The Nightmare at Sea

Chapter 5

BANG BANG!

My eyelides flutter open and I see Gus bolt upright at the sound. I smile slightly as I see him in his somewhat dazed stupor. It was the door. "Training" was all the voice had said. If you could put one and one together you could guess that it was Nico.
And surely enough he was right. Today was our first real day of training. We'd stopped in Cyprus. The Greek side obviously; to gather supplies before going through Khrontostavlos bay.
Gus slings his legs out of the bed before getting up fully as I shuffle to where he was in the bed last night, his scent escaping the sheets as I lay in the dent he had left in it that silhouetted his sleeping position.
He turns to me and tilts his head to the side like a lost puppy, before grinning as he grabs my ankles and pulls me out of bed "Come on sleepy head, you don't want to give off bad first impressions!" He says as I land on the floor that still had his duvet on it from the night before last. 
I jump up and punch his shoulder fondly, which I seemed to be doing quite frequently, "First impressions? The mans my father. He's had 15 years for first impressions though he hasn't been there for a quarter of them" I say, my brow slightly furrowing. 
We get dressed. Well I say we. He waits outside for me to get changed into my uniform of the white chiffon long sleeved shirt and tank underneath with black trousers. Then when I'm done we swap shifts. And I admired him for that level of class, the very fact that he let me get changed on my own after spending the night in my bed was a very moral thing to do. Of course forgetting the fact that he dressed me yesterday when I was unconscious. But I was dependent on him at the time so it was completely permissable.
After a few minutes he steps out in a simular get up to my own, only his shirt wasn't chiffon, which caused me to groan slightly. He smirks. "What's wrong Portakalos? Sad that you can't see this..." he says lifting his shirt up to unveil his torso "...through this?" he says, and before I can look at how toned he is he tucks his shirt back into his trousers. I roll my eyes at how conceited he was when he joked before linking his arm as we walk up the stairs of the ship which had stopped at the bay of Paphos.
Although as soon as we reach the top deck our arms are no longer inter twinned together. I see papa. "Morning Sir" I say, remembering that when he was at sea he was not my father but Captain Portakalos. Gus looks at me confused before actually catching on and saying the same.
"Because you two and Nico missed yesterdays training I'm going to need all three of you to be at your Zenith. Calista, go run some laps with Nico, Gus collect some supplies from the docks before joining them at the empty field" and I can feel Gus tense as papa goes back to his duties. I grab his hand just before he is about to speak. "I'll be fine" I whisper, not exactly feeling comfortable at the fact I'd be in Nicos presence. More so at the fact that Gus would join us soon enough. We wouldn't escape a brawl... "If you hurry up and bring those supplies to the docks you can run some laps with me" I say as I look around before quickly kissing him on the cheek before running to the fields. Surprised he has not once protested.

And surely enough when I get there I see Nico running around the field, well the shallow part of it, which resembles a 400m track. Beyond that was grasses higher than Nico and Gus put together. So I wait for Nico to pass, who had momentarily froze for a few seconds before continuing the jog he must've been maintaining for a while as he had not broken out in a sweat yet.
Now. I wasn't the best runner. In fact. I was the worst. But not because I was fat, I just could not be bothered with getting all hot and sweaty. Which made me different from quite a few of the athletic girls back at school.
I start to jog though, a slow one at that. But I knew I could keep that up for the couple of hours papa had left us out here in this field for.
I must've been doing worse than anticipated for when Nico attempts to overlap me he stops. "Calista..." he says in a hoarse tone, as if his throat had swelt up. I ignore him and continue to run. "Calista!" he calls out again and speeds up, effectively cutting me off from the course. Taking into account I wasn't the most avid runner. 
And I finally look at him and to say I am shocked is an almighty understatement. 
His eyes are bloodshot, which imply that he's been drinking; but that to me is insignificant. It's the fact that they're puffy. Which implies that... he was crying.
Now the normal Calista would be blunt and unquestioning, but this new one; the one that was living a life at sea was now ebbing with concern. I let him continue to speak. 
"I..I'm sorry...I didn't know you were in the shower room... and the fight..." he says, fresh tears streaming down his face. Nico, who displayed no emotion whatsoever, was bawling his eyes out. 
And before I can react his fingers are tracing the outline of my shirt, I flinch slightly and realise that the tank top has hitched up slightly, revealing some of the bruising from when he kicked me.
"I never mean't to hurt you. You just dived out infront of me to protect Gus" he says the word Gus as if it were some foul curseword. "I didn't know and when I did...I was too late." he continues, his shirt still tracing the chiffon. Why was I allowing this to happen. "I'm sor-" he withdraws his hand hastily and I'm wondering why. I look at him, his eyes fixated on some figure in the background fast approaching. Gus.
"Nico..." I say slowly as I look onto Gus, a livid look of seething vengance on his face. He must've saw. "Nico you need to run" I say to him, but his feet remain firmly on the ground. "NICO GO!" I shout but it's too late.
A fist goes flying towards Nicos face, then another. Hitting him in the jaw causing it to bleed. "GUS!" I call trying to push him off only to have him brush me off to the side. I try calling for help but it's futile. The bloody field is in the middle of nowhere. 
I turn back to them both feeling hopeless, Nico was fighting back and no matter how much Gus denied it, Nico was stonger which I automatically put down to years of training with my father. "Stop it...Just stop it!" I cry out feebly, my hands clutching my hair as I back away. I needed to get away...escape it all...
So I turn around and start to run away into the tall grass, even if I was a slow runner they wouldn't see me once I got into there so I had to sprint, which worked considerably well considering I had my long legs to use to my advantage. As I am about to enter the foliage the boys must've stopped fighting, for I heard a pair of footsteps speeding up calling my name, which determined me to run even faster, the only thing giving me and them away was the rustling that could not be prevented in the tall grass.
I continue to run for what seems like forever and sit down on the floor, hoping I wasn't heard. And bury my head in my hands, not looking up. Why did I let Nico do that? Why did I tell him to run? And more importantly why did I try and get Gus off of him? 
After a while I look up and realise I am not alone as I hear some close rustling. I hold my breath and make myself as small as possible in an attempt to make myself invisible. I used to do it as a child when mama and papa fought. It never worked though. Still. It was conforting. I hear a voice, only it sounded inhumaine, like the wind around us had developed an agressive tone, it undid my hair from it's bun with a mighty gust andI found myself getting up, shielding my face with my arms as it spoke:

Stay away from Khrontostavlos bay,
An order from the Gods both old and new.
Or creatures will come for your loved ones,
Before coming to you,
So from the tenderness of the moon,
And the radiance of the sun,
I beg of you Calista,
I beg of you to run.

AND THEN THERE IS NOTHING BUT WHITE IN FRONT OF ME FOR A FEW SECONDS

"CALISTA!" I hear the two men call in unison, more rustling.I stay there,  paralysed by my pure fear as the wind clears, and soon enough Nico and Gus are in front of me. "Calista..." Nico says in a less panicked tone and walks up to me only to be cut off by Gus who picks me up. And I'm confused. Where am I? Why did I run out into the fields?
As we walk through the fields I hear it. The last sentence, booming in my ears.

I beg of you to run.

And as we exit the fields I close my eyes.

I BEG OF YOU TO RUN!