It looked like the island was falling apart. As the figures on the beach started toward it, the island shook harder, ripping apart faster and more violently. Seeing the captain nowhere on the deck, one of the passengers made his way to the rail. "Ahoy down there!" he cried. "Y'all coming or what? Let's go!"2
A voice filtered up from the beach. "Sure, gonna let down a ladder or sumtin'?" A ladder snaked down the side of the ship, and a man splashed into the water, to it. 'You coming people?' he asked those on the island behind him. With that, he started climbing, the rest following. The man in the ship pulled the ladder up, not seeing the last person running down the beach and wading after the ship as it pulled away. Suddenly the figure collapsed.3
As the ship headed away, the island sank completely under the water. None of the passengers from before noticed the shadowy figure floating where the island used to be. A woman walked out from inside, her eyes staring from under the visor on her hat at the shadow, a strange look in her eyes. She tore her eyes away and toward the new passengers, walking to the group. She arrived in time to hear the man who had handled the ladder introduce himself. "Hey," he said. "Pleasure to meet you. Name's Lue."4
"And I am Captain Tania Lyons." She smiled a warm smile at the bedraggled few people who had made their way from the island. "Welcome to the Crimson Queen. We're a cruise ship that takes our select passengers on a tour of the Bermuda Triangle. I hope you will enjoy the trip until we have a chance to drop you off at a populated port" She turned to the center of the ship, where the pasengers had all gathered to view the happenings. "May I have your attention please?" Captain Lyons waited until everyone was focused on her before continuing. "As you all know, our next stop would have been to pick up a crew complement from the port in Saba. Unfortunately, due to terrestrial conditions, this area of the ocean will be unstable. We'll have to go around. I hate to ask this of you but you will be needed to pitch in with certain tasks so as to ensure we remain ship-shape. I will be placing a list in the Dining Hall shortly."5
There was a collection of groans at her announcement but she just gave the passengers a professional smile and turned back to the group of new people. "Please follow me and I'll get you situated." She strode off toward the residential decks, calling instructions over her shoulder. "Dinner is at seven in the Dining Hall. We'll find you some more clothes, people always seem to leave things behind and I've quite a collection should you need it. Now, you quarters will..." Her voice disappeared into the ship and the passengers on the deck stared at each other, buzzing with gossip and questions. Some of them had only been picked up last night and didn't know anyone yet, others had been on the ship longer and had made friends.6
-7
Judith had climbed on board behind Dan, eyeing the huddle of people contemptuously. Great - a cruise she thought, and we're still stuck too close to the godforsaken island for comfort. She waited for Bryce to catch up, whispering a hurried statement. "We need to find a way to get a communique to the client - a radio - anything we can use."8
He nodded, still dazed himself. They trailed after the Captain as she lead the four of them through the ship, finally coming to a stop in front of a suite of four cabins.9
"You'll reside here for now," the Captain instructed. "I ask you, for now, not to mingle with the rest of the passengers."10
They all nodded wearily, too tired to disagree. Judith pushed a door open to her left, looking back over her shoulder. "Thank you, Captain Lyons - we will be forever grateful for you picking us up, but I'm tired and filthy and need some time to think... so if you'll excuse me..." With that Judith entered the cabin and shut the door with a soft click.11
-12
Room #1113
Dan quietly found his room, then the bed, and collapsed on it. Now they'd got off the island, and the adrenalin left him, he felt buggered. 14
Sighing he stared at the roof, studying patterns in it till sleep caught up with him. 15
*On the main deck by the pool* 16
Charles slapped his newspaper down and glared at the retreating back of the Captain. Work? On a cruise? He snorted distastefully, he'd be damned if he was going to get his hands dirty on his holiday. 17
He picked up his wine glass and took a sip. 'Mmm, that's good,' he mumbled, '2005 Shiraz, very nice.' He took another appreciative sip and went back to his paper...18
-19
Meanwhile, James Johnson, a rich lawyer, kicked his door, which swung open. "I have to live in this dank place?" He had been given a terrible room. He shock his head. "I dreamt of pools, bars, luxury but I get is...!" He couldn't even finish his sentence.20
He stared at his full wine glass and half-empty wine bottle. "This better be good." He walked over and snatched the bottle of wine. "2005 Shiraz? I HATE Shiraz!" He picked up his wine glass and spat in it, but dropped it down his new suit.21
