Lilly
I was walking to my room when I heard noise coming from the media room.
I stepped inside to see videos playing of several empty houses. I recognized one of them to be Josie and Malcolm's house.
I hurriedly walked down the hall and knocked frantically on everyone's doors.
"Lilly, what is it?", Neal asked.
"Come to the-"
I paused once I noticed Neal and Jesse were shirtless with towels around their waists. Rocco was also shirtless standing behind Josie who was in a robe and I could tell she wasn't wearing a bra.
"Um, do you people want to get dressed first?"
Josie and Rocco blushed. Jennifer, Nina, and Joey laughed while Malcolm glared at Josie.
"Give us five.", Neal said.
They went back inside their rooms and came back out fully dressed a few minutes later.
"Better. Come to the media room."
They followed me to the media room and saw all the videos playing.
"Josie, that's our house.", Malcolm said.
"Neal, that's our apartment.", Jesse said as he pointed at the video in the lower right portion of the screen.
"This is live. How did he install cameras in our homes?"
"We have a security system protecting our home. How could he get in to spy on us?", Malcolm said.
A man wearing a mask appeared on the screen walking through one of the homes.
"He's in your house, Joey.", Nina said.
The man grabbed a step ladder out the hallway closet and placed it right below the view of the camera.
His face was close to the camera. He slowly pulled off his mask.
The sight of him made my skin crawl. He had burn splotches all over the left side of his face. He creepily smiled at the camera.
"Oh my god. I remember him.", Jennifer and Josie said in unison.
Jennifer raised her eyebrow at Josie.
"Wait, where do you remember him from?"
"We were in the same foster home once. He was older than me. His name is Ernie, but the kids called him Bernie, because of the burns on his face. He.."
Josie's eyes widen and she covered her mouth with her hand.
"What is it?", Rocco asked.
"After I was adopted, I remember he showed up at the house. I was home alone. He said Jennifer hired him to be the maintenance man. He changed the air filters and he was messing with the smoke detectors. I didn't think anything else about it."
"I never hired maintenance. He must've been planting cameras. That's how he has pictures of us in that house.", Jennifer said.
"Where do you remember him, mom?"
"I don't think you remember him. You only met once. Before we got Josie, I was looking to foster troubled kids and give them good homes. I would visit him at his orphanage. I was starting the process to officially foster him and I was told that he was sent back to the orphanage for repetitive outbursts and threatening his caseworker with a knife. I couldn't bring that around my son."
We all heard a chuckle coming from the screen. We looked and saw him pick up a picture of Jennifer off the wall.
"Hey, mama."
He threw the photo against the wall. The glass frame shattered.
"We're going to die here.", Neal said.
"No, we're not. We'll get out of this.", Jesse comforted him.
"No, he is going to kill us. Look at him. He's unstable.", Josie said fearfully.
Rocco wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm not letting anything happen to you.", Rocco reassured her before kissing her forehead.
We watched as Ernie sat on the couch and turned on the tv.
"What is he doing?"
He started flipping channels until he landed on the news.
"...search for missing NASCAR driver, Rocco James has begun again. The search was called off after authorities received a letter that stated that Mr. James decided to take a road trip, but it turns out the letter was determined to be fake. Mr. James was last seen by his Team Manager, Drew Woods and Bodyguard, Lucas Porter. They claim that Mr. James left his home in a rush."
Ernie turned off the TV and threw the remote at a wall. I heard him growl.
"At least, there are people looking for me. They might be able to save us.", Rocco said.
"I can't watch this anymore.", Nina said as she began walking away. Joey followed behind her.
We all began dispersing from the media room.
"Josie, can we talk?", I heard Malcolm ask her.
Rocco and I stopped to see her response.
"Sure."
Malcolm
Josie and I walked to my room and sat together.
"I missed you."
She looked down and sighed.
"I understand that you never felt the way I felt, but you need to know that I did miss you. What you saw with that girl was me hurting. There was a note on my desk saying you left me. I thought it was real. Josie, I love you too much to intentionally hurt you."
"I know, M. I'm not angry with you anymore. You're a great guy and a great friend, but I..."
"You never felt that way."
She looked at me, her eyes filled with tears.
"I'm sorry.", she cried as she shook her head.
"Don't apologize for not feeling that way about me. I'm not mad at you. I just want the best for you."
I wiped the tears that rolled down her face.
"You're the best, M.", she said as she hugged me.
She smiled at me when we pulled away.
"Can i ask you something?"
"Sure."
"What's going on with you and Rocco?"
She opened her mouth and closed it.
"Josie."
"Are you sure you want to talk about this?"
"Yes."
"We're just friends.", she said unconvincingly.
"That sleep together?"
"...Yes."
I nodded and smiled at her.
A bell ringed over the intercom three times.
"What does that mean?"
"It means go to your room. I'll see you later.", she said as she left.
Rocco
I patiently waited for Josie to return to the room.
I wonder what Malcolm wanted from her.
What if she decides to try again with him? Where does that even leave us? What are we even doing anyway? We can't keep pretending that this is just sex anymore.
I looked up as the door opened.
"Hey.", Josie said as she took off her coat.
"Hey."
She walked over to me and placed her hands on my bare chest.
"We got interrupted earlier."
She began fiddling with the waistband of my sweatpants before I grabbed her hand.
"I can't keep messing around, Jo."
"What do you mean?"
"We agreed to be friends because I hurt you and I'm fine with being your friend, but I can't do this casual sex thing. I love you and I would give anything to be with you again. All I can do is be your friend right now."
She nodded before stepping away from me.
"I understand, Rocco. It's not fair for me to expect you to be okay with this."
A few minutes passed without either of us saying anything.
"How do you feel after today?"
"I can't believe it's Ernie. I still don't understand why he's targeted all of us. We need to come up with a plan to get off this boat."
"We're going to get off, Jo. I promise."
She nodded and laid her head on my shoulder.
"I know, Rocco."
Jennifer
I sat at the bar, sipping my drink quietly.
"Mom.", I heard Jesse say.
"Hey, sweetie."
"How are you feeling?"
"Well, I introduced a psychopath to all of my loved ones, so not so good."
"None of this is your fault. You couldn't have known."
"I used to wonder what happened to that little boy I left in that orphanage. Did he find a good home? Did he grow up and find success and love? Does he remember me? I abandoned him and now we're all paying for it."
"Mom, you c-."
We were interrupted by my phone vibrating.
You're absolutely right, Mama. Gather the kids, come to the lobby.
"Oh my god.", I gasped as I showed the text to Jesse.
"I think we're finally going to meet him"