Hey there to all of you!
Thanks to my reviewers: FlyWithMe2Neverland, classofthetitans711, HoneyGoddess57 and Tinian I'att.
…
Chapter 12
The Nightmare Continues
We were home again, the familiar forests on the outskirts of New Olympia welcoming us as Herry drove by the sign reading New Olympia – Two Miles. There was a bustle of excited voices in the back of the truck, everyone chattering about absolute nonsense that they wouldn't remember when we got home.
Theresa sat in the front seat, her hair tied up in a messy pony-tail, exposing more of her face, just the way I liked it. She turned back to face me and smiled, Herry chortling about something in the driver's seat next to her. She was smiling at me, and I grinned back.
The truck swerved with a jolt to overtake a car in front of us, and we all swayed with it, Herry still laughing. "Are you ready, Jay?" Theresa asked me, her voice vibrant and ringing in my ears.
I was still grinning, "Ready for what?" The truck swerved again, this time with more of a violent jerk.
"Can't you hear the sirens?" she was still smiling.
I could hear them. They were chasing us, gaining, just on our tail. They sounded harsh and determined. Had we done something wrong? Why was everyone still so happy? Theresa laughed louder, absentmindedly reaching for the volume knob on the truck's radio. A crisp, heavy sound exploded from the speakers, completely blocking out the sound of the whirring sirens. I had to cover my ears to actually hear what it was through the blare.
The sound that came out of the speakers was deafening, and hauntingly familiar. Cronus' laugh, the one he always bellows with when he believes he's won. The one that had me shivering from fear whenever I heard it. Everyone erupted in laughter and fell in with the harsh cackling, splitting my ears with their volume. The sound was eerie and echoing in the tiny space. What was going on?
The inside of the car was filled with distant voices transcending and dropping in pitch, matching that of Cronus' own crowing. I turned and faced the others. Where my team had been only a moment before, faceless creatures were roaring in thundering fits of laughter. Their limbs were short and twisted; all elastically reaching out to me at the same time, eyes only smoky red orbs and limitlessly menacing. The liquid limbs caught me, grabbing me by my neck, arms and legs, dragging me into a black abyss that blazed between them as I struggled fruitlessly against their pull. Nothing could be seen in the clamouring darkness. Nothing could be heard save that of Cronus' deep, satisfied laughter. A wave of fear washed over me, I couldn't even hear myself screaming.
It all started to fade in a slowly erupting wave, as if I'd been plunged into stippled black water; but silently, there played the reminiscent tune of a tinkling music box, clicking to a slow stop.
…
I jolted upright, jerking myself out of my hammock and landing in a pathetic heap on the floor as I did so. The threads from the fibrous material of the hammock tangling over and around my arms and legs recalled the image of the twisting limbs that had pulled at me and I yelled out when I hit a solid floor, my ears still blocked by the subconscious stillness.
I swallowed bitterly as relief flooded over me; I was okay. It was only a dream, but it had me sweating furiously.
I took in a deep huff of salty sea-air and looked around the empty sleeping chamber; there didn't seem to be anyone else in the room. They must have still been on the island, which had me wondering exactly what time it was and how long I had been asleep.
I tried disentangling myself from the mess of threads that had a hold on my ankles, but I only ended up getting trapped in more of the spindly fabric. I pouted and then decided to stand up, regretting my attempt as I immediately took a trip, nose-first, back down to the hard floor. Groaning, I instead pulled myself free from the nest of rope by slowly crawling along the floor until I was far away from the heap of messy twine, only a small trail of it following me along the floor.
Standing up, I dusted myself off, removed the last loop of rope from my ankle, and took a look at the torn bit of fabric that had been allocated to me as a home. There was a huge hole in the middle of the material where I had unwoven the threads while flailing around in my sleep, and more of it had come undone when I'd pulled myself free of the cords. I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck where I'd fallen.
My hammock was placed next to the short stairway that led into the sleeping chamber. Meaning that I always got the hottest or coldest share of the incoming air, depending on our position in the ocean; an occasional sea spray reaching me to wake me up early in the mornings of the never-ending journey.
Nightmares, I hated them.
I'd had that one before though, remembered almost every detail - but the music box was new. It was the tune from Theresa's music box, or at least what my subconscious mind could evoke of the melody. I knew what the nightmare meant; I've had them too often not to know. I was stressed… not that it was much of a surprise. A lot of things had occurred lately, things I hadn't had enough time to mull over yet. I would be able to sort myself out if I could control where my mind wandered, there were just too many things that needed considering for it all to work out systematically.
