CHAPTER 21: BET YOU DIDN'T SEE THIS COMING-
Rudy growled under his breath. When he spoke, his voice was laced in pain and anger. “I hate you...”
He glared up at Bardot, who stood in front of him and Penny, wearing the usual cocky smile. Draow was laying in the door way, his back turned to them. Bardot didn’t look at all fazed by the boy’s anger. He just smiled down at Rudy, grinning practically from ear to ear. If anything, Rudy’s anger made him look happier, like he was pleased with himself.
Bardot had just finished telling them what had happened to Snap during his run through the Candycane Forest. He had put so much emphasis on when Snap got hurt, describing in detail the brutal mauling he had gotten. It was so descriptive that Rudy could practically see and hear it in his mind. It didn’t get much better when Bardot brought up the limp that Snap would have throughout the rest of the game. Bardot made a cruel joke about how Snap would have a hard time surviving the next game with that injury.
Rudy was utterly disgusted by the whole thing. Bardot was taking great pleasure in all of this. Causing pain and suffering... what kind of sicko gets off on this? Even Mr. Cosmo, who was a terrible man himself, had some boundaries. Rudy couldn’t see that guy, as horrible as he was, going to the same lengths as Bardot. Maybe that was why Cosmo feared the red chalk. Maybe that’s why he refused to erase Bardot himself. He must have known that, by doing so, he was unleashing literal hell, and it would be something beyond his control. That man was all about control.
Penny was frightened by what Bardot told them. She kept shaking her head and crying, obviously thinking about the danger Snap was now in. Knowing that Snap had an injury that coud slow him down and make him lose an upcoming ëgame’...it was really unsettling.
But despite her worries, Penny still hadn’t given up on Snap or on themselves. She never gave in that easily, and Rudy was glad she still had that same determination here, despite all that had happened. That was one of the things he loved about her. She wasn’t helpless and she could really hold her own if she had to. If she weren’t injured right now and if she had magic chalk, she would teach Bardot a lesson and she could them out of this mess.
A dark chuckle broke him out of his thoughts. He almost stumbled back when he saw how close Bardot had gotten to him and Penny. He snarled at Bardot, clenching his left hand into as tight of a fist he could make. Which...wasn’t much of a fist since he couldn’t bend his fingers to the same degree as he could on his right hand, at least before it was injured.
Although Penny was afraid, she didn’t cringe back like Rudy guessed Bardot thought she would, especially with the knowledge that he is her father’s murderer. Instead, Penny looked just as angry as Rudy did. She didn’t form a fist, but she did give Bardot a look that, if stares could kill, would have caused the monster to drop dead where he stood. But not suprisingly, this only brought another laugh from Bardot, completely unfazed by the teens’ anger.
Bardot put his face close to Rudy’s. He sneered, “Oh is that so? Well then... If I were you...” He moved his muzzle until it was next to Rudy’s ear. He said in a harsh whisper, “I’d hate me too.” He moved back when Rudy tried to strike him with his weaker left hand. Bardot let out a quick chortle. “Almost got me there. But I tell ya, trying to hit me isn’t going to do you much good.”
Rudy narrowed his eyes. “It’ll make me feel better.”
Bardot smirked. “Well yes I suppose it would. But you’re wasting too much energy. You should try to relax a little more.”
“As if...” Penny said, her voice low. She glared hatefully at the hybrid zoner. “It’s not like you’ll let us relax. You heartless beast...”
Bardot cocked an eyebrow. He turned his head towards Draow. He stared at him and looked like he was contemplating something. Seconds later, he turned his head back to Penny. If he had been thinking about calling Draow over here, it was clear that he had changed his mind. Rudy wondered if it was because Bardot wanted them alive for a while. Draow isn’t exactly the most gentle zoner around.
Or maybe...there was another reason. There was that look in Bardot’s eye. The kind that he and Penny became too familiar with during their short stay here. The look that told them he had something special in mind for them. And this special thing was never anything good.
