Chapter 7
That night, Melanie lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. It was almost impossible to get any sleep because it was so hot. Melanie had been tossing and turning for at least two hours but still couldn't sleep.
She looked over at Squash, who was also swimming around in an agitated manner.
"You know, I think we just need something to eat" Melanie had not eaten since the meeting and was very hungry. "We'll probably be able to sleep a lot better" she said. "Come on Squash, let's go"
The food was stocked in a large area at the back of the kitchen. Melanie could navigate her way around the ship quite easily now, so it wouldn't be hard just to take a small trip to the kitchen.
She swam out through her bedroom door, Squash holding onto her dorsal fin and shut the door behind her. The corridors were dark but there were small lights attached to the walls here and there along the way.
The corridors of the Titanic had a creepy vibe at night. Melanie wasn't extremely afraid of the dark or anything like that but she decided that she wanted to get back to her room as soon as possible.
Melanie turned a corner and swam into a new corridor. This corridor was decorated with all kinds of strange, old fashioned ornaments. In the small glow of the lamps on the walls, they cast weird looking shadows. Melanie noticed the shape of each shadow as she swam past; photo frames...trophies...suit of armour...candlestick...shark...
Shark.
With a gasp, Melanie swung around to face whoever it was...
Nothing. The shark shadow had disappeared.
"H-hello?" Melanie stammered nervously into the dimly-lit corridor. "Is anyone there?"
No reply.
'Stop it' Melanie told herself. 'You're just imagining things, don't be silly'
Melanie looked at the corridor in front of her. She could just see the kitchen entrance from where she was. She would be there in just a few seconds. Melanie gathered her courage and began to swim forwards but Squash stayed right where he was, a serious expression on his face.
Something was not right.
Suddenly there was a soft thump, as if someone had accidentally bumped against the wall. When Melanie turned around, nobody was there.
"Come on Squash" she said. "We're right near the door now"
Melanie turned around to open the door that led into the kitchen. She almost fainted in terror.
Standing there, blocking the entrance with a jagged smile on his face was Don Fienberg.
Melanie screamed and immediately turned to swim away but it was too late. An enormous bull shark grabbed her from behind and pinned her to the floor, gagging her with something that looked like a giant handkerchief. Melanie lashed out and yelled for all she was worth but she knew that no-one would hear her muffled screams.
"Tie her up!" she heard Fienberg yell at his thugs. A strange-looking shark swam over with a rope and began tying her up. She wriggled and tried to fight them off but it was no use. The bull shark was much too heavy and way too strong to get off.
The strange-looking shark finished tying the last few knots and moved back. Melanie could see all three of the captors now. Fienberg grinned at her in triumph. "Try to escape now pretty lady!" Melanie glared back at him in fury.
"Take her downstairs" said Fienberg. "I'll deal with her"
The bull shark moved in, picked her up, slung her over his shoulder and followed the other two sharks.
This was crazy. These sharks weren't in charge. Don Lino would punish them for this if he found out what they were doing. Melanie tried banging her head against the bull shark's shoulders but it was a useless effort. He was too strong.
They were now swimming through a much narrower corridor. They came to a single door marked with the number 13. Don Fienberg's room.
The bull shark dumped Melanie on the ground. She hit her snout hard against the splintering floorboards.
Melanie realised that the strange-looking shark was a cookie cutter shark. His name was Stephen. (A.N. For those of you who don't know, there actually is a type of shark called a cookie cutter shark-they're pretty ugly!)
The bull shark swam over to a fish tank and yanked out a piranha. With one bite, he had severed its head and dorsal fin. "Jeremy, stop screwin' around and get on with the job!" snapped Fienberg. Jeremy tossed the bloody remains of the piranha aside and went to where the other two sharks were.
Fienberg grinned evilly at Melanie. "You think that the Don likes you eh? I mean after all, you're so popular with the sharks, so intelligent...so beautiful..."
That last remark made Melanie want to rip him to shreds.
Fienberg's grin became wider. "Well let's see him save you this time shall we?"
His expression suddenly became sour. "I'm sick of sharks younger than me getting top positions, especially female sharks! I'm going to cut you up-alive!"
An evil smile spread across his face, enjoyed Melanie's terrified expression. "Yes...I'm gonna start with your pectoral fins first! Then your tail fins and finally...your HEAD!" Fienberg erupted in a fit of malicious laughter, while Melanie lay there hopelessly with no idea how to escape.
