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Captivity - Chapter 17: UnknownCaptivity: Created by AtrieisanChapter: 17 - UnknownMature Content WarningSam’s heart thudded against the wall of her chest as her breath hitched into a gasp. Nate. Her uncle was here to save her, to take her away from this horrible place. As Vlad spoke to his security staff, she soon realized that her uncle was in more danger than he realized. A frown must have deepened into Vlad’s long face as Sam watched his shoulders tense, then release. His back was to her as he rolled his shoulders, stretching his neck from side to side and turned to smile a wicked grin at Sam.“Wh-what are you going to do to him?” Sam cried as she strained against the restraints on her wrists. Never in her life had she ever felt as helpless as she did now. Strapped to this exam table at the mercy of this evil man, in a body that was not hers - that would never feel like hers. Not to mention the foreign entity that was growing inside of her that would get bigger and bigger every day. She didn’t dare glance over at the perpetrator that inflicted this life on her. Danny’s screeches had gone quiet at the sound of her shaken voice, probably alert to her uneasiness in her tone and the tension that Vlad emitted from his body.“Why, only everything he deserves? Your uncle is a meddling fool, a knowledgeable scientist, but a fool. Do you think he would accept you in your state? Observation, assessment, studying, dissecting - that’s what he does. That is what he has been trained to do. He wouldn’t care for you like-” Vlad put as much concern into his voice as a viper would before striking his prey.“Like you would?” Sam cut him off, feeling heat bubble up in her. The medications must have been wearing off because she was now starting to find her voice. “You don’t care for me. You only care about yourself. I can’t believe I trusted you.”Vlad seemed to be taken aback by the boldness of her statement but recovered quickly. Sam, taking advantage of his silence continued, “I hope you get everything coming to you.”Vlad smirked and then chuckled under his breath as his fingers caressed her face and tucked a lock of hair behind her newly formed aquatic ear. Sam attempted to squirm away from him to no avail. “My dear girl,” Vlad said softly into her ear as he tightened the restraints, “I already have...” Danny began to screech again as he watched Vlad touch and advance on Sam. The man looked at him with a smile; clear mockery of his situation. If it weren’t for this barrier keeping him apart from this threat and his mate, he would kill him. Rage engulfed him as his fins flared and jaws snapped as he began to ram the glass again.Just then, the sentry’s voice from before buzzed over the speakers to confirm that Nathaniel Manson was in the facility, but was not alone. He was accompanied by two young adults, names that Vlad recognized as Valery Gray and Tucker Foley. Vlad moved around the exam room then, opening drawers and cabinets, looking for something in particular. He had pulled a drawer just behind Sam’s head and paused. He had found it. He removed the item and closed the drawer. He moved toward the ‘voice on’ button in the lab to the sentry and said, “Commence code black.”— Nathaniel Manson was uneasy to say the least by being ushered to an unknown back room in Axion Laboratory. He knew his business partner was very thorough with his security team, but Nathaniel felt on edge with the blandness of the halls and the immediate lack of staff. This nearly underwater facility must have cost a fortune to procure, yet it was as ordinary as the back halls his aquatic research facility. The billionaire had a knack for the extravagant decor in his multiple mansions and beach houses, but this part of the building looked unused and forgotten. A male guard walked the group through a maze of white walls and linoleum tile floors for what felt like fifteen minutes. Nate had the sneaking suspicion that this guard was purposely trying to confuse the three; never mind the fact he was carrying an unnecessary amount of protection on his belt and body as if he was in the military. What were they trying to protect? The guard ushered them into a small entry with another open door on the back of the wall that lead into a slightly larger room. This room seemed to match the rest of this building for it was as plain as could be with a single loveseat couch, a desk, a chair, and retired boxed equipment; it was clearly a second hand storage room and clearly not an executive office. It wasn’t until the door clicked behind them that Nate began to speak. “Ok kids, when Mr. Masters’ gets here-”“Shhh!” Tucker hissed as he secretly motioned with his eyes to the surveillance camera that was hidden just behind the door they walked through. Nate turned to look up at the camera and cursed under his breath. How could he have not noticed…“We’re not kids, you know.” Valery said curtly, looking at her phone and giving it a frustrating slap on her leg. “No service, Tuck.”