Deleted Scene: Bad Neighborhood

Here is a familiar scene that will never see the light of publication. This was when Calder first came into play to the other characters. Chasing them down and giving them a scare.

A bad neighborhood was an understatement. Marie and Dorian sat still in the car, staring at the rundown buildings that surrounded them. She gripped tightly to the steering wheel as though it were her only source of protection. Around them she could see different forms of gang activity trying to hide themselves in the nearby allies. There were a couple of guys in hoodies passing along drugs to each other, trying to look as discreet as possible. On another street, there was a guy trying to sell a hand gun to a couple of teens. Out of all the neighborhoods to live in; out of all the streets to live on, she had to choose this one! Swallowing hard, Marie had every intention of pulling out of her parallel park and getting out of there as fast as possible.

“Marie…” The sound of Dorian’s voice made her jump in her seat. “I’m scared,” he confessed.

“Me too,” Marie agreed, flexing her fingers on the wheel. The young woman watched the teens, trying to get an idea of how threatening they actually were. Most of them were on the other side of the street, paying more attention to each other than her. Then again, she did fear for her poor car. It was a red mustang after all and all ready there were some people eyeing it up. Marie had a feeling she was never going to see her baby again. Her head dropped upon the top of the wheel with a moan.

“What’s wrong now?” Dorian wondered in concern.

“I’m going to lose my baby,” Marie lamented, caressing her dashboard. “I just know it! Those thugs there are going to hotwire her, or steal her for parts or… something.”

“Huh?” The merman replied in puzzlement and even looked around for this ‘baby’ that she was talking about.

“The car, Dorian,” Marie said a little peevishly. Sighing heavily, the young woman let herself out of the car. “Oh well, it was my idea to go see Ariel; might as well take the risk.” While Dorian was also coming out on the other side, Marie threw herself upon the car’s hood. “I’m going to miss you! You were the best baby I’ve ever had!” she cried.

Her brother stood watching in confusion, not understanding the importance this piece of machinery held for her. After getting her possible last good byes out of her system, she got off the car and locked it. It took some internal effort on her part to leave the car behind, knowing that chances were high that she was never going to see it again. Dorian followed after her, “How is that… thing your baby?”

“It’s a human thing,” Marie replied quickly, certainly not in any mood to talk about it. Before Dorian could even think to inquire further, the young woman added, “Don’t ask.” Stuffing her hand into a pocket, Marie dug out and unfolded the paper with the address written upon it. There was only so far they could go to park the car and so they would have to walk the rest of the way. A sigh left her again.

A lot of the buildings looked the same, run down, falling apart and unstable. They had to find a specific apartment out of all these places that looked like the other. It was going to be a long day and Marie didn’t want it to be too long. The sooner they find Ariel and get the tool, the sooner they could make their get away with her car intact. Marie and her brother hadn’t been walking for very long down the sidewalk when Dorian moved himself to walk closer to her. “Something wrong?” Marie wondered of the merman.

“Yeah,” Dorian said, speaking softly. “There are about five males behind us. They came out from a dark place and have been following us since. What do we do?”

She glanced back with her eyes and sure enough there were five men following them. They ranged in ages but most were in the middle. Strange that there would be people like that in a gang, however, they didn’t look like much of a gang. Their clothing did not match with one another, no bandanas, or anything gang related. Strange, however, they were still stalking them either way. Swallowing, her mind began to race on her defense classes.

“Marie,” Dorian hissed as the group behind them was beginning to pick up the pace a bit.

Not knowing what else to do, Marie yelled the first thing that came to mind, “RUN!”

Almost in unison, the siblings broke into a run, fleeing down the sidewalk as the unknown gang chased after them. Afraid that this would happen, Marie scanned the area for an escape route. She could hear the echo of many shoes smacking against the concrete, growing louder and louder. Dorian wasn’t the fastest at running and was beginning to return to his less graceful steps again. Snagging him by the arm, Marie pulled him into an ally, heading for the first fire escape she could find. Grabbing hold of the first bar of the ladder, she pulled it down as fast as she could and clambered up with Dorian close behind. The strangers tried to grab at the merman, but he had managed to make it up and yank the ladder back up again with Marie’s help.

