Bright yellow rays shining on my face with a warm breeze gently blowing my hair out of my face. I close my eyes and inhale the sweet smell of the ocean. Ever since I was little I was always drawn to the water. The eeriness and mystery of what lurks in such a peaceful, beautiful and calm place has always made me want to unravel them. I loved Seattle even on its rare sunny days.
"LAURAAA!!" A voice boomed through the office.
Shit, so much for calm and peaceful I thought as I scrambled to grab my folders and paperwork off my desk and rush to the board room where I heard my boss yell my name. Yes, this is me Laura Bell, Marine biologist for Gold enterprise and Mr. Golds assistant. I am your typical blonde hair, blue eyed, 5'5" average 25 year old. I worked hard during my internship to land this job permanently. I am also an avid day dreamer which makes me late sometimes and I really should not be late to this meeting my boss is not going to be happy.
As I approach the big glass doors to the board room I see my boss James Gold CEO of Gold enterprise, number one in marine and aquatic discoveries and the fishing industry. Mr. Gold is about 6'5" with dark brown hair, tanned God-like skin, and dark brown piercing eyes. I swear he is the most intimidating man I have ever met.
"Laura you were supposed to be here five minutes ago and you know how much I hate waiting." He hissed
"I'm sorry sir I had to finalize and copy a few more documents" I lied plastering on my most sincere and apologetic smile
"Don't let it happen again or I will force you to have dinner with me to keep your job and make up for my lost time" Mr. Gold said with a smirk and lust-filled eyes
Did I forget to mention Mr. Gold is a complete playboy and sleeps with any and every woman he deems as beautiful. He has been trying to get me to go out to dinner with him since he hired me six months ago. And let's just say I would rather be stranded at sea than go on a date with him. Don't get me wrong he's gorgeous but looks can only go so far.
"Now we wouldn't want me wasting my time on a dinner date with you sir." I replied while rolling my eyes and slipping past him into the board room before he could reply.
As I walked through the doors. I was greeted by the four board members, Mr. Sullivan who was in his 60's with grey hair and a grumpy face to match. He is in charge of the fishing department. Then there's Mr. Wyatt who was in his mid 50's with salt and pepper hair who is always happy and polite. He is in charge of the aquatic discovery department who's main goal is to find new species and better fishing waters. Mr. Johnson is the most intimidating one he's built and looks like a bodyguard and is around his early 40's. He never smiles or shows hardly any emotion and he's the lead diver for the discovery team as well as the best angler. I swear when sharks see him they swim away in fear. Lastly is Mr. Hook, yes the irony is hysterical because he is the captain of The Beast the main ship for our fishing industry. Mr. Hook has a great sense of humor especially considering his name and occupation yet when Mr. Gold is around he is as hard as Mr. Johnson and Mr. Sullivan.
"Good Morning gentleman, I apologize for the delay." I exclaimed
"Good Morning Ms. Bell" replied Mr. Wyatt
"How is my favorite marine biologist doing?" Exclaimed Mr. Hook
I managed to get a nod from Mr. Johnson
"It's about time" snarled Mr. Sullivan.
Just as I was about to reply to Mr. Hook, Mr.Gold came in stared at me coldly then turned his attention toward the board members and said "Alright we have a lot to discuss and we are already running late Ms. Bell please start."
I nodded my head, brushed some of my hair behind my ear and started. "Alright gentlemen we called this meeting due to several of our fishing ships disappearing off the coast of Alaska. We were only able to recover one of the four ships to have gone missing. We found no one aboard as well as damage to the hull and propellers causing the ship to be immobile. With radio connections spotty due to the remoteness of their location we doubt they were able to radio for help and are unsure of what happened to the crew that was aboard."
"Oh my, what are we going to tell their families and how are we going to account for the loss of the ships and equipment?" Commented Mr. Wyatt.
"Screw their families, there must be pirates or some other competitors taking our ships and crew members!" Shouted Mr. Sullivan
"Mr. Sullivan if you will let me finish I can assure you that pirates or our competitors are not to blame for this." I said in my most professional voice while biting my tongue because I really wanted to give him a piece of my mind. He nodded his head angrily so I continued "As I was saying the ships and crews have gone missing near a small remote fishing town called Lucian about 1,500 miles north west of here. I did some research on this town and even called a couple of bars and the bait shop to see if they had any information on our ships or crew. To which they stated that all four ships docked for the night six days ago and refilled their bait and hung out at a local bar called Shipwrecked. They left five days ago and were not heard from till a local fishing crew discovered one of our ships abandoned two days ago."
"Well how do you know it wasn't pirates or a competitor then?" Said Mr. Sullivan.
"I was just about to get to that part sir if you would kindly let me finish." Before he could even nod his head I continued "as I was talking to the bartender at Shipwrecked she mentioned that some of the local men were telling our crew to avoid a nearby cove. I asked her about it and she told me that it is just north of Lucian and is about 100 miles wide and has a bunch of glaciers. It is also home to what they called the Tonrar which translates to devil. I asked her about it and she explained that many fisherman come from all over the world to try and catch this fish and explore the cove yet no one ever comes back alive. She told me that if they go there they are never seen from again and most of the time their ships disappear with them."
