Captivate

by Vanessa Garden

  A loud sob erupted from deep inside of me.

  Robbie was going to die.

  Marko hated me.

  And now I’m never going home…

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  I THREW MYSELF onto the bed and covered my eyes with my hands, as if to block out the unthinkable image of Robbie getting torn apart by sharks, and rubbed my face against my jacket sleeves to dry my tears. If I was going to save Robbie’s life, I had to be productive. I had to think of, and find, a solution.

  Marko overruled Sylvia’s decision to send Aiden to the sharks, so why not Robbie? Hope rushed like fresh blood through my veins. Surely this was all just a dramatic response to his crushed ego, and by morning he’d realise that he couldn’t possibly send his best friend to the sharks.

  The door clicked—whoever had been placed on guard had locked me in. But I didn’t care to be free anymore. I deserved to be locked away in the dungeons like Aiden—except that he didn’t deserve to be there. I closed my stinging eyes and resisted the urge to give in to a crying bout again. When my eyes were closed, frightful images of sharks sinking their teeth into Robbie’s body terrorised me.

  So I kept them open and instead thought, thought and thought, racking my brains. I thought of the ring. Maybe if I retrieved it, Marko’s heart would soften a tad—enough to set Robbie free.

  I leapt off the bed and searched the floor for my bent coat hanger and, when I found it, worked its end until I’d crafted the perfect hook. Then, with my light crystal in one hand and the makeshift hook in the other, I approached the hole with a newfound determination.

  Kneeling on the cold floor, I pressed my face against the vent until the glint of the ring was visible. It winked up at me with reassurance and, with my breath held, I lowered my coat-hanger hook until it hovered just above it. I exhaled, pausing a moment, and closed my eyes to mumble a quick prayer I remembered my nana reciting at my parents’ funeral. I opened my eyes again, pressed my lips together and lowered the hook millimetre by millimetre until it touched the ring. The hook slipped up and through the gold band. With a trembling hand, I raised the coat hanger up and out of the hole.

  Moving with care, I brought it away from the vent, carried it over to the bed and only then slipped it off the hook and into my hands. Exhausted, I fell back against the mattress, clutching the ring tightly in my fist, wondering if it was enough to save Robbie.

  * * *

  In the morning, when Anne came in to deliver my breakfast, I slipped her a note to give to Robbie, but she shook her head, avoiding my eyes, and turned to leave.

  ‘Wait,’ I said, and instead gave her another note I’d written, for Marko. In it, I pleaded for Robbie’s life once more and detailed my retrieval of the sun ring.

  I told Anne it was for Marko and she took it right away, tucking it into her apron pocket.

  After she left, the door locked behind her.

  Half an hour later Sylvia came to my door. Her eyes were red-rimmed and raw from crying.

  ‘Do you realise what you’ve done? You’ve gone and gotten Robbie killed!’ She raked blood red nails against her forehead. ‘He’ll be dead by noon,’ she said, hysteria ringing in her voice, tears glazing her eyes. ‘Because of your stupid behaviour Robbie is dead, do you understand?’ She gripped my arms, digging her nails into my flesh, but I pushed her away.

  ‘Stop saying he’s dead; he hasn’t died yet!’ I shouted.

  ‘But he’s as good as dead,’ Sylvia whispered despondently, shaking her beautiful head so that her long raven hair fell over her eyes. ‘How could he have been so stupid? Stupid, stupid boy,’ she said in a low whisper before wiping at her eyes and turning to me. There was a desperate look on her face that I never thought I’d see.

  ‘I tried talking to Marko, but there’s no reasoning with him.’ She wrung her hands and started pacing the floor.

  ‘He says he loves Robbie, but he can’t back down like he did with your friend, Aiden because the people of Marin would never take him seriously again. He thinks chaos will ensue if he backs down from the sentence; that Damir and his people will see it as a sign of weakness and attack the city.’ She shook her head.

  ‘We have to do something,’ I said, before adding. ‘I’ll visit Marko and try to speak to him again.’

