21. Unexpected Help
Skipper laid gasping on the floor, he was still barely consious. His whole body ached not on only that parts, where Rico, Kowalski and Private had bitten him in his dream. All the pain, he´d suffered still streamed through his body and made him unable to move or breath calmly. The leaders vision was blurred completely, as he opened his eyes. Skipper just stared to the black ceiling above him and his agonized groaning echoed inside the whole room.
But suddenly he felt someone laying it´s hand on his stomach, gently and carefully. "Skipper, can you hear me?" a female voice said and the leader startled. "M-Marlene?" Skipper gasped in shock. With his last strengh, he managed to roll himself away from the otter. Now his vision became clearer. "Get away from me!" Skipper growled in defense positon. He already prepared for another attack, but Marlene just watched him closely in the eyes.
She was holding a small bottle in her paws. "Skipper, please listen to me. I have the antidote for the poison for you. You gotta drink that quickly, before you´ll suffer more horrorvisions." Marlene said in a slightly pleading voice. "Are you kidding me? You almost killed me, more than one time. You hurt my friends and you´re part of the evil conspiracy here. And now, you´re really expect me to trust you? No, way. I won´t trust you ever again. You´re the cause, that I´m a vampire now. I´ll never can live as a normal penguin ever again!" Skipper yelled at her.
"I know, I know, Skipper. You´re so right. I don´t expect you to trust me, but I kinda swiched back to my old mind, when I heard you scream in pain. It made me remember, that we were good friends once. A long time don´t need to trust me and I don´t ask you for. But please, drink the antidote, before the poison is driving you insane!" the otter begged and reached Skipper the bottle. "Oh, yeah. You think, I´m that stupid? You´re going to give me another poison, one that kills me much faster, right?" the leader barked and threw a hateful gaze at her.
Marlene sighed and a little tear escaped her eyes, which was running down her cheek. She bend her head in sadness. "I´m so sorry, Skipper. I begging you to forgive me, for what I´ve done. I never meant to hurt you in any way, but the dark forces around here and my master forced me too. I´ve never wanted to do this, but I can´t control myself until now. Now I see you right before my eyes and it makes me painfully aware of all the pain you´d suffered was my fault. I´m a monster, a damned, blood-sucking monster!" she cried and buried her face in her paws.
Skipper didn´t know what to say now, he actually knew, how bad she must be feeling now. He felt the same, when he became a vampire. The thought of being a monster, unable to control his powers and hurting his friends. But the leader didn´t know, if he could trust her, even when she was crying now. Tears didn´t make things undone, he thought. But she was right, he really needed to do something against the poison, which was raging in his body now. Skipper didn´t had the desire to witness such a nightmare ever again.
"What is this stuff in the bottle?" the leader asked calmly, to make Marlene stop crying. "It neutrolazes the effects of the poison, we´d given to you. It´ll stop the nightmares and this is nothing but the truth. I promise you." the otter sobbed and wiped her eyes.
"Okay, I´ll give it a try, but not before you´ve tested it youself. I´m not in the mood to take any risk now. Go on, take a sip, Marlene." Skipper said suspiciously and watched the otter, dropping her jaw in surprise. "Um... I don´t know about this. But if it´s the only way to make you drink this, I´ll do it, for god´s sake." she answered in a mysterious tone, because she didn´t know, what effects it might have on her, when she´d not been poisoned like Skipper.
She pulled the lid off and watched the crimson red fluid inside. Slowly, Marlene set the opening on her lips. The fluid shimmered in a strange tone of colour throught the dim light in the room. Like fresh, dark-red blood. Just the thought of this made Skipper aware, that he´ll have to drink real blood soon before he dies from weakness. The leader knew, that he needed this life-giving fluid for his new vampire body to regain strengh again and to keep himself alive.
This is one of the parts, that didn´t change at all. He still needed somethin to eat/drink, even when it isn´t fish anymore. But it disgusted him so much. Skipper came back to focus again and watched Marlene taking a sip from the antidote. She made a face but swallowed it down. The leader watched her closly for any poisoning symptomes. "Are you alright?" he asked and approached her slowly. Marlene nodded silently. "Yeah, but it tastes awful!" she lamented and reached the bottle to the leader.
Skipper took it with a strange feeling in his guts. Should he really drink that stuff, he thought. But the leader noticed, that his vision blurred again. Another horrovision was about to take him down agan. Without hestiation, Skipper emptied the bottle in his beak and swallowed the liquid down, as fast as possible. The leader choked and coughed by the bad taste. But seconds after he´d drunk it, a warm feeling spread from his stomach through his whole body. His vision got clear at once and the strange feeling of dizzyness has gone. The antidote really worked.
"How are you feeling?" Marlene asked in a careing tone. "Better, I think. For now at least." Skipper gasped and looked at the otter, who was walking at the door of his cage. She unlocked it and opened the leader´s prison. "What are you doing?" Skipper asked confused and got rid of the bottle. "You have to get out of here, before someone notices." the otter said and stepped aside. But all of the sudden, she grabbed her head and screamed. "No, master. Please stop!" she screamed in agony.
Marlene arched her back, like she was in terrible pain. "Marlene?" Skipper asked and streched his flipper towards to help her. "Go, Skipper. Leave, now!" Marlene yelled and beat the leaders wing away from her. The penguin made a worried face, but he run out the cage quickly. "Don´t worry, Marlene. We´ll help you as soon as possible. You won´t be controlled by this master ever again. I promise." Skipper said, looking in her teary eyes.
But now, he had to escape in the first place. The leader went out the room, being very cautiouly not to get noticed by anyone. He watched the shadows moving on the walls and tried to get away from them. This whole place looked like an ancient castle. Floors lit by torches and a creepy atmosphere, weren´t the only things that made fear crawling under Skippers feather.
His steps echoed from the walls, but he first made sure, that he was all alone now. Skipper looked around to find the exit, but there were just long, devestated floors, without any doors. The leader got a uneasy feeling in his stomach and the desperation slowly took over him. Cautiously he went ahead, but a sudden shadow crossed his way. Julien stood right in front of him.
"What are you doing here? Aren´t you supposed to be in captivity. How did you get out?" the lemur asked suspiciouly. Skipper stepped back and felt the fear creeping under his feathers. He was trapped, Skipper thought and watchen Julien approaching him. The leader got in defense position and prepared for an attack. The lemur stopped and burst out laughing.
"Do you really think, you´re strong enough to keep up with me. You know, what happened tha last time, stupid birdy." Julien giggled. Skipper swallowed, because the lemur was so right. He didn´t have any chance against him. The only option for him was to try to escape anyhow. From the corner of his eye, Skipper looked around to look for any distraction to get Julien out of his way.
But there were just the torches, wich just lit the floors. The leader was at the edge of desperation. A shiver went down his spine as he pressed himself on the wall, while Julien came closer and closer. "Julien, get out of his way!" Marlenes voice sounded from a dark floor. Skipper and the lemur looked up at her. With a mercyless gaze, she went towards the two.
"How did he escape?" Julien asked and looked puzzled at the otter. "That´s none of your business. I´ve orders to get him outside, you know? The master told me to execute him at the Times Square. First he´ll get his friends there to make them watch, how I put him to death." Marlene explained. Julien finally was convinced.
"Fine, go, penguin. I would really wish to see that. But now it´s up to Marlene. Make it slowly and painfully, my dear." the lemur giggled and got out of the way. Skipper had a bad feeling, that Marlene was seriously going to kill him outside. Her look was so stern, like she really wanted to do this job. Skipper didn´t know if Marlene was just faking her frightening appearance.