The Rot

Chapter Five.

For twenty-four hours non-stop the boys searched everywhere- town, country, fields, beach- but there was no sign of Saphie or the gang. In the end, totally exhausted, they went back to the cave they called home and got some sleep.

When they awoke, they were plunged into despair. "Oh my God! I hope poor Saphie is OK," moaned Jacob.

"You're not the only one who cares!" retorted Keelin.

"But she isn't going out with you is she? She's going out with me!"said Jacob.

"Oh shut up will you?!" screamed Keelin.

The two brothers carried on arguing for a few minutes until their conversation was interrupted by a noise.

"Stop doing that Keelin!" cried Jacob.

"IT WASN'T ME!"

They looked out of the cave, high up in the cliff's face.

I can't see a damn thing!" said Jacob.

"Duh! It's not daytime is it? Anyway I'm freezing!" complained Keelin. "I can feel my fingers starting to go numb. Soon you'll be able to go SNAP! And there go my fingers!"

"Oh please! I am human too, you know! Now shut it while I light the candle". A yellow glow filled the cave. As it did so, a voice echoed up from the beach.

"Oi! If you wanna see Saphie alive ever again then your gonna have to give me Keelin's blood! I'm gonna be back here tomorrow night and if Keelin or his blood don't come down 'ere, your precious little Saphie will be screaming in pain as we drain her blood to the bone!

The boys gasped in horror, too shocked to be able to sleep.

The voice from the beach continued, "One day. That's enough time to make your mind up! Ha! Ha! Ha! Clock's ticking!"

A horrible chuckle floated up to the mouth of the cave, "Oh no, I forgot, there aren't no clocks! Ha! Ha!"

The boys listened as the footsteps of the invisible speaker crunched off into the distance.

"Great," muttered Keelin. "Just great. What the hell are we going to do now?! I'm not handing myself over to Huddez to be his puppet!"

The boys sat in silence for a moment before Keelin asked in a whisper, "Jacob? Is it me or Saphie?"

"Don't worry," said Jacob. " I won't let Huddez get his hands on you. We'll be fine- I hope," he added under his breath, hoping Keelin wouldn't hear.

Sitting there by the fire, too anxious to sleep, the boys discussed how they could get Saphie back without swapping her for Keelin.

After a long and animated conversation, Jacob jumped up and cried, "I've got it!"

"Got what?" asked Keelin.

"Got a plan. Listen. Instead of giving away you or your blood, we are going to get hold of some blood that contains the Rot."

"Great idea, but how are we going to manage to get hold of the blood that contains the Rot?"

"Easy. Let's go to town and see who we can find."

Keelin thought for a moment. "OK. But then how are we going to trick the gang into believing that the blood is mine?"

Jacob thought for a moment. Unable to think of anything immediately, he said, Good point, Keelin. Er, we'll just have to figure that out once we've actually got the blood."

Keelin was not convinced, but since he couldn't think of anything better to do, the two lads left the cave and climbed up the cliff's face to the left ground above. From there they crossed the fields to the town. As they got closer, the stench of decaying bodies became overpowering.

"Yuk!" muttered Keelin, holding a handkerchief over his nose. "Talk about  rot. Stinks like a sewage farm."

Jacob ignored him. "There," he said, pointing towards a figure lurching about before what had been Boots. "Over there. You see that man stumbling across the road? He'll do."

The boys approached the tragic figure. "Hey, you!" yelled Keelin. "Wait a minute!"

"W-w-what? Who's there?" asked the man, staggering back from them in dismay. "What's wrong with me? My insides hurt and I can't breathe properly, or eat or drink. Help me PLEASE!"

"Don't worry, sir," said Jacob. "We're just going to inject you with my brother's blood to make you better. But first we need to take a sample of yours is that OK?"

"W-what will... your blood do to me? And... why do you ne-ed my blood?" stuttered the stranger.

"My blood will help make you better," said Keelin. " And we want your blood to save one of our friends."

"OK. Any-thing you wa-nt! Ju-st plea-se hel-p me!"

After they had taken a sample of the man's blood with the syringe brought from their father's lab, they injected the rotten stranger with some of Keelin's blood and left. Before long, they were back in the cave waiting for nightfall.