Rudy’s eyes widened a little. Just what did he have in mind Draow do next? Was he going to crush his other hand? Was he going to tear more into his side, or tear up Penny more? And knowing Bardot, he wasn’t going to tell them anything. He had a feeling Bardot was going to be the kind of villain who gives hints that they will get hurt, but then leaving it all to their imagination, leaving them in cruel suspense until the torture does happen.
“If you won’t relax, I suppose I’ll have to make you relax.” Bardot said in a sweet sounding voice. “And I think I know how to do that...”
Without warning, Bardot seized Penny and dragged her away from Rudy. In protest, Rudy tried to get to her, but Bardot kicked him in the leg with his hind foot, knocking the boy to the ground. Rudy landed on his right hand and let out a scream of pain. He held his hand, trembling, and looked over to see what Bardot was doing.
Penny fought against Bardot. She managed to land a couple of punches on him. Though the punches seemed to be hurting Bardot, he was ignoring them. He gripped Penny by the throat and held her down. But rather than slash her up like Rudy expected, instead, Bardot merely struck, and not with his full strength, directly on her head wound. Rudy’s eyes widened, horrified by Bardot’s cruelty. Did it know no bounds? No limits?
Penny’s eyes flew open and she let out a horrific scream. Then seconds later, she crumpled to the ground, unconscious. The pain was too much for her to handle. Bardot had struck by pressing his three claws against the wound. The sharp tips combined with the pressure had sent so many shockwaves of pain that Penny fainted from it. It was a horrific sight for Rudy to behold.
And when Bardot looked at him, Rudy knew that he was going to be next. The yellow and red zoner started to slink towards him. Rudy tried to get up, but he was unable to get far. Another blow to his leg and he was on his knees. He glared hatefully at Bardot.
“You’re sick...” Rudy hissed under his breath. His gaze went over to Penny for a second, then he looked back at the zoner. “Striking an open wound...”
“Eh...does it really matter? It’s going to get infected anyway.” Bardot waved a dismissing paw. “I’m just speading up the process.”
“I’ll kill you...” Rudy threatened, baring his teeth at the deranged zoner. He was not a violent person, and he usually didn’t wish death on anyone. But Bardot...he deserved it. “You will regret the day you messed with me and my friends.”
Bardot shook his head. “Yeah, yeah...sure, kid. We’ll see about that. But for now...sleep!”
Rudy noticed how much louder the word ësleep’ had been spoken. But he barely had time to dwell on it because, in that instance, Bardot made his move on him. He pressed his paw against his wounded side, pressing the claws into it. The moment this happened, Rudy’s mind was assaulted by agony.
He let out a bloodcurdling scream as the claws pressed into him. Bardot pushed harder and harder, not enough to cut him up badly, but enough to send him through a world of pain. Bardot’s other paw held onto his arm, holding him in place. Rudy kept screaming, begging Bardot to stop it. Tears streamed down his face. This was absolute torture. It felt like someone was pouring lemon juice and salt down into the wound and then, just because, driving a knife down there as well.
Rudy tried to struggle to get away, but the pain was getting to be too much for him. The pain caused the world around him to spin. It felt like minutes went by, but actually only seconds did. Rudy felt his mind start to shut down, unable to handle the pain Bardot was triggering. He took one last look at Bardot, who was wearing an evil smile, before he closed his eyes and fell to the ground.
And soon, everything was dark.
sss
Milly Tabootie stood in her son’s room. The blood still stained the ground and walls. She had meant to clean it up, since the police already investigated it and got all the data they could from it. But her heart...it just wasn’t into it. No parent should have ever have to do this. No parent should ever have to clean up blood that came from their own child...
It hurt to be in the room. Knowing something terrible happened to her child, just being in here makes her practically hear her son’s screams. A horrendous feeling of guilt overwhelmed her. Why hadn’t she or Joe heard the screams? Why hadn’t they noticed someone sneaking into their house? With all this destruction, she couldn’t believe that she and Joe both slept through it. If they had just woken up and came in, then maybe they could have...
