A.N: Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't updated for a while! I had heaps of homework so I wasn't able to do anything for ages. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter!
Chapter 4
Melanie woke up. It was still night and everything was quiet. She knew that she would had to get out of this fishing net soon, otherwise she would be an easy target for other predators.
Other predators… Melanie tried to think of every wild sea creature which could try to harm her. There were killer whales, giant octopuses, manta rays, and of course, other sharks.
"Oh my gosh, I have to get out of here now", said Melanie to Squash.
She tried wriggling and twisting about for another five minutes and stopped. "It's no use" she said. Just as she was trying to think of a plan to get herself out of the situation, she froze. Melanie could detect vibrations in the water, and she knew they weren't coming from Squash. "Sshhh!" she whispered to Squash. "We're not alone…"
"Stay very still" Melanie whispered to Squash, who instantly darted behind her dorsal fin. As Melanie lay there, tangled in the net, she saw three dark silhouettes emerge from the murky blue water. They were obviously larger sea creatures. As they came closer, she could see that the one in the middle was an octopus, and the other two on the sides were sharks.
Melanie stared at them in horror, trembling; waiting for them to lunge forward and rip her to smithereens… the octopus leaned forward and opened its mouth…
"Hey, how ya doin?" asked the octopus. It was too much for poor Melanie. She screamed louder than she had ever done before, thrashing and writhing uncontrollably in the net.
The octopus was alarmed. "Whoa! Whoa, lady! Calm down!"
"Don't hurt me! Have mercy!" cried Melanie, "PLEASE!"
"You're stuck aren't you?" asked the octopus. "Boys! Get her out!" The two other sharks swam up to her and in two seconds, had ripped of the net with their sharp teeth. As soon as she was free, Melanie turned around to leave, but when she tried to swim away, the two sharks grabbed her by the fins. "Hey! Let me go!" she protested.
"Sorry", said the octopus, "But since you're a new shark, we can't have you wonderin' around by yourself. New sharks can be a threat to our mob and that's the last thing we need". "But wait!" said Melanie, "Where are you taking me?"
"We're takin' you to meet our new boss" said one of the sharks, who was a hammerhead shark. Without another word, the octopus started heading in another direction, followed by the two sharks, who dragged Melanie along. Squash managed to stay hidden behind Melanie's dorsal fin, his presence unknown to the sharks.
After about twenty minutes, the octopus said "Here we are, at last" In the distance, Melanie could see the dark shape of a colossal shipwreck, looming over them.
They swam through a large hole which might have once been a porthole. When Melanie went inside, she was shocked.
The whole room was full of sharks. They were all over the place; sitting around tables, swimming around carrying things, drinking and smoking. They stared at Melanie as she swam past and she could hear them muttering amongst themselves. She had never seen so many sharks in her entire life.
The octopus left Melanie at the table with the two other sharks. "Wait here, I'll get the boss" "Yeah, okay Luca" mumbled the hammerhead shark. Melanie was nervous. What was this 'boss' like? Would he tear her apart? Rip her fins off? Eat her alive? Just then, a door at the back of the room opened and Luca the octopus swam out, followed by a large Great White shark.
Now, all the sharks in this room had looked exactly the same to Melanie, or so it had seemed at first. There was something… different about this shark. The other sharks had crooked snouts, were too plump, or were missing a few of their teeth. Although this shark was large, he was not overweight, his features were perfect and he had clean, white teeth- which were also sharp enough to turn her from a Great White shark into a Great White pulp.
Melanie was still nervous, but she wasn't so nervous about getting eaten or anything like that. This was a different kind of nervousness.
The big shark sat down directly in front of her and Luca sat next to him. Was Luca like, his right hand octopus or something? "Here she is Don Lino sir. We found her, not far from Southside Reef"
Don Lino looked at Melanie. He had light, stormy blue eyes, unlike hers, which were a bright emerald green. "What's your name?" he asked her. "M…Melanie", replied Melanie. "Where are you from?" he asked.
"I…I…I'm from the a…aquarium" stammered Melanie, feeling herself blush. "Aquarium?" asked Don Lino, looking confused. Then, Luca spoke "Hey, ain't that the place where they keep fish in glass cages?"
"Oh, so you're one of those are you?" asked the mob boss. "How'd you get here?"
"It's a long story sir" said Melanie.
"Okay" said Don Lino, "I suppose you know by now that I am the leader of this mob and every shark here works for me?"
"Yes sir" said Melanie.
"Where do you live at the moment?" he asked her.
"I don't have a home sir" Melanie said, feeling her fins turning to jelly.
