Slugterra x Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children

Chapter 15

I slept on the cold floor for an hour and woke up when the train halted. Dr. Golan forced us out of our lock-ups and we alighted from the train. I saw the name of the station. Slag Rock Cavern. It was far away from both my hideout and Bullseye Cavern. The cavern was dark and gloomy, maybe because Dr. Blakk had corrupted the cavern with dark water.

Dr. Blakk said that we were heading towards his citadel. He continued to elaborate more about his citadel but we ignored him. I had never imagine to walk into the lair of the person who was a foe to my dad. I heard Jacob muttered something under his breath and looked at me in distress. His eyes read hopelessness as he was afraid our plan didn't went well.

An image of a building started to grow bigger as we walked towards it. The big building was Dr. Blakk's citadel. It was bigger and taller than any skyscraper that I had witnessed on the Surface. Jacob and I gasped in astonishment to see the enormous citadel built in front of our eyes. The citadel was black and red in colour, much to Dr. Blakk's likeness towards ghouls and dark water.

"Isn't she big?" Dr. Golan said.

"Welcome to my house," Dr. Blakk said with pride. "Or should I say a ghoul depot?"

I tried to snap out from my handcuffs but it was useless. Dr. Blakk giggled menacingly.

We entered the citadel and it had many doorways and large rooms. There were some portraits of him hanging on the wall. Dr. Blakk led us to a room at the end of the hallway. The room was another lock-up for us but was provided with a bed and a functional bathroom. Dr. Golan unlocked our handcuffs and he locked us in the room. He threw a book and a pen at us.

"Interrogation will start in the next two hours," Dr. Blakk said as he and Dr. Golan exited the room. "You're gonna need some notes to do it,"

The door was shut closed. Jacob reached out for the book and the pen, and started to jot down the plan. He said that it would help us to obey the scheme and preventing from any screw ups. I lay down on the bed and thought about my friends back at the loop. I hope they will execute the plan perfectly. Then, my mind focused on Trixie. Does she loved me or we were just friends? It was confusing and thrilling simultaneously.

"Jacob, if you don't mind," I said while staring at the ceiling. "How did you find out about your peculiarities? And who is Abraham Portman, the guy Dr. Blakk mentioned at the house?"

He glanced at me while writing on the floor. Jacob seemed to hold back his tongue, but he had to tell me the story after a moment of thinking.

"Abe was my grandfather. He was killed by a hollow too, just like how your dad died," Jacob explained with a sadden tone. "I started to realise these gifts when I saw the hollow in the humid woods behind his house at night. I told my family and the cops about it but they didn't believe me,"

"Wow, that must be tough for you," I said. "I'm sorry, Jacob,"

"Yeah, but I think I'm not gonna tell you the whole story," he said. "Just read Ransom Riggs' critically acclaimed debut novel. You'll know,"

I giggled and hopped out of bed. Jacob was still writing down the plan. I came towards him and helped him out if there were any holes on the plan. Then, I looked at two pairs of black suits by the bathroom. The suits were ideal to pretend as Dr. Blakk's goons but we didn't plan to bust out just yet. It was too early. Jacob said that we had to join Dr. Blakk's interrogation to get some intel. I nodded.

* * * * *

Dr. Golan dragged us out of the room to Dr. Blakk's office with our hands tied. His office was located at the east wing of the building. Dr. Blakk was waiting on his comfortable office chair with a sinister grin on his face and his hands pressing on the desk. He politely requested us to take a seat on the two chairs in front of his desk. Dr. Golan stood behind our seats and watched our movements.

"For starters," Dr. Blakk chuckled. "I need the help from both of you,"

My eyes were confusely locked on the man. Why would he need the help from us?

"You, young Shane," Dr. Blakk looked at me and motioned his loyal henchman, Maurice to bring out a ninety centimetre-sized barrel from the storage room. "You must collect this amount of dark water before tomorrow. Whatever it takes,"

"And you, Jacob Portman," he said, pointing his index finger towards him. "You must undergo a surgery tomorrow. I want something inside of you. Your peculiarities really amazed me, so powerful that I can try to create a new hollowgast without doing that lousy, failing experiment,"

"You have no idea what power you're dealing with," Jacob exclaimed.

"Actually I do," Dr. Golan said. "After you shot me, I made some researches of your peculiarities and Eureka! Don't you remember that I was one of the pioneers of the experiment? I will use the methods back then to suck out your peculiar soul and convert it with some magical touches,"

"What happens if we obey?" I asked.

"You guys will be set free," Dr. Blakk said.

"And if we don't?" I asked again.

"There will be consequences. Awful consequences," both of them laughed.

The situation wasn't going as we planned. I realised they desperately wanted Jacob's peculiar soul as it was as legendary as the ancient peculiar souls. Then, a new idea popped out from my head.

"Alright, Blakk and Golan," I said, smirking. "We will agree with your deal, because this is about to get real,"

Jacob shook his head, much to his dismay of my trashtalking with Dr. Blakk and agreeing with their deal. He seemed disappointed with me, knowing that the surgery wasn't the origin plan. I winked at him to calm him down and said that everything was under control, although there was a part of me expecting the plan to fail.

"Looks like we got ourselves a deal," Dr. Blakk said. "Now, leave my sight,"

Dr. Golan gripped our arms and dragged us out of Dr. Blakk's office to our lock-up room. He demanded us to get sufficient rest and left the room. Jacob stood in the corner and thought about what I did back in the office. He was still shocked that the plan backfired and had to sacrifice his peculiar soul to the enemy.

I approached Jacob and placed my hand on his left shoulder. Tears were lingering in his eyes and I comforted him. I clarified on why I sold him out to Dr. Blakk and Dr. Golan, as well as the new plan. He noted down the plan while suspiciously looking at me. He gave me the 'Are you sure?' stare and I nodded. Burpy came out from my pocket quietly and guided Jacob with the plan.

"Don't worry about me," I said while changing my clothes into the black suits. "I got this under control, right Burpy?"

Burpy chirped and we were off to fill up a barrel of dark water. Jacob was left alone in the room, worrying about the surgery.