Chapter 15

Mr. Cashol finally got the black cocoon off himself, after falling into the massive water tank with his science student, Vanessa. Thankfully, the freshwater made the cocoon shells soft and he was able to break free out of his. After resurfacing, he glanced around for Vanessa, but the teenager was nowhere in sight.

“Vanessa?” called out the male teacher as he glanced all around him.

“Where the hell-” he muttered, before he spotted a dark blob in the water, getting smaller and smaller.

Taking a deep breath, Mr. Cashol dived down into the water, propelling himself with his scaly blue merman tail in a up and down motion. He was surprised how fast he could swim; he was swimming for almost a minute and was already three quarters of the way down to the bottom of the tank.

Once he reached Vanessa, Cashol grabbed her by the torso and pulled her limp body up to his clothed chest, like giving her a hug from behind. Then with his powerful tail, he began to propel himself and Vanessa back to the surface as quick as he could. As soon as he broke though the surface, Cashol let out a long exhale before he turned his attention back to Vanessa.

The girl laid heavily against his chest, still unconscious. Mr. Cashol rotated her so that now, her head rested on his bicep, cradling Vanessa’s top half while her legs were submerged.

“Wake up, Vanessa” he said, as Cashol began to lightly hake the hero awake.

But she remained limp in his arms.

he thought as he shook Vanessa again.

Mr. Cashol glanced around for any platform to lay her on, but there was nothing but open water.

Then he spotted a tall black dorsal fin piercing through the fresh water, moving quickly towards him and Vanessa.

“Oh, crap” he murmured.

alone Panic hit him as he tried to get Vanessa to wake up.

“Come on, Vanessa. Now would be a great time to wake up” said Cashol, as he shook her more harder this time, keeping an eye on the black fin.

It was getting closer and closer to the pair.

“OH, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! “.

Cashol quickly set his left hand on Vanessa’s slim chest.

“I did not miss my brother’s annual camping trip just to do CPR training for nothing!” said Cashol, as he started to attempt hand compressions with only one hand. His heart pounded in his chest hard with his mind swimming in fear and panic as he tried to perform CPR. But still, Vanessa did not stir.

he thought as he felt his stomach starting to do backflips inside himself. He didn’t at all feel comfortable giving his student mouth to mouth, let alone her being a But what choice does he have? Mr. Cashol leaned his head down towards Vanessa, until his face was inches away from hers.

He was about to press his lips up against Vanessa’s to exhale his breathe into her lungs when suddenly, she began to cough and sputter water.....splashing right into his face.

In response, he flung his head back away from Vanessa’s face with his face scrunched up from the splash. After a few more coughs, Vanessa became aware of her surroundings again. I blinked up at my teacher, before giving him a soft smile.

“You saved me....” I gasped, still trying to catch my breath.

Cashol cracked a smile back at her.

“Yeah, I did. You’re welcome”.

Just then, a black lizard body broke through the water’s surface, bobbing up and down along with the water. It was only a few feet away from the teacher and Vanessa. Mr. Cashol glanced at the lizard’s limp body at first, before he took a second looked and realized something.

“Oh god”.

“What?” I asked, before turning my head to where mu science teacher was staring at.

I let out a gasp as I realized who it was. Then another thought hit me. Me and Mr. Cashol turned our gazes back onto one another, with both of our eyes as big as baseballs.

“We’re not alone”.