"Your friends are coming," said Renard.

"How do you know that?" Zoey asked. Renard laughed. The noise sounded horrible to Zoey. It was cruel and deriding.

"I can feel 'em coming closer. I knew they'd come for you." Zoey realized with horror why she had been abducted in the first place.

"You're using me as bait!" she cried.

"How could I not?" Renard asked, "Everyone likes you. Especially Ellis. He'd give anything to get you back." The Bokor's words gave Zoey a terrible feeling. She knew that Ellis liked her, and felt absolutely monstrous that she was leading him to his doom.

"What do you want from us?" she cried, angry and frightful of her captor. Renard shrugged and took a drag on his cigar.

"You killed part of my horde," he said, "Wouldn't you be mad if I killed some of your friends?"

"They're not your friends!" shouted Zoey. Her fear was gone, and she felt nothing but rage for the skeletal being. "They're your slaves!"

"A technicality," Renard said. He exhaled a large puff of smoke. It floated to the top of the shack, looking like an angry storm cloud.


The alligator felt the rain run down the groves of its scaly back. As the rain continued to fall, the easier the creature found it to swim. Soon it was able to slither through the water with ease. The reptile pushed forward through the swamp to pursue its targets. They would not escape this time.


Ellis looked up as lighting streaked across the sky. A short time later a loud clap of thunder echoed throughout the swamp. Heavy sheets of rain started falling from the sky, pelting everything in sight. Lightning flashed across the sky like skeletal claws. The winds howled like an enraged beast and echoed throughout the swamp.

"What the Hell?" Francis cried at the sudden storm.

"It's Renard!" Coach shouted over the gales, "He's trying to keep us from Zoey!" The downpour continued unrelentingly. Everyone could feel the water rise as the swamp began to flood. They staggered forward in spite of the powerful gales and heavy rain. Suddenly a loud noise echoed throughout the flooding wetland. It was distorted by the raging weather, but it was audible all the same. Louis looked behind him to see a long, reptilian shape coming towards them. The knew the moment he saw it what it was.

"Alligator!" he cried. His companions turned around to see the monstrous creature. It was grinning as thought to say there would be no escape. Francis gave a yell of defiance and held out his stick to defend his friends. As the reptile slowly edged forward it opened its jaws and let out a deafening roar. Francis slammed his stick down on the creature's head as it charged. The others came rushing forward to aid Francis. The alligator thrashed its enormous body around, stirring up the rising water and splashing it into the faces of the defending humans. Francis retaliated by trying to stab it in the eyes. His stick only struck the thick, armor-covered head of the beast. The alligator rushed forward in fury, angrily snapping its jaws. Nick cried out as it knocked him into the rising waters. Louis quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him out just as the reptile was about to lock its jaws around him. The creature hissed as they beat at its scaly back with their makeshift weapons. The creature suddenly whipped its tail at coach. He barely had time to dodge the powerful blow, and the pointed tip of the alligator's tail sliced across his leg. He stumbled as he tried to remain standing. Rochelle reached out to keep him from falling, but the alligator suddenly rammed its snout beneath her It used its head like a springboard to throw her into the deeper water behind it. She screeched as she fell into the waters. The alligator made a satisfied grin as it moved toward its prey. Without warning Francis dove into the water. His companions could only watched in shock and horror as the biker swam out to the monstrous beast.


Francis felt the tips of his fingers touch the rough skin of his reptilian nemesis. He didn't really know what he was supposed to do, but some instinctual desire to save Rochelle had overtaken all rational thought. He leapt out of the water onto the back of the alligator. Immediately the beast flew into a fitful rage. Francis struggled to hold on as it began to roll its body. The beast was too big for him to wrap his arms around, but he managed to grab a hold of the scaly ridges that ran down the length of its back. It took a few seconds for the beast to realize that the biker wasn't coming off. It tried a different tactic. It dove beneath the water. Francis had to close his eyes as he sank into the murky depths. He was able to feel the creature moving forward, and knew it was heading for Rochelle. Francis began to crawl up the back of the beast, climbing the ridged back like a rock wall. The alligator began to make its way to the surface. Francis felt his hand touch the bulging jaw muscles that made a ring around the neck of the beast. With only moments to spare, he pushed himself up on the alligator's head, and wrapped his arms around the jaws of the monster.


Rochelle was terrified out of her mind as she saw the reptile surface. But she was shocked to see Francis with his arms locked around the creature's snout. The skin beneath the jaw bulged as the alligator let out a furious bellow. It shook its head back and forth, trying to throw the biker off. But Francis refused to let go. Rochelle watched in amazement as the two struggled in the muddy waters of the swamp.


The beast bellowed in fury as it wildly thrashed about. One of the humans had wrapped his arms around its jaws, and it couldn't open them. The creature did everything it could to try to force him off, but it seemed impossible. The human just wasn't letting go. The beast tried diving beneath the water to see if it could drown its enemy. But it was thrashing around so wildly that it couldn't stay below for more than a minute with out having to return to the surface for air.


Francis was once again forced beneath the surface of the water. He tightened his arms around the snout of the alligator. As he did, he felt something cold and metallic press against his skin. As he realized what it was, Francis felt like an idiot. He thought he had lost it when they had been thrown out of the boat, and had never bothered to check. But he would be unable to retrieve it with his arms around the alligator. He faced a dire decision. He could risk letting go of the creature and try and get the object from his vest, or he could hold on and drown while he waited for some other opportunity. As the creature began to surface again, Francis let go. He used his legs to push against the alligator's head and propel himself a short distance away. As he did so he reached into the pocket of his vest, and took out the object.


The beast let out a roar of victory as the human let go of it. It surfaced and looked around for its attacker. It spotted the human breaking the surface of the water only a few yards away. The creature wasted no time in charging at the human. As it moved to clamp its jaws around him, the human suddenly dived beneath it. The beast suddenly felt pain shoot up its right side. It bellowed in pain and thrashed its body around. The enormous pain it felt overpowered its desire for revenge. The beast began a hasty retreat away from its enemy, and swam hurriedly away into the stormy swampland.


Rochelle saw the beast swimming away, and looked around for Francis. She suddenly saw the biker surface, gasping for air. In his hand he clutched a large, bloodied jackknife.

"Damn it," he said coughed, "Don't ever let me do anything that stupid again." He was so tired he could barely keep himself afloat. Rochelle wrapped her arm around his shoulders and began to paddle the two of them to the shallow water.


Zoey cringed in surprise and fear as Bokor Renard suddenly let out an agonized screech. His lanky body convulsed for a split second, and he almost fell to the floor. He managed to catch himself on the table before he collapsed. Then, as quickly as the pain had come, it passed. He stood up and brushed himself off. But he had a furious look on his face. He whipped his skull around and glared at Zoey.

"It seems your little friends have hurt a dear acquaintance of mine," he said darkly. His green eyes flashed in the dimly lit shack. The Bokor slammed the tip of his cane down on the creaking floorboards. A ululating howl suddenly broke through the night. With horror, Zoey realized what Renard had sent after them.