Usually she had no problem with coming into Rudy’s bedroom. She usually did when she wanted to clean up his room a little. Rudy, even at this age, still sometimes left messes behind. Or she’d come in to speak to him, or check on him to make sure he’s okay if he was sick.
Now, standing in his room, all she could feel was a cold chill. A sickening feeling welled up inside of her, making her want to throw up. Her son was gone...and no one knew where he was. He just vanished, along with those other victims. The victims that no one has found yet. She didn’t know if her son was dead or alive. And not knowing made her stomach twist in knots.
Sometimes she would stare out of Rudy’s window, onto the sidewalk. She fumbled her hands together as she imagined Rudy coming back home. There would be times where she thinks she sees Rudy, but it was either a figment of her imagination or just a kid that kinda looked like Rudy. And each time she came to the realization she had not seen her son, the lower into depression and hopelessness she fell. She wished there was something she could do. Something...anything...
She wasn’t the only mother in suffering. Mrs. Sanchez had also lost a child. Her daughter, Penny. Milly felt so bad for the woman. She had lost not only her ex-husband, but also her daughter, to whatever force has gripped the town. It was bad enough losing her ex-husband, whom while she didn’t like, she still cared something for him, but to lose her daughter as well...and in such close proximity... Milly understood how she felt.
The two of them had been speaking to each other over the phone, hoping to learn from each other if any new details had arisen. But sadly, there was nothing. No matter what the investigators tried, nothing was coming up. No new clues, no new details, nothing. It was almost as if they simply vanished into thin air. And for that, she was kind of grateful there were blood stains, because that alerted her something was terribly wrong. If there was no blood, she would have thought that Rudy just left early, and they wouldn’t have known he was in danger until many hours later. All that time where they could have been searching for him would have been wasted, and time would be closer to running out.
Mrs. Sanchez felt guilty about about letting Penny stay over. She felt that she should have made Penny come home, so she would be safe. She didn’t blame Rudy or his family for what happened, however. She understood that Milly and Joe were suffering just as much as she was. She just wished there was something more she could have done.
Milly felt the same way. She felt that she and her husband could have prevented this from happening if they had been more careful and vigilant. If only they hadn’t been such deep sleepers, if only they had kept their bedroom door open at night, if only they paid more attention...
The blood all around her wasn’t helping her mood any. With so much blood loss from Rudy and Penny...she had no idea if they were...still alive... What happened to them that made him lose so much blood? Had their attacker beat them to death? She stifled a sob at that thought.
She hoped whoever did this was caught soon. She hoped they would be brought to justice. She hoped that they would be stopped before it was too late, before this...this monster could harm anymore people.
She went up to her son’s chalkboard. It still had some faint marks from his latest creation. She could mentally picture him standing there, working on something else and smiling at her. This choked her up. She reached over and placed her hand on the chalkboard, feeling the cold surface intermixing with the chalky dust that clung to it. She moved her hand up and down, tears streaming down her face. Rudy...she wished she knew where he was.
“Milly?”
The large woman turned and looked behind her. She saw her husband standing in the doorway, looking at her sympathetically.
“Oh, hi, Joe...” Milly replied, her voice soft and quiet.
Joe slowly walked into the room. He looked around at the blood stains, grimacing at just how much blood there was. He stood behind his wife, staring at the chalkboard his son loved to use. He wiped away a tear. He placed a comforting hand on his wife’s shoulder.
“They’ll find him, Milly.” He said, trying to sound as reassuring as possible to her.
“And what if they don’t, Joe?” Milly said, her voice cracked with emotion. The tears came faster. “No one knows where they are... No one knows what happened to these poor victims that have been disappearing from Plainsville. There...there isn’t enough evidence to find them...Oh Joe...”
