5 At the Brink of Death Part I

"Shit!" The shark speeding towards me forced me to kick out so I could swim away. My legs hit the water hard, even though that was of little help. Humans did not stand a chance competing against fish in a swimming competition—let alone competing with a shark.

The sound of teeth attempting to chomp down came closer behind me!

Crunch!

"Urgh!" I broke the surface and breathed in before diving back into the sea. Underneath, I could get away through the door to the dolphin cage. Dylan did not slow down the chase even when I plunged through the water. The tips of my toes almost went into its mouth. "Ugh!"

I took advantage of when it closed its mouth to kick off from its mouth in order to help me swim faster. I had not seen Dy yet, and I did not know what was happening on the surface. The situation might be better than mine. Dylan kept his eyes on me as I swam around looking for the cage door, which was shut. The door was equipped with both a sensor system and a latch. We used the door latch because sometimes, we needed to dive down by ourselves now and then.

Dylan chased after me when I tried to jerk the latch up, but since it had not been opened for a long time, it would not budge because of the grime and plaque encrusted on it.

‘Damn it!’

I cursed in my mind, keeping my eye on the shark as it went around and tried to charge toward me again. I pushed my feet against the door and yanked hard at it, the center of the gazes of a pod of dolphins in the cage. They circled around the door, trying to knock it open as their protective instinct told them to help the person who had raised them.

But there was not a single chance of survival as long as the door remained shut.

Whoosh!

The waves were parted from a distance. Dylan's teeth were all I could see. Its mouth was open wide, ready to swallow me whole. My heart was racing because the blood from my hand meant Dylan would not leave me alone. It would not be a kill for the sake of filling its belly, but for its own satisfaction. The smell of blood would stimulate its killing instinct.

It would not be good if his own sharks killed the owner of the research center.

Squeal!

The high-pitched sounds of the dolphins drew Dylan closer. I held onto the iron cage firmly. If I waited for it to open, I would surely die. An idea flashed through my brain. I looked straight into the shark's eyes. I showed him no fear because fear would instantly give it what it wanted. Dylan swam through the water faster, and right when it was close enough to sink its teeth in, I quickly dodged to the side so that it hit the cage.

Bang!

The walkway shook because of the powerful collision. Dylan crashed into the cage so hard, it was briefly stunned. I used this moment to ascend to the surface. I was almost out of air. Apart from being eaten by a shark, I might die of drowning. I kicked my legs faster and rushed to the surface.

God was not on my side. Before I could fully take a breath…

Death came for me!

"Sol, be careful of Dy!"

"Ah!" I could see a long shark fin chasing after me the moment the other research center staff rescued Bernard from the water. I could only shake my head at the moment. I rushed to escape from the devil right after I had gotten away from its younger brother. Nothing could guarantee that if I escaped, Dylan would not rush at me from under the water. I needed to keep a lookout while diving and watch out for Dy rushing toward me.

Its mouth was wide open. It almost touched my legs because I had been focusing too much on Dy. I had not been paying attention...

Dylan was now waiting in front of me.

"Shit!" I cursed and stopped swimming abruptly, before kicking off and diverting course to get far away from it. Now, it turned out that I was swimming in between the two. Those devils circled around me like they were both teasing and challenging me. They waited for my next move, because either way would lead to the same ending.

Death.

"Shit..." I mumbled. My eyes twitched seeing their long fins. I was not afraid, but it was chilling. I did not know which one of them would kill me.

Everybody else was also standing and watching expectantly on their edge.

"Sol!" Eric shouted. He was trying to find a way to save my life. "Throw bait into the water! Lure it away from Sol!"

"Those whale calves. Let them out!"

"But we are caring for them, Steve!"

"So? You will let those sharks eat our boss, Nashley?!?" Their conflicting shouts did not reach me at all. All I could hear was the quick, irregular beating of my heart, and my breathless pants when I stared at the sharks in front of me. I pursed my lips, trying my hardest to stay still while working on a way to help myself out of this situation.

Though I had raised them, that did not mean I could trust them. In the end, they would follow their natural instincts.

And the blood on my hand was the most excellent bait for them.

"So, this is how you guys are going to play?" I said softly, looking at the two of them circling around in different directions. They moved back and forth, so I knew that they were not going anywhere. The incredible speed with which they charged toward me made me realize they wanted to devour me at the same time. The long fins glided through the water. I held my breath and counted to myself.

One.

Two.

Three...!

Bang!

The two sharks violently crashed into each other when I kicked myself out of those massive teeth. They hurtled violently into each other, and that was what I had aimed for. I took that chance to climb toward the research center walkway, but the pain in my hand slowed me down more than I thought it would. I frowned as I tried to force myself and looked back at the predators behind me.

Dy was chasing after me. It saw my legs under the water, so I was still a target. The mouth full of teeth opened wide and almost took both of my legs, but...

Bam!

I was pulled out of the water. Dy could only leap and chomp on the walkway. He did not care that his body would crash against the handrail, which was now bent out of shape. If Eric had not helped me, my legs would have been the ones bent out of shape instead. I panted, staring at the devil baring its teeth at me. The shark tried to bite the iron cage to reach the place where I was sitting. Our eyes met and they sparkled with enjoyment.

My lips curved into a smile. Thus, I did what I should not have.

“Smooch!” Dy’s eyes grew wide. I think that was what it did when I gave the shark a peck on its mouth, far away from its long teeth and its attempts to bite. Then, I kicked its face with all my might, making it return to the water. The shark would be hurt for a while, but it would be fine after a time. I could only chuckle at the shark after I had hurt him. “Dumb shark.”

It was a pity no one considered that funny.

“What the hell are you doing? He was going to tear off your head!”