"I bet you the guys up their are having a ball!" he yelled towards the ceiling. "If I get a room-mate and I am going to scream and jump over-board." His luck was exceedingly bad for today. He walked outside and slammed the door and huffed. CLANK! "What? What was that?" he asked himself. He checked his pockets and took out about twenty keys on a keychain.22
"Which one?" he said, while trying them. He then came to the nineteenth key, which finally unlocked the door. He then lay on his bed, which was rock-hard, and read his free paper, half of it, stained so much, you couldn't even read most of it. It wasn't a good day at all.23
-24
Lue smiled at the new crew, oblivious to the horrors they had witnessed on the island. "Well, then. Looks like this pleasure cruise isn't as fun as it used to be."25
He offered a hand to them, but they passed on by. Shrugging, he turned back and headed inside, as well. His room was next door to Judith's, but he sensed that she wanted her alone time for the moment.26
Instead, he pressed his way to the pool area of the outer deck, hoping to socialize with the crew a bit more. He, himself, had been one of the very first people to step foot on this ship. He had found it odd how, after what seemed like a few weeks at sea, they never seeme to make any headway on their course.27
"All the same," he said to himself. "It's still a cruise."28
He walked out onto the outer deck's pool area.29
-30
Aami watched the proceedings from a dark corner of the deck. No one noticed her anymore, almost like she was a part of the ship itself. Once upon a time, Aami might have given into the urge to run across the deck and jump into the small pool now between herself and the new arrivals. Now she simply suppressed those sort of childish urges. 31
Interestingly enough, Aami could name and recognize each of the new comers. She herself had been on the island until not that far back. She escaped when she finally saw how evil the island had become. 32
Now, Aami slipped around the pool and followed the newcomers, again no one noticing her. She knocked on the door to the room she knew Dan would be staying in. When she didn't hear a reply, Aami gently opened the door. She saw Dan was slowly awakening at the sound of her knocking. 33
"I'm sorry about your sister, and the others." Aami said. Her voice sounded high and wispy to her and she barely suppressed a shudder at that. Before Dan was completely awake, she shut the door just as gently and disappeared into another part of the ship.34
-35
Ice sighed and collapsed on the bed in her "room." She silently thanked the creepy manager for granting her request even if he hadn't really been behind it. She sighed and reached into her bag for her journal. Dating a blank page, she began writing:36
"So we're away from that hotel at last, eh? My God. I thought we'd all be dead before we could leave. Poor Aura... poor Peter. And of all people... Mykia? I can't believe it. She killed my sister... and I trusted her. But at least Dan is safe. And Judith. And at least Kaelynn and Rose have their revenge. But is vengeance really all that important? I mean... it can't bring my sister back. I'm just glad to still have Dan and Judith. Bryce is probably floating around here somewhere, too. It all began when the plane crashed. I knew that I shouldn't have gotten on it in the first place. Something told me not to. I should really learn to listen to my gut feelings. But then again... if I did, I wouldn't be here right now. We're headed to the Bermuda Triangle. How much danger will we be in there? I mean... seriously. You've heard the legends. Or... maybe you haven't. After all, you're just a notebook. Oh well. 37
"Well, it all started with the plane crash. We got stuck at this weird hotel. It didn't seem too bad at first. A bit creepy. I had one weird experience the first day with a secret passage. I fell through a wall and wound up in the library. Thats about when the murders began... We started out with a good numbered group... and now it's down to four survivors... All I want to know is... why? What's the purpose in it? Why all the killings?"38
Ice shut the journal and dozed off for awhile, wondering if she'd have a roommate here. She missed Aura so much. They were always roommates in places like this. She always wanted to protect her sister. Some sister she'd turned out to be. She hadn't been able to protect her in the end. Ice drifted off to sleep, dreaming of the goings on at Bloodvayne, terror even overtaking her dreams.39
-40
Lillian poked her head out of her room as the newcomers walked down the hallway. She instantly memorized their faces and told herself to memorize their names when she got a chance. None of them seemed interested in taking, so she let them be for the time. Eventually, though, they'd have to say something.41
She stepped out of her room and headed toward the pool.42
-43
Deck44
