It was the second night of the Backstreet Boys 2nd annual BSB cruise and Nick was beyond fed up.  Just like the last cruise, they were following him EVERYWHERE! Currently, they were sitting in Nassau overnight due to some schedule changes, so earlier that day, after nearly getting attacked for the umpteenth time, he decided to book some solitary scuba time.  He hadn't been in a long time and he figured it would be easy to sneak off at night and get some much needed alone time.  Besides, he had heard a story about a shipwreck that was pretty close to shore that he wanted to check out. 

After some very good sneakiness and he did think it was VERY good, he took all his scuba gear and into the car he rented. It was only a mile away but his fans were very fast. Putting on his gear and getting in the water felt like heaven and it was definetly more of a vacation than the cruise where he had to run away from hundreds of girl and women. Unlike during the day where the water was as clear as glass and fish swam in the underwater playground it was inky black at night and barely visible an inch in front of him. That is why he took an underwater flashlight with him. He would have liked to enjoy the swim more but it was not the best time to do it as it was hard to tell if anything dangerous was closing in so he hurridly swam until he found the ruins.

Nick got excited as the wreckage came into view.  Swimming around a bit, he found an opening big enough for his large, lanky frame to fit through. He knew this was dangerous to do alone, but his curiosity of what was inside got the better of him.  He swam in and found himself in what he believed to be the gally.  Swimming around looking to see what he could find, he suddenly got a chill, like he wasn't alone.  Rounding a corner he could have sworn he saw someone swim behind a rotting barrel.  He swam closer to investigate.

He thought he saw a flash of blue to his right side and turned around only to see nothing. Just as he was starting to calm down he heard some giggling from behind him and turn but again saw nothing. He obviously needed a real vacation if his mind was starting to play tricks on him; feeling something touch his shoulder, he almost shrieked and he would have if he could without drowning. Slowly turning around he saw some blue fins swimming out the hole he just swam through. His self preservation kicked in but his curiosity got the better of him and he swam after it, after all, he knew nothing that could eat him had blue fins. He chased it all around the outside of the boat until it went back inside the wreck but still could not tell what it was but the blue of the fins were gorgeous from what he could see. He carefully followed and abruptly stopped. All he could think was he was on oxygen withdrawal as he saw the most beautiful woman ...fish..fish...woman...mermaid he had ever seen. Of course he has never seen a mermaid before but she was more beautiful than any women he had ever seen and boy, had he seen a lot of women. She had hair the color of saphire with her tail to match, her breats were covered by filmsy almost see through cloth. He was like a moth to a flame as he swam closer, taking in more of her, her features were delicate, full mouth, almond shaped eyes the color of the ocean and a small pert nose.

He was just reaching out to touch her to see if she was real when a net come crashing down around him.  Panicing, he kicked his flipped feet, clawed at the net trying to get away.  He was so busy trying to free himself he didn't see himself being surrounded.  Tiring after a few minutes of struggling, he stopped and looked around, shining the flashlight that miraculously he hadn't lost, he shown it on the new arrivals.  He sucked in a breath as he took in their appearance. Some had fire red hair, some had the same blue as he witnessed on the beauty he saw before, some had a brilliant purple, some had bright pink.  And with the hair color, thier tails matched the color perfectly.  It was like he was starring at a double rainbow of merpeople. One was different tho..she had black as night hair and carried a nasty looking spear, which was now pointed inches from is nose.
 
"I figured merpeople would use tridents." Nick thought just to have the merwoman with the spear poke him with it but not hard enough to draw blood. "We are not here for your amusement human." He heard a melodic but bitter voice in his head. He gulped, it was obvious he was in trouble. He just wasn't sure how much trouble. "Take him to the prison." She ordered, making him wonder just how he could hear them speak in his head. At moments it felt like hours, others it felt like minutes but finally it seemed they had stopped dragging him and none too gently either. He would have a good bump in his head if he got out of this. They threw him in what seemed like a cave but when he tried to leave he was thrown back as if it had electric fencing as ridiculous as that sound. It wasn't a very big cave but he could see what seemed like both human and merepeople bones. He shuddered.

He was sitting there trying to figure out how he was going to escape when the blue beauty he had seen at the ship appear at the edge of the fencing.  He swam over to her causiouly.  "What do you want with us" he hear her say in his head. It still freaked him out a bit that he could hear her thoughts.  "I don't want anything from you.  I was just checking out the shipwreck and your people kidnapped me!" he thought frantically.  "I should be asking YOU what you want with ME!" he shouted in his brain.  "We captured you before you could kill any more of US!" she shouted back at him.  Nick just looked perplexed.  She found this odd.