A loud thud came from behind me and I turned immediately to investigate. I came face to face with a panting Herry, Archie tumbling down the few steps after him in a grumpy huff. They were both red-faced and out of breath. Herry practically barged over to me as Archie stood up and theatrically dusted himself off behind the burly boy.
They both looked at me gravely for what seemed like hours, catching their breath shallowly. Finally, I just couldn't take the weight of what was going unsaid between us and hurriedly burst out, "Well, what happened? Did it work?"
Herry and Archie exploded in long sighs of relief, huge grins cracking into their serious expressions. "You're still here aren't you?" asked Herry. "I think we did well enough."
"Yeah," added Archie, "I think you're good. As long as no part of you suddenly disappears or you don't spontaneously combust, that is."
I smiled, extremely relieved, weight rolling off of my shoulders and away to where they couldn't bother anybody, "You really think it all went okay?"
Herry chuckled, "Positive." He scowled suddenly, his hand going to the back of his head out of intimated reflex. "But I don't think Jason's going to be too happy about what we did to him though."
"I couldn't imagine anybody being happy about it," Archie fiddled with his fingers.
I almost melted in relief, grinning exuberantly at my two friends. This was fantastic! I decided I'd worry about Jason's possible reactions later, at least something good happened; things were finally starting to look up now. "Guys," I said breathlessly, "this is awesome! I can't thank you enough for-"
Archie draped his arm casually over my shoulder, interrupting my train of thought, "As long as you don't make us do anything like that again, you won't have to return the favour."
I was about to point out that I didn't actually make them do anything, but I was interrupted again. Only this time, it was by Atlanta's furious squawk, "Where have you guys been!"
All three of us turned simultaneously to look at the red-faced redhead, all of us immediately averting our eyes from her livid glare, suddenly taking a keen interest in our sandals. She stomped down the few steps aggressively and pulled me down to her level by the front of my tunic. Our noses almost touched, and I could almost feel the anger rolling off of her in waves. Archie gulped softly next to me, only making me feel even more nervous.
"I only have one question," Atlanta stated through clenched teeth, "what in Hades is going on with you guys?"
"Nothing!" we all responded in unison.
Atlanta raised an eyebrow, a very clear sign that she wasn't buying it. "Then why did you do me the gracious honour of locking me in the food closet?"
"Uhhh…" I felt the sweat start to bead on my forehead and slowly start to drizzle down my face under her hot glare and irate shouting. Should we tell her? I didn't really see the harm now. If she really wanted to know that badly I could brush it off, but I would have preferred it if we could just keep the day's events to ourselves. I stole a glance at Archie and Herry; they both wore equally uncertain expressions.
The menacing flames in Atlanta's eyes dimmed down and she became less hostile, sensing something important must have been up if we were all looking so reluctant. She searched my face almost desperately for an explanation, "Just tell me the truth."
Archie shuffled over to us and put his pale hand on her small shoulder. She slowly uncurled her fingers from the fabric of my tunic, instead turning to him for an answer to her incomprehension.
"Atlanta," he started awkwardly, "you better take a seat."
…
"So you wanted to prevent the chance of you not existing by incapacitating Jason and making sure he got together with an Amazon?" Atlanta summarised. We'd been delving through our complex reasoning and relaying the information together for Atlanta, the past half hour taken up by our tales of misadventure. Archie, Herry and I were nodding along with her words as she spoke, all the while encouraging her to keep the particulars to herself. At one point, Archie had tried adding more action to the story, over exaggerating every detail until it had gone a little too far and we had to put an end to his re-enactments.
The sleeping chamber was still empty. That was good because Atlanta probably wasn't allowed in here, seeing as she shared a cabin with Atalanta and no one else was allowed in there. It was already late afternoon when I'd woken up, and by now it must have been almost sunset. Somehow, Atlanta didn't seem angry anymore; rather she seemed quite hurt that she'd been kept in the dark, literally, about the past days' occurrences. It wasn't fair to leave her out of the process, but I would have preferred it to keep the information private… for personal reasons.
"Yeah," said Herry, "something like that."