“I’m not surprised,” Tucker scoffed in a low voice, “if the outside security was as tight as that officer walking us in here, I’ll bet you anything we’re not going to see Masters…” Tucker then scooted himself against the wall until he was under the camera and sat down. He pulled out one of his laptops and started to type feverishly on the keyboard. Nate sighed and leaned against the wall next to where Tucker sat and watched Valery walk the perimeter of the room. “I am his business partner, he cannot ignore me. He gave me that access card for pete’s sake! So help me if he has hurt Sam-” Nate started as he corrected his glasses on his nose but was then cut off by Valery. “We don’t know that yet, but it is suspicious. Tucker, can you access anything in this room?” Valery tried to soothe the older man, but he was visibly shaking with rage. She didn’t think there was anything to say that would help Nate relax. She herself was uneasy about the whole situation. All her life her father taught her to be observant and on guard, yet here they were, probably in the farthest back room in the lab at the mercy of a mad man. Valery reached her hand to her back pocket and felt her small pepper spray that was attached to her car keys. Even before she could walk, it seemed that her father was always teaching her ways to survive in the wilderness, on the streets, or any emergency. He made her take defense classes so she knew how to punch and basic life support courses in case she needed to help someone in distress. She had never been powerless in her environment, but in this small room, she felt like a caged animal. She chuckled under her breath. So this must have been how Danny felt… Tucker had been left alone with his musings over his tech and had fallen silent while he tried to breach every firewall that Axion lab had set in place as Val and Nate whispered back and forth. The coding was so encrypted that even his PDA could not identify the specific file codes to access information regarding the laboratory analytics and its occupants. “It seems to me that this security is so integrated into the systems for outside devices like ours to penetrate any signal to gain access. If I only had one of their computers, I might be able to hack into their system and obtain information. But as you can see, this room has nothing but boxes and furniture. Useless.” Tucker rubbed his eyes as he calculated different scenarios in his brain. He was good with numbers and good with technology, but he had never been outwitted. He continued to mumble under his breath as he entered codes that he had learned over the years were foolproof… but all attempts ended with the same word: Error. Nate was beginning to grow inpatient as he dialed and redialed Vlad’s numerous phone numbers to try to get ahold of the man. He began pacing the room and becoming very irritated with everything about this whole situation. He should have never introduced Sam to this man. He shouldn’t have introduced her to that creature. He should have kept her at a distance and never involved her with this secret life he was living. Most of all, he should have locked that ‘Authorized Personnel Only’ door. God, there was so such much blood. He covered his mouth as he thought of the hand prints - clearly female, clearly Sam’s - against the wall leading toward and on the other side of the door. If he discovered that she was badly injured or worse, to not find her at all, what would he tell his brother? He had to push that out of his mind, Vlad must have answers to his searching. He had learned from working with this uptight man that there was nothing that he did not know. Soft footsteps near the door broke Nate out of his millings. It had been twenty minutes since they were brought to this room and not a peep was heard until now. A bolt of bravery surged through Nate as he moved forwards to take a peak outside the room. He was going to give that old man a piece of his mind. He was going to demand camera footage, police involvement, an answer to why the hell he had to wait for twenty minutes to hear anything. He was nearly halfway out of the door, when he stopped dead in his tracks and hitched his breath as he stared down the barrel of multiple assault rifles. Adrenaline triggered Nate into motion as he whirled around and slammed the door shut, gripping the handle with all the strength he could muster. “They’ve got guns! Grab something to barricade this door!” With that, Valery and Tucker burst into action towards the couch. They pushed it up against the doorknob to prevent anyone from trying to enter the room just as Nate jumped out of the way. Shouts erupted from the other side of wall as more guards moved into position. A couple shots were fired at the door in hopes to hit one of the occupants inside. Fortunately for them, Valery had guided the two men to squat behind the desk as she peaked around the right side. Unfortunately for the door, the bullets were leaving impressive dents into the their side of the wood; it wouldn’t take much for them to completely pierce through. Nate began to hyperventilate as he reached for Val’s shoulder to pull her back to safety. Tucker faced the wall as he looked around the room for anything to help them survive. The guards outside had begun to bang on the door in hopes to wedge it open. This close to them now, Nate could hear almost every word they were saying. The men and women behind the door started to snicker and tease them about the better death that they could give them then the one that is locked up in this facility. “O-oh my God why are they doing this?” Valery stuttered, hating the weakness that came from her voice. She had to keep a level head for the three of them, she was not going to die here. She heard the noise of rummaging that took her attention away from the door long enough to see Tucker, head-first into the dump boxes that were lined against the wall. “Tucker! There’s no time for this, what are you doing?” Valery hissed and Nate tried to pull Tucker’s shoulder around so that he was face to face with the biologist and his girlfriend.