Chapter 156
- Evan -
The ferry groaned to life at last, the weight settling of our school bus now chained down on the small personal boat. The center deck looked like a bright yellow suitcase someone forgot to unpack. Salt wind whipped across the open water, cool spray blowing against us and the boat. Up ahead, there are cries of seagulls waiting for their next meal.
We stepped out, stretching our cramped legs, soaking in the rays of the bright sun. Becky leaned against Josh's arm. Micah and Baby took pictures. Kaysi stood near the railing, squinting, looking out at the glittering waves on the horizon. She was mesmerized as if she could hear the ocean talking back.
Duke locked the bus door, dusted his hands off, and marched toward the small captain's cabin with way too much confidence.
Baby followed behind, sunglasses on, as if she'd been preparing for this moment her entire life.
"You can really drive a ferry now, Duke?" Becky asked skeptically.
"Of course," Duke said. "I went out after our last fiasco and got full training 2 years ago. I can navigate land, air, and now sea vehicles—anything except microwaves. Those things are evil!"
"You burnt soup once," Baby added.
"How...?" I asked.
"Microwaves are evil," Duke repeated firmly.
He stepped into the cabin as if it were his throne room, grabbed the wheel, and began flipping switches he absolutely should not have known how to operate.
The ferry rumbled awake.
Engines hummed beneath us. Waves slapped against the hull as we pulled away from the dock. The mainland shrank behind us, replaced by miles of open ocean and sunlight.
"Well, I'll be; he really can drive." I chuckled.
"Told you," Duke yelled back.
Kaysi smiled, looking at Becky. "I can't wait to get to Keetoowah and see Cailian, Matilda, and Zyiah; she will be 15, and the twins, Hotah and Petya, will be nine now.
"It's hard to believe so much time has passed," Micah chimed in.
An hour passed, peaceful and surreal.
I leaned against the railing beside James. "Feeling better?"
"A little about my future, not so much with my stomach. He said. "The open ocean is helping and hurting at the same time."
"It usually does that." I agreed.
The power surged, and the engines stuttered.
The whole deck vibrated, not violently, but something else in the air? As if something had reached up from beneath us and flicked the ferry with one finger.
Josh straightened. "Uh...Duke?
Duke's head popped out of the cabin. "Don't worry! Probably just—"
Everything shut off all at once.
Lights, machines, and steering.
The ferry went dead in the water with a low, shallow humph.
Baby slowly removed her sunglasses. "Well. That's not ideal..."
Metal creaked beneath us. The deck tilted a fraction.
Kaysi looked around, alarm sharpening her voice. "Is this the Leviathan again?"
My stomach dropped. Last time we'd been here, a sea monster had nearly split the ferry like a can.
But Duke shook his head, his face going pale. No and no. I made sure we weren't anywhere near its hunting grounds. I navigate around it. Nothing should be here!"
Micah gripped the railing. "Then why...is the ocean doing that!?"
"Doing what? James asked—
—and then he saw it too.
The water ahead is spinning.
"Not fast like a drain—slow, heavy, deliberate, like a presence was drawing breath beneath the surface."
A massive whirlpool and the wrong color. It had a metallic shimmer like an oil spill.
There was a magnetic hum buzzing in the air, pulling at the ferry's hull.
It made my teeth buzz as if someone hit them with a tuning fork. Electronics on the deck flickered, died, and then sparked with static.
"What is this?" I whispered.
Duke restarts the controls, frantic now. "We're getting dragged—why are we getting dragged?!"
"Shit..." Duke muttered.
Josh's eyes widened. "Did Duke just curse?" Fear washed over all of us. "Oh, we're screwed then."
Josh jumped into the cabin as if he could figure out what to do.
Baby gripped the cabin doorway, eyes sharp. "This isn't weather. This is a field."
"A what?" Becky shouted.
Duke sucks in a breath, realization hitting him like a punch.
"We hit a magnetic quiet zone."
My blood went cold.
"You mean the myth? Like the devil's triangle thing?"
"It's not a myth," Duke snapped. "Ships and planes go in and are not seen again. I just don't understand. We are miles out from where that could have been, unless this is not the nature triangle that is in the ocean."
"A new magnetic field?" James asked.
"Maybe. It's just a hunch."
The whirlpool widened.
Deepened.
Hungry.
The metallic hum grew louder, vibrating us through our bones.
And the ferry—heavy, chained-down, diesel-powered—started sliding closer to the spinning maw anyway.
Kaysi grabbed my arm. "Evan… It is like something's calling from underneath."
"EVERYBODY BRACE FOR IMPACT!" Duke yelled!
Josh wrapped an arm around Becky, stabilized the other on the metal rail, and planted his feet. "What do we do?"
"Stay together!" Duke barked.
The ferry twisted, metal shrieking.
My heartbeat hammered in my skull. The water rose on either side like liquid walls.
Rogue waves came in from the sides of the pool, blocking out the sun.
Not one cloud in the sky, yet the waters stormed around us.
The ferry tilted harder as the whirlpool yanked us towards its center.
Waves slamming over the deck, knocking the breath out of us.
It was a cold and merciless hell.
Kaysi choked on a gasp as the ocean waves ripped her sideways and out of my arms.
"NO! I lunged and grabbed her wrist.
Another wave hit. I lost my footing.
We went under—pulling us into the glowing waters below.
My ears rang.
I tried to swim, but the mighty waves made my arms and legs disobey me.
I felt Kaysi's hand slip.
"NO!" Not again, my lungs burned, filling more and more with water.
Josh's voice echoed faintly under the water—Becky's hand reaching for him.
James and Micah are kicking desperately—Micah's scream is silent, swallowed in bubbles.
Duke and Baby were the only shapes that seemed steady, wings barely visible through the blur as they fought the current, trying to pull us together.
But even they were at the mercy of the whirlpool, dragging all of us farther down.
Water filled the last inches of my lungs; my chest cracked with pain.
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't—
Everything went black.
Something hits against my skull.
I heard a voice—distant.