Sharp pain in my neck wakes me up. I open my eyes to see I'm strapped to a chair in what looks like the control room of the ship. There's nobody around. I start to wiggle and realize the ropes aren't that tight. I continue to move and manage to get my arms free. I untie my body and feet and jump out of the chair, running to the control panel and grabbing the emergency phone. I pick it up and dial nine-one-one. "Nine-one-one what's your emergency?"
"Hello? Yes! Please help us! I'm on the cruise ship SS-10. They've taken everybody here hostage and they're killing everybody one by one. Please send help!"
The operator doesn't respond right away, but after a moment she says, " Alright ma'am, we will try and figure out the location of your ship. Do you know where the cruise ship was supposed to end?" I respond quickly.
"Uhh dock thirty in California."
"Okay, ma'am I-" The line goes dead. "No! No!! Hello!? Please no!!" Frustrated I slam the phone back down on the receiver.
I hear a laugh behind me and I whip around to see the captain. "I admit you're smart, but I'm smarter. I just knew you would try something." He moves closer to me and I back up. Personal space is a real thing you know. "Are you afraid of me?" He smirks.
"Afraid of you? No. Disgusted and creeped out by you? Yes."
"Why?" That's it. It's official. He's out of his mind.
"Well, let's start by the fact that you get a kick out of watching people die. You make people play your twisted games because you think it's funny." I turn and look at him, "On top of that, I think you have a screw or two loose in your head. Because this-" I gesture to the space around us, "is not something people in their right state of mind do." That wasn't what he wanted to hear. His jaw clenches, but he says nothing.
Screams come from every direction, along with the sounds of gunshots. I run up to the door and look out of its window. Women and men are on the ground crying and begging for life. Bullet holes pierce through their chest, as they run to escape the captain's goons. That's useless though. I'm still looking at everything going on around me when I feel the captain's hand touch my waist. Out of reflex I quickly turn around and my hand makes contact with his face. For a second it's just silent, he sits there shocked. He reaches in his suit and pulls out a gun. He aims it at me and presses the gun to my forehead.
"Do it." I look him dead in his eyes, "I dare you." I don't budge. He stands there for a second and grins.
"I knew I liked you for a reason." He points the gun to the door and tells me to walk that way.
We proceed to walk down a long hallway and then down some stairs. He unlocks the door and pushes me inside. "I'll be back later." He shuts the door and it locks immediately. This room is nice, but no time to explore it gotta find a way out. I start searching for anything that might help me. He'll be back, I want to be gone before then.
There's a bell sound followed by the captain's voice. "300 contestants have fallen. 3,327 remain. Please roam around the ship. Anybody still in their rooms after ten minutes will pay with their lives." Okay, gotta find a way out. I continue to look around and spot a window. Perfect! I start to climb onto the dresser and unlock the window. I hear the sound of footsteps outside the door and hurriedly get down. I quickly sit on the bed as if I wasn't just trying to escape.
The captain walks into the room and stares at me. "What were you just doing?" He asks.
"Nothing," I respond. He shakes his head and smirks.
"You're such a bad liar," He walks closer to me and touches a spot on my pants. "You ripped your pants trying to escape out of the window right?" I look down to see that my pants are ripped, majorly. I didn't realize I did that, dammit. He stands up and walks back out of the door. What in the hell was that about? Whatever doesn't matter. I climb back on the dresser and open the window, I'm starting to push myself out when I hear the captain come back into the room. He yells something I can't hear because as soon as my feet hit the deck I run as far away from that room as possible. There are goons everywhere, I duck into one of the other exhibits. I'm still running, not watching where I'm going when I bump into this girl. She falls and curses under her breath.
"Shoot. I'm sorry." I reach down to help her up, but she smacks my hand out of the way and glares at me.
"Don't touch me! Watch where you're going!" She stands up and stomps away. Alright then. Her response was ideal. I wouldn't be too happy either if someone came crashing into me like a linebacker.
I've been walking around for who knows how long when I hear a bell sound followed by the captain's voice. "Go to the nearest room. Anybody still in the halls will die." The first room I see open I walk inside. This room is spacey. I start to explore it and hear voices coming from a bedroom. I walk into the room to find Ariel, Xavier, Bryson, that girl I ran into from earlier, and one I've never seen before. Ariel sees me and her eyes light up.
"Cam!!" She exclaims as she runs up and hugs me. "Oh my god, I've been so worried about you!" The girl I ran into earlier scoffs and makes a disgusted face. I let go of Ariel and look at her.
"Do you have a problem sweetheart?" Her face turns red and she stomps off into the other room. This stomping away thing is gonna get old very fast.
The other girl laughs and says, "I'm sorry about her. She hates not being the center of attention." She stops and scans all of us, then throws herself onto the bed. "So, you strangers got names?"
"Yeah, I'm Camila, that's Ariel, Bryson, and Xavier," I say.
"I'm Ruby, and in the other room is my spoiled-ass twin Vanessa." No wonder they look alike.
"Camila, what happened to you? When I went to sleep you were there, but when I woke up you were gone." Xavier asks, curiosity in his eyes. I sit down on the bed and shrug my shoulders.
"No clue. I woke up tied up in the control room with the captain." I say.
"He's creepy as hell," Xavier adds.
"Tell me about it." Bryson is staring daggers at Xavier. What's his problem?
"How do you two even know each other?" Ahh, so now he can speak? But earlier he couldn't even open his mouth to talk to me.
"Why does it matter dude?" Xavier says in response.
"Hey, dude I wasn't talking to you." Xavier stands up and looks like he's about to take Bryson's head off. Before anything can happen I hop up and stand in between them.
"Woah guys chill!" I say trying to push them apart. Xavier backs off, but Bryson doesn't back down. I push Bryson hard in the opposite direction. He stumbles backward and almost falls, but doesn't. He looks pissed, but he needs to cool it. Ruby and Ariel drag Bryson out of the room before anything else can happen.
"I'm sorry about him. He's usually pretty chill."
"I think your friend has something he'd like to tell you," Xavier responds.
"Why do you say that?" I ask confused.
"Go talk to him and you'll see." I sigh and go into the other room where Bryson is. I lean against the doorway as he continues to look spaced off, not noticing I'm here.
"What's up with you?" I say finally breaking the silence. He looks at me but doesn't respond. Not this again. We're not doing this all over again. "So you're still not gonna say anything to me? Even though I'm not the one who pissed you off. Please explain to me why are you continuously ignoring me?" Once again, no answer. He continues to stare at me. I roll my eyes and sigh in irritation. "Let me know when you're off your period." I turn to walk out of the room.
I walk to the bed and bury my face in the pillows. "So, what did he say?" Xavier asks.
"Nothing absolutely nothing. He's still not talking to me.."
"He'll come around."
"Will he though?" I question. 171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZ1OuqYDR4
