CH9: Stealth

SHHHREEEEAKK!

Ashelin heard a quick, shrill screech in the water that sounded like some screaming… thing. Before she knew it, there was a sudden burning in her ankle. She struggled to get loose of it, but something was pulling her down quickly, and the adrenaline rush made her lungs demand even more air. She couldn't get the air… her head was getting light… a splash in the water… the orange and white flurry below was going to win… She took in a breath of water, expecting air.

Water filled her lungs

Jinx… he did his duty… I did mine… She thought.

Then she thought again. She was still alive, and her head didn't feel as light.

'I'm alive? Wait a minute, this has to be a dream…' And yet she was floating there, being dragged down by some beast, and she was still alive somehow.

She looked at Jinx who was swimming down towards her quickly. She tried to kick the snorkletooth with her free leg that wasn't being grabbed, but continuously kept missing. She felt her ankle become free again, and knew right away that Jinx had gotten the monster to open its mouth. Ashelin swam back up to the surface of the water and climbed back up onto the ledge, coughing up water She wrung her hair out, and looked back into the water. Jinx had killed the snorkletooth by hitting it in the head and was heading back up.

The amphibian was sinking to the bottom slowly, and Ashelin didn't know how it was killed. Jinx broke the surface of the water, bleeding quite a bit on his arm.

"Thanks… you're hurt." Ashelin said to Jinx. "That damn bugger bit right through my boot too."

"Yeah I know… and you're welcome. That scratch on your face is almost fully healed. And you got that… yesterday, right? What's up with that?"

Ashelin thought about this, but didn't even notice that it was healing so quickly. She didn't say anything, so she just shrugged.

Jinx took a bandage out of the bag that was on his back, and wrapped it around his forearm really tight.

"At least it's safe to cross the water now."

Ashelin and Jinx jumped back into the dirty water and swam to the other side. They got out of the water and heard a clanking noise from down the pipe. They stood still for a few minutes and saw four lights moving, like flashlights, pointed at the ground at an angle.

"Here they come." Jinx said whispering quietly.

"What do we do?" Ashelin asked him.

"You can ambush them from behind, just be really quiet, and pick them off slowly to where they won't notice easily. Go now! Don't worry about me, I'll head them off and cause diversions." Jinx whispered back to her.

Ashelin jumped onto a pipe hanging on the ceiling above, and stayed there for a few seconds, waiting for Jinx to clear out ahead. Then, she followed the pipeline to where the bandits were and waited for them to pass infront of her. They walked forward and stopped, because they heard a quick creaking noise above. They all stood there and looked up and around but saw nothing. They brought their attention back to what was ahead… and didn't pay any attention of what might be behind…

There was a small thud and scritchy-scratchy noise behind them, and the only person who stopped and turned around was the fat guy in the back. He pointed his flashlight in every direction on the wall and didn't find anything. He was then spooked by the voice of one of the other bandits.

"C'mon Mog, we haven't all day! The boss wants the statue back pronto y 'know! And there's no way to get it through these pipes, so we'll have to ditch it and never work in this joint again."

"All righty." Said the fat guy named Mog. He didn't sound all too bright.

Ashelin moved out from behind the safe spot of the wall and crept only about ten feet behind Mog, jumping and clinging to the ceiling or behind a pipe wall whenever he decided to turn around and when she thought she was making too much noise. Mog turned back one last time, and Ashelin dropped from the ceiling about two feet behind him.

She stood there for and second, then, rapidly covered his mouth so he couldn't scream and grabbed his neck as fast as a striking rattlesnake.

She pulled him up towards a wall and kept him in the same position. She put her hand closer to his throat and extended her claws, specifically the one on her index finger.

"We can do this the easy way… or we can do this the fun way… Tell your little buddies to take the statue back to the museum… or suffer some entertaining consequences. Your choice. Make it fast."

Ashelin released her grip on his mouth and knocked the flashlight out of his hand. The flashlight bounced a few times, and then turned off.