Sorry it took so long...I wasn't feeling motivated, maybe because of the Christmas break. Also, I am writing another story at the same time.
Just make things clear, Sam, Danny and Tucker are a bit different in character since, remember, they are eighteen. So don't be angry!
On with the story, I am back into it!😜❤
Chapter 3
Curiosity killed the cat
It had been three weeks since Danny had found Sam, a stowaway, on his ship. She was, for now, a part of his crew but he was getting quite curious about her background. Sam did talk to many people but never stuck with one, except him and Tucker, since, he thought was because they were sharing a room. Even though she communicated with him and others, she never talked about herself. Her last name, where she grew up, childhood friends, parents, not even stuff she liked or disliked. She never opened up, and it was really hard to know what she was thinking. Danny only knew four things about her. Her name was Sam, she was the same age as him, she was a vegetarian and she was really secretive. She was a tuff nut to crack.
Danny had barely been able to get her age out of her, but she had told him because it didn't really change anything if he knew or not. Danny needed to tell her or show her that he could be trusted, he was her captain after all and friend, well, he hoped. Of course he knew she didn't need to trust him with her life because neither did he, they only knew each other for three weeks, but it seemed that her trust was almost zilch. He noticed she had big trust issues.
The halfling had gotten impatient, he had waited long enough. He was going to find out what she was keeping from him. Danny knew that Sam hiding something. Something she didn't want anybody to know. But sometimes it was good to talk to people about these things, to not keep everything bottled up. He might even be able to help her with any problems she may have. He was the captain of the quite famous pirate ship, The Phantom.
Danny starting pacing up and down the length of the ship's deck, while the crew did their jobs, watching the odd behaviour of their captain. They stayed out of it since he looked so spaced out, probably having something he was trying to figure out. Danny always paced when he was trying to find a solution of something that was stumping him. Once, he paced up and down the deck for hours because he was trying to figure out how to divide the ship's chores schedule so that everyone would be happy. He was quite an odd captain, loveable but odd captain.
This time, Danny was thinking of how to get the truth out Sam and to heal her of her trust issues. He could just tell her straight out to tell him why she's so secretive. But that would be too forward and she wouldn't talk to him for weeks. Or he could use force, but that wasn't at all his character. Danny's last idea was to trick her, start a friendly conversation with her and then quietly and casually slip some unnoticeable questions in there to make her reveal stuff about herself by mistake. The only way that wouldn't work was if Sam was really intelligent or refused to make small talk with him. But her refusing to talk to him was probably not going to happen, they were stuck on a sailing ship, in the middle of nowhere, having nothing to do since no pirate ships to loot were not in sight.
Danny stopped pacing, he will have to try his third idea, trick her. At least he would try.
Tucker had been observing his friend, stuck in thought, wondering what he was pondering about this time. The African-American already had a little idea of what it was or as he could say, who it was.
"Probably thinking of Sam. Sometimes I forget of how curious he can get." Tucker thought, snickering.
Then Danny stopped, Tucker seeing that he was out of his thinking bubble walked over to him, going to see if his hypothesis was right. Of course Tucker always thought he was right, being the most intellectual around here. He sometimes had a bit too much pride but nobody is perfect. Still, it did get on people's nerves sometimes, saying that he was always right, then being wrong and saying it wasn't his fault. But he was still liked by the crew, he was the navigator after all. If Tucker wasn't on board, they would be sailing in circles, running out of water and then dying in the middle of nowhere. If that wasn't enough for people to like him, what else was?
Tucker also could be called the inventor, he did make the ship's engine and power generator by using ghost energy. It worked exactly like electricity, lightbulbs and everything. The engine, also ran on ghost energy, making the ship go faster. If they didn't have an engine, they would have to wait for the wind to catch the sails or row the boat manually. That would be no good since it would drain the energy from the crew and make then more venerable from attackers. Hense making them weaker.