She swung around and grabbed her husband into a tight hug and refused to let go. She started to cry into his shoulder. Joe’s eyes widened at the sudden gesture, but soon returned the hug. He patted his wife’s back, trying to do whatever he could to help her feel better.
“Let’s not give up hope, Milly.” Joe said. “Someone...someone will find out what happened. And we will find out. Whether it is for the better or for the worse...we’ll soon know what happened to Rudy. And whoever hurt him and those other people will be given the punishment they deserve. You’ll see.”
“I..hope you’re right, Joe.” Milly whispered. She continued crying, her mind flooded with thoughts of what could have happened to Rudy and Penny. “I really hope so...”
sss
Snap glared at the ominous timer. He hated it. He knew that it was a mocking reminder of how little time he had to save his friends. He knew that, once all those circles were filled up, the timer would activate the next death trap. He had been glad when he didn’t have to look at the thing in the previous ëgame’. But he should have realized that it wasn’t to last. He would have to get used to this thing appearing in most or all of these sinister games, staring at them, mocking them.
He held onto his golf club, squeezing it tightly. He stared down at the blue ball laying on the ground. He pressed the golf club against it, eyeing where he was going to hit it. The hole was straight ahead. He pulled back and he swung the club, hitting the ball.
As he made the motion, he let out a cry of pain. The motion had irritated the injuries on his leg and side. His knees nearly buckled, and he stumbled forward a little from the pain, which didn’t help alleviate any of it; it just made it worse. Blocky stood close by and he grabbed Snap, helping him steady himself before he fell into the ground. He looked at Snap sadly, looking like he really wanted to help him, but was helpless to do anything.
Blocky and Rapsheeba had done all they could to help Snap. Rapsheeba had turn off a large piece of her right pant leg and used it to try to stop the bleeding. This took some time, but it managed to work. The wounds were still exposed to the air, and while she managed to wrap up the wounds on his leg as well as his arm, his side was a different story. The cut ran along vertically and was so long that Rapsheeba doubted she’d have enough coverup left to create a make-shift bandage for that wound.
Snap felt that they would be able to find something soon to help treat his wounds, and for now, decided to just deal with it. He couldn’t ignore the raging pain, but he could try to manage his reaction to it. He focused on Rudy and Penny, reminding himself that he is doing this for them. The pain would not get better until he is treated, but he did manage to turn the pain into a motivator. This is what Rudy and Penny were going through. The pain... His determination to save them rose, knowing that this is what his friends were experiencing.
After Snap saw that his ball had gotten down the hole, he gave a small, uncomfortable smile. He looked up and he saw another dot fill up. They were on the tenth hole. Eight more to go. They were getting closer to winning the game; but they were also getting closer to another death trap they would have to survive.
He remembered what the note had said when they first arrived. The card was attached to the flag of the first hole, taped on hastily like whoever put it there was in a big hurry.
It had said:
“Welcome to the third game. All you need to do is play a nice game of chalk golf. Sounds relaxing, right? Well think again. One of these holes will activate the next death trap. I would love to see how you manage to get out of this. Be careful of the ground you stand on. It’s not as stable as it appears. Good luck!”
This had all three of them worried. It took a lot of courage for them to even start up the game. The fact that, at any time, the death trap could be activated, and the mention of the ground being unstable...it had all three of them on edge. The timer didn’t help either; the circles filled up at random, with no rhyme or reason. Sometimes getting a ball into the hole would fill up one circle, sometimes two, sometimes three. It all varied.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, there was a timer in this game. Twenty minutes was all they had to activate the death trap. And they weren’t allowed to cheat so they couldn’t speed anything up. And because this was chalk golf, they had to deal with the balls walking a foot away from the hole.
Normally, Snap loved this part of the game because of the challenge. But now all it did was frustrate him and make him angry. Now wasn’t the time for such delaying tactics like this. He could now see why Penny was so angry with this portion of the game. Snap wished that Bardot had chosen regular golf, but then again, this was Bardot he was thinking about. He would, of course, pick a harder form of golf just to make things even more difficult for him.
