Eva’s days had quickly devolved into constant anxiety over Viola. Viola wasn’t handling captivity well and Eva couldn't blame her. The problem was that Eva didn't know how to fix this and Viola was quickly declining. First, she stopped really engaging in English lessons, then she stopped bothering to get out of the pool. Now she wasn't even eating. Viola’s treatment of her seemed to drift from indifferent to borderline hostility.

The cold shoulder from Viola hurt, especially as they were beginning to become close before Viola pulled away. But Eva couldn't be mad at her. She was desperate to help and the situation couldn’t be easy.

As days turned into weeks her worry became full-blown paranoia. Orcas, Viola included, had to consciously breathe. At any moment Viola could simply choose not to breathe in and end her life. By now Eva matched Phillip in her disheveledness.

“I’m sorry, Eva, there's nothing I can do,” Phillip sighed.

“You run the facility,” she growled.

“Yes, but the mercenaries work for Talbot. It's not like she could be snuck out the back door.”

After Eva found out how intelligent Viola was, Phillip quickly gave up trying to pretend she was anything but.

“She will die here.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I've passed the message along, it's out of my hands, Eva.”

Eva’s teeth ground with frustration but it really was out of their hands. Her only options were to watch Viola waste away or do something herself, something that was a guaranteed failure.

“What do we do then?”

“You take your paycheck and do your job, finish school in a few months and move on. Hell, I can talk to Hawes about getting your old job back, I told you not to get attached.”

“No!”

Phillip looked at her with a mix of pity and worry.

“I'm the only one she trusts. I can’t go, that will just make things worse.”

“Eva, you have much more important things to be focusing on, this job is clearly getting to you.”

“I’m the only one that knows how to speak with her, you get rid of me you lose all that progress,” she countered.

“You draw pictures, I’m sure someone else can figure it out.”

“You’d be surprised how in-depth it is.”

Eva stood her ground and eventually Phillip shrugged with acceptance. He was crazy if he thought she would give up interacting with a mermaid. She didn't want to lose Viola.

“Fine, but you’re on thin ice.”

----------------------------------------

“You look like shit,” Felisha snorted when Eva sat down for lunch. She was practically vibrating with nervous energy. Feeding Viola that morning had just been leaving a bucket of fish and removing the bucket that had been left untouched. Viola hadn't even looked up.

“I feel like shit.”

“What do they make you do over there?” Felisha asked suspiciously.

Once again Eva stomped down the temptation to tell someone. Not being able to talk to anyone about this was impossible, she needed advice and Phillip was no help. She knew which side he was on. Felisha’s joking had quickly escalated into real worry despite their best attempts to make it light-hearted. Eva was dying to tell someone.

“The… orca I’m taking care of is not doing well,” she began, choosing her words carefully.

“Is she sick?”

“Viola’s lonely,” Eva sighed.

“Did you name her?” Felisha grinned.

Eva shrugged. “She… doesn't get along with other orcas because they're from different pods so all she has is me to keep her company… she's not even eating anymore.”

“Jesus,” Felisha winced, their playful attitude shattering.

“She doesn't sing anymore, barely swims or acknowledges me. She's given up on her… training. She’s just… broken.”

“I… I don’t know what to do about that, Eva. I’m sorry.”

“I know,” she replied. “It's just… Phillip knows, his boss knows but no one is doing anything about it. I’d break her out myself if it wasn't for all the guards.”

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“You want a hug?”

“Sure,” Eva mumbled.

Felisha stood and wrapped their arms around Eva, their head barely reaching chest height. Still, it was nice.

“I know how much you care about the orca, but she's not your responsibility.”

“I was hired to take care of her.”

“No, you were hired to train her. You know there are several other orcas here, why do you care about this one so much?”

“She's… special,” Eva sighed as Felisha returned to her seat.

“Special?”

Eva wanted more than anything to tell Felisha everything. Keeping everything bottled up was exhausting and what did a lawsuit matter right now anyway?

“You have to promise not to say anything, it's… secret,” she began.

Felisha mimicked sealing their mouth and throwing away the key. Eva let out a nervous laugh. “You know how Mike said there had to be something crazy in the research facility.”

“Oh?” they asked, their eyes sparkling with curiosity.

Eva glanced around as if to catch some security guard spying on her but all seemed totally normal. Just lunch with her friend, no men in dark suits and sunglasses or armed guards.

“It's a mermaid,” she finally blurted out.

“A what now?” Felisha snorted.

“Humor me. Viola is half orca, half woman, locked in a tank and severely depressed.”

“Aren’t mermaids supposed to be half-fish?”

“Not this one.”

Felisha just squinted at her, seeming to size up whether she was telling the truth or not. “Well… what you’re saying is insane, so either you are delusional… or somehow Ocean Land has a mermaid.”

“The latter,” Eva huffed.

Felisha leaned back in their chair and let out a long breath. “So what are you going to do then?”

“About what?”

“The mermaid you’re helping keep prisoner…”

“So you really believe me?”

“I don’t know. But we've been friends long enough that you get the benefit of the doubt.”

“Gee thanks,” Eva muttered with a chuckle. “And I don’t know what to do. Talbot has all these mercenaries with weapons guarding the place and Viola can’t travel far out of water.”

“Does… Viola… need to travel? The place is on an island. I have a cousin who’s quite handy with explosives,” Felisha grinned. “Oh my god, I’m kidding!” they gasped when Eva began to seriously consider it. “What's this Viola like then?”

