4 Chapter 2

She peered through her blinds and stared into the sky. The sky seemed blue enough. But she'd been in the Cape long enough not to trust its deceptively calm skies. She opened the window and stuck her hand through it. A chilling wind high fived her. She placed her hand inside the room and closed the window. She grabbed a pink leather jacket to go with her outfit. Her phone vibrated on the table. Rem had just sent her another message telling her not to go near the ocean with her friends. It's not like they were going to touch the icy cold water. They'd watch the ocean from a safe distance behind a rail while eating ice cream. He had nothing to worry about when it came to her. She wasn't as irresponsible as her friends. She had some sense of caution. But she knew Rem would worry nonetheless. She'd sent him a message assuring her and her friend's safety and promised to call him once she was home. That should be enough to calm his anxiety.

Locking the door behind her and activating the alarm, she'd run out of her apartment to her and to campus.

**

Remi paced across Reuben's office. The cardiologist leaned back on his chair with a leg folded over the other. He watched his friend twirl a stethoscope while pacing the small office.

Remi couldn't stop staring at his phone. The whole incident was trending. Twitter has caught whiff of it and now the whole of Cape Town was searching for mermaids and noting strange patterns in the ocean. The whole mythical community did their best to try a debunk the conspiracy theories but Remi knew what humans were like. He knew what South Africans were like. They would never let this go. They will search and look for anything to prove they were right. Even his girlfriend who'd already planned a trip to the beach. They had to come up with something. He had to come up with something.

"Stop pacing, you'll dig a trench." Reuben opened up another file and read the contents.

"How can I stop pacing? My girlfriend is planning to go to the beach and investigate the shimmering water." Remi twirled the stethoscope and played with the clip on his badge.

Reuben got up and took the stethoscope away from him. "Tell her not to." he placed it out of reach from Remi.

Remi paused his pacing then turned to his friend. "Have you actually met a human? They're the most stubborn creatures I've ever encountered."

"I thought you said she was smart and rational."

"She is but she also likes picture perfect landscapes. An ocean shimmering with magic is the perfect picture along with her newest swimming costume."

"In that case why don't you personally take her to the beach and come up with something?"

"She's going with her friends as we speak." Reuben chuckled.

"This isn't funny."

"Weren't you the one that dared the undersea folk to -"

"Now is not the time to assign blame."

"Says the djinn tricking humans into thinking they're the chosen ones to save our world from dark forces."

"Best joke yet. I take full responsibility for that one." Remi snapped his fingers as he thought of a plan. What could easily convince humans of fake news?

Reuben moved his legs from his desk and forced himself up. "I'll round up the gang and you better have a plan. Lunch is in 30 minutes for an hour."

Remi gasped and pointed at him. "Meet me by the beach when lunch starts." he had a plan.

**

After class the three of them piled into an Uber and made their way to the Waterfront. Sari immediately got distracted by the new model of cars that had popped up in the car dealerships. They made the group walk into every car dealership and asked the sales people various questions about the brand, model and engine. Laylah sat outside waiting for her friends. She was afraid of accidentally scratching a car that costs more than her house. Mbilu spent her time asking the sales people if she could take it for a test drive or of any of the cars could be used in a grand prix race. After 30 minutes of looking at cars they could never afford, well Mbilu and Laylah could never afford, they made their way into the mall for ice cream before starting their walk to the beach.

Walking alongside the boardwalk, Laylah kept them entertained with random topics and extra gossip about everything and everyone, Sari brought up inappropriate topics which earned a lot of concerned looks from passerbys who happened to hear the wrong and worst part of the conversation. Mbilu enjoyed this time with them. It had been a while since she'd last spent time with a group of friends like this. She relished the white sun warming her up against the chilly breeze from the sea.

"When last did I go to the beach?" Mbilu sighed content.

"I've never seen such a perfect day." Laylah smiled under the sun.

"Guys, what if we get to the beach and a shark attacks us?" Sari walked in front of the two girls backwards to face them.

"There are two types of people." Laylah shook her head at Sari.

"Bruh don't say that. You know Cape Town is known for their great white shark attacks." Mbilu tapped the gem on her necklace. They walked down the steps leading to the beach.

Once they got the sand, they took off their shoes and walked to the water.

"Guys, let's not forget why we're here. The magical water and the mermaids." Laylah reminded them.

They'd found a spot where the waves wouldn't reach them but they could still be near the water.

"I still say they don't exist. And our eyes are playing tricks." Sari folded their arms. Mbilu unfolded a beach towel and placed her bag on it.

"I just want to see the shimmering water." Mbilu pouted. The rest of the girl's unpacked their things and sat on their towels.

"Ooh, I see a tail." Sari gasped.

"Where?"

The girls looked in the direction they pointed in. Across the bay where the ocean went silent, ripples appeared at the surface. They'd got up and took out their phones. Mbilu brought her phone up and switched on the camera. She looked through the screen of her phone and waited. The beach around them stilled. All passers stopped and stared at the ocean. No doubt everyone had seen the strange video. It was trending across all platforms. We all wanted to know if it was true of not. More ripples appeared on the surface. She placed both fingers on the screen and zoomed into the space. Iridescent scales smoothly glided across the surface. She tried zooming in as much as she could. It couldn't be.

A metallic blue and purple tail broke the surface. She gasped in shock. It had to be a fish, it had to be a seal. Anything but a magical creature. But the tail wasn't setting she'd easily recognise off a menu at a fish market. Maybe it was a species of fish that was endangered and not allowed to be fished. More and more ripples appeared. A splash here and there around the area of ripples. It couldn't be. A trail of hair glided above the surface of water alongside another iridescent tail. She gasped. The whole beach gasped. Beside her, her friends were swearing up a storm. A head broke surface. A man wearing a scuba suit and carrying a waterproof camera popped out of the water and waved.

"CUT!!" the sound echoed across the beach.

She turned towards the sound. A fully setup film crew had situated themselves on the beach. A woman sat on a director's chair next to the cinematographer. A small monitor sat between them as they watched. A sigh resonated from her. It was a film set. They were shooting a mermaid movie. Across the ocean beside the camera man wearing the scuba suit were the actors. All wearing special effects makeup and very real looking tails.

"Bruh, it was a film set." Laylah was the first to break the silence.

"Wow. That's disappointing. I really thought one of us would be kidnapped by these things." Sari added on as usual.

"You are a different breed of humanity." Mbilu commented.

"Thank you. That makes me feel more special." the friends walked back to their spots.

"The day's not wasted though. We are still at the beach." Laylah took off her beach over top.

"I don't think any of us are planning to touch the water." Mbilu shivered at the thought of going near the icy water.

"Relaxing day at the beach then."

"Sweet."