The Gathering: Race For Immortality

Chapter Sixteen: Judge, Jury And Lies (Natalia)

As soon as I felt the ship begin to sway unsteadily, I knew something was wrong. I stood up in the darkly lit cabin and stumbled over my own feet as the boat rocked again.

I looked around the small room, locking eyes with everyone.

Something was happening above deck. Either the ocean had gotten wavier or Ransson had stopped doing his job. I quickly scrambled to my feet again and rushed up the wood slat stairs to the doors of the main deck. I turned the handle and yanked the door. It didn't move.

I ripped at it again and again, jiggling the handle with full intensity. It was locked!

What the hell was Ranson doing?

This immediately seemed like sabotage. With all of his competition below deck, Ransoson could have easily locked us in and jumped ship, leaving us for not.

It actually seemed like a really smart strategy for him. Get rid of all the competition in one foul swoop.

But at the time, I was way too pissed off and claustrophobic to be thinking like that.

"The door's not opening!" I yelled over and over again, as I frantically clawed at the handle.

Reqium was the first to get up and stumble across the shaking deck to help me.

He pulled at the handle with all his weight, and this was a big guy, he should have been strong enough to do it.

When the door didn't budge, Paz started cursing like crazy and blaming everyone on deck for her untimely demise that would inevitably come.

Mhercee pulled out her guns and made her way over to us.

I stepped out of the way and with one well aimed shot, she blew the handle to shreds.

Reqium ripped the door out of the way and I hurried out into the fresh air. The boat was now rocking more than ever and we seemed to be way off course. The waves were hitting the ship on the side. Even I knew that you were supposed to face the waves.

I scanned the deck for Ranson, hoping to give him a piece of my mind.

He was not at the wheel or working the sails. I dashed around the cabin to find him leaning over the edge the the bow of the ship.

"Ranson? What the hell are you doing?" I screamed, before I even noticed what he was looking at.

As I came up beside him and leaned over the edge, it became clear to me that we were in danger.

I could see the sharp rocks sticking out of the water, not far away. We were headed towards them.

I glanced at Ranson, who seemed unresponsive. It was only after following the path of his eyes to the rocks that I noticed what he was so mesmerized by.

There looked to be a person on the rocks, and if you really looked close, you could tell that she was naked, at least on the top half.

I clenched my hands into fists. Damn, it was a siren.

I should have know to look out for these. Thinking back, it was really stupid to leave a guy in charge of the ship. Alone.

"Ranson! snap out of it!" I yelled in his ear.

He didn't even flinch. His eyes were fixated on the thing. I could hear the faint hum of a tune and I knew we were in trouble. It was calling him. And he was obeying.

I had to do something to break his trance. I would have steered the ship away from the rocks myself but I really had no idea how to do it. Ranson was the only one of us that could fix this, so there was no choice but to bring him back to reality.