Sea Sick: A Horror Novel(39)
Tally nodded. “I know. He told me. He was expecting us that second night when he shot you. He planned to get rid of you so that he could be alone with me. Killing you was okay, he said, because it wouldn’t be real – just like what he was planning on doing to me.”
Jack’s stomach sloshed. “What do you mean? What are you saying?”
Tally looked Jack in the eyes just as her lids filled with tears. “What do you think?”
Jack lost his breath. He had shared a drink with Donovan, night after night, and the whole time he had been hiding the fact that he had…that he had…
Jack couldn’t even say the word. He closed his eyes and shook the thought away before it destroyed him. It hurt too much to think that his mistake, getting shot by Donovan, had cost Tally so dearly. Jack being killed was indeed temporary (except for the bruising the next day), but what Donovan had done to Tally would be with her forever. There was no reset for rape. No wonder she had hid herself away from Jack; she didn’t want to be reminded.
Jack held Tally in his arms and they kissed. Neither of them instigated it; it just happened. They kissed until midnight stopped them.
Day 216
Jack awoke in a rage, but managed to calm himself down as memories of Tally, lying beside him, soothed him. She was gone now, of course, but somehow he still felt the warmth of her body next to his. He hoped that he could find her again today, that she would not resume her avoidance of him. Although, if she does, I don’t blame her. I’ve been spending all of my time with the man that raped her.
The clock read 1403. Jack had wasted a few minutes in a fuzzy daze as he thought about Tally, but now that those thoughts were gone his mind returned to vengeance. Donovan was an immoral beast that needed putting down. Jack had dealt with monsters like him many times before, during his career as a police officer. He should have been able to spot the man’s true nature, but instead he’d spent two weeks making merry with him. It made Jack feel sick.
I’m going to make him pay.
Jack got out of bed and decided to forego his usual shower. He got dressed immediately from the clothes in his luggage and also removed the unopened Glen Grant bottle. Then he stormed out of his room towards the elevators.
On his way to the upper decks, Jack could not keep still. He paced the small enclosure of the lift and cursed beneath his breath. He felt unsteady, his body coursing with adrenaline, but he also felt strong and powerful, ready for action. It was even possible to put aside the sickness and anxiety he felt as his heightened senses brought with them feelings of nausea.
The elevator doors opened and Jack leapt through them. He had only meant to step forward, but his anger made his every move erratic with aggressive twists, flinches and twitches. The fury inside of him was like nothing he’d ever felt before. By making Jack trust him, Donovan had made him feel like he had somehow played a part in Tally’s torment.
Jack was going to find Donovan and kill him. Then, when the day reset, he was going to kill him again. And then again and again for as long as this whole thing lasted. Donovan would spend the rest of his days suffering by Jack’s hand. That was the only way to gain even a modest amount of justice.
But it will still never be enough.
Jack expected Donovan would already be en route to one of the ship’s drinking establishments by now. Carlo’s Casino seemed to be the man’s favourite hangout if the past couple of weeks were anything to go by.
The cosy, green-carpeted games room was on the top deck of the ship: the Eagle Deck. Jack had drunk at the bar there a few times now, with and without Donovan. It was a lively place.
But the casino was empty this early in the day and the few gambling tables were mostly unoccupied as Jack entered. Over by the roulette table, though, was exactly who he was looking for.
Donovan seemed pleased to see Jack and lifted his glass in the air. “Hey, pardner! How you doing?”
“You son of a bitch!” Jack sprinted across the room and made it over to Donovan before the man even had time to lower his drink. He was completely unprepared for the blow from the Glen Grant bottle, which cracked his skull right above his left eyebrow. The bottle did not break.
As Donovan fell backwards onto the floor, the small gathering of people inside the casino screamed and backed away to the corners of the room. Jack looked down at Donovan, who seemed shocked and confused. He held a hand out in front of him defensively. “What the…what the hell, pardner? I thought we were friends. Why would you…”
“You’re going to regret the day you ever laid a finger on Tally, you piece of shit.”
Before Donovan had a chance to reply, Jack bashed his skull in until the heavy whisky bottle finally broke. He was quickly arrested and spent the remainder of the day in the brig.
Tomorrow, Jack intended to do the same thing all over again.
Day 234
Jack had taken care of Donovan a dozen times now. Sometimes Jack would fail to find him, while other times he would find the man hiding out in one of the bars or trying to blend into the crowd on the Sun Deck. Whenever Jack spotted Donovan he attacked with a righteous fury that only seemed to grow each time they met. Sometimes Jack would bludgeon Donovan to death like he had with the Glen Grant bottle; sometimes he would use a knife; and the last time he had thrown the man overboard. But no matter how many times he killed Donovan it never made Jack feel any better.