==Hi, everyone! I know this chapter is long over due, but I was having trouble getting things going before I left for my trip, so I decided to think things through while I was gone. Writing when I got back wasn't feeling satisfactory for me because I felt like I was missing many things in my abilities to produce a good piece of work. I looked to published books and began reading a lot in order to find what I was lacking. Let's just say I've been reading a series called Meg, which is science fiction and very well put together by the author, and I read four books out of the five in the series for basically a whole month. The good news is that I was finally able to connect dots and get to a point where I was confident enough to put words on a screen again. What I have been lacking is depth in what I'm writing about (descriptions and action sequences to name a couple) and length in the word count. I think I'm now able to post chapters of better quality because of this discovery about myself, and I really hope this chapter meets those standards for you all. The only problem that these changes will cause is that it'll take me longer to post in order to get them concrete and viable enough for this story, but the next fifty chapters of this story are full of juicy content that is worth the work to write out. I hope these important changes increase the quality of how the story will progress, and your opinion about that is welcome. Thank you being a reader to this story and I pray that I am able to entertain you enough with a masterpiece once it's all said and done :) ==

DJ Snake - "Talk" feat. George Maple

Touch of your skin. Blurring my vision. Seeing the same film again. Closer you pull me under the table. Sign of how this might end. But if you don't want to hold me, maybe I can change your mind, 'cause I'm waiting. Hesitating. And it's other ways to leave it but I only ask for you. As you move your body next to me, there's so much more to lose...

Haunted: Collapse into Caliginosity

Chapter 51:

Life Is A Beach

Things simmered down after only Zane and I remained in the bedroom with Lloyd and Hannah to keep an eye on. Nya needed help in the bridge on issues involving the serpentine, so she took Kai, Cole, and Jay with her. It was quiet, and I sat on the bed, wrapped in the brown wool blanket as Zane stopped steam from building up along the ceiling. It felt like an unbearable sauna in here, but for some reason I continued to shiver with chills running down my body. My back muscles ached from the constant vibrating that caused them to tense up without having the ability to relax.

Zane could hear my teeth chattering from across the room. "Do you need another blanket?" he questioned me, approaching me.

"I-I d-don't know," I weakly exhaled.

He picked up a folded blanket that was nearby and swaddled my shoulders with it.

"Thank-k you."

No reply came. Instead he took a few steps away to check on the still sleeping kids, whom he tucked in the bed together so they could help each other develop healthy body temperatures by sharing body heat. I closed my eyes and tried to get my mind off the cold that gripped my skin. What I needed to do was sleep time away until I was internally warm again.

Almost as if he read my mind, Zane scooped me off the mattress. The heat radiating from his shoulder was comfortable on my cheek. I didn't want to be put down, but he peeled the many layers away from the bed and placed me inside with my two wool blankets. "Your bodily temperatures need to be risen slowly," he emphasized. "You'll start feeling better soon."

"S-Stay with me," I breathed, feeling my eyelids droop.

Seconds passed before he lifted the layers again and joined me. His gentle hand caressed the back of my head. "Sleep, Macca," he whispered. "Allow your vocal cords gather more moisture. Don't let the shivering give you pain. Give your body time to recuperate."

I nuzzled my face into his neck. It was time to rest. When I woke up, I would be warm again, and this nightmare would be over. I died today. What more could my body endure?

When I slipped away into unconsciousness, Zane pressed his lips against my hairline. Guilt about my experiences these past couple of hours ravaged his mind. All he wanted to do was take my pain away and erase everything else that was wrong with me. It was all he could think about since changing the past wasn't an option.

Dreams are usually forgotten, but the ones I always remembered were about her. Her realm remained as beautiful as ever; nature flourished without trouble. Grassy hills made up the landscape with masses of flowers of all sorts of colors accenting the breathtaking view. Small herds of female deer with their fawns browsed for food and rabbits unearthed themselves from their burrows. It was calm, but-

"Haven't seen you lately," a sweet feminine voice commented.

I reverted around to find Candy the way she's always been: wavy blonde hair dangling around her face with a twinkling tiara perched on top of her head. She was sitting in the lush grass and weaving an imperfect flower crown for herself. "I know. Where've you been?" I asked, my voice returned to normal. "Usually you follow me around in the real world."