  Sylvia shook her head. ‘No. I’ve just been. All we can do is pray for a quick death.’ Shocked at her own words, she brought a trembling hand to her mouth.

  I shook my head. ‘Marko won’t go through with it. I’m sure he won’t.’

  Sylvia wiped her face, regained her normal icy composure and moved to the wardrobe. She randomly selected a dress and tossed it at me.

  ‘Here,’ she said, in a voice devoid of emotion. ‘Be dressed and ready within the hour. I’ll be back with the guards and together we will journey to the Colosseum. Marko has insisted that you watch.’ She sucked in a lungful of air, her eyes meeting mine. Before she exited the room, she called over her shoulder, ‘Try, for once, to do as you are told.’

  I sat on the bed numbly, looking at the white dress Sylvia had selected and wishing this was all just a horrible nightmare that I’d soon wake from. But no matter how many times I pinched myself, I didn’t wake up. I was still here. Robbie was still going to die.

  Slowly and mechanically I got dressed. By the time Sylvia returned, I’d been to the bathroom and thrown up twice, my nerves askew. She looked at me and nodded silently, and we stood together, a twin line of guards escorting us from my room and out of the castle. We walked slowly and precisely, as if in a death march, as we made our way down the steps, through the city and in gondolas along the water, until suddenly the enormous Colosseum materialised before my eyes.

  Up close it was like nothing I’d ever seen before—a more modern, futuristic version of the Roman one, with arches and columns, but the design sleeker somehow and the arches narrower.

  Sylvia took my hand as the crowds separated to allow us through, and I stiffened as they shouted obscenities at me and threw dead fish heads over the top of the guards to hit me. I kept my head ramrod straight and took all the abuse without a word. They were losing Robbie—the man who, as a child, had thrown himself in front of a dagger meant for the king. He was their hero. And I had taken him away from them. I was making their city a more dangerous place.

  We entered through a ground-level arch and ascended a long, elegant, spiral staircase that twined itself in and through the building like a vine, passing rows and rows of people seated in boxed compartments, just like I’d seen at sports arenas back home.

  As we moved upwards, my stomach contracted when I saw the large panes of glass, to my right, separated by tall stone pillars.

  I gasped.

  The entire inside of the Colosseum was filled with water, like a giant aquarium.

  My body stalled and shook. Sylvia tugged at my arms and pulled me along. I took a steadying breath and stepped up the stairs, though I couldn’t help but return my gaze to the glass, and when an ominously dark shadow grazed the window as it swam by my knees buckled.

  ‘Shark,’ I whispered to Sylvia, as she and another guard helped me to my feet; but she avoided my gaze and leaned in to whisper, ‘Stop making a spectacle. You can fall apart when we get to our seats. Do you think you’re the only person here who cared for Robbie?’

  We were led up to our seats, in a private-tier stand, where Marko sat waiting. I kept my eyes trained on the glass windows, my stomach knotting and turning when I counted four of the tail-thrashing monsters.

  Sylvia, along with a male guard, directed me to a long bench, pushing on my shoulders until I sat down. She sat, too, but as far away from me as possible.

  Marko shared my bench, but stared ahead at the misty water, his face as stony and pale as the marble we were sitting on.

  I stroked the sun ring on my finger for luck, and took a deep breath to muster up the courage for one last bout of pleading for Robbie’s life, but Marko stood abruptly, raised a hand and nodded at a guard
above us who stood high at the water’s edge where the surface broke.

  My stomach churned and threatened to heave as a low drum beat penetrated my ears and banged against the inside of my head like a hammer. I sat, stock still, frozen with fear for what would happen next.

  The crowds to either side of us and below rushed down from their seats to glue their faces against the glass, most wearing anxious, fearful expressions, although a few stared on with anticipation as if they could hardly wait for blood. My every muscle burned with tension.

  The drum beat stopped and there was a collective gasp from the crowd.

  Out the corner of my eye I watched Sylvia and Marko, and when I followed their upturned gazes I saw Philippe, still in his leotard from the night of the dance—though now it was torn and had dirty smudges all over it—and Robbie close behind, dressed only in a pair of black jeans, walking across a wooden plank suspended over the water, until they reached the end of it.

