Chapter Text
“Are we there yet?”
Evie and nearly everyone else on the car had to suppress a sigh of annoyance as Ondina repeated the question for umpteenth time in less than an hour after they had left the beautiful city of Gold Coast towards Coffs Harbour. Even David, who could receive a Guinness world record for his patience, was about to lose it. The only two who seemed not to break were Rita and Erik.
“Be a bit more patient, Ondina. As I told you last time, is a three-hour ride” David said, eyes locked on the road. Behind him, Carly and Cam gave each other a look.
“$10 bucks that next time she repeats the question, someone makes an ‘Incredibles’ reference” Cam whispered.
“You’re on” Carly accepted with a smirk.
Mimmi, who was sitting by the window, turned her attention outside. She was aware that she needed to apologize to Zac for not respecting his space for the whole reveal, while also wondering what he was doing.
Had he gone on daily swims to clear his head, just like she did?
Had he wondered about their mother? Family?
Mimmi just hoped he hadn’t been foolish enough to reveal his tail to a human. From the three months she had been on land, she knew Zac was not an idiot and knew how to be careful, but if by chance they found him in a position like that, she was sure Ondina and Cam were not going to let him hear the end of it.
Little that Mimmi knew, fate had different plans, and a sudden vision that took over her seemed to confirm it.
“Whoa! Hold on a second!” Amanda said as she and Gigi ran to meet Marissa. “We can’t just run into a person and say ‘I know you are this dude who ran away from home’! We don’t even know where he’s staying! Or if he wants to be found” she added.
“I agree with her on this one” Gigi said.
“Come on girls, I know a little about running away. And if this guy had a good one, I’m not telling my uncle” Marissa said, not slowing down her pace.
“Are you also implying that people have bad reasons for running away?” Amanda asked with skepticism. “Unless you’re counting murder or kidnapping or drug trafficking or anything else that goes against the law, that is.”
“No… well, kind of… I’m just saying that this guy, Zac, could have escaped for a personal reason or somehow other reason. If it’s a personal reason that makes sense, I’m not telling. If not, I got my phone ready”
“I can’t believe this” Gigi muttered as they made it to Coffs Harbour main shopping plaza as Amanda went to inspect a town map.
“Okay, so I chased Gigi from the main beach to this little parchment of land-” the girl said mostly to herself. “I’m not Sherlock, but either he came from the beach houses at the east or somewhere to the west”
“I vote in favor of the west. It’s more deserted” Gigi said as she joined Amanda at looking at the map. “Huh, maybe he found inspiration in Wicked” she said, letting out a giggle.
“I don’t think this guy was listening to ‘Defying Gravity’ while looking where to stay” Amanda said, diverting her attention from the map for a second just to give a skeptical look to the youngest of the group. Gigi simply shrugged and turned to look at Marissa, who looked thoughtful.
“Whatcha thinking?” she asked.
“Thinking of reasons on why would someone would run away without breaking the law” she simply said.
“Well, there’s the obvious: not happy with the family life, home abuse…” Gigi said as she counted with her fingers.
“He didn’t look like a victim of abuse to me, at least physical” Marissa said.
“I agree with Marissa there” Amanda said, eyes still glued on the map as she took out her phone and started taking pictures. “But I also doubt psychological… I’m not an expert, but I believe psychological abuse victims are emotional unstable, have low self-esteem… lest not forget depression” She turned back from the map and together the three friends started walking towards the beach. “But now that I think about it, he did look a bit depressed”
“Thanks Amanda, which leads me to think of another reason for running away” Marissa said.
“Which will be…?” Gigi asked.
“Shock” Marissa said.
“Shock?” Amanda repeated, eyebrows furred in confusion. “How does shock apply to running away?”
Marissa was silent for a minute, a look of sorrow on her face.
“I remember when my mother died, the first thing that I did when they told me the news was to run away from the school grounds. I didn’t have a destination in mind, but I didn’t want anyone talking to me” she said softly. “It’s like you want to run away from the truth”
“Okay, we take your word for it” Amanda said solemn. “So when we find him you’ll know what to say? Or at least recognize?”
“Depends on what he spills, but yeah” Marissa said. “We just need to find him”
“About that” Gigi cut in while she also stopped walking. The older girls turn to look at her, also stopping. “I don’t think we will have trouble finding him. In fact, I don’t even think we’ll need those map pictures or a walk on the west side of the beach”
“Why are you saying that?” Marissa asked, tiding her head to the side. Gigi simply pointed behind them. Amanda and Marissa turned around.
A few meters away from them, Zac Blakely stood staring at the ocean.
“Well, guy that we are looking for suddenly appearing ex-machina” Amanda said to no one in particular.