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Closer than I thought

The morning light filtered through the lab’s narrow windows, casting pale streaks across the equipment and the tank at the center of the room. I’d barely slept, the strange dream lingering in my mind like an oily shadow I couldn’t shake. Every time I closed my eyes, I heard his voice again, whispering my name, as if he were just inches away.

But it had only been a dream. A hallucination, I told myself, born from exhaustion and the strangeness of yesterday’s events.

Or so I kept telling myself.

I shook my head, trying to refocus as I entered the lab. Most of the team hadn’t arrived yet, though a few technicians were already gathered around the tank, glancing nervously at the dark water.

There, in the center of the tank, lay the creature.

He was completely still, his form suspended in the murky water, almost like a corpse. His eyes were closed, his body limp, his skin paler than I remembered. His hair floated around him like dark silk, and for a moment, I could almost convince myself that he was dead.

But I knew better.

A monitor nearby beeped, displaying a series of brainwave patterns. They were faint, barely detectable, but they were there. He was alive—if you could call it that. His mind was active, just enough to keep his body from shutting down. I could feel my heart pounding as I looked at him, remembering the intensity of his gaze in my dream, the strange pull that had kept me trapped.

And then I felt a presence behind me.

“Fascinating, isn’t he?” Dr. Graves’ voice was smooth, but there was a hint of something darker in it, an undertone of hunger that made my skin crawl.

I glanced over my shoulder. He was watching the creature with a look I couldn’t quite place, his eyes cold but gleaming, like a scientist studying a particularly interesting specimen.

“He is,” I replied, trying to keep my tone neutral.

Dr. Graves smiled, stepping closer to the tank. “Do you realize, Dr. Monroe, what we’re looking at here? This creature… it could change everything. Years of myths and legends about sea creatures, beings like this one hiding in the depths. And now, here he is… at our mercy.”

There was something unsettling in the way he said that, as if he relished the idea of control, of power over something so strange and mysterious. I looked back at the creature, feeling a strange surge of protectiveness. He looked vulnerable, helpless even, floating in that tank with Dr. Graves’ calculating gaze on him.

I pushed the feeling down. This was just a creature—an anomaly, a specimen to study. That’s all.

“Any updates on the analysis?” I asked, hoping to steer the conversation back to science.

Dr. Graves tilted his head, his gaze still on the creature. “Actually, yes. The technicians have discovered something… interesting.”

He handed me a tablet, his fingers brushing against mine for a moment too long. I tried to ignore the coldness in his touch as I took it, glancing at the screen.

My heart skipped a beat.

The results displayed on the screen were a genetic analysis, a breakdown of the creature’s DNA. I scanned the data, my pulse racing as I took in the details. There were markers that aligned with known deep-sea species, traits we’d seen in certain rare organisms. But there were also segments—strange, unrecognizable sequences that didn’t fit with any known species. They were ancient, complex, beyond anything we’d encountered.

And then I saw the note in bold at the bottom of the screen: No identifiable match to known species. Possible deviation from standard “merman” structure. Unique organism.

I frowned, glancing at the creature again. “So he’s… something else entirely?”

Dr. Graves nodded, his expression darkly pleased. “Exactly. A new type of sea creature, perhaps even a species entirely separate from the ‘mermen’ we’ve theorized about. He may be a class of his own—a rarity that only deep, uncharted waters could produce.”

My mind raced, a hundred questions bubbling up, each one more desperate than the last. What was he? Why did he have these traits, these anomalies? Was he really some deep-sea creature—or something else entirely? The questions only deepened the mystery, and the need to understand him grew stronger.

I caught myself staring, feeling a strange flutter of excitement that I couldn’t explain. It was as if the dream had planted a seed, something dark and thrilling that I couldn’t shake. I wanted to know him, to understand him. To…

I cut off the thought, reminding myself that this was just a creature. Nothing more.

Dr. Graves’ voice cut through my thoughts, low and smooth. “You seem very interested in him, Dr. Monroe.”