Having bought some time, the siblings began to climb up further on the fire escape. However, Marie knew that the ladder was only going to hold the group back for so long. “Why are they chasing us?” Dorian gasped when they reached the roof, running across to get to the other fire escape.

“I don’t know!” Marie screamed. “Just don’t give them a chance to catch us!”

Their feet pounded heavily against the cement roof as they headed for the other side. Marie pulled herself over and dropped down to the top landing on the fire escape with a responding clang. Dorian stopped, leaning against the side of the roof, panting heavily. His chest was heaving to bring air into a, still recovering, body. “Marie… I can’t…” Dorian wheezed.

Marie stopped herself from going down the ladder and came back up to fetch her brother. “Dorian, don’t do this now, you need to hang on,” she insisted. She held his face and got him to look at her. “We need to run! Come on!” Reaching out, Marie helped the former merman to swing one leg and then the other over the ledge and drop down beside her. Taking the teen by the hand, Marie urged him forward.

He followed the best he could down the ladder steps, one level to the next, breathing rapidly. The only thing that was keeping Dorian going was what adrenaline he had left in him. Quickly, they headed for the bottom level only to run into another problem just before the ladder. A group of different men arrived on the scene, just as threatening as the first. Marie turned away to go back up, pushing Dorian around to get him moving the other direction. “Back up! Go! Go! Go!” she screamed.

It hadn’t taken long for one of the men below to have already pulled down the first ladder and climb up to snag Marie’s ankle. Yelping, the young woman fell. Pain shot through her entire body, starting from her knees and vibrating every nerve in her body. However, there wasn’t time for her to react as that same hand began to pull her back. Marie screamed for Dorian’s help, grabbing to the metal bars and kicking her legs. To her surprise, her brother did act swiftly despite his exhaustion. He ran at the stranger, used the railing as leverage and kicked the man in the face. Caught off guard the guy fell, holding himself and writhing in pain.

“Wow,” Dorian breathed. “I didn’t know these things could do that.”

Marie didn’t give him much of a chance to further marvel at the new ability he had discovered in his legs. Grabbing his hand again, she pulled him up toward the second ladder. They weren’t able to go up much further due to the first group having managed to catch up. Without giving it much thought, Marie opened the window closest to them and shoved Dorian through. The former merman tumbled in with a thud upon landing. Swinging herself in, Marie then closed and locked the window. She then found Dorian laying there, staring up at a rather shocked little girl.

“Pweddy boy!” the child piped with glee, pointing at the former merman on the floor.

“Yes, and the pretty boy has to go now,” Marie said quickly, helping Dorian to his feet again. “Don’t tell your mommy, okay?”

“Okay!” said the girl with a few missing teeth.

They dashed out of the little girl’s room, down the hall and out through the living room. In the process, angering the mother who was making food in the kitchen who had decided to yell and throw things at them. With threats of calling the police, Marie slammed the door behind them. Now alone in the outside hall, the siblings took a moment to catch their breath. Dorian was bent over, anchoring himself on his knees, sweat trickling down his face. “W… wh… what are we going to do now?” he gasped.

“I don’t know,” Marie replied, with a raspy breath and a cough. “Those guys are… probably waiting for us down stairs. We need another way to get out.”

“But where? I don’t see any other way,” Dorian said, waving his arm to their surroundings.

“Then… well then…” Marie was at a loss, far too exhausted to really come up with any sort of plan. Throwing up her arms, the young woman marched to the end of the hall and sat herself against the wall. “We wait,” she said while wrapping her arms around her legs.

Dorian was stunned that his sister would come to such a conclusion. Waiting didn’t seem like a good idea at all, but then again, leaving would be worse. Surly those men would not come into the building so full of people to get them, would they? Especially considering how the woman in the other room reacted to the two of them, barging in would not be a good idea to the outside gang. Therefore, not knowing what else to do with himself, the young man took a seat beside his sister.

Quietly they sat there for long moments, not knowing how long they will have to be there. Both were scared, but didn’t want to say anything to the other, trying to be strong for the sake of their sibling. However, none of them could really bring themselves to speak because their minds were swimming with questions and fears. Who were those men? Why are they after us? What are they going to do to us if they catch us? Are we ever going to find Ariel? Will she have what we need? Is this ever going to work out in the end?

