The Island of Fear (complete)

Chapter 13) Broken Radios and Catacombs

isobeljones2000

Shellington's POV: I made a point of staring at the ground as I climbed, making sure not to look - down. The ground soon disappeared from my peripheral vision and all I could see was blue on either side. I realised I would be able to see the whole island from up here! The scientist in me surfaced for a second and I found myself contemplating the different creatures that could be on this island.

"I bet it's fascinating," I muttered to myself, then smiled at my familiar catchphrase. I felt so different to - was it just this morning? It felt like weeks ago that I had been studying coral in my lab with Dashi helping me, not this morning. I smiled again at the thought of Dashi. Dashi's eyes,so warm and forgiving, the chocolate brown colour of her fur and her downy soft paws on mine. I knew I  loved the dog, there was no doubt in my mind now. I found myself humming the tune that Dashi and I sometimes sang together in my lab, when Dashi had brought in some new photos of creatures and we studied them together. It was distracting me from what lay below - and above - at least. I nearly glanced down and felt nausea swimming in my belly as soon as I caught a glimpse of the forest below. It was such a long way down....

Firmly I looked down at my paws on the mountain. It was steep, very steep, and my legs were already burning with the exertion of my calf muscles.

I remembered that Peso had said to call him back for instructions, and pressed my radio button. Nothing happened. In shock I pressed it again, thinking that I couldn't have pressed it right. No sound came from it. My radio was dead.

"But that doesn't happen," I whisper, unable to believe it. There was no static, nothing.

I couldn't call Peso.

I had no idea what plant it was.

I was on my own.

KateSeleneMelody3OCS

Captain Barnacles POV: Selene looked at me, a look of both gratitude and guilt in her beautiful chestnut eyes. She also had an unsaid apology in her eyes. I didn't understand why she had said what she did, but I could ask her about that later.

Suddenly, the screams started back up. I stumbled and fell to the ground, holding my head in my paws. These screams were Kwazii's and they sounded terrified. There was also a chant from Shellington, a horrified yelp from Peso, moans from Dashi, groans from Tweak, a cry for help from Kate, and most horrible of all, sobs from Selene.

"You're causing those screams?" I heard Selene shout.

Lupo laughed. "Oh, it's not me directly causing those screams... It's the island, their worst fears. If they don't conquer them, they'll die."

My eyes widened. My crew was in trouble! "How dare you do this to my crew!" I growled. The screams in my eyes seemed to get louder, but I could do nothing to help. It seemed to be driving me insane, very slowly.

isobeljones2000

???'s POV: My hands flew over the keyboard, my eyes firmly fixed on my work. Somehow I didn't want to look up and see the terror of the Octonauts on the screen. Lupo was loving it, each spot of new terror was like candy to him. I could hear the Vegimals - was that what they were called? - behind me, chattering softly. It unnerved  me that I couldn't understand their language, yet they were very cute. How could Lupo want to hurt them?

I didn't think of myself as a bad man, I wasn't cruel. Yet here I was, giving out pain, fear, and danger to these Octonauts, kind people who helped the sea creatures and weren't afraid to put themselves in danger. Yet he - we - had lured them in just to cause them pain. And all because Lupo wanted Selene back again. And if he couldn't have that, he could at least cause pain to her friends. I saw my reflection in the screen; a worried raccoon looked back at me. It seemed unreal that Lupo and I used to be friends, that he used to be normal. Now - he was insane!

KateSeleneMelody3OCS

Kate's POV: I grabbed Peso's flipper and we plunged into the darkness, which was so thick, I could only see a few feet in front of me. I was suddenly thankful for my night vision, which had never seemed appealing to me before now. Corpses and skeletons littered the ground.

"I'm not letting go of you, Peso. I'm not letting go." I whispered in the darkness.

I kept thinking about the sign. "Welcome to the L.W. Catacombs." L.W... Lupo Wolf! "Oh god..." I muttered. Could Lupo be the mind behind the island? I hoped not.

"Hang on a second, Peso. I need to contact the others, preferably the Captain." I stated. Peso was unusually silent. I pressed the button on my collar that would allow me to contact the Captain. "Captain Barnacles, please, come in." No response. Not even static. "Hello?" I repeated. "Anyone there?" Nothing.

I began to grow really worried. "Peso? I can't contact the Captain." I said, my voice straining to be calm.

He gulped. "Do you think he's out of reach?" the penguin asked nervously. I hadn't heard the static that occurred when one was out of reach. But Peso had enough on his mind right now.

"Yeah, that's probably why." I lied.

Peso nodded numbly. "It's been driving me nuts, Kate. Who would make people face their worst fears or die trying?" He asked, his voice shaking. Neither of us expected a response.

"Oh, I suppose since you've figured out this island's secrets, I might as well come clean." A dark voice sighed.

I whirled around. "Who are you?" I demanded.

The voice chuckled. "Not important. I must say, I'm very impressed with you Octonauts. None of you have died yet! Sadly, your penguin friend is a Thanatophobe, so..."

I hissed, something I rarely did. "If you want to hurt him, you'll have to go through me!" I shouted.

The voice chuckled once again. "That's not a problem."

And the first dart embedded itself in the wall behind me, inches from my face.