She seemed distraught as she explained herself. "I didn't want to be in the cold, but I was with you the whole time...or at least I think I was. Everything went berzerk when your heart stopped. I remember sitting next to your body, and then suddenly there was nothing. Next thing I know, Zane is giving you mouth to mouth."

I frowned. "How many times do you think he's gonna save my life?"

"As many as it takes to keep you alive. Knowing you're okay comforts him. I wouldn't be surprised if he confessed feelings to you today."

My gaze followed the blades of grass. Annoyance toward the constant subject between us about Zane and his supposed attraction for me surfaced. "No, Candy. I've already told you. This is the furthest I'm going with Zane."

"I know, I know, but he cares so much about you, Macca. I feel like soon he's just gonna get it off his chest. It's a lot to keep buried for the amount of time it's snowballed."

"Well, I'm not going to just shoot him down if he does indeed spill his guts, but I'm not saying yes to any of it."

She winced at my response. "Then you should tell him how you feel instead of leading him on!" she suddenly shouted, her lip quivering. "God, just listen to yourself. Do you realize how horrible of a person you sound like? I mean, think about it. You literally treat him like a boyfriend whenever you're around him. It's making him think that you wanna go beyond friendship. Right now, he's thinking of ways to win your heart, and I think Kai is trying to help him out."

The intenseness of her speech put me in defensive mode, but her last sentence immediately changed my demeanor. "What?" I blurted out in a panic. "How do you know?"

"I actually don't know for sure, but I do know Zane has never felt this way about someone other than you. He doesn't know what he's doing and he doesn't want to mess it all up. Kai has had experience, so I just assume Kai is helping somehow."

I sat down in front of her, desperate for a way out of this mess. "Okay, then what do I do?" I pleaded. "I just want all this to go away."

She glared at me. "I'd suggest you go with the flow until he tries to make a move, and then you gently tell him about how you only like him as a friend-" She held my wrists in her soft little hands "-Just promise me to not break his heart. I don't want to lose him just as much as you. If you screw this up, I'll be disappearing for a while."

I nodded, lowering my gaze so I didn't have to see her burning glare anymore.

A strand of my hair suddenly got stroked behind my ear without Candy touching it. Her eyes transformed into a crystalline blue that softened the glare into a basket of cotton. A smile expanded across her lips. "Wake up, Macca," a masculine voice exited her mouth. "It's time to wake up."

I reopened my eyes to Zane's blurry face. A moment had to pass before my vision could stabilize from fatigue.

"How are you feeling?" he inquired, stroking hair out of my face again.

I groaned, feeling the ache in my muscles from overexertion in the blizzard. "Sore," I softly replied while stretching my legs out and feeling warmth instead of cold inside my skin. "Are you gonna give me a massage?"

"Not unless you want one. I just wanted to inform you that I have prepared a relaxing afternoon for you with the help of Nya."

"Huh?"

He held up a folded article of clothing, which had red coloration in it, and handed it over to me. "Kai said you preferred masculine swimwear, so I retrieved his."

"We're going swimming?"

He sort of cringed, unsure how to keep everything secret. "No comment."

"Yes comment-" He stood and revealed his uncovered, torso. I would describe his body shape to be a tortilla chip because he had broad shoulders as the top two points and a slim waist as the third point. To add to that, his smooth muscles were predominant in six-pack abs and obliques but were not out of place with his strong biceps and triceps. Almost involuntary, my eyes quickly wandered to the "v-lines" on his hips that disappeared into his black and white trunks. The memory from middle school popped in my mind with my friend's quote: "Those lines are the ladder to Treasure Island." I had laughed back then, but this time my entire face flushed with embarrassment. I forced a pillow into my face so I would stop staring. "Zane!" I groaned.

"What?"

"A long time ago, I chose to be heterosexual, and you got one of those perfect bodies that prevents me from looking at your face."

His bodyweight pinned me to the mattress. I tried to fight his hand as he pried the pillow from me. "Look at my face," he playfully pressed on, getting my face uncovered. Seeing that his lips were inches away from mine had me relentlessly squirming so he wouldn't take the opportunity to steal a kiss in case he was thinking about it. Unfortunately, his fingers grazed my ribs, threatening to tickle me.

"No!" I laughed. "Don't you do it!"

