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Track 13 Apris

PART 2: APRIS

 

"Wait, hold up," Damon looked down from the top of the yacht, watching everyone climb up the ladder. "There were more of you kids, weren't there? And also, who's that guy?" He pointed at Palmer.

"I'm with Melody," he called up. "I'm here to keep her safe, is all."

"Is this true, everybody?"

Everyone nodded.

Damon wore designer swim trunks, some luxurious flip-flops, and sunglasses.

Yahd smirked at the small tattoo of a stock graph on his right pec.

"Okay, but there were more of you. I'm pretty sure of that," Damon muttered as they walked up the stairs to the ship's bow.

It felt as if a dense dark cloud had blocked out the sun. The expression on Kalimba's face and the tears in Zoe's eyes told him everything he needed to know.

"He didn't make it," Yahd said.

"Oh." Damon picked up an icy pink smoothie, sipping it loudly through a straw. "You guys'll get his cut then," he said, sitting beside a woman tanning herself on the couch.

"Hey, mister," Melody approached Damon nervously.

"Yes, what's up, Melody?" Damon smiled.

"Uh, well, thank you for saving me. But...why?"

Damon's steely white veneers glinted in the early afternoon sun, "You're a very special girl, that's why," he placed a hand on her head, ruffling her hair. He looked up at the rest of the group, mouthing, "Is she blind?"

Everyone nodded.

"Oh," a confused look briefly crossed his face. 'Well, that's interesting,' He thought.

With little time to waste, they set off back to New York, Damon telling them the trip would take a little over two days.

A day later, Damon walked from his room to the main deck, calling everyone he had hired together.

"So, I was talking to someone just a bit ago," Damon took a large sip from his dark blue smoothie. "The jist is that he's going to an event and needs security for himself and his family. Since our time together has effectively ended, I suggested that you all could take the job."

"No, hold on now," Yahd said. "I don't know if I want to do any of that."

"I didn't sign any of you up," Damon reassured. "You're all free to say no."

"What are you asking?" Zoe inquired, confused.

"The family is going to Apris, a country off the coast of Europe. 'The Festival of Wealth,' as they call it. Did I mention they're paying over seventy-five thousand dollars per person?"

"Oh!" Mitani perked up when he heard that. "Like, actually?"

Damon smirked, "Yeah, like, actually."

Kalimba didn't react to this. He just turned and leaned over the railing, looking at the sea floor speed past underneath the yacht.

"Over seventy-five," Zoe echoed, her eyes fixed on Damon. 'I'd be able to take a long time off with that...maybe even try and find her again. That'd be amazing.'

"I don't know, man," Yahd grumbled. "How long will it take?"

"The whole event lasts a bit over a week. But hey," Damon shrugged. "It's up to you, man. I don't care whether you accept it or not. We arrive in New York in a day, so make sure y'all have your answer by then."