Hunt and Power. Stephen Hayes

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СКАЧАТЬ help, I said, “I can’t swim, I haven’t brought any bathers or anything.”

      “That’s okay,” she said at once. “We can skinny dip.”

      And without warning, she wrenched my trousers down below my knees, ripping them in the process. Horrified, I struggled with every ounce of strength I could muster, feeling the aches and pains from the beating returning and knowing that I was almost out of time. Lena squashed every hope I had of escaping by pinning me to her side and pulling the rest of my clothes off. My face was burning with humiliation, and I wondered how this could get any worse.

      It did a moment later, when she proceeded to take off her bikini, so that we were both starkers. She then tightened an arm around me and dragged me to the side of the pool, aided by the slippery floor, where she allowed herself to simply fall sideways into the water, dragging me in with her. Stuck under the water, I struggled with her, eventually managing to get my head above the surface, but a moment later Lena’s head appeared beside me and I felt her wrap her arms around me and, gasping in pain and coughing up water, I was again left to wonder how things could get any worse.

      And for the second time, my question was answered within moments. The texture of the water suddenly changed; it was now thick and slimy, and I could hardly move a muscle against it. A moment later, I noticed that both Lena and I were sinking into it.

      “The life I always wanted,” she said, and her eyes were suddenly blazing, mad. “Now we can spend the rest of eternity together.”

      This is it, I thought; I’m a goner. I couldn’t move a muscle against the swamp surrounding me, let alone the tight restraint of Lena, who was determined to do us both in. But of course she wouldn’t do herself in, because this wasn’t the real Lena, I reminded myself. I was the only one who was going to die. This was the end. If this had been Hall’s plan, he was about to win.

      Then, as if to make the situation even worse again, the door crashed inward and the army of Tommys flooded in.

      “He’s getting away!” one shouted. “She’s going to save him!”

      “Get them!” several shouted, but I hardly cared. There wasn’t a lot they could do to make it worse for me now.

      They all piled around the edge of the pool close to where Lena and I were sinking; I was up to my lower lip in it now.

      “This stuff’s thick,” one said, feeling it. “Well you guys stick in there, we’ll take this side.”

      I had no idea what they were planning, until I felt several hands grab me around the shoulders and attempt to hoist me up. Lena tightened her hold, attempting to weigh us both down.

      “She’s dragging him in!” one shouted. “You guys get on this side and see if you can reach her.”

      And to my surprise, they did. They got a hold of her and started pulling her up as well, though she fought desperately against them. After a moment, the fifteen-or-so Tommys pulled the two of us free of the swamp and onto the concrete. The Tommys had succeeded, although several of them had fallen in during the process and were now sinking hopelessly into its depths. I scrambled away from the pool, thinking myself lucky, only to be seized by a pack of Tommys. Behind me, I heard several shouts as a few more Tommys were knocked into the swamp during the struggle with Lena.

      “No one ruins my destiny and gets away with it!” she screamed, and with a huge push, she threw her arms in the air, sending two more Tommys straight up and down into the swamp. I groaned; no way could she be that strong in real life. There were clearly no limits to the horror inside the box.

      Lena rounded on the Tommys restraining me. There were now only a handful of them left. Between the two of us, they seemed to decide that Lena was the greater threat, probably because she was about half a head taller than me. Given that I was real and she wasn’t, this was the first piece of good luck I’d had since entering the box; perhaps that was my reward for not taking further advantage of a naked Lena while I’d had the chance.

      Having made their decision, the Tommys released me and restrained her with extreme difficulty; she was putting up a great fight. I hurried to my pile of clothes and got into them as quickly as possible. My body was covered in horrible slime, and I hoped that it wouldn’t come back with me when I got back to the real world. Assuming I did get back.

      “No!” Lena shrieked, and several more Tommys were hurled into the pool; I was amazed at how strong she was. There were now only half a dozen Tommys left.

      Deciding that my best bet would be to let my enemies attempt to kill each other off, I staggered as fast as I could toward the door. Before I got there, several more yells behind me made me look around. Lena had won the fight; all the Tommys were in the swamp, a few of them nothing more than gurgling bubbles on the surface as they clearly struggled to breathe. I really hoped that this wouldn’t affect Tommy in real life. Then I wondered how I could ever be friends with him after what had gone on in here.

      “John! Come back!” Lena called desperately, hurrying towards me. I hurled myself through the door and locked it behind me before she could get to me, desperate to get away. I heard Lena struggling to unlock it from the other side to no avail, and, feeling relieved, I turned away from her and hurried up the corridor, desperate to end this thing and get back to real life.

      But when I saw the next door broken in, I realised with a thrill of horror that I had taken the wrong door; the door into the swamp room must have repaired itself somehow, after the Tommys went crashing through it. I’d taken it, instead of taking the new door. I also recognised the whole in the roof that I had passed under earlier, which meant I’d definitely taken a wrong turn somewhere. I turned around, not wanting to retrace my steps, and hurried back towards the swamp room, just as the door swung open, revealing Lena, who was back in her bikini. She had a steely glint in her eyes, as though nothing was going to stop her doing what she wanted. I guessed that she’d used a pin from her long, blonde hair to unlock the door. It had apparently proved a much more effective method than force, judging by how quickly she got out.

      “The water’s back,” she said, and looking past her, I saw that she was quite right. The swamp had disappeared, replaced by the calm water that should have been in Natalie’s pool. “So, you want to go for that swim now? No more Tommy to worry about no more. I’ve dealt with them just for you—”

      She was striding towards me the whole time she spoke, but I needed to get back into the room with the pool. I could see only one thing to do to get past her: lead her back to the classroom, let her chase me around in there, and then run through the door. At least she would be behind me rather than in front then, always assuming that none of the others back in the classroom got in the way.

      I turned, but didn’t even have time to take a step before Lena grabbed me by the arm. I suddenly changed my mind and decided that I would have to get past her here; there was no other way. Her grip was extremely strong and I couldn’t break it, and not having had a chance to recover from the pounding from the Tommys didn’t help.

      “John, please,” she said, seemingly desperate. “What are you so worried about?”

      “Perhaps I’m worried that you’re going to try to kill me again!” I snarled, losing my temper and stamping on her foot—something I wouldn’t have done to the real Lena under any circumstances.

      She screamed and released me, but was still blocking my progress. I attempted to push past her, but she seized me around the waist and threw me into the air, demonstrating the same strength she had used to attack all those СКАЧАТЬ