The Cursed Prince of Italy - Volume 1 - The Cursed

Chapter 2- One Strange Day

After travelling for over seven hours, Romina arrived at Piombino ferry terminal. From there, she caught a ferry to Elba. On the hour-long ferry ride, Romina sat out on the deck. The sun was glaring on her face, but the sharp cool breeze was refreshing.

Once they arrived on dock, Romina made her way down along with the other passengers. The wind had picked up, so she held onto her overnight bag tightly while holding on to her wide brimmed hat with her free hand. The wind caused the ferry to start rocking vigorously and then even more violently. The passengers all frantically grabbed on to whatever they could to keep themselves from falling off the ferry.

Romina grabbed on to the railing of the steps she had been coming down. All of a sudden there was a jolt felt all throughout the ferry and with it the railing Romina was holding on came off. Romina felt herself falling and thought she would fall into the churning ocean. Somehow, as she was falling she had grabbed onto something. She wasn't sure what it was but was grateful that she had something to hold on to. She held on tightly.

'Help!!! Someone, help!!' she called out loudly, frightened about what could happen. 'Please help me get up' she cried.

Romina's eyes focused on a stranger, a man who looked like he was around the same age as her. She caught his gaze as she pleaded for help. However instead, he got up and hurried away towards a group of young women. As Romina watched him leave, two other men came running up to help her. They carefully helped her get back up on deck.

'Thank you. Thank you, all of you' she said wholeheartedly to her rescuers.

'Are you ok?' asked one of them as a couple of the ferry personnel rushed over to examine Romina.

'Yes, yes I am quite alright, just a little shaken' Romina replied, somewhat embarrassed at causing such a commotion.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause such a fuss' she said again as she tried to avert her gaze from the people standing around her.

'Here, let me help you get off the ferry' offered one of the ferry staff members.

With his help, Romina got off the ferry and quickly left the terminal in search of a taxi. She found one quickly and climbed in. Even though she had done her best to hide it, her heart was still racing from her ordeal. She was unsettled and wanted to get away from it as quickly as possible. Once she was safely tucked inside the taxi, Romina's agitation turned into anger. She was angry at the man who had run away instead of coming to help her. She could not wipe his face from her mind. 'What kind of person would do that? What a self absorbed prick' she thought to herself.

Whilst she was lost in her thoughts, her taxi had approached her motel. She paid the taxi driver and got out. She pushed through the door of the entrance. It was an old fashioned motel, situated right near the sea. It was dim inside. Romina walked towards the wooden counter and smiled at the young lady sitting behind the reception desk.

'Good afternoon Madam' said the receptionist returning her smile.

'Good afternoon. I have a booking in my name?' Romina said, eager to get to her room.

'Sure, what's your name?' asked the receptionist.

'Romina, Romina Cruz.'

After she obtained her room key, Romina made her way to the lift. She found her room. By then, she was exhausted physically and mentally. She decided to go straight to the shower. The hot spray of water on her face and body was a welcome reprieve to her tired body. Stepping out, Romina found her nightgown from her bag and put it on. She was now feeling hungry, but didn't have the energy to leave her room. She decided to order in from a local takeaway shop, details of which she found on her bedside table. Until it arrived, she decided to ring her mom and her boyfriend to let them know she had gotten to Elba safely.