Fog of Shadows

Part 13

The current crew of the Eldorado hadn't had much time to enjoy the warmth and brightness of the sun for shortly after a quarter till noon, they noticed a fog starting to surround them that only got thicker as time went on. With the fog came the faint smell of mildew and something else. It was something familiar, but nothing the crew could identify off the top of their head. By the time noon arrived, it was as dark as night. The fog so was thick they could hardly see an arm' length in front of them; the crew practically worked blind and an eerie silence seems to spread all over the ship. Even when one of the two captains tried to shout a command, it still seemed like they had lost their voice and were whispering; their voices not carrying through the fog.

"I hope we will be able to find that small passage Willow was talking about." Said, Flinn, as he turned to Alisea, through the fog she looked ghostly blurred to him. With the crew being even further away, it almost felt to him like they were in a world of their own. "I am sure we will, Myri is out on the lookout at the front, I told her to warn us as quickly as she can when she spots the rocks."

"You think she will be able to reach us in time?"

"She always has this far," Alisea smiled confidently; to Flinn, every movement seemed to have slowed down and even the speech was sluggish to his ears.

"How is your leg doing today?"

"It's alright" he lied, his leg still felt like someone was jabbing a knife into it whenever he moved it, but he wasn't going to let anyone know it; he figured it would only stop the mission.

"You never really told me why you got into a fight with Thomas." Mentioned Alisea trying to fight the uncomfortable chill the fog was giving her and she felt that talking might help against it.

"To be quite honest, he insulted you and the comment he main made me feel like I had to defend you; I guess remembering everything he has done and then the insult made me snap. I promise it won't happen again" he smiled at her before gently placing a hand on her shoulder. Smiling back at him she took a step closer to him; he, in turn, put his arm around her, he could feel her lightly shiver. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," she replied, "the fog is just unsettling."

Undenounced to them, two figures slipped out from under the deck.

XXXXX

Thomas awoke when he fell off his pile of bags onto the hard, dark wooden floor; at first, he thought he was dreaming or sick when he felt the ground sway. He hadn't heard anything about the Eldorado setting sail anytime soon, so the ground shouldn't be moving. Especially since the harbor never produced any waves hard enough to move the ships. This meant that either that the ship had set sails against schedule or there was another storm. Unable to wake his comrades, he decided to venture out onto the deck on his own. He presumed it was still dark outside since he hadn't seen any light shining in through the port hole. Stepping into the hallway, he noticed a faint smell of mildew had filled the ship. Creeping onto deck he becomes engulfed in the thick, blinding fog. "Damn, where did they take this ship? I can't see where I am going." He whispered to himself as he carefully took one step at a time. From somewhere in the distance he could hear the two captains talking to each other so he figured that the others weren't too far away, but he was sure that they couldn't see him. Using the side rails to navigate his way around the ship he tried to continue walking through the thick fog.

He stopped when he reached the loading area; the sound of the ocean splashing against the hulk was even closer here than anywhere else on the ship and he realized how close he was to falling off. If he did, no one could help him in this fog. From behind him came an unfamiliar voice.

"Are you Thomas?"

XXXXX

After what felt like hours to her, Willow stepped out of the closet and into the dark hallway. The faint familiar smell of mildew and decay brought back the memories of her time on the island. Looking ahead she saw someone slipping out onto the deck. Quietly she followed it out; as she opened the fog wisped around her and she stepped into the fog without being seen, but she could see everything clear as day. She walked onto the fog covered deck and looked around, a light smile on her lips as she looked at the crew acting like the blind as they slowly felt their way through their work. Looking at the wheel of the ship, she saw her Alisea smiling at that boy again. She could find a reason why her friend liked that boy so much, but she felt that one day she will understand.

She took a step closer when she heard the two mentions the fight that happened yesterday. Her blood began to heat up when she heard what the boy had to say about this Thomas. For a short moment, she applauds the blue-haired boy for standing up for Alisea. Noticing Thomas walking at the side rail as blind as the rest, she quietly followed the young man. It was so easy keeping up with him; he was so frail looking when he took hold of the rail and walked as slow as a child learning how to walk. When he stopped she had to keep herself from acting out too soon. Just to make sure, she spoke up. "Are you Thomas?"

XXXXX

Thomas turned around to see the young women from the hospital cabin; her red hair and green eyes were almost glowing in the thick fog. Her smile gave him more of an unnerving feeling than the fog.

"Um, yes, why do you ask?"

He took a step back and let go of the rail when her unnerving smile grew and her eyes seemed to glare into his soul. Deep down he had a feeling this woman wasn't completely right in the head. "Are you alright?" he heard his voice starting to tremble.

"Oh, I will be." She took hold of him by the shoulders and, with a quick jerk, threw him over the loading area.