The Descent

Chapter 51 - Into The Depth

Beneath him, Jarell stopped squirming, a grin on his face. Denton sat up and raised his hands in the air. In front of him, Jonythan, Carter, and Leah stared at him with their mouths wide open. They appeared as shocked as he was at the current developments.

"Get off of him and join the others on the couch. No sudden moves," the voice behind him said.

"Ok, you've got it," Denton said as he took his time to get off of Jarell and stand up. He stepped over towards the other three. Behind him, he could hear Jarell scramble to his feet. A shove in his back that sent him flying into the arms of Leah confirmed that Jarell was back in control.

"As I said," Jarell said with a chuckle, "You should understand that I have thought of everything."

Denton sat up wiped off the dirt on his clothes and sat down on the couch facing Jarell and his compatriot. "I admit, I wasn't quite expecting this," he said and looked up at the hand still holding the gun aimed right at him. "Gabi, what happened? Were you in on this from the beginning?"

Gabi looked at him, tears forming in her eyes. She wiped them away with the back of her hand, the revolver in her other hand firmly pointed at Denton. Denton noticed it was slightly shaking in her hand.

"Of course not," she said. "I told you what I knew."

"Was it true?"

Gabi nodded. "Of course. I had no idea Jarell was behind anything. I told you, Carter was the suspicious one."

Carter, who had taken a seat, jumped to his feet. "Me? You thought I kidnapped him?" he said and pointed at Jarell. "Why in the world would I care about him?"

"Well," Denton said, "He is your brother, after all."

"Yeah, but I didn't know that. Gabi, how could you? I'm your brother."

"So is he," Gabi said and pointed towards a smirking Jarell with her head.

"Half-brother," Carter corrected and cross his arms across his chest. "You disgust me."

Jarell burst out laughing and walked up to Gabi and stretched his hand out. Gabi hesitated for a moment before she put the gun in his hand.

"Family squabbles, I love it. We're just like any other family," he said and retreated towards the exit, a firm hand on Gabi's arm as he pulled her along.

"You don't have to do this, you know," Denton said and took a step closer. "We can all still walk out of here. You can too."

"Don't be naive," Jarell shot back. "This is the end of the road for you lot. Daddy, dear," he said and turned towards Jonythan, "Remember me when you take your last breath." He laughed, pushed Gabi forwards toward the couch. Gabi, not expecting the shove, stumbled forwards and flipped over the back of the couch and landed on her back, partially on the floor, partially on the couch. She grunted and collapsed on the floor with a yelp. Jarell stepped backward into the access door to the living quarters and sprinted towards the pressure door. Denton leaped forward, jumped over and followed closely behind while Jonythan and Leah rushed to help Gabi.

As Jarell reached the pressure door, he turned and fired towards the living room. Denton dove sideways into one of the bedrooms just a fraction of a second before Jarell fired and landed with a thud on the floor. Pain shot through his left arm, and he cried out in pain. He clenched his teeth and struggled to his feet just in time to hear the pressure door slam shut. Leah ran past the doorway towards it, and she let out a frustrated scream a moment later. Denton rushed to her side and grabbed the circular handle.

"On three," he said and counted from one. Pain shot through his shoulder as they jointly try to make the handle budge. It didn't move.

"We're trapped," Leah said, breathing heavily. "We're trapped in this...this aquarium."