CHAPTER 1

A sigh rang through the small lonely office from a dark haired girl sitting at a corner computer desk. Her fingers worked the keys roughly in what could only be described as aggravation. At this pace the computer didn't stand much of a chance. "Whoa there Ella." A equally dark haired man said, sitting on the edge of the desk. Ella, resting her hands on the desk, gave him a reply. "Elton, I just get so frustrated! Sometimes it doesn't feel like I'm doing anything to help the sharks at all." Elton nodded in response, knowing all too well how his twin sister felt. Ever since they had started this shark rescue a few months ago, it seemed like the shark fatality rate just kept piling up. The shark fishers weren't stopping their murderous ways and they recieved new injured animals daily. "It's okay Ella, its just a bad day. Why don't you go work with Nursey?" He suggested hopefully to his sister. Sometimes he had to try his best to keep from letting the disappointment show. If she knew how hopeless he felt the situation was then she would be heart broken. "Alright," A nod of agreement and Ella stood and walked out of the office.

From the office there were two doors. One was the front door and another led into a huge concrete floored, tin building. They called this room the sanctuary, because it was filled with small to large tanks containing injured or young sharks. Most of the sharks were too dangerous to interact with. But who could really blame them? They had been through everything from being injured by fishing nets, to being sold to petstores only weeks after birth. One of the pet store sharks was, Nursey. A beautiful blue shark that Ella had personally raised since they got her. You could say that she and Ella were quite inseperable. Where most people had dogs and cats, Ella had her shark.

"Nursey," Ella cooed as she approached the swimming pool like structure. She could see the dark form of the thin, long shark start to move from the other side of the tank toward the side Ella was closest to. Ella sat down on the edge of the tank, indian-style. The fish swam by her and began to do circles around its enclosure. Now, don't get the wrong idea about Ella's relationship with Nursey. She knew that Nursey was a very dangerous predator and respected her as such. Which was why she never entered the tank without someone else around, just in case. But she did have a fondness for the amazing creature. A large white bucket sat a few feet away and she stood up and went to grab it, bringing it back to the spot she had been and sitting back down. She slowly reached her hand into the bucket, feeling the live fish squirm around her hand. When the right moment came, she closed her hand on a slippery fish and pulled it out. It was 4 inches long and would be a good snack for her favorite shark. She gently patted her hand against the cool water to get Nurseys' attention. Then grabbed the fish by the lip and held it in the water until the shark was only three foot away. She let go of the fish then pulled her hand back, watching the fish dart down and end up in Nurseys jaws. It always amazed her at how fast fish were. Compared to how hard humans found it to move quickly in the water it was amazing that such big creatures as sharks could move so quickly in the blue liquid. Nursey started to swim back and forth in front of Ella, obviously waiting for more fish to be delivered her way. Ella obliged the beautiful creature by tossing a larger fish on the other end of the tank. She loved watching Nursey chase down her prey so she was always giving the shark challenges.

Minutes ticked by as one after another, Ella threw in fish after fish and Nursey in turn chased down and ate it. Before Ella knew it, she was out of fish. Her hands dipped into the bucket feeling for any movement on her skin. Finding none, she tilted the bucket so she could get a good look inside. Nothing remaind except fishy water. She frowned, wondering what time it was. "Alright Nursey, I need to go." She spoke to the shark, as if it could understand. Before leaving she reached out and gingerly touched the fin that glided through the water near her. A short goodbye to her dear friend. She then stood and walked back into the office where her brother now sat at the desk she had been at before. "Elton." She yelled, purposefully scaring him. She giggled to herself as he jumped and walked over to stand beside him. "Not funny." Elton mumbled before pointing to the computer screen. An email was shown on the screen. As Ella read over it she couldn't help but feel a frown form on her face. Apparently the next day a visitor would be coming to see them. A officer from fish and wildlife to make sure that their facilities were appropriate for the animals they held. Ella sighed, "Don't worry about it bro. You know they just like to annoy anyone that they can get away with annoying." Elton nodded, having never been a big fan of authority figures. A few seconds of silence filled the room until in an upbeat tone Elton asked, "Well, you 'bout ready to go?" He stood, not being patient for an answer. Ella smiled and nodded, "Yep." Before moving to turn off the lights. By the time she was done walking out the door and locking it behind her, Elton was on his motorcycle with the engine roaring. "See ya tomorrow." He shouted with a small wave before he and the bike took off. Ella watched him disappear into the distance before she climbed into her old car.


