Chapter 40: Chapter 13

Laying on my back in Abble’s bed, I stared up at her as she sat with her legs crossed next to me and my elbow on her thigh.

Abble smirked, clutching my wrist in her rough hand. “Hold still, or I will cut your finger off,” she warned, with the switchblade pressed to my white nails. “You have such healthy-looking nails. I am a tad jealous.”

“Okay, but can you not look at me like that?” I said, grabbing the soft maroon blanket with my free hand.

Her head tilted. “Like what?”

When I tried pulling my hand away, it did not move an inch. “Like you’re about to do something cruel.”

“Nah. I’ll give you a break for a few minutes,” Abble winked, carefully sliding the pocket knife up and around my finger. “You’ve scratched me like twenty times already. If you don’t let me do this, I’m going to stop training you.”

It surprised me that her knife cut through them so well. I had attempted this on my own, which was way too difficult. It probably didn’t help that I used a dagger, and not a knife.

While taking care not to clip my skin, she moved to my other fingers with her hazel eyes glued to the task at hand—though the task was simple, her expression of determination was as if the world was ending.

“Thanks for doing this,” I said, as her attention remained steady.

“Make sure you keep them filed down so we don’t have to do this again.”

“Will do,” I replied before she moved on to my other hand.

After finishing, Abble picked one of the nails up and held it to the light that shone through the window, examining it.

My heart dropped as I saw smoke faintly coming from it, but Abble sat it down before noticing.

Shit. I didn’t think about that. Luckily, the sun was kissing the horizon because it would have probably sent it into a smoking mess if that were mid-day light.

Note to self: don’t get your ring finger cut off.

“It’s really thick but white. Almost like a tiger claw,” she said, picking them all up from the covers.

I sat up, holding myself with my palms. “What a tiger?”

Abble laughed as she hopped up from the bed and walked over to a door that wasn’t the entrance.

I had been wondering where that door led. It couldn’t be far since the captain’s lodge took up the whole back wall of the ship.

She grabbed the silver handle and flung it open before dropping my nails into a seat of sorts. After Abble pulled a rope inside, I heard a slamming noise, and she stepped out, closing the door.

“It’s a toilet. The rope opens a hatch that drops your shit into the ocean”—Abble strolled over—“it the only one on the boat.”

“That’s convenient.”

Abble crawled onto the bed, lying down on her back next to me. “Yeah, it’s better than squatting over a pan.”

“So, a tiger?”

Abble made a clawing motion in the air. “It’s like a huge mountain lion, but orange with black stripes.”

“So the rug on the floor was tiger fur?”

She nodded. “Yup. I have some of its teeth and claws at home.”

“Mountain lions are kinda big. That’s terrifying.”

“Yeah, one could definitely gobble you up in two seconds—Abble smiled—“You probably just be a snack.”

I flopped back down on the bed with a sigh, looking up at the ceiling. “When are we planning to practice with some swords? We have been wrestling around for days.”

While it had gotten me some XP in my stamina, strength and agility stats, it wasn’t enough for the beating I took. 

“If you can’t get out of a headlock, what makes you think you’re capable of doing anything with a sword?”

With a frown on my face, I glanced at her. “A sword might keep my head from getting squeezed off.”

“I let you control the situation. It’s not like I’m just beating up on you. You need to be more aggressive.”

“You lie so much. You like tossing me around, and”—I sighed—“it’s because I don’t want to touch you inappropriately by accident.”

Abble rolled on her side. “Am I pretty to you?”

Where did this come from?

I coughed, looking back up at the bed’s canopy. “Why would you ask that?”

“Because you’re around the age, young men get wild with their urges.”

Ugh. Abble was definitely not into me, and I wasn’t into her. What was the point of asking that, besides making me uncomfortable or a reason to act all insults when I didn’t say what she wanted?

I felt like lying would not do me any good and insulting her wasn’t the answer here.

“Yeah. You’re nice looking.”

I wasn’t about to tell Abble she was pretty because she would most definitely take it the wrong way and tease me about it. There had to be a middle ground, and that was the best I could come up with.

In all honesty, Abble was probably the most attractive woman I’ve ever seen, but it didn’t provoke any feelings or urges.

