Forbidden Island

9 - The Storm

Just by observing, you could tell something wasn't right among the crew. Everyone was anxious and on edge. The storm was nearly upon us and the wind had picked up, bringing with it the rain. The pirates had spent the last few hours tying things down on deck and preparing for the worst.

As I stood huddled beside Niall, watching him stare at his compass, Louis came over to us. We hadn't spoken since earlier and I could sense the tension between us. I had kissed him and then almost killed him—obviously we weren't going to act normal after that, even if it was all the mermaid's doing.

"What are you still doing on deck? Go below and take Valentine with you. Make sure she stays in my cabin." Louis instructed and nudged the big bird onto my shoulder.

I hesitantly let Valentine rest on me and she nibbled at my hair. "Aren't you going to need all the help you can get though?"

"You would be useless in a storm and we can't afford to lose you if you go over the side. Now go, and whatever you do, don't let Valentine out, understand?" Louis ordered sternly.

"Yes, Captain." I grumbled and made my way across the deck.

"She likes the crackers that are on my desk!" Louis called after me.

Even though I didn't exactly want to be out in the storm, I was annoyed that he thought me useless. I had never been useless before—having so many duties and chores as a slave. I went inside and then found his cabin, shutting the door behind me. Valentine left my shoulder and flew around for a while before she landed on her perch. She kept squawking at me as I sat on Louis' bed and looked outside.

The ocean was becoming choppy, waves growing larger by the minute. The waning light was almost gone by now and I was beginning to feel afraid that we were all going to die in this storm. If the ship were to go down, would I be stuck in this cabin, unable to get out?

"Squawk!" Valentine leaped into the air after a bright flash of lightning lit up the dim room. She flapped over to me and landed on the bed, waddling to stand right beside my leg.

"Are you scared too?" I asked, gently scratching her neck to calm her.

She twittered a bit before leaning into my hand. As thunder roared loudly in my ears, Valentine's feathers lay flat against her body and her head craned to peer out the window nervously.

"It's alright, Valentine. Thunder is harmless." I assured her, but felt frightened.

The minutes dragged by and turned to hours. Valentine seemed to take comfort in me, but I had a hard time taking comfort in a bird. But this time, the ship was tipping back and forth and objects around the room were sliding across the floor. I tried to comfort myself and the bird by softly singing a lullaby that usually calmed me in stressful times. She seemed to like it and swayed to the gentle tune.

Eventually, Valentine had eaten all of the crackers on Louis' desk and was now frantically squawking and flying around the room. Lighting was constant and the thunder made my heart pound. The waves outside were unbelievably tall. I tried to block it all out and sleep in Louis' bed, but with Valentine's cawing, the booming thunder, and being thrown off the bed once in a while, there was not a chance that sleep would come to me.

Now I had to relieve myself and hesitantly went to the door. I opened it and slipped through. I didn't know how she did it, because I could have sworn she was on the opposite side of the cabin, but Valentine managed to dive through the open door and she began flying around in the open space toward the door to outside.

"No! You stupid bird, get back inside! Louis will kill me." I hissed at her.

She easily evaded my attempts to catch her and I sighed in annoyance, suddenly being thrown against the wall.