The Jackals of Sakhmet - Kasha's Plot: Part Three

     Kasha

Sakhmet City (in the strange building) -

      "Quick, hide!" Lee whispered fiercely, tugging on Omar's robes and pulling him behind the closest shelf. The two of them hastily disguised themselves in the shadows of the towering shelves that reached high above them. From the other room, the voices were growing louder and closer still, until…

      "I don't see anything, Kasha…"

      Two Cybunnies entered the room, both looking annoyed beyond belief. One of the Cybunnies looked like the one Cole had told Lee and Omar about, but the female one was completely unfamiliar.

      "I'm sure I heard someone else in here, Niger," the female called Kasha spoke. The one called Niger shook his head, but said, "If you say so, but no one's in here."

      "Then we'll just have to find them, now shouldn't we?" Kasha spoke in a low, dangerous voice. Slowly, she hopped over to the shelf nearest to her, and then started tapping on it. One, two, three times she tapped it. Lee and Omar looked at each other nervously as Kasha put an ear to the shelf.

      She was five shelves away from where they hid. Kasha hopped to the next shelf. One, two, three times she tapped on it... She hopped to the next one… Tap, tap, tap… She was two shelves closer now.

      "Come out, come out, wherever you are," she called, smirking beneath the tattered brown hood that covered her head. She brushed past that shelf, her cloak rubbing against it, still tap-tap-tapping away. Imitating her, Niger had gone to the other set of shelves across the room, tapping at each one. Omar and Lee wondered what tapping would do.

      Kasha reached their shelf, facing it as if she knew they were hiding there. Her paws were folded politely behind her back, a wide grin from ear to ear across her face. There was an evil glint in her eye as she slowly rose on paw formed into a fist. Once, she tapped… Lee winced. Twice, she tapped… Omar winced. Thrice, she tapped… Both Omar and Lee winced.

      Kasha placed her paw behind her back again, smirking at the shelf.

      "Gotcha…"

     * * *

      Cole was still confused about what Lycos had told him. Who was Scarab? What was in whose staff? Where was he to find Scarab? As I said before, dear reader, if there's one thing no one likes, it's unanswered questions. Carefully stepping out of the alley, Cole skimmed the streets. His friends had not returned from the strange building he persuaded them to enter.

      "I wonder what they found," he whispered to himself. "Maybe I could go in and see for myself…"

      No, they would tell him when they returned. That was, if they returned…

      "Hey you," a voice bellowed from behind. Cole turned to see who was yelling at whom. A red Grarrl was waving his small, stubby arms in the air, screaming at the top of his lungs. It took a while for Cole to realize that he was yelling at him.

      "Come back here, thief! You stole my fruit basket!" the Grarrl screamed. Many pets had turned to stare at him, and some had started staring at Cole.

      "Uh-oh…"

      Cole turned on his heel and ran for his life. He couldn't be caught now. Not when his friends were probably in need of his assistance. Cole looked over his shoulder; the Grarrl was still shouting threats and accusations at him, charging at him like a rocket.

      "Excuse me-pardon me-move!"

      Cole pushed and shoved through all the pets that were blocking his way to freedom. Faster and faster he ran with the Grarrl on his tail. Faster and faster still, they ran on and on, past the shops on the deeper parts of the city. Cole could've sworn he ran past two other shop keepers he, Lee, and Omar had stole from, and apparently, they had realized it to.

      Now he had a Grarrl, a Ruki, and a Usul chasing after him. This could not be happening! Cole made a sharp turn to the right, and then to the left, and then he jumped under a table he had nearly ran into. Luckily, there was a large, white tablecloth draping over it, so the shopkeepers could not see him.

      Cole was panting heavily. He was lucky no one saw him leap under the table for safety.

      "Lee and Omar just have to be more careful who they rob from," he panted, fanning himself with his right paw. Carefully, Cole bent down and lifted up the cloth just an inch or so, and peeked out into the street. He could see many feet gathering around the table, obviously listening to the man selling whatever was on the table. They were all unaware of his presence.

      "And I'd like to keep it that way," muttered Cole, sitting back against the leg of the table. He listened to the man shouting prices to the customers. It sounded like an auction…

      "Come one, come all!" he shouted. "Come and get your silver necklaces! And get this, for a limited time only; you can get two necklaces with every purchase of one necklace, just for the unbelievable price of 80 neopoints!"

      "Hmm…" Cole thought. "That is unbelievable. Three necklaces for such a low price… who would be crazy enough to sell for such a price?"

     * * *

      "Let us go!"

