Chapter 17

It was late at night. Lenny and Kylie sat quietly on their bed waiting. Kendall was asleep, unaware of the chaos going on outside. It was best he was asleep, as far as his parents were concerned. If he were awake, they would never be able to explain that his own grandfather's stooges were right outside their doorway rounding up all their friends and loved ones and taking them to God-knew-where. But wherever it was, it couldn't possibly be a good place.

As the sounds of pounding on doors and angry demands to get ready echoed in the hallway, Kylie looked at Lenny with big scared eyes.

"I should've believed you," she said. "I guess he really is what you said he is."

Lenny put his fin around her and said, "Don't worry. Wherever they take us, they're not gonna split up our family."

Kylie glanced and Kendall and said, "This isn't the only family I'm worried about."

Lenny understood. Before he had the chance to respond, they heard a furious banging sound on the other side of their door. Kylie covered her mouth and tried not to scream. They both knew what that banging meant. They also hoped the commotion wouldn't wake Kendall. Thankfully it didn't.

"WAKE UP IN THERE!" belted the voice of the knocker. "YA GOT FIVE MINUTES!"

Kylie started panting nervously. Lenny understood her feelings, but the look on his face told her they should do as they were instructed in order to avoid getting into bigger trouble. The two took a deep breath and got up from the bed. Lenny picked up Kendall, being careful not to wake him, and he and Kylie proceeded to the door.

Once they were in the hallway, they were greeted by a moving crowd of their frightened looking friends. Among them were Patrick, Mara, and Dustin. Mara was leaning against Patrick, weeping on his shoulder. Dustin tried to comfort her by stroking her back and saying, "It'll be okay, Ma." Lenny took Kylie's trembling fin and they followed the crowd outside. What they saw once they were outside made them more nervous. A group of about twenty unpleasant looking male sharks had formed a large circle around every one of the Clearwater Reef's vegetarian sharks. Looking at these guard sharks, Lenny could tell what would happen if anyone tried to escape. He shut his mind to it and he and Kylie nervously approached the circle. The guard they came the closest to moved a bit to his left to let them through.

"Well, well, well," the guard said when he saw Lenny. The tone of his voice was even less pleasant than the distain on his face. "If it ain't the Don's kid. And he's gotta pup of his own."

Lenny turned Kendall away to make him less visible.

"Hide 'im all ya want, Kid," the guard continued. "You won't be able to hide 'im when we get you lot to Bergen-Shelsen."

Lenny ignored him and joined Kylie in the panicked crowd inside the circle.

"I don't like the way he said that," Kylie said.

"Me neither," Lenny replied, holding tightly onto sleeping Kendall. "And what the heck is Bergen-Shelsen?"

"I don't know," said Kylie. "But I have the feeling I'm better off not knowing."

"Kylie," said a nearby voice.

Kylie turned around and let out a sigh of relief when she saw Kara, Kurtis, and her six sisters approaching her looking worried. She hugged her parents tightly. "Mom! Dad!"

"We're here, Honey," said Kurtis.

"We're so glad you're okay," said Kara.

"Probably not for long," Kylie said as she hurriedly hugged each of her distraught sisters.

The panicked crowd suddenly fell silent when the biggest guard shark raised his fins to get their attention. "Okay, fellas!" he announced to his fellow guards. "We got 'em all here! Let's get these pathetic excuses for sharks where they belong!"

The twenty guards began shouting at the vegetarians in horrible voices, demanding them to move forward, shoving them, and even hitting them if they had to. They were outnumbered dozens to one, but that made no difference. One carnivore shark could easily take out more than a dozen vegetarian sharks, and Lenny knew that better than anyone. The crowd moved onward, still unaware of where they were being dragged to and what horrible fate was awaiting them there. For now, all went well as long as everyone cooperated with the guards and did not fall behind.

"I'm so sorry about this, everyone," Lenny said to Kylie and her family.

"You should be," said Kelsey. "Your old man's having us dragged away to prison."

"Kelsey, now is really not the time for it," warned Kara.

"Sorry."

"Don't blame yourself," Kylie whispered to Lenny. "You were right about him. I should've listened to you."

Normally Lenny would smile if Kylie told him he was right about something (marriage thing), but this time he had no heart for smiling at all.

The rest of the swim took only a few hours, but to the cold, hungry, and tired vegetarian sharks, it seemed like an eternity. If anyone started to fall asleep while they swam, Lino's guards would scream at them or slap them to wake them up. It was especially difficult for parents like Lenny who had to try to stay awake and carry their sleeping children at the same time.

After hours of seeing nothing but sand and rocks, an enormous brick building completely surrounded by a barbed wire fence appeared on the horizon. There were tall searchlights on both sides of the building and a closer look revealed a large group of killer whales lined up at the gate's entrance. They seemed to be expecting someone, and Lenny had a feeling he knew who.

"Lenny," Kylie whispered. "I just realized something."

"What's that?"