“Valery,” Tucker said in a breathy tone, “Your spray. Give me your spray!” Tucker began reaching for her back pocket, but was cut off by her hand.“Wha-?” Valery reached back to pull out her car keys. “What do you have in mind?” She could only squeak out the sentence before Tucker had grabbed the bottle from her hand and began prying the front and back plastic piece apart with her keys. The two watched as the boy worked to break the plastic head off around the trigger in frantic stabs. “Wait!” Nate spat as he reached into his own pockets only to produce a pocket utility tool. He flipped open the blade and handed it to Tucker, who took it with an earnest smile.“Thanks, Nate.” Tucker said as he whittled away at the spray bottle until he was satisfied. “I saw this online once. If I remove parts of the front and back the pepper spray to expose the trigger nozzle, I can get it to lock up by hooking the trigger into itself so it continuously sprays. I think it’s our only chance of getting out of here.” Tucker held the end result up to Nate and Valery with furrowed brows. “But someone is going to have to get close enough to the door to throw it outside. The trigger has got to be locked or it won’t spray…” There was a long silence between the three; the only sound that filled the air was the banging and snickering coming from behind the door. As suddenly as it came, the commotion stopped behind the door. Valery, Tucker, and Nate froze and held their breath as they waited for something to happen. Valery’s breathing picked up then as she straightened her body and said, “I’ll do it.” “No.” Nate said in finality as he took the spray from Tucker’s hands. “What kind of man would I be if I sat back as another important person to my family got hurt.” His voice did not waver, it did not crack. “I will do it. All I have to do is push and lock?” Nate’s gaze was focused on the exit door, their only chance of freedom.Tucker nodded as he moved back to the boxes, rummaging again.“Nate, you’re not doing this alone. We will be behind you to pull the couch away from the door just enough for you open it and throw it out. Then we’ll push the couch back in place.” Valery whispered as she touched Nate’s arm, giving him a reassuring look.“We’ll move the couch, at the count of three, open the door and throw it out.” Tucker confirmed from behind them, pulling a box towards them. Nate’s brow furrowed with his impending argument, but as he studied these two brave adults with a warrior’s resolve, he was not afraid. He relaxed and nodded then.Tucker cleared his throat then and added, “But first, we’ve got to take out that camera. Lets’ get the upper hand for once.” He smirked as he retrieved an old bar that could only be described as an old built-in IV pole from a hospital bed.“Alright Tuck!” Val smiled as she accepted the pole from her boyfriend, “Leave it to me!” As a unit, the three rose from the ground and as quietly as they could, took their positions as planned. Nate positioned himself by the door with his left hand on the knob, right hand gripping the bottle, right ear against the wall listening for movement. Nothing. Shit. Nate’s hands were starting to sweat. Now or never… this is it. Valery had executed her plan to take out the camera nicely. With Tucker’s assistance, Valery climbed up onto the chair and positioned herself under the camera. She held the pole over her right shoulder like she was taught to hold a bat and smiled to herself. Stay with us, Daddy. She swung the pole as hard as she could and made clear impact with the camera. Pieces shattered to the ground as the camera hung from cords on the wall. Valery gave it a final swing before feeling satisfied with her work. Tucker helped her down and together they moved towards the end of the couch. Nate waited until they were settled.“On your count.” He whispered as he glanced over to Val and Tucker. Both gave him a confirming nod. As quietly as they could muster, Val and Tucker pulled the end of the love seat away from the door and positioned themselves so they could push the couch back into place instantly. A small groan came from the couch with movement, making him wince. Nate kept his ear to the wall, his hand shaking.Silence.Silence.Silence.A snort. His hand then became a fist.“One… two… three.” Nate’s body swiveled in front of the door as one hand gripped the knob to turn it, his right thumb compressing and jamming the trigger as he tossed the spray into the entry way when shots fired.