Lola and Tate were in a dead lock. She stood as still as a statue with both feet planted on the ground and her arms crossed. She didn't blink, but held Tate's blank gaze. Tate, too, was firm. His stature mocked hers. They glared at each other with fire. It was a completely different scene than four nights earlier when they lay together.
What were they fighting about? Lola wanted to leave the room. She was tired of being stuck in one spot. She also wanted to look for Aaron and RJ, though she didn't mention that to Tate. Lola had been subservient for days and showed no signs of defiance. But Tate refused her the freedom she wanted. And Lola wasn't going to accept that. It was against her nature.
"What are you so afraid of?" She questioned tensely. "I can't run away- you sent my boat to God knows where. Do you think I'm going to choke on dust articles?"
"You know what I'm concerned about."
"No, I don't!" Lola exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "You love me, right?"
"Don't do that," He snapped. "My word is final. End of story."
"So, I'm always going to be your prisoner in some way or another?" She cried. "Never fully free, no matter how in love we claim to be?"
Tate rubbed his jaw. He was ready to break- revert back to his old ways. An image briefly flashed into his head. He was holding a gun to Lola's head, his finger on the trigger. Frightened by what he may or may not do, he stormed off, disappearing into the air.
"Leave like you always do!" Lola yelled.
Her words echoed slightly. She was furious. Tate may have been alive- or dead- for over fifty years, but he was acting like a child.
She was going to get out of that damn room. If not for her own desires, than to spite Tate.
An idea struck her- if it was the bedroom the Captain used when the ship was in service, there had be a way to leave the room. There had to be a passageway. Tate couldn't just remove a door. It was impossible, even o hiss standards.
She erupted in a flutter, moving around the room. Maybe the door was hidden behind something. She checked the major pieces first.
The wardrobe was heavy, but she managed to nudge it forward a few centimeters. There was nothing but a solid wall behind it. Not giving up hope, she peddled over to the bed. She jumped up on the unmade mess to peek behind it. No door. The bookshelves? No- they were tightly screwed in.
Maybe it wasn't in the room. She walked to the bathroom. The large cabinets that flanked the tub were glued to the wall.
Frustrated, she sat on the toilet seat. She crossed her legs and hunched over, deep in thought. There was no way the room was completely isolated. No possible way. The door had to be hidden or covered up. Tate just disappeared and appeared, but humans couldn't do that.
"Lo-lo Bean."
Lola froze. That's what Josh used to call her.
"Don't be afraid." It was definitely Josh's voice, too. "Hold on, I think I can materialize myself."
A few seconds passed before Josh's body appeared in front of her. He looked normal. There wasn't a hook hanging from his stomach and he wasn't bloodied and bruised. He was a ghost.
"Oh… my… God," Lola wept, rushing forward to hug him. She passed right through and stumbled into the bathtub.
"I still haven't figured that part out," He laughed, running a hand through his thick hair.
"How are you- what…"
"Oh, you should know that by now, since you've been getting cozy with that freak."
Lola blushed, "I can explain."
"You can explain how you're being a domestic housewife to the ghost that murdered me?"
Lola was at a loss for words. She shoved her hands in her tight jean pockets and muttered, "It's complicated."
"Forbidden love, yada yada ya," Josh said, rolling his eyes. "I get it. Whatever."
"You've been… watching?"
"I didn't watch you have sex with him, if that's what you're subtly trying to ask."
She blushed, casting her eyes to the ground.
"Baby sis," Josh laughed. "You don't have to be embarrassed. Or maybe you do, since you had sex with a ghost who murdered me."
"You don't think I've fought with myself every day about this?" She exclaimed. "Sometimes when I look at him, I see you. I don't know what is happening. I'm confused and I have all these feelings and I just want to forget that he did that. I want to forget him sometimes. I want to be home with you and Dad and-"
"Forbidden love," Josh repeated himself. "I know what it feels like. Remember when I was in high school and I was dating Sanita Wok, but when Dad found out he told me to break up with her because her Dad was a crab fisherman and he took some of our loads like 3 years prior to that?"
"Yeah."
"I didn't. We kept dating. For months. Romeo and Juliet stuff. I get it. Except for the part where you're in love with my murder. You've always been the rebellious one. It only makes sense that you had to one up me on that."
Lola smiled, though she was irritated with his nonstop talk about Tate. She had so many questions to ask Josh, so many things she wanted to talk to him about.
"You're looking for Molleni."
"What?" Lola asked, puzzled.
"The way out of this room is Molleni- Argo Molleni. He was the captain of the ship. There's a hidden door. On one of the bookshelves, the middle one, there is a book with his name on the spine. If you pull it, the bookshelf will swing open."
