Maelstrom

Abscond

Days went by without a trace of the sea monster. Canaveral's anger began to rise from the pressure of trying his hardest to find the creature and to figure out who the associates were to help it escape. Canaveral was downstairs with the other employees at their desks. A young lady with reddish, brown hair and a blue suit and skirt approached Canaveral and gave him his glass of water he asked her to get for him. "Your water, sir." She said as she handed Canaveral his drink, "Thank you." Said Canaveral as he took a sip from his water, "And, sir, General Prescott-" "-Mm-mm, mm-mm. Don't put him through, tell him I'll call him back." Canaveral interrupted as he started walking away, "No, sir, he's in your office." The lady said. Canaveral looked up at his office windows and saw the general in his office standing in front of the window and looking down at him. Canaveral gave a frustrated sigh while rubbing his temples and walked up to his office.

"At this point, our only concern is the creature. Do you have it?" Asked the general,

"Still in thin air, sir." Said Canaveral,

"Well, that won't do."

"Yes, sir. I know." Canaveral sighed, "When is a man done, sir? Proving himself? A good man? A decent man?"

The general sighed and started walking towards Canaveral's desk, "'Decent?'" He said as he sat on the edge of the desk, "A man has the decency not to fuck up." He crossed his arms. "Now that's one thing. That's real decent of him. But the other kind of decency? It doesn't really matter." Prescott then stood up and walked back to the window, "In 36 hours, this will all be over. And so will you. Our universe will have a hole in it with your outline, and you will have moved on to an alternate universe. A universe of shit. You'll be lost to civilization and you will be unborn." General Prescott walked by Canaveral, moved his nametag and badge, and then patted him on the back. "So go get some real decency, son." He said while putting his coat on, "And unfuck this mess." Prescott left out the office back outside to his car and left, leaving Canaveral even more enraged than before as he hurried to the men's restroom and took some pills to calm his nerves, and because his doctor told him to take them because of his fingers. "36 hours. 36 hours, well, shit." He said looking at himself in the mirror, "You deliver. That's what you do, right? You deliver! Right? Right?" Canaveral was fueled with rage and fury knowing that if he doesn't find the creature soon, he'll lose his job.

Maria woke up to find Alberto wasn't in bed with her. He must've woken before her. She looked out of her window on the right side of her room and saw that the April showers have started. She got out of bed, got dressed, and went downstairs to see Alberto looking out the window at the rain. Maria noticed Alberto's hand was on the window. "Maria, look! The sky's leaking!" Alberto said, excitedly, "Yes, I can see that." Maria smiled a bit and walked by his side also looking at the rain. She wanted to release Alberto back to the ocean as soon as the rains started, but another feeling started to settle in her, telling her to not let him go. She knew she couldn't just keep him here with her and Giulia, he had to go back to the ocean. Too much has happened when they first met, she felt like she knew Alberto all her life. He's the only one that understood her, and if he were to leave, she would be left alone again. Like she was losing another loved one of her family, like her mother. Alberto turned and looked down at Maria and saw the expression on her face. It was sadness, fear, and guilt. "What's wrong?" He asked, "Nothing." Maria said, turning her head and not making eye contact, "Maria. I can see it in your eyes that something is wrong. Did I do something?" Alberto asked, worriedly as he stood in front of Maria. Maria sighed, trying her best to fight the tears burning in her eyes, "I'm supposed to bring you back to the ocean when the rain has started. The rains have started but... I..." Maria shook her head as tears streamed down her cheeks, "I don't want you to go. I can't, I just..." Alberto quickly hugged Maria, "I know. It's okay. If you want me to stay, I'll stay." He said, rubbing her back, comforting her, "That's the problem. You can't stay. What if they're still looking for you? What if they find you and do something horrible to you than before? If you stay you'll get hurt." Maria cried, "Well... Maybe we could run away somewhere! Together! Someplace they won't be able to find us!" Alberto said, trying to cheer Maria up a bit. "But, where are we gonna go? Where can we go?" Maria asked as she looked up at Alberto with tearful eyes. The tears made her eyes glisten and sparkle. "I don't know. But I know we'll find someplace." Alberto said as he kissed Maria's forehead and hugged her close to him. He knew she didn't want to let go, neither did he. They were too into each other. So terribly addicted to one another. Like a drug. One dose and they were in a frenzy. A daze of emotion.