"A hand?" I asked, looking back at half of his body that was under the sink.
"I'm a bit stuck."
I groaned. What else can go wrong?
The loud noise of the room door opening was what could go wrong.
"Shit," I swore, looking at the direction of the main door. If Darius came in now, we are screwed.
"Shit! What, is there a spider on my leg or something?" Adrian cried. I shushed him, rushing to the bathroom door and slamming it closed as Darius walked in. Oh smooth, Ivory, you could have closed it gently.
I placed the lock on the door and tiptoed back to Adrian.
"Alright, how are you stuck? And shhh, be quiet. Darius came back."
From under the sink came the reply, "The arsehole always did have perfect timing. Why don't you go call him so he can pull me out?"
"Hell, no!" I protested. We were this close to getting the ring. No time to ruin this. I could hear footsteps and I quickly grabbed Adrian's leg and pulled, making him yelp.
"Jesus, it's called ‘pull me out’, not just get my leg!"
"Sorry," I muttered and tugged gentler.
"How are you stuck, anyway?"
"My arms. Too big to come out of the gap. I don't get it. It went in easily."
I grabbed both his legs and pulled. God, he was heavy.
"Aluminium?"
"Oh shit," I swore as I heard Darius’ voice from the other side of the door.
"Yea?" I called back out, kicking Adrian when started to speak.
"Everything all right in there? I heard someone scream."
"Yep, just killing a spider," I said, stomping my foot as proof. "All good."
"Alright then. I'm going to go find Adrian. He keeps disappearing."
"That's because I'm a magician," snapped Adrian and I kicked him.
Adrian glared at me. "Jesus, that was a whisper. The old man won't hear it!"
"Shut up," I snapped, pulling at his leg and this time he yelled louder.
"Jesus, what part of ‘shut up’ do you not understand?" I groaned.
"What's going on in there?" Darius yelled from outside.
"Just pull it," snapped Adrian.
Then Darius. "Adrian?"
"Then don't scream," I retorted as I grabbed his legs and pulled on them. I could hear a pipe groan and the last thing I needed was this place to flood.
"Are you guys okay?" asked Darius as he knocked on the door.
"Yea, hold on, couz. Give us a few seconds," yelled Adrian.
"Why are you so fat?" I asked him as I continued to pull.
"This isn't fat,” Adrian insisted. “This is muscle."
I snorted loudly and gave a harder pull, making him yell again.
"Hey, it worked," he said. "Just a bit more."
I groaned, closing my eyes and rocking back on my heels. "Damn it, you can help by wriggling." I gave one last tug on him. It worked.
The next thing I knew, I landed on the ground banging my head on the side of my tub and a corpse was on top of me.
"Shit," I swore loudly, raising my hand to rub my head and I saw Darius in the bathroom doorway, leaning against the door, his hands crossed over his chest and an amused expression on his face.
"Oh, hey, couz," said Adrian, waving a hand at him. I shoved him off me.
"Get off. You weigh a bloody ton," I groaned and then looked at Darius. "How did you open the door?"
He held up a set of keys and I looked away, feeling like an idiot. How long had he been standing there? Damn it, Ivory. All it took was a look backwards.
"You know, you could have helped us."
"Nah. You guys looked fine but it was funny trying to watch you," he said, laughing. I rolled my eyes, lying back down and catching my breath.
"Get off," I told Adrian, raising my knee to kick him but he jumped.
"Jesus, woman, is that the thanks I get?"
I looked up at him as he dusted him hands and legs, glaring at me.
"You found it?"
"Found what? What were you guys doing?" asked Darius, now sounding confused again. I waved a hand at him and then rolled over, pushing the door with my hand to lock him out but he just propped his feet between the door and the door jamb. I gave him a look and stood up, rubbing my head. Damn I hit it hard.
"Here," said Adrian, thoughtfully turning around so he was blocking Darius and held out his hand.
"Oh hell, no. I am not wearing that."
Darius tried to look over Adrian’s shoulder. "Not wearing what? I want to see, too!"
Adrian ignored him and told me, "I went to all that trouble. You are wearing this."
I looked at the ring in his hand. Sure, it was my ring, but it was covered in stray pieces of hair, dirt, mould and other things I didn’t want to know. I wrinkled my nose, feeling sick.
"Just wash it,” Adrian said as he grabbed my hand to put the ring on. “It'll get clean."
"Ew, no. The feeling will still be there. You know what, keep it." I walked out of the bathroom. It was no space for three grown adults to be crowding in. This seemed like a nightmare and I didn't want to touch that thing.
"Ivory Quartz, you will wear this damn ring!" Adrian followed me.