Trapped

My mother used to take me to the aquarium for my birthday every year, sometimes we would even travel to find the biggest and best ones we could. Today is my birthday. I'm twenty-five now, my mother passed away late last year, but tradition is tradition. A friend of mine sent me an article about a month ago that she'd found online, it talked about a brand new aquarium that was opening it's doors just an hours drive away from our little town. The description talked about getting to be a part of a never before seen exhibit, of course they all said that, but for some reason the article left me with a curiosity I couldn't shake.

Pulling through the large gates that decorated the main entrance of the aquarium I could already feel something was different about this place. The atmosphere was off. Normally there bright colors and fake fish decorating the outside of an aquarium, lots of kids running around, jumping on the shark statues, parents taking pictures. This place was dark, there were no funny decorations, no silly moto written on the pavement, instead it was quiet, it felt like I was walking into a funeral home almost.

As I stepped into the main lobby and up to the ticket booth, a sign caught my attention. It read, Please leave your electronic devices with your teller, and visitors caught taking pictures inside the exhibits will be fed to the sharks. Though the last part read as a poor attempt at a joke, it was strange and left a sour taste in my mouth. I suppose the flash of a camera could be upsetting to some of the fish, but why would I need to forfeit my device altogether? The lady at the counter seemed annoyed as I contemplated whether or not I really wanted to go in. She eyed me with a cold expression, she had dark rings under her eyes and her skin was pale, probably from sitting in this dim light to long.

I handed over my phone as I paid for my ticket, they made me turn out my pockets to be sure I didn't have any other devices, once they were satisfied they guided me through the only other doors in the room besides the exit. It was darker in here, I could barely see my hands in front of my face, and even quieter than it had been outside. The only light in the halls came from the dimly light tanks that lined the walls. A few people stood transfixed in front of the glass, their eyes glazed over, they were like motionless zombies. Most of the tanks were full of deep sea life, which made sense considering the lighting and rules on pictures, though I wasn't sure how they managed to capture and relocate them with such great success. There were even a few prehistoric fish that had thought to have been extinct. However, it was the last set of tanks, stationed in their own little viewing room, that suddenly made the whole vibe and strict rules make sense.

These tanks were huge, each one practically empty except for their lone occupants. They were merfolk. Now, before you go picturing Ariel from the little mermaid, let me just tell you, you're wrong. There were three of them, each one different from the last. The first reminded me on an angler fish, it's pale brown skin almost translucent, spiny teeth jutting from its mouth, its eyes grey and dead, obviously blind, and a small antenna like thing protruding from its forehead. It turned its head as if to look at me and the antenna began to glow, causing the murky water around it to cast a deep green hue over me, it had its arms wrapped around its tail like a child would hold their knees when crying. I could feel my heart in the pit of my stomach as I turned to look at the second tank.

This one was had the body of a seahorse, it was smaller that the other, only slightly larger that a human toddler. It's skin reminded me of the Denise's pygmy seahorse, orange with barnacle like knots running the length of its body, even its tail curled like a seahorses. On its head it almost looked as if it wore an orange blossom jellyfish like a hat, the tendrils moving around it like locks of hair. Unlike the one before it, its eyes were clear and looking straight at me. It pressed its hands against the glass and moved its face as close as it could. It was like the creature was staring into my soul. I had to look away, but found myself staring into the eyes of the third.

This creatures brow folded down, giving it the constant expression of anger, though I'm sure it really was angry at its current situation. Its eyes were like black beads. It was the largest of the three, standing as big as an elephant and looked like what I would imagine a crab centaur would have, it was ghostly gray in color and the claws at the end of its arms looked like they could tear a car in half if it wanted, or it could simply stab it with its sword like legs. It tilted its head to the side as if contemplating my presence. I couldn't take it anymore, I ran from the room, tripping over my own feet in the darkness as I navigated the maze like halls until I reached the door to the main room. I paused to compose myself before exiting. I wasn't sure what they would do if they knew I was both frightened and disgusted by what they had done, but I didn't want to find out.

I gathered my belongings from the woman at the counter, she wore a knowing smirk as I walked out the door, being sure to wish me a good rest of my day and telling me to visit again. Not going to happen.

A couple of months later, after my friend refused to believe me and the cops called me crazy, I decided to take my friend to see what I had, only... it was different now. The building looked like any other aquarium, bright colors, silly decorations, children running and parents taking pictures. The same lady sat at the desk, she looked energized and smiled happily, but it was as my friend turned to enter the exhibits, which no doubt were changed as well, that the lady smirked at me the same way she had that day and whispered, "Thanks for coming back, I'm sure they'd love to see you again,".