ON HIATUS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!
Life is going well for Sea Redmund. She's recently graduated college and moving into her new adult life with the help of her friends and family. As a graduation gift, she and her friends are sent on a luxurious cruise...
Ray laughs, not even trying to be quiet. He has his hands on his knees using them as support to hold him up as his voice bounces off the metal walls. I stand in silence staring at him. Kepner hits Ray's arm. Ray doesn't even flinch as he keeps laughing. Henry is staring at me with a weird look on his face. I can't tell if it's disgust or fear.
"Ray, shut up!" Kepner yells. His voice booming louder than Ray's laughter. Ray stops laughing but he still has a grin on his face that makes my stomach turn. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Kepner whispers. You can practically see the steam coming out from Kepner's ears.
"It's absolute bullshit." He chuckles. He looks at me and crosses his arms, "There is no such thing as evocations and magick. It's just people trying to get attention." He says. I roll my eyes.
"Then what is this?" I gesture to the ground and the walls.
He steps closer, "Attention."
"We were never supposed to find this. Why would they do this in the bottom of the ship if there was a chance we wouldn't see it?" I retort, trying my best not to make my voice waver. He's really starting to piss me off.
"We have bigger things to worry about than some schizo's doodles." Ray steps right in front of me. He's glaring down at me but I don't move.
"You didn't answer my question." I state. Not breaking eye contact.
He leans closer, "It's a stupid question. I don't need to answer to a bitch like you." Mason steps in between Ray and me; I quickly grab Mason's arm to pull him back towards me. I look down and see Mason's fists are clenched. "Oh, so now you're going to claim her?" Ray hisses, "You should have a tighter leash on your bitch, boy. She's over here running her mouth and all you do is stand on the sideline. Pathetic."
"That's enough." Kepner growls. Ray snickers as he steps away from Mason. Mason is practically vibrating with rage. I rub my hand on his back and rest my head on his shoulder blade. "We need to keep moving if we're going to find delta team." Kepner says. His voice has changed. He sounds more like a commander rather than a friend. We start walking to the other side of the room, careful not to step on the candles. My hand is still gripping Mason's arm as we make our way to the sign that says ENGINE ROOM.
"Mason." I whisper so only he can hear me. He doesn't look at me. He's just glaring at Ray walking ahead of us in the dim light.
I just need to let him be for right now. I sigh in frustration from both Mason's stubbornness and Ray's asshole-ness. I glance back at Kepner who is also glaring at Ray.
He's eyes make contact with mine. "I'm sorry." He mouths and I shrug. His eyes flit over to my hold on Mason before staring straight ahead. I sigh again, even more frustrated.
We make our way into the engine room, leaving the door open so some of the light from the candles can seep in and help us find our way. We spend the next twenty minutes searching the room for any sign of delta team. Henry and Ray split off to search one section while Kepner, Mason, and I search the other half. The most interesting thing we found was a lunch pail perched on top of one of a metal box. But no delta team to be seen.
"How could they just disappear?" Mason says as he sits down on and overturned bucket. Gotta love a makeshift seat.
"They would have checked in if they had left the area, I just have no idea where to look now." Kepner rubs the back of his neck as he paces in front of me. I walk over to what I assume is the main engine for the ship. It's huge, filling up the majority of the section we had been searching. It's so tall that there are two levels in place so that the crew could work on it. I touch the cold metal and shutter as wave of ice washes over me.
"It feels like this hasn't been working in a while." I state as I retract my hand from the engine. I press my hands close to my chest, cradling it with my other hand, trying to warm up my arm.
"We've only been stopped for a night or so, the engine should be slightly warm even after two days of ship inactivity." Kepner says. He checks his radio for the fourth time in the last two minutes to ensure that it's on and operational. "Hopefully Henry and Ray were luckier with their search, because right now we're sitting ducks with no lead on what's happening."
We sit in silence for the next ten minutes, listening to the moans of the ship around us as it sways and rocks against the open ocean waves. It dawns on me that our immediate area is a bit too silent. "Shouldn't we be able to hear Ray and Henry's footsteps if they're on their way back to us? The hallways of this shift echo like crazy and even if they're trying to be quiet we should hear something." I look over at Kepner and he nods in agreement. He stands up, Mason and I following suit as we start walking in the direction that the other two soldiers went. A loud crash ahead of us causes the whole area to vibrate, sending waves up from the floor, practically knocking me off my feet.
"What the hell?" Mason grunts.
"Shit." Kepner says and the three of us take off towards the sound.
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