legs?

The boat travelled on the surface of the water with full speed and on its trail were the vexed sea habitants. Rachel glanced back into the water and saw the blurred silhouette of something like a mermaid and schools of fishes following them behind with inhuman speed.

"Guys we need to get to shore fast!"

"We're almost there." Peter yelled from inside the boat.

The shore was in sight and the sea animals were gaining on them. Everyone had a bad feeling about what was happening, they knew very well it wasn't right but no one had the courage to speak up or even ask Aiden why he wanted to keep the creature. No one knew what was going through his mind as the man was always mysterious.

Jenny, who was tending to her bruised wrist glanced at Aiden who sat still on the floor with the merman in his embrace, holding onto him tightly as if someone would take him away if he let go or he would run away, which was more likely.

The merman seemed to have stopped struggling to get away since he was calmer now. His head hung low with his hair covering a portion of his face and his breath was steady as if he was asleep.

Suddenly, the speed of the boat started to slow down and everyone became alarmed including Aiden. Peter rushed out of the boat and before anyone could ask him anything, he said

"We're here, everyone get off now!"

Peter was the first to disembark the boat followed by Aiden who had carried the merman over his shoulder.

Rachel was about to get off when the boat received another impact causing her to loose her balance. This time, they had successfully made a hole in the boat and water had started seeping in. Rachel stumbled back into the boat as it tilted to the side ready to capsize,

"Ahhhhhh!" She screamed when the boat tilted even more,

"Here Rachel give me your hand!" Jenny called out, leaning in so the other could take her hand.

Meanwhile Aiden, who was still standing there turned to leave since he was getting bored of the rescue scene in front of him. Mitch heard the retreating footsteps and shifted his gaze to the boy.

"What the fuck Aiden are you leaving? We're in this mess because of you, you know that right?!" He yelled at the other.

Aiden smiled slightly and replied, "I'm sure you guys can figure things out." With that, he left without sparing them a second look.

After walking a short distance from the dock, Aiden took out his phone and turned it on to check the time, it was already four in the morning. He sighed, at least it was Sunday... he still had the whole day to rest before going for lectures on Monday.

If all was left to him, he wouldn't have even attended the hotel opening but for the sake of his future and inheriting his father's works, he just had to attend it to expand his connections. 

Feeling the slight movement of the merman on his shoulder, a smile crept on his face- 

At least something good came out from coming here. He thought.

His steps halted when he neared the entrance of the hotel building. Walking into the building would draw too much attention to him so he decided to head back home since it was already dawn.

After contemplating whether or not to inform his father of his departure, he finally settled on leaving without telling him.

He slid his hand into his trouser pocket and pulled out his car keys. Using the morning darkness to hide himself, he maneuvered his way to the parking lot and pushed the button on his car keys.

A waxed red Bentley hybrid beeped open from the distance and he walked up to it and opened the back door. He then gently placed the sleeping merman inside the car in the back seat.

Being out of the water for long the merman was now either asleep or unconscious, either way, he still looked peaceful and beautiful. 

Aiden stared intently at the figure lying under him, his gaze focused on his face before it moved to his upper body... Jenny was right, it's upper body frame was truly that of a male but it wasn't at all built, he looked really fragile.

Enough staring, he had to get back home before the merman dried out.

He got into the car, turned on the engine and drove off.

After driving a few miles away from the beach, he finally arrived at his penthouse. His father had gotten him the apartment when he first entered college because he didn't want to stay on campus.

He took out his key card and placed it over the lock of the door and it clicked open. He walked into his neat, white coated home and headed straight for the indoor pool in the next room after the sitting room.

Without bothering to be gentle this time, Aiden let go of the merman and he fell into the water. He watched the frail looking merman just sink into the bottom of the pool and a scowl appeared on his face.

He heaved a disappointed sigh and was about to leave when he felt a pair of cold clawed hands wrap around his ankle. Before he could react to it, he was pulled into the water by the merman. Without giving him a chance to adapt to the situation, the merman started swinging its webbed claws at Aiden... its movements were swift but its attacks were weak and hardly even reached Aidens skin. When he was finally able to grab the mermans arms when he attacked, he gained the upper hand.

The merman gritted its teeth and tried pulling away, of course aiden was stronger. Considering how immature his attacks were and how weak he was compared to what the myths say, perhaps he was not a fully grown merman but not withstanding, he was indeed a fierce one. 

Seeing as he had no hope in struggling, the merman used the tip of its tail and whipped Aidens calves, leaving a cut behind. His blood seeped out and into the water.

Aiden winced in pain and his sharp masculine features contoured in anger. His grip on the mermans arms tightened causing him to flinch and he pulled him up the water to resurface.

"I've had enough of you." Aiden said in a hoarse voice. The merman tried pulling away again as if sensing danger but aiden was having none of it. He loosened his belt using his free hand and used it to tie the mermans hands together.

He hissed through gritted teeth and tried attacking again with its tail. Aiden caught his tail and stared down at the merman with a narrowed gaze,

"If you don't want me to tie this too, behave."

The mermans whimpered and seemed to have calmed down.

Not trusting the merman to not attack him again, Aiden held onto his tail and stepped out of the water before he released his hold. The merman retreated as if to escape only to realise the water was limited. 

An amused smirk played on Aidens face but was quickly replaced when he suddenly felt dizzy. He looked down at his bleeding calve and gritted his teeth, "fuck." He cursed under his breath... turns out his tail is poisonous. He needed to get this treated. 

"Be a good boy and wait for me till I get back." He instructed. Just in case, Aiden locked down the entire house so the merman wouldn't destroy his things while throwing a tantrum before he left for the nearest university hospital. 

Honestly, he had not thought everything through in that moment, what do mer-people eat? Do they eat fish food like other fishes or do they eat other fishes like predators? Or maybe human food? Do they even know what human food tastes like? Jenny said he was a siren, but sirens eat people, don't they? His singing didn't hypnotise them so maybe he wasn't a siren and was just a normal mermaid.

"Aishh..." Aiden groaned in frustration, his brain was hurting from not sleeping since the last night, he needed his rest. Right now, he would just go and get his wound treated and return home and rest, hopefully his house guest in his pool would let him.

He got to the hospital and seeked out his family doctor to treat him. When she had asked what happened, he told her he was attacked by a fish when they were out on the beach but he didn't know the type of fish... it did sound funny but she had no choice but to believed him.

After explaining his symptoms, she gave him an injection and covered up the cut on his leg and applying ointment on the tiny cuts on his palms before handing him a small sweet and sending him off. He got back to his car and headed back home with an intention to rest.

When he unlocked the door, he noticed that the house was quiet... he had expected to hear the sloshing sound of water as the merman tried to escape but everywhere was silent. With careful steps, he made his way to the door and only when he was close enough did he hear the groaning sounds of the merman who sounded as if he was in pain. Aiden breathed a sigh of relief that he was still there and slowly pushed the door open.

He paused in his tracks when he saw that the young man had loosened the belt and was now out of the water but that wasn't what shocked him, what shocked him was that he now had... legs?!