The dark haired meremaid swam towards them, "How many times have I told you not to speak to the prisoners?" He heard her say, "But.." "No buts, they are not pets and they are not good." "I know." The blue haired one said. "Leave youngling." The dark haired said to the blue haired, she nodded and swam away with only a small backwards look. She looked at him, her eyes colder than Antartic ice, her voice poisenous silk. "You think you can lie to her because she has barely twenty summers that she will believe you. Well I am not a naive youngling. What do you want with our people?" Nick was panicking even more. He didn't know what they were talking about and he was sure he didn't have that much air left. "I was just trying to get some free time and check out the wreckage I had heard about." "Lies! Everytime someone has found out we exist they hunt us, search for us, kill us, take us for some sort of cure they think they can make with us. How did you know where to look?" She asked menancingly as she poked him with the spear this time drawing a small amount of blood. "Perhaps I should just feed you to the sharks."

Now Nick was about to piss his wetsuit.  The woman spoke with such venom. He checked his tank gauge and seen he only had about 15 minutes of air left.   Nick had NO idea who these people were. As he was thinking to himself, he forgot these merepeople could read his thoughts.  The dairk-haired mermaid would not be fooled tho.  She thought it was just another trick.  But the blue-haired beauty didn't go far. She could still hear his thoughts.  She didn't know what it was about this human, but she believed him.  After the evil one swam away, blue hair swam close again. "You really had no idea about us did you?" she asked.

He shook his head too scared to even think, he had almost no air left and he was floating there bleeding and had just been threatened to be shark food. He was starting to think his fans weren't that scary anymore. Not when compared to this. "But all the stories about men in ships with cannons..." "I don't know what you are talking about but cannons haven't been used in centuries and humans think mermaids are a myth." "I do not know why but I feel you are telling the truth..." She swam away and he lost hope but not minutes later she came back. "The guards are conversing with her at the moment it will be the best time for an escape." At that moment she looked like his a goddess, a goddess of mercy, and second chances.

She had a mechanism in her hand with a button. When her long, elegant finger pushed the button the elecrical fence went down.  "Hurry! We must move fast!" she said.  Nick wasted no time.  He knew he had to get out of there fast.  He was about to run out of air.  He could have kissed her feet...er...fins in worship and thanks as she swam past the barrier, took ahold of him and swam him out of his watery prison.  He followed her kicking as hard as he could following her through a maze of narrow cave walls,  A few times he thought he was going to get stuck.  Finally, he could see daylight above.  He headed toward it with new vigor. Finally, breaking the water's surface, he ripped the mask and snorkel off and took a big, hungry gulp of fresh air. He craned his neck around taking in his surroundings and found he was very close to the beach he had left from.
   
Suddenly, he could feel hands trying to grab ahold of his legs but he was already in shallow water so he crawled then ran as fast as he could, his heart thundering in his chest. He fell down on the sand a few feet near his rental car and sat catching his breathe knowing they couldn't get him on land. He saw the black haired mermaid's head come out of the dark water, and almost ran to his car but saw she couldn't go farther than she was. If her eyes were a weapon he'd be dead from the glare she was giving him. The gorgeous, sunkissed blue haired woman came up also. She looked so innocent compared to the black haired one who look angry at all time. He saw the black haired one grab her from the shoulder and push her down into the ocean. He almost ran to her, wanting to help her like he helped her but he saw her shake her head no and stayed staring at the calm, dark sea until not a ripple could be seen.

Nick stood there comtemplating on going back in the water after her.  She had practically  pleaded with her eyes not to.  So, he stripped off his wetsuit, threw his gear in the trunk and drove back to the boat.  Later on that night, laying in bed next to Lauren, he had made the decision to keep what happened to himself.   Not like anyone would believe him anyways.  He drifted off to sleep with the blue haired mermaid's luminous face haunted his dreams that night.

The next day, Nick actually found himself alone in a quite corner of the ship.  He just stood there, looking out at the wide sea watching the water lap against itself.  A movement below him caught his eye.  Looking down, he saw her again, the blue haired beauty from his dreams.  "I thought I'd never see you again! I was so worried about you" Nick thought to her.  "I'm fine as you can see.  I told my daddy what had happened and he put her in the cave you were in as punishment. Not all of us think humans are bad" she told him.  "I'm just so happy you are alright. I owe you my life" Nick told her.  "I could tell the goodness in you human. Just, take care of the ocean for me, that's all I ask in payment" she said.  "I promise I will. I already do." he responded.  And with that, she gave him the most beautiful smile he's ever seen in his life, waved and dove under the water.  Watching as the ripples faded away, he waved and said goodbye.