LAVA CAT CRUISE SHIP
Chapter 6
Happy Friday!
Another chapter of LCC is coming at you. What are you more afraid of - Zombie Sharks or Lava Cats?
If you’re new to Lava Cat Cruise Ship, you can find Chapter 1 here.
Happy reading!
SIX
Eidon crouched, his fingers dipping into the water of the massive paw prints.
Franklin bent beside him, his elbow resting on Eidon's shoulder. "What could have done that?"
Eidon shrugged the boy off. What indeed. "Dog?" he guessed, glancing at Celia.
She stood in front of him, frowning at the prints. Her dark blue lips pursed as she thought.
"What sort of dog do you know that grows that big?" she said.
None. Not even a Newfie or a Great Dane could have feet that big. But he didn't need to answer her. It was a rhetorical question. She'd said it with so much attitude, she might as well have added 'you idiot'. Eidon was glad for the dark or else she might have seen how red his face was getting.
"A polar bear?" he tried again.
Celia bent over, looking closer at the watery tracks. "In the middle of the ocean?"
"Well what do you think it is, then?"
She didn't say anything to that, and Eidon instantly regretted snapping. She'd think he was an asshole now. But she didn't seem to notice him at all. Her focus was on the prints. She frowned and folded her arms across her chest, a heavy breath escaping her nostrils.
"Eidon," said Franklin nervously, "I want to find my parents."
The Howards. They were probably losing their minds with worry. And what about the good Captain? The last thing he said to Eidon was, "go back to the room. We'll talk about what you're doing out here with Franklin Howard later." If he went back to their rooms and found Eidon missing, there was no telling how furious the old man would be. Franklin was right. They should go back. But what about Celia?
Just as soon as he'd thought it, Celia spun on the balls of her feet and took off across the deck, heading to the other end of the ship.
"Hey!" he called after her. "Where are you going?" Quickly, he got to his feet and followed after her.
"Eidon," Franklin whined, scrambling behind.
"Celia!" shouted Eidon as she rounded the next corner, disappearing from sight. "I said where--"
When he came around the corner he nearly slammed into Celia, who stood frozen, staring down at the floor.
"What is it?"
She didn't answer and she didn't need to. He looked down and saw the problem. Another set of tracks, just like the first. They lead to the railing, the paint scratched in just the same way. Eidon felt Franklin's sweaty palm close around his wrist. This time, Eidon didn't shake him off. Whatever had crawled aboard the Silver Queen, there were two of them.
"Take the boy to his parents." Celia ordered. If her voice hadn't cracked on the word parents he might have believed she wasn't frightened at all. "You should get back to your parents too."
"She's right, Eidon," said Franklin. "You need to tell your dad about this."
"Tell him what?" said Eidon. "We don't even know what this is." Eidon could just imagine the look in his father's eyes when he tried to explain there was a polar bear or something of the sort on the Silver Queen. The good Captain would think he'd lost his mind. "And besides, he's not gonna listen to me right now. He's kind of busy if you haven't noticed."
Celia turned, the intensity in her eyes that he'd seen focused on the paw prints now landed on him. Like glowing sea glass. He shrank back. "Doing what?" she asked abruptly. "What is your father busy doing?"
"Eidon's dad is the captain," said Franklin.
Her eyes widened. "Your father is the captain of the Silver Queen?"
"Yes," said Eidon, cautiously. Her sudden interest in him -- or rather his dad -- was unnerving.
She straightened, stepping closer. "Then he will be with the survivor from the Hydra, won't he?"
"How should I know?"
"He would want to question this man, non? About what happened to his ship?"
"Eidon," said Franklin quietly. "Eidon, I want to go back. I need to find Mom and Dad."
Celia took another step, her nose practically touching Eidon's. "Where would they take the man from the Hydra?"
"Probably the infirmary," he guessed, stuttering.
She stepped back, releasing Eidon from her stare. His heart thundered in his chest. Those eyes, staring out from a mask of blue paint and twinkling rhinestones -- it was like being looked at by a creature from another planet. He watched her as she inspected her torn up palms. If he hadn't seen the blood for himself, he might have believed she didn't bleed red. What did she really look like underneath all that makeup?
"You were right," she said finally, never taking her eyes off her hands. "I should get this looked at."
"What?"
"I'll come with you.”
Eidon frowned. "You just want to get a load of the survivor guy, don't you?"
Celia's stare broke, and she turned back toward the footprints. She didn't deny it.
"Why?" said Eidon.
"Because he knows what happened on the Hydra," she said, almost to herself, as if working out a riddle. "He'll know what's happening here."
What had she figured out that Eidon hadn't? "What's happening here?" he asked.
"The man's coat...." she said, shaking her head. "It had..." She drew her finger along her torso. One. Two. Three quick lines. "Slashes. Like claw marks."
"Claw marks?"
She looked at him then, and Eidon held his breath. "Look, you said yourself that I need my hands looked at. I'm just an injured person going to the infirmary."
Eidon had the distinct impression that this Celia girl wasn't just anything. But if taking her to the infirmary meant being around her for longer, Eidon was happy to do it.
"Come on," he said, and lead Celia and Franklin to the end of the deck toward the elevators. They'd take Franklin to the Howards first. That would give Eidon time to figure out what to tell the good captain when he saw him. The first thing the old man would want to know was why Eidon was out of his quarters after he'd been given strict instructions not to leave. After everything that had happened since he walked out the door, Eidon began to wonder if maybe his dad had been right about staying put.
Eidon reached for the button to call the elevator, and his hand grazed Celia's as she pushed it before he could.
No. The old man was wrong. If Eidon had been the good little sailor and done like he was told, he wouldn't be here, with this strange girl in blue. If Eidon listened to the good captain, there was no telling how much he would miss out on.
Celia's eye caught his, and he realized he'd been staring. Clearing his throat awkwardly, Eidon looked straight ahead, watching his warped reflection in the gold elevator doors, waiting for the ding.
Franklin's grip on his hand tightened. "Did you hear something?"
Eidon froze as a sound, like the revving of a nightmare chainsaw rose up from somewhere nearby.
But it wasn't a chainsaw. The sound was alive. Organic. He'd never heard anything like it before but still it lit up some long dormant instinct inside his mind that told him death was close.
And Eidon realized what it was.
A growl.
The hairs on the back of Eidon's neck stood on end as he stared into the warped reflection in the elevator door. Behind him, at the end of the hall, a shadowy figure watched, its red eyes glowing.
Eidon swallowed.
The owner of the paw prints had found them.