Rikki was scared. Really scared. After all, she was being kept hostage with no idea what was going to happen to her. The poor girl was tied up with a piece of duct tape over her mouth. Her attempts to call her friends were unsuccessful. She just hoped they got her message before her captors smashed her phone to pieces.
Her head whipped around at the sound of a light tapping on the screen door. Her heart leapt in her chest at the sight of her boyfriend.
His eyes looked scared for her and full of pain. She returned his glance with a just as scared look.
"Hold on," he mouthed.
She nodded her head and listened for the voice of her captors. That's when she also saw Cleo in the water. Her friend smiled at her, grateful that she was unharmed.
"I can't get the door open," Zane whispered to her.
Sirens were heard and Zane began to panic even more. No doubt the captors would hear them and try to take off as quickly as possible. And who knew what they were going to do to Rikki?
He watched his girlfriend's eyes grow wider at the sound of the sirens.
Underwater, Bella used her power to stop the propeller. It was sealed tight. She smiled. They weren't going anywhere.
Cleo, now returned to her human form, attempted to help Zane get the door to move, but it wasn't budging.
Bella also returned to her human form and grabbed the bags full of the fake cash. She secretly dumped them in the water, leaving Rikki's captors with nothing.
Suddenly, everyone began to smell smoke.
"Grab the bags and let's go!" one captor yelled.
Bella hid while the captors searched for the bags, and found nothing.
"Forget it, let's go now!" the other captor screamed. They ran off, but she watched as the cops got them.
Zane and Cleo still couldn't get the door open.
Smoke began to pour into the room Rikki was trapped in. She panicked even more as she watched her friends try to free her.
Bella went to the front of the ship and saw that a fire was breaking out and it was about to light up huge tanks of gasoline. Oh no. She ran around to the door and saw that they still couldn't get the door open.
"You guys, this place is about to go up."
"What?" Zane exclaimed.
"There's a fire and it's really close to some gasoline."
Inside the room, Rikki was slowly losing consciousness. The smoke was entering her lungs and making it difficult to breathe. She weakly attempted to slide her tied wrists under her legs in order to get them in front of her.
Just as she finally succeeded, she collapsed onto the floor.
"On three," Zane said outside the door. "One, two, three!" The three of them pulled at the door and it finally broke open.
Cleo looked at the fire and saw that it was dangerously close to the gasoline and it was going to explode any second.
"We've got to go!" she exclaimed.
Though Zane was panicking even more at the sight of his girlfriend lying on the floor, he wasted no time.
He went over to her, removed the tape from her mouth, and slid her tied hands over his head and around his neck. Then he gently picked her up off the floor.
"Zane?" she said weakly.
"It's all right. I'm here."
He quickly carried her out the door and ran as fast as he could away from the scene while the others dived into the water.
The boat exploded, but they were all safe.
Zane set Rikki down and untied her wrists.
"Rikki, Rikki, look at me," Zane demanded firmly.
He could tell she was disoriented from the smoke. He took her face in his hands and forced her to look at him.
When he could tell that she was seeing him clearly, he wrapped her up in his arms and held her close, feeling her warmth against him. He would never let her come to harm. Not ever. Because he was hers, and she was his.
"I love you, Rikki. And I'll always be here to protect you."