Love To Hate You

Safe

Brandon

I pick her up, carrying her the rest of the way and drop her in the boat, pushing off. The noise stops suddenly and I freeze, looking toward them, whatever they are. The glowing eyes move closer.

"They're charging! Row! Now! Hard and fast."

My arms burn, muscles straining. I think I feel tendons rip. I hear water splashing, and I push even harder. I don't know if it's better or worse that I can't see what's pursuing us. We're making progress when we're suddenly halted in the water.

"What's... what's happening?"

"Shhh!"

I slowly and quietly slip in the water, checking the boat and feel the rope. Fuck! We're stuck! I slip the pieces of the sail back into the boat and duck down, feeling my way to the end. The current shifts, and I know those things are close. My promise plays in my head. I can't lose her now. I finally have a reason to live, and I may not make it. The rope gives and goes slack. I pull hard, piling the rope. Hopping back in the boat, I push against the water. The noise begins again. Far closer than before. I close my eyes and focus on the push and pull alone. My arms are like rubber, but I don't stop. When I open my eyes again, we're in the middle of the ocean, no land in sight.

"Steven?"

He's gone! Somewhere between the rope and after he's disappeared. My heart jumps in my throat. I feel down for Mary and get her hair. Pausing My rowing, I feel for a pulse. She's good...

Mary comes to what feels like hours later. She jumps awake like she's had a falling dream.

"What happened?" She asks. Her voice is groggy. I clasp her shoulder.

"Shhh, we're okay. Relax."

She does, dropping back against my chest.

"Steven, is he?"

Her voice fades off, like she's going back out.

"No, I'm sorry." I tell her, regretfully.

I must have fallen asleep. I wake to loud, squawking above me. When I realize it's just seagulls, everything comes back to me. I peek over the rim, impressed with the boat. It's early morning and I'm relieved to see my surroundings. Mary is still asleep on my chest. A small puddle of drool wets my shirt beneath her mouth. My throat is dry, I spot the bag of supplies at my feet and try to maneuver it toward me without waking her.

"I'm awake."

Mary grabs the bag, passing it to me. I reach in and find the water, taking a banana too.

"How did it happen? Steven, I mean." She asks quietly. The warm water is refreshing, despite its temperature. I peel back the banana, looking at her.

"I don't know... one minute I'm in the water tugging the sail rope free. The next I'm in the boat but he's not."

There's a long silence.

"What we're those things?"

Good question. They were too tall to be boar. They're glowing eyes could never be mistaken for a humans. And that noise, I shudder recalling it.

"Whatever they are, we're far away. We don't have to worry about them anymore... Get up your laying on the sail and I'm going to fix it."

She moves, her brows furrowing.

"How?"

I pull the small jar of sap I got from the rubber tree, holding it out in front of her, and pull off my shirt.

"With this... and this."

She nods, her mouth ajar. I watch her eyes drift to my pecs. I flex them while I work, purposely goading her; dropping my head down to hide the smile on my lips. Her attraction to me is obvious and I love it. I make quick work of the torn sail, laying it out and untangling the mess. Mary helps me string it up.

"What direction do we go?" She asks sounding a bit more upbeat. I slip the last knot through and tighten with a hard tug. Her eyes drift to my bicep and I have to cover my laugh with a cough.

"Same direction we've been drifting. There's no use wasting the distance we covered."

The wind picks up and I grin into the sky.

"There're islands all over this place, with any luck well run into one before dark."

Mary doesn't look so convinced.

"How do you know we won't find another island like the last? Deserted with bloodthirsty... creatures on it!"

I laugh, making light of a traumatizing situation. Her eyebrows climb her forehead.

"People are naturally greedy. Do you know of any lands someone hasn't discovered, claimed and developed? It was a fluke. A bad one, but still a fluke nonetheless."

I see her silently debate my statement before she agrees.

"Your right. It's unlikely."

We sit in silence as I work the makeshift sails in a curvy straightway. It's been a long time since I've sailed, and I'm a little rusty. I wish I knew what she was thinking. Probably going over the events of the last two days. Even I'm having trouble processing. I can't imagine how she's feeling. The sun is amplified by the water, and my skin begins to burn. With my shirt gone and no clouds in sight, shit, it's going to be a long day...

Hours later were running low on water and extremely hot. She's been quiet most of the day. I can't tell if she's worried or traumatized from the events that occurred. Every part of me wants to pry, but I don't. we should have found land by now, and I'm starting to worry. The sun will set soon. We've covered a lot of distance with the wind working in our favor. We should have come across something.

"Brandon! Look..."

Startling, I turn toward her, looking off to her left, where she points. I don't see anything and begin to think she's hallucinating. She is still pointing; I look again, focusing, and that's when I see it. A small island far off to the right of us. I quickly work the sails before I lose daylight. We should be there before dark. Now I just have to hope my reasoning holds merit and we don't end up on another deserted island...