Lately, I have been feeling kind of numb, anyway. Nothing gave me a rush of emotions, which was fine with me. Cain had told me it would be an issue, but if anything, I was calmer.

I could sense her hazel eyes staring at me. “But not pretty?”

She was fishing for compliments or entertainment, neither of which I wanted to give.

I glanced over at her. “Abble…”

“Just tell me the truth. I promise I won’t get weirded out or mad,” she said, spinning a hair strand around her finger. “I’m serious.”

I paused, letting out a long breath. “You’re very attractive. Probably”—I swallowed my apprehension—“probably the most…”

Yeah, that wasn’t coming out of my mouth.

Abble’s eyebrow raised. “Say it.”

“You get the point.”

“Say it.”

“You’re probably the most attractive woman I have seen,” I blurted out.

Abble squinted her eyes at me. “But you never tried copping a feel.”

“Well… that wouldn’t be right because we’re training, and I respect you.”

My eyes couldn’t take looking at her anymore and found their home on the ceiling.

“So you touch women you don’t respect?”

I rolled to my side, facing her. “You know that’s not what I meant,” I said sternly.

Abble lips held a wide grin. “It was a jokeee. Calm down. So uptight.”

“Sometimes I don’t know.”

Abble gave me a long stare. “I like you.”

I paused. “Thanks.”

“Wow. I hope you don’t say that to the first woman that says she loves you.”

“I am sorry. I enjoyed our time together. Even if you annoy me sometimes.”

Abble put her hand over her chest. “Me? Annoy you? Impossible—I’m glad you came along. We will surely be besties by the time we make it to the college.”

I huffed. “I would hope so. That much time to spend with someone you don’t like.”

As I stood up to leave, Abble pounced on me, wrapping her arms around my neck from behind.

“Don’t leave. I’ll be nice,” she said into my ear.

“You can survive without me for a few hours.”

Abble groaned. “I don’t know how to function in a friendship, and it feels embarrassing as fuck to say this, but”—there was a long pause—“if I exhaust you, please let me know…” Abble stopped, but it felt like there was more to be said.

That was super sad. However, I planned to repay her for all the unnecessary games she played.

I gave her a nice long pause to worry her. “You’re way too much.”

Abble’s arms dropped from me, and I stood up, backpedalling towards the door.

“Okay…” she said, looking down at her hands. “I’ll leave you alone.”

Why did she have to look like that? She was actually upset, and now I feel terrible.

“Abble, I was kidding”—I put my hand on the silver door nob—“I’ll see you in the morning when I wake up. I am just exhausted from my lack of sleep last night.”

She looked up with a giant smile on her lips. “You are getting a little too comfortable with me lately. I am the bully in this relationship.”

I knew to stop at that smirk. That expression only led to my self-esteem being smashed on the ground and I had yet to pick it up from the last time.

A knock on the door startled me, and Abble jumped up. I stepped out of the way as she opened it to reveal Wrecky in a long dungaree coat with his hair in a bun.

Wrecky appeared lost in thought before returning to us. “I would like you to come downstairs with me.”

“Something wrong?” Abble asked, and Wrecky said nothing for a moment.

“Possibly. I would appreciate you joining me, just encase”—he looked over at me standing next to Abble—“leave Kade here.”

Abble shook her head. “I will accompany you, but Kade is coming with us.”

Wrecky nodded. “If that’s what you wish.”

Abble moved over to her bed, dragging her scabbard out from underneath it. She pulled the blade out and gestured towards the door with it. “Make sure you stay close,” she said, and I nodded.

We left through the door, and I quickly closed it behind me. Wrecky started moving the moment we came out of the entrance, and I travelled down the corridor next to Abble.

Wrecky kept a hastened pace forward, making his boots click on the floorboards as his gem lantern swayed in his hand.

This seems serious.

Abble was clearly lost in contemplation about what was going on, as her face revealed her curiosity.

Sometimes, Abble would be emotionless; other times, she wore it on her sleeve. I preferred the latter because it was easy to gauge if she was joking or serious. It was important I knew how to respond to her jesting, or I might get my ass kicked.

