Chapter 5: The One with the Hooks

“OW!” There was a scream from upstairs in the observatory. We all rushed up and saw Demi lying on the floor. Her forehead was bleeding.

Beth was next to her, looking guilty. “Oh my God, Demi! I’m so sorry, I just –” “Was trying to run me over? What was that thing?” Demi asked. She tried to get up but couldn’t. “Ow—think I sprained my ankle. Little help here?” Zac helped her up and she supported her weight against the wall.

“It was a robot—I found it in room 1. I found a remote control for it too. Wanted to know,” Beth said, blushing. “Then I didn’t know how to control it, then next thing you were here and BAM, robot literally ran you over.”

Demi really did look like a 10-pound machine had run her over.

“Again, I’m sorry.”

“’S’okay.”

“Uh, you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Okay…”

Beth looked embarrassed enough to put her head in a ditch. I wanted to comfort her, but I didn’t know how.

“Oh, uh, we found the wired hooks!” I said, trying to lift up her spirits. “Nice job, Jaxx-head,” Demi said. She tried to go down the stairs but immediately fell down them all.

“I’M OKAY!”

I rolled my eyes and we all rushed after her.

We made her sit on a chair, but she gave us a glare so fierce, it made me wince. “I don’t want to be in a chair. I wanna move. C’mon, guys, I’m fine!” she insisted, trying to get up. We hauled her back down.

“Stay,” I commanded her as if she were a little puppy dog. “Okay, owner. I think I can manage that,” she snapped back. I grinned at her and then me and the rest went to get the hooks.

The waves lapped at the shore. The hooks were tied to a tree. One step was left. “I’ll go.” Demi limped over to us. “But—your leg, you can’t go,” Zac pointed out reasonably.

“I’m the strongest swimmer here,” she said, just as reasonably as Zac.

“I have to. So it’ll cause me pain. Who cares? This is more important. I can do this. My leg will only slow me down a few seconds. Really, guys, this is our best hope.” Zac fidgeted with his shirt. I bit my lip. Beth was twitching and Tom looked concerned. But Demi’s face was hard to argue with. “Okay. You can go,” I said, taking a deep breath. “Try not to die, mulch-brain.”

“Yeah, thanks pebble-head.”

We tied her to the other end of the hooks. She removed her sweatshirt. Thankfully, there was a shirt underneath. It was light blue and said “Girls rule, boys drool” in cursive. I had to agree with the shirt. The boys weren’t drooling or anything, but they were standing in one place, looking a lot less heroic than Demi.

When we were done, Demi gave us a grin and leaped into the waves.

The hook-pile-rope-thing was decreasing in size as she swam, faster and faster, toward the boats. I couldn’t see Demi’s face, but I knew she was in a bit of pain.

“WHOO!! GO DEMI! C’MON, FASTER, FASTER! C’MON!” Beth started cheering and we joined her. Demi was half-way to the boat. 30 feet. “WHOO, C’MON, YOU CAN DO IT!” I was cheering louder than the others, but my voice came out like a fog-horn blaring across the ocean.

She was 5 feet away from the boats. 3 feet. SHE WAS ON THE BOAT! “YES! WHOO!” My voice was suddenly louder than a foghorn. She hooked the first boat then swam 6 feet to the next boat and kept doing the same until all five boats were hooked. I was laughing. I was happy—but it didn’t last.

BRRRRM!

“What was that?” Beth squeaked. A shadow passed below the water. “The Megalodon. REEL IN THE HOOKS!”

I started reeling in the hooks and the others joined me. The boats were making painfully slow progress to the shore. They weren’t fast enough. I was not going to let Demi die. She was shouting frantically on Zac’s boat. Probably, HURRY UP, I WILL HAUNT YOU IF I DIE! The boats were 30 feet to the shore. The Megalodon took a bite at the boat next to the one Demi was on.

Splinters flew everywhere. One even caught at Demi’s cheek.

Five feet to the shore. The Megalodon decided that the water was too shallow and then it went off for easier prey. Demi collapsed on the shore. We were all cheering as we helped her up. She sat below a tree.

“That was awesome,” Tom said, grinning. “Is your leg okay?” Beth asked, kneeling down.

“It hurts,” she admitted.

Beth clenched her teeth and pulled out the splinter from Demi’s cheek. She rushed off to the observatory, her blonde hair flapping in the wind.

She came back with bandages and applied them on Demi’s ankle and her cheek. Demi tested her ankle. She was limping a bit, but otherwise she looked good as new. We all went back to the cave, exhausted. We ate sandwiches for dinner. (And it felt so goooood to have proper food that wasn’t fruit) We settled down and fell asleep immediately.