10 feet Under

Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Marino and I had been on the jet ski for about an hour now. It was well into the afternoon and the sun was at its prime, sending sharp knives of piercing heat into our skin. By now, you could make out a dark speck on the blue horizon, which happened to be the beginning of the vast forests that outlined the beautiful country of France. The low hum of the jet ski across the water was the only sound that I could hear, besides Marino's calm breathing. He kept quiet the whole trip, and you could tell he was fuming. Of all the times Marino has been upset with me, this had to be the worst. The saying "actions speak louder than words" was very accurate at this point, and I was already starting to miss his vulgar language and snide remarks.

"Are you gunna say something?", I whined.

I could feel him tense up against my back, and he loosened his hold on my waist.

"Anything?"

"Well what do you want me to say, Nadlynn? That you really fucked up everything this time? Because you did. Thanks alot."

"Geez... I'm sorry, okay? I didn't-"

"Why did you follow me?"

I froze in panic. If he found out....

"I-I was just curious."

He let out a frustrated sigh, and spoke through clenched teeth.

"There's something you're not telling me. I'm not stupid. If your motives aren't the same as mine, you can get your ass back to London yourself."

And with that, we rode in silence the rest of the way to France.

* * * *

The sun had just started to set when we finally reached France. We were kept hidden by large ships from different countries filled with cargo. All we had to do was dock the jet ski and get into the thick shrubbery miles away without looking suspicious or getting caught by anyone associated with Captain Cafarelli. Easy, right?

I stopped the jet ski right behind a humongous ship apparently from Spain, and turned to Marino. He had his gray wife beater tied around his injured arm, and dry blood on his perfectly chiseled stomach. You could tell he was still in pain by the way he clenched his teeth, and by his eyes...still pissed.

"So, are you gunna tell me what to do next or not grumpy pants?"

He gave me a blank stare, closed his eyes, and sighed.

" Just dock this thing next to the ship. I'll take care of everything else."

I did as he said, and we both got off of the jet ski. He lifted the seat to pull out the only thing we were able to bring with us - The black bag of Jewels. With his good arm, he shoved the bag in my chest.

"Hold this, and stay right here. I'll be back."

I watched as he walked up to a lone guard that was holding a loaded shotgun. All the other ships were empty of men with cargo, so he was obviously waiting for Captain Cafarelli. He pointed it at Marino, and started to yell some gibberish in French. To my suprise, Marino responded in the same gibberish, and put up his hands. The guard smiled in recognition, and quickly kissed his cheeks while dropping his weapon. Big mistake. Marino had him on the ground in no time, knocked out cold. He looked my way and motioned for me to follow him, and I did. We ran as fast as we could on the moist, packed dirt, and didn't stop until we were well into the thick, green forest. I placed my hand on a tree and coughed up a storm, trying to catch my breath. Marino on the other hand, didn't even break a sweat. He impatiently tapped his foot, an annoyed look on his face.

"Hurry up, Naddlyn. We have to get deeper into the forest or else they'll find us."

I groaned, but got up and continued walking. When the sun was almost completely out of sight, Marino stopped and rested his back on a large tree.

"Okay, we can stop here for the night. This will have to do."

I sat next to him, and pulled out the pocket knife. His eyes went wide and he pulled out his own pocket knife, pointing it in my direction.

"Woah, what are you doing, princess?"

I smirked, and shook my head.

"Give me your arm, idiot. I'm gunna take out the bullet."

He reluctantly moved closer, and I undid the knot he made with his now bloody wife beater. The wound wasn't bleeding as much, due to the salt water that was soaked up from the ocean. Working slowly, I carefully dug the bullet out of his wound. Luckily it wasn't lodged in deep, so I was able to remove it quickly and easily, like my mother had shown me. After I was done, I cleaned the wound as best as I could with the soiled shirt and applied pressure to it, making a tourniquet. I looked up, and noticed his blue eyes were intently watching my every move. He looked neither happy or sad... but there was something in his gaze that I had never seen before.

We both realized we were staring each other down, and quickly averted our eyes elsewhere. My heart started to race in the awkward silence, so I reluctantly spoke up.

"You're Welcome."

"How did you do that?"

"My mom taught me when I was young. She used to tend to all the injured pirates before she..."

"Died?"

I nodded and sighed.

"Breast cancer."

He shrugged, and looked at the ground.

"My ma is dead, too. Murder."

I studied him with a frown. He looked so vulnerable and weak, and finally, he put away his macho man act. No longer was he Marino the tough pirate, but Marino, the regular guy with problems like everyone else... and I could relate.

So for that moment in time, I put away our differences and wrapped my arms around his waist, laying my head against his bare chest. He tensed up for a bit, but sighed and pulled me closer to him, resting his chin on my head. I closed my eyed and relaxed, forgetting everything - From the fact that we were being pursued by money hungry men, to sleeping in a forsaken forest that was probably off limits.

As I expected, the moment didn't last very long. Marino undid my hold on his waist, and let out a shaky sigh. His blue eyes darted everywhere, but never once landed on my face.

"Thanks, but I don't need your sympathy. Goodnight."

He got up and moved to a large tree right across from me, sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest.

"Marino, it's okay to loosen up sometimes...show some emotion. I mean, holding everything in like that just makes it worse."

He looked up from the ground and stared at me, his gaze never faltering. For a split second that same look he gave me before was there, but his gaze instantly hardened.

"When you show emotion, you become weak. It gets the best of your judgement, and everyone steps all over you without so much as a second glance."

His words were as cold as ice. There was not a trace of sympathy in them, and I knew exactly where he got his attitude from.

"You sound just like...like-"

Before I could finish my sentence, his face was inches away from mine. His anger was evident on his face, as well as the pain caused by the words I was about to say.

"My dad?", he whispered through clenched teeth.

"Marino, I-"

"Don't."

He gave me a look of pure disgust before residing to his tree. Marino lay down on the packed soil, saying nothing for the rest of the night.

Even though I'd never admit it to him, his actions and words hurt me alot more than they should have. Why? - That I couldn't answer. His elusiveness was so hard to bear, and I couldn't stand it. So from here on out, it was strictly business: Get back to London and get the sacred crystal. And I wouldn't let anyone- not even Marino, get in my way.