The beginning

Chapter 22

1 year and a half later

Evie and Virgil had just celebrated their 15th Birthday. Jeff had all of their brother's back for the day and Brains and Fermat joined in with the celebration. Fermat had started to go to school with Alan and Gordon, so the 2 young boys were sharing a dorm while Gordon shared one with a new friend of his. Now that everyone had gone back to the mainland, Evie, Virgil, Jeff and Brains were the only ones left on the Island. Evie and Virgil had finished high school early and had already completed a year of their higher education work. Jeff's plan was to let them go to a university in England in September the next year, under the watchful eye of Lady Penelope, a friend of his that used to be a spy. So for another year, they were Island bound with not a lot to do.

Evie decided to go exploring, since Virgil had locked himself in his room, working on another painting or something, and Jeff and Brains were in Jeff's office, working on something that they were keeping a secret.

She decided to go for a swim when she got to the beach and pulled off her shorts and tank top to reveal a light purple bikini. She pulled her goggles out of her bag and dived in, swimming around the Island and watching the schools of fish swim around her. She found a small cave and went in, surfacing to see the rock formation. The entrance was concealed below the water, going under the only way to get through. She pulled herself out of the water and sat on the rock at the side of the small pool of water. There was an opening in the roof of the cave, letting in light.

She stayed in the cave for a while, watching the water ripple and examining the small shells she found in the small rock pools. She looked up when she realised that it was darker than before and noticed that the moon was over the opening at the top of the cave and panicked. She knew that her Dad would be looking for her. Quickly grabbed her goggles, slipping into the water. Just as she was about to dive under, the pool started to bubble and glow. She looked around her, trying to figure out what was going on. When the bubbling stopped and the glow disappeared, she looked up to see that the moon was no longer visible, so she quickly dove under the water and swam out of the cave. She swam back around the island and ran out of the water, grabbing her stuff off the sand and running back towards the house, pulling her shoes and shirt on as she ran.

"EVELYN!" She heard her Dad shout when she neared the house. She saw him running off the pool deck and in the opposite direction to where she was.

"DAD!" She yelled to get his attention. Virgil suddenly ran out in front of her, making her scream in surprise, which in turn made him scream.

"EVELYN! VIRGIL!" Jeff yelled, running towards them.

"We're fine!" Virgil yelled as Evie got her breath back. Jeff reached them and pulled Evie into a hug before pulling away and grabbing her shoulders, making her look at him.

"Where have you been?" He asked, his worry evident in his voice.

"I'm sorry Dad. I went exploring and lost track of time." She said.

"Let's get you inside." He said, picking up the shorts and bag that she dropped and pulling her to the house, where Brains met them on the pool deck, handing her a towel. "Go get dried and put some clean clothes on. And Evelyn," She looked back at him to see his concerned expression. "Never do that to me again."

"I won't Dad." She said before going up to her room. She dried her hair and put her pyjamas before walking back downstairs to see Virgil in the living room and Brains in the kitchen.

"H-h-here Evelyn." Brains said, giving her a warm cup of tea and a bowl of soup.

"Thanks Brains." She said, taking them and sitting next to her twin.

"Where were you?" He asked, turning the TV off and looking at her.

"I went exploring. I found this underwater cave, and I was looking at all these shells and little rock pools when I realised that it was dark, so I swam out and ran back here." She said, leaving the part about the water bubbling out. She knew he would just dismiss it as something scientific.

"How could you not realise that it was getting dark?" He asked, slightly amused.

"I'm not John! I don't have an internal alarm telling me when the stars come out." She laughed, making him snicker.

"Don't let him hear you saw that. He'll kill you." He laughed.

When Evie finally went to bed, she felt strange. More tired than usual and slightly light headed. She collapsed into her bed, her limbs feeling heavy and sore. She quickly drifted off to sleep, thinking that if she still felt bad in the morning, she would go and talk to Brains.

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Evie woke up the next morning, feeling better than the night before. She looked at the time, noticing that it was 10, later than she usually woke up. She went into her bathroom and splashed water on her face to freshen up. However, she suddenly felt very off balance and fell over with a small yelp, landing on her front with a thud. She looked up and tried to get up, only to look behind her when she realised she couldn't separate her legs. She nearly had a heart attack when she saw that where her legs were supposed to be, there was a purple tail. She realised that her top had been replaced by a purple bikini top.

"Evelyn? Are you ok?" Jeff asked, knocking against the bathroom door.

"Um… Yeah." She said, grabbing a towel off the side of the bath.

"What was that bang?" He asked, going to open the door.

"Don't come in!" She yelled, pushing another towel under the door so he couldn't open it.

"Evelyn? What's going on?" He asked, trying to open the door.

"I'm… naked." She said, thinking of the only thing that would stop him from coming in. He immediately stopped trying to open the door.

"What was that bang?" He asked again.

"I…. tripped over my pyjamas and fell over." She said, saying the first thing that came to mind.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine." She said, drying her face.