He continued talking. "In that case, you're allowed to stay here at the Titanic as long as you agree to follow the rules and don't hurt anyone"
"Thank you so much sir" said Melanie gratefully. "I really appreciate what you are doing for me"
The mob boss nodded at Luca. "Luca, show Melanie her room". "Sure thing boss" said Luca cheerfully. He seemed to be happy that Melanie would be living with them.
"See you at dinner time" said Don Lino, before he went to talk to a group of sharks who seemed to be fighting over an empty bottle of beer.
Melanie smiled back and followed Luca. As they swam through the huge, wide corridors of the Titanic, Luca talked to her.
"The boss seems to like you Melanie. It ain't so often he lets random sharks stay here with us"
"Really?" said Melanie, feeling strangely happy for some reason, "I just hope that I don't mess anything up while I'm here"
They continued swimming through the corridors and just as Melanie was about to ask when they would finally get to her room, Luca stopped at a rather large door, which was also a bit rusty from being under water for such a long time. "This must be it, room 86" said Luca, looking at a small bit of paper in one of his tentacles and opening the door "Go in".
Melanie swam through the door. "Wow, it's amazing!" she said. In the corner of the room was a comfy looking single bed with curtains and pillows. Melanie had expected something more like a prison cell.
Luca also seemed surprised. "He doesn't normally give rooms like this to newcomers" he muttered. Melanie swam over to the wardrobe, which was huge, but empty.
"Okay, you got twenty minutes until dinner time" said Luca, "See ya then!" he said as he swam back through the corridors from where they had come.
Melanie looked around the room and sat on the bed. Feeling tired, she fell asleep for about fifteen minutes and then woke up again. She was slightly shocked when Squash swam out from behind her dorsal fin and smiled up at her. "Geez Squash, I almost forgot about you there!" said Melanie. "We mustn't let the sharks see you though, they might hurt you" Melanie looked at the clock. It was 8 o clock; dinner time. "Quick, hide!" she said as she pushed Squash behind her dorsal fin and swam out through the door of her room.
When Melanie finally arrived at the dining room (after getting lost in the corridors a few times), she was surprised to see that all the sharks had dinner at exactly the same time. The room was full of tables and about four sharks sat at each one. A group of sharks sat in a corner, playing musical instruments.
Don Lino was already sitting at a table with Luca the octopus and the other two sharks. Melanie sat by herself at a single table and watched as a swordfish served her a plate of fish. She hadn't eaten fish ever since she had been abandoned in the sea. On the side of the dish, there were bits of kelp, which Squash nibbled silently, while Melanie ate the fish.
Just then, an old leopard shark swam up to her table "How ya doin beautiful?" he said in a flirting tone "Marry me", he breathed in her face.
Melanie didn't like the look of this horrible old shark. His rotten teeth were falling out and his breath reeked of sea cucumbers and starfish (not a nice combination). The old geezer was obviously drunk. He farted and Melanie almost lost consciousness from the horrible smell.
As he leaned closer, Melanie could see bits of starfish and sea slug in his teeth. It was all she could do to stop herself from throwing up and having a fit. Melanie backed away, not knowing what to do. She was desperate for help.
"Hey, leave her alone Don Feinberg!" said Don Lino. However, Fienberg ignored him and continued to torment Melanie, who was now helplessly unsure of what to do. "I told you to leave her alone!" said Lino, now starting to get annoyed. As he swam over to help Melanie, Fienberg pushed over Melanie's chair and pinned Melanie to the ground. Squash was bumped out from underneath her.
Fienberg saw Squash and went insane. "FISH!" he yelled. By now, all the sharks in the room were watching and whispering to each other.
"No! Wait!" gasped Melanie urgently. But Fienberg had already started chasing Squash around the room, knocking over tables, chairs, sharks and all.
"FIENBERG! STOP!" shouted Lino. "Giuseppe! Lorenzo!" The hammerhead and the other shark rushed over. "Stop him!" said Lino. The two sharks swam towards Fienberg and grabbed his fins but he struggled and escaped, knocking out Lorenzo.
Squash swam frantically towards Melanie who caught him between her fins. Just as Fienberg moved forward to grab him and eat him, she held Squash above her head, out of his reach and yelled "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
The entire room of sharks stared at her in shock. The music-playing sharks stopped and dropped their instruments in disbelief, making the room completely silent. Even Don Lino was surprised. Was she crazy? What kind of shark would defend a puny, weak little fish?
Feeling mortified with all the sharks staring at her, Melanie hurried out of the dining room, through the corridors and straight to her bedroom.
She looked at Squash who looked upset that he had caused her so much embarrassment. "Don't worry" she told him. "I would never let anybody hurt you"