Evocation

Chapter 23- Nightmares

Lorcan:

I wake up to soft rustling sounds outside my door. I peak into the hall and check a nearby room. The entire crew is asleep and the sky is dark. I slept through dinner by accident, but I'm not surprised no one came to wake me since it's not unusual for me to sleep through it. I've been on night shift to keep an eye on Dean and watch over the helm. Being awake when the rest of the crew is asleep has made it harder for me to give up the Skull Gem. It's ironic that I'm on a small boat full of so many people yet I often feel like I'm the only one here.

I spend my waking hours in the dark, alone. Everyone else spends their waking hours as far away from me as possible. Being back on The Evocation has made it easy to remember how I had gotten so bitter. I'm an integral part of the crew, yet none of them cares that I'm here. I may as well hide away. It doesn't matter that Echo is nicer or tries harder to be in our lives. She gives her love away to everyone except me. She's still the same person who hid the Skull Gem away from us for months on end in the first place. She's the same person who got half the crew killed. She's the same person who made bad deals with shady gangsters.

After checking on a sleeping Dean, I walk up the creaky stairs to the main deck when I hear splashing in the waters below. I look down into the deep blue waves over the wooden railing. There's something splashing in the water. I rub my tired eyes, trying to see what it is through the dark. Is that... people? I walk to the quarterdeck to see who is keeping watch at the helm. O'Neal is sitting in a rickety chair, his eyes closed.

"Oi," I shout loudly. "Is anybody doing late night dives?"

"No?" O'Neal sits up. "You know we don't do that. Too dark and too dangerous."

I leave the quarterdeck and walk towards the back of the ship again, looking down at the water. The figures are getting blurrier the farther they swim. They're moving in a purposeful manner. I walk to the captain's quarters, debating on waking Echo and Hadrien. Deciding I need answers, I knock, then wait.

I hear Hadrien make loud disgruntled noises as he presumably falls out of bed, so I creak open the door. His head snaps up, his brown eyes wide and glowing through the dark. "Is Echo with you?" He asks, holding his breath.

"No. Is she with you?" I ask.

"Fuck." Hadrien pushes past me and runs out of the room, either unaware or unbothered by being in his underwear.

He races down the stairs with heavy stomps as his large, bare feet patter against the wood. I follow him, a large lump in my throat. Hadrien loudly bangs against walls and stomps around, purposely waking the others. He runs to Captain Bradley's room and slams open the door, snapping the metal latch with a sharp crack. I watch Hadrien from the hall stare into the captain's cabin with horror, the flush of color in his cheeks disappears, ghostly and terrified. He falls to his knees a moment later, a loud, painful noise, and screams a deep, guttural cry.

I peer inside the empty room from behind him. Bradley is gone. Realization dawns on me.

It has been eight weeks. Today is be the day. I must have lost track with my sleep schedule.

"Wait," I croak, feeling the air leave my lungs. "Today? Now?"

Hadrien continues to scream, tears pouring down his face as he slams his fists into the ground, his knuckles cracking and bleeding. I've never heard a more broken, sad noise. The other crewmates come out of their rooms at the noises, looking around, rubbing their tired eyes. When they see Hadrien screaming at an empty Captain Bradley's room, they swarm him, holding him and rocking him.

My feet carry me backwards away from all the pain I have caused. My lungs refuse to pull in air. My vision swims as my pulse pounds angrily in my temples. I pound on Dean's door with my fist. My head is swimming, making it difficult to stay standing upright. My chest constricts as it tries to suck in air.