It was eerily quiet in the kitchen after the storm of the battle in the hall. Coral blinked hard, trying to adjust her eyes to the ghoulish light. A group of fish were swimming purposefully towards her, teeth bared. Deadly poisonous stonefish. Coral froze. If they all attacked her together, she knew she would not survive.
Her eyes scanned her mother’s beloved kitchen. It looked like an ancient shipwreck that had been lying at the bottom of the ocean for hundreds of years. She heard laughter coming from a dark corner of the room. Rocky and Edge emerged from the shadows, their eyes glinting.
She was surrounded now, but it was Stealth she was waiting for. She knew he was here, she could sense him. Coral looked all around her. He was hiding somewhere.
Slowly she lifted her head and looked up at the ceiling. Two great orange eyes, burning like fire, bored into her.
Stealth let out a furious roar. The powerful stingray beat his giant wings, sending a titanic pulse of water at her. She lost her balance, flailing about, as the other creatures just laughed. Desperately she tried to steady herself, but another rush of water tipped her over again. She couldn’t stay upright. Every time she righted herself, Stealth beat his wings and she was sent flying. For Rocky, Edge and the other stonefish, it was excellent entertainment.
Coral knew she was getting exhausted. Physically she was no match for Stealth, they both knew that. He was barely even trying. She would have to fight a different way.
‘Coward!’ she shouted.
The creatures went silent immediately, horrified.
‘Come down here and face me! Or are you scared?’ she taunted, hoping she sounded bold and fearless. Inside, she was terrified.
The enormous stingray spread his wings out to their fullest. He swooped around with such force, she had to hold onto the now rusty handle of the fridge to stop herself from spinning out across the room.
He came to a sharp halt opposite her, bristling with rage.
‘You DARE speak to me like that, you feeble child? You will regret it,’ he hissed.
‘You may be bigger than me, Stealth, but you will never break me, because I am stronger than you. In my heart I know I am, and you know it too.’
She thought she saw a flicker in his eyes.
Coral had no idea where these words were coming from. But in the kitchen, where there were so many cherished memories of her parents, she knew she was right. Their love would always be with her, and that gave her strength.
He tried sneering. ‘You will never defeat me, Coral. You are weak. Crying, crying, for those dead parents who are GONE! Boo-hoo-hoo,’ he mimicked her. ‘They’re gone forever, do you hear me?’
‘Like yours?’
The stingray looked taken aback.
‘Yes, Stealth,’ Coral spoke slowly. ‘I know you lost your parents when you were young, just like me. And I’m sorry.’ She paused. ‘It doesn’t have to be like this for you.’
Stealth was seething. ‘You know nothing, you little fool! What about your parents? Do you really think they loved you? If they did, why would they leave you all alone?’
‘They didn’t leave me. It was an accident!’
‘Was it?’ snarled Stealth. ‘They went swimming to get away from you! They were fed up of you pestering them all the time. They wanted to be free, away from their annoying child. That’s why they went into the water that day!’
‘No!’ Coral choked on the word, holding back her sobs. ‘They just wanted to go for a swim together, that’s all! It was an accident. They … they didn’t know there were rocks… Daddy hit his head. Mummy was trying to save him. It was an accident!’
‘If they hadn’t wanted to get away from you, they wouldn’t have gone, would they? They’d be here today. It’s YOUR fault they went swimming. It’s YOUR fault they died! If it wasn’t for YOU, they’d still be here!’
His words were knives in her heart. Was it her fault? They did get frustrated with her sometimes. Was she to blame?
‘No, please…’ She sank to the floor, feeling the darkness begin to spread within her.
‘Let them go, Coral. They didn’t really love you. Join us and find a different kind of happiness. Where there’s no pain, no feeling. Join us, Coral.’
The stonefish moved nearer, as she knelt on the floor, rocking gently with her head in her hands. She was desperate and took a deep breath.
‘I will…’
An victory smile began to creep over Stealth’s face.
‘…never give in,’ she whispered.
‘What. Did. You. Say?’ hissed the stingray.
‘Never.’ She lifted her head. ‘I will never join you. Never!’
Stealth roared. He spun around the room, smashing anything in his path, crashing into the table with his venomous tail.
‘You will pay the price for this! Stonefish – kill her! But make it slow and make it painful.’
The stonefish circled her, venomous spines bristling. There was no way out. She had failed. She had failed them all – her parents, the sea creatures, everyone.
She felt a sharp jab in her side. Then another in her leg, another in her arm. The stonefish drew back, waiting for the poison to spread. Coral writhed in agonising, intense pain. Another jab in her back, now in her leg.
Her vision was becoming blurry. All she could see were those two fiery eyes burning.
‘They’re with me…’ she whispered, as she felt them stab her again. ‘My parents … my friends … they’re with me … in my heart.’ She winced in pain. ‘Nothing can take them away.’
This feeling of a true, pure love gave Coral one final burst of strength. She hauled herself up and lunged for the door, kicking away the stinging stonefish and shielding herself against the urchins. For a moment she forgot the pain and the poison creeping through her body, and reached out to grab the door handle.
She could hear her mother’s words in her head. ‘It’s the door to the heart of the home, Coral. Keep your home and your heart open.’
‘Nobody is keeping this door shut any more!’ shouted Coral.
She grasped the doorknob, drew her feet up against the doorframe and pushed back against it with all her remaining strength, wrenching it open, once and for all. Then she swam across the room, the creatures too shocked to stop her, and dragged open the back door as well. Where the power came from, Coral did not know, but as the door opened wide, the sunshine streamed through the house, flooding into the kitchen, shining brightly onto the wretched creatures within, lifting the gloom, bringing light into the heart of the home once again.
It was as if time stood still. She saw her sea friends looking at her in awe from the hallway. Almost in slow motion, she saw the fear on Stealth’s face, his crew frozen beside him. She swam purposefully over the threshold of the kitchen and into the hallway, towards her loving friends.
As she did, she felt the last of her strength desert her, and Coral collapsed, sinking down onto the hall floor.