The Tooth Collector

Chapter Fifteen

 Surprisingly, I also awoke to the sound of Bobby's voice. "They saw me." He whispered in fear repeatedly. I slowly opened my eyes, rubbing them to wake me up. Before I could process his words, I noticed Bobby pressed up against the wall, as if he were hiding from something outside.

Turning onto my side, I saw Henry still sound asleep. Knowing that if what Bobby were saying was true, he couldn't go anywhere without being noticed. I slowly swam over to Henry, nudging him a few times before he arose.

I didn't need to say anything, for he quickly analyzed the situation from seeing his son in such a panicked state. "Stay quiet, I'll go check it out-"

"Please father, don't go. They'll kill you." Bobby whispered with tears running down his face. I rubbed my eyes, confused at what he could possibly be so terrified of. Henry ignored his crying son, and waltzed out of the cave as if he were afraid of nothing.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something in the distance. It was a figure, big and bulky. I stared at it, assuming it was a whale or maybe a sinking ship. But as it grew closer, I only grew more nervous. It was definitely as big as a boat, but how could it be underwater?

Yet still, it grew closer and closer, until I realized what I was looking at. It was a shark. A really, really, really big shark. At least three times the size of Henry, and he was big enough already. I watched as the shark swam closer and closer, until it took a sharp turn and fell out of view.

A sharp holler caused me to nearly jump out of my skin, and I turned to Bobby slowly, expecting him to know what was going on since he practically started the whole thing. Bobby however looked as terrified as ever, and stared at me as if he were pleading, begging for us to flee.

In just no more than a few moments, I noticed Henry out of the corner of my eye, grunting and struggling. He wore an expression of fear and determination, and it only took another moment for me to realize what had him so nervous. Henry was being pulled down into the depths of the ocean. I swam quickly out of the cave, and my breath hitched when I saw his predators. They were just as I had imagined, black with white spots, much bigger than Henry, and with tails the size of our torsos, or larger. Orcas.

It wasn't long before Henry began to shout at us. Not words, but sentences that didn't fit together. It was as if his body was in such shock that he couldn't form a proper dialect. However, there were a few words I managed to pick up. 'Get out, fast, they kill, I follow' were the ones I was sure he'd said.

Without a second to lose, I grabbed Bobby by the fin and dragged him out of the cave as he sobbed and protested. I assumed he thought we were going to try and save Henry, which couldn't be further from the truth. "We're leaving." Was all I had to say before we fled the scene, making ourselves as far away from the creatures as we could.

There was an uneasy silence as Bobby and I swam, even after we had been separated from the situation. He was calm again, but something felt different. Of course, Henry wasn't there, so it might as well have been that, but something felt quite . . . off.

"Are you . . . okay?" I struggled to ask Bobby.

"We can't go back there." He responded. "For as long as we live." Bobby's voice was shaky as he spoke, as if the thought of the place made him nervous.

I nodded, listening to him intently. I wanted more than anything to hold him in my arms and make him understand that everything would be okay. It was a terrible impulse.

"What about your dad?" I asked, bottling up the impulses.

"He'll catch up." Bobby said, stiffly.

We swam what seemed to be for miles and miles. We swam through open land, glided through the ocean. It was quiet, peaceful. The ever growing panic within me was growing, questioning me. How could I possibly survive on my own? I didn't know how to hunt, and Bobby for sure didn't. I pushed the thoughts deep down, and tried to focus on the present.

I turned around in a circle, taking in my surroundings. There wasn't much to look at, most of what I saw was open ocean, but when I squinted, way far in the distance I could see some coral reefs. We must be getting close to some land, I thought to myself. Hopefully, that meant sharks who could potentially help us.

Turning to Bobby, it was obvious that he had noticed the land ahead by the way he watched me with curious eyes. I knew what he was asking, and I nodded. Of course we should go there, it would be the safest option. Well, practically our only option.

"Do you think there will be other sharks who can help us there?" Bobby asked quietly, definitely embarrassed at how vulnerable we were at the moment. He kept his eyes locked in front of us, locked towards our future.

"Most likely. I mean, you can tell that it's a nice coral reef up there, so why wouldn't there be sharks staying there." I answered.

"That's not what I mean."

"What do you mean, Bobby?"

"Nice sharks. Sharks that won't eat us."

I paused to think for a moment. That could always be a possibility, sharks eating other sharks wasn't exactly frowned upon. But then again, there were tons of possibilities, who knew which ones were to be accurate.

"Hopefully." I told my acquaintance.