Chapter 7
As his breathing returned to normal all the aches and pains became clear. He held his hurt ankle in his hand as he wiped the bloody wrist and hand on his shirt, which was now full of holes. He was sweaty, dirty, and looked like a real mess. He lay his head back on the chair and groaned loudly.
“Oh dear.”
Royden jumped, for a second thinking the gremlins were back.
Old Ms. Carol stared at him from across the laundry room. She sat in another chair near one of the dryers. None of the dryers had anything in them.
“My, my, what have you been up to Royden?” She asked concernedly.
“Oh, I uh, I was playing football with some friends outside. It got a little rough, I guess.” Royden lied through deep breaths.
Ms. Carol chuckled. “It looks like you were attacked.”
Royden shrugged. “No, just football.”
“You’d better watch out. There’s some unsavory types in the building.” She said merrily.
“I’ll be careful.” He said. He stood up and limped toward the door. “It was nice seeing you again.”
Ms. Carol nodded slowly. “Make sure to be careful.”
Royden thought he saw strange smirk cross her face for just a moment. He looked again and saw that she was smiling kindly.
He sauntered down the hall and back to the elevator. He stood staring at the up button, not sure what to do next. Finally he jabbed the button and went back to his apartment.
His parents weren’t home yet, thankfully. He changed clothes, put his torn and bloody clothes into a plastic bag and tied it tight. He took a quick and painful shower and bandaged where he thought necessary. This was going to be hard to explain.
He checked the house phone just in case. Sure enough his mother had called. Royden called her back.
“Hello, Royden?” His mother’s voice said through the phone.
“Hey, what’s up?” Royden said, sounding a little too happy.
“I called, where were you, exploring some more?”
“No, I was in the shower.”
“Well I just called to tell you that I’ll be back late today. The boss always asks someone to drive him home and today he wants me.”
“That’s weird.” Royden said, grabbing a loaf of bread from the fridge and stuffing a piece in his mouth.
“Yeah, well that’s the way it works around here unfortunately.”
“Alright, cool.” Royden said through a mouthful of bread. “I’ll see you when you get back.”
“Ok, I love you goodbye.” His mother said.
Royden hung up the phone, ate some more bread, and sighed in relief. That gave him a little more time in case he needed it for later.
With the pendant and comb safely in his pocket Royden dropped his torn clothes in the trash chute and went downstairs.
A minute later the door to room 204 opened slowly. Royden stepped inside and sat down next to the tiny city.
“The menace is back!” someone yelled through the microphone.
“No, I’m not here to hurt you.” Royden said.
He pulled a teeny shoe out of his pocket and put it in the center of the main street.
“What is this trick?” The voice bellowed.
“I found one of your soldiers in the gremlin den. He warned me and probably saved my life and I wasn’t able to do the same. I am very sorry.”
Tiny people came out and crowded around the shoe. Master Morrid pushed his way through the crowd.
“This is a good deed, giant boy Royden.” He said sadly. “But I cannot forgive you for your attack on my people.”
Royden nodded and stood up. “I just wanted you to know.”
The pool room was quiet. Royden stepped up to the edge of the water and looked for a sign of the siren. Three heads popped out of the water in the hot tub.
“Oh, it’s him again.” The white haired mermaid mused.
“Hmm, so it is.” The blue haired one said.
“What could he want now?” The golden haired one added.
“I’m looking for the siren.” Royden explained.
“Ew.” The mermaids said all at once.
“That was fast.” The siren said from the center of the pool. “I was hoping Pooly might get a treat tonight, he so loves human.”
“Not today, I got your junk back.”
“Junk, says the human?” She smiled evilly with sharp pointed teeth.
Royden took the comb and pendant from his pocket and held them out. “Here, now tell your monster to release them.”
“Monster, says the human?” She whispered.
“Just take them.”
The siren inched closer to Royden. “You know it’s not every day that Pooly gets such a nutritious dinner. How about we raise the stakes a little?”
“There are no stakes.” Royden said angrily. “We made a deal and I fulfilled my end.”
The siren’s eyes grew wide and her face turned sinister. “Yes, but guess what I have? Leverage. I have many pendants and combs. How many of those painters do you have lying around?”
“Excuse me?” Royden said as dangerously as he could.
“Don’t worry, child.” The siren said, her face continuing its transformation to a devilish monster. “You’ll have a chance.”
“A chance for what?”
“To still save them.”
“You said you were trustworthy.” Royden’s heart was beating fast. He couldn’t let anything happen to those painters. He felt responsible for them now.
“I lied.” She shrugged. “I mean really, when did trusting a siren sound like a smart thing to do? Haven’t you read?”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Not so fast, little human. Let’s enjoy ourselves a little.” She disappeared underwater and reappeared at the far end of the pool, near the hot tub. The mermaids all watched, looking highly entertained.
“What do you want me to do?” Royden repeated, growing very angry.
“You know I really like having humans live here now. I wonder why they even allowed it.” The siren said, swimming casually around the pool.
“Just tell me!” Royden suddenly shouted.
Surprise flashed across the siren’s face, quickly replaced by a sinister grin. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”
“This is too much for me. A nice alien and another dimension, sure. But all this? I can’t handle demon gremlins and you four with your games. I want out.”
The siren grew deadly serious. “There is no out. You’re too far in now. And I want you to go deeper. I’ll show you where Pooly lives and you can go get the painters yourself. That way I get a show and Pooly might get part of his treat.” She looked Royden over. “You don’t look terribly fast. He’ll like that.”
Royden put the pendant and comb back in his pocket. “If you want it that way then you’ll never get your comb and pendant.”
She shrugged. “I’ll get them before Pooly eats them.”
Royden weighed his options. He could do what the siren proposed and hope for a miracle, or he could leave and let Pooly eat the painters. He sighed and nodded.
“I’ll save them.”
The siren nodded slowly. “Of course you will.” She disappeared under the water.
The water was still. Royden looked around for her but she vanished. He looked to the mermaids.
“Where did she go?”
“Be patient.” The one with white hair said.
The noise of something shifting came from far away. Very slowly the water in the pool began to go down. This continued until only an inch of water remained. With the water gone a hole became visible near the bottom. It was several feet in diameter. It looked to be about big enough to crawl through. The siren appeared in the hot tub with the mermaids.
“Well there you go.” She said. “Go get your painters.”
“They’re in there?”
“Sure are.”
“How far?”
“You’ll find out.”
Royden climbed down the stairs into the pool and splashed his way over to the hole. He peered inside. He couldn’t see the end. The bandages on his hand and wrist showed that he should at least try to find help somewhere in the building. The windows around the pool showed that the sun was heading toward the horizon. There probably wasn’t enough time.
“You’re sure they’re down there somewhere?” Royden asked?”
“Yes.” The siren nodded.
Royden took a deep breath and crawled into the tunnel. The floor was rough and the light vanished instantly. He crawled and crawled and started to worry this was a trap. It had all the makings of one and yet there he was continuing on.
After a minute the floor ended and Royden fell down a hole. This surely was the end.
He splashed into water deep under the building and came up gasping. He pulled himself onto the bank of the water and looked around. Light came from a large hole a few hundred yards away. Royden stood up and started for the light. His ankle, which was starting to feel better, got aggravated in the fall. The boy limped on, feeling the full force of being the only hope for the painters.