Tucker was now next to Danny, speaking before Danny could,
"Thinking about Sam eh? So what ingenious scheme have you plotted?"
"How did you know I was thinking about her? Most of all plotting something?"
Tucker raised his left eyebrow, "Danny, we've been friends for years, why wouldn't I know? And the only thing that has changed, since, like forever was the arrival of Sam. I still can't believe how fast you made her part of the crew. My guess is because she put you under her spell by looking at you with her violet eyes."
"Oh... hey! Making Sam part of the crew was a nice thing to do, we couldn't just drop her off the next island we saw, she didn't have anywhere else to go! Thank you very much!" Danny said, expressing himself even more by flinging his arms everywhere dramatically, trying to hide that he was slightly blushing. And he wasn't under anyone's spell, right? Now Tucker made Danny question his reasons for letting Sam stay on the ship. He wasn't that weak against her charms. She was just another part of his crew, his family as he usually called them in his head. They did have his back twenty four seven, ghosts and humans evenly.
"Ok point taken, but don't you think she's a bit too secretive? That was the outlook I got on her."
"Yea that's what bugging me. So I've decided to take action. Trick her and get answers." The captain said, not seeing any flaws in his plan.
"Quite a good idea. But let me give you useful advice, remember not to spook her or get too curious. Curiosity did kill the cat you know." Tucker replied 'matter of factly'.
"Thanks for the advice. I guess I should go find Sam, let my plan begin." Danny started to walk away, but before Tucker was out of sight he yelled at his best friend,
"Remember! Curiosity killed the cat! Just because cat's have nine lives doesn't mean you have!"
"Good luck, she'll catch on in no time, Danny doesn't have much subtlety and well he isn't very good at lying, amongst his friends anyways." Tucker thought, still not knowing if Sam being on board was a good thing or not. What? He couldn't know everything.
Sam was sitting in the small library the ship had. It had six oak wood bookshelves all around the walls of the square room. Nobody ever went in there, all the crew were male. Sam had read a few books already, but nothing interesting, it was either maps, cooking books and a few reference books on the ocean. One of the few books that looked interesting was the humungous book War and Peace. It was dusty, like no one even dared to pick it up. She almost didn't notice the book for it was used as a chair leg for the only couch in the room, helping it stay even, if not, the couch would be sloped.
She didn't even know why they even put a library on the Phantom, it was unnecessary. Not any more because Sam went in there whenever she didn't have chores to do. She wanted to keep her distance, because of her past and hopefully not future, for now anyway. She loved this little place, it was quiet, unlike everywhere else on the ship. What did she expect? Men were noisy, what made it worse was that they were pirates. But she had gotten used to the loud noise, before she had even hid on this ship.
Sam had a nose in a book, trying to concentrate on reading but her mind was somewhere else, trying to cheer herself up, sitting on the worn out couch. She really liked her new friends, but she didn't even have the right to call them her friends. She was used to being happy for a short amount of time then it being stripped away from her, like taking off a Band-Aid. She wanted to laugh and chat with them, especially the captain, he drew her in the most. She found him most intriguing. He even made her blush sometimes when she saw him with no shirt on, like the time he took it off to sleep because he was hot. She tried to look away, but couldn't. She never felt this way towards anyone before, but she just thought it was because she had never been so close to having a friend before.
Sam then went back to reading her book, for real now, but then stopped when she heard footsteps coming towards her. She cranked her head, seeing that the closed door now revealed a teenage boy.
Danny didn't have a hard time finding Sam. He knew that she was always in the library. He wasn't a stalker or anything, he just noticed things or it may be the fact that he sometimes followed her, seeing what she was up to. So on the other hand, he could be called a stalker, but he would just call it curiosity.
Danny peeked through the library's door, immediately seeing the Goth girl sitting on a couch, absorbed in a large book that read on the cover War and Peace. Now that was something he would never read, he was too impatient. He entered the room.
"No turning back now."
