Queen of the Sandworms
Chapter 5: Rabbit Holes
...
The sun began to sink low, turning the amber gold sands into a dark, burnt orange. The winds had died down, so the only thing that was kicking them up were Beetlejuice's pointy, worn black shoes as he continued to run from the Sandworm right behind him.
His voice was hoarse from screaming, and his legs were starting to burn like fire. The Sandworm didn't look like it was going to be slowing down and let it's dinner escape anytime soon. It slithered over the sands like it was made out of it. Rippling across like a ribbon.
Beetlejuice clenched his teeth and forced his legs to keep running. His lifeless heart was bumping around inside his rib cage. His arms ached from being waved around like flags. He wished he had his powers so he could just fly away.
The Sandworm screeched and tried to nose dive toward the ghost, its' glaring red eyes focused on its' prey. Beetlejuice quickly jumped out of the way in time and felt the waves of sands smack against his back, nearly taking him down.
He continued running, searching for a place to hide. His eyes landed on a twisted rock formation a good distance in front of him. It was the color of a dark maroon had a bunch of holes from the impact of the sand storms. Beetlejuice could hear the Sandworm lifting its striped head back up and coming toward him. He didn't look back and made a run toward the hole he hoped he could fit in.
The Sandworm's foul, hot breath rolled down the back of Beetlejuice's collar. The formation began to get closer and closer. Beetlejuice pushed himself to run a little faster, ignoring the pain in his legs. The Sandworm opened its mouth and its second head came out. Its seedy yellow eyes were wide with hunger.
Beetlejuice was closer to the small hole at the base of the formation. Beetlejuice took his chance and jumped. He flew a couple of feet, and slipped right through. His body scraped against the inside of the small hole.
The Sandworm smashed right into the formation and caused it to shake a bit. After Beetlejuice stopped scraping against the inside of the tunnel, he scooted away from the opening where the Sandworm's huge head was.
The Sandworm screeched loudly in pain as it shook its striped, bleeding head. Both of its' mouths open revealing two sets of sharp teeth. Then the Sandworm tried fitting its' smaller head into the hole. Thankfully it was too big.
Beetlejuice's lungs were exploding as he breathed heavily. His chest rising and falling at a rapid pace. His legs burned as if someone poured hot lava over them. Beetlejuice ignored the excruciating pain as he kept his wide, yellow tinted eyes on the Sandworm.
The Sandworm continued to press its' head against the small hole, straining to reach the small ghost. It bean to chomp its' sharp teeth over and over, sending chills up Beetlejuice's spine.
It's black and white striped forked tongue finally came out of the smaller, white head and blindly felt its way toward him. Beetlejuice gasped and scooted further away from it. It lightly brushed up against his wounds where his body scraped against the rock. His clothes were tattered and he was bleeding.
Gradually his dead heart stopped moving around in his rib cage and his breathing finally slowed as he watched the Sandworm beat itself against the formation to get to him. Beetlejuice couldn't stop staring at the hideous creature. Occasionally, its gleaming, wicked sharp teeth would show and Beetlejuice would cringe at the sight of them.
The striped alien snake began to get tired and tried sticking its tongue into the small hole again. It lightly ran up the side of the small tunnel toward the scared ghost.
Beetlejuice began to blindly feel behind him for something to attack it with. His pale hands ran across the cold stone ground till his fingers brushed up against a rock. He wrapped his fingers around it, still keeping his alert eyes on the tongue gently flapping in the air in front of him. Tasting him.
Finally, he brought his arm forward and chucked the rock. The rock sailed past the tongue and hit the Sandworm in the face. The Sandworm screeched as its' tongue retreated back. The Sandworm moved its head away from the hole and cried out in pain. Beetlejuice stayed where he was, not moving.
The Sandworm shook its head to get rid of the pain. Beetlejuice held his breath and waited, watching the opening of the hole. A couple times he saw the black and white striped body of the creature, which would make him tense up.
Finally, after a couple minutes, the Sandworm decided to forget about his prey and leave. The creature dove back into the sands and was gone. Beetlejuice trembled from the nearly- being- eaten experience and wrapped his arms around his legs.
The sun disappeared behind the mountainous sand dunes in the distance, making the whole half side of Saturn dark. Beetlejuice watched the sands turn from the bright amber-gold to a deep plum purple, and the silver stars scatter over the deep royal blue sky.
A couple of Saturn's moons were visible and floated like huge balloons. Somewhere with them, was the gap Beetlejuice entered through into the Sandworm realm. Beetlejuice shivered from the bitter cold that came into the small hole he sat in, like a frightened rabbit.
He didn't want to leave the hole. He was too afraid that the Sandworm he encountered earlier would come back and try to eat him. Beetlejuice closed his eyes tightly when the image of the Sandworm's teeth snapping in front of him came into his mind. He tried getting rid of it, but it stayed as if it were drawn with permanent ink onto his brain.
Gradually, he decided to lay his stiff body down and try to get some sleep. He stared out toward the opening of the hole, keeping watch for any Sandworms. Soon, they began to get heavy, and the Ghost with the Most fell fast asleep...