As Wrecky led us out of the officer’s quarters to the deck, everyone on the boat was standing around with swords and lanterns in hand.

I didn’t know there were this many men on the boat.

About thirty from my quick count.

In front of the quarterdeck, a few men stood around the stairs that led into the hull. They appeared nervous, which instantly transferred to me with how Wrecky was acting.

What was going on? Everyone was on the deck was acting like something was inside the boat.

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“Did you find anything, William?” Wrecky asked, glaring at his crew standing away from the stairs.

“Nothing was found,” William replied to Wrecky before nodding down the stairs. “But there is something down there. Everyone has been hearing the growling, and I... I saw it.”

Wrecky nodded at him before staring into the dark staircase. “I will check the ship myself”—he glanced back at the men standing around on the deck—“you all better find your fucking balls before I come back up, or I will tell Harper we need new men.”

Despite taking the lead into the ship, William hesitated when he took his first step. What he had seen down there rattled him, and it was written all over his face. Wrecky presence behind, however, gave him a push.

Abble and I glanced at each other, and words weren’t needed. We both knew the same concern.

We followed them down into the haul, and Abble wouldn’t let me take the back of the line, which annoyed me.

I tossed her hand from my arm. “What are you doing?”

“Clearly, you’re going to be the first one to die if you’re in the back.”

I huffed. “And you won’t be?”

“Psh. No.”

So confident.

“Shouldn’t I have grabbed my dagger?”

“Nah, if Wrecky and I die, it won’t matter.”

She just brought her pet along, didn’t she?

Woolf, Woolf. Am a good boy.

God help me… I mean, System help me.

I couldn’t see much as we passed down the creaky stairs that rotated to the bottom. Wrecky had to duck for the first three floors, but as we arrived at the base, he could stand upright.

The last floor was extremely dark, except for the two gem lanterns that Wrecky and the man held. They led the way towards the back, and Abble gave me a nudge to move forward.

The bottom was just filled with cobwebs, dust, crates, and barrels.

There was a strong, musty smell here that really aggravated my nose. I was also picking up something I couldn’t put words on.

Our cramped walkway was littered with rat... bodies.

A rancid meat odour soon joined the must that became stronger the farther down the ship we travelled.

As we came to an end, the man held his lantern up to the ripped-apart casks. Preserved meat and its brine were all over the floor. The hunks of flesh look like they had a piece missing but were overall still intact.

Whatever did this didn’t like the taste.

Wrecky bent down and picked up a handful of black hair. He held it to the light of his lantern.

“So you all were not imaging it,” he said to William.

“Imagining what?” Abble asked, and Wrecky glanced back at her.

“The men had been saying that they had found a lot of black fur around the stairs and food.”

I pointed at the rats. “What is that about?”

William looked at me. “We don’t know, but they’re drained.”

I squatted down, looking at one of the rat corpses. It was sunken to its skeleton like it had been… fed on. It was as if its blood had been drained.

This was revenant behaviour.

But the black hair…

“What type of hair is it?” I asked, looking up at Wrecky.

Wrecky shrugged. “Likely bear or wolf. I’m not sure,” he said, holding the fur in front of me. “I am confident neither is on board.”

My mind was telling me it wasn’t possible, but this looked like the fur of a black wolf. Of course, there were plenty of animals with the same coloured coat, but this… sleek, pitch-black hair… there was no way.

Where would the wolf even hide on this boat? It was huge. How would they get on with all the men walking around? It can’t be.

The alternative wasn’t good either.

One of the men on this boat was turning into a revenant, but who? Breaking into the food in a ravenous frenzy probably meant they were trying to satiate their hunger with regular food and then went for the rats.

But that wouldn’t explain the fur. Where was that coming from?

“You got an idea, Kade?” Wrecky asked. “You look like you were thinking.”

I stood up, running my fingers through my hair. “One of your men might be turning into a revenant.”

“Like an undead? I would know if someone contracted the tide fever.”

I shook my head. “No, I don’t think we are talking about the same thing, like a vampire. I would say a demon, but there was desperation here. A demon wouldn’t resort to feeding on food that wouldn’t satiate its hunger, let alone go after rats on a boat full of men. This person doesn’t understand what is happening to them.”