Atlanta leaned back against the wall; we were all sitting cross-legged on the planked floor of the sleeping chamber. She looked like she was extremely tender with the information we'd just fed her, and I couldn't blame her for feeling that way. I was disgusted at the plan in the first place and only agreed to it because no other solution came to mind. I could have just told Jason the truth, but doing something like that could have dire implications. For one thing, it could have blown our cover completely.
"So then why did you lock me away?" she asked, still wearing an indecisive expression.
"The plan depended on timing," I said. "We didn't know what would happen if we had to spend time relaying the operation to you."
"Also," Archie added, "you're really persistent, and you wouldn't have let us go along with the plan 'cause you'd think it was disgusting."
Atlanta sighed and gave Archie an edgy look, "You're probably right… about the last part anyway. And it's not like you wouldn't have been sickened by the idea."
Archie chose to ignore this, histrionically scratching his ear with one finger to make it look like he hadn't heard her.
"Regardless," I said, "it was the first thing we thought of without having to put you through something traumatic. So we're sorry for doing that to you, Atlanta."
"We wanted to spare the details from you, Neil and Odie." Herry said, "We felt it was just a minor setback in a major operation, you know? Too much information and the like."
Atlanta pretended to think about it, "I suppose it's justified; but I still don't think it was fair that you guys were willing to keep things from the rest of us."
Archie smiled at her, "Would you forgive us if we promised not to do it again?"
Atlanta gave him a smirk and nudged him with her toe, "You think I'm going to let you catch me again? Don't make me laugh."
Archie grinned, "You are so on."
Those words were enough to spread a wry grin on Atlanta's small face, and for the two of them to catapult themselves up the stairs and out of the chamber, Atlanta speeding off ahead of Archie as they went. Herry and I looked at each other, sharing a silent chuckle. At least those two would burn off some steam, and the exercise would do them some good. It was frustrating not to have enough space to run about, despite how large the ship was.
"So," Herry started, "what happened to your bed?" He was pointing at my torn hammock, some of the fabric still in a tangled heap on the floor.
I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed as the realisation hit me that I wouldn't have anywhere more comfortable than the floor to sleep on. "Uh, just had a bad night's sleep."
Herry gave me a sceptic look, "Night? I think you've already slept through most of the morning."
I smiled, "Not exactly."
"What do you mean?"
"Let's just say the plan is fully operational now that we've eliminated some of the minor details." I couldn't help but cheer up when I said this. I felt like we were finally getting somewhere now that Theresa knew my name; and I would be able to talk to her more often now that I was acquainted with Basil and knew some major parts of her back-story. I took a deep breath of satisfied air, still smiling at Herry's expression.
"So you finally got somewhere with Theresa?" Herry asked.
"Yep, and I think she may even consider me a friend now."
"Jay, Atlanta was right. Remember, this isn't just your mission. You can't just keep us out of it and expect us to know what's happening all the time; it's not fair to the rest of us." Herry seemed almost peeved at my chipper attitude.
I turned and faced him. He was right, I was being extremely selfish lately; but I couldn't help it. I was a sullen mess then, but now I felt more at ease. I hadn't been a good leader for my team, but I planned to change that sooner rather than later.
"I will, Herry. As soon as everyone's back on board, we'll have a team meeting. I wanted to hear some of your opinions on the matter in any case," We walked up the few stairs together as I said this, and I really meant it. I wasn't being fair to any of them by keeping all of the information to myself.
Herry seemed much calmer now and almost smiled, somewhat content with my response. "Okay, so we're just going to- Jay, watch out!"
His cry came a split-second too late. Something hit me over the head hard and I fell forward, caught by the sturdy, unfriendly arms of Theseus. Herry tried to intervene on my behalf, but was held back strongly by a much stronger Hercules. Theseus hauled me up suddenly, nearly throwing me out in front of him, his arms now encircling my biceps and chest to stop me from squirming away from him and out of his hold. My head throbbed violently as I struggled against his bulk. What did they feed these people?
I was lifted off the ground and carried to the main deck beneath the forecastle of the ship. Behind the heavy iron railing stood Jason, towering above me like a great king as I was forced down to my knees on the firm boards of sun-bleached wood, Theseus now holding my hands clasped tightly behind my back.
Jason glared down at me icily from his lofty perch. His hair was tousled in a wild heap as if he's been attacked by birds, and his signature armour glinted messily in the dimming sunlight. He looked like he just came out of a particularly boorish tussle with someone far bigger than him. He stood completely still and I could see him breathing heavily in his squalid anger, somewhat stooping with the effort – he seemed simply exhausted, as if he would collapse at any moment. The only thing that would have made it funny was if he had lipstick smudges all over his face like in those senseless cartoons; but there was nothing at all comical about the look he was throwing at me at that moment.