"When Hitler and his followers had all those people sent to the concentration camps during World War II, there was one camp in Germany called Bergen-Belsen," Kylie explained.

Lenny looked startled. "And that creepy guard told us we were going somewhere called Bergen-Shelsen."

"That means…"

The lead guard shark interrupted. "Freak sharks, welcome to Bergen-Shelsen labor camp!"

There was a mass of chaos and confusion from the crowd. Once or twice, someone tried to escape, but the guard sharks grabbed them by the tail and killed them on the spot. No one dared try to escape after that.

"Open the gate and let's get 'em inside!" the lead guard shouted. "The Don was very specific about what to do after that!"

Two killer whales opened the gates and the vegetarian sharks were shoved through the entrance one small group after another. Once they were in, it was nothing but madness. The killer whale guards were screaming bloody murder at the frightened sharks, who were ordered or else forced to separate. The females to the left and the males to the right. Lovers were pulled apart, children were ripped away from their parents, and none of the guards showed pity to any of the horrid actions they were performing. The blinding searchlights didn't make the process any less confusing. They were so bright that the sharks could barely see where they were swimming.

When Lenny and Kylie were in, they watched helplessly as a large whale grabbed Kurtis and brutally dragged him away from Kara and the girls.

"DAD!" Kylie hollered.

"KURTIS!" Kara tried to return to her husband, but the whale shoved her back with the other females.

Kylie and Lenny could still hear Kara sorrowfully screaming Kurtis's name and the girls screaming, "Dad!" At one point, they saw Kimmy, who had always been super close to their father, crying on Kara's shoulder. But their thoughts didn't stay with that sight for long. Two more killer whales appeared right in front of them, giving them both a fright. One of them grabbed Kendall from Lenny's grip and disappeared into the chaotic crowd with him.

"KENDALL!" Lenny and Kylie screamed.

Before they could do anything, the other whale grabbed Lenny and started hauling him away as well. "KYLIE!" he yelled.

He could hear Kylie's voice calling to him too. "LENNY! LENNY!" As the whale carried him farther, Kylie's voice became more distant.

"KYLIE! KYLIE?" But it was no good. The whale had taken him too far for her to hear him now. He lifted his head to look past the whale's shoulder and could just barely make out Kylie crying and returning to the side of her mother and sisters.

Lenny sobbed quietly. He'd promised Kylie that they wouldn't separate them. And now he'd been ripped apart from both her and Kendall. And who knew where each of them would be taken? But surprisingly, the whale did not appear to be taking him where the other male sharks were being lined up. It looked more like he was being taken an entrance to the huge brick building. What in the world was going on? When they reached the entrance, the whale knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" said a voice that Lenny knew far too well coming from the other side.

"I got the Don's kid, Luca," said the whale.

The door swung open and Lenny found himself face-to-face with his father's right-hand-man, Luca. "Good job," Luca said to the whale. "How ya doin', Lenny? Long time no see." He looked back up at the whale and said, "Take 'im upstairs."

"Gotcha," the whale replied.

Lenny lifted his head again to try to find Kylie among the long line of females. She, her sisters, and Kara were all at the front of the line and appeared to be being inspected by another killer whale. Lenny heard the inspector say, "Alright, you big lot to the right." Kylie and the others all moved to the right where a small number of other females had already started to gather. Lenny hoped that didn't mean instant death.

The next thing Lenny knew, the whale that was carrying him took him inside and up a long set of stairs that lead to another door. All this was happening so fast Lenny couldn't even see the inside of the building. The whale opened the door and brutally threw Lenny inside onto the floor. He just barely hit the floor when the door behind him shut. And then, he heard it. The voice he thought he'd never hear again in his life.

"Hello, Son…"

Lenny gasped and threw himself up off of the floor.

"… Or maybe I don't have the right to call you that anymore," Lino continued.

"W-what do you want with me?" Lenny asked nervously.

"Want?" Lino repeated. "Can't a guy come all this way to apologize to his son?"

Lenny looked shocked. "Apologize? Really?"

Lino scoffed. "Don't play stupid with me, of course not really. You think I'd have this place built, drag all your friends down here, and work 'em all to death to apologize, do ya?"

"Work 'em to death?" Lenny repeated. "What do you mean work 'em to death?"

Lino rolled his eyes. "Didn't that fossil of a history teacher of yours teach you anything? This is a labor camp, see? Its purpose is to cram as many losers as possible inside, and hope they eventually die of sickness or hunger. And their daily schedule is as follows; wake up at the crack of dawn, line up for roll call, dig ditches all day, then bed."

"What about food?" Lenny asked.

"Don't sweat it," said Lino. "They'll each get a fish or two for lunch."

"But… but they don't eat fish."

Lino sighed. "You are catchin' on so slow. I'm not gonna repeat this again so listen; the point of this camp is to make them miserable. If I really can't stand 'em, I have the option of sendin' 'em to the oil chamber to have 'em dealt with. Now pipe down, this is my favorite part."

