Called by the Siren

Chapter 20: Let the Race Begin!

“The rules are simple, you will run from Durdle Door to Lulworth, there you will row to Kimerage bay. There you will swim across the Bay until you reach Studland bay, where you will sail to Brownsea Island. The last task will be a ride around the island where you will finish. There is no fighting and you cannot incapacitate your opponent in any way. You must also keep in the land that are marked out by the orange buoys. Are there any questions?” Stephan, the burly Sea Captain of the San Maria Sea Gang. He had been flown in as an independent adjudicator for the challenge. He was known to be brutally fair in all circumstances.

Both Viktor and Bee nodded as Bracelets with global trackers were snapped on their wrists. The Beach were Durdle Door stood was packed with members from both Sea and Land Gangs.  The Beach itself was beautiful and the stunning sea arch that was Durdle Door created a scenic start of the race.

“There will be independent judges along the route and you will be tracked using your bracelets. There will be no cheating, to do so will bring disgrace to your Gang and automatic disqualification. Any issues, there is an alarm button on the side of your bracelet. Press it when you need help” The Captain said.

“Alarm button?” Bee said confused as she jumped up and down to keep her muscles warm. There had never been an alarm before!

“Yes,  at the request of the Russian Syndicate!” The Captain said.

“Don’t worry about it Bee, you need to get your head in the game!” Viktor said with a smile as they walked up to the start line.

“You just worry about yourself!” Bee said as she got in position. 

“You tell him Sweetheart!” She heard Ethan shout

“Yeah, show him who’s Boss!” Aiden shouted making Bee smile.

Bee took a deep breath and slowed her heart beat as she put her wireless waterproof headphones in her ears. Her playlist was designed carefully so that it helped keep her pace. The music would start after she heard the starting pistol.

“On your marks, get set and go!” The Captain said as he shot his pistol in the air. Viktor and Bee launched themselves into the race. Bee let Viktor in front, it was a tactic her gang had discussed.

“Viktor is going to be a stronger runner, it is inevitable. So be smart and  let him do the work out front. Let him set the pace Bee, but you need to be hot on his heals!” Frank had said last night.

Her Uncle was right of course, Viktor was the stronger runner and it showed now. Bee concentrated as she made her way up the 2.5 mile steep incline. She was thankful that her Grandfather had made her run up and down those Cornish hills regularly! 

When they reached the summit of West Lulworth Hill Top,  two coloured smoke rockets went off. Viktor who’s rocket was red, went up 2 seconds before, Bee’s which was blue. Not that Bee noticed as she was making her way down the steep hill towards Lulworth Cove.

Meanwhile, most of the audience was still on the Beach. They could only wait along certain parts of the course to stop any interference.

“Dam, Bee is behind!” James muttered

“She is up against Viktor and it is planned. Give her a bit of credit, she is the Siren after all!” Theo said and Alannah nodded. 

Again, they saw a red smoke rocket fly into the sky, followed quickly by a by a blue one.

“They have reached Lulworth Cove!” Aiden said as they all started walking up the hill to the waiting cars.

“I wish we could observe more closely!” Ethan said grumpily. He had found Bee and Aiden cuddling on her bed and for the first time in his life,  he had felt jealous of his Twin. He managed to find nothing out from the Black Bears, yet Aiden had managed to smooth things over with Bee. Aiden had succeeded, whilst he had failed.

Anxiety had filled him, again something he rarely experienced. “What if she chooses Aiden over me?” Ethan thought worried. Could he let that happen? The honest answer was he simply didn’t know. He shouldn’t of worried because as soon as Bee saw him she got over and hugged him.

“You are here finally!” Bee had said happily, making Ethan’s heart jump with joy.

“I am sorry Princess, I didn’t mean to upset you!” Ethan had said genuinely. He knew he went to far sometimes, especially when he felt insecure. Bee was a attractive Goddess in his eyes and Ethan had seen the way Igor had looked at her. He might be a Prince, but he was from a Land Gang. There would be many Sea and Land Gang members that would much prefer Bee to be courted by a Sea Captain.

“I know! Come, I want to snuggle with you as well before the challenge” she had said leading him to the bed. 

“Snuggle?” Ethan had said chuckling at the term

“Yes, you know cuddling and chatting” Bee said as she laid back down. She soon felt Aiden’s arms around her and being pulled her closer to him. Bee ended up being in between the Twins and they just held each other and talked until it was time to go.

Meanwhile, Bee and Viktor were rowing out of Lulworth Cove. The course was marked by orange buoys, small round orange balls that were tied together with rope. This is so none of the competitors accidentally lost their bearings and rowed out to sea. 

Bee arms were starting to feel the burn after the three mile mark. However, she was neck and neck with Viktor. Viktor might be stronger, but Bee was lighter and rowing was one of her strengths.  The smoke rockets went up at every mile and Bee was setting a punishing pace. If she could match him in swimming, Bee was confident she could beat him at sailing and riding.

The fourth rocket went up, they were on the last mile. Bee dug deep as she knew that Viktor would tried to break away. With half a mile left Viktor made his move and started to row faster, but Bee was ready for him and matched his pace.

They reached a Rocky outcrop on the west side of Kimerage Bay.There was a group of observers there to insure that fair play was observed. 