"I thought I could trust you, Jay." He said, "You seemed so promising at first, I had even considered us friends, comrades." He leaned his weight forward onto the rail to make sure I was paying close attention to him. I tried looking away but Theseus pulled my head back by my hair, forcing my eyes up to the forecastle. "I don't know why you did what you did, but I assure you, Jay, that your actions will not go unpunished."
I gulped and Herry shuffled behind me, a crowd had started to gather to see what was going on. Half of the crew was now watching the captain, some of them placing bets on whether or not Jason would have me thrown overboard or whipped.
"For your little bite of fun, Jay, you will be left here on the island with whatever you carry with you at this moment." He reminded me very much of a strict principal or a prison warden. I wanted to speak up and ask him what I was guilty of, but as soon as the first gasp of air left my lungs Theseus had kneed me between the shoulder blades and I spluttered loudly.
Jason didn't let this little stunt stop his embellished pride, "And furthermore-"
"What are you doing, Jason?" a loud voice came from somewhere behind the crowd. The throng immediately parted to allow her passage, and Theresa stepped forward into the semicircle formed by the crowds and the high wall below the forecastle, looking up at Jason with a menacing but at the same time questioning expression.
Jason looked down at her with weak eyes, "Theresa, please - this has nothing to do with you."
She folded her arms tightly over her chest and almost snorted, very unladylike for someone with her title. "Is that so?" she started up the steps to the forecastle, "Can I have a word with you, Jason?"
He looked like he was about to roll his eyes, reluctant about having to quit his bout of orders, but he curtly turned to face her and they spoke too softly for me to hear anything other than quick stints of anger or confusion. As this occurred, hushed whispers reverberated around the crowd, everyone too curious and frightened to turn away or say anything out loud. Jason meekly used hand gestures while explaining his side of the argument, Theresa whispering back at him heatedly. Jason pointed down at me accusingly and Theresa shot me a shocked glance, she then looked at him seriously and said something very slowly. Jason seemed to pause, whisper something back, and then stiffly nod in his consent.
Theresa took a step back and Jason turned around to face me again, his hands on the metal railing. "You're lucky, Jay. I wouldn't show this type of mercy to just anybody, but seeing as you are a dear old friend of my fiancé," he paused, narrowing his eyes, the way he said that seemed like he was trying to mimic Theresa's voice, obviously disbelieving what she'd told him, "you will stay aboard the Argo;" I breathed a sigh of relief, "and assist the cook with his duties."
This left me taken aback slightly, the cook? He wanted me to work with Basil?
Jason went on, "You will not leave the kitchens or the galley, you will not come on land when we make port, and," he paused again, his eyes burning, "you will have no interaction with my fiancé whatsoever from now on."
I could feel my face fall even more than it already had. I wasn't allowed to see Theresa? This was bad. No, it was horrible! How was I supposed to get the information I needed?
I glanced at Theresa. Hurt crossed her face with a flit of anger, making her look as if she despised the sight of me, like I was vermin. I didn't want to meet her gaze, I felt like I had betrayed her by doing what I did. I couldn't defend myself and pull Herry and Archie into this - that would just be stupid and selfish. As the sun vanished behind the horizon, my head sank with it. In a typical prison warden manner, Jason turned and walked back to his cabin, yanking Theresa after him. I was left to be pulled down to the galley below deck by Theseus' agonising strength, the disappointed crowds watching me as I went.
I didn't have the heart or the breath to try and struggle against him as my feet swept lifelessly across the deck. Today hadn't gone my way after all… I never planned for anything like this. I didn't know what to do. Normally I would have relished such a challenge, easily clueing through some manner or loophole to get out of escape my sentence; but now I just felt sick to my stomach.
I was too stupefied to react when I heard Herry make a bland remark behind me, "Well, at least now you don't have to worry about fixing your bed."
…
Mwahaha! Jay is my little victim!
What did you guys think?
Don't be too hard on Jason; he was just flustered and trying to restore order. Besides, Jay was the last person he saw, so naturally he would assume he had something to do with it. Captains those days weren't very forgiving when you made a big blunder.
At least the story's moving on a bit more now!
Don't hate, XD
~Toymaker