Abble looked at me with a sceptical look. “Vampires are real? And you're an expert?”

Wrecky tossed his arms up. “So there’s more than one type of dead fuckers. Great.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, curious what he meant by other.

“There’s the undead tide. They’re like… dead sea pirates.”

Abble laughed. “What were you and dad smoking? There is no such thing as ocean pirates.”

Wrecky stared at Abble intensely. “They’re very real, child.”

The air reminded quiet for a moment before a creaking noise behind caused everyone’s heads to jolt towards the pathway to the stairs.

The four of us stood in silence, peering into the darkness.

“Let’s leave,” I suggested, and Wrecky led the way back up the stairs.

On returning to the deck, all the men stared at something near the front of the boat. Wrecky grunted as he made his way toward the congregation. He knocked his men out of his way before halting.

Abble and I walked to the front, looking down at the butchery before us.

A man had his rib cage torn open. The bottom of his jaw was yanked down and barely attached, maybe only by his tongue.

His insides hung out and were so sliced up that they were just a pile of mush. The white of his cracked rib bones was noticeable through the red flesh.

I had never seen something so gruesome as this. It reminded me of when my father killed a deer close to home, and I got to see him slice its belly open and pull its organs out.

This was horrible, but my mouth began to water at the smell of the crimson nectar.

There wasn’t much blood left, but the sweet scent still emanated from the body. I swallowed the saliva building up in my mouth.

I just wanted a drop of it. Just a small taste of what I experienced with Cain. The euphoria—

“Kade”—Abble shook my shoulder—“Are you okay?”

“Sorry, it was just… disturbing.”

Wrecky pinched the bridge of his nose, walking away. “I want a count of everyone on the deck, now!” he shouted, pointing at William.

“Yes, sir,” William said, before turning to the group of men. “Get in line now,” He ordered, and they listened.

A man glanced at me and leaned into the ear of the guy next to him. They both stared at me for a moment before looking away as I glared back at them.

Don’t you fucking dare think it was me. I have done nothing but sit in Abble’s room and deal with that flowery blood smell that only recently stopped tormenting me a couple of days ago—

Wait… was I smelling…

That connection didn’t need to be made… gross, gross, gross.

“That really grossed you out, huh?” Abble said, folding her arms.

“Among other things.”

Abble stared at me for a second. “How do you know about revertants? You said you killed one once.”

“So that’s why you laughed at me.”

“Well, it’s a ghost story in Lockward, so yeah, we would laugh at you.”

“I didn’t know there were other types of undead.”

We’re all fallen, not the same?

Abble sighed. “Yeah, but I didn’t think they were real. Now I am questioning everything.”

“Dragons are pretty crazy sounding, so an undead monster is probably near to the truth.”

“How do we find this vampire thing?” Abble asked, stepping behind me. “If it comes at me, I’m going to use you as bait, okay?”

“What? Stop joking around.”

Abble gestured forward. “You said you killed one. By all means, be a hero again.”

I glanced back at her. “Why are you so calm right now? You joke when we could die.”

“I won’t let us die,” Abble said as her voice fell on Montone. “I promise that.”

“Well, that’s good because I wish to live a bit longer.”

There was some silence before Abble spoke.

“How did you kill the revenant?” She asked, returning to my side.

I made a chopping motion with my hand. “Axe through the neck. It came into my village, and it was stalking my sister and mother into our barn.”

“That easy?”

“I think it was injured, and I did cut its arm off, and got it pretty heavily in the chest beforehand—I am not sure how to find it. Maybe lure it out?”

Wait. Did that black wolf attack it before it made its way to the barn? It looked like something with claws had attacked it. The wolf did look back at the village when we meet the first time.

Why was this wolf showing up everywhere?

“Still impressive. You might have some secret talent”—Abble gave me a genuine smile—“I mean that. We’ll try some sword and fist fighting after all this is resolved.

“Fist?”

“Yeah, you’re not always able to have a sword, and popping someone in the face during a fight can be useful. There is also disarmament to worry about.”

“That’s true. However, I don’t want to—”

Everyone heard a deep, echoing growl from below the deck, and swords shot up.

And here we go.

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