Masked ✔

Chapter sixteen

"Captain Gareth, is Noah in his cabin?"

"Huh? Uh, I think so... I mean, unless he got drunk enough to roam the ship." Captain Gareth laughed nervously, chewing his bottom lip.

"What!?" I cried, my mouth opening agape. "Drunk!?"

"Ahaha - yeah. He asked me for some booze earlier this morning... and I don't believe he's the type that can handle alcohol."

"You actually gave him the booze?" I tugged at hair on my head anxiously. "Why would you do that?"

"Hey, I couldn't turn down the kid, everybody needs to relax with some alcohol sometimes." He shrugged, brushing off my concern.

"Oh no... I can only imagine how he's acting. Oh no, he's probably with Rubin and Jackson." My eyes shot wide open with realization. "Oh no, he's probably with Rubin and Jackson - I gotta go - catch you later, bye, have a nice day!" Before he could stop me, I sprinted past Captain Gareth and began a manhunt, searching with eagle eyes.

If he's with with the two devils and drunk, he'll probably end up dead by morning.

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chapter sixteen, part II
    
   

Was Noah in his cabin? No.
Was Noah in the hallways? No.
Was Noah on deck? No.
Was Noah in the crow's nest? Nope!

I was running all around the ship in search of Noah, who was probably drunk enough to tumble overboard. And the thought of him being with both Jackson and Rubin only worried me further. I mean, come on. If I knew anything about my crew, I knew that Rubin and Jackson were the most sneakiest out of all. Poor Noah was probably getting pranked left and right by them.

I was panting as I scurried around. Crap, my heels hurt like hell. Seriously. My shoes weren't made for exercise.

Just as I was running through the hallways (about the what, sixtieth time?), I heard two familiar voices behind a door.

What? But I passed this door so many times - how did I not hear them?

The door had no number, indicating it was not a cabin room. Although I had been living on the ship for more than a month or two (I had lost count), I clearly didn't know what rooms were which and what was where.

I tip-toed to the door and put my ear gently against it. Yeah, I decided to eavesdrop. I'm terrible, I know.

"Dude, you are so drunk."

That was Jackson. He released a laugh far too relaxed for my liking.

"Look who's talking, you're the first one to get drunk every damn party. I'm surprised you haven't died from how much alcohol you drink on a weekly basis!"

Rubin grumbled from the other side of the door. I could just imagine him making that are-you-kidding-me-right-now face of his.

I didn't hear Noah but from what Jackson said, I believed he was in the room.

Poor Noah!

Without warning I grabbed the doorknob quite fiercely and swung the door open, barging in the room like my aunt would when she suspected I was doing something wrong - which was basically all the time.

Three heads turned to me, all the the ones I had suspected. Jackson, Rubin, and my poor, sweet, not-so-innocent-when-you-think-about-it Noah.

The room was quite unfamiliar. The walls were plain without any paint, a large vintage-looking auburn rug covering the floor. There were two sofas and a short glass table. It reminded me of the captain's room. On the table there was a pile of playing cards, beside the table sat Jackson and Rubin on the floor on one side, Noah sitting alone on the other side of the table, also seated on the rug.