  Robbie looked so boyish and vulnerable in the distance, his light-brown hair glowing softly in the crystal lighting above him. Philippe’s lips moved as though he was praying.

  An eerie silence descended upon the crowd and my stomach churned. I wanted to be sick.

  The drum beat started up again, this time much slower than before, more like a countdown, and I couldn’t bear it. I shut my eyes, but then opened them, unable to look away.

  From the corner of my eye I saw Marko raise his arm again before bringing it down sharply, causing the guard standing up the top to carefully edge his way along the plank until he was right behind Robbie.

  Robbie stared ahead, accepting what was to come stoically.

  Philippe started screaming, his eyes wide and wild.

  The sharks churned the water, anticipating their meal.

  I sucked in a deep, shuddery breath, and before I could breathe out again the man shoved Robbie in the centre of his back and sent him, and Philippe, plunging into the water.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  I GOT UP and glued my face to the glass, anxious to find Robbie in one piece, and gasped when I saw a flash of black kick by. But then a huge, grey body thrashed past the glass and blocked him from my view.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and waited, breath held, feeling sick for wanting the sharks to get Philippe first so they’d be less hungry for Robbie.

  Sylvia stood behind me; I could sense her there.

  ‘Miranda,’ she called sternly over my shoulder, pulling me away from the window, but I shrugged her off, my eyes springing open to scan the water with trepidation.

  Two male guards wrapped their meaty hands around my arms and pulled me back to the bench seat, forcing me to sit beside Marko. I tried to get back up, but Marko gripped my hand and wouldn’t let go. He squeezed it, and when I looked into his face I saw that he’d bitten his full bottom lip so hard that blood trickled from it.

  He stared into the glass with frantic eyes.

  ‘You can stop it still, Marko. There’s time,’ I said, squeezing his hand in mine.

  Loud screams pierced my ears and I turned my attention to the glass to see a long, whispery trail of blood floating through the water.

  I screamed and Marko groaned, and we both rushed to the glass. The ribbon of blood gradually dispersed into a pink cloud of water. I fought the urge not to collapse, leaning against the glass while the crowd turned deathly silent. I held my breath, waiting for evidence of something I didn’t want to know.

  ‘Robbie,’ I whispered, pounding against the glass.

  A lifeless body floated towards me and I jumped back in fright.

  It wasn’t Robbie.

  I shut my eyes but wasn’t quick enough to miss the horrifying sight of two sharks tearing Philippe’s graceful dancer’s body apart as though he was made of paper.

  Marko’s arms wrapped tightly around me, and he drew my head into the crook of his arm.

  ‘Keep your eyes closed.’ His words came out choked.

  Wriggling out of his grasp I sucked in a deep breath and fixed my eyes on the tank. I had to know Robbie wasn’t dead.

  There was nothing left of Philippe. And, oh, god, the sharks were gone. They would be after Robbie now.

  After a heart-stopping minute, a shadow moved through the water towards us.

  Another scream tore from my throat.

  A lifeless shark turned and bobbed past the glass. I could see that its eyes had been gouged out and the gills were torn and bleeding, entrails dangling.

  My ears filled with the steadily increasing roar of the audience as they witnessed the shark’s body moving past their windows. I flicked a glance at Marko, who was right beside me, his eyes scanning the water with hope. He punched the glass before turning to me and speaking in an excited voice. ‘Miranda, there is only one more shark, and if he manages to kill it, and survive, then he’ll escape his death sentence. It’s the law, although it’s never been done before.’

  I swallowed thickly.

  ‘But how will he be lucky enough to kill another one?’ I said gravely, my eyes navigating through the water. An enormous shadow swished furiously past our window.

  Marko concentrated on the water, his brow against the window.

  ‘There’s a dagger that lies at the very bottom of the tank. But no man has ever made it down there. The sharks always get to them first.’ He thumped the glass again with his fist, hard, and cursed. ‘While the sharks had Philippe, Robbie must have had the chance to get it…’

  Some of the crowds on the lower floors began to shout and chant, and as it slowly travelled through the levels it got louder and became more distinct.

