Trapped

17 - NEW!!

I could not take my eyes off of the creature that was now standing in the doorway. I knew what this creature was since I loved reading about mythical creatures back home. This creature was called Kappa, or it was also known as the 'river child'. It was known for living in rivers and devouring children that misbehave.

I looked the creature up and down, it was a deep green colour and had long raven hair that flowed to its waist. It also had a beak instead of a mouth and its fingers and toes were webbed like a frog. The strangest thing was that it had a shell on its back, resembling the shell of a turtle.

'Long time not to see Zachary,' it was the first to speak, with quite an irritatingly wrong use of grammar.

'Arabella, it's nice to see you, this is Luna, she's a friend of mine,' He said and gestured to me. By Arabella's soft voice and the feminine name, I assumed that it was a she.

'Come in quick, the dark is coming in a short time' she said in a strange accent and after she did Zac stepped inside the hut.

'Thank you,' I said and moved forward to the door, but her arm blocked me.

'Not you, strangers not welcome unless I am paid by them,' I cringed at her way of speaking, she definitely wasn't used to speaking English.

'Please Ara, we have nothing to offer,' Zac said to her. She looked me up and down and her eyes landed on my necklace, one I never took off. It was a small silver chain with a purple crystal charm attached to it. My mother had given it to me when I was a kid and I never parted with it.

'That is a Pretty jewel on your chest,' She said, hinting for me to hand it over.

'No, I can't give it to you, it has sentimental value," I said to her.

'Well, you will sleep on the outside then,' she said and closed the door without even giving me a chance to negotiate.

This made me really angry, one day she might need someone else's help and when that day comes I hope that person will slam the door on her too, just so she could know how it feels. I could hear Zac talking to her through the door, probably asking her to let me in. But I didn't really care, I would be perfectly fine outside. I wasn't afraid of sleeping outside after everything that has happened.

I left the front of the hut and went towards a couple of big plants on the more shallow side of the river and I made myself comfortable in the leaves, hiding in the branches so that nothing would spot me and make a meal out of me while I was sleeping. I waited there hoping that Zac would come out and tell me that he wasn't going to let me sleep outside alone, or that he had convinced Arabella to let me in. Almost an hour later there was still no sign of him and I drifted off into a sound sleep.

***

I was woken up by the sound of someone shouting my name, I recognised it as Zac's voice. I shot up, forgetting that I was in-between the branches of a plant and I hit my head on the branch above me.

'Ouch!' I mumbled and rubbed the spot where I hit my forehead. Once I recovered I clambered out between the branches. When I got out I heard Zac shouting again.

'Luna! Where are you?' he said, he sounded like he was panicking. Well, it serves him right for leaving me to sleep outside on my own. I remember waiting in the bushes for him to come to find me, but he never did. I was so mad that I wanted to get him back for what he had done. I could feel the mischief creeping all over my face and I smiled. This was gonna be good.

I screamed the best blood-curdling scream I could muster and then I hid behind a rock. I could see Zac rushing over to the spot where the screams were coming from and he ran a hand through his hair and searched around frantically. I giggled softly at his reaction and then I swam around the rock and away from the spot where I was. I swam backwards so I could keep an eye on Zac and to make sure he didn't see me.

Suddenly my back hit something scaly and rough behind me and a slimy hand made its way to my shoulder. This time I was not kidding and a real scream pierced the silence in the air. Like a whirlwind, I turned around and ended up staring into green irises that were narrowed.

"You is bad at behaving, little girl," that cringe-worthy accent filled my ears. I cowered when I remembered what Arabella's legend was known for. The Kappa legend is known for devouring disobedient children. I wasn't exactly a little child anymore, but I wasn't a lawful adult yet, I was seventeen years old at the time. My heart started racing and I shoved her away from me and swam away. She was faster than I was and dug her nails into my tail and dragged me back and I screamed again.

'I have been being especially hungry for little girls today, you will fill my belly nicely,' she said and I yelped. I put up a real fight to free myself, I was not going to be eaten by a half turtle half bird-like creature, especially not one that made such annoying grammar mistakes.

'No get away!' I said and kicked my tail furiously. She let go after a few vicious kicks. I then swam towards her and slammed her shell covered back into one of the boulders that were close by. She screeched and showed her teeth on the insides of her beak.

Then she fought back and her gooey hand made contact with my face as she gave me a slippery slap. It didn't even hurt much since her hand was too drippy. She was being such a pansy about it by slapping me. My father always taught me to fight with my fists to gain the respect of my opponent and that's exactly what I did. I balled my hand into a fist and pulled back before hitting her right in the beak. I heard a crunching sound and then Arabella fell to her knees and held her hands over her beak. My knuckles were burning from the impact and I held it tightly. Then Arabella started crying and I was filled with regret. I was just defending myself, I never thought she would be this sensitive.

I sat down on my tail next to her and put my hand on her shoulder and said: 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you.'

She looked up and that's when I saw that she wasn't really crying, but I noticed it too late, because just as I was about to jump back up she grabbed my arms, opened her beak and plunged her teeth into the flesh of my shoulder. She was aiming for my neck but I turned my shoulder towards her instead. My very own blood-curdling scream filled the silence of the waters as her teeth shredded my skin and my blood started pouring into her mouth.

She immediately let go of me, frowned and then spit out the blood that was in her beak. 'I do not like your way of tasting, are you a witch?' she said.

'No, I am not a witch!' I shouted back.

'You taste like a witch,' she said back to me and I was not exactly sure what that meant, but for now, it was better than being eaten by a crazy Kappa. We both just sat there for a while, unsure of what to do. I had never been in the company of someone who tried to eat me before and I guess she has never tried to eat someone who ended up tasting bad, either.

Zac finally showed up just as I was about to get up and go look for him. He looked extremely worried and when he saw me his face went pale.

'Luna, what happened to you and why are you bleeding?' He asked and came towards me, examining my shoulder.

'Your friend over there tried to eat me, lucky for me I don't taste good and that's the only reason why I'm still alive, so thanks for nothing!' I told him coldly. I was mad that it took him so long to find me, even after I made so much noise. But I was actually more upset with myself for luring him away with my fake screams.

Zac looked at Arabella with a raised eyebrow and she sat up straight and said: 'I was only doing what my duty is, for she was deceiving you.'

I looked down in shame when Zac looked back at me and my bleeding shoulder caught my attention. It was in a very bad state and the blood that came from it was floating away with the current and it made a little swirl as it was washed away with the stream of the river.

'Hey, are you okay?' Zac asked when he saw the way I was looking at my shoulder. I looked up at him but he was just a blurry blob. I blinked several times but I still could not see him clearly. Soon black blots started filling my vision and Zac's panic-stricken voice became like background music and I was being pulled in by the darkness until everything was black.