#BlogBattle Week 14: Frog

(This is a continuation story, so if you’d like to know how Grecca has spent her day, start at Grecca Through the Loops, then Grecca In the News, followed by Grecca and a Horde, and Grecca at the End of a Rope)

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Grecca Steals a Frog

Grecca’s toes curled against the damp cement floor. “Seriously?”

“You’re in shock, Grecca. C’mon, I’ve got to get you out of here.” Ariston tugged on her hand.

“Yes. Yes, I am in shock. Complete and utter shock. Who steals Fiavoretti pumps designed specifically for my feet?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me! You’re upset over a pair of shoes? Your life’s in danger, Grecca.”

She tore her incensed stare away from her feet and looked incredulous at Ariston. “Now you’re the one making jokes. My father’s too rich. Sure, there’s always been the chance of kidnapping and ransom, but no one would dare do anything more.” She looked back down at her feet. “Other than steal my shoes.”

“No, Grecca, you’re wrong. These people– Listen, now is not the time.”

This time he yanked hard on her hand, dragging her toward the door he’d burst through. Before he could react, a screeching banshee jumped out of the darkness by the doorway and tackled him, sending him sprawling to the floor. Ariston lost his grip on Grecca’s hand. She stumbled backwards, catching her fall when she slammed her shoulder in to a large cement pillar.

“Grecca, look out!”

Ariston’s words were accompanied by the old woman in red flying at her with demon speed. She dodged the flash of a flying object by falling to the side. Grecca’s shoulder hit the floor so hard her teeth chattered causing her already throbbing head to pound with greater intensity. She squeezed her eyes closed and moaned.

It took a few seconds to right the crazy tilting of her brain enough to venture opening her eyes. She scooted back, away from the melee before her, but couldn’t help thinking her jumpsuit would never come clean after this.

Ariston and Red were battling, fighting in a way Grecca had only ever seen in contraband classic movies preserved from the early twenty-first century, before violence was outlawed. Her jaw dropped open as she watched the story of a kung fu action flick played out in front of her very eyes.

To her left, where’s she’d been standing, a strange object was now protruding from the cement. It was one of those things. Those weapons. Would wonders never cease.

Grecca crawled on hands and knees over to the knife. She wrapped her fingers around the hilt and yanked it out. The blade was smooth and curved at the end, but the handle was a carved frog with dark green glass eyes. It was ivory but its details were too intricate for Grecca to take in over the span of a few seconds.

She held it in her hand. It fit perfect in her grip. A woman’s dagger. The thought was somewhat unsettling, but she was already running on adrenaline.

“Grecca! Run for the door. Go left and don’t stop for anything.”

She heard Ariston’s words, but they didn’t register right away. It was too much, seeing the blood oozing from his eyebrow.

“Go, Grecca! Now!”

He reached for his holoband and pressed his finger onto it at the same moment the woman in red slammed her foot into his stomach. Grecca watched in slow motion as he buckled at the waist and flew backward with such force he hit the wall five feet away.

She couldn’t move. She couldn’t think. The frog dagger flew from her hand with rapid stealth. She missed the mark, but grazed Red’s upper arm, distracting her for half a second. It wasn’t long, but it was enough for Ariston to finish what he started.

Slumped against the wall, he half-moaned, half-yelled. “Cryoblaster!”

The holoband on his outstretched wrist transformed into a sleek, black tazeblaster, only carried by Peacekeepers. It was different, though, Grecca noticed. When it fired upon Red, instead of a red taser beam, it blasted their assailant with what could only be ice. She froze into a solid mass in seconds.

Ariston pushed himself up from the floor, clutching his side with one hand. “Don’t you ever listen?”

Again, she took the hand he held out to her and stood. “Not usually. It’s never been a problem before.”

“If we don’t get out of here now, we’ll never make it. She’s only the beginning.”

“Is she dead?” Grecca didn’t really want to know, but she couldn’t help asking.

“No. The instant freeze of the cryo just temporarily stops all body function, but once she thaws, she’ll be in a lot of pain. It’s quite a headache. Unfortunately, it only has one shot left in it before it becomes useless.”

He pulled her toward the door, but she stopped long enough to pick up the frog-hilted knife near the wall. Until that moment, Grecca hadn’t realized how very close she’d come to hitting Ariston.

“Leave it.”

“No way. They took my shoes, I’m taking their knife. It suits me, don’t you think?”

Ariston shook his head and moved cautiously out into the hall. The cryoblaster was still in operation on his wrist. He held it out in front of him, ready for any oncoming attack.

The hallway was better lit than the dank room they’d emerged from, but Grecca was distracted by the dozen or so bodies lining the hall.

“You did this?”

“Yes.” He answered her without looking at her, his eyes darting back and forth down the hall. “They’re not dead. Just asleep. I knocked this bunch out with a special gas.”

“Will it affect us?”

“No. It’s already dissipated.”

“Ariston, who are these people? Who are you?”

“I promise, I’ll tell you everything I can, but not right now.”

She wanted to stop and protest, but the gravity of the situation was finally setting in. They snaked up and around several flights of stairs before entering another hallway much like the last one. Ariston stopped and opened a vent shaft cover.

“In.”

“Oh, no. I’m not going in there.”

He didn’t bother replying, grabbed her upper arm, and forced her in on her hands and knees.

“Crawl.”

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Next Story in the Series: Grecca’s Rage