"Alright, fine," he gave in. The weight lifted and allowed me to move freely again. "Come to the upper deck once you've changed. I believe you'll be pleased with what you'll find."

"Put a shirt on," I said on his way out. When door quietly opened and closed, I took the time I had to see how the room changed while I was asleep. Lloyd and Hannah were still asleep in the bed just like they were before. A big platter of bite-sized meat and crackers was displayed on a dresser for when they awakened. I began to question if leaving them alone was a good idea, but knowing Zane, he already had everything figured out.

And my assumption was correct when I left the room, because when I closed the door behind me, it locked from the inside. From there, I made my way through the hallways and to the warm open air, only to have my eyes blocked by hands on my face. My immediate reaction was stopping and reaching behind me to feel the other person. A bare torso told me exactly who it was.

"You're still not wearing a shirt," I stated.

"You're not, either," he replied.

"Hey! I'm wearing a sports bra!" I laughed, pushing away from him. "Don't make it sound like I'm naked! Besides, I assumed we were going swimming."

He released me from the hold, allowing me to see the world around us. "You assumed correctly."

The Bounty rested on aquamarine ocean water that got lighter in color in an area a little ways out. Off in the distance was the coast and Ninjago City, but other than that, there wasn't anything else, not even dark coral.

"Why'd you bring me here?" I asked as a warm breeze settled on my flesh.

He thought about his explanation for a moment before speaking. "…I felt guilty about forcing you into the cold," he solemnly admitted. "A nice swim will relax your muscles and prepare you for tomorrow."

"Do I have your doctoral approval for going underwater and all that jazz?"

He held two fingers to my carotid artery to check the condition of my pulse. "You have a strong, normal heartbeat. You're approved."

I slapped my hand into his and pulled him to the side to get a closer look at the water flowing in steady currents. It was difficult to tell if the Bounty was floating or resting on the smooth, sandy bottom. The opportunity to investigate gave me ideas about what to do for the next little bit.

"How deep is it?" I asked, expecting Zane to be able to easily calculate the distance.

"I'm not sure. You find out."

The sudden push and falling sensation scared me enough to make me scream, but it was interrupted by the entrance into the mysterious world of salt water.

Splash!

My nostrils and eyeballs burned from the microscopic contents in the bitter fluid, so I returned to the surface to find the culprit looking down at me, mischievously grinning. "Wipe that stupid smile off your face!" I jokingly demanded. "I never dreamed of the day you would actually push me off of something like the Bounty."

"I knew you weren't going to get hurt," he insisted. "But did you find out how deep it is?"

"Not yet." I took a breath and dunked my head back under the water. Once my eyes adjusted to the salt in the water, I made my descent down to the bottom, relieving the building pressure in my ears every couple feet. My investigation found that the Bounty was indeed floating. With my lungs ready for a fresh breath of oxygen, I swam back to the moving ceiling that separated the aquatic world from the open world.

Zane was waiting for me when I broke through the ceiling very calmly. "About twenty feet," I concluded, brushing wet strands of hair toward the back of my head.

"That's a very close estimation. Good job."

I remained buoyant as I stared at him. "You knew how deep it was this whole time, didn't you?"

"Yes. I was merely testing your abilities to expel a certain amount of energy. You did well."

"You little conniving...butt."

His eyebrows creased at my label for him. Surely if he had a normal sense of humor, he would've laughed, but he frowned with exaggeration and walked out of sight.

"Zane? Come back!" I playfully pleaded.

There was no response.

"You can't leave! How am I gonna get-"

Without warning, Zane suddenly launched himself off the ship and over me to cannonball into the water. For a brief second, I just saw his butt hurling toward my face, but he glided right by and made the crash landing behind me. The shockwave in the water traveled past me as the big waves splashed in every direction. Little bubbles quickly released their air into the atmosphere after being forced underwater. When he came back up, blonde hair blocked his eyesight.

"Oh my god!" I laughed, watching him brush out of the way with one swipe. It was the first time I'd seen the actual shape of his skull. "You look bald!"

"Well what else did you expect?"

"I don't know, but you look like you got a mullet. I mean, look how long it is!"

"It'll go back when it dries."

"Really? All by itself?"

"Of course. Why else would it be the way it is every day?"

I continued to laugh at the unfamiliar image in front of me. "I freaking love you, Zane."

