My Least Favourite Character (Han Solo Fanfic) #Wattys2016

Chapter 11 - Late night wanderings

Dedicated to Sasha_squash

It was midnight. At least on the Connecticut time. Gray estimated that if they were close to Egypt it should be about 5am. She sighed and turned once again in her itchy covers. Her back was aching. Her leg was aching. Her head was aching. And the constant lolling of the boat was driving her mad.

She decided to get up. Almost tripping on herself, she limped to the circular window just outside the room. Seizing it's border for support, she looked out. Her eyes wandered about in the immensity of the dark mass before her. It had looked so menacing when the biplane had fell, when it was about to swallow Gray like a whale swallows a goldfish. However, the moon stood clearly in the cloudless sky that night and brought it's sparkle to the quiet water. It suddenly looked reassuring rather than frightening. But so vast, so large, that Gray couldn't help thinking that way beyond that horizon, very far away, was her family. Her family who thought she was at summer camp. She gave her head a brief shake to attempt to forget that. Looking again at the sea, she thought that way further than that was the North Pole, which was her final destination. She shook her head again. Somehow, she didn't want to think of that either.

But she didn't need to shake it. She was automatically distracted from her thoughts by the sound of steps. Her first guess was Han. Surely, just like her, he was unable to sleep and had decided to take a walk around the boat. She hesitated for a few minutes and finally decided that she'd rather go meet him than stay alone in her thoughts.

She followed the source of the sound, moving throught endless corridors. My, she thought, this really is a large boat. What could it possibly be carrying? Whatever it was, it had to be in a great amount to require that much space. After a while she stopped hearing any sound. She felt like she'd gone round in circles. She had gone round in circles. She was exactly in the same place she left.

Where on Earth is Han?

And then, in the darkness, her foot collided with something. She whimpered in pain, clutching it with both hands with her eyes shut as she stumbled to the ground.

What the-

She eyed the cause of her pain. It was a corner of something. Not a wall or anything attached to one; it was like there was an isolated corner on the ground. She reached out to it and her hand grabbed randomly. She was caught by surprise as her fingers tightened around a thick, cold ring. She straightened up a bit - there was a pannel on the floor where the ring was : it was a trapdoor. A very discrete one, as she'd never noticed it during daytime. She stood up and pulled. A bit of strenght did the trick: she was introduced to a new part of the boat. There was a staircase descending to a lower floor. Soon she heard noises again. They were steps once more, but this time followed by other sounds. Gray couldn't identify them at first. She found herself going down the stairs on tiptoe, as if she didn't want to be noticed.

"Han?" she whispered.

No answer. The noise went on and on, but as she came closer, something troubled her. There was a new door at the bottom right of the staircase. There was a very dim, trembling light. She tried to listen. Somehow, she thought there was too much movement going on. A lot of shuffling, stepping, and even whispering. She even distinguished a clatter. She was sure she heard someone hushing a few seconds later. The movement seemed to cease.
It was curiosity moving her now. She had almost forgotten about Han. She felt the urge to know why there was so much noise in that room. She wanted to see.

She waited. For how long, it was impossible to know. She just stood there, leaning on the wall in silence, wondering what exactly she was waiting for.
She was unlucky to lean on one leg too much. The wooden planks didn't resist. Crrrack. A shiver ran up Gray's spine.

She didn't even have the time to turn and run. The door burst open and someone grabbed her. She opened her mouth to scream but a hand covered it tightly. Panicked, she attempted to elbow the person behind her with all her might. But suddenly the grip loosened. She turned hastily.

"Youssef."

The little egyptian man was panting. He looked immensely frightened.

"So sorry. So sorry."

He took a few moments to recover, and then:

"Go. Go up. Come with me."

Gray nodded and went up without another word.

Youssef went up into the kitchen and came back with a glass of warm drink.

"Drink. It helps to sleep."

She drank the contents of the glass silently.

"Now, go back to bed."

She didn't protest.

Next morning, while the ship staff were enjoying their revolting stuffed pigeon again, she tried the ring on the trapdoor. But no matter how much strenght she put into it, the pannel wouldn't budge. It was locked.