      "Not until you tell me why you're here…"

      Grasped tight in the clutches of Kasha and Niger, Lee and Omar struggled to break free. They had such a strong hold on their arms, it almost hurt.

      "Why are you here?" Niger demanded, shaking Lee as she tried to step on his feet. In response, the two children grunted, still struggling to escape. Niger and Kasha gave exchanged knowing looks.

      "Why are you making such a big deal on necklaces?" Lee asked trying to wrench her arms from Niger, who made his grip on her tighter.

      "Because, you foolish Ixi, they're not just necklaces…" Kasha smirked, leading the wide-eyed Omar over to one of the shelves. She placed a long, silver, heart-shaped locket around his neck, looking quite pleased with herself.

      "Watch, foolish child," said Kasha. From her cloak, she withdrew a short, ruler-sized, red staff that had a small Cybunny carved on the top. Kasha muttered something, and for a moment, Lee stared in awe at it as it lit up a bright red. Once it stopped, everything was quiet.

      Kasha and Niger released Lee and Omar, laughing as they did so.

      "What's so funny," Lee snarled, pulling Omar behind her so she could protect him. Niger shook his head, still laughing crudely at them.

      "What's so funny?!"

      Kasha pointed behind her. Lee turned around, looking at Omar. She was confused. What was funny about Omar? But then she realized, something was wrong with Omar. His expression was blank, and he stared off into space. Lee waved a paw in his face.

      "Omar, what's wrong?"

      Omar did not answer, but he merely stared at Lee as if he had never seen her before, and then jumped back, wiping his arms off. He glared at Lee, rubbing his arms.

      "Get your hands off me, you Ixi!" he screamed. Lee could still hear Niger and Kasha's hysterical laughter behind her back, but ignored them.

      "Omar, it's me-"she started, edging closer to him so she could touch him. Omar slapped her paw away.

      "Don't touch me, silly child!"

      Lee was at a loss for words. Never had Omar called her a child, seeing as he was one himself, and never had Omar treated her like this. Since when did he call her Ixi? She had a name.

      "What did you do to him," Lee whispered, still staring at Omar as if he had just abandoned her for life. Smirking, Kasha placed a paw on Lee's shoulder.

      "What I plan to do to all the other little Cybunnies in Sakhmet," she whispered into Lee's ear. "Make him one of my own…"

      At these last words, Kasha let out a long cackle, Niger glaring at Lee. A tear was rolling down Lee's cheek, which had never seen a tear since the day she became an orphan. Omar was… gone? No, he couldn't be… Kasha did something to him… Lee looked around the room. Of course! The necklaces! These necklaces were doing something to Omar, and from what Kasha had said, they only worked on Cybunnies.

      Lee had to warn Cole! Taking advantage of Niger and Kasha's gloating and cackling, Lee sprinted for the back room from which they had came in, grabbing Omar as she went.

      "Hey! Get off me!"

      "It's for your own good, Omar!"

      Lee could hear Kasha's shouts from behind them.

      "CATCH THEM NIGER! CATCH THEM!"

      Sure enough, Niger was on their trail. Omar made an attempt to wrench free of Lee, but her grip became tighter. They ran into the next room which contained boxes labeled NECKLACES. Lee didn't have to think twice to figure out that this was some sort of secret company. They were planning something with these necklaces, but what?

      Lee figured out the first part, but what else could they be doing? Niger had caught up to them, reaching for Omar. With one final tug for freedom, Omar broke free from Lee's grip, and ran over to Niger.

      "OMAR, NO!"

      Lee came to a halt near a large crate of necklaces and looked back at Omar. He was gladly running back to Niger, glaring at Lee all the way there. Once he was behind Niger, safe from any other distractions, Niger uttered something to him. Lee didn't want to stick around to find out. She had to get out and find Cole! Turning back sharply, Lee ran to the right, avoiding the boxes that fell as she stumbled into them.

      It appeared Niger had stopped following her, but she still kept running. Faster and faster she ran, into the darkest part of the building. Lee began to walk, too tired to run anymore. The section of the building she had entered was even darker than the shelf room, if that was possible.

      She gazed around at the dark walls that no longer had boxes blocking them. All Lee could see was blackness… a blackness that sent a chill down her spine. Lee sat down on the cold, stone floor, still trying to figure out what exactly happened to Omar. Apparently, the necklaces made you want to be evil… evil like Kasha and Niger…

      "But then why would they make it so it only worked on Cybunnies?" Lee wondered aloud. "Why do they just want it to work on Cybunnies?"

      But my friend, the answer to that question was not a pleasant one, and poor Lee would soon find out…

To be continued...