He grasped my wrist and tugged me away from the Bounty. "I know you do. Now let me show you something."

I swam behind him into the lighter-colored waters, wondering what he had in store for me. "How long do we have?" I asked.

"Enough time," he assured me. "The Bounty just needs to be refueled once we're done. Then you'll be delivered back to wherever you need to be."

"And then I'll get fired and go home. Today has been quite delightful, if you ask me."

"I'm positive that you won't lose your job, Macca. If you'd like, I'll explain everything to your boss myself."

"You can if you want to, but it won't be that easy. I'm just scared the people who paid to get in will be going for my head when I show my face again."

"Or if they're as dedicated as Kai, they'll forgive you for anything."

"Maybe for a few of them. The majority are probably too drunk to think it through." My toes suddenly kicked against sand. "Dang. It got really shallow really quick."

"Precisely. It's a sandbar. When low tide arrives, we'll have our own personal beach."

"Is that why you brought me here?"

"It's a part of the reason. Let me see here…"

He stuck his head underwater to scan for something along the sand. The bottom was suddenly too shallow to continue swimming, so I decided to sit and wait for him to find whatever it was he was searching for.

Getting distracted by the cuticles on my fingers, I failed to notice Zane ever lift his head back up to breathe. His body drifted to various places, slowly blending into the water's surface because of how still he remained.

Finished with picking at my peeling skin, I gazed along at the horizon. The water level had lowered to my waist in the five or so minutes that passed.

Suddenly I remembered him.

"Zane?" I gazed all around me, unable to locate him. Bad thoughts came to mind, so I stood up. Panic began to set in as I kept spotting water but no sign of him. The Bounty was still anchored down away from me. Where could he have swam off to?

I turned around to see two black shapes a few feet away from me. My first thought was sharks. My feet pulled me backwards to create distance between me and the predators, but noticing a white shape holding the black shapes together made me pause and reevaluate the scene. It seemed familiar in a way, but my mind was racing too fast to find out why.

Then it hit me: the pattern of Zane's trunks.

"Zane!" I ran through the water, having to kick my feet above the water to prevent myself from falling. The closer I got, the more I could make out his pale body. It didn't move, and his face was submerged.

I couldn't have done it any faster. The first thing I needed to do was get his head above water. I reached my hands underneath his chin and yanked to get his nose and mouth into open air. "Zane!" I screeched. "Zane!"

He grabbed my hand. "What? What is it?"

My fast breathing continued even though I saw how calm he was. "You weren't drowning?!"

"I can hold my breath for minutes at a time. My longest recorded time is seven-point-three minutes."

I had the desire to hit him for making me so worried. "Don't scare me like that again."

"I'm sorry, but look what I found." He held up a big burgundy starfish. "I had to make sure it wasn't a startooth. Those creatures will eat you alive."

I sat back down in the water and took the harmless aquatic animal, letting it lay in my palm. "Is this the only one?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe we'll come across another."

The starfish's tiny suction cups moved all over my pruning skin, investigating. Zane guided it under the water so it could breathe. Its five legs slowly began to latch onto my entire hand once it got comfortable.

"What's a startooth, exactly?" I questioned.

"According to my research, starteeth are predators designed by nature to look like starfish, but they have monstrous mouths full of sharp teeth. They usually reside in the darkest depths of the ocean and will consume anything they can get to."

"Why would one be in such shallow water?"

"It probably wouldn't, but the mere thought made me cautious. They're very agile and have been reported to eat away at ships during an attack. If one was around here, it would've found us before we found it."

The starfish used its suction cups to pull its legs around the curves of my hand until every cup found its spot. "Why were you looking for a starfish?"

"I wasn't, particularly, but it's more entertaining than a sea cucumber. Watch this." He pulled my hand out of the water.

"Aw, but it'll suffocate," I reasoned.

"No it won't. Watch it respond."

Before our very eyes, the legs began to unlatch from my hand. I could feel the suction cups release, shift, and suction onto a new place, only to repeat the process. The whole thing moved until it got to my fingertips. After pausing for a moment, it simply leapt off and plopped back into the water.

I giggled, catching it in the water to give it an easy trip to the bottom. "Were you using the starfish to symbolize how much I latch onto you?"

"No, but that's a clever hypothesis."

I sarcastically scoffed. "So I do touch you too much?"