I looked up, startled, feeling my cheeks flush. “I’m interested in all the data we’ve collected, yes.”

“Of course.” He gave me a small smile, but there was something calculating behind it, something that made me feel like a bug under a microscope. “But he’s different, isn’t he? Unlike anything we’ve ever seen. You feel it too, don’t you?”

I opened my mouth to deny it, but the words caught in my throat. He was right, and I hated that he could see it. There was something different about this creature, something that I couldn’t explain, something that made me feel… connected. I didn’t understand it, and I didn’t want to admit it. Not to Dr. Graves.

He seemed to sense my hesitation, and his smile widened, a little too pleased. “Well, you’ll have plenty of time to study him. As long as he remains sedated, he’s yours to observe.”

“Thank you,” I managed, forcing a professional tone. “I’ll begin a closer analysis as soon as possible.”

Dr. Graves gave a curt nod, his eyes flicking back to the creature with a look of barely concealed satisfaction. He turned to leave, but before he did, he paused, glancing over his shoulder. “Oh, and Dr. Monroe?”

“Yes?”

“Remember—he may look vulnerable, but appearances can be deceiving. Don’t get too… attached.” His words were laced with something almost mocking, and it made my stomach turn.

I waited until he’d left before letting out a slow breath, trying to calm the rapid beat of my heart. His presence always put me on edge, like he could see right through me, pick apart every thought. And he wasn’t wrong. There was something here, something beyond the science, something I couldn’t explain.

I turned back to the tank, the creature’s form still perfectly still, as if in a trance. I stared at him, a strange mix of curiosity and wariness prickling under my skin.

He looked so calm, so peaceful, like he was asleep—or maybe… waiting. His face was relaxed, almost serene, but there was something unsettling about the stillness, something that reminded me of the dream.

I shook my head, trying to push it aside. This was just a creature. Just an anomaly, a specimen. There was no reason to think he was anything more.

And yet…

I found myself leaning closer, peering into the murky water. His face was so still, so perfect, almost too perfect. His skin was pale, a shade that seemed to glow faintly even in the darkness, and his dark hair drifted around him like smoke. There was something human in his features, something that felt achingly familiar. But he was definitely not human. No human could look like that.

I blinked, my mind catching on a strange detail.

I’d just called him… he.

Not it.

I frowned, feeling a strange pang in my chest. When had I started thinking of him as something more? As someone, rather than something? I tried to shake off the feeling, reminding myself that he was a creature, an object of study, nothing more. But the thought lingered, a small, nagging whisper at the back of my mind.

What if he was more than that?

I pressed a hand to the glass, feeling the coolness seep into my skin, grounding me. The tank hummed faintly, the machines pulsing with his faint brainwaves, a steady reminder that he was alive, even in this trance. But was he really asleep? Or was he… aware?

The thought sent a shiver through me, and I quickly pulled my hand away. This was ridiculous. I was letting my imagination get the best of me, letting the dream blur into reality. But as I looked back at him, the nagging thought persisted, clawing its way into my mind.

What if he was awake, just waiting for the right moment?

The memory of his voice echoed in my thoughts, soft and dark, wrapping around me like a shadow. I could still feel the weight of his gaze, the pull that had held me captive in the dream. It had felt real—too real, like he’d reached into my mind, left something behind.

“Get it together, Lila,” I muttered to myself, trying to shake off the strange feeling.

But even as I turned to leave, I couldn’t shake the sense that he was watching me. The thought made my skin crawl, but there was something else there too—something I couldn’t name, a thrill that was both exhilarating and terrifying.

I forced myself to look away, to push down the strange pull that lingered in my chest. But as I left the lab, I could still feel the tension of his presence, as if he were following me, as if he’d left something in my mind that I couldn’t shake.

And as I walked away, one last, disturbing thought crept into my mind.

Maybe… maybe he wanted me to feel this way.

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