✔THE STING (onc-19)

12. 'The wonderpus of wonderland.'

Kai was crouched at the corner of a pitch dark cellar. He kept banging the back of his head to a wall behind, trying to analyze the situation. Just a day before, he was a kid whose arrival was celebrated. Now, he was a prisoner whose name was in the most wanted criminals' list. He sighed looking into the ceiling, which reminded him of how much he was scared of tight and suffocating places, he felt like the sky was falling on him.

'Kai, can you hear me?' A feminine voice whispered into his ears, as if the cold waves were carrying her voice only to deliver it secretly to him alone, 'shh...don't talk. Just think of what you want to say, I can almost hear it.'

'Oh my god! Not again.'

'Okay. I'm going to take that as a yes.' Her voice reiterated inside his skull.

'Sheila? Is that you?'

'Yup. Just me. I am a jelly mermaid and a priestess, remember?'

'Unbelievable.'

'Just zip it, alright? Now get your lazy fin up and wade towards the door,' she ushered him to break out of the cell with her telepathic psychic communication. 'Use your claws to break the lock.'

'I am not sure about this. You are inviting another trouble,' he thought, but went over at the door to examine the lock anyways. A ball sized lock was chained to his door, it felt old and rusted.

'Trouble is my middle name. Do you want to be free or not?' Her angry tone was apparent with the amount of intensity she was filling into her words.

'Yeah?!' Kai's chitinous leg scratched his head, 'but...'

'Good. Now, chuck that 'but' aside and break yourself from the cellar and come help me.' Sheila urged him. He carefully picked the rusted lock and bit his lip in nervousness. 'On my mark,' she commanded him trying not to ruin the plan, 'now!'
His strong claws pressed and crunched the metallic lock on her cue, but nothing happened.

'Stop! There's a peacekeeper.'

He suddenly left the lock alone, gasped and retreated back into the darkness. The peacekeeper stood for a second to peek into his cellar, owing to a sudden noise of movement he had witnessed from the side. He shrugged and left the place after a while.

Kai reappeared into the light. 'Phew! That was close.'

'Kai, what are you waiting for? Do it now.'

He instantly picked the lock with one claw and tried to break it with another. 'Can you please keep quiet for a minute?'

'I can't.'

'Aye aye, your highness.' Kai rolled his eyes and broke the lock with one strong clunk. 'Can I proceed? Is anybody out there?'

'Nope. To your left.'

'Alright,' he carefully tiptoed, keeping an eye on both the sides of the hallway. 'Where to?' He stopped waiting for her next command.

Sheila's voice gasped inside his head, sending waves of shiver down his spine, 'Hide. Did you leave the cellar open? Now we are doomed!'

He turned around without a second thought and rushed to return back to his cellar. 'I told you, it wasn't a good idea.' As soon as he saw a open door on his way back, one of his claws reflexively grabbed a bar and swung it behind him, catapulting himself inside. He buried himself in the blanket of darkness, with a pair of watchful eyes, his heart literally trying to break out of his rib cage.