Clark of the Future Sea

14. A Turn for the Worst

Clark awoke when the sun peaked through the curtains in her room. She blinked a few times until her eyes adjusted before she sat up in bed. The room swayed reminding her she was still stuck out at sea. Clark sighed.

It was time to fix this.

She pulled back the warm covers and planted her feet on the floor. The fuzzy brown carpet felt amazing against her feet and she dug her toes into its coziness. While stretching her arms above her head she climbed out of bed and approached the sliding glass door. Clark pulled back the curtains and let the sun light the room. The ocean was fairly calm today, but the ship did rock over an occasional wave. It was the kind of day you'd see depicted in a photograph. The rising sun, blue skies and the vast ocean as far out as the eye could see.

She yawned as she turned to leave her room, shutting the door as she stepped out into the hallway. Clark walked down the short length of the hall until she reached the spiraling staircase. She felt disoriented as she traveled down the steps, round and round she went until she reached the bottom floor.

Clark scratched the back of her head as she entered the engine room, just off to the left of the staircase. There was just enough light down here that she was able to see. Her eyes looked over the room, so she could get a better idea of what she was dealing with. For such a large ship, they didn't give you much room to work in here. Clark could already see a half a dozen issues with the electrical that needed fixing. She rolled up her sleeves and looked inside the toolbox sitting open on the floor. She gripped a pair of pliers in her hand, determined to fix this thing.

While she worked, her thoughts drifted to her family. She wished she could let them know she was okay. She has been an only child and though her parents were often very busy, she was sure they were still worried. It had also been a long time since she last spoke to her grandmother and Clark was sure she was beside herself with worry. Leaving Clark feeling guilty for something she wasn't responsible for.

Thoughts of her childhood came flooding in. She had been raised by her grandma. Her father was a lawyer and her mother was a pediatrician so they were never around while she was growing up. Sure the money was good, they had given her pretty much anything she had ever asked for. Paid for her schooling, room, and board. It was all covered. Which was nice, a lot of people she knew were less fortunate, but she still found herself wishing for better parents. One's that wanted to be around. Maybe after she got the ship going again, she could call them.

She was kind of surprised with herself. She hadn't realized what all she had learned in school and that those things her professors taught were actually quite useful in the real world. At least her parent's money wasn't going to waste. They hadn't been too keen about her profession of choice, but after this whole ordeal, she was sure she would be able to change their minds.

Clark continued to work like this until her stomach started to growl, reminding her that she was human and needed to eat at least once a day. She wasn't sure how long she had been down there, time just seemed to disappear since she got onto this ship. She never knew the time of day or what day of the week it even was. She wiped the sweat from her brow as she emerged out of the engine room. She moved up the steps, counting each floor until she reached the third and stepped out of the winding staircase. A yawn escaped her as she moved down the hall and pushed the swinging stainless steel door open. Henry looked up at her as she entered the kitchen.

"Are you hungry?" He asked.

"Ya, I am. Thanks" She plopped down into one of the chairs in front of the table.

"I haven't seen you all day. How'd you get so dirty?" He asked as he opened a container of thinly sliced turkey.

"I was fixing your yacht." She told him.

Henry paused in what he was doing and looked up at her surprised.

"I didn't want to tell you before, but I'm an engineering student. Well, graduate. I've only got a couple of weeks left. Anyway, I know what's wrong with your ship and I can fix it."

Henry was obviously shocked by what she had told him. She didn't look like the kind of person who would go into engineering. The majority of students in her engineering classes were guys. So Clark wasn't at all surprised by his reaction. His expression changed and she could only imagine the mixture of emotions coursing through him.

"I know what your thinking." She told him.

His eyes widened.

"I won't rat you out." She took a breath. "I was planning to tell them you found me and saved me. If you tell them the same story they'll have no choice but to believe us."

Henry pulled a couple of slices of bread out of a bag and plopped them down on top of the wood cutting board. "That's real nice of you kid, but prison might be the best thing that could happen to me." He spread some mustard on the bread with a knife, before giving her a sad smile.

Clark was confused. "What do you mean you want to go to prison?"

"The man who tried to kill you, Sebastian. He's a part of a very powerful Italian family. They know he was with me. Once they figure out what happened to him, I'm sure they will put a hit out on me." He slapped a couple of slices of cheddar cheese onto each sandwich. "The way I figure my best options are either this ship or prison. The only difference is in prison I won't run out of food."

Clark didn't know what to say. She watched him stack a few slices of turkey onto each sandwich before he put a slice of bread on top.

"So what do you want me to tell them when we get back?" She asked.

Henry didn't answer her right away. He cut both the sandwiches in half and set them onto plates before he finally answered her. "I just want to get you home safe. I'm probably dead either way." He looked up at her.

Clark swallowed hard. She couldn't say they were close, but she still didn't want Henry to die. Despite what he had done, she could tell he was a good person at his core. Picking up the plates, he moved around the island, he took a few steps towards her and then paused.

Clark watched his expression drop. "Henry?"

The plates suddenly slipped out of his hands and shattered against the floor loudly. He staggered forward and Clark watched in what felt like slowed motion as he slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Thank you so much for reading Clark of the Future Sea. Both Merlin4Real and I are extremely thrilled you stuck around this long. Unfortunately we will no longer be updating this story on Wattpad. We will be publishing the full book on Amazon Kindle once we have completed it. We promise you will get to read the full book, we are both stubborn authors and can't standing leaving stories unfinished. When that will be, that's the mystery.

I need time to grieve and take care of myself and family. I lost two close family members this year and I just need some time.

Poppi ❤

We both need sometime to grieve and take care of ourselves and family. We lost two close family members this year and we just need sometime.