“It’s been a hundred years, at least,” I mumble, pushing hair out of my eyes and then pulling up my phone. “I couldn’t send you this picture because I didn’t want you to freak out. This stays between the two of us.”
Kate’s delicate dark brows knit together. “Okay,” she says slowly, taking the phone from me. “What am I looking at? This guy?” She turns the phone to face me. “This hot guy? I’m lost, fill me in. Are you back on the dating apps? Wait, you were never on the dating apps.”
I shake my head. “Not the dating apps. The forums.”
“The fish forums?”
“Aquarium forums.”
Kate’s eyes go wide. “Aquarium guy looks like this? Damn, girl.”
I shake my head. “You aren’t looking closely enough. Remember the last picture. With the reflection?”
She looks even more concerned now. “Yes. Of course. The fish with the human face.”
“Here’s the thing. I’m not so sure it’s a fish with a human face anymore.”
Kate fiddles with her dark hair, the strand winding and unwinding around her finger. Then she leans toward me. “This is some supernatural shit, isn’t it?”
I wince but also roll my eyes. “Could we not bring the supernatural into everything? Isn’t it horrifying and grotesque enough simply to be part of the natural?”
Kate shrugs, but then her eyes widen, and her hand flies to cover her mouth. “Jules, what the fuck . . . I mean, who the fuck is this in the corner of the screen?”
“I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure it’s not a fish with a human face anymore!”
“No . . . no . . . this is a human . . . with a fish face.”
The reflection is small, and you wouldn’t see it at first, not with the way it blends in with the color of the picture. It’s almost like one of those magic eyes where once you know how to find the hidden picture, you can’t shake your focus away. You can’t see anything else.
I can understand how he missed it. I could understand how any average, normal, non-anxiety-ridden person could miss something in a picture like that. But my job is built in the details. Copywriting is an exacting practice. And I’m used to looking at not just the words but also the spaces between the words.
And that’s, unfortunately, what I’ve done with Mack’s picture as well.
“Jules, what are you going to do?” Her voice quiets. “Are you gonna confront him?”
I let my jaw drop. “Am I going to confront a fish monster?” Oh my god, the fish monsters are real. “I think not. This isn’t a horror film. I’m not trying to get eaten alive or something.”
“Oh my god, you know what you should do?”
“I’m afraid to ask.”
“You should go to his house and take a picture of him and sell it to a tabloid!”
“Kate! Be serious. And that would be a horribly cruel thing to do, anyway.”
“I know, I know. I’m just kidding about that, just trying to lighten the mood. But really, you should meet him in person.”
A small flicker of adrenaline pings in my stomach at the thought. But I tilt my head down, brows angled upward. “For what reason would I ever do that?”
“To find out the truth! Maybe he’s a human. Maybe he isn’t. Because you never know. A fish monster guy might be super cool.”
The picture of the reflection flashes in front of my eyes. The strange, smooth head. The aquatic features. The peculiarities of the image. My brain has questions. My body does too.
But I shake my head. “You’re crazy. And this whole thing is insane. Of course I don’t want to see him in person! I regret ever sharing a picture with him. I regret ever talking to him.”
“So, you’re just gonna block him or something?”
I lean back on the couch as Kate flips through the pictures on my phone. Normally, I wouldn’t let someone flip through my pictures, but Kate’s different. She won’t judge me for the million random screenshots I’ve taken in the fish forum. Or the artistic shots I take down the center of the spiral staircase. Since I haven’t been out for a while, I haven’t had much to take pictures of anymore.
I let my head flop back. “Ugh! Why do I feel so guilty? I can’t just block him. Even if he is a dangerous fish monster, he’s still my friend, or was my friend, or something like a friend. I don’t know. Plus, he called me beautiful.”
Kate glances up from my phone. “Everyone calls you beautiful. I would hate you for it if you just didn’t seem so completely uninterested in exploiting that beauty even a little bit. Hey! Whoa. This is so weird.” Kate stops her fingers as she’s flicking through an album.
“What is?”
She holds up the screen, showing me the first picture Mack sent me of his aquarium.
“This picture was taken in the same place as the other one, right?” she asks.
I nod, unsure what she’s getting at. “Yes . . . I think so.”
“Well, guess what, Jules? I know where your fish monster lives.”
***
Twelve hours later, and Kate’s gone. It turns out Kate probably does know where Mack, a.k.a. the Fish Monster, lives. The crown molding in the picture is what gave it away. A very specific and custom crown molding that only exists in one building in the entire United States of America. Apparently, Kate’s asshole ex-boyfriend used to manage the property there, and as a result, she learned all about it.
“Joe specifically hand carved this custom molding. I remember because it’s all he ever talked about. Vasser Estate this and Vasser Estate that. They said spare no expense.”