Lola's eyes brightened. She sprinted out of the bathroom to the center of the wall of books. Her eyes scanned the lines, looking for the name. It was near the top. She had to jump up on her feet to yank it. Just like Josh predicted, the middle shelf rumbled and slowly opened.
She let out an excited squeal, jumping up and down. She turned to Josh who was directly behind her. She went to hug him, but remembered he didn't have a body like Tate did.
"Hurry- it only stays open for a second."
She shuffled out of the door with Josh. The wall zapped shut again.
"Thank you," She said with a gracious grin.
"I kn-"
Josh froze. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. Lola took a few steps forward and reached out for him, even though she couldn't feel his body. He shook his head from side to side.
"What?" She rushed.
His mouth moved, but she couldn't hear his words. She watched as his body lifted off the ground. He was floating. Something was pulling him up to the sky. The color in his body drained as he became less of a figure and more of a ball of energy. It was a bright orb- almost blinding. The colors were magnificent and so very Josh. He was ascending, and she was watching it all.
The orb lingered for a second before drifting up. Lola craned her head backwards to watch the colors spread across the sky and disappear.
A few tears trickled down her face. Lola reached a hand up and wiped them away. She didn't had already mourned Josh's death, though seeing him stirred up the emotions. She didn't have time to cry. She had no idea when Tate would be back, and she needed to go look for RJ and Aaron.
Lola began to walk down the hall. She had no idea where the Captain's room was in location to the rest of the ship. The hall opened up to the main deck. Lola made a mental note of how to get back to the room.
She decided to go to the pool first, though she didn't want to. It was the last place she'd seen her brothers, and they were not in the best shape. Josh was dead. Aaron was unconscious. RJ was bruised and battered. Not to mention the area itself was horrifying. The pool was a pit of gore- blood, guts, and bones. There was a horrific stench. It wasn't a place she'd visit willingly.
But she went anyway.
She was fearful as she approached the large door. Each step made her heart race faster. She had to give herself a pep talk when she reached the end of the stretch.
You can do it, Lola. For RJ and Aaron. Just look through the window. Just peek in. You're a goddamn CAMPBELL. You aren't afraid of anything. Just do it.
She peeked through the window. There was nothing there. The room was empty. There was no blood. Josh's body was gone. Aaron and RJ were nowhere in sight.
A prickling sensation hit her skin, traveling up from her feet to her head. Then she heard a voice in her head. It was a monotone, droning male voice. Keep going down the hall. There will be a door. Go through it. Go down the steps. She had no idea who or what it was, but she decided to take its advice. She had nothing else to go on.
The hall dwindled down. A looming door was the end destination. Like the voice said, there was a set of six steps. The steps led into another tiny hall that opened up into a large room full of cold furnaces and large steel tubes. The walls were molded. A rancid stench of waste swept over her as she progressed through the room. She was near the back of the wall, and she still saw no signs of life, though the stench was increasing.
A tiny flash of light caught her eye. It flickered for a few seconds before going out. Lola's eyebrows perked. It was a flashlight. It had to be. She ran in the direction of the light, not caring how noisy she was.
"RJ!" She called out. "Aaron!"
There was only a little bit of natural light coming through the dusty windows, but Lola could definitely identify two bodies scrunched against a wall. A few more steps confirmed that the bodies were RJ and Aaron. They were thin and malnourished. Still badly bruised and covered in a layer of dirt, they barely looked like themselves.
She fell to her knees and placed a wet kiss on each of their cheeks while she embraced them. They were weak, but they still held onto her.
"We thought you were dead," RJ muttered. "But you… you are, you look good. Did you find food?"
"Where have you been hiding?" Aaron questioned.
Lola licked her lips, "It doesn't matter."
"It matters. We looked for you for days," Aaron said sharply. "We searched the ship from top to bottom."
"And that thing that did this to us and… killed… Josh- we ran into him twice. Look what he did to me."
RJ lifted his torn shirt to expose a gaping wound. It was slightly green and pussing a sticking looking white goop. The blood had scabbed over. It was horrific. Lola reeled back with a gasp. It was all she could do not to throw up.
"God," Lola finally spewed. "What happened?"
"He just came at me," RJ said.
"I don't know why Tate would-"
Lola stopped herself before she dug herself into a hole. But by the looks on RJ and Josh's faces, she already did damage.
"I can't believe this," RJ spat, disgusted. "You are shacking up with him, aren't you?"
"It isn't that easy," Lola rushed.
"I think it is that easy," Aaron shook his head.
"He was keeping me captive. I was trying to survive so I could find you guys- honest."
"You don't have to lie to them, sweetheart."
All three of the Campbell children snapped their heads up in the direction of the voice. Lola's heart dropped to the floor. Tate was looming over them. And he did not look happy.