Chapter 28

The water rolled over my cold body, pushing me on to the shore. The sea warmed my body in the cold, bitter wind. My fingers twitched. I could feel the sand in between my fingers and toes. The salt stuck to my skin. Small rocks were wedged in between my long finger nails. My hair felt thick and full of mud. My face felt sore by the amount of salt. The sounds came faint but eventually grew louder and louder until the ambulance sirens blared in my ear drums so much, they couldn’t be ignored. I opened one eye, very slowly and then the other. I didn’t want to get up but I knew I had to. My skin felt stretched; my muscles torn; my organs twisted and bones shattered like glass. An exploding pain stabbed me in my chest. I felt sick and weary. I opened my mouth and spewed out all the sea water, mucus and vomit in my mouth. I couldn’t get up. I dug my nails deep in the thick sand and dragged myself, in agony a couple of inches. I tried to shout but my throat was so sore it felt like razor blades were ripping at the flesh inside. I could hear the seagulls singing in the sky. The ocean calling in a soothing calm voice. I laid back down to rest. My mind was spinning.

Where’s the others?

Where’s the Ellie Mae?

I looked up. The sky was grey. The clouds heavy and dreary. I could see dust clouds and pollution in the distance. The metal ice cream vans and greasy rubbish left on the sand. This was nothing like the olden days. It was the modern dark ages. The world I was so used to had decayed into dust, leaving the waste behind, which was my own world. Nothing was as beautiful as the cool ocean in the mornings or the peach sunsets in the evening. Now they were gone for good.

Suddenly a loud voice nearby shouted out to the ambulances over the sandy beach:

“THERES ONE OVER HERE!”

I blacked out after that.

The next time I woke up five doctors were crowding around me. All I could hear was beeping and beeping. My mind was going crazy. My heart felt like it was bleeding. I was in the worse pain I’d ever been in. I felt like I was shot, stabbed, everything. I gasped for the air to enter my lungs but my body had a mind of its own. I heard the doctors staying over and over again:

“Stay with us Riley”

Then I blacked out… again.

I woke up in a white room. White sheets, white walls, white curtains everything. The sun shone through the window and flooded the room with a glorious golden gleam. I looked at the bedside table next to me. It was covered in sweets, cards and flowers. I was in hospital. I was alone in my room so I was guessing mum and dad were with Chloe at the time. I laid in my bed, day dreaming for a while. Remembering my last moments with Eric. It was such a blur. I guess now I would never see him again even if he did make it. All I knew was I’d never forget him. He saved my life and left footprints on my mind.

My hospital door creaked open moments after. A weird wheelie pole with a small plastic bag full of a clear liquid squeezed into the room; followed by a frail girl who’s skin was as white as a ghost. Her long red hair flowed over small shoulders. She was wearing a hideous looking nightie. It was Jess.

“You OK?” she smiled.

I was so happy to see her face again, looking so healthy and happy. She came over and hugged me. My ribs were aching now, like I pulled a muscle.

“What happened to me?” I asked, looking for answers.

“They found you half drowned with three broken ribs. What happened?”

I thought about it for a while.

“Eric saved me, he risked his life just to save mine” I answered.

It was silent.

“What about Tory? Did you see her?” Jess asked sitting down on the chair next to me.

“No. Wasn’t she with you?”

Jess shook her head.

“Oh my god!” I gasped. I got butterflies in my stomach. “We left her”

“But I looked down at the ship’s deck from the mast. She wasn’t there” Jess explained.

It was mystery.

“She’ll be fine” I assured her. “I know that she’ll come back, Eric, Lyla, Loriei. She’ll find them. And as long as the compass is with her and the Ellie Mae. She’ll go strong.”

That’s when I remembered the birth mark and the eyes.

“That was her destiny” I said aloud.

“What?”

“She was the descendant of a pirate. The captain. She’ll be back. I know she will” I promised.

Little did I know… I was absolutely right…