The City of the Dead

Chapter 15

I lay in bed, unable to stop smiling. All I could see was the blackness between me and the invisible ceiling, I was reliving every moment that had occurred throughout the night. It had been the best night of my life.

Adonis made me feel happy again. After our kiss, we sat under the sparkling stars, pointing out constellations and talking freely. We sat there for hours, before finally deciding to call it a night. We had busy day ahead of us and would need all the sleep we could get.

It was pointless trying to sleep though. All I could think about was Adonis's smiling face, and all the things he told me. For the first time in my life I felt wanted by a guy; I felt important.

I had no idea how long I lay in bed smiling up at the ceiling, but I finally drifted off to sleep.

I awoke, blinded by light. Throwing my arms up to protect my face, I glared at the traitor crack in the ship that allowed the sunlight in. How late was it? Why hadn't someone come and woken me up? There were footsteps and bangs above me. How had I not heard those earlier? It sounded like we were in the middle of a battle with bombs exploding everywhere.

Slowly, I rose to my feet, and saw that there was something white standing out against the dark wooden door. It was a note from Adonis, and another smile lit up my face. 

Thanks for the wonderful night last night. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I decided to let you sleep in a bit today. There's only so much cleaning you can do, and you'll need your rest for Tortuga. Be ready by around noon. That's when we'll be docking and I want you to be there when we step foot on land again.

Love, Adonis

P.S. I have big plans for tonight, hope you're free. I'll tell you later, face to face.

The smile didn't leave my face and I pledged to never get rid of the small note Adonis wrote to me. He must've had as good of a time as me, as he had already planned our next date. 

I hummed as I got ready, putting my hair into a French braid with a green bandanna that emphasized my eyes. I tied it into a bow at the top, trying to look a little fancier than normal. I pulled on another pair of black shorts, this time with just a white t-shirt. Lastly, I secured my weapons belt around my waist, knowing it would most likely be needed in Tortuga. It would be stupid not to come with a weapon. 

Tortuga sounded like a crazy place, and there was no way to be sure of what the day would look like. Pirates seemed to make days a little more unpredictable. There likely would be a lot of drunk pirates at the port, if I was imagining it correctly, and I wanted to have a weapon to defend myself with.

When I felt good and ready to go, I made my way up to the deck and back down the stairs that led to the kitchen. Despite our large dinner the previous night, there was an earthquake going on in my stomach. I looked up at the sun, and guessed it was about ten o'clock, but there was no way to be sure. It wasn't usual in the twenty-first century to use the sun to tell time, that was a phone's job.

The thought about phones made me wonder where my phone had disappeared to. It was likely sitting at the bottom of Carlyle Lake, or maybe even recovered by the police. It was nice though to not have social media and contact with the outside world. Despite everything that had happened, I was enjoying the new world that lay before me. It might've been because of Adonis or maybe because of the adventure, but I finally felt like I had found my place in the world.  

When I reached the mess hall, there was more oatmeal sitting out. I shoveled it into my mouth and made my way to the deck when it was all gone, hoping to see a friendly face.