—Vlad had stepped away from the exam room to enter his surveillance office that was occupied with one female operator. He had watched as Nathaniel, Valery, and Tucker were marched to the older part of the facility that had been left to collect dust, retired equipment, and interrogations of anyone who had gotten too close for his liking. He was not overly concerned that this little band misfits would cause an uproar in his facility. That part of the building was stripped of anything that could lead them back to the entrance. His staff had followed through with his instructions of converging onto the room when Nathaniel himself emerged and retreat back when he caught the staff off guard. Then the shots began. He scoffed at the biologist. He was always a bird on the back of an elephant who tolerated it’s presence for its tireless grooming and it’s free ride. Nathaniel Manson could never hope to be a titan of the land. Actually, a bird would be too good for him, Vlad thought. He was a flee… and now it was time to torch it’s head right off.“Looks like there’s an alarm signaling at outer wall sector B, sir.” The female officer reported, focusing on a particular screen with the flashing light in the top left corner. Veronica, Vlad thought. He liked this one, she was always curt and to the point, at work and in the office, or really, any way that he would have her. He leaned in close to her ear, the soft perfume smell of shampoo intoxicated him and his senses, but his eyes were fixed on screen eight: Sam. He watched as she continued to struggle to free herself. She strained her shoulders and arms back to try to remove them from the restraints, her newly formed tail lifting itself up and down from the table in awkward motions, clearly unfamiliar and unpracticed. Daniel appeared attentive to her distress, but was losing strength to stay afloat in the tank. He would try to breach the surface but his body mass would not allow for that kind of movement in the tank. His squawks and screeching however, had picked up a little after the firearms began. It was remarkable that he could hear the sound at such a distance. Sam had flinched then too. “Fascinating,” Vlad muttered aloud.“Sir, do you want me to relocate staff to B? They won’t be an issue for long.” Veronica stated in a seductive tone and smiled her cunning little smile. She was being brave. Vlad gave a snap and Veronica pressed the intercom ‘on’ for the commanding officer. “Brady, send some guards to sector B to assess why these bloody pressure sensors continue to malfunction. You all are multifunctional in this company, see to it that they stop.”A man’s voiced sounded over the static, “You sure, sir? With all arms here and alert to this situation, we could-” Brady had his hand to his radio as he watched some of his staff bang on the door with the ends of their ARs.“Just. Do. It.” Vlad hissed as he straightened and watched Brady on screen eleven talk to his crew to dispatch to the other sector. Brady had left with the team to investigate the sensors while the remaining four glanced up at the screen and continued their advances on the door. Vlad rubbed his temples as he looked on to screen twelve, the footage of inside the room only showed three heads cowering behind the desk. Sometime had passed as Vlad became lost in his mind with thoughts of the future of his assets. His thoughts were of the fetus growing at an astonishing rate in young Samantha and he wondered intensely what would become of it and her. Oh how he wanted it to be a male. Vlad thought of himself as a patient man but to have to guess on gestation, why, it would turn his hair grayer than it already was. He could not imagine waiting six months for this birth. He was at peace with his inner thoughts when Veronica cursed and leaned forward in her chair.“Shit. They destroyed the camera.” Veronica spat as she scanned screen eleven for action. The team had grown quiet and still. They heard it. Vlad gripped the chair in front of him and studied the screen. “They’re up to something…”At that moment, shots began firing towards the door.—The gunfire did not last long after the pepper spray bomb filled the air and lungs with chemicals and irritants. It was brilliant that Tucker recalled such a trivial modification on the pepper spray canister. These kids had ceased to amaze him today, he thought. They continued to hear the coughing of the guards as they listened behind the safety of the wall until they could not hear it anymore. Nate had inhaled a bit of irritant himself from the throw but he was able to recover quickly. The brunt of it was out there. “We have to go.” Nate said in finality. “I think we’re in the clear, if we wait any longer, they’ll have recovered.”“Agreed.” Valery said, standing up straight. She looked at Tucker who moved to grab his cellphone. He looked remorseful leaving his tech behind, but he could not carry it all.“Goodbye computers. Goodbye PDA. I’ll come back for you.” Tucker wiped a tear from his eye and walked back to the group. “Are you ready, Tucker?” Val asked as she kissed her boyfriend and brushing a tear from his cheek.“Yes.” Tucker replied sheepishly.“Good. Then it’s a good thing I memorized every turn we took in here.” Valery said as she smiled at her two comrades. Both shared her smile in return. They soon shifted behind Valery as they converged towards the door, anticipating another fight. She kept her IV pole with her as she peered her head out of the door. Empty. “Ok team, let’s go!”