Jade looking out over the ocean on the side without the island...she saw what happened and the four survivors step on the boat she was werry of these figures something wasn't right about them...as she looked over the ocean all she could she was the distant horizon of sky and sea almost the same color.45
Deck to room #746
Jade saw people coming out of there rooms to see the comostion and headed toward her room...when she got in there she was greeted...actually attacked by her year old kitten still not fully grown...she piked up her kitten and sat on her bed and sadly stared at the empty bed beside her...she never really was one for making friends...she started stroking her cat and fell asleep for 5min. and was woken up by her kitten...then she started stroking and talking to her kitten...47
"What do you think kitty? Would you like a roommate? I think I would but, what would I say to her...would she even like me? I don't think she would...Do you like me kitty?" Then her cat made a meow that sounded like a yes "You do! Thank you kitty..." She said smiling.48
-49
Outer Deck50
On the main deck, Katherine barely glanced up from the Tax Accouting periodical she was reading. She had known that they had stopped, but, quite frankly, didn't care. She'd been on the cruise for some time now, keeping to herself, ignoring the raggled assortment of people the cruise had picked up in the last few weeks. 51
She flipped the page of the article and caught the last of the captain's statement, "you'll have to pitch in to...". Katherine sighed, this was a holiday - the only bit of 'pitching in' she would do might be to help organise a bit of music for this place. She had looked forward to the band at dinner, and so far none had been forthcoming - perhaps if she offered to play violin for everyone? She wasn't exactly a maestro, but at least she could play a few notable pieces.52
She sighed again, and then went back to the rather interesting article. Asset Depreciation for General Managers was something she understood...53
-54
Robin sat on a chair looking to see if the person was comeing to give the stuff he wanted.He sight he looked up people were talking about a band was playing, Robin saw a women reading a article."Umm Miss i was wondering what are you reading?"He asked her55
-56
Angel walked onto the deck with Pagan, her snow-white wolf with the black streak up one leg, walking at her side. The dog was part wolf-part husky. She sighed. Where was her room at? She sighed. There was no point in heading there now, aside from laying her bags there. Which, she only had two. Her clothes and grooming supplies and the bag with her pet food on it. She wandered around, looking at her ticket. Room 4. She went in, looking around to see who her roommate was or if they were even there yet.57
-58
Room #759
"Sorry kitty but, I should go see if anyones rooming with me..." Jade gets up and puts her cat down on the bed and looks at her two full suitcases... I sould put those away...Oh well I'm not good at unpacking and pack so oh well... 60
Deck61
Jade walks to the main desk thing (or something) and looks at the room list..."7...7...oh here it is! Jazmine hu...pretty name...I hope shes nice..."62
-63
Room #364
Matthew Sorel opened the door of his room and went inside, immediately falling down on the bed, and looked around his room. Not very spacious, and even less so with a roommate, who thankfully wasn't here at the moment. That gave him time to think.65
So. Newcomers from the island, hmm? It should be interesting. That place had a pretty bad reputation. Too bad they probably don't have much to steal. Oh well, it wouldn't matter anyway. At the rate this ship is going, it won't reach anywhere for weeks yet.66
But there was something about this ship. It had secrets. And Matthew intended to find out what those secrets were, and if - no, how - they were connected to that island. If there was something on this ship that was valuable, he would steal it. That was his task, after all, before he would be granted the right of calling himself a master thief.67
He touched a throwing knife hidden in his sleeve, reminding himself that it was still there, before he threw it in one smooth motion towards the wall, where it buried itself with a dull thunk.68
Getting up to retrieve the knife, he smiled. Oh, he'd find this ship's secrets. There would be no doubt about that.69
-70
Near the pool.71
Mike sat dozing on a deckchair near the pool.72
He woke when he felt the ship slowing down and saw that they were nearing an island. He watched for a bit as the people boarded the ship and then went back to lying in his deckchair.73
He heard the captain say something about doing jobs and then dozed off again.74
-75
Outer Deck: Pool Area76
Lue looked around the decent-sized pool, observing the various vacationers. He'd noticed that most of the people on this ship had come to keep to themselves, slipping off into various forms of solitude during the long voyage. It often made the journey quiet and a sort of a lonely.77
He plopped into a green foldable deckchair next to Mike. "So," he said to the man, "what d'you think of the curise so far?"78
-79
Room 480