Sam saw Danny enter, smiling at her, she smiled back, quite awkwardly. Not knowing what to say, so she waited for the captain to speak first, to say the reason why he came here. She already knew he didn't come in here to quietly read a book. That was highly implausible. She knew he wanted something, but didn't know what.
"Hey Sam, uuhh, is the book good?" Danny said, trying to act normal and especially not forward or demanding, trying not to make it look like he was trying to get information out of her by tricking her. It wasn't working as well as he wanted. It so didn't turn out like he had planned it in his mind. As Tucker said, he was a terrible liar. That was a good a thing, most of the time.
"Uhh, yeah the main characters are very intriguing. So why are you really here? I know it's not to make small talk." Sam asked, already noticing the strange way Danny was acting.
"Pfftt... what are you talking about? I just came to say hello. Came to check up on you. Captain's duty." Danny said, trying to sound cool and casual. Trying not to sweat.
"It sounds like your lying. What do you really what? You should spit it out." Sam said, with a normal voice, casually putting her book down on the small coffee table, standing up and walking closer to Danny. Sam was now staring at Danny, steadily creeping and freaking him out.
"Fine...Fine you win, during the past three weeks, I've noticed that you tend to keep to yourself. Shutting yourself up in this library almost every time you have time off. You need to open up, we are your friends now, you can open up now, trust us."
Sam looked away, repeating the same two lines in her head,
"Can't tell him. Happiness doesn't last."
"Can't tell him. Happiness doesn't last."
"Can't tell him. Happiness doesn't last."
"Can't tell him. Happiness doesn't last.""
Can't tell him. Happiness doesn't last." And she repeated it like a magical charm that would heal her brokenness.
Sam had looked away from him, staying deadly quiet for a long time.
"Great! I said too much didn't I?" Danny thought, a bit angry with himself. Then he heard Sam mumble,
"It's complicated Danny, trust me, I want to tell you, but it's too risky. I will be put in danger or even worse... I might put you in danger, I'm sorry... but you have to trust me." Sam whispered hoarsely, voice uneven. Danny could see the pain and sadness on Sam's face for the first time. It made his heard ache and get tighter. He desperately wanted to help her but felt weak since he couldn't because she wasn't telling him anything.
"I don't understand! I...we can help you! My crew are strong, I am strong. It should count as something! Danny said, pleading, putting his two hands on Sam's shoulders, tying to knock some sense into her.
"This is bigger than all of you. I shouldn't of even stayed on this ship." Sam muttered, getting anxious.
Before Danny could counter her response, cries from the upper deck were heard and footsteps of Tucker running came closer and closer to the duo.
"Danny... we... have... spotted... a... pirate...ship" Tucker tried to say, but it came out very slow since he had been running. When he had caught his breath he continued.,
"We have spotted a pirate ship and it's tailing us! They have already fired a canon and the crew id ready to plumage and fight. And... I will be shut away in our room... under the covers. Bye!" Tucker then whizzed out the door, heading for safety. That was Tucker, always hiding during a fight.
Danny didn't want to leave Sam. They were just about to start a heated conversation, but he was the captain. He had a duty to his crew. He was their leader.
"we'll continue this later ok?" And he left, but just before he could see an expression starting to appear on Sam's face... terror.
Sam was terrified, the person she was running from, could it be him?
"No, it can't be Vlad, he couldn't of found me so quickly. Please God, don't let it be him, he'll kill them all, my friends and there's nothing I can do, my powers don't work on him." Sam then phased in and out, her emotion were everywhere. She usually had control. Being able to contain them. But not when it came to her deepest fear, Vlad.
Yes, she was a Halfling, a special one and she hoped, for his safe, Danny would never find out...
Cliff hanger!
Who will be on the mysterious pirate ship, will it be Sam's darkest fear? Find out in the upcoming chapter...Boxed in.
I am so thrilled! I have my plot line and everything! Don't worry, this is only the beginning of the story.