"You touch me more than anyone else I know, but it doesn't bother me. Kai says you're always touching people."

I laughed, hugging his arm. "That's true."

"If I were to symbolize you, I'd choose a koala bear. Everyone else is just your tree branch."

"What can I say? I just wanna spend some 'koala-ty' time with you."He gave me a confused look, which tickled me. "Come on, you gotta admit that was a pretty good pun!"

"Okay, koala bear, it was a funny joke. Come with me." He got to his feet, pulling me up with him. I refused to let go of his arm as we trekked through super shallow water to the now revealed sandbar. It looked like a naked island from a distance; no vegetation or life was present, even though the sand was still moist from being submerged for so many hours.

"Can I ask you a weird question?" I asked.

"Of course."

"I didn't ask at the photoshoot, but do you shave your arms?"

He stopped walking. "I don't shave at all. Cole and Kai do."

His answer baffled me. "Really?" I showed him how bald the skin on his forearm was compared to mine, which had dark hairs on it. "There's no way you don't shave your arms."

"Macca, I'm hairless. Have I never told you?"

"What? If you're hairless, then what's-" I motioned to his head "-all this?"

"Well, yes, I have eyebrows and hair on my scalp, but other than that, there's nothing."

I stared at him.

"I promise you, I have no peach fuzz or anything. You can check yourself if you'd like."

I stubbornly raised his whole arm so I could check his armpit, which was totally untouched by any blade. "You seriously have no body hair…anywhere else?"

"I assume I should also mention that I don't sweat?"

"And why's that?"

"I know it's a medical condition. If you had felt my ninja suit after the whole junkyard incident, you wouldn't have found any damp spots from sweat."

"So let me get this straight, you have alopecia and don't have sweat glands?"

"I wouldn't say I have alopecia, but I do indeed have sweat glands. They just don't function properly."

"Good grief. How are you even alive?"

He thought before shrugging his shoulders. "I'm intelligent, but I don't have all the answers."

"I should just make a list of your abnormalities. I think reading it would be fun."

"Go right ahead. Maybe I'll just discover I'm an amphibian next."

I laughed. "That's very specific," I hinted. "It could explain why your lungs have a stupid amount of capacity. You were born with gills and had years to develop your lungs."

He hovered over the silly statements. "Its official: I'm a merman from Atlantis."

The sandbar may have been bare, but plain beige sand can go a long way for fun. I helped make Zane's first sand castle, complete with windows, a tower, and a door. Then I convinced him to let me try to bury him in sand, but he easily escaped, so we just threw handfuls of the gritty sediment at each other like snowballs. We had to go back, however, because the tide was getting too low for the Bounty.

Swimming back started as a race, but ended pretty quickly because I gave up. Zane's big feet were like flippers compared to mine; he could propel himself through water a great distance in just a few seconds.

"Fish-face, I give up!" I had voiced.

"Ninja never quit!" he shouted back.

I continued to swim although it was no longer for the competition. He waited for me to catch up at the bottom of the rope ladder. "After you," he politely insisted.

"Next stop: refuel?" I asked, climbing up.

"Correct, but that'll be out in the Sea of Sand. We made an agreement with a company to be our primary fuel provider, and they make a special trip out to a location where we can refuel without drawing much attention to ourselves from citizens of Ninjago City."

Towels were rolled up next to my feet. I picked one up and began drying myself. "So what do we do in the meantime?"

He appeared and did the same. "Well…tomorrow is looking clear of any Serpentine activity. Would you like to go over the itinerary for the dance battle with all of us?"

"Oh yeah, I need to get your tickets together and everything. Sure thing."

We completely dried ourselves until we didn't drip any water. Zane rubbed his head with his orange beach towel, and the strands of his hair couldn't decide where to go in their limbo state between damp and dry. It was funny to see some of them be straightened and others be all out of whack and clustered.

I don't know what I was expecting in the bridge, but it surely wasn't what I would ever imagine it to be. It was a place for work, but Cole, Kai, and Jay weren't making the environment have the right mood. Poor Nya was putting all her attention into radar, statistics, and geography while the three hooligans had set up their three chairs into a triangular shape and played a really stupid-looking game.