Fienberg charged and gnashed his teeth at her, tearing of a corner of her left pectoral fin. Melanie let out a muffled scream of pain, blood flowing freely from her wound.
"Come on let's go!" said Fienberg. "We'll finish the job later!"
Melanie watched them leave the room. They would be back soon, to finish her off-painfully. She felt something swim out from behind her dorsal fin. "Squash!" she tried to say, but the gag prevented her from talking.
Squash was holding something in his mouth-a thick piece of kelp. He gently wrapped it around what was left of Melanie's pectoral fin. Gradually, the bleeding stopped.
Melanie knew that she would need to send Squash to get help if she wanted to get out of this room. Luckily, during her time at the aquarium, Melanie had learned to use sign language to speak to Squash. This would be a good time to use it. She wriggled just enough to free her right pectoral fin and made various shapes and movements to get her message across to Squash.
Squash understood and nodded. Then he sped off as fast as he could. Melanie looked at him thankfully. He was a true friend.
Squash rushed through the corridors. He had to hurry. The bad sharks could be back any moment and then it would be too late to save Melanie. Luckily, he knew just the shark to find; Don Lino. He would tear the bad sharks to pieces and save Melanie.
Squash moved faster and faster past the bedrooms of the sleeping sharks. He couldn't let Melanie down. She had been such a good friend to him. She had taken care of him every time he got sick in the aquarium and had protected her against the bad sharks. Now it was up to him to save her life.
He turned a corner and went down a new corridor. Then he stopped at the door of a room; Room number 1.
This had to be the boss's room. It was the biggest room he had seen in the ship. Squash knocked on the door as loudly as he could. He hoped that the boss wouldn't eat him alive.
The door opened and the boss was standing there, looking at him. How was Squash going to tell him? Making many gestures with his fins, he managed to get his message across.
The boss looked half worried and half angry. He then called the octopus and two other sharks and went towards the bad shark's room.
Melanie was starting to get worried. She knew that Don Lino would come and do something about this and punish Don Fienberg and his goons in some way or another, but what if he didn't make it in time? What if Fienberg had attacked Squash on his way to get help?
'I have to get out of here' she thought. 'I shouldn't just rely on everyone to come and save me'
Melanie thought about how she was going to escape. She knew that the first step would be to get the ropes off. Then she could get rid of the gag.
She looked around. There was nothing much in the room that would help her. There was a small bed in the corner, and a tank of piranha fish beside it. Melanie looked around to see if there was something sharp like a knife which she could use. Nothing.
'Come on, think!' she said to herself. 'You'll need something sharp'
She looked over at the tank of piranhas and noticed something. Jeremy had left the lid open. Then, Melanie had a crazy idea.
Trying not to hurt her shredded pectoral fin, she rolled towards the piranha tank until her back was facing the piranhas. They would be attracted to the blood coming from her fin. She looked at their razor-sharp teeth. Perfect for cutting ropes. She knew that the piranhas would bite her and nip at her but she knew that she would be able to fight them off easily once the ropes were off. Besides, it was either this or getting her head bitten off by Don Fienberg.
Bravely, she stuck out her injured fin so that the blood flowed towards the piranhas. They smelled the blood and Melanie quickly withdrew her fin so that they wouldn't injure it any further.
Melanie could now feel the sharp teeth on her back. They were cutting the ropes! Her plan was working. Now and then, she felt a bite on her dorsal fin and winced in pain.
The ropes were now completely cut. Melanie didn't waste any time. Wriggling out of the severed ropes, she turned on the piranhas, snapping at them. They stopped biting her at once and darted back into the tank, cowering behind a rock.
Melanie was finally free, or so she thought. Just as she had yanked off the gag with her good fin, Don Fienberg burst into the room and gave a shout of rage. Melanie could tell that he had been drinking. His eyes were red with drowsiness and the smell of liquor was overwhelming.
He roared and charged madly at her, but she was too quick for him. She moved out of the way just in time and watched as Fienberg smashed into the piranha tank, scattering rocks, weeds and piranhas in all directions. The angry piranhas latched onto his dirty face.
Shaking them off, he tried to tear off Melanie's other pectoral fin. Melanie swam under him and bit hard into his flank. She then took advantage of this and bit him several times behind the dorsal fin.
Fienberg shook himself and chased her around the room, shouting "I'LL GET YA IF ITS THE LAST THING I EVER DO!"
He charged at her, knocking her into a spot in between the bed and the destroyed piranha tank. She was cornered and helpless.
This was it. There was no escape now. She would die a slow and painful death and no-one would be there to witness it or bring Fienberg to justice.
