water and coral.

Except this time, I am the guest.

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