—“No, no, no!” Vlad shouted as he watched his security wither and cry out from the small can that was thrown in the hall. The imbeciles took off running from the smog-condensed area and took an immediate right towards the old washrooms. It wasn’t until moments later that the three intruders were out of their room and running down the hall in the opposite direction. “Damn her!” Vlad pounded his fist onto control table as he watched Valery Grey lead the others down the halls in the exact way they came from. “Vlad Sir! Do you want me to alert the other team?” Veronica was a fist away from hitting the panic button to alert all staff. Vladimir seethed at the screen, his face becoming beet red. “Sir!” Veronica shouted again. Vlad didn’t hear her, he was watching the group advance towards the front of the facility. Towards him. Towards… He relaxed.“Unlock the doors.” Vlad said calmly as he straightened his back. “Sir?” Veronica questioned as she turned to halfway face him.“I will not repeat myself.” Vlad stated in a menacingly calm voice.The officer complied with what her employer had commanded and applied the kill switch on all laboratory authorized access doors.“Also, send out a message to all staff to not respond and stay where they are.” Vlad turned to leave for the door as the group made their last turn. “I will handle it from here.”— As Nate and Tucker followed Valery back through the halls, Nate couldn’t shake the feeling that they should have run into someone by now. He also noticed that the some doors were slightly ajar. They didn’t stop long enough to see who or what was inside for it would have taken to long and what if they ran into more guards? The soles of their shoes smacked the linoleum floor leaving squeaks trailing behind them as they ran. “How many more turns Val?” Tucker panted as they quickly slowed to a stop after making the final right turn. He instinctively bent over his knees in exhaustion, sweat streaming down his temples. Valery wiped her forehead with her forearm and answered between breaths, “Now. Only hall we haven’t been down is that one.” She looked forward to the hall that diverged into a left turn at the end wall. “Then that’s where we start.” Nate frowned in finality and pushed his glasses back in place on his nose. The three were jogging quietly again down this unknown hall, ever alert of the possibilities that rounded the corner. They made the first left turn, then two rights before stopping. The hall they were in would diverge into another left.“Nate, we’re going to get trapped again, we have to turn back and leave this place and get help. Call the police and get them here. My dad will know what to do.” Val pressed a hand towards the older man but he was not listening. In fact, he was not paying attention to her at all. “Hello? Are you listening to me?” His eyes were fixed on the floor and his brows were furrowed as if he was listening for something. “Wait-” Nate paused, straining his ears for what he thought he heard. There was nothing at first but then it returned. A sound he would never forget in any lifetime. A sound that came to him a couple days following the attack that left his hand fileted open and had haunted him in the middle of the night when he tried to go to sleep. The primal howl of the jet black mer. “Danny…” Nate whispered as he straightened up and crept towards the left hall entrance, listening for the howl to return. Only this time, he heard a female’s cry accompanying the mer. “Sam.” Nate sprang into a run that bolted Val and Tucker into attention to follow him down the hall. “Sam!” He shrieked to her as he willed her to yell her location. “Sam, answer me!”--- Sam continued to struggle with her restraints and was becoming weaker and weaker by the second. She had heard the gunfire and it pierced her ears as if the gun ignited next to her. She had begged for Vlad to not hurt her uncle and friends. She pleaded for their safety. She would stay if it meant that they could walk away. She would give herself up to Vlad and his scientists if it meant that she wouldn’t carry the weight of the blood of her loved ones on her shoulders. Please be safe. Please, God don’t let them be hurt. Sam cried then as she pleaded for help that she knew was out of her reach. She had started to feel some burning against her throat as gills began to form, leaving her to gasp between tears at the pain of the tissue separating. She didn’t have to glance down to her feet to know they were replaced with blue bifurcating flowing tailfins. Again, she was left with the realness of this whole situation. The mutation of her body to protect and nurture this child inside her womb. She couldn’t help but feel so much resentment toward the creature who was screeching and squawking for her attention. If the sound of the gunfire hurt her ears, she could not imagine how he felt by such sudden cracks of sound. Danny’s howling would let up for a couple moments as he struggled in that small tank and was clearly conserving energy. He would make eye contact with her and then cower from her gaze. This was not the temperamental mermian that she grew to know over the year. Just then, a voiced carried its way down the hall and into the room. “Nate?” Sam whispered and picked her head up off the table. Her voice becoming hoarse from her screaming and burning around the nape of her neck. “I’m here!” She cried as she banged her tail on the table and clicked her newly formed claws on the metal. Tears began to collect in her eyes as she watched the door, praying they would not run by.