Atticus

Chapter 21

I wake up with a start and find myself wrapped up in my cot.

What is odd is the feeling of the boat rocking roughly. I stumble out of bed and onto the dock. Atticus is at the tip of the boat, lifting his hands. The ocean is reaching up on the shore and dragging the boat into the water.

I stand there and watch him concentrate. Once we are in the ocean, he turns and stops when he sees me there. He looks relieved and his eyes light up.

He walks to me and wraps me in his arms. I hold him close and rest my head on him.

"I'm so glad you are awake" he says.

"I love you, Atticus."

He pulls away a bit but bends down to kiss me.

"I love you so much, Kaia."

"Are you sure about coming with me?"

"More than anything. I have nothing here and you are my whole world."

He kisses me passionately and I wrap my arms around his neck to bring him closer.

We go about the boat, opening the sails and setting up the rope. I instruct him on what to do and he happily helps me. I can tell that he is admiring my sailing skills and I feel the need to show off more to him.

Although my lungs hurt a little, it doesn't stop me from standing high in the boat and trying to take a deep breath of ocean mist.

Atticus and I watch the water change colors as we leave his territory. He tells me that he hasn't left in decades because he never needed to.

I feel him wrap his arm around me and look down at me. "Is the ship secure for now?"

"It is. So long as the wind doesn't change, which it doesn't look like it will, we should be heading in the right direction. We won't have to do much."

"Good." He pulls me closer. "I was hoping to kiss you a lot in the cabin."

I blush and kiss his cheek. "I don't think we can get that distracted."

"Whenever your ready, I'll be more than willing to help you get comfortable."

I laugh at him trying to be sexual. I consider it and maybe I will be ready. If we start to get heated I might be willing to bring him close to me in that way.

Suddenly, we feel a jolt from the boat. We stumble a bit and look over the edge to the water.

There is another one on the other side of the boat. Then another in the front and the back and it begins to happen all around us.

We look over the edge again and see a hand reach out of the blue and dig claws into the side of my boat. More hands reach up.

"It's a swarm. Stand back!" Atticus holds me away from the edge and I rush to the controls. I tell him to open the sails more as I work on the motor.

It roars to life and starts picking up speed. For a minute we are losing the swarm but then a horrible scratching sound screams into the ocean air.

I look behind us to see the creatures ripping into the motor. There are so many that they rip the whole thing off of the boat but luckily, they don't rip a hole in the ship. 

I turn to see what Atticus is doing and I see something flash in his eyes. He picks up a small buoy and throw it into the ocean. It flies through the air and a part of the swarm reaches for it. When it hits the water, they rip it to shreds.

Atticus takes my arm and pulls me close. "Just as I thought. I'll distract them and you keep going as fast as you can."

"No! They will kill you!"

"I'm faster and stronger than them."

"How do you know they won't keep going after the boat?"

"They are in a frenzy and are not thinking straight. They went after the buoy without hesitation. They will follow me and if they don't, I'll kill any stragglers."

He pulls me close to him and kisses me passionately.

"I'll be right behind you. Just keep going and please stay alive. I'll take care of them and come meet you on the boat. Just please don't turn back or slow this thing down."

I hesitantly nod and he kisses me.

"I love you so much, Kaia. I'll be back."

With that, he dives into the water. All of the creatures turn and start chasing him. I listen to him, trusting what he says whole heartedly and I keep the ship steady.

I feel a sudden push as a wave forces my boat forward even faster. It's Atticus trying to get my boat as far away as possible.

Eventually, the splashing stops and all I hear is the splashing of the waves as my boat flies forward.

I look back and wait for him to surface. I wait and wait with my heart in my throat.

It feels like eternity and soon the boat slows down as his wave disappears abruptly.

My heart pounds as the boat keeps going with the wind. The further I get the more I feel my chest tightens and the wind bites at my skin.

Has the ocean breeze always been this cold?

The more the boat moves the more my hope dwindles. Soon the sun starts to set and I begin to realize that he isn't coming back. That I may have just lost the person who my soul and very being depends on.

I curl up on the deck and hold my legs to my chest. A sob escapes from me and I can't help but sing silently to myself.

When we said goodbye, who knew what we'd open
You break it, you buy it, for us this was chosen

I begin to feel how hard the deck feels against my skin. It becomes painful to sit with my butt on the hard boat. I roll over to my side and let my thin body painfully lay against the cold and hard boat.

I hope that you'll love me when we last all these hours

I feel so cold and empty inside. I keep hoping that all of that will melt away as he climbs into the boat and holds me close. I want to hear him say my name so bad that I almost convince myself he said it.

Kaia

I choke back a sob.

I'll never forget your warmth, never at all
Always yours, always yours...

Song: High Hopes by Quails