The Village in the Sea

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

 "Victoria, can you go check that the boat is tied well? It looks like there might be a storm," yelled Mrs. Locke from across the house.

"Yes, ma'am."

It had only been a little more than week since she had arrived, but already Victoria was falling into their routine. When Mrs. Locke asked you to do something, you did it with no questions asked. They spent a majority of their time reading or cleaning, and occasionally going to Analeise's house if Mrs. Locke was in a good mood.

She always felt slightly excluded from Jessamine and Analeise's conversations, but she knew that she shouldn't have expected two best friends that had known each other since they were kids to instantly accept her. Gabriel was nice enough, and when he wasn't watering plants in the greenhouse he was hanging out with them.  He wasn't the best conversationalist, though.

Leila and Mr. Lyons were hardly around, and Victoria had learned that they both worked on one of the village's many fishing boats. It didn't seem like there was a lot of other jobs to do. Mrs. Locke sold the fruits that Gabriel grew, which turned out to be a door-to-door job and she was normally very busy. Victoria also noticed that every other day a new container of water appeared on their porch, which she guessed was someone else's job.

She wasn't quite sure how she was going to get a job, since she didn't have any obvious skills. Rowing a boat and fishing were difficult, plants seem to die when she touched them, and she had no idea how someone could turn ocean water into drinking water. So for now, doing trivial tasks that Mrs. Locke ordered her to do was all she could do to help.

Stepping out onto the porch, Victoria noticed that the waves were more violent than usual and the sun couldn't be seen in the sky. She walked to the post that the boat was tied to and retied the rope the way Jessamine had taught her. Victoria looked up when she was done to the neighbor's house, she hadn't met anyone that lived there and nobody seemed to want to introduce them. But standing on the porch of that house, also tying his boat to a pole, was a man with matted brown hair and baggy clothes.

She stood there for a couple of seconds, staring at the man who hadn't noticed her yet. Victoria couldn't work up the courage to yell a hello to him, because he looked like the crazy neighbor that Jessamine had talked about on their first trip to Analeise's.

Finally, when the man finished tying the knot, he looked up and his gaze immediately met Victoria's. She noticed that his eyes were the color of the sky before the storm and he looked as if he hadn't shaven in weeks. After several moments of staring at each other, the man turned and ran inside. He almost slipped on the wood, but he made it into his house before Victoria could yell for him to stop.

She didn't want to be out any longer, the waves were getting higher and it didn't look safe to be outside. So, Victoria walked back inside thinking about the insane man next door.

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 "You said you told them I was dead! why would you lie about something like that?" he yelled at the older man.

The old man sighed, leaning back in his chair. "I told them you were dead, I have never lied to you."

"Well, then, why is she here?" screamed the younger man, his hair was even more wild than normal.

"I don't know. I did all that I could."

The younger man looked at the older man, his face was a mix of rage and concern. "Well, that obviously isn't enough. She's here, she's in danger, and you are lying to me. You must have not told them, or else this is an insane coincidence?"

"Obviously, it is!" yelled the older man. He stood up and seemed to be getting angrier. "I don't know why she's here! And if I did I would tell you! Now, get out of my house!"

The younger man scowled, shoved the door open, and walked out.

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Hey! So, the update's on time!!! (Yay)

This was really a less interesting chapter... but super important...

Lol I just figured you'd rather have an on-time chapter than a long, boring one (and I had no idea what should happen next :D)

-Jay-