“It’s my turn.” Rapsheeba said solemnly.
Snap and Blocky moved out of the way for her. She took her red ball and placed it on the ground. They were at the next hole now, the eleventh. She pucked the ball and the three of them watched it roll down towards the loop that it had to go past. This hole was going to be one of the toughest to get past because of that darn loop. But it wasn’t like they had a choice.
They watched as Rapsheeba’s red ball just barely made it through the loop. It bounced a little when it fell from the loop, but it was on the other side at least. The red ball rolled towards the hole. It was getting very close. Snap, Blocky, and Rapsheeba held their breaths, watching intently as the ball got ever closer to the hole. Then, seconds later, the ball fell in.
Relief swept through the trio and they hugged each other for a second. It was rare that any of them were able to pull off a hole-in-one, but when they did, they were very excited and happy. With what little time they had remaining, about ten by now, the more hole-in-ones the faster they would be able to move. And the faster they’d be able to get this game done and over with, the better. They had little time to diddle dally. Rudy and Penny were in danger, and with only ten minutes on the clock remaining to finish this game...
Unfortunately, Blocky and Snap did not have as much luck sinking hole-in-ones on this hole. Snap’s ball rolled back, unable to make the loop. Blocky’s ball stopped immediately after the loop. And of course, since this was chalk golf, the balls walked a foot away, adding to the distance they had to sink the ball into the hole. Rapsheeba stayed with them; it was not considered breaking the rules if she waited for them before going down to the next hole. Snap guessed it was because he wanted all three of them together when they...had an unfortunate accident.
The three of them continued to advance through the chalk golf game. As they continued, anxiety rose in Snap’s heart. They were running out of time to finish this game. They still had several more holes to go through before the game could be considered finished. He kept looking up at the timer, seeing it counting down. Seven minutes...then six...then five... His heart raced. Time was running out.
They were only on the fifteenth hole. Most of the circles were filled up on the timer, but so far no sign of the death trap. With this hole and three more holes remaining, Snap knew that they couldn’t waste any time. He knew they had to get at least a couple of hole-in-ones if they want to finish this game in time.
But the odds of that were slim to none. Snap watched as Blocky hit his green ball, only to have it stop halfway down, then the ball walked back a foot. Blocky wasn’t the best at chalk golf, but he was still trying as hard as he could. That was all any of them could do. Try the best they can with these games, no matter how bad they actually are at them.
Blocky did soon get his ball into the hole, though. And so did Rapsheeba, who managed to sink another hole-in-one. Now it was Snap’s turn. He stared at the course, the barrels that moved back and forth, and tried to judge at what time he should hit the ball. As soon as he made an educated guess, he pucked the ball. It managed to slip through the barrels and headed towards the hole.
He and his friends watched it, tension rising up, knowing there was only three minutes left. The ball rolled around the hole. Their hearts pounded. If the ball missed...
Then the ball rolled into the hole. The three of them smiled, happy that Snap was able to pull off a hole-in-one. But their celebration couldn’t last. They still had more holes to take care of first. Snap glanced briefly at the timer. Only two minutes remaining...
Fear gripped him. How were they going to finish the game with just two minutes remaining? That seemed like an impossible feat. That would require them taking less than a minute on the final three holes. There was no way that was possible unless they all sunk hole-in-ones all the time. And that was not a likely possibility. Snap began to fear the worst. Had he...had he failed...?
Before he could go get his ball, something unexpected had happened. Well it wasn’t that they didn’t see something like this coming. It was just that they didn’t realize it would be this early in the game, when they hadn’t even reached the eighteenth hole just yet.