Aami was sitting in the far corner of the room on her bed. On her left side was the side of the ship with two small windows, and on her right was the space between the beds. On the foot of her bed was a big wardrobe for her and her roommate. On the other side of the aisle at Aami's side was the second bed, at the foot of which was the door to the room. Small quarters. 81
Aami had her hair up in a high ponytail and a book in her lap. The book was well worn and obviously loved. Aami was reading through it for what seemed the hundredth time, yet it never got old. She laughed quietly at one of her favourite quotes from the book, but instantly fell silent when she heard the door opening. 82
A girl who seemed slightly older than herself walked in. She had long black hair and bright eyes. What was most shocking about her though, was the wolf by her side. Aami fought the instinct to shriek and jump up on the bed, knowing from the girl's calm confusion that the wolf was harmless. There seemed to be something....more, to the girl, but Aami couldn't place it. As it was she simply sat on her bed and watched the girl.83
-84
Angel sat on her bed with the wolf-husky laying at her feet. "Hi, who are you?" She smiled softly at her roommate. Aami, eh? It was a nice name. She couldn't help but wonder though, where had this girl come from? Who was she? Why was she on this cruise? No one knew anyone else though. Except the four they'd picked up from the island. Creepy place, she thought as she grabbed a treat for Pagan.85
-86
Room #787
Jade walked back to her room and put on her two piece bathing suit that looked like a one piece, graped her towel and a little buggy board, pet her cat, and walk down to the pool area.88
Pool Area89
"Gose it's hot!" I wounder why no one else is swimming ....she thought...then she put her towel down one a deckchair and slipped into the water and started drifting on her board and started to think... I'm glad I put on sunscreen .... So who exactly is this Jazmine? Why hadn't she meat her before? What did she even look like and does she have a pet? She decided she would soon find out and decided to look around as people walked by...90
-91
Lue waved at Jade as she passed by him. "Hey there," he said. Don't believe we've met. Name's Lue."92
He rose from the chair and left the other man alone, approaching the water instead. It was warm enough to swim, but he wasn't dressed for it.93
-94
Top Deck95
As the passengers boarded the ship, Raven stood motionless on the top deck. Nobody knew he was on this ship, and nobody was about to find out. Once everyone walked off, Raven slipped away.96
Tapping his ear, a tiny mic popped out. 'Daniel has been spotted, but still no sign of his sister.' Raven jumped from the deck and landed on the ground silently, then proceeded to find Dan.97
Room #1198
'Found you...'99
Raven stalked into the room, without a sound. A sudden jerk from Dan froze him in his place. Raven frowned as he pulled out his 9mm. He stood next to his victim, his eyes icy cold. 'Daniel.'100
Dan opened his eyes a bit, then stumbled back upon seeing him. 'Who the hell are you?' His eyes glanced down to his weapon, and sighed. 'I think I've had enough people try to kill me, thanks.'101
'Ah, Daniel. On the road to hell and still think of it as a joke. Now, would you like a bullet in the head or the heart?'102
Dan simply raised an eyebrow at Raven. 'I don't care anymore. You wanna kill me, that's fine. I've lost my mates and my sister.'103
Raven was quite surprised at hearing this. 'Your sister is dead? No matter, it only makes it easier to complete my mission.'104
Dan soon realised who he was. 'You're an Associate, aren't you?'105
Raven chuckled. 'Took you a while.' With a flick of his wrist, the gun was planted at Dan's chest. 'RT would've roared with laughter.'106
Dan shrugged, and a silenced bullet tore through him.107
Raven sighed, then popped out the tiny mic. 'Secondary mission completed, easier than I thought. Proceeding to primary.'108
-109
Room 4110
Aami looked at Angel. She tilted her head to one side a few degrees and thought about what the girl was asking. 111
"I think you know who I am. As I know you're Angel. I'm Aami, and that's all you need to know." 112
With that, Aami got up and left. She walked towards the main deck, wondering what everyone was doing at the time. As she passed by Dan's room, Aami felt a small shudder go through her. She decided it was just her imagination, or her empathy acting up, and continued on. 113
Pool Deck114
As Aami walked onto the pool deck, she noticed several people. One girl, who she suspected was Jade, was swimming in the pool. Two men were there as well. Aami headed towards the far corner where there was an empty lounge chair in some shade. 115
Aami passed by Lue on her way. "Hey Luci." She smirked.116
-117
Outer Deck118
Katherine glanced up from the article - she really hated interruptions - to see who had addressed her. A youth, around the same age as the interns she needed to put up with at work, leaned from his deck chair gesturing at the periodical.119
