CHAPTER 51:A Story

I was awoken by voices floating through a grate in the wall. The voices sounded sparse, as if the speakers were moving around. One voice sounded like Ash's, while another sounded like Scuttle's.

"Wwwwhhaaaaat?! Yyyyoouuuu'rrrrreee gonnnnaaaaaa wwwaaaiiitt fffoorrrrrr thhhhaaaat?!"

"Aw, come on, Scut! Peater claims to love her so much, so won't he and Uncle Elias arrive soon?"

"Pooiiiiinnnnntt . . ."

"Aha, so now you agree, hmm?"

"Mmaayybeee . . ."

Finally, Zomboss' voice pricked the air.

"Having a little . . . disagreement, you two?"

"Nah . . . everything's just fine, eh?"

"Yyyeeeeeepp!"

"Fine . . . but that better be the case, because one little disagreement could throw our plan off! All twenty months of that hard work would go down the drain and into the wasteland! And you, and only you will be to blame!"

"Rrreeeaaaaalllllllllyyyyyyy?"

"He said yes, then he said yes, Scutty. Now let the boss do his work, hmm?"

I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to the window, when what I thought was the greatest escape plan simply floated into my head.

"Zomboss, you have really outdone yourself . . . in terms of ignorance." I chuckled to myself as I strutted towards the window.

Just then, I was blasted backwards by some invisible force. I looked down at the floor and sighed.

"Wow . . . even brainless zombies think of everything? Jeez . . ."

Tap, tap, tap!

"What?" I mumbled as I tore my eyes away from the floor and looked at the window, only to find Peater and Elias frantically tap-tapping on it.

Peater! Oh God, you're some sight for sore eyes!

"You missed me that much, hmm?"

Oh, yes! I missed you so much! But . . . what are you doing here?

"Father and I followed Ash, and looked for your cell. Strange, isn't it? I mean, having an underground passageway from the Campbell house to the Don Jail is odd, right?"

So THIS is the judge's mansion?

"Yep! Just by taking a look at those zombie guards, it looks like Zomboss relocated!"

"Elyssia! Are you gonna . . . let us come into your cell with you?" Elias asked. I nodded.

"Shoot a pea at the window or something so that you can get in. Chances are, you can get in, but after that, you can't go out the window."

Not wasting a second, Elias and Peater started shooting at the window until it shattered. After that, they charged through the invisible barrier and hugged me.

"Elyssia . . . I thought that you died!" Elias whispered as he hugged me tightly.

"Haha, at least I'm in one piece, hmm?" I giggled, before I turned to the cell door, where I saw a Buckethead Zombie.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he snarled.

"Ask Zomboss, he took me here, didn't he?" I retorted. Next thing I knew, a whip had come down on my head, and all that I was left to do was fall down, reeling with pain. Peater, noticing my pain, came right to my side, and attempted to comfort me.

"It's all right, can't you survive?" he murmured.

"I . . . can't . . . those zombies . . . so cruel . . ." I panted, my vision spinning like a carousel.

"Oh boy . . . those zombies have such heinous and advanced torture methods . . ." Elias muttered as he tried to heal the gash on my head.

With a groan, I shut my eyes in an attempt to tune out the ringing in my ears, and the ever-increasing pain. Finally, the pain had slacked off . . . a little.

"Elyssia, why don't I tell you some stories? They could come in handy, you know." Elias suggested.

I nodded, and heard the most interesting stories of Toronto, from how the various plant families had taken residence in this city, to the interesting tale of how Blackman-Ryerson's coffee shop had been in huge trouble with the authorities.

Then it hit me.

Blackman-Ryerson was operating with Zomboss and those Lethus traitors. And their business in Toronto getting closed down didn't stop the evil party at all.

"Thanks, Elias. That was quite the . . . revelation," I mumbled as my vision cleared at last.

"Well, well, well. Looks like these two have taken the long road to come here, hmm?"

A sneering voice made us look up, where we saw a man standing over us, a nasty-as-hell smirk on his green face.

"And it looks like things will get worse for you, Dr. Zomboss. Those who destroy the lives of others only end up destroying themselves." I growled, once again baring my teeth.

"Oh damn, she speaks well!" Zomboss snorted sarcastically.

"Yes, very well indeed! "Those who destroy others destroy their own bloody selves." Sure . . ."

Peater bit his lip and said through gritted teeth, "How dare you make fun of her, you insensitive brute!"

Zomboss simply grabbed me by the throat, leaving me to choke and gasp.

"Well, you're quite the piece of work, hmm?" he snarled.

"You're the piece of work, Zomboss! Why, I ought to send you off to sensitivity therapy! Oh wait, my mistake ― you're too dumb!" I managed to retort before the master of evil himself tightened the grip on my throat so that I was so constricted that I couldn't speak.

"Right . . . now that should do the trick, shouldn't ― AAHH!"

Those were the only words that I got to give Zomboss a chance to say before I clamped my teeth right down onto his undead hand. Elias smiled and winked at me, which was a sure sign that he didn't care that I wasn't acting civilized. Realizing that I was about to swallow undead flesh, I spat out the pieces of rotting skin right into Zomboss' face. "

Yuck! At least now I know what Satan tastes like!" I griped, before a voice boomed throughout the whole jail.

"Would Elias Haliantherus, Peater Haliantherus and Elyssia Antonia Maccabaeus report to the Chronosis Room IMMEDIATELY!"

Zomboss glanced at the hole in his hand that I gave to him with my teeth.

"Killer saber-toothed brat! But still . . . death is banging on your door!"