Viktor and Bee wasted no time in diving into the cold sea water. Both of them surfaced and started to do front crawl. They had swam past Kimerage Bay and was heading towards Studland bay. About 3 miles into the race, they were both crossing a bay area. Viktor was ahead by 10 meters, when he suddenly stopped swimming and started flaying around madly before going under water.

Bee did not even stop to think she dove underneath the water to find out what had happened to Viktor. As soon as she went under she could see what the problem was. Viktor had gotten caught up in an old fishing net and the current had swept him under. It did not help that the old net had caught a collection of rubbish, weighing it down!

Bee quickly swam over and tried to initially pull him to the surface, but on closer inspection the net had got tangled on some heavy rocks. Viktor was trying to untangle himself with little success and was running out of air fast.

Bee knew what she needed to do, she swam to the surface and took a couple of deep breaths before going back under. She pressed her lips against Viktor and breathed some of her air into his lungs. Bee then grabbed her hair piece, which was actually a Assassin’s blade. It was a gift from a the Namika Sea Gang and Bee saw it as a little good luck charm. She took the blade and started to quickly cut the ropes. It was slow going and Bee was making regular trips to the surface for air. Even though Viktor had Bee’s second hand air, it wasn’t enough and he was slowly drowning. Bee felt a stinging pain in her thigh, she looked down to see a large sharp piece of scrap metal sticking out. She had no time to deal with it now and carried on, hoping the metal would plug the bleeding.

Bee finally got Viktor free from the net and she pulled him to the surface. It was clear to Bee that he was unconscious as he was not responding. She needed to get him to land and quickly! Bee positioned him on his back and swam quickly to shore, whilst keeping her injured leg as still as possible.

As soon as she pulled him to safety, she started CPR. “Come on you Bastard, I am going to beat you fair and square! You hear? And think of your sister you arsehole, how could you leave her, you selfish prick?!!” She roared as she did chest compressions. She breathed into his mouth twice and repeated the chest compressions.

“Come on Viktor! Come on!!!” She said and he breathed into his mouth again. Suddenly Viktor coughed violently as he emptied his lungs. Bee put his in the recovery position to help the water drain out.

“Bee?” Viktor said weakly as she collapsed on her back from exhaustion, pain and relief. Her injury had been constantly bleeding and it was now taking it’s effect.

“I would never thought I would be so happy to hear your voice!” Bee said quietly making Viktor chuckle weakly.

“You could have left me, why didn’t you?” Viktor asked but there was no answer. He turned and saw Bee was unconscious.

“Bee?” Viktor said shaking her, but there was no response. He only then noticed the metal in her leg and he cursed. He pressed the alarm button on his tracker bracelet as he tried to press down around the edge of her wound.

“Don’t even think about it Bee!” He said firmly.

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“Something is wrong, we should have seen smoke by now!” Rosemary said in a concerned voice.

“I am sure they are fine,” Leonid said.

“No, she is right cousin. They are are both strong swimmers, they should have reached a check point!” Dimitri said in a concerned tone. They were both young Gang members and the challenge was never suppose to be harmful and certainly not deadly!

Captain Stephan came forward, looking uncomfortable. This fact alone made Leonid worried.

“What is it Stephan?” Leonid demanded

“Captain.. there has been an accident” Captain Stephan said. But before he could say anything else Frank was in front of him and picked him up by his jacket.

“Where is she? Where is my Nice? You were suppose to make this safe!” Frank roared. clearly his fear getting the better of him.

Theo came forward and put his hand on Frank’s shoulder.  “Let him speak friend!”Theo said firmly. Frank nodded and put the Captain down.

“What happened?” Kurt demanded

“Viktor got caught in a net and was pulled under. He would have drowned have drowned if the Siren has not freed him and pulled him to Saftey. She administered CPR and he is weak but will recover” The Captain reported.

“So Bee is OK? Can we see her? Where is she?” Ethan asked quickly.

There was a moment of silence before the Captain continued. “I am afraid during the rescue she sustained an large wound to her thigh and lost a lot of blood. She is currently unconscious and is in a delicate situation” The Captain reported looking to the ground.

“Oh no!” Alannah said shocked. She knew that thigh wounds could be dangerous because of the large amount of blood loss that could happen quickly.

“Bee!” Holly suddenly cried before she started to sob.

“No, no, no! We have to see her!” Ethan said his face going pale, as Aiden went deadly quite.

“You will, but I want her on a Air Ambulance helicopter and transported to London now!” Kurt ordered.

“Our Air Ambulance is closer, use that” Anastasia said. She looked at the shocked faces and said “Don’t look so surprised, do you know what trouble there be if she died? Besides she saved Viktor, it is the least our syndicate can do!”

Anastasia ran over and put her arms around her Grandma. She kissed her on the cheek and said  “Thank you so much!”

Anastasia just grumped in reply, but it was clear the rift between them had been healed.

“Wait, where are the Twins?” James suddenly asked

“Where do you think? They sneaked away with Holly to go to Bee!” Anastasia said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

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Thank you so much for reading and I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. The places mentioned in this chapter are actually real and are part of the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, UK. If you ever get a chance to visit Durdle Door, do so, because it is simply stunning. Next chapter, things get a little steamy!  Please feel free to comment and please follow me. I just need one more to get to 25! Next update is on Friday, but I try and update before then. Keep safe x