She flipped it and held up the copy of Chartered Accountant so that the cover showed. "I highly doubt you'd be interested," she added, cooly, as she snapped the magazine back open. 120
The youth just looked at her. She sighed, "Look - I came on a cruise to get away from people; catch up on some reading, practise violin, sample fine food and wine. You may think you want to know me - but you don't. I'm just a boring accountant."121
-122
Far away from the hubbub, alone on the bridge, the Captain raised her eyes in the direction of room 11 and frowned.123
In room 11, a mist came up and obscured the dead body. It settled for a few moments before dissapating, leaving behind no trace of itself...or Dan.124
Deep in the Bridge, the Captain smiled.125
-126
Room #10127
In a daze, Judith had entered the room without checking first. After she had pulled the door shut behind her, she stopped up short - there were no beds... or anything really in the room.128
A draft of air blew a scrap of paper on the floor. She picked it up. On it were scrawled names - some crossed out, others left the same. She nearly crumpled it and threw it down, but she noticed her name on it.129
room 12: Ice, Judith 130
It seemed to be a draft rooming schedule. She turned to the back of the door of the room she stood in: a number ten was stuck on the centre of the door. Not really thinking about how and why her name came to be on the slip of paper, Judith opened the door again to find the hallway empty. 131
Opposite her was room 11, and next to her left - at the end of the hallway, was 12. 132
She pushed the door open to find the other girl, scribbling away in a journal. She didn't seem to notice Judith at all, so she just closed the door softly and went to sit on the opposite bed.133
After sitting and watching Ice for a little - who was more off in her own world then what Judith first thought - she went and showered in the tiny bathroom connected to the room. After cleaning up and getting dressed in some of the clothes provided, Judith returned to her bed to find Ice fast asleep.134
Not happily, though - Ice thrashed in her sleep, twisting and turning on her bed.135
Tired herself, Judith turned down the covers of her bed, and she too fell asleep.136
-137
Room #11138
Bryce had entered the room well Dan was crashed on his bed, sleeping. Not feeling particularly tired, he decided to have a shower and clean up. 139
(20 minutes later) 140
Bryce had just finished his shower and was drying when he heard the door to the room open and stealthy footsteps followed by a voice saying, 'Daniel...' 141
His eyes narrowed as he listened to the rest of the conversation. 142
There was the distinctive noise of a silence pistol being fired, and a heavy thud of a body falling. 143
Bryce held his breath, trying hard not to make a sound, lest he be discovered. But he'd forgotten about his towel, it slipped from his shoulder and fell on the bench, knocking two glass bottles together, the noise was very faint, but it sounded like a window shattering to Bryce.144
-145
Ice jumped in her sleep, convulsing in a seizure-like way suddenly waking herself from the horrid dream she was having. Memories washed over her so calmly and steadily. She sighed sadly. Why had it happened? She couldn't answer that. Ice looked over at the other bed and smiled wearily as she realized it was Judith who now slept there. At least it was a familiar face and someone she could talk to. Ice calmly lay back down and tried to go back to sleep, foring her memories down. 146
Room 4:147
Angel lay on the bed looking down at Pagan. "Wow... that was a bit weird, eh buddy? " She smiled at the dog and patted the bed beside her. Maybe Aami was just in a bad mood today? Who knew? Angel lay down and fell asleep, listening to the sounds of the waves around her.148
-149
Pool Area150
Lue blinked. Something had happened - he could feel it. But what? He looked back toward the rooms. He had the distinct impression that one of the newcomers had left. He sighed. So many came and left. It was difficult to become friends with people when they never hung around long enough.151
-152
Passenger Deck153
Lil walked past room eleven and stopped. She distinctly heard the door shut just before she got there, but she hadn't seen anyone. The room was quiet, so she guessed she had been imaginaing things. She walked past the room, not noticing the fog.154
Outer Deck155
Stepping out into the recreational deck, Lil found a deckchair and sat down. "Another day," she said softly. "and nothing different."156
-157
Pool Area158
Jade had been swimming for a wile and decided to get out and dry off.She picked up her towel and moved over two deck chairs and sat down on the one that was two away from Lil's left. "Hi my names Jade, I think I've seen you around here before but, I didn't catch your name..." Jade smiled at the girl as she dryed herself off.159
-160
To be continued...
Adding your comment:
So far so good! We really should polish off the old story and try to get it published. It makes a fascinating novel!