"I'll see you downstairs then." He said before walking out of her room. She sighed and looked down to see her legs, and clothes, return when she was completely dry. She stared at her legs in confusion, wondering what the hell was going on. She knew that she couldn't talk to anyone about it, they would think she was crazy. So she decided to try a little experiment. She filled a bucket with water and sat on the floor, dipping her hand into the water. A few seconds after the water touched her hand, the tail appeared. She dried her hand on the towel and the second her hand was completely dry, her legs reappeared. She couldn't believe what was happening. She was a mermaid. No way around it. Whenever she touched water, she grew a tail that stayed until she was dry. She was going to have to be very careful from now on.

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A week later, Virgil slowly and quietly crept into his sister's room. He saw her still asleep on her bed and silently closed the door before going into her bathroom. Jeff and Brains had gone to the mainland for the day to attend a meeting and pick up Alan, Fermat and Gordon. Virgil filled up the bucket in Evie's bathroom with water and crept to her bed. Jeff had told him to wake her up after they left, but he didn't say how.

Evie started to stir when she felt a presence in her room and looked up in time to see Virgil tip the bucket of water over her.

"VIRGIL!" She screamed, jumping up and starting to run to the bathroom, only to fall to the floor when her tail appeared. She landed on her front and put her hand out in time to stop hitting her head on the floor. She looked over her shoulder at Virgil to see him staring at her in shock, before he fainted and fell on the floor. "Perfect." She muttered, rolling over so that she was lying on her back and put her hands on her tail. "Just perfect."

She saw steam fill the room and looked up to see it coming from her tail, she moved her hands and the steam stopped. She moved her hand over her body, watching as the water on her body heated up and evaporated. Within seconds she was dry and her legs were back. "Cool." She muttered before looking over at Virgil, still unconscious. She sighed and stood up, using her new found power to dry her bed and floor before grabbing her twin under his shoulders and lifting him on to the bed. "You might want to lay off the pies Virge." She grunted. He was a lot heavier than he looked.

She left the room to get some food and walked back to see Virgil sitting up, looking around and wondering what happened. "Morning sleeping beauty." She said, making him look over at her. His eyes widened and he started scanning her body, looking for an indication that he saw what he thought he saw. "Want some food?"

"What happened?" He asked, feeling the lump on the back of his head.

"You threw water on me, I grew a tail and then you fainted." She said, making his eyes widen further.

"You grew a what?" He asked, completely stunned.

"A tail. You know, the big purple thing with fins." She said, only to earn a stern look. "Sorry. Look, I don't know why or how it happened, but for the past week, whenever I touch water, I grow a tail."

"Prove it." He said, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Ok." She walked out of the room with Virgil in tow and walked out to the pool, diving in without a second thought. Virgil looked in wonder as she surfaced with a purple tail and a purple bikini top. "See. I'm a mermaid." He just stared at her with his mouth wide open. "If you're going to faint again, then sit down. You weigh a ton!"

"Hey! I don't weigh that much!" He protested as Evie pulled herself out of the pool. "How do you make it go?" He asked, kneeling next to her.

"I get dry." She replied, using her new power to dry herself, making her legs, and clothes, reappear.

"Nice power." He commented. "Is that all you can do?"

"Don't know. I only figured out I could do it this morning." She said as they walked back into the house. "Virge, please don't tell anyone. Keep it between us."

"Ok. I'll try." He replied. "By the way, Dad and Brains won't be back until this evening with Gordon, Alan and Fermat."

"Great. Want to go to the music room?" They grinned and spent the rest of the day in there. Virgil kept his word and didn't tell anyone about Evie. He helped her hide it when it got a little hard and made sure that Gordon didn't throw her into the pool like he does to everyone else. Brains started to teach Evie some engineering and showed her how to fix a car and a plane. The next year, both of the twins went to university in England, staying with Lady Penelope. Virgil was studying medicine and Evie was studying engineering. Within 2 years, Virgil became a fully qualified doctor and Evie got a job working for the British and American military, fixing their machinery.

Jeff made sure that all of his children learnt how to fly and bought Scott, John, Virgil and Evie a plane, saying Alan and Gordon were too young. He and Brains started to work on building the crafts that Brains had designed for their rescue operation, making silos underneath the house and creating lifts from his office down to the silos. They would make his dream come true, and no one would have to go through what he went through. Maybe, if something like this existed years ago, his wife would be safe by his side.

Jeff looked out at the home he had built for his family and finally felt peace. He couldn't wait to see how much good his organization and his children could bring to the world and how far they still had to go. He knew Evie was safe and that she was out of trouble and he could feel how happy that thought made him. Yet his happiness blinded him to the troubles that were just around the corner….

Here you go guys. This is the last chapter of this story . The next story to be uploaded is the sequel to Tracy Sister. Old enemy's return and new troubles lie ahead.

Thank you for sticking with me. You guys are amazing.

Emma