CHAPTER 2

To say that the next day came too early would be an understatement. Elle felt as if she hadn't gotten a moments sleep, due to the constant barking of the neighbor dog. As she showered she fantasized of feeding the mongrel to her shark. Usually Ella was not what you would call an angry person. But when she was without sleep for a number of days she turned into monster that could rival that of any horror movie creature. Once showered and clothed she trudged her way to the kitchen. She took down a large mug and its lid then poured some rice krispies into it. After adding milk to her breakfast she secured the lid on it and was off to work.

Upon arriving at the rescue she could tell that Elton wasn't there yet from the lack of his bike in the front. So she parked her beat up clunker and dug through her dashboard to retrieve the keys. Upon finding them she climbed out of the vehicle and walked up to the door, unlocking it. The door opened with a soft squeak. Ella rummaged around in the darkness until she found the light switch. Her eyes squinted against the sudden light, adjusting in a few seconds. A yawn escaped her lips as she sat down in the chair behind her desk, plopping the cereal-in-a-cup on the smooth black desktop. She popped the lid off of the mug and had just put it to her lips when the door slammed open. She glared down the intruder and asked, "Can I help you?" Her tone was not that of a friendly person. Who would have the balls to come into her office like a raging bull? A notably plump woman stepped through the door, breathing heavy. "I'm here for fish and wildlife." She stated before pushing past the desk and opening the door to the back room. Ella felt the sudden urge to throw her cup at the ladies head. Manners obviously had went out the window when the lady had disrespected her office by barging in. Ella stood and walked past the lady, nearly pushing her out of the way so she could turn on the lights. Three light switches later and all the tanks were alight. "Where is their food source?" The woman snapped like a drill sergeant. Ella had begun to grind her teeth together in annoyance by this point. "Over here." She stated in a monotone, walking over to a glass tank with many fish in it. All of the same breed but many different sizes. "We breed the fish in this tank for a live food source for our sharks." Ella told the inspector, trying to be as professional as possible.

The large woman walked around the tank a few times, scanning it. Her hand lifted up, holding a clip board. Ella watched the lady check mark a small box and scribble something down below it. It was hard for her to resist the urge to ask about what the woman was doing. "Okay, next." The lady ordered Ella. Instead of answering she just walked to the next tank. This tank was shallow compared to most but held a large bull shark. At 9 foot long this aggressive shark was not one that they allowed anyone to mess with. "This is Bully the bull shark. We acquired him from a private aquarium who had been keeping him in a pool due to his large size." Ella informed the lady. "He is the only bull shark we have and definitely one of the largest sharks here. We feed him a large diet of fish once daily." The inspector nodded and asked, "Do you interact with him at all?" Ella shook her head explaining, "He is much too aggressive to risk it." A nod of the head and the lady was showing herself over to the next tank. Tank after tank they visited until the last one which held Nursey. "This is Nursey she is my own personal shark that I've had since she was only a few hours old. We interact with her daily, under supervision of others in case something went wrong." Ella explained this to her, her back to the aquarium. "What is that other shark in there?" Asked the lady. "What do you mean?" Ella turned to look into the glass, unable to get a close look of what was going on she climbed the ladder up onto the deck that surrounded the top of the aquarium. Looking into the water she saw a large shark that was following Nursey around. Her heart accelerated, worried that her dear fish might be eaten by the bigger shark. "Oh god, this is not good." Ella bit her bottom lip, racking her brain for what to do. It was around that time that the worst possible thing happened. The inspector, who had followed her up onto the deck, fell into the tank.

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 01.06.2011

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