Fienberg smiled in triumph. His jaws opened wide, ready to tear her head off...
...and snapped shut as he was flung backwards.
Melanie almost started crying with relief. Don Lino had arrived with Giuseppe and Lorenzo and Luca. Squash was leading them.
Fienberg charged at her again, but Luca was quick. A black cloud of ink billowed in Fienberg's face, cutting him off from Melanie.
Melanie was also confused but Luca emerged from the black cloud and took her right fin, which still wasn't injured. "Come on, this way" he said, guiding her towards the door.
As Melanie swam out through the door, she could see the fight happening in the room. Don Lino, Giuseppe and Lorenzo were fighting Fienberg and his thugs.
Melanie watched as Giuseppe knocked out the cookie cutter shark, Stephen. He went sprawling on the ground. Don Lino charged at Jeremy, who was in the process of tackling Lorenzo. Jeremy had to be tranquilized with a dart gun that Lorenzo was carrying. This had been found on a human boat and was therefore used only when it was really needed. Finally, it came down to Fienberg.
Giuseppe and Lorenzo had Fienberg cornered against a wall. Don Lino looked at him directly in the eye. "Are you gonna explain what you were doing here?" he demanded.
Fienberg looked like he was about to die. "W-well sir...umm...we were j-just...err...umm..." he stammered, making absolutely no sense at all. Then, he suddenly gained confidence and took a deep breath. "I AM SICK OF STUPID, YOUNG FEMALE SHARKS GETTING HIGHER POSITIONS THAN ME!" he yelled, pointing accusingly at Melanie, who flinched.
"So you decided to kill her huh? That's how you solve your problem?"
"As a punishment, you will face the Shredder and your position within the top group of sharks will be taken away from you"
Fienberg was seething with anger and defeat. He looked at Giuseppe, who was standing on guard next to him. He spat in the hammerhead's face but Giuseppe didn't move.
Melanie didn't know what the Shredder was, but it sure didn't sound very pleasant.
By now, other tough-looking sharks and killer whales had started to crowd inside the room. "Get in line!" Lino ordered them. The sharks and killer whales got into two lines, one line facing the other, with a walkway in between.
Giuseppe and Lorenzo pushed Fienberg to one end of the shark corridor. Don Lino looked at all the sharks who had gathered in the room. There were now mother sharks and even some younger sharks.
Luca took his position in front of the observing sharks. He gestured at Fienberg and announced: "This shark has been found guilty of assaulting another member of the mob and shall now face the Shredder!"
He looked coldly at Fienberg. "Swim" he said
Melanie watched as Fienberg took a deep breath and started swimming through the corridor of sharks. As he swam through, the sharks and killer whales in the formation snapped at him, bit him, spat in his face, tore at his hide and threw rotten old fish bones at him.
Although Fienberg was getting what he deserved, it was a horrible sight to behold. Melanie felt something nudge her tail fin. She looked down and saw a baby shark staring at the gore in the room. He looked like he was about to cry. There was an expression of terror in his little eyes. Little sharks shouldn't have to see this. Melanie gently picked him up and turned him away from the horrible sight. "There, there, it's going to be okay" she said.
Melanie could now understand why this punishment was called 'the Shredder'. By the time Fienberg came out through the other end of the corridor, he was torn, bruised and filthier than ever.
"Okay everybody go to your rooms now!" ordered Lino. The sharks obeyed at once.
Melanie saw that the baby shark had fallen asleep in her fins. But where was his mother? She looked around and saw a female shark with a worried look on her face. The shark saw Melanie with her pup and gave a sigh of relief. "Oh thank God, I was so worried!" she said as Melanie handed her the sleeping pup.
"Here's your baby"
She looked at Melanie gratefully. "Thank-you. You're so kind."
"You're welcome"
Melanie felt rather daunted after watching what had happened to Fienberg. She felt uneasy and slightly guilty herself. Don Lino saw her and swam over after everyone had gone.
"I'm sorry about all that" he said, looking very upset himself. "Thanks for saving my life again" said Melanie. "But couldn't you have just taken his position away? Did you really have to give him the Shredder?"
"It had to be done" Lino said. "It's the only way to make him listen. We've tried goin' easy on him but he just keeps killing more sharks and challenging my authority."
Melanie nodded. She understood now. It was a harsh life, living in the Titanic, especially if you're a leader. If you weren't tough, you'd be killed or overthrown by stronger opponents. That was just the way things were down here.