✯ North Star ✯

5 - The Death Compass

Sarah and I had claimed the boat because it was the only place on the property with air conditioning, which made it, by default, the best real estate available. I was deeply, completely asleep when I heard it — metal hitting something, a clang that pulled me halfway out of a dream, my body reacting before my brain caught up, some old animal part of me already awake and listening.

"Wheezie, shut up," I mumbled into the pillow, the words coming out thick, my mouth barely working.

But when I opened my eyes it wasn't Wheezie.

It was John B, standing in the middle of the boat with scuba tanks in both hands, caught mid-step, wearing the face of someone who had just lost a game they hadn't known they were playing. I lay there for a second just looking at him, my brain still fogged with sleep, trying to make the picture make sense.

"You're not Wheezie," I said.

"Correct." He set the tanks down carefully, like that might help, like quiet could undo what my eyes had already seen.

Beside me, Sarah sat up and blinked, the sheet falling away from her shoulder, her voice still rough with sleep. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just, uh — dropping off some scuba gear." He was trying very hard to sound like this was a normal thing to be doing at five in the morning, and the effort of it was almost sweet, almost funny, the strain showing at the edges.

"What are you doing here?"

"It's our boat," Sarah said.

"It's also the only place with air conditioning," I added, and felt the last of the cool air against my bare arms, the small relief of it, the thing that made the whole absurd moment bearable.

"Right." He shifted his weight, and I watched him do it, watched the tell of it.

"Did you top up the tanks?" Sarah asked.

"The power's down," he said quickly, "so the compressors were off."

Sarah looked at him with great patience, the kind that had an edge underneath it. "So you're sneaking onto our boat at five a.m. with empty tanks."
"I'll make sure to tell Ward," she added, and I felt the small thrill of that threat land somewhere in my chest, sharp and delighted.

"I'm just gonna — I'm just gonna leave these here." He set them down faster, the metal clanking again, and I had to press my lips together to keep from laughing.

"Middle of the room's fine," I said, already smiling, the grin pulling at my cheeks before I could stop it.

"Yeah, this is pretty much exactly what he asked me to do," John B said, nodding at nothing, and I could hear how thin the lie was even as it left him.