Arena Two

by Morgan Rice

Chapter Eighteen

  I fall faster than I ever have, plunging towards the water. Before I can catch my breath I hit. My world goes dark, as I find myself plunging deep beneath the surface.

  For a moment, as I struggle to catch my breath, my world goes black. I see my dad, standing there, looking down at me, hands on his hips.

  "On your feet, soldier! What did I teach you? Fight back. Fight back!"

  I open my eyes, still underwater, and look up towards the surface. It looks to be a good twenty feet away. I kick and swim and fight my way back up.

  Moments later, I surface. I immediately look around, and see Bree and Charlie close by. They tread water, and look around, terrified, on guard for the monster.

  I look around, too, and now, these gushing waters have a much more sinister feel. I know that the monster is in here with us, somewhere. Flo hasn't surfaced, and I'm sure she's dead, and that Ben must be, too - and that we will be next. I feel helpless. I have no idea what to do now, or where to go.

  "Up here!" shouts a voice.

  I crane my neck back and see, about fifty feet high up the canyon wall, standing inside a small cave in the side of the cliff, is Ben. He stands there, bow and arrow slung over his shoulder, beside a dangling rope leading up. I am amazed. Somehow he made it to the other rope, managed to climb halfway up the canyon wall, and found a little cave to hide himself in. He is a good twenty feet above the water, and safe.

  I spot the rope leading up to the cave, but it is a good fifty feet away. I don't know if we can make it there before the monster finds us.

  I swim over to Bree and Charlie.

  "We have to make it to that rope," I say. "Can you guys swim?"

  They nod yes, their eyes frozen with fear as they scan the water for the monster.

  The three of us break into a swim, heading for the far canyon wall, for the rope. I think of Flo's awful death, and I'm half-expecting the monster to drag me down at any moment. I swim faster than I ever have, in terror with each lap. Bree and Charlie swim just as fast beside me.

  It feels like a lifetime, as I expect each moment to be my last - but to my amazement, the three of us make it. The monster never surfaces. I wonder if he's disappeared somewhere. Maybe they opened those steel doors underwater and let him back in from wherever he came from?

  I reach out and hoist Bree and Charlie up and onto the rope. I then reach for the rope myself, and pull myself halfway out of the water - when suddenly, I feel a thick, muscular tentacle wrap itself around my right leg. My heart stops.

  I clutch the rope with all my might, desperate to hang on; but I am losing my grip. The thread cuts into my wet palm, and I am slipping. Finally, I lose my grip.

  I go flying through the air, landing in the water on my back. The last thing I see is Bree's terrified face, looking down, watching me. Then my world goes dark.

  I am plunged down underneath the water, and as I open my eyes, I see the awful face of the sea monster, all his tentacles flailing in the water, his rows of teeth. I see a piece of a leg stuck between two of his teeth, and realize it is what is left of Flo.

  The monster, flailing, temporarily releases my leg, and I waste no time: I race for the surface.

  I think that maybe he lost his grip and I can get away. I immediately plunge out of the water, reaching up and grabbing the rope again. But before I can go far, I once again feel his tentacles, wrapping like ice around my calves. It is then that I realize that he never let me go - that this is just the evil nature of this creature. It likes to play with its prey before killing it, like a shark playing with a seal.

  As I feel it yanking me, I have a feeling that this time I will go down for good.

  Before I go down, I look straight up, and as I do, I see Ben standing there, on the edge of the cave, arrow pointed down, seemingly right at me. Is he going to kill me? Is he going to spare me from a painful death? I almost wish he would. I'd rather die by his arrow than by the creature's awful teeth.

  Yes, I will him silently. Do it. Please.

  He releases, and I watch the arrow sail through the air. I brace myself.

  But it doesn't hit me.

  Instead, I hear a horrific screech, and turn to see it lodge inside the creature's open mouth.

  It is a perfect hit. The creature momentarily lets its tentacles go, and I quickly scurry up the rope, faster than ever; I'm soon dozens of feet high, away from the water.

  The monster reaches up again, his tentacles reaching up - but they fall just a few inches short of me. It screeches out in agony and frustration.

  I continue to climb, and in moments I reach the cave, Ben and Bree and Charlie standing there, waiting to greet me, to pull me to safety. I am a good fifty feet high, above the water. The creature flails below, but can't get near us. I can't believe it. I made it.

  I bend over and breathe hard, my legs burning from where the creature touched them. I feel like I can't catch my breath.

  "Are you okay?" Ben asked.

  I am. And I've never been so grateful to my life. He saved my life.

  I hear the crowd booing, jeering, heckling. I look up and see the disapproval on the leader's face, on all of their faces. We have outwitted them. We have found safe harbor inside an arena where we were not supposed to. This is not how they wanted it to turn out. They are not happy.

  We've lost Logan, and Flo, but there are still four of us left. And these sick people are still not satisfied. They want us all dead.

  But none of us are stupid enough to climb that rope again. They would only cut it, and send us dropping back into the water. So we stay here, in our little cave, safe, out of harm's way.

  The leader suddenly steps forward and the crowd silences.

  "Raise the waters!" he screams.

  The crowd cheers, and my heart drops as I see the water level begin to rise again. The sea monster surfaces, eager to get its new food, as it rises closer and closer to us.

  My heart fills with panic, and I can see the panic on Bree and Charlie's and Ben's faces, too. Soon, the monster will be at our level, and will kill us all. We are out of options.

  Then, I get an idea. It is risky, but so is being alive. If I'm going to save the others, and myself, it is now or never.

  So without thinking, I step forward, pull out the spear mounted to my back, hold it out in front of me with both hands, and step out onto the edge of the cliff. I look down: the monster rises slowly, getting closer and closer. It shrieks.

  "What are you doing?" Ben screams out. Then he must realize. "That's suicide!"

  "Brooke," Bree screams. "Don't!"

  But it is too late. There's no more time for thinking. Only for action.

  I leap off the edge of the cliff, holding the spear out before me, pointed down, with both hands. I hurl through the air, to the wild cheers of the crowd.

  I raise my spear high, with both hands, over my head, and aim right for the monster's one eye. As I get closer, the monster rises, right for me, its tentacles squirming, its mouth open, its large one eye looking right at me.

  And that is what I aim for. That single eye.

  As I go hurling down full speed, I am the spear perfectly. It lodges right in the center and I drive it down, all the way to the hilt, deep into the monster's eye.

  It shrieks an unearthly shriek, and the world shakes.

  I plunge into the water, and the creature plunges down on top of me, its weight pulling me down. I can't tell if it's alive, or if it's just its weight dragging me down, and as I plunge deeper into the blackness, I still don't know if I am dead or alive.