In case you haven't noticed... I'm trying to finish this story. :)
I'm pushing the rating with this chapter... Things get a little violent.
"Crap..." Bark muttered as he slowly put his hands halfway above his head.
"I ain't no cop!" Eliah snorted, "What are you raising your hands for?" Bark shrugged and put them back at his side.
"Alright, Eliah!" Natalie snapped, "What the hell is going on?" The black cat asked.
Eliah aimed the gun at Natalie. "You, shut up." The black cat clamped her mouth shut and gulped. Bark and Bean exchanged nervous glances. Eliah with a shovel was bad, but Eliah with a gun was even worse.
"Where's Ferra and Bobbie?" Bean asked at length.
Eliah re-aimed the gun, pointing the muzzle in Bean's direction. "You'll see them momentarily." The purple coyote sneered. Bark looked over at Bean and flashed him a quick hand signal. Please understand me... Bark hoped silently.
The green duck gave him a quick wink and reached back behind him. Bark, knowing Eliah was going to get suspicious, took it upon himself to distract her. "So... smash any heads in lately?" He asked. The ploy worked. Eliah pointed the gun at Bark.
In the blink of an eye, Bark saw Bean hurl a bomb at Eliah. The nimble coyote dodged it with ease. It landed in the doorway she had been standing in only moments before. There was a loud explosion, and dust and bits of debris rained down on the six of them, burying them in a pile of concrete chunks and dirt. Bark coughed violently and instinctively raised up his arms to cover his face. All around him, he could hear the others coughing in the thick dust.
He wrenched his eyes open and blinked several times to clear the dust from them. He could see the dim silhouettes of Bean, Elsie, Nack, and Natalie. He could not see Eliah anywhere. Still coughing and gasping for breath, the polar bear pulled himself out of the waist deep debris. Through the dust, he could see a massive hole where the doorway had been located.
Bark stumbled through the concrete chunks until he found Bean. The duck had raised his red bandanna over his mouth to keep himself from breathing in to much of the slow settling, thick dust. "Where's Eliah?" The polar bear choked out. Bean shrugged. Bark extended his hand. The green duck grabbed onto it, and the polar bear yanked him free of the concrete trap.
Bark heard the sound of concrete blocks moving aside and turned around to see who was coming. It was Nack. The purple weasel was quickly making his way through the debris towards them. "Eliah vanished into the fireplace. Don't ask me how, she just did!" The sleazy weasel snapped.
Bark grabbed the weasel by the belt and dragged him across the concrete. By now the dust was finally beginning to settle, and Bark could see outlines of various objects in the room. The fireplace was barely visible in the debris, but the polar bear could see the gaping black hole where the fire had previously been burning. "It must be a trick door or something!" Bean shouted.
"No duh." Nack said, "How does it work?"
Bark shrugged and knocked against the wall. It sounded hollow- a sure sign of a trap door. Besides him, Nack examined the wall, looking for a loose brick or something. "I don't see anything." Bark stated as he tapped the wall impatiently. Suddenly, the fireplace fell back, revealing another room. "What happened?" Bark asked Bean as he slowly stepped inside.
Bean shrugged. "I just pushed the button on the wall."
"..." Nack stared at the duck in shock.
"What?"
Bark shook his head and pulled the two of them into the room. The fireplace automatically swung back behind them. "Whoa..." Nack said as he looked around the room. Piles and piles of treasures, Bark was not sure if it was fake or real, was scattered around the room. The only thing in the room other than the treasure were the still, unmoving bodies of Shade Hunter and Heather lying in the middle of the room. Eliah was standing over them, smoking gun still held in her hand.
"Oh my gosh..." Bean choked, "She killed them..." The green duck forced himself to tear his eyes away the corpses. Bark and Nack stood there in numb, shocked silence.
"They had it coming..." Eliah said, totally unmoved by the fact that she had killed two living creatures. "...Just like Ferra and Bobbie had it coming."
"You killed them didn't you." Bark said as he slowly took a step towards the coyote.
"Yes... Bobbie was only getting in the way. Besides, I knew her office had a hidden extension, and I would need it for my operation. Ferra accidentally saw me transporting the treasure from an underground passage to the office. She asked me what I was doing and what I had done to Bobbie. So I killed her." Eliah explained, totally unemotional.
"What about Mandy?" Bark asked.
Eliah smirked. "Mandy stumbled upon this room by accident. When she saw all the treasure, she wanted to tell the authorities. She said that it would make her famous. We didn't want anyone to know about it, so me and Bobbie killed her."
"I don't get it," Bark said, "Bobbie helped you kill Mandy, then you killed Bobbie?"
"No, I never planned on killing Bobbie. She told me that she was running an illegal business and I could help her out. She said that she would give me a cut of the money. But then I overheard her on the phone. She was planning on ditching me and the hotel and taking all the treasure. I got angry, so after you three arrived, I whacked her over the head with a shovel. Then I put a tape recorder in the ground to make it look like Mandy's bones were talking. I was hoping that it would scare everyone away. But all it did was make these two curious. When I came in here, I found them loading up their arms with my treasure, so I killed them. And here you three are. You've also discovered the secret of Chateau Royal. Now... I have to kill you."
Nack, Bark, and Bean scattered as Eliah fired off her gun. Bark dove behind a heap of treasure and sucked in his bulk, hoping that Eliah would not see him. From across the room, the gun fired again. Bark peeked over the mound of treasure, only to see Bean dashing madly across the room. Eliah took aim once more and fired. The bullet vaguely missed Bean's foot.
In a risky maneuver, Bark rolled out from the treasure heap and grabbed Bean. Eliah raised the gun to shoot at Bark, but the polar bear ducked and punched upwards. Eliah grunted as the polar bear's fist connected with her jaw. She stumbled backwards; the gun slid from her hand and clattered onto the floor. It slid across the concrete floor and landed at Nack's feet. The purple weasel picked it up and pointed it at Eliah.
The coyote wiped the blood from her mouth and dove at Bark. The polar bear winced as a gunshot tore through the air. Bark looked down at his stomach, expecting to see blood dripping down his fur. Instead he saw nothing on him, but a dark stain on the concrete. Eliah was staring at Bark and Bean, her mouth slightly open. Her gloved hands were wrapped around her side; Bark could see dark blood oozing between her fingers. Behind Eliah was Nack. The weasel was holding Eliah's still smoking gun. He neatly twirled the gun on his fingers before sticking it into the belt. "You owe me." He said coolly.
Bark stared down at Eliah. The purple coyote had clasped onto the ground. She was not going to die or anything, but Bark could not help but feeling sorry for her. She had a deranged mind, but all she wanted to do was protect her treasure. Eliah had still killed four innocent people though, and there was only one thing to do...
"Bean, help me carry Eliah out of here. Then we'll call the police and have her taken away. Hopefully she can get some help..." Bark said as he grabbed the coyote's arms.
"Or we can leave her here," Nack suggested. But his suggestion went ignored and Bean lent Bark and hand. The two of them carried Eliah out of the secret passageway and into the next room.
"What happened?" Natalie asked.
"Well, it turns out that this whole thing was over a bunch of treasure..." Bark explained.
"Wow, that's kind of lame." Natalie said. "What'd you do to Eliah?"
"Nack shot her after she tried to shoot us." Bark explained as he and Bean carried Eliah out onto the staircase. The polar bear sighed. He had never felt more tired in his life... There was something about having a gun pointed at you that just drained your energy away. Oh well, at least it was all over...
Sucky ending, I know. Well, there's the end of chapter twenty. The next chapter is the last one. See ya soon!
-Dandylions