The numbers 1:30 flashed constantly on the timer. There was no glow like before, but the horrific laughter of Bardot could be heard. The ground beneath their feet started to quake. It wasn’t as bad as on the playground, but it was still enough to knock them off their feet. Snap cried out as he landed on his injured arm. Rapsheeba and Blocky helped him up and the three of them looked around. Fear rose up inside them as the rumbling started to get worse. Then they heard cracking and what almost sounded like bubbling.
Then, at a rapid pace and much to their horror, lava started to pour out of the golf course’s holes. The lava rapidly spread across the ground, melting and covering everything in the tremendous heat. The lava was incredibly runny, not thick like it usually was, meaning that it was able to spread faster than normal lava.
The trio screamed, looking all around as the golf course literally erupted, turning into several mini-volcanoes. The lava spewed from the ground, covering much of the course. And just when the trio thought things couldn’t get any worse, the sprinkler system activated. But Bardot had done something to it. Rather than spewing water in an attempt to cool the lava, instead fire spewed, raining down everywhere. Intense heat filled the air, and lava and few set the golf course ablaze, and smoke began to rise, making it hard to see too far in front of their faces.
“L-Lava? Fire?!” Blocky cried. He jumped as a small bit of flame almost hit him. “What are we going to do?!”
“I’ll tell you what we need to do! Run away!” Rapsheeba cried as she quickly backed up, her feet almost touching the lava.
Snap looked all around him, trembling in fear. The heat was intense, almost burning his skin. How was he going to survive this? He had a bad limp. He wouldn’t be able to easily outrun this. But he would slow down Rapsheeba and Blocky if he had them try to help him. He..he would have to do this on his own...
Snap turned to his friends. “Rapsheeba’s right! Run!”
With that, the three began to run away from the fire and lava. Smoke swirled around them, causing them to cough. Though it hurt him to run like this, almost falling over, Snap refused to ask his friends for help; he didn’t want to slow them down and risk letting them burn in the flames.
As the fiery flames and lava began to surround them more, Snap’s mind raced with a burning question. How were they going to get out of this?
sss
“Snap...no...” Rudy whispered, his voice laced in pain.
He had woken up about thirty minutes ago, along with Penny. Bardot informed them they had been out for a little while, though he did not give the time. He mentioned they had a good rest and thinks they will be in a better mood. It was obvious sarcasm of course. What he did to them..if anything it just made them even more nervous and afraid, as well as angry and wishing to be able to fight back.
As soon as he and Penny woke up and were aware of their surroundings, Bardot had informed them of Snap’s progress. He gleefully announced that Snap’s time may have come. He told Rudy and Penny about the lava and fire that he had placed under the course, and joked about how the three were about to be cooked alive. They were almost completely surrounded by the heat and flames, and with Snap’s limp, they weren’t going to be able to get out in time, it looked like.
Rudy refused to believe Snap would be beaten so easily. He had confidence that, somehow, he would be able to make it out alive. So did Penny. But still, knowing what kind of danger his friend was in, knowing that, any moment, he could die, Rudy couldn’t stop the feeling of dread from occupying his heart. To know he was this close to losing his best friend...He gave a shudder.
“Perhaps I should pull in a television set and hook my nano-cameras to them, so they can broadcast what is going on.” Bardot said in an eerie voice. “We could watch Snap die together.”
Rudy snarled at this. “You’re a sick bastard!”
Bardot smiled at Rudy. “I’m quite well aware that I am.”
Rudy just glared at him. The guy certainly wasn’t trying to act like he wasn’t a monster. He fully admits that he is, and then proceeds to do the most horrific things. Making them watch Snap die...that was just completely heartless. Everything this guy did was twisted and abhorrent. And every new action he committed, the worse he seemed when compared to Mr. Cosmo. Rudy never thought he’s think this, but he...really missed Mr. Cosmo right about now. He was easier to deal with than this guy.
The nano-cameras that Bardot mentioned.. He was familiar with them. And it had chilled him to the core, not just because of the use, but how similar it was to something Penny was working on. About seven months ago, Penny had been working on a project to create tiny nano-cameras for use in ChalkZone. She wanted to use them for peaceful reasons of course. Just exploring areas of ChalkZone they couldn’t normally reach very easily. She never got around to finishing it and the idea was put on the back burner.
