LAVA CAT CRUISE SHIP
Chapter 13
Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit’s Friday, which means: LOTS MORE LAVA!
Here comes another chapter of my b-movie creature feature madness that is Lava Cat Cruise Ship! If you missed the latest chapter, find it here. And if you are new to LCC and want to start at the beginning, you can find the first chapter here!
Alright, let’s do this - Me-OW!🐯🛳️
THIRTEEN
The creatures rammed themselves against the glass, cracks spidering out with every hit. The glass wouldn't hold, Celia knew that much. The giant cats would force their way onto the bridge.
And Celia had no intention of being there when they did
"We have to go!" Celia screamed.
Celia ran for the door to the balcony, the same door they'd come through minutes earlier. If she could climb, if she could show Franklin and Eidon where to go, they just might be able to get away.
You've escaped those beasts before, she reminded herself. You can do it again.
She grabbed the door handle, the sounds of the creatures throwing themselves against the glass thundering in her ears. Celia jumped back -- hot.
Franklin and Eidon appeared beside her, each of them panting a panicked rhythm that matched the pounding of her heart beat.
She wrapped her hand in her sleeve and took hold of the handle. She could feel the heat through the thin blue spandex, but it stifled the burn just enough to get a grip. She pulled, but the door didn't budge.
"It's locked!" she shouted.
Eidon turned the handle. "It's not locked! I didn't lock it, did you lock it?"
Celia ignored the question -- of course she didn't lock it -- her hands feeling along the seam of the door, as if she could pry it open with her fingers. "The whole door is hot!" It was burning, just like the handle. "It must have swollen from the heat."
"Help me," Eidon ordered, pulling at the door.
Celia grabbed the handle, Franklin's little hands joining hers while Eidon pulled at the seam.
One of the creatures roared at their backs, a deafening explosion of gutteral power. Celia risked a glance back to the beasts just as the window shattered and the big one poked it's head inside, its eyes meeting Celia's.
Frantically, she pulled, her palms searing as she threw her left leg up on the door frame and wrenched the knob with all her strength.
Finally it pulled free, the door flying open and hitting Eidon so hard in the face that he stumbled back. Celia grabbed him by the collar, pushing Franklin with the other hand to force the boys outside. She slammed the door behind them, trapping them on the little balcony. The first thing she registered was the smell -- the sulfur stink had grown in strength, scalding her nostrils and assaulting her taste buds.
The next thing was the heat -- like stepping onto the surface of the sun, the air around them hot enough to cook a turkey.
When she looked out onto the ocean, her galloping pulse froze in her chest.
Red, glowing balls of fire rained down from geysers that exploded out of the water, canons of lava trumpeting skyward and spewing steam so that it was hard to see anything but the burning glow.
"What's happening?!" Franklin wailed.
Neither Celia or Eidon could answer him. To Celia, it looked like the planet was breaking open, and she expected the ocean and the Silver Queen to fall into it's mantle at any moment.
Eidon stepped closer to the edge of the balcony, pointing at a shadow in the water just a few dozen feet from the Silver Queen. "What is that?"
Celia had to squint against the heat and steam to see -- the shadow taking shape as the ship drifted closer. A boat -- a vessel she'd seen before. "The Hydra," she said. The Silver Queen had drifted back towards the Hydra.
There was a thump as the door behind them shuddered -- the beasts were ramming the door.
Celia looked below them, back the way they'd climbed earlier from Eidon's apartment. It was too far, the angel too dangerous with the way debris was flying through the air. They couldn't go down. She looked up -- the roof!
"We have to go up!" she shouted. If they could get onto the roof of the bridge, they could make their way over to the Cloud Deck.
Franklin and Eidon didn't argue. Celia helped Franklin climb onto the balcony railing, showing him how to tuck his hands into his sleeve to avoid being burned by the ship's metal. She was worried that covering his hands would affect his grip, but with every shudder of the door, she knew it was a risk they had to take. Eidon helped her steady the boy as best they could, Celia instructing him to jump for the overhang. He got a hold on the roof's edge, but he wasn't quite strong enough, forcing Celia and Eidon to boost him by the feet with their hands.
Another bang from the door -- this time it nearly leaped off the hinges.
"Go!" Celia screamed. "Climb, Eidon! Climb!"
They scrambled onto the railing side by side, leaping for the over hang. They each caught hold but it was so high, pulling their bodies up enough to crawl on top felt almost impossible. She heard Eidon grunt, his legs swinging and knocking into her as he managed to pull himself far enough to that he could get a hold beneath his arm pits.
Celia grit her teeth and forced herself to pull --
Another bang, louder than the rest --
Eidon's legs disappeared beside her as he crawled onto the roof --
And the sound -- the unmistakable roar of the smilodon sounded below her --
They're here.
Eidon's hands took hold of her wrists and he pulled, Franklin doing his best to help as Celia fought to pull herself up.
Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down.
She got up to her elbows, she just had to kick -- had to fight her way up.
A snarl.
Eidon and Franklin screamed.
And pain erupted in Celia's leg -- pain like she'd never felt, like she didn't know she could feel. A crushing, vicious pressure, splintering her bone to matchsticks. And then heat, like searing prods ripping through the meat of her calf.
Terrified, she glanced down.
And there it was -- the bigger of the two creatures . It's wild red eyes bore into hers -- you're mine, they told her.
And its mouth -- its massive, blood drenched mouth -- was clamped down on her leg, her left calf crushed between it's jaws.
And then the creature began to pull --
Pull her down --
Pull her away from Eidon --
Away from life.
No, she begged. But there was no stopping it. The smilodon was too big, to powerful -- too determined. It would pull her down. And it would end her.
Celia heard a scream above her -- long and wild.
And she saw Eidon leap over the edge.
Leap onto the beast.
He landed on the creature's back, his fist pounding into the creature's head again and again and again.
The smilodon let go, surprised, and Celia felt the pressure lift. Shaking, her vision swimming, she forced herself to stay awake and pull herself up. She scrambled onto the roof, Franklin helping to pull her to safety. Blood spewed from her leg, slick red puddles growing around her.
"Eidon!" She looked back over the side just as the creature tried to toss him, bucking and snarling, perched on the edge of the balcony. The creature twisted it's body, trying to grab hold of a relentless Eidon --
And it's feet lost purchase --
The Smilodon toppled over the edge of the railing, taking Eidon down with him.
"Eidon!" Celia screamed, as she watched him fall, watched him plunge beneath a cloud of steam, and disappear into the churning waves below the Silver Queen.
Thanks so much for reading Lava Cat Cruise Ship! Tune in again next Friday for Chapter 13. OR you can consider becoming a paid subscriber and download the ebook!