Eva shrugged, “Well beyond mauling her last trainer to death she's been lovely.”

Felisha just looked at her expectantly after that little tidbit.

“She was frustrated that no one was trying to communicate. I showed up and also strangled myself, she ended up rescuing me and… well I realized how smart she was. I brought her a whiteboard, and I ended up putting the picture she drew of me on the wall,” Eva snorted, unable to contain her smile.

“Oh my god, you’re the orca lover,” Falisha cackled.

“I am not!” Eva hissed.

“Girl, if you could see your face.”

Eva squeezed her eyes shut willing for her blush to fade. “She's very… naked and more than twice the size of me I just…”

Falisha fell into hysterical laughter. “What a size difference,” they gasped.

“She's not human Felisha! Not to mention a prisoner.”

“You know as well as I do that homosexual encounters between marine mammals are common,” Felisha winked.

“No, no, do not encourage this. Viola is on the verge of drowning herself, what is wrong with you!”

“Sorry, sorry… You really like her,” they said, their gaze softening

“I don’t know,” Eva sighed. “Yes, she's hot but that's not the point. I don’t think she likes me much anymore, I don't blame her. Nothing like that will happen between us.”

“Family dinners would be awkward,” Felisha offered.

“Oh my god!”

“Look, I think you need to consider where your loyalties lie. I haven't heard you talk about anyone like this since… well ever. Assuming you’re not delusional…”

“Thanks.”

“Then… your mermaid needs to be free. You know how terrible it is for orca in parks like this, it sounds like it's far worse for her.”

“I want to help, I just… I don’t know how,” Eva sighed and rubbed at the remnants of the bruise on her neck.

“I think you know exactly what we need to do,” Felisha grinned. “We get Mike and some help from my cousin and we plan a jailbreak.”

“I hate that I’m considering this,” Eva shook her head, for the first time in days a small smile crossed her face.

----------------------------------------

“Viola?” Eva called at the edge of the pool. Viola’s eyes were closed as she floated on her back as if she was unaffected by the world around her. “Viola?” she called again and was once again ignored. “Come on you stubborn mermaid, we need to get you home,” she muttered. Viola’s hearing was good enough that she heard her words and she was a fast-learning student when it came to the English language.

Viola’s eyes snapped open now with interest, the way a dog gets excited when told they are about to go on a walk. However, the desperation in Viola’s eyes was far more extreme.

Eva was extremely grateful that the microphones couldn't pick up low conversations. She had taken the time to consider where her loyalties lay but she still needed a plan.

As much as she was fascinated and greedily wanted to keep Viola close, Viola had become a friend or at least a potential one. Eva had had a rough upbringing and survived thanks to those willing to help. She couldn't ignore Viola’s plight, especially not when everyone at Ocean Land was so willing to ignore her suffering. She had no love for Ocean Land, especially not anymore.

She still needed to be very careful and think things through but she had chosen her side. She just needed Viola to know where she stood. She missed her cheery self and Eva needed Viola’s help if they were going to do this.

“Ay-va,” Viola whistled quietly, twisting in the water and pushing herself toward the edge of the pool. She was still somewhat lethargic but there was a spark in her eyes.

“I’m sorry Viola, I know you want to go home. I just don’t know how to make that happen,” Eva sighed and sat with her feet in the water. She didn’t know exactly how much Viola understood but Viola seemed quite adept at figuring things out.

Viola exhaled, sending water into the air as she sucked in another breath. She looked thinner than she had when she had arrived, captivity having eaten away at her.

Viola pulled the bucket of fish closer and picked up the tablet. Smuggling it out of the lab had been difficult but supplies regularly had to pass through security and there were plenty of places to hide a tablet. Most company devices were incredibly secure. Phillip’s tablet had some liberties, including a camera.

“Look.” Eva held up the tablet showing the picture of the research facility she had taken.

“What?” Viola asked with a cock of her head as she noticed the tablet. Her voices tired but curious.

“It’s like a perfect drawing. I can copy an image of the world and put it here.”

Viola seemed confused but she pulled herself out of the water, her arms shaking with the effort. Her body was weak from starvation, it was painful to see the difference from the powerful creature Eva had met weeks ago.

“Eat, please,” Eva begged, sliding the bucket over.

Viola glared at her defiantly for a moment before relenting and grabbing a frozen fish. She opened her mouth and swallowed the fish whole. Her jaw was almost snake-like, she could open her mouth far more than any human could.

Eva snapped a photo, both wanting to explain and memorialize the moment.

“Look, it’s you,” she explained, showing Viola the photo.

Viola frowned and tentatively took the Tablet from Eva. Holding it up to the light as if to inspect it. “Viola fish.”

“It’s a picture of you eating just now,” Eva nodded and took the tablet back. “And look, we are inside here,” she explained, swiping over to the previous photo.

“Inn….dide?”

“Inside,” she repeated slower. She motioned to the space around them and pointed to the building on the island. “Here.”

Viola’s eyes went wide with understanding. “Water close,” she said

“Yes,” Eva smiled.

“Out how?” Viola basked excitedly, her words half whistled.

Her smile faded, “I don’t know yet. But we’ll figure it out, I promise.”

“Soon?” Viola’s voices pleaded.

Eva nodded, “soon.”

Viola whistled then scarfed down another fish. Determination radiated off her. Viola looked at her, her gaze softening. “Good… human,” she smiled.

Eva tried to ignore the way her stomach somersaulted at that.