After a while, Marie decided to direct her mind to other matters. She looked at her brother who was sitting less like a merman and more like a human young man. For some reason this disturbed her a bit. He looked rather limp, leaning against the wall, but his breathing had returned to its normal, steady rhythm. “How are you feeling, Dorian?” Marie inquired of him softly.

He jerked a bit, having grown used to the silence, opening half closed eye lids. “I’m feeling better than before. It is easier to breathe now.”

“You didn’t tear your stitches again in the chase, did you?” Marie asked, pointing at his waist where the chances were greatest.

The young man rolled up his T-shirt to expose the stitched wound. “I don’t think so,” he replied. “But I think you would be able to tell better than I.”

Marie rotated herself to get a better look at the threads that bound the flesh together. Despite all the running and strain they were going through, none have broken. Actually, it looked like Dorian was at the point where he could have the stitches taken out. He was healing remarkably fast. “Nope, you’re all good,” she confirmed, giving him a pat on the shoulder. “We’ll have you taken to the doctor very soon to get them taken out and then you can go home.”

Dorian beamed.

She gave him a smile of her own and then stood to stretch the stiff legs. Meanwhile, it took a minute or two before Dorian got up on his own. He swayed a bit with Marie ready to catch him should the former merman begin to fall. Cruel as it may sound, Marie was actually relieved to see him unsteady again on his feet. After all, Dorian was never meant to be a human. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Dorian replied, finding his balance without her aid. He was silent for a moment and Marie could almost see a question developing in his thoughts. “Marie… after all of this is over… if we live through this… will I ever see you again?”

Marie blinked, having not expected that question to come up. A smile grew on her lips, “Of course, you dork. Why wouldn’t you be able to see me?”

“Because I am a merman and you are a human… well half human but a human all the same. You belong on land and I belong in the water and your people don’t believe in the existence of mine. What if something were to happen?” Dorian pointed out, apparently having been concerned about this for some time.

“Has Steph made you watch the movie Splash or something?” Marie questioned, raising an eyebrow.

He blushed, “Yes.”

“It’s not going to be like that,” Marie promised and gave his arm a playful punch. “You’re my brother. We’re going to see each other again after all this and we will live through it too.”

The all too familiar smile returned to his face at that response. “Good, I would like that.” He then turned his attention to their situation, glancing down the hall to the stairs that would lead to the bottom floor. “Do you think it’s safe?”

“There’s only one way to find out… are you ready? We may have to start running again.”

Dorian gave her a determined nod to show that he was prepared to face possible danger again. They each then took a deep breath and headed to the stairs. Once reaching the bottom floor, they were surprised, but pleased to find that there was no one waiting for them. Had the group given up on them? Marie certainly hoped that was so. With some caution, the siblings exited the building with nothing happening at all. Even so, they knew that they would have to keep on their guard should there be any unexpected happenings along the way.

“I think we are safe,” Marie whispered to her half brother as they began to make their way down the street.

Of course, as the siblings learned shortly after, you never believe that you are safe. In doing so, you then drop your guard ever slightly. Slightly is more than enough for something to go wrong. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened. As they were beginning to make their way past an ally, Dorian was pulled in by a pair of hands at his collar and then slammed against the wall. Marie tried to get to him, but more members of the gang had her in their firm grasp. Poor Dorian was stricken with fear, held up, gripping to the arms that held him and kicking.

“Don’t bother,” the man who held him sneered. “You are not accustomed to your legs enough to actually do any harm to me.”

“But I am!” Marie threatened, however, she could not free herself from the three guys that held her.

The other members of the group were more interested in Dorian than her, having begun to gather around their leader that held him. “Ask him! Ask him how he was able to do it! Ask him how we can go back!” the other men insisted in almost a chant. That wasn’t freaky at all…

“Silence!” leader snapped at the others. They backed away in a hush, staring hungrily at Dorian like a piece of fresh meat.

It was once things had grown somewhat still that Marie had begun to notice something with these men. All of them had scars on their necks on both the left and right side. There were three lines of scar tissue on each side, jagged and poorly cut. They reminded her of something very familiar. Gills! Who were these men?

The leader stared at his captive former merman like he was trying to kill him with the daggers of his glare. Dorian attempted to struggle, resembling a suffocating fish. Ironic. “Now, you are going to tell us how you did it and don’t leave out a single detail,” he said in a low, sinister voice.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dorian insisted, his face full of panic.

