"Camila, Camila, wake up." Xavier is shaking me.
"What is it Xavier I'm trying to sleep," I say in a groggy tone.
"Yes I know, but you missed one of those announcements." I sit up and rub my eyes.
"What did it say?"
He pauses and then says, "Wakey, wakey everybody. Today we're going to play a game of hide and seek. Everyone in the rooms that I choose will be participating in this one. You're free to hide about the ship. The rules are simple. Just survive, or not get caught for thirty minutes. Get caught and you die. Happy hiding!" Ughhhh
"How long has it been?" I ask worriedly.
"Like two minutes." I start thinking about somewhere we could hide.
"We could hide in the closet," Xavier says, but then quickly dismisses it. "Nah, never mind too obvious." I'm thinking long and hard about this one and it comes to me. I jump out of the bed, grab Xavier's wrist and drag him to the hiding place.
"Where are we going??" He questions.
"Shhh, or other people will follow," I say in a hushed tone. Before we get to the hiding place I look around. No one is near us. I open the door to the animal exhibit and lock it behind me. "We have to hide in one of the animal cages," I say looking around at all of them.
"How about the Gorillas or the lions?" Xavier asks me with a spaced-out look.
"Are you crazy?! We'll get killed!" I whisper-yell to him.
"They wouldn't expect us to hide with them if they came in here would they?" Xavier answers.
"Lions it is then!" Quickly, we hurry over to the exhibit. "Shit.." we both mutter under our breaths because it's locked. Well of course it is, but why didn't we think about that? I walk over to the glass and start to slide my back down it ready to give up. But the universe isn't ready for that because I flip over and the next thing I know, I'm in the exhibit. I pop up and Xavier looks just as shocked as me. He tries to find some easier way to get in without falling but it looks like that's the only way. He tumbles in and then, almost as if on cue, all of the lights around us go out.
There's a bell sound followed by the captain's voice, "Did I forget to mention that we will be playing hide and go seek in the dark?" He laughs and continues, "Ready or not here I come!" I yank Xavier up and we feel our way around looking for somewhere to hide. There's a rock in the corner by the lion's den entryway. It's risky, but what other option do we have?
We crawl behind the space between the rock and the wall. We sit in the darkness and silence just listening for something, anything to happen. "Twenty minutes left." Says a voice over the speaker. Not the captain's voice though, it sounds familiar, but I can't put my finger on it right now.
I'm counting the seconds as they go by, waiting for time to be up. We could make it! I turn to Xavier and open my mouth to speak but stop when I hear a low growl. I almost scream, but Xavier covers my mouth before the sound can escape. "Ten minutes left."
On top of the lion waking up, the door to the exhibit swings open with a violent push. The captain walks in with his goons, gun in hand. "Come out, come out, wherever you are..." He says. The lion is fully awake and runs aggressively towards the glass and roars at the captain. He smirks in response and says, "Looks like I forgot one." He unlocks the door and walks inside the lion's cage. "Naptime kitty." As the lion charges at him full speed, he effortlessly shoots the lion three times and the lion goes down. Damn. Does this dude have no heart at all? The captain walks back over to the door when he stops and turns back around. "Goons..." He looks around. "Flip the light switch will you?" I can't see much, but I can tell he's smirking.
The goons move to go turn on the lights. We're gonna be easily spotted if we don't go now! I look around for a distraction and all I can think of to use is a rock. I pick it up and chuck it across the room. Xavier follows my lead and chucks another in a different spot. Before the goons can turn on the lights the captain tells them to forget about it. "Someone's here.."
The goons are in here at once and start searching in the opposite direction of us. Xavier and I bolt and slam the door closed.
"Goddammit!" The captain screams in anger. We run and I see a room and the door is open. I go to the door, slam it shut to throw them off. We run down some stairs and end up in the club. The bodies are still here. Along with a lot of others. Guess this is where they're keeping them. We hide in a booth that's semi-covered with bodies. I know it sounds gross, but we're trying to hide in plain sight. The captain storms down the stairs and looks around.
"Where the hell are you?! I know you're here!" He's pissed and I just hope the time runs out before he finds us. This is his ship, after all, I'll bet he knows it like the back of his hand. Anywhere we go he'll find us. I watch him closely as he scans the room. He spots us in a matter of seconds. His hand reaches for the gun in his waistband. He shoots it, just in between me and Xavier's head. He walks towards us, but we get saved by the bell. Literally.
"Time's up! Thanks for playing and please head back to a room within the next five minutes or..." They pause, "well you know the drill!" What's with these people and pausing in the middle of their sentences? And that voice still sounds so familiar.
The captain stares at us. "You two can come out now." He puts his gun down and kicks it behind him. "I don't have a weapon so I can't kill you." He holds his hands up as if to surrender. I stand up and try to move around all of the bodies. Xavier does the same. When the captain sees it's me, a creepy smile forms on his face. He starts to walk to me, but I grab Xavier's wrist and slam the door shut to the first room I find open.
I throw myself on the bed ready to pass out. Xavier does the same in the bed next to me.
"How do you know my name?" I question.
He sits up on the bed and shrugs, "I have my ways." He smiles. I throw a pillow at his head.
"What are you a stalker?"
"Maybe I am." He stares at me with a serious look. I burst out in laughter because at this point why take everything seriously? He lets out a small laugh in response.
The PA system starts up again. The bell, followed by his voice, "1,000 contestants have fallen. 3,627 remain. Rest up! You'll need it." I would love to know what made him want to do this. Nobody comes on a cruise to fight for their lives. But that doesn't matter to him because he gets a sick kick out of it. I still need to change out of this genie outfit and shower. It shouldn't be ideal at the moment, but I don't care. I'm not sure when my next chance to do it will be.
After my shower, I change into some new clothes. Surprisingly they fit. Xavier has already crashed, so I turn off the lights and climb into the other bed. It doesn't take long for me to fall asleep.
144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkeSDr5eCbY