A booming laugh came from Mr. Hook followed by Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Johnson just had his normal straight face on and Mr. Wyatt looked terrified.
"That's a great story Ms. Belle how do you expect us to believe such a tall tale" laughed Mr. Sullivan
"That is enough gentlemen" shouted Mr. Gold while slamming his fist on the table. All of them stopped and stared wide eyed at Mr. Gold as he continued "What Ms. Bell so kindly explained is the truth many fisherman and researchers have gone to this cove never to be heard from again. The local legend may be true or it could be a bunch of underlying glaciers and caves that the ships don't see and cause them to disappear. One thing for certain is we are going to get to the bottom of this as I am sending you Mr. Hook and your ship to the cove with your first mate, Mr. Johnson and you Ms. Bell." He smirked as he said my name and leaned over to whisper in my ear "Unless you would like to go to dinner with me. I can make sure you don't have to go to this remote town into a dangerous cove."
"Sir with all due respect what is Ms. Bell going to be of use for?" asked Mr. Hook.
"Well she is head of the marine biologist department and has already established a relationship with some of the locals." answered Mr. Gold
"I also spent every summer in Alaska growing up until my father passed away six years ago so I know a lot about the land and how to talk to the locals. Plus I can use some time away from the desk and put my skills to use in the field." I added and leaned close to Mr. Gold while whispering " I will take my chances with the Tonrar over dinner with your sir."
Mr. Gold let his facade slip for a split second after I said that before he composed himself again and angrily said "it's settled then you will leave in two days once the ship is stocked with all the equipment you need and will depart at 08:00 Friday morning and should arrive there by 20:00 Saturday evening. You will spend two days docked at Lucian to obtain any information necessary for your trip and stock up any necessary supplies. Then you will have three days to explore the cove, catch any new species and map out the cove floor and return back here the following Saturday maybe longer depending on what you find. Any questions?"
No one said a word we all nodded and I was trying to contain my excitement for finally being allowed to go out into the field and away from Mr. Gold's persistent attempts to get me to go out with him. I rushed out of the office as soon as work was over and started packing as soon as I got back to my apartment. I could not wait for Saturday morning.
That night I had a very strange dream to which I woke up abruptly around 5:30 drenched in sweat, out of breath. All I could remember were these icy blue eyes and a large jagged black fin. I shook it off as to being jitters for my trip the next morning. Since I couldn't fall back asleep I got up and got ready for my day. After my shower I put on my favorite pair of grey yoga pants and a red v-neck and head out to go to my mom's place.
Once I arrived I walked right in to my moms cute little cottage and smelled fresh brewed coffee and blueberry muffins. I walked into the kitchen to see my mom dancing to some Johnny Cash while baking muffins. I laughed " Hey mom I like your dance moves."
She about jumped out of her skin, as she threw her dish towel at me "Jesus Laura you about gave me a heart attack."
I caught the towel and gave her a hug " Sorry to interrupt but I'm leaving tomorrow to do some field work in Lucian, Alaska and I wanted to come by to make sure you are going to be alright while I'm gone. But I see Johnny Cash has been keeping you company."
She swatted my shoulder "Oh hush, now tell me about this trip and how long am I going to be without my favorite child."
I rolled my eyes "Mom I'm your only child, but we should be gone around a week maybe longer depending on what we find. We are exploring a cove near Lucian that has yet to be really explored and may even have a new species."
"Wow, that sounds fantastic! But how do you know there may be an undiscovered species in this cove and why hasn't anyone explored it yet?" She questioned while placing a cup of coffee in front of me and some fresh muffins.
"Well it's just a legend as of right now but we believe people have trouble navigating around glaciers in the cove and end up crashing and sinking their ships. But not to worry we have the best gear and even underwater cameras all along the hull of the ship that can alert us of any glaciers or other obstacles that we may encounter." I lied as to not worry her any more than she already will be.
"Well you better call me periodically and let me know so I don't have to travel up there and hunt you down. Besides you haven't left Seattle to go to Alaska since your father passed away and I think this will be an exciting adventure! Who knows maybe they will let you name the species of fish if you find it!" She exclaimed.
I smiled knowing how much she encourages me and supports me especially since my father used to believe I would discover a new species and name it after him. " Thank you mom and you know I will do my best to discover anything new it's always been my dream.
After a nice brunch at my moms we hugged and said goodbye and I went home to finish packing and get ready for this trip of a life time. Dangerous or not I was excited and couldn't wait to get there.
Little did I know this trip was going to be a trip of a lifetime. And for some it would cost them their lives.
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Thank y'all for reading my first ever chapter that I've ever written. I'm new to this writer thing so if you have any feedback please don't hesitate to let me know. I am also a stay at home mom with a 4 month old and 4 dogs so I will update when possible if you have kids you will understand and my dogs are worse than my child sometimes I swear. This story is 100% mine and all rights are reserved. It's actually off a dream I keep having which is kinda odd but oh well. Thanks for reading and hope y'all have a great day!!