“Sam!” She heard her uncle cry as his feet pounded down the hall and exploded into the room. His hand caught him in the doorway as he gaped at her new form in front of him. “Oh God, Sam…” He gasped as his hand dropped from the frame.Sam hiccupped as tears continued to stream down her face and into her mouth. “Uncle Nate…” Sam felt a warm flush over her, “you found us.” He would never understand how literal “us” was. She felt as helpless as a child again, back when she used to always call him that.Nate stumbled toward his niece and held her face in his hands. His thumbs wiped the tears from her cheeks, leaving a buzzing feeling as they went. Her skin was not skin anymore, but soft small scales that were the tone of flesh. Sam nestled her face in his hands and wept, her body uncontrollably rattling the table. Valery and Tucker were stuck in the doorway themselves, unable to believe the sight in front of them. Their eyes took in the whole room from the operating table that Sam was strapped too, to the multiple medical instruments from scalpels to syringes, and finally to the jet black mer in the tank next to Sam who had grown silent as he watched them surround her. His tail flickered then as he watched them examine her body – not in an intrusive way like the white haired male before them – but in the careful way that he remembered the females in the shoal would touch the wounded. A touch in a way he had never received until his beloved had graced him many moons ago. He would accept these humans for this simple act only.“H-How did this happen, Sam?” Nate stuttered as he moved to release the soft restraints on her wrists, hesitating on the one strapping her tail. Her new body had flowing fins that sprouted on either side of her forearms and hips, a dorsal fin that looked to come up just below her shoulders and a pair of ventral fins at the base of her tail with two separating tailfins for propelling. The fins were soft, with an ombre effect of dark to light blue. Her body was wrapped in the most brilliant purple scales that were dark until reflected by light, and faded into a soft white patch just under her navel. Two red streamers hung on each side of the table from the small of her belly. He had never seen another mermian like her – of course he was only comparing his knowledge to one other; it was then that he looked up at Danny whose eyes were trained on him. Nate held his gaze for a couple seconds more then said, “Sam, what is going-”“I’m-” Sam was about to admit when a sound clicked behind Nate. Nate froze as he gazed into the reflection of the monitor screen across from him. A figure stood with arms drawn.“Just leaving.” Vladimir Masters sneered as he aimed his handgun up in the air toward Nathaniel. Nate turned around slowly as his business partner took a defensive stance in front of the only exit they had. Val and Tucker had ducked down behind the exam table when Vlad entered the room. “What have you done to my niece, Vlad?” Nate moved to shield Sam’s face as Vlad followed him with the gun.“Me? I did nothing to the dear girl. I saved her.” Vlad spat back, his hand not wavering as he followed the biologist. “You left her alone in that enclosure. You let her go in there knowing the creature was aggressive and in heat, didn’t you?” Vlad smirked then as he saw the red head flinch by his comments.“Yes I knew but I didn’t think he would hurt her. Or do… this.” Nate said as he moved to the end of the table near Sam’s tail. He wanted to put distance between her, Danny, and Val and Tucker. “Enough of this Vlad, this is between you and me, not her, not Sam.” He signaled the two young adults to stay low and hidden where they were.“Oh, this will always be about Samantha, more than you will ever know.” Vlad moved to the head of the table, keeping his gun trained on Nate the whole time. Only eight feet between them. “Let’s talk this out, Vlad. This is crazy!” Nate said with his hands up showing him that he was not a threat.“If it weren’t for my pathetic staff, I wouldn’t have had to kill you myself.” Vlad spat, the taste in his mouth bitter with rage.“P-Please stop. Let them go! I told you I will stay!” Sam cried as she struggled to pull her body to the side to face them. Her scales were becoming stiff from lack of moisture, she didn’t know how long she could last like this. “Sam, it’s going to be alright. You’re not staying here, we will get you back to normal, I promise.” Nate reassured her, although he was not sure himself how to revert back these changes to her body. “Dr. Manson, you come into my facility causing amuck to my facility and my employees when you have no business here. You have damaged my property and have stuck your nose into my personal investments for the last time.” It was then that he dropped the gun from Nate and aimed it at Sam’s stomach. “I am going to take away everything you hold dear in this world.” Sam gasped as she instinctively froze, her left arm the only thing that moved to protect her abdomen. Danny began to thrash in his tank at this threat to his mate. Whatever this black object was that the older male held had emitted fear from every human in the room, including his beloved. His eyes glowed green and this fins flared in challenge. He could feel the ligaments in his jaw loosen to provide better range of motion to use his teeth as a weapon. He began to howl in rage for war as struggled to the top of the tank, trying to grab hold of the edge.