Tell me... The Violinist's Truth

Keep things together

"So what is happening? Eddy!" Brett shouted above the noise. He was nervous and he felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. Why do I have to get into this? Me, Brett, what have I done to deserve this?

A hand came out of nowhere and grabbed his wrist, dragging him with him. "...have to be quick ... violin ... storage room" were the only words he could grasp over the ear-splitting sirens and shouting people. If only Eddy knew how exciting he actually found that rough touch... Anyway, there was no time for this now. Our violins! We have to get them first! The entrances to the inside of the ship were getting clogged as everyone tried to be the first to get through.

The few blue-uniformed men on deck made futile attempts at organizing the fleeing crowd. Eddy let go of his wrist as they entered the ship too, following a small group of people who had chosen this side door rather than the main entrances from the deck. A large plastic sign on the wall to his left hit his attention. "Storage Room --->"

Some people were already rummaging around in the luggage, trying to find their belongings. "Brett!" Eddy quickly handed him his backpack and travelling bag, followed by his violin. Brett felt a surge of relief at being reunited with his instrument. Eddy gathered his own things and they quickly left the storage room behind, down a staircase and into the corridor where their cabins lay.

All of a sudden, the sirens stopped. A cracking loudspeaker made itself heard. The voice of the chief commander reverberated through the ship, addressing the passengers.

"This is chief commander Jeff Wilson. We have encountered some technical difficulties but the situation is under control. Due to the current weather conditions it is not safe for anyone to be on the decks or out in the corridors. So for your own safety, keep calm and stay inside your cabins until you receive further instruction by our security personnel. There may be sounds from the construction but this is being closely observed by us and is no cause for concern."

Having finished checking on his violin, Brett dropped down on the bed in Eddy's cabin. "Oh god, why does this have to happen? Why us? Why now?"

"Come on Brett, you heard Wilson, there's no reason to worry." He sat down next to him, not fully believing his own words.

"Why did we run around this ship to get our stuff then?"

Eddy sighed. "Normally the storage room is locked of course, but the two women next to me were shouting something about someone having broken into the storage room to save their luggage and I thought in that case we'd better get our things, too." Brett wondered if Eddy had realized how his eyes instantly darted towards his violin case. Luckily, apart from being a little out of tune, his violin had not taken any harm, either.

The ship was tossing enough now for them to feel it in the cabin. "You're right. I'm also very happy to have my violin near me again." Despite their protests, the navy officials had made no exception and rejected their request to take their things with them, at least their violins. For security reasons, no luggage was to be kept anywhere else than the storage area.

Brett rubbed two fingers against the side of his nose and outwards below his eyebrow.

"What do you think they mean by technical difficulties? Are we actually going to—you know..." Brett couldn't bring himself to say the word, as if fearing he would cause a self-fulfilling prophecy to unfold if he spoke of it.

Eddy had got his meaning, though. "No, Brett." he said firmly. "You don't think of any such thing now ok? You just relax and you'll see it will be fine."

Brett breathed in sharply.

"Come on, let's make some twitter post about this. The fans will be wondering where we are." Eddy suggested before Brett could reply.

On our way to Virginia, Eddy captioned two images, one was the photo he had taken on deck earlier today and the other showed the cabin they were in.

"Are we going to tell them that we're about to be...you know..."

"Ha, ha, no, obviously not because we're not going to." Eddy rolled his eyes and fixed Brett with an exasperated gaze. Despite his nerves, Brett found it rather thrilling to have Eddy looking at him like this. God, what the... I don't know why I get such feelings all of a sudden. I could never tell him the truth about this, Brett thought.

"What are you thinking?" Eddy asked with an upward side-glance. "You just had a very unusual expression there, bro."

Man, was he that easy to read? "It's nothing, really." Brett said. "Just the nerves." Which isn't exactly untrue either... His pulse was going fast despite the fact that he tried to keep his head cool. Who knew for how long they would have to stay in this tiny room? Suddenly, he became aware of the four walls around them. Four walls which seemed to be tightening closer and closer around him the longer he stared at them. He could feel his heartrate speeding up. Oh no, not a panic attack now. He could already feel it constricting his chest. Not again! Not now! If he wanted to avoid passing out in this tiny chamber on a ship out in the open sea, he had to keep it together.

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A/N: hey guys, thanks for reading! I'm just starting out and experimenting a bit, open to suggestions, so don't forget to leave a comment ;-)

By the way, English is not my native language, so if you do encounter any mistakes, please let me know! Have a wonderful day!