When Zane and I first entered the premises, Jay was holding up a gray rubber ball while Cole sat in his chair with his legs spread and his hands behind his back. Jay tossed the ball at him but apparently didn't hit his target. Kai cringed but then had a short laugh at the result. Jay groaned in frustration as Cole picked up the ball from the floor and aimed at Kai, who took Cole's position in his own seat. Cole threw the ball right at Kai's crotch and celebrated with laughter. Jay and him almost fell over from belly laughing as Kai was bent over in pain from the impact.

"What are you idiots doing?" I asked, following Zane to the other available seats at the table.

"Playing nut ball," Jay answered, recovering from his laughter and getting into position. "How was the beach?"

"It was good. I can tell you guys have been helping Nya out," I sarcastically examined.

Kai threw the ball and Jay flinched before the impact. "Hey!" the Ninja of Fire protested. "You can't sabotage the shot!" He picked the ball back up and threw it again to see it just barely miss Jay's crotch.

"I'm not doing much," Nya implied. "Just trying to map out the Serpentine's trail. The only help I need is from Lloyd and Hannah when they're up to it."

"How were the trunks, Mac-Attack?" Kai asked.

I glanced down at the red pattern on them, knowing they were his.

Jay chuckled. "Zane would've given you mine but he knows I've farted in them before."

"Gross," I giggled.

The Bounty shifted underneath us as Nya directed it out of the water. The rocket boosters could be heard as a muffled hum from the outside. "Do we have any business to attend to, Macca?" Nya wondered.

"I believe so. Anyone got a phone?"

Zane presented me one immediately. The others gathered around the table to hone in.

"So how are you guys planning on getting there?" I began.

"Well, we need to keep our identities a secret, so we were thinking of simply blending in with the crowd," Cole explained. "Jay mentioned using the subway, but none of us have ever been on it before."

"That's not a bad idea, actually. I don't think a single taxi will be big enough to hold all of you. If the subway is the plan, then we'll need to figure out where you'll be entering the city."

"I say we leave the Bounty in Crash Course Canyon and come into the city on the south side," Nya suggested.

"But then we'll have our Golden Weapons to lug around," Kai intercepted. "That'll draw too much attention to us."

"Or Nya can drop you all off and then I can bring us both," Zane said. "I can conceal my shurikens easily."

Cole, Kai, and Jay thought about the idea before nodding in agreement.

"Okay, if that's going to be the plan, then the nearest subway will be the green tube," I informed. Nya pulled up a map of Ninjago City's color coded subway system on the big screen. I pointed to a big green dot at the bottom of the screen. "The arena is up here," I said, pointing to an area toward the middle of the screen. "Basically you have to take the green tube three stops-" I bounced my finger on three green rectangles that represented stations "-and then switch over to the orange tube here. Now this is where you have to be careful. You're fine on the green tube because that particular train is only going one way, but there are two trains going in opposite directions for the orange tube. There will be boards at the stations showing where you're currently at, the names of certain stops, and where the very last stop is. When you're switching to the orange tube, you'll need to hop on the one heading to the Temple of Fortitude as the very last stop. Following me so far?"

They all stared at me, wide-eyed.

"Trust me, it all sounds really confusing, but once you get down there, it's a walk in the park."

"You're writing this down for us...right?" Kai hesitantly questioned.

"I've got it," Zane indicated, lifting his gaze from the pad of paper he had. "How many stops?"

"Five. And then you'll hop onto the gray tube that is heading toward the Ninjago City Aquarium for two stops. You'll end up at Jacques Station, and that's where you'll come back up and walk a couple blocks. The arena will be unmistakably noticeable when you come to it. You'll hear a bunch of racket and music from the inside and the parking lot will be packed."

"What about tickets?" Cole asked.

"I got your tickets into the arena online, but train tickets will have to be bought at the first station. You simply go to one of the kiosks, select the number of tickets, and then select the gray tube and then Jacques station, because that's where you're headed to. Scan your tickets to enter, and go on your merry." I fiddled with the phone to pull up images of the prepaid arena tickets. "I got you guys six tickets. Should I get two more for Lloyd and Hannah?"

There was silent thinking.

"Yeah, we…haven't thought about that yet," Kai admitted. "Do we have a time limit?"

"I can order them anytime before three o'clock tomorrow afternoon. I'll just need a heads-up."

"Sounds good," Nya replied.

I took screenshots of all the tickets. "You'll come up to the entrance and someone will be there to scan tickets. Just show him the phone, and he'll take care of it."

