Star Crossed - Shiver Me Timbers [EN]

Chapter 1.1 - High Seas (Prologue Insel #1)

The cruise ship swayed in the gentle waves. The sky was clear and blue, and only a few isolated clouds drifted lazily along with the balmy summer breeze. The heat was not as oppressive on the South China Sea as on land in the Philippines, so it was easier to stretch out in the half-shade of an umbrella on one of the many loungers and enjoy the peace.

"Lucy? LUCY!" Someone shook her shoulder lightly. The woman addressed pulled out her earplugs. She lowered her chin and raised her eyes to peer over her sunglasses into the face of her father's current girlfriend.

The young woman smiling at her had long brown hair and brown eyes reminiscent of a deer. Very different from her late mother and herself. Lucy had always been proud of the coppery red curls and freckles that testified to her origins in faraway Ireland. But Emily? She was... well, just different.

"Would you like to join us at the bar?" asked Emily hopefully. This woman smiled all day, always wanting to go on some outing and trying far too complex to replace her mother. Yet, for all her good intentions, she didn't understand that it wasn't possible. No one could. And Lucy didn't even want to. That was also why this holiday had been particularly difficult for her from the very first moment.

"No, thanks," Lucy returned, perhaps a little too quickly. Her older brother Liam gave her an embarrassed look and curled his lips reproachfully.

"Oh." Emily's smile sank a little. Not for long, though; then she started again. "Too bad. I thought you might like to tell us about your chosen university." She opined, but Lucy wouldn't take the bait either. She knew Emily didn't think much of archaeology, nor did she understand why she was constantly hung up on past eras with her interests.

"Maybe later. I want to get some more sun." Lucy, therefore, gave out and impatiently wrapped the wires of her headphones around her index finger.

Emily pursed her lips briefly but then nodded and straightened up. "All right. Oh!" all at once, she rummaged in her bag, "You liked this at the little street market, didn't you?"

She handed Lucy the amulet she had seen at one of the nondescript street stalls. The round piece of jewelry was already badly worn and partly tarnished, and it looked as if it had been pulled out of a pile of rubble and jetsam only a short time ago. But that was probably what she liked about it. She wanted old things, and for some reason, she felt an unusual fascination for kitschy trinkets.

But her pocket money needed to be more. She didn't think Emily would notice that she liked it and wanted it. For a few moments, Lucy stared at the cool metal in her hands, then tore her gaze away and cleared her throat.

"Thank you." Her voice sounded rough.

"You're welcome, Lucy," Emily said, and her brother interlaced his fingers at the back of his head.

"We'll see you later, Lu," Liam said before the two turned around and joined their father halfway, heading towards the bar further back on the ship.

Lucy couldn't resist putting it on straight away and then looked at the slight discoloration and a tiny barnacle. The sun climbed over it and made the gold shimmer.

'Like a gold treasure among coral at the bottom of the sea,' Lucy thought. With that thought, she sank back onto the lounger, pushed the plugs back into her ears, and closed her eyes to enjoy the blissful sunshine.

☠

A sudden jolt jerked her from sleep. Lucy blinked and took a moment for her mind to return to reality. The sun had disappeared behind the clouds, and the wind had picked up. Now, however, it was not simply grey clouds in the sky that passed, but a single black and dark grey sea. The wind was cold, and harsh waves caused the ship to rock heavily. As a new wave crashed against the ship's side, her couch slid noisily against another. The wind ruffled Lucy's hair, and she staggered, trying to get back on her feet.

Only now did she notice the chaos that reigned on the ship. All sorts of people were pale, shouting at each other or the ship's crew. The men urged all the passengers to get below deck as quickly as possible while another wave of seawater sloshed over the pale parquet floor. Thunder mingled with the deafening roar of wild waves, and they grew as constant as Lucy's fear.

Panic-stricken, her eyes fluttered across the deck, searching for familiar faces. Where was her family? With trembling knees, she staggered across the deck toward the bar. The floor was slippery from the seawater, and there was incredible crowding and confusion. There was another rumble; then a sudden downpour poured in a torrent. It pelted down so heavily that it drew a grey veil over everything and rapidly reduced visibility.

The sea flung the ship to one side like a cue ball, and screams erupted as she was swept off her feet along with several other tourists. Painfully, she bumped against the railing, and her hip hurt so badly that tears blurred her vision. A wave hit the deck and flung her forward onto the floor.

Everything hurt. Her knees and palms were scraped. One of the pretty star earrings her mother had given her for her 14th birthday was lost. A sob forced itself from Lucy's throat but was lost in the noise around her. Rain and wind whipped her face. One of the sailors grabbed her and shouted through the roar of the wind for her to get below deck. He pushed her forward urgently towards the stairs that led down behind the upper deck.

Her legs trembled as she staggered backward along the wet railing. She had just reached the stern when the ship suddenly sank noticeably lower, and Lucy's breath caught. Her eyes widened in an expression of sheer shock. A huge wave was rolling towards the ship, so huge that she could no longer see the sky behind it. Lucy froze, unable to move.

And then the gigantic surge crashed against and onto the deck, knocking her off her feet, and everything spun. She couldn't think or tell which way was up or down. There was seawater everywhere.

Lucy saw her mother's smile and heard her soft voice calling. 

There was the sound of the waves and a pirate flag fluttering in the wind. 

Soft, fine sand trickling through tanned fingers. 

Glistening sunlight refracted on a row of bronze shields. 

Blood smeared a star that read the letters 'Sheriff.'

Flickering candlelight groped over ancient hieroglyphics in the eerie darkness. 

A strange, ancient ring lay in the bony hands of a skeletal hand. 

A strange glow enveloped an arrow whose feathers tickled her cheek.

In the face of death, one saw one's whole life pass by one last time.

But what if it was more than just one life?