  ‘Robbie! Robbie! Robbie!’

  ‘Something good’s happened,’ I whispered and I felt Marko’s hand tighten over mine, pressing it into the glass.

  ‘Come on, Rob,’ he whispered low, and then he hissed a ‘Yes!’

  Robbie swam past, kicking fast before disappearing as quickly as we had seen him, but it was long enough to have noted the thick silver blade glinting in his hand.

  ‘He’s got the knife!’ My stomach remained knotted as I watched the now-murky water with anticipation.

  ‘He will go straight to the dungeons if he survives,’ Marko said in a low voice, but I could still hear the hope in his tone. ‘Because I can hardly trust him anymore,’ he added, keeping his eyes trained on the glass.

  Sylvia came to stand beside me, her face lined with worry. The water was streaked with more bright-red ribbons of blood now, and she groaned softly, pressing herself against the glass as though she needed it to stand.

  Crowds from the other side started to cheer and chant Robbie’s name again.

  After a few minutes, a dark shadow loomed towards us and thudded against the glass. We all reeled backwards. It was the shark’s nose that hit the glass. Clinging to its side was Robbie. He was alive. I screamed and rushed forward, but the angry, thrashing shark dragged Robbie away from my view again.

  A long minute later Robbie swam past the window frantically, closely tailed by the remaining shark, shooting after him like a missile.

  I brought my hands up to shield my eyes, but peered through the gaps between my fingers.

  Robbie changed tack and did a nose dive, the shark taking not a second before he, too, followed, his tail thrashing, his pointed head like an arrow in search of its target. Holding my breath, I willed Robbie to swim faster, but to my dismay they both disappeared into a cloud of churning, blood-filled water.

  The entire crowd gasped collectively—and then nothing but silence.

  The water stilled; not a ripple or a bubble of movement.

  I looked from Marko to Sylvia, who had covered her eyes, and then I heard something. It was a soft cheer from the other side of the Colosseum.

  Goosebumps prickled my skin as the cheer travelled towards us in a wave.

  ‘The second shark—he’s killed them both!’ Marko whispered, not hiding his happiness. The remaining shark’s body drifted past the window.

&nbs
p; Robbie’s head broke through the surface of the water. He was brandishing the knife and waving it about. Tears of relief prickled my eyes. He swam to the side, where the guards assisted him and thumped his back in congratulations. When he stood up on the platform, his bloodied arms raised in triumph, the crowd roared their approval.

  He looked down in Marko’s direction, and Marko nodded.

  The cheers were deafening and, although I saw joy glinting at the back of Marko’s eyes, he turned stiffly to face the guards beside us.

  ‘Take him to the dungeons,’ he said, without emotion.

  When the crowd realised what was happening they began to boo and throw things in our direction, some even leapt over the walls dividing the stands and ran towards us, shouting obscenities; but Marko, in one swift movement, withdrew a dagger from his boot and slashed at the air in front of them.

  ‘Enough! He will live!’

  The crowd took a united step back, and the guards saw to it that they returned to their benches.

  ‘Take Miranda inside where it’s safe,’ Marko told Sylvia. ‘Take her to my room—have the guards escort you both there. Have her locked and guarded until I come.’ He turned to face me.

  ‘Miranda,’ he said, his eyes searching mine. He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something important, but instead he gripped my shoulders tight before leaving.

  I couldn’t speak or do much else myself.

  Robbie was alive!

  Sylvia took my arm and we were once again flanked by an entourage of guards as we departed. But before we descended the stairs, I looked around and noticed the wide, beaming smiles in the crowd and among the guards. Sylvia tried hard to keep a firm face, to regain her steely composure, but she glanced at me sideways and grinned. It had only lasted a second, but I’d seen it—a miracle I might never see again: Sylvia, happy.

  As soon as we arrived at the castle, I was taken to Marko’s room and ordered to stay and wait for him. I did so without complaint, not even caring when they locked the doors behind me. Nothing could phase my good mood.