Sea Sick: A Horror Novel(44)
A couple of minutes later, Jack was on A Deck and heading towards Tally’s cabin. A maid passed him along the way, smiling and nodding, but other than that the entire deck was deserted. He thought about which cabin was Tally’s and knocked on the door he thought was correct. After ten seconds of waiting, he knocked again.
Then somebody knocked on the back of Jack’s head and the lights went out.
Day 235
At 1400 Jack did not wake up. At 1425 he managed to stir, his head whirling with a faraway throbbing. Whatever had struck him in the back of the head had been enough to knock him out cold for the rest of the day (or perhaps even killed him) until midnight had come and started things over. His head still hurt, and for the first time ever he had overslept.
Putting his feet onto the carpeted floor of his cabin, Jack eased himself up until he was standing. The room tilted and, for a moment, he thought it was his vision, but then he realised that it was the ship that was rocking. He was usually out in the corridor by then.
Jack went into the bathroom and stared at the mirror. The flesh beneath his eyes was dark and his pupils were wide. He looked tired. He felt it too.
I can’t believe I fell for Donovan’s bullshit.
After leaving the Cargo Deck for Tally’s cabin, Donovan must have followed Jack and jumped him from behind. It was a risky move because the man knew that Jack wouldn’t stay dead. Obviously, Donovan had decided it was time for him to fight back. In a way Jack didn’t blame him, but it now made things very clear to him – that Donovan was one of the bad guys.
He’s going to pay for this.
Jack felt the familiar anger rise up in his guts, but took a deep breath and fought against it. He turned on the tap of the faucet and splashed some cold water onto his face. Forgetting everything else, Donovan had been correct about one thing: Jack was being consumed by his rage. It had destroyed his life once before and now he was allowing it to control him again. Running around the ship like a madman and committing murder would never have been acceptable to the man Jack used to be – the man who was in love with Laura. Once upon a time Jack had believed in justice and doing things by the book.
Now I’ve become something else.
Something still needed to be done about Donovan, but there had already been too much violence. Jack would have to find another way. A way that meant not losing a part of himself.
He got dressed and sat down on the end of the bed, then stared at the blank television screen as he thought again about the sickness onboard. It was still unclear whether or not it was the reason for everything that was happening. Was there really a way to stop the virus? To save everyone from their grisly fate? Jack had tried before, but it had been no good. So, what was he missing? Why was he stuck here? Who was responsible? There were so many questions that Jack’s throbbing skull began to ache even worse. One thing was for sure, though, if Jack did manage to find a way to break the spell, Donovan was going to end up in handcuffs the moment he left the ship. BR Shipping would also have some difficult questions to answer about the large sums of money stored away in the hold – not to mention God knows what else.
As Jack thought about how to spend his day, he decided that all he wanted to do was find Tally. He’d been jumped right outside her room and it was a possibility that Donovan had hurt her again. Jack needed to make sure she was okay.
Jack tried her cabin again but there was no answer, just as had been the case before. He constantly checked over his shoulder as he went about the ship, wary of being jumped again from behind. The next place he searched was the Sports Deck, but that, too, was free of Tally’s presence. He would try there again later if need be, but decided, for now, to visit the pool area and Sun Deck. Perhaps Tally would be working there again, trying to find some comfort in her old role.
Jack got a drink from the bar in High Spirits and took it out with him to the Sun Deck where he found Claire. They exchanged small talk as usual but Jack paid no mind to her; he was more focused on keeping a look out for Tally. Each second she didn’t show up made him worry about her a little more.
“You’re in a nosey mood,” said Claire.
Jack looked at her, hearing her words but not really absorbing them. “Huh?”
“You keep looking around the ship and staring at people.”
“Oh,” said Jack. “Yeah, I guess I do.” He suddenly had an idea. “I’m a…health inspector. I travel on cruise liners to look out for signs of infectious illnesses.”
Claire went pale. “What?”
Jack put a hand up. “Oh, don’t worry. We’re talking Avian Flu at worse, and that wouldn’t affect a healthy young girl like you. Have you seen anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms?”
Claire nodded her head enthusiastically. “My boyfriend.”
Jack kept his voice calm, not wanting to panic the poor girl, but saw that he had an opportunity to ask some important questions. “I’m sure there’s no reason to worry,” he said. “Do you know where he might have caught it from? Has he been mixing around with anyone under the weather?”
Claire shook her head. “I don’t think so, but then I flew out a day earlier than he did. Him and his mates got drunk and missed the original flight. They had to board in Majorca instead of Barcelona like I did.”
That was interesting, thought Jack, because Claire was healthy and Conner was not. They had boarded in separate locations. But Conner had boarded the same day as Jack had, and Jack himself was perfectly fine. He felt like he was close to something, but not quite there. “What about your boyfriend’s mates?” he asked.“Are they ill?”