Zane held up his paper, which had scribbles all over it. "We are prepared," he declared.

The dried saltwater on my skin was getting itchy. All I needed a cool shower and a nap, but that wasn't an option at the moment. The Bounty just got refueled and now we were about to find a good place to drop Zane and me off for my trip back to - hopefully - work.

Zane handed me the key to a door. "I believe you'll be needing this," he proposed.

"You read my mind," I said, going down the hallway without him. I went back to Nya's bedroom to retrieve my clothes and change back, but was instead met with an unexpected sight.

The door was cracked open.

I opened it all the way to find the lights shut off and the bed empty. The platter of snacks was licked clean. Lloyd and Hannah were gone.

"Zane!" I called, dashing out of the room. "We have a situation!" When the hallway and upper deck were found empty, I raced up to the bridge, tripping along the way, and exploded through the door. "Lloyd and Hannah are gone," I panted.

"What?" Zane breathed, dropping whatever he was doing.

"They picked the lock and got loose while nobody was down there."

The four guys all went down to check out the scene with me. We searched the whole room to find no trace of them, so it expanded to every other room in the Bounty. Sensei Wu tried to assist us, and Zane tried to sense their presences, all to no avail.

"I think I know where they're at," Jay said after an hour.

"You do?!" we all shouted.

"Not here! They probably snuck off while we were getting refueled. I mean, Zane can't even sense them."

"He's right," Zane confessed. "We've lost them three times now."

They groaned in frustration.

"They probably snatched a ride back to Ninjago City without those fuel tankers even realizing it," Cole imagined. "What are the chances we'll find them now?"

"Not good," Zane answered. "Hopefully they'll venture back out into Ninjago in a few days time. Locating them in sparsely populated areas holds far greater chances of locating them compared to a heavily populated city. If anything, this may only be a game of patience."

Sensei Wu had no words of wisdom to share. His wrinkled face showed no emotion, but as he sulked back to his quarters, it was clear that he was suffering with despair of his nephew being missing all over again.

Life is a bitch. You just can't win nowadays, I thought.

Riding back through the streets of Ninjago City wasn't as exciting as it was supposed to be. Losing Lloyd and Hannah influenced the mood for the evening for the worst; I felt guilty and kind of responsible for it happening. I was the reason we left them alone in the bedroom for more than an hour. I wasn't sure how Zane felt about it all, but he's remained mysteriously quiet.

Like the last time, people in their cars pointed at me from the other side of the windows with enthusiasm. They were fans, so I smiled and waved, but Zane wouldn't look. When the bike would drive forward, I wrapped my arms around his waist to hold on. My cheek pressed against the fabric of his ninja suit, and I prayed his conversation with my boss would prevent me from losing my job.

The bike vanished when we arrived at the building with a massive glass ball on top of it. I led Zane inside only to hear silence. The main dance floor had been emptied for the day, which wasn't a good sign.

"Macca, you are fired!" the furious voice of my boss echoed through the hallway. My blood ran cold at the intensity of his tone. I became paralyzed when he rounded the corner in his expensive tuxedo and a scowl across his sinister middle-aged face. "Pack up your stuff and leave! You've cost me thousands of dollars in one day because of your reckless stunts!" His gruff hands grabbed the front of my shirt in a powerful hold. It was like my soul left my body as he yelled and cursed. "I've laid far too much down on the line for you. You should know better than to sabotage a sold out night-"

Zane suddenly threw himself between us, grabbing my boss's neck with one hand that lifted him off the floor.

"Zane!" I screamed, pulling on him.

"You will not lay a finger on her," the ninja sternly voiced. "If you do, I'll come for you myself."

My boss struggled to breathe under the force crushing his windpipe. His hands and feet tore at Zane to be released. I watched with utter horror as his face turned deep red. "Zane, stop!" I pleaded, tears welling in my eyes. He stood, unmoved, as the man in his viselike grip began to suffocate. And then, without moving his arm, he let go.

My boss fell to the floor, gasping deep breaths. Zane looked down at me with unhinged fury snarling in his icy eyeballs. I cried because I was scared. I've never seen this side of Zane before, and I never wanted to see it again.

He left the premises without saying a word, leaving me to suffer in the hell hole that was once heaven to me.