Before Lenny could ask, Lino turned around and swam up to a large window that overlooked an enormous dimly lit room. Lenny could only see the room's ceiling. He really didn't want to know what went on in there.

"Luca told me you got hitched a few years back," said Lino gazing out the window into the next room. "Which one of these dames is she?"

Lenny tried to act courageous. "As if I'll tell you."

"Is she that good lookin' one in the blue scarf?" Lino asked.

"Kylie!" Lenny swam up to the window. He was shocked when he looked into the next room to find out that Lino's new office overlooked the entrance to the female's section of the camp. It was a grotesque sight. All throughout the room were tables covered with various objects surrendered from prisoners upon arrival. Each table had a female killer whale guard standing by who would take the objects for storage. All the female vegetarian sharks were being rushed from one station to another, and each was more horrible than the last. Lenny could see Kylie, her sisters, and Kara near the entrance. They were moving quickly trying to stay in a group so as not to get separated. As they moved along, one of the female guards grabbed Kayla by the fin and pulled her up to a table of assorted glasses. The guard thuggishly removed Kayla's glasses and placed them on the table. Kara took Kayla, who was now squinting, by the fin and guided her the rest of the way.

Lino chuckled coldly at Kayla's misery. "Sad day for you, four-eyes."

Lenny frowned at this cruel sick joke and watched as Kylie and her family proceeded to the next table, which confiscated jewelry. At this table, Kandice removed her headband and peace medallion and the twins removed their chokers and bracelets. At the next table, which took other bits of clothing, Kylie and Kimmy removed their scarves and Kelsey removed her fin warmers. All the girls were officially free of any clothing or accessories. They lined up single-file at a table where a guard was seated. She quickly scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to Kylie. This process was repeated until every family member was holding a paper.

"What's written on those papers?" Lenny asked Lino.

"Their barrack numbers," Lino replied, "Which they're about to be branded with."

"Branded?"

Lenny watched the family swim up to the last, longest table, at which all eight of them took a seat. This table had eight guards who were all holding a long piece of metal. Lenny didn't like the looks of this. He watched as Kylie handed one guard the paper she'd been given. The guard read the paper then grabbed Kylie's left fin and started scratching what she'd read with the piece of metal. The other girls were going through this same process. All eight of them had blood oozing from their fins and sorrow in their faces. Lenny couldn't bear to watch, but he did to make sure his wife was alright. The branding process took just a few minutes. When the family of eight was finished, they moved along miserably out of the room to go to their barracks. Kara looked especially upset. She had seven daughters to comfort and only two fins. At the moment she had one fin around Kayla, who still needed the most attention, and the other around Kimmy. It comforted Lenny a bit to see that Kylie, though crying because of the forced separations from her husband, father, and son, had Kandice by her side to comfort her.

"So she is my daughter-in-law, huh?" Lino asked as the two of them watched Kylie and her family leave the room.

Lenny shut his eyes and nodded.

"Hm, I have to admit it pains me to see a face like that in a place like this," Lino said with a nasty smile. "Maybe she's more suitable for the oil chamber."

"No!" Lenny shouted.

"You raise that voice at me again, I'll send Luca down there and goodbye Cloe," Lino threatened.

"Kylie!" Lenny corrected.

"I couldn't care less what her name is, keep screamin' at me and you'll be a widower. Ya wanna know what we did with that kid of yours?"

Lenny's eyes widened. "Where is he?" he demanded.

"Forget 'im," said Lino. "You won't see him again, he's already in the oil chambers."

"What?"

"And there's room for one more pretty little face in there if you don't stop screamin' at me and do exactly what I tell you to do," Lino snarled.

Knowing he was now defeated, Lenny surrendered. "Do whatever you want with me, just leave Kylie alone."

"Oh I sure will do whatever I want with you," said Lino. "But I'm afraid I can't leave her alone. She's still my prisoner, ya little fool. She'll be keelin' over from hunger in no time. And she, that little guppy kid of yours… and you will all be together again." He started leaning in dangerously close to Lenny.

Suddenly Lenny knew what he meant by 'together again'. "No!"

"It's a fish-eat-fish world, twerp. You either take or you get taken. And since you wouldn't take..." Lino opened his jaws as wide as he could.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Lenny opened his eyes quickly. He was panting heavily and beads of sweat were running down his brow. He looked around and realized he was in his room. Kylie was asleep right next to him and Kendall was asleep in his own bed. Lenny sighed. "It was just a dream," he thought. That may have been true, but only for the time being. If he faced his mom at that meeting tomorrow, that dream was sure to come true. "No. That's not gonna happen to my wife and son. I'm keeping my face hidden from Mom, end of story." He turned back to Kylie and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll keep you and Kendall safe, I promise," he said quietly.

End of chapter

Author's note: Yeah, I really fooled you guys into thinking all that really happened, huh? LOL!