“The Center, your credentials, your precious Sam…” Vlad snickered as he watched the biologist’s face at the mention of his niece. At the same time, Nate began to lunge forward to Sam, he would not let her come to harm any longer. “Your breath.” Vlad hissed as Sam gasped. Vlad quickly removed his aim from her to Nate once more, pulling the trigger as the gun kicked in his hand. Nathaniel’s body was flung back by the impact; his body lay crumbled over Sam’s lower body. Blood had splattered Sam. Blood splattered Vlad. Blood splattered Danny’s tank. It pooled around the end of the table and began to drip off the sides and onto the floor. Silence filled the room until all was heard was the glass shattering screech of the jet black mer. --CRACK! --Danny wasn’t a human. He did not know how they survived outside of his captivity. How did they survive in their environments above water where life was as alien to him as their bodies? How did they hunt? He did not know the customs that humans used in order to defend themselves. Before him now, he witnessed a glimpse of what it was like for a human to attack another. It was foreign. There were no teeth, no hidden stingers, no slashing with their claws; everything that he had grown to know for him to survive in the waters. Even his beloved mate, lay motionless as she was caught in the mercy of the black object. He had to protect her. Every ounce of his being now drove him to protect his mate and child. She had been frightened, she needed him. He would never leave her. She was covered in red.Protect.Instinct took over as he released a deafening screech that splintered the glass around them, starting with a long crack that spiked its way down the middle of the tank.Protect.Water began rushing into the room with feverish intent. Red began to separate and fill the water with its eerie fog.Protect.His solid captor floated down below him, allowing him to stretch his fins and flex his muscles.Kill. All he saw was red. It was everywhere he looked and everywhere he breathed. It fueled his rage, it caused his body to stimulate to action. It made him faster, stronger, better. He was no longer prey. He was free, and with the water rising in the room it made it hard for his land prey to move. He was a hunter again out in his open territory and he had his sights set on one target. He paid no mind to the shouts and splashing of the other humans who tried their best to make themselves small against the wall. Blood was encompassing their space as they held a non-struggling being to their bodies. His prey was clawing at the door. He would not escape. Danny lunged at the older man, claws and jaw locked into his body and pulled him under the water. He ripped his prey from side to side, creating gushing wounds. More red.Kill.He pulled the human towards the opening, towards his natural territory. The human punched and kicked at him with all his strength, but it was to no avail. He would not overpower the mer now. The man breached the surface with an agonizing cry as he slapped the water. The mer reveled in the thrill of the kill and allowed the game of struggle to continue. Danny eventually pulled him under again and with one flick of his tail, they were out through the open window and in the warm coastal waters. The mer pulled the male down deeper and deeper until all that was left of Vladimir Masters was a plume of red that stained the waters. __Chaos encompassed the room in those minutes leading up to the disappearance of Vladimir Masters. The sound of the gunfire was too great in the small room for Danny to handle. It sent him into a frenzy inside the tank as he released a cry that Sam had never heard before, and would never forget. In such close courters, it shattered the glass around them leaving glass spraying in every direction and water gushing into the room from the broken windows. The mer was on the ground in an instant, then he was floating in the now six foot water that filled the room. Tucker and Valery took some time to spring into action as they were the ones first hit by the salt water. The smell of iron wasn’t the only thing that filled the room as blood continued to stream out of her uncle’s chest. Sam cried in frustration as she tried to pull her uncle towards her, struggling to keep her body upright. She was losing strength as he began slipping from her grasp, his lips turning blue. She couldn’t lose him, not now. “Nate,” She squeaked between gasps as her fingers hooked into his shirt. The front of his chest was blossoming with blood until his entire shirt was stained. His eyes remained half-lidded as he began to agonal breathe. “Don’t let go, it’ll be alright.” His head began to roll as Val and Tucker came up from behind him to secure his body above water. His body was limp in their arms as Valery struggled to hold pressure in the area to prevent more air from entering his pleural cavity. Nathaniel Manson was dying and there was nothing they could do. It wasn’t until Vlad Masters’ started to wail in agony that Sam snapped out of her sorrow as she watched the older man struggle with his card key to open the lab door. He