“Don’t lie to me!” the man bellowed, slamming the poor young man against the wall again. Dorian cried out in pain while the others gathered around him again, continuing their hunger chant.

“Leave him alone!” Marie cried, struggling against the hands that held her, but she lacked the strength to break free. “Let him go! You don’t know what you are doing!”

“She is right, Titus, let him go.” A new voice from the other end of the ally interrupted the chaos.

The leader, who apparently wasn’t actually the leader, turned to the other with a snarl. “Stay out of this, Calder! This doesn’t concern you!”

A man in a midnight trench coat and hat strode up to the one holding Dorian, coming up a couple inches shorter. Without warning, trench coat punched the false leader with a crack across the man’s jaw. Titus crumbled while the other caught and steadied Dorian to his feet. “Since when are you so eager and willing to pick on a little pearl, Titus?” Calder remarked.

Titus held his jaw and scrambled to join the henchmen, seething. A command was barked to release Marie, which was done immediately. She ran to Dorian, concerned about his state of health, especially the stitches. The one named Calder removed his hat with a sigh, revealing locks of golden blonde hair. “Never expected to find the son of a future elder here on land,” he remarked with a smile.

Dorian’s eyes grew wider than Marie had ever seen them before. “Calder… son of the fifth elder… what are you doing here?” he whispered.

“I should be asking you the same thing,” Calder remarked. Noticing the confusion on Marie’s face, he then explained, motioning his hand to the others. “We are all, former mermen of the fourth ocean. However, due to different circumstances and reasons behind our decision… we are all permanently human. Well… except for Dorian here of course.”

“That… that’s just creepy!” Marie exclaimed. “How can you all possibly be mermen too? How can you know that Dorian’s form isn’t permanent?”

“His eyes,” Calder answered simply with a shrug. “The silver of his eyes is still there.”

“Enough idle chit chat! Get answers from him!” One of the thugs exclaimed.

There was an eruption of shouts from the others, demanding answers as to why Dorian was different. However, they were quickly silenced with a glare from the blonde former merman before them. “They cry for answers, Dorian, but I have some specific questions of my own.” Calder strode gracefully up to the younger former merman and smiled. “Dorian, I’ve known you since you were barely able to swim. You are not one to come freely to the life of man above the sea. You still have your aquatic soul trapped inside of you. You’re not a complete human like the rest of us. Why? It was not for a woman, you are far too young to consider finding a mate.”

“I was banished,” Dorian replied, softly.

Calder was taken aback by that, blinking for a moment as though the answer had thrown off his entire thought process. “For what crime has led you to banishment?”

“For going to the forbidden island… where the prisoners are kept,” Dorian spoke with his head lowered. A curtain of dark hair shielded his face.

“By the seven seas, Dorian! There is a reason why those islands are forbidden! There is a reason why no one outside of the elders and guards know of its location!” Calder swore at the younger former merman.

“They had my father! Held there unjustly!” Dorian shouted, his head snapping back up. “What would you have done, Calder? What would you have done if it was your mother?!”

Marie blinked, having not expected that tone to come out of Dorian, ever. Usually he held to his sweeter disposition, but this was different. Calder was silent, staring down at him with an expression that she could not distinguish. Finding her voice, Marie spoke up, “It was my fault, okay! I had him wished to be this way so I could take him to the hospital! What are you going to do about it? Did I commit a crime too?!”

The reaction she had then received from Calder was not what she had expected. He laughed. “Little human, in case you haven’t noticed, we all have committed a crime or so of our own.” Calder swiped a hand, motioning to the men surrounding them. Though they all varied in age, they shared things in common. They all used to be mermen, bore scars on their necks and looked very desperate. “You will not come to any harm from us.”

“Then why were you guys chasing us? Marie demanded.

“Dorian can eventually return to the sea, isn’t that right?” Calder implied, directing the question to the youngest merman there, Dorian.

“Yes,” Dorian replied softly.

There was a murmuring from the other former mermen in the gang. Calder didn’t pay any attention to the others. His expression was calm and collected as he continued to stare at the two siblings before him. “That being the case… then perhaps you can help us.” The blonde worked do undo the high collar of his shirt that covered his neck. “Because, you see Dorian…” With the collar undone, Calder’s gill scars were made visible.

“We wish to go home with you.”