Come Away

Chapter 6 - Embark

I don't look the same as I did yesterday. I know because, as I stare at my reflection in the window, there's something... intriguing about it. Until now, there's never been anything remotely interesting about my features.

Darren moves beside me on the bed, but he doesn't wake up. We're still locked inside the room on the ship, and I watch the sun crest the watery expanse, turning everything from blue to pink.

My eyes refocus from the scene beyond the glass, to the face held captive inside it. It's true that I have the same gray eyes, the same sandy brown hair, and the same pale skin as always. But there it is again. A hint of something different.

I saw the same thing when I looked into Cináed's eyes at the pub and my small form reflected back at me. It felt like I was truly looking at myself for the first time in my life.

Memories I've repressed for years start to rear their ugly heads, so I roll off the bed and bump Darren in the process. His heavy eyelids flutter open along with the most pleasant smile. But I watch him as the dreamworld fades from his mind to be replaced by the realities of the day. His mouth turns down, and he rubs his eyes before asking me why he feels so awful.

It's the same reaction I had when I woke up over an hour ago. While I can no longer remember my dreams, their presence dances just above my reach and reminds me that they were better than anything I'd ever known.

Better than anything today has to offer. That's for sure.

Walking over to the door, I try the knob and am surprised when it clicks. Darren is still half-awake on the bed, mumbling about music and cherry tarts, so I push the door open and step outside.

The ship isn't nearly as haunting now that a soft, yellow glow is touching the dark wood and chasing away the shadows along the sails. Even the air feels lighter, easier to breathe into my lungs. I'm standing a few steps beyond the doorway, still taking it all in, when a trumpeting sound rings in my ears from behind me.

Cináed is holding a golden instrument of sorts—the obvious disruption to the morning—and smiling at me from the high deck.

"Good morrow, Roisín. Did you experience more night terrors?"

My brow was furrowed in annoyance at him and his stupid trumpet, but the mention of night terrors caught me off guard.

"I slept... great." I admit.

He purses his full lips and nods. "Interesting."

Before I can unleash the mountain of questions I've been saving for him since yesterday, the wind catches at my clothes and hair, turning my gaze toward the front of the ship. The docks are strangely empty for an early morning. But there is a movement along the dock leading to this ship. So faint I almost miss it.

It reminds me of heat rising from pavement, creating waves in the air and distorting a clear vision of what lies ahead. The waves near us until I can't see them because the ship is blocking the way.

"Roisín." I realize Cináed's been calling to me this whole time, and he stands beside me now, his hand on my arm. "Roisín, I need you to go back inside."

Air falls from my mouth and I start breathing again, having been holding it unknowingly. "But what is that mist?"

And that's the first time Cináed looks downright taken aback by something I've said. His green eyes hold something similar to fear, but in that fear I can see something raw and genuine behind his usual playful smirk. The look disappears before I can grasp anything from it. It's replaced by the carefree mask, and he laughs at me and pushes me back to the door.