The fact that Bardot somehow knew about these cameras that Penny thought of was terrifying. There was no way he could have known. Penny had only spoken to Rudy and Snap about the project, and it was always done at Snap’s house. No one was around to spy on them. There was no way Bardot could have known this.
There..there had to be a reason Bardot could know. But the only way he could have known was...
...was if he talked to Barney...
Rudy’s eyes flew open at this realization. Could that be the reason why? Could Bardot have paid Barney a ëfriendly visit’ and forced him to release the information? That was the only thing that made sense to him. It would explain how Bardot knew all this information despite being relatively young. He glared in Bardot’s direction, wanting to much to do something against him.
Yet he was still reeling back from the pain inflicted on him. His side radiated with agony, spreading across his stomach and up to the side of his chest. Bardot’s strike against his wound was a horrendously low blow. His side still ached with the pain, still feeling those claws hitting against him. And Penny was still in obvious pain from that as well. She had tried to touch her head a few times, only to cry out in pain before she even touched the wound. She was in obvious distress, rubbing the sides of her head in a futile attempt to relieve some pain. Rudy wouldn’t doubt Bardot did this to make them weaker.
Bardot smirked at the two teenagers. Rudy could see, behind him, Draow was approaching. The bat wolf stood behind the yellow and red zoner. Those piercing teal eyes stared into the teenagers’ eyes. The malice could practically be felt from where they were.
Bardot said, “It is a shame your parents aren’t here to see this. I’m sure they would love to know what’s going on with you two.” His voice was light and calm, like he was merely talking about the weather. Rudy snarled at him. “But no matter...” Bardot raised a claw. “I can soon take care of that... A family reunion is in order, don’t you think?”
Rudy’s heart started to race. Was Bardot talking about capturing their parents...? No..he couldn’t do that. Rudy wasn’t going to allow him to hurt anyone else. His parents, Penny’s mother..he was not going to allow this bastard torture them, too. His body shook in rage and he attempted to climb to his feet.
“You...” Rudy started to say.
But before Rudy had a chance to do anything, Penny had acted first. Ignoring the pain she was in, she had doved straight towards Bardot. She grabbed onto him and wrestled him into the ground. Rudy was amazed by this and watched as Penny grabbed Bardot’s throat and held him down. Bardot just smiled at her, taking her sudden assault in stride.
“Don’t you dare hurt my mother, you murderer!” Penny snarled, her voice filled with more menace than Rudy ever heard.
Bardot chuckled. “My, my..what a strong spirited girl you turned out to be. Maybe it’s time I..rectified that...”
Rudy watched in horror as Draow came in from behind and knocked Penny from Bardot. He pressed his foot against the girl, pinning her to the ground. Penny struggled to get free, but it was no use. Her previous anger was replaced with fear as she stared up at the enraged and vengeful bat wolf. Bardot came over and grabbed Penny’s left arm. He pressed it against the ground as hard as he could, immobilizing it. Then Draow raised his wing claw.
Rudy attempted to get up. “No! Don’t do it!” He pleaded. He only got a step closer before pain wracked his side, causing his knees to buckle down. He hit the ground with great force, smashing against his right hand again. Tears of pain flowed down his face. He lifted up his head and reached a hand out to where Penny was pinned down. “No!”
But his pleas fell on deaf ears. Draow pressed the claw against Penny’s arm, where the crook where the forearm and arm met at the elbow. Then he cut into her arm. Penny let out a yelp of pain. But Draow wasn’t finished. He slowly cut downward, taking his time. Fresh blood flowed rapidly from the new wound. Tears of pain dripped from Penny’s eyes as her agonizing screams filled the room.
Rudy watched in horror, his body shaking. “Penny! No!”
Seconds later, Penny passed out.