began slapping at it now, screaming for help when he was pulled underwater by Danny. They began thrashing about in the shallow water and paid no mind to her or the three that still remained in the water. Val and Tucker pulled Nathaniel close to the wall now, giving them the support they needed for Val to hold pressure against his chest. His face was beginning to turn pale. The last they saw of Vladimir Masters’ was when he emerged from the water gasping for breath, blood dribbling out of the side of his mouth as he locked eyes with Sam. She stared back at him with wide eyed horror mixed with satisfaction of the man’s pain. After everything he had done to her, her family, friends, and the jet black mer… he finally got what he deserved. As quickly as his presence was there, it was gone and along with the thrashing.It was then that Sam rolled herself off of the table and into the water, her new body righting itself in the water and adjusting her to remain buoyant in the shallows. As natural as taking a step forward on land, her tailfins pushed and propelled her forward towards her friends and uncle, encompassing his face in her hands. Val took the opportunity to dive under the water and come up with the dropped access card.“I won’t leave you.” Sam said as hugged her uncle’s head to her chest. Tucker bit his lip as the water began to rise to his shoulders.“Sam, you have to go. You’re in danger if you stay here. They won’t understand…” Valery said as they heard a click and a red light flashed overhead. The emergency alarm was set off and a voice was heard overhead to evacuate to the nearest exit due to the automatic locking system to prevent the spread of water. “We will take Nate to safety, but you must get out of here. The scientists will be looking for you, your only hope is to get away while you still can.” She pleaded to her friend.“It’ll be alright, Sam. We will find you again. We swear by it.” Tucker insisted, struggling to keep Nate’s head above water.“I can’t leave… I have to help him.” Sam stammered, remorse filling her throat. Deep down, she knew she had to leave to the safety of the waters, but she was frightened for her future. What if she would never see her friends or family again? What if Danny had completely forgotten about her and went to safety himself. She would be alone. “We love you, Sam. Please be safe.” Her friend gasped as she moved to hug the girl turned mer. “It’ll be alright.” Sam leaned in to kiss her uncle’s forehead for the last time and gave her friends a curt nod as she maneuvered her away to the window that lead out to the ocean. The countdown began before automatic closure of the doors. Valery pulled open the door and in that moment, water rushed out into the hallway vacuuming the three out with it. Sam sighed relief when shouts came that they were alright. Miraculously, the door closed behind them, cutting off the water from flooding the halls. “It’s just you and me now.” She whispered as her arms tread water around her. She didn’t know if she truly needed to perform this action, but it felt human. Sam pulled air into her lungs and mouth out of habit and slowly sank below the water. To her surprise, her gills flared and burned at her neck. She blinked underwater in amazement of how crystal clear the room had become. Her eyes didn’t burn in the salt water and everything around her was enhanced and vibrant. She pushed her way through the window opening and there she was, in the middle of the ocean. Instinct took her breath away as she swam away from the facility. The ocean was busy with multicolored fish and creatures that she never could have appreciated on land. After a couple minutes, Sam realized that she did not have the urge to swim to the surface, her gills were oxygenating and filtering water for her. As she scanned the corals and the flora of the ocean floor, a cry called out from across the water, vibrations beating against her heart. Out in the distance and just in her line of sight, she recognized Danny as he perched himself on the some rocks with seaweed swaying at its base. His positioning was proud as his tail curled around the rocks and the current swept his mane of hair that was still collected in her hair tie out and flowing behind him. In no time, the jet black mer closed the distance between her and the space between them. He bowed his head to her and circled around to face the open ocean, beckoning her to join him. Sam hesitated and swallowed saliva to clear her throat, know that this moment would define the rest of her life.Sam propelled herself forward, drifting away from the only safety she had ever known.

Based on the storyboard and collaboration with , I was given the creative freedom to produce this final chapter of Captivity's first book. Based on the characters and ideas that Haru wanted, I have brought you Chapter 17: Unknown.
I do not own Captivity and it's respected characters and storyline, all rights are reserved to Atrieisan. I was not given a script, I did not re-write notes, I was given the plot on what needs to happen and with writer's freedom, I present to you this chapter. Writing is reserved my intellectual property, but story is all Atrieisan. Thank you and enjoy!
Stay safe!

Am I able to submit rough sketches?

My fanfiction for MerDanny
www.fanfiction.net/s/11264848/…