The air outside was tepid and stuffy as the group journeyed back to Moonhaven, but it gradually turned brisk as they entered their secret grotto in Riviam Point.
At the center of the grotto sat a round steel tub, inside of it held an umpteen of crickets, caterpillars, earthworms, roly polies, red velvet mites, and at least three daddy long legs. Somewhere in the depths of the small tub, Skelkin was waiting to be found.
"Fun," Alex said cheerily, as he crouched down by the tub to get a better look of its biotic contents.
"Not bad," Lev agreed. He and Ziro stood closer, observing the tub as well.
"Your best work yet, Tick," Carsyn praised. She had crouched down on the opposite side of the tub across from Alex, beholding the unnerving sight also.
"Dude, seriously, a masterpiece." Jeremi had plopped down on his knees between Alex and Carsyn, leaning his face as close as he could to one of the visible daddy long legs the crawled limply over the surface.
"How'd you have time to...find all of these?" Six asked as she stood vigilantly next to Ziro, peering sparingly at the creatures inside the tub. Evan stood next to Lev, squeamish as she glanced every couple of seconds at the tub.
Tate strolled over to the tub to marvel at his work, and an undaunted laugh escaped him. "A few late night ventures here and there," he explained. "No big whoop. Although I did have to fight off a bunch of greedy lizards every now and then. Again, no big whoop." Carsyn, Lev and Evan all scoffed in unison, but Tate ignored them.
"What are the rules?" Ziro finally asked.
"It's quite simple boys and girls," Tate went on. "We each have sixty seconds to reach in with both hands and find Skelkin. If you find him, raise him high in the air, then put him back somewhere in the tub while everyone's turned around."
"Seriously? In all of that? Dude, what if we get bitten or something?" Evan questioned.
"Relax, Eva. They're harmless, all of 'em," Tate said. "One of the worst case scenarios is something tries to nibble on you a bit. I'll say it one more time, no big whoop."
"What do you get if you do find him?" Carsyn asked, a grin spread wide across her lips.
"Those successful at locating Skelkin will have the luxury of lounging away while the losers will be tasked with cooking a back-to-school feast, and clean up afterwards of course. There's a surprise menu for the losers to prepare from scratch, provided by one, Silas Mitchell," Tate announced, looking to Ziro to confirm that all of that could take place at his house.
"Sounds fair," Ziro agreed.
"Your idea of fair is seriously out of whack. It's one thing to touch one of them, but having both arms swimming around in there is seriously revolting," Evan protested.
"Hey, it's not like you have to eat 'em," Tate laughed. "Likely that's what Skelkin's doing right now, so I suggest we get this show on the road before he cleans out the whole competition."
"Can I go first?" Alex asked. The pain from his inked neck was subsiding at last, so he straightened himself as if he were ready to leap head-first into the tub.
"Alright, A.P.! That's the eager-beaver attitude we're looking for!" Tate reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and set a timer for sixty seconds. His finger hovered over the start button. "Ready on the front-line!"
Alex got on one knee, leaning forward over the tub, hands ready to dive in.
Tate tapped the green button. "And go!"
The air cooled and sun had sunk at half mast on the horizon as evening began. The group had dawdled back to Umbramoor Manor, bringing along the tub of insects and worms so that Skelkin too, could have a feast of his own.
BẠN ĐANG ĐỌC
Moonhaven 2 (M2): Round 2
Teen FictionBook 2 of 2 in the Otherworldy series. It's been three weeks since Alex Prior had his lethal meeting with a drug dealer, and a baneful encounter with a sinister individual known as Eric Hyve. It hasn't been easy keeping his feelings about those rece...
