Chapter 14
I slowly back up into the side of the ship, furthest away from everyone I could get while still watching as they slowly lowered the kayak into the ocean. I start to look around and I see every person I have known my entire life saying their unspoken farewells and watching as my father and the fire burn together and become one with the air.
I continue looking around until I see someone standing all the way in the back that I don’t recognize. A tall, bulky man, he's dirty and his face looks cut up. As I keep looking I notice there’s not just one, but there’s several. It takes me a moment and it all starts to settle in. Are these men from the island? They are not our crew. I start looking around trying to spot Ace in the groups of people. I can feel the panic build inside. Shit! Where’s Ace? Something is happening. My stomach drops and right as I go to yell to warn the crew standing by them, a hand covers my mouth from behind me and I am pulled back over the edge of the ship towards the water.
I slam down into the ocean like a torpedo as the ocean fills inside my mouth and I gulp down the saltwater, trying to swim up against the falls force, to reach the air. The ship continues on creating chaos in the water, making it hard to reach the surface. I keep pushing up, my lungs running empty. A ringing in my ears but I keep my eyes open swimming up. In my sight I see a shadow of what looks to be someone swimming towards me.
I reach up my arms towards the person swimming towards me, extending myself as much as I can. The person's hand grabs my arm and yanks me towards them. I take a moment and close my eyes from the salt burning them. The person's arm wraps around my body and I feel us moving upwards. I move my legs to keep myself from being dead weight.
Just as my body starts tightening and I no longer have any breath left, we reach the surface. I breathe in so deep gasping for air. Every bit of me now awake and begging for oxygen. I can't get enough. I start looking around and can still see the ship in the distance but the sound of screaming glides in the breeze.
No, I need to go back. I have to help them .
I begin to shiver from the sharp cold water. I continue looking around and then feel the same arms that saved me from drowning wrap back around me and pull me backwards again. I spin around and only see wet blonde hair. I look down at the man's arm and notice a broken tribal compass on his muscular bicep. I’m partially dazed by the effort this man took to save me. But equally impressed by the fact that he’s an incredible swimmer to be able to pull me so diligently in the water.
“Thank you!” I yell to the man that saved my life, just waiting for him to turn around but he just keeps looking away and swimming the opposite direction from where my ship is. I hear another scream and I feel my nerves set in again. Wait, he's pulling me away from my ship. Those screams are from the crew I grew up with, the only family I’ve ever known.
“No! We have to go back! Please, you can save more people!” I demand. He stops swimming and looks me directly in the eyes and I recognize them immediately. Bright emerald.
“Oh, no love. We are absolutely not going back there.” He says.
He immediately grabs both of my hands and begins to wrap them with what looks like his belt. “You darling, are coming with me one way or another.” He flashes that same smirk I saw over and over during our fight. He continues yanking on the belt using it as a leash and continues swimming on until I see a small fishing boat just slowly coasting. It's no wonder we never noticed it, the boat is so little in comparison.
“Arielle, we have company!” The man shouts. Suddenly I see a woman’s head pop up. She has long blonde curly hair. The curls are thin and would spiral perfectly around your finger. She has dark brown eyes and wears black eyeliner on the top and bottom of her lids. She is wearing an all black shirt and pants with a forest green cloak, like the ones I saw on the island.
Was she just laying down in the boat? I think to myself.
“Well, hurry the fuck up, Caspian!” She growls back. She reaches her hand out as she yanks the belt out of Caspians hands, pulling me right to her.
“Hi there, Princess.” Her voice is sharp and mocking. I cringe at the feeling of being mocked.
“Clearly, you're mistaken.” I respond in the same snarky tone, the disgust written all over my face.
“No, I don’t think I am.” She responds and drags me onto the boat. Caspian pulls himself up on it and comes right over to me. He looks back to see if my ship is gone from sight then releases my hands from his belt.
“Sorry, love. I need this and I’m quite certain you’re not dumb enough to jump out into the ocean with nobody around to save you.” He says to me but really just reassures Arielle. She just stares at me with the most threatening look.
God, the actual arrogance of this guy . I am immediately annoyed but at the same time, he’s not wrong. The daylight is almost gone to the night and the last place I want to be is just floating alone in the water for any creature to stumble across or to freeze to death before daylight.
“Get cozy, Abigail. We have a long night to go before we are on our ship.” He says as he throws me a blanket. I wrap myself inside of it immediately. When the sun goes away, the ocean is painfully cold. I sit there watching as Caspian and Arielle whisper on the other side of the boat. They continue looking over at me but are too quiet for me to hear what they are saying. My body is aching from everything that has occurred today and I am just too exhausted to focus on any of my sorrow. By the way they were talking, they weren't going to kill me. Not yet anyways. My body releases the tension and I just allow myself to save what energy is left. The sky is becoming a darker shade of blue but the clouds are absent. I just stare up at the stars playing over Ace’s words about my real family and what could potentially happen if someone found me. This thought stays